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 Mountain Views NewsSaturday, May 25, 2024


FREE ASSISTED LIVING PLACEMENT SERVICE

 

 Discover the perfect assisted living community with 
Safe Path for Seniors. Our compassionate advisors 
specialize in assisting individuals with unique needs. 
Benefit from our extensive network and affordable 
options. Plus, we offer personalized tours to help you 
explore each community firsthand. Call (626) 999-
6913 or visit www.safepathforseniors.com for free 
assistance.

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …MAY BIRTHDAYS*

Beth Copti, Marilyn Diaz, Anne Schryver, Jo Ann Williams, Paul Hagan, Lenore 
Crilly Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, 
Luciana Rosenzweig, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie Sheridan, 
Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Janet Ten Eyck, 
Jane Thomas, Ray Burley, Bridget Flanagan,Donna Mathisen,Vicky Ryan,

 * To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required


HOW TO FIND RELIABLE HEALTH INFORMATION ONLINE


SENIOR EXCURSION

SENIOR EXCURSION TO SOLVANG – JUNE 4, 2024 

The Community Services Department is accepting registrations for a trip to Solvang 
on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Spend a day in the beautiful 
Danish community located just north of Santa Barbara. With ample shopping, fine 
dining and amazing bakeries, there’s something for everyone in the family. 

Transportation leaves from the Hart Park House Senior Center, 222 W. Sierra Madre 
Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 

Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024 Time: 8:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Cost: $28.00 per person 

Registration Deadline: Monday, June 3, 2024 

Registration can be done in person at the Hart Park House Senior Center, or online 
at www.cityofsierramadre.com/onlineregistration. For more information, please 
call the Community Services Department at (626) 355-5278.

Dear Savvy Senior:

How can I tell if the health info on a website is 
trustworthy? I usually do a Google search on a 
symptom, drug or health condition when I want to 
research something, but with so much information out there I’m not sure what I can trust. 

Skeptical Sal

Dear Sal:

You’re wise to be skeptical! There’s an overwhelming amount of health advice on the internet 
today and it can be hard to tell what’s credible. To help you sort through the online clutter and 
locate reliable, trustworthy health information, here are a few tips to follow, along with some 
top-rated sites you can turn to with confidence. 

Savvy Searching

First, know that Google or Bing is not always the best place to start a search. You’ll increase 
your odds of finding reliable health information if you begin with websites run by government 
agencies (identified by URLs ending in .gov), medical associations (often .org) or academic 
institutions (.edu).

Commercial websites (usually ending in .com), such as drug or insurance companies who may 
be trying to sell you their products, are usually not the most trustworthy options. To find out 
who’s sponsoring a site and where the information came from, click on the “About Us” tab on 
the site’s home page. 

Also note that good health and medical information changes all the time so check the date that 
information was published to make sure it’s current. 

Some other areas you need be wary of include online symptom checkers and artificial intelligence 
(AI) tools. While symptom checkers do offer potential diagnoses that could fit your set of 
symptoms, they are often inaccurate, and tend to err on the side of caution says Ateev Mehrotra, 
MD, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. AI tools, like ChatGPT, can also 
be wrong or generate false but scientific sounding information.

You also need to be cautious about using medical information from social media, online forums 
or YouTube. Comments in these places may sound authoritative even if the authors have no 
medical training or expertise.

Top Health Sites

While there are many excellent websites that provide reliable health and medical information, 
one of the best all-purpose sites that’s recommended by Consumer Reports for researching 
symptoms and conditions is MedlinePlus (medlineplus.gov). 

A service of the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library, and part of 
the National Institutes of Health, MedlinePlus provides high-quality, trustworthy health and 
wellness information that’s easy to understand and free of advertising. 

Here are a few additional websites, recommended by the Medical Library Association and others, 
to help you find reliable information on specific diseases, conditions and treatments.

Cancer: National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov), American Cancer Society (cancer.org) and 
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (nccn.org).

Heart disease: American Heart Association (americanheart.org), National Heart, Lung and 
Blood Institute (nhlbi.nih.gov).

Diabetes: American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org).

Alzheimer’s disease: Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) and Alzheimers.gov.

Public health and vaccines: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov).

Alternative medicine: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (nccih.nih.
gov) and the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements (ods.od.nih.gov).

