Living Well – Page 2 – Living Well While Surviving Cancer

CVS Pharmacy Ups Its Game

CVS’ new HealthHUB

In 2019, there are fewer large chain pharmacies than ever before. Nonetheless, the competition is intense among giants such as CVS and Walgreens.

Thus, for example, CVS has been upping its game in major ways.

As CVS reports:

“The company is opening HealthHUB^® locations that offer a broader range of health care services, new product categories, digital tools and on-demand health kiosks, trusted advice ,and personalized care. With the new format, over 20 percent of the store is now dedicated to health services, including new durable medical equipment (DME) and supplies and new product and service combinations for sleep apnea and diabetes care.”

“With personalized Pharmacy support programs and MinuteClinic services, the HUB team is improving care for patients managing chronic conditions, with a focus on recommending next best clinical actions and driving medical costs savings.”

“The new store format also includes a variety of pathways to nutritional health with one-on-one and group counseling delivered by an in-store licensed dietitian, as well as access to a free weight loss digital app.”

“Acting as the connection point inside the HealthHUB^® is the Care Concierge, a newly established professional responsible for customer engagement, including educating customers about our new service offerings, helping them navigate the in-store services and events, and connecting them to our in-store providers.”

The following video provides an overview of the HealthHUB.

Laughter Is Great Medicine

Three interesting infographics.

As the Health Guide notes:

“It’s true: laughter is strong medicine. It draws people together in ways that trigger healthy physical and emotional changes in the body. Laughter strengthens your immune system, boosts mood, diminishes pain, and protects you from the damaging effects of stress. Nothing works faster or more dependably to bring your mind and body back into balance than a good laugh. Humor lightens your burdens, inspires hope, connects you to others, and keeps you grounded, focused, and alert. It also helps you release anger and forgive sooner.”

With this in mind, we present a few infographics on the benefits of laughter. Enjoy! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

Happify Daily

Graphics Pedia

Daily Infographic

Small Calorie Cuts Can Yield Big Benefits

Interesting new findings.

Many of us have worked hard to reduce our caloric intake and improve our health. Both short-run and long-run. BUT, how many calories must we cut to see benefits? It depends on our weight at the time that we diet.

As reported by Samiha Khanna-Duke for Futurity.org:

“Adults already at a healthy weight or carrying just a few extra pounds, can benefit from cutting around 300 calories a day, new research shows.”

Click this image to read her article.

Small Calorie Cuts Can Yield Big Benefits — (Credit: Chasing Donguri/Flickr)

NEVER Ignore These Aches and Pains

Do NOT be complacent.

Understanding our own bodies is essential. In prior posts, we’ve looked at the immune system and knowing yourself. As well as many other health topics. Today, we suggest that you never ignore the following aches and pains.

As Patrick Sullivan writes for Sharecare:

“Pain is your body’s way of telling you something’s wrong. Sometimes you’ll know exactly why you’re hurting. If you went hard at the gym yesterday, it’s no surprise you’re sore today. But other times, pain is symptomatic of a more serious condition. Be aware of these seven aches and pains that may require immediate medical treatment.”

Click the image below to access the full story and a slideshow of the ailments not to ignore.

Advice About Retirement

View a couple of TED Talks videos.

“TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics .”

Through its Web site, New Retirement shows 10 Ted Talks that give advice about retirement:

“You want to have a better retirement. But how do you get there? You could spend hours researching the latest science behind happiness, personal finance and investment theory, and health research. Or you can take a few minutes to watch the best TED Talks related to retirement.”

Here are two examples.

Behind the Scenes at Thrive Global

Be inspired. Includes a podcast.

Thrive Global is a popular Web site founded by Arianna Huffington, after establishing the pioneering Huffington Post site (now owned by Verizon).

As Huffington puts it:

“After my collapse from sleep deprivation and exhaustion in 2007, I became more and more passionate about the connection between well-being and performance. And as I went around the world speaking about my experience, I saw two things: First, that we’re facing a stress and burnout epidemic. And second, that people deeply want to change the way they work and live… That’s why I launched Thrive Global – to go beyond raising awareness and create something real and tangible that would help individuals, companies, and communities improve their well-being and performance and unlock their greatest potential. At Thrive Global, helping you achieve these goals is our mission and our passion.”

Here’s one example of a recent Thrive Global article. “How to Reap the Mental Benefits of a Vacation Without Actually Going on One.” Click the image to read it.

Behind the Scenes at Thrive Global — **If you’re unable to plan a trip at the moment, don’t stress about it — and don’t underestimate the power of a staycation. Photo by Happy Dancing/ Shutterstock**

Meditative Story Podcasts

Recently, Thrive Global became a partner for a new Web site intended to reduce stress:

“Meditative Story is a completely new kind of listening experience that blends intimate first-person stories with mindfulness prompts, enveloped in beautiful music composition. Every week, subscribers will receive a new Meditative Story from a storyteller who will transport listeners to the time and place where everything changed for them — a story that may be deeply relatable to the listener’s own life. As the story unfolds, mindfulness guide Rohan Gunatillake (founder of the popular Buddhify meditation app) offers prompts to calm the mind, and help listeners connect with their own observations.”

“The entire experience is elevated by gorgeous music. Shifting between music and vibration, the exquisite sound design rides above the narrative, bringing each Meditative Story to life and giving subscribers the head space to feel restored and refreshed. Meditative Story is a WaitWhat original series — created by the team who built and led TED’s media organization — in close partnership with Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global. The series is made possible with generous support from Salesforce.”

Here is an example:

“A mesmerizing story about the wisdom and delight you can find — even in the midst of tragic loss — by seeing life and death through the eyes of a child. Storyteller Lucy Kalanithi is the widow of Paul Kalanithi, who wrote the best-selling memoir When Breath Becomes Air, published posthumously in 2016. This story is a coda to his memoir.”

New Information on Health Trends

Global research from Euromonitor International.

Earlier this year, we reported on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It was a United States study conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Now, we look at new information on health trends from Euromonitor International.

Digestive Health

Click here for the full article.

“Digestive health is one of consumers’ top health concerns. According to Euromonitor International, foods with digestive health as their prime positioning accrued sales of $70.5 billion in 2018 globally, making it the second-largest positioning platform behind general wellbeing.”

“The free-from movement is strongly related to digestive health. As the number of allergies and intolerances to gluten, dairy and lactose rise globally, consumers looking for relief from chronic digestive complaints are fueling the boom in free-from products. There is also a growing perception of gluten, lactose and dairy-free products as healthier, more natural and easier to digest, expanding the consumer base beyond those who are intolerant and allergic to the masses with further growth expected over the coming years.”

Vitamins and Supplements

Click here for the full article.

“Constantly changing health trends and large amounts of easily available information on health and nutrition is blurring the lines of what types of products consumers are using to maintain their health. For example, consumers who previously relied on traditional beauty products to maintain their appearance are now looking at vitamins and supplements to enhance their appearance as part of their overall well-being.”

“As consumers are shifting focus to a more holistic approach to healthcare, brands and companies need to ensure that they are looking at their products and services with the same view. Therefore, it is important that brands and companies look beyond their immediate competitors and product categories as disruption within health and nutrition industries continues.”

New Information on Health Trends — Source: Euromonitor International’s 2019 Health and Nutrition Survey