So I’m reading a health mag put out by one of our local hospitals.  Its usually filled with the typical ads for doctors, lawyers and various other health care providers.  It generally has the recipes that are devoid of meat or passing off turkey “bacon” as somehow delicious.

I read it in passing hoping that maybe I can find something useful to talk to my clients about while performing my medical sales function.  This months issue had a small blurb about a study from Ohio State.  It is a study about the stress that men face while supporting a spouse with cancer. 

Researchers studied 32 men with a median age of 58 whose wives suffered from breast cancer.  Participants with the stress levels also showed physical symptoms like abdominal pain, headaches and weakened immune responses.

The study cited guilt, depression and fear of loss as principal stressors associated with caregiving and noted that these emotions often lead to chronic anxiety rather than acute or temporary worry.

The article went on to tell doctors to pay attention to these signs and talk also with the spouse during the visits.  It also made mention that the caregivers should enroll in some sort of self-care therapy or stress management class.

I suggest we take them fishing!

Seriously…if you know of someone who is in this situation the best self help these folks can get is a day under the sun, on the water.  We all get so wrapped up in everyday life that we tend to forget about those who are in a great but often silent need. 

You find the friend, I’ll tie the flies!

Tight Lines!