Any research you do online before seeing a doctor, be sure to save or print your findings out on 
paper, including the site you got your information from, so you can review it together.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is 
a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

MY ONLY EXERCISE IS 

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

Over the past few weeks (or 
was it months?) I've been 
recovering from some health issues. They 
were not that serious, just annoying. I 
spent one day in the hospital and the rest 
of the time in bed, which is not the kind 
of vacation I want.

 During all that time, I've not had 
much time to exercise. I asked about it 
when I was at the Doctor's for my last 
examination. I said, "Doctor, what should 
I do about exercising? I haven't been able 
to do much of that during my sickness."

Looking at me rather grimly, he said, "If I 
were you I would exercise daily."

Smiling at the doctor, I said, "Thank You, 
I appreciate that."

 The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage 
drove me to the Doctor's appointment 
and was now driving me back to the 
house. While driving, she looked at me 
and said, "Well, do you think you're going 
to start exercising now? What are you 
going to do first?"

 I just looked at her and laughed.

"What are you laughing about?" She said.

"Did you hear what the doctor said? He 
said he would exercise daily for me."

Looking at me with her eyes rolling in 
her head, she said, "This is why I have 
to come with you when you go to the 
doctors. You never hear what the doctor 
says. That is not what he said."

"You heard it as well as I did," I said, 
"he said, 'If I were you, I would exercise 
daily.'"

 Still rolling her eyes, she said, "That is 
not what I heard him say."

I was still chuckling, and then she said, 
"I think you have some loose marbles 
rolling around in your head."

Smiling at her, I said, "Thank you, my 
dear, for recognizing that I have some 
activity in my head."

I glanced in her direction and noticed she 
wasn't laughing at all, but her eyes were 
still rolling.

 I must say that jumping to conclusions 
is a great way to exercise. And it solves a 
lot of problems.

 I had one exercise project that I wanted 
to do. I wanted to run to the store and 
get an Apple Fritter and run back. Now 
the problem with that is, my energy is not 
up to the place where I can run that far. 
And, sneaking out of the house at this 
time would not work for me at all.

 I have been jumping to conclusions for 
as long as I can remember. That is because 
I don't let people say everything on their 
mind. If I think I know what they're 
saying, I jump immediately to what turns 
out to be the wrong conclusion.

 When I was a young kid at home, my 
father would often say to me, "Son, do 
you want a spanking?"

 At the time, I never knew if it was a 
rhetorical question or if he was giving 
me a choice. That is the only time I can 
remember that I didn't jump to some 
conclusion.

If I look at my life, I can blame a lot of 
my problems on my habit of jumping to 
conclusions. If only I would just let people 
say everything on their mind and wait 
until they're done to make some kind of 
a decision.

 I remember many years ago when I met 
the young lady who is now The Gracious 
Mistress of the Parsonage. We were 
riding along in a van with some of the 
other young people at the Bible school we 
were going to.

 Just before we got back to the dormitory, 
she said to me quietly, "Wouldn't it be 
nice to be married?"

 I did not know what she was talking 
about because I was too naïve then, so I 
jumped to the conclusion and said, "That 
would be wonderful."

 I was the last in the Bible school to 
know I had become engaged. I jumped 
to a conclusion I had no understanding 
about.

 Under the circumstances, that was 
probably the best conclusion I ever 
reached. It just took me a long time to 
understand what it meant.

 I jump to conclusions because I think 
I know what that person is talking about. 
I wouldn't get into so much trouble if I 
weren't so smart.

 A dumb person would usually say, 
"What do you mean?" And then wait for 
the explanation.

 A smart person would think he knows 
what that person is talking about and 
jumps to conclusions.

 I come from Pennsylvania, and the 
Pennsylvania Dutch have a saying that 
goes like this: "Throw Papa down the 
stairs…" There's a pause, and after the 
pause, they finish it by saying, "His hat."

If you don't listen to the whole sentence, 
you're liable to throw Papa down the 
stairs. But if you listen to the entire 
sentence, you will throw his hat down 
the stairs.

 There are times when I don’t listen to 
the entire sentence.

 In my Bible reading, I discovered a 
verse dealing with this.

Proverbs 25:8-9, “Go not forth hastily to 
strive, lest thou know not what to do in 
the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath 
put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with 
thy neighbour himself; and discover not 
a secret to another.”

 I get into trouble when I respond 
“hastily” to what I hear. I need to slow 
down and listen to the whole sentence, 
not just what I want to hear.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, 
FL with the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage. Telephone 1-352-216-3025

e-mail: jamessnyder51@gmail.com, 
website:

 www.jamessnyderministries.com


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com