Readers digest USA TruePDF april 2019

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From PSYCHOLOGY

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Snakebite!

A Drama with Teeth

From OUTSIDE

Retirement Plans for Any Family

From BANKRATE.COM

RD’s Tips for

Preventing Cancer

By MICHELLE CROUCH

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Introducing new Beneful Superfood Blend dry and wet recipes,

made with nutrient-rich ingredients including salmon, chia seeds

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from the guardian and

the economic hardship

reporting project

78

fascinating facts

Great Ocean Secrets

Scientists are still

searching for the truth

about many creatures

and features of the deep

by tina donvito

58

cover story

UNSOLVED!

These baffling

myster-ies have obsessed

peo-ple for years Are the

answers out there?

by jacopo della quercia

and lauren cahn

100 miles away

by kyle dickman from outside

by michael graff from charlotte magazine

But some punch lines make you stop mid-laugh and actually think

by the javna brothers adapted from the book life is a joke

Parenthood helped her feel that bliss again

from the book the library book

quotable quotes

Maya Angelou, Priyanka Chopra

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Humor

16

Life in These United States

START READING AT PRH.COM/CELTICEMPIRE

AN INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY LONG-BURIED SECRETS.

A SERIES OF UNSOLVED CRIMES.

NUMA® DIRECTOR DIRK PITT

must unravel the secrets of an archaic enigma that threatens everyone and everything he knows—most importantly, his own family.

UNLOCK AN ANCIENT WORLD WITH THE

anni-versary, Susan and

I headed off for a

few days to a lovely valley

about an hour away We

didn’t know much about

the town, but that was

fine Our goal was really

just to renew our faith in

each other

We began by stocking up at the

quirky Village Market in Glen Ellen,

California Within minutes, friendly

locals spotted us and started chatting

in the aisles with charming tips You

gotta hike to Jack London’s house

Oh, dinner at the Fig Café

Hours later, having followed

their yellow brick road all day,

we walked, delirious, back from

dinner to our creekside inn

“I think I could live here,”

Susan said

It turns out that Glen

Ellen’s contagious spirit

was not our passing

After the fire, she told me, her family’s prospects for stay-ing in the town looked

b l e a k B u t re s i d e n t s mobilized on Facebook and in the Village Mar-ket to brainstorm how

to house one another

Art and Jill Dawson,

in front of the trailer a neighbor set them up in after the Nuns Fire

Hearing of their plight,

some neighbors who

barely knew the

Daw-sons up and placed two

new trailers next to their

house, which hadn’t

burned, for Jill’s family

“Their name is the

Fosters, and I tell them,

‘You just can’t help it,’”

Jill says, laughing at her

own pun Jill and her husband, Art,

have lived in one of the trailers for a

year while sorting through how to

re-build They are only two of the many

residents who were able to remain

close thanks to their neighbors’

self-lessness “I’m grateful for little Glen

Ellen,” Jill says “The amount of

pas-sionate people and grassroots efforts

working to keep this place supportive

is amazing The kindness thing, it’s still huge here.”

In kicking off our annual Nicest Place

in America search, let Glen Ellen be just one example So many cities, workplaces, churches, schools, and other locations thrive because, well,

“the kindness thing, it’s still huge.” Please take the time to go to rd.com/ nicest to tell us about one you love

Thank you!

nominate your

nicest place

Reader’s Digest’s annual

search is getting bigger and better: We’re looking for the 50 Nicest Places, one in every state Your town could be profiled in our pages! Learn more at

rd.com/nicest

The

NICEST PLACES in

AMERICA

2019

Glen Ellen was my idea of

a place with special people even before the 2017 fire

Back on the Kids’ Menu

Me: Can I see the dessert menu, please?

Waiter: No Not before you finish your vegetables

@nroutehq (yaron melman)

I enjoyed “Fact or

Fiction?” but I kept

waiting to read how

everyone thinks

the bald eagle got

its name from the

appearance of being

bald due to its white

head In fact, the

Celtic word bal means

“white patch.” The bald

eagle got its name

because its head is

white, not bald

—Ellen voie

Waupaca, Wisconsin

Fact or Fiction?

