By Nanette Wiser
NATIONAL SMOKE OUT DAY
Give your health a boost by saying bye bye to vaping, cigarettes and cigars. The American Cancer Society sponsors the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November (Nov. 17), challenging smokers to give up cigarettes for 24 hours. Smoking costs Florida $8.64 billion per year in smoking-related healthcare costs and $8.32 billion annually in smoking-related losses in productivity. Second-hand smoke can be deadly and cause health issues, and the good news is that Pinellas County has banned smoking in beaches and parks. To promote smoking cessation, including therapy sessions, Tobacco Free Florida provides 24/7 access to call a trained Quit Coach and create a personalized quit plan and classes. Look for support at local health care venues, such as St. Anthony’s Hospital’s Smoking Cessation Class, which provides valuable tools to help quit using tobacco, including coping with cravings and physical and emotional symptoms. These are excellent means of counseling that the organizers also supplement with free aids for smoking cessation while supplies last. Floridians can choose to join in, or even volunteer to help organize. For more Pinellas County classes and resources, visit: www.pinellascounty.org/hr/health_wellness/cessation-resources.htm
COPING WITH LOSS
The holidays can be difficult, especially if you have lost a friend or family member. Experts recommend you surround yourself with people who care, take good care of yourself, let others help you, postpone major decisions and consider grief counseling with a professional or spiritual counselor. Aging with Dignity hosts an informative series with counselor Margaret McGahon introducing a reflective exercise on processing grief. She offers a practical exercise for coping with grief and encourages us to reflect on how loss has impacted our lives. She starts with open-ended sentences about your loss that you complete. “Do this exercise and see if it brings up anything that sheds light or any insights into your grief experience.” Check out these helpful tips. https://bit.ly/3T19YAC
HEALTH NEWS
According to WUSF/NPR, NIH is funding a research project to collect voice data and develop artificial intelligence that could diagnose based on speech. Everything from vocal cord vibrations to breathing patterns offers potential info about your health, says Dr. Yael Bensoussan, a USF laryngologist and leader on the study.