You list what you call the longest word

in the English language, a technical name

for a protein that is 189,819 letters long

Actually, the longest word is smiles, because

if you look closely, there is a mile between

the first and last letters

—David J Thompson Sebring, Florida

I Am the Food on Your Plate

I eat avocados like ples I saw the benefits

ap-a few yeap-ars bap-ack when

I ate one every day for

90 days My trigger was

a sad cholesterol level

At the end of 90 days,

I had my level tested again I had dropped

30 points off my bad cholesterol and increased my good

—Joyce nokleby

Benson, Minnesota

Honoring Lola,

at Last

It took me two days

to get through this story I’ve never cried

so hard for someone

I don’t know That story

is seared into my soul and will never be for-gotten Condolences

to the Tizon family

—Rebecca Vaughn

Mound, Minnesota

Are Surgery Centers Safe?

I am glad you wrote about surgical centers Our daughter had a terrible experience with one in Florida

She had a mastectomy

LETTERS

Notes on the

February issue

As a volunteer Chicago Greeter, I take visitors

on walking tours to show off our great city

I try to give them tidbits they can take home, such as the history of the “Windy City” nick-name It was fun to see that story among your

“Strange but bly True” tales Thanks for enhancing my tidbit repertoire

—Allan Ayers Mundelein, Illinois

and started bleeding

It took two hours

for an ambulance

to come to transport

her to a hospital

Needless to say, we

think surgical centers

are a bad idea

—Joyce clampitt

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin

I am a registered nurse

and have worked in

surgery centers since

1982 In all my

experi-ence, we have never

had someone die

be-cause no one knew

what to do or we called

for help too late We are

all highly trained for

emergencies and

certi-fied in our fields and in

advanced life support

And we are scrutinized

by the Joint

in RD What an inspiration

for married couples everywhere Congratu-lations to Paul and Kris Scharoun-DeForge on your 25th anniversary!

—Rhonda Spitzenberger

spring, texas

✦ As a parent of a child with a cognitive disability,

I know the limits some people place on children with special needs They have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else Who are we to tell them they can’t pursue them? While society has become a more welcoming place for individuals with intellec-tual disabilities, we have

a long way to go

—Judi Weyer

mukwonago, wisconsin

Medicare I was not happy that your article gave the impression that all surgery centers are bad

—Barbara Westerman

Eagle, Colorado

America’s Greatest Road Shows

I loved this article about quirky roadside attractions across the country My husband and I travel 7,000 to 10,000 miles every year along back roads through smaller towns in our 1931 Ford Model A We’ve found the Roadside America app to be

an excellent resource

to discover fun ings such as those you mention in the article

a great story about how they got it?

Share them both at RD.COM/NICKNAME.

10 april 2019 | rd.com

Reader’s Digest

Photograph by Jason Varney

EVERYDAY HEROES

“Breathe for Her”

He was the last person who should have run into a burning building—he has lung disease

But that didn’t stop him.

By Claire Nowak

8-year-old Tiara Roberts, the woman’s granddaughter and a playmate of Sur-rell’s three youngest kids, then 8, 10, and 12 The other two on the porch were Tiara’s aunt and cousin

Entering the burning house was like “running into a bucket of black paint,” Surrell says The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe The conditions would have been hazardous for any-one, but for Surrell, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, they were life-threatening

At first, Michael Surrell didn’t

see the black smoke or flames

shooting from the windows of

his neighbors’ home He and his wife

had just parked around the corner from

their own house in Allentown,

Pennsyl-vania, when they got a call from one of

his daughters: “The house next door is

on fire!” He went to investigate That’s

when he saw two women and a girl

hysterical on their porch

“The baby’s in there!” one of the

women cried Though the fire

depart-ment had been called, Surrell, then 64,

instinctively ran inside “The baby” was

”I can’t tell you how I found the stairwell,” Surrell says about freeing Tiara from the smoky haze

“How I didn’t miss

a step or fall.”

12 april 2019

Reader’s Digest

After a few minutes in the

smoke-filled house, he retreated

out-side to catch his breath “Where is

Tiara?” he asked desperately

“The second floor,” her aunt shouted

back

Surrell knew he couldn’t hold his

breath for long So he uttered a little

prayer: “Well, Lord, this is it You gotta

help me, because I’m not coming out

without that little girl.” Taking a deep

breath, he went in a second time

The darkness was overwhelming

Yet because the house had a similar

layout to his, he found the stairs and

made it to the second floor He turned

to the right and was met by intense

heat He was already out of breath

“Baby girl, where are you?”

His throat and lungs burned as

if he’d inhaled fire instead of the

smoke and soot in the air Every blink

stung his eyes All he could hear was

the crackling and popping of burning

wood Then a soft but distinct moan

emerged Still unable to see, Surrell

fell to his knees on the hot wood floor

He crawled toward the sound, feeling

around for any sign of the girl An

ominous thought crossed his mind:

I’m probably gonna die up here

Finally he touched something A shoe, then an ankle He pulled Tiara toward him Her body was limp and she wasn’t breathing He scooped her into his arms and stood He felt the heat of the flames on his cheeks Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the black-ness The next thing he knew, he was

at the front door, then outside rell put Tiara down on the porch A voice told him, “You have to breathe for her.” He started CPR—the first time he’d ever done so The women stood behind him, praying silently Soon a soot-filled cough came from Tiara’s throat Surrell gave five more breaths She coughed again Her eyes flickered He gave one final breath She opened her eyes and took a breath on her own

Sur-Their eyes met Surrell hugged her tight and said, “Uncle’s got you.” Soon after, his throat closed off

Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later, having suffered severe burns to his windpipe and the upper portion of his lungs He spent over a week in the hospital Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days

The fire exacerbated Surrell’s monary condition, and he feels the ef-fects even two years later As a result,

pul-he takes extra medication that pul-helps open his airways “It’s a small price

to pay,” he says “I’d do it again in a heartbeat Wouldn’t give it a second thought.”

“LORD, I’M NOT

COMING OUT

WITHOUT THAT

LITTLE GIRL.”

Alaska Airlines flight en route

from Boston to Los Angeles

when a flight attendant asked an

ur-gent question over the loudspeaker:

“Does anyone on board know

Ameri-can Sign Language?”

Clara, 15 at the time, pressed the

call button The flight attendant came

by and explained the situation “We

have a passenger on the plane who’s

blind and deaf,” she said The

passen-ger seemed to want something, but

he was traveling alone and the flight

attendants couldn’t understand what

he needed, according to people.com

Clara had been studying ASL for the

past year to help with her dyslexia and

knew she’d be able to finger spell into

the man’s palm So she unbuckled her

seat belt, walked toward the front of

the plane, and knelt by the aisle seat

of Tim Cook, then 64 Gently taking

his hand, she signed, “How are you?

Are you OK?” Cook asked for some

water When it arrived, Clara returned

to her seat She came by again a bit

later because he wanted to know the

time On her third visit, she stopped

and stayed awhile

“He didn’t need anything He was lonely and wanted to talk,” Clara says

So for the next hour, that’s what they did She talked about her fam-ily and her plans for the future (she wants to be a politician) Cook told Clara how he had gradually become blind over time and shared stories

of his days as a traveling salesman Even though he couldn’t see her, she

“looked attentively at his face with such kindness,” a passenger reported

“Clara was amazing,” a flight dant told Alaska Airlines in a blog in-terview “You could tell Tim was very excited to have someone he could speak to, and she was such an angel.”Cook’s reaction: “Best trip I’ve ever had.”

atten-“I was like, ‘Wow, this is cool,’ ” Clara says

“I hope I don’t spell anything wrong.”

joel sherman, age 57,

New York, New York

Were you always good

at Scrabble? Well, I was beating my mother reg-ularly when I was eight

Your older brother, Larry Sherman, also plays Are you the Ser- ena and Venus Williams

of the Scrabble world?

He’s not as close to me

When did you realize you were going to

Do you have a favorite

letter? The C A lot of

starting-out players are

afraid of C’s because

they don’t make any

two-letter words But I

did a survey of the

dic-tionary and found that

the C starts more words

than any other letter in

the alphabet except S

It also combines well

with H, L, R, and S and

ends a lot of adjectival

words So it’s massively

powerful

Wait, you did a “survey”

of the dictionary? How

many words do you

know? Probably around

120,000

win the championship?

Not until the very last draw I had four tiles left, and I took the last three tiles out of the bag: two blanks and an

S It allowed me to

bingo out—play all seven tiles and earn a 50-point bonus

What was your winning word?

Strings!

The North American Scrabble Championship will take place this July

in Reno, Nevada

14 april 2019 | rd.com illustration by John Cuneo

Reader’s Digest

I WON!

© 2018 Respiratory Technologies, Inc All rights reserved 910172-001 Rev B

1 Maselli DJ, Amalakuhan B, Keyt H, Diaz AA Suspecting non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis:

What the busy primary care clinician needs to know Int J Clin Pract 2017;71(2):e12924

2 Martínez-García MA, de la Rosa Carrillo D, Soler-Cataluña JJ, et al Prognostic value of

bronchiectasis in patients with moderate-to-severchronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2013;187:823–831.

Treating your COPD and still

struggling?

Chronic productive cough?

Repeated antibiotic use for chest infections?

These may be indicators of bronchiectasis—a common but frequently undiagnosed condition caused by

chronic inflammation of the airways.1

Half of people with serious COPD may have bronchiectasis.2

inCourage® Airway Clearance Therapy is a drug-free way to clear excess mucus from the lungs Ask your doctor if the inCourage System may be right for you

For a bronchiectasis information kit, call 833.208.5324 or visit

www.respirtech.com/be

We change lives We help people breathe better.

One day, I was trying to get my

seven-year-old’s attention When he

finally turned to me, I asked, “Didn’t you

hear me calling you?” He responded,

“Not the first two times.” —reddit.com

a mistake “It’s just something coaches do,” I said “It’s not personal.”

His response was hard to argue with: “If it’s not personal, then why

do they use your name?”

—Laura McKinney

Ruston, Louisiana

Ad spotted in my weekly bargain bulletin: “FOR SALE: Crestview cemetery plot, $200, so I don’t have to spend all eternity beside my ex!”

—Anthony Cialella

New Castle, Pennsylvania

When my 85-year-old father was in the hos-pital, his doctor, trying

to determine Dad’s mental state, asked,

“What gets you up in the morning?”

My father shrugged

“Probably the same

Our son was upset

that his baseball coach

yelled whenever he

or a teammate made

“Perhaps you’ve heard of me I discovered a little thing called fire.”

LIFE

in these

United States

Edison has been blind

since birth, 55 years

ago But don’t pity him

“There are plenty of

good things about

being blind,” he says

For example:

✦“I go on airplanes

first.”

✦“I never have to

worry about drinking

and driving.”

✦“I don’t have to do

my own lawn.”

✦“My electric bill’s

lower than yours.”

In the morning, my husband, who is bald, told me I patted his head for 30 minutes while repeating, “Go to sleep, baby.”

—LeighAnn Phillips shalimar, florida

✦ My husband sat up in bed and announced,

“Eileen, I believe I can kill about 20 chickens.”

He then went back

to sleep, leaving me wide-awake

—E.S via rd.com

✦ As a kid, I was at a sleepover, and I watched

my friend stuff the bedsheet into her mouth, pull it out, and say, “That was good, Mom; what’s for dessert?”

—Shirley Yanachik

the villages, florida

✦ My husband was tossing and turning

in bed, so I asked whether he was all right He replied,

“Yes, I talked with the horse, and he didn’t have any suggestions or answers for the project.”

—Ann Anderson kenosha, wisconsin

✦ Turning to me with some urgency,

my sleeping husband stated, “I have to do the cat’s taxes!”

—Candace R Renard

staunton, virginia

✦ Our eight-year-old daughter: “Are you saying that George Washington didn’t invent the toilet?”

—Laura Miller catonsville, marylandReader’s Digest

Who wants to reach the end of their life

in a perfectly preserved body? The scars and the crinkles

and the cracks are what make us interesting.

—Bear Grylls, adventurer

There’s no cap on success

The jury stays out till you take your last breath

—Judy Sheindlin, judge

The problem with taking it easy is that it sounds attractive at first, until you get into a routine of doing nothing And you don’t expand your mind or help anybody else.

—George W Bush, former president

Ego is just an overdressed insecurity

—Quincy Jones, music producer

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

—Maya Angelou, writer

sheindlin grylls

No matter where you are in the world, somebody will be worse off than you And if you think like that,

you will always have the mind-set to give back.

—Priyanka Chopra, actor

Never stop worrying

Live each day as if your rent is due tomorrow

—Carl Hiaasen, writer

The great thing about ideas is that every new idea leads to two more Ideas breed

—Jeff Bezos, businessman

POINT TO PONDER

Life doesn’t often spell things out for you

or give you what you want exactly when you want it;

otherwise it wouldn’t be called life

It would be called “vending machine.”

—Lauren Graham, actor

Plan for Retirement–

at Any Age

One family prepares for its financial future and

provides insights for the rest of us

By Kelly Anne Smith

from bankrate.com

Reader’s Digest

HOW TO

Vincent Martin is 56 and on

track to retire right on time at

65 That’s no small feat,

consid-ering that he has never used a financial

adviser or other investment advice A

Navy veteran and an IT engineer who

lives in Aurora, Illinois, Vincent is

proud to have gotten here on his own

“There’s nothing a financial adviser

will tell you that you can’t find

writ-ten online somewhere,” Vincent says

He has tried to help his daughters start

their own retirement funds too

Self-driven financial planning isn’t

for everyone We all face a future of

fluctuating costs—especially the costs

of living and health care—and that

means preparing for retirement can

feel like trying to hit a moving target

Vincent’s path provides many good,

all-purpose lessons on how to maximize

your nest egg But we also did what he

wouldn’t: We asked financial advisers

for further insight on his strategy

Vincent’s retirement goal all along

has been clear: “I don’t want to have

to work,” he says “I’ve been working

since I was 14, and quite frankly, I’m

tired.” Starting to save was perhaps the

hardest part After serving in the Navy

for 15 years, Vincent found himself

working full-time as an IT consultant

and “just barely getting by.” On top of

that, he was enrolled in college and

got married to his wife, Pamela

Mar-tin He wasn’t able to contribute much

to a 401(k) retirement-savings account

until his mid-30s, when he became a

systems administrator at a bank

In many ways, Vincent’s story is typical A March 2018 Bankrate sur-vey found that one fifth of Americans aren’t saving any money for things such as retirement, chiefly, they say, because they can’t afford to

“Like a lot of Americans, I was in survival mode,” he says “I didn’t have any money to put away for retirement, and all of my money was tight I had no liquid assets after I paid all of my bills.”But as Vincent’s career and pay-checks progressed, he taught himself the ins and outs of retirement prepa-ration He sought out as much educa-tional material as he could, including financial magazines and Vanguard’s online investment tools and calcula-tor He contributes 5 percent of his pretax salary to a 401(k) through his employer and receives a 5 percent company match He invests in a mix

of bonds held in an IRA to ensure bility in retirement and CDs, and he has gradually funneled more of his money to less volatile investments

sta-as he hsta-as gotten older So far, he hsta-as managed to save about $400,000, and

he hopes to double that by the time

he retires

To maximize his benefits, he also plans to wait as long as possible—until age 70—to draw from Social Security

He expects to receive around $3,500 per month, or $42,000 a year, before taxes (Yes, Social Security benefits may be subject to taxes.)

Will that be enough? Possibly Assuming that Vincent’s planned

rd.com 21

$800,000 nest egg earns a very

con-servative 6 percent, that would mean

$48,000 a year in proceeds (also before

taxes) that he could draw on without

touching any of the principal

Accord-ing to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

the average retired family spends

$45,756 a year His 401(k) and Social

Security would easily cover that

Yet despite Vincent’s planning, life

has thrown some curveballs at the

Martins The biggest is that Pamela was

diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and

hasn’t been able to work for 20 years

She draws a Social Security disability

income, around $1,500 per month, and

receives benefits from long-term

dis-ability insurance, which will disappear

when she turns 65 Vincent has been

creating an additional pool of funds,

what he calls a slush fund, to cover

both of their medical costs

“We’re doing as well as we can to

prepare,” Vincent says “I’ll care for her

for as long as I can in our house, but

there will come a time when she will

need at least part-time nursing care.”

Joyce Petrenchak, wealth

strat-egy regional director at PNC Wealth

Management, says that people who

are worried about rising health-care

costs should look into long-term care policies The catch, however, is that these plans may not cover preexisting conditions, so it’s important to enroll sooner rather than later

Also, these policies don’t cover ery cost The most affordable ones will help pay for in-home assistance with daily activities, such as bathing and dressing You can pay for more care, but the “bells and whistles” you get are less important than the peace of mind, says Petrenchak “These policies give you flexibility and liquidity when you need it,” she says

ev-Mindful of his own struggles to save, Vincent has been working over-time to support his children’s efforts Cherlyn Thomas, the Martins’ oldest daughter, has her retirement savings

on autopilot A vice president of cation services at a school in Chicago and a single parent to 13-year-old Ja-son, Cherlyn has a 401(k) and 403(b),

edu-a similedu-ar tedu-ax-incentivized retirement account She has increased her contri-butions twice but doesn’t keep an eye

on her investments That’s actually a good thing Experts warn that obsess-ing over investments is often counter-productive because timing the stock market’s highs and lows is impossible That said, now that she’s in her early 40s, Cherlyn realizes the value in hav-ing a clearer picture of what’s ahead

“I want to do better and be aware of what’s going on with my finances,” she says “I know I’m going to get Social Security benefits, but I’m not quite

LONG-TERM CARE

POLICIES GIVE

YOU LIQUIDITY WHEN

YOU NEED IT.

Reader’s Digest

22 april 2019

sure where that really puts me at each

month It just seems so far away.”

The planning often intimidates

people Vincent and Pamela’s youngest

daughter, Emerald Martin, 24, goes to

school and works part-time in Arizona

Her employer offers a 401(k) plan, but

she hasn’t enrolled To her, the

pro-gram is confusing, and

she prefers to save on

her own, despite

los-ing her company’s

matching funds

“ I w i s h p e o p l e

would explain it

in-stead of just being like,

‘Here’s a thousand

doc u ment s on ou r

website, and you can

determine whet her

or not you want to

participate,’” Emerald

says “It would be more

comprehensible if they

explained each one in

detail instead of just

throwing a ton of information at me.”

Petrenchak suggests that employees

focus on the fact that benefits are a part

of their compensation If they don’t

use them, they aren’t being paid what

the job is worth

Abigail Gunderson, a certified

financial planner and wealth adviser

at Tanglewood Total Wealth

Manage-ment, recommends that Emerald think

about smaller, more tangible goals for

now, rather than the big, far-off picture

“Taking baby steps can help people

Clockwise from top left:

Pamela, Vincent, Cherlyn, and Jason

who are overwhelmed by the process,” Gunderson says “And even if they see

a financial planner or adviser for just

an hour, or talk with their parents, it can help clear the confusion.”

In fact, kids whose families cuss retirement planning with them seem to be better prepared for the

dis-future A report by the FINRA Investor Educa-tion Foundation and the CFA Institute found that

50 percent of als with taxable invest-ment accounts reported their parents had talked

millenni-to them about investing before they were 18

So even if Vincent’s advice hasn’t yet fully resonated with Emer-ald, their open dialogue around the topic has the potential to benefit them all in the long term

So what’s next? erald hopes retirement conversations with people her age will become sim-pler and more relatable Cherlyn plans

Em-on getting together with her father to

go over her asset allocation And cent is doing his best not to let market fluctuations shake him

Vin-“Everyone needs to be an active participant in his future,” Vincent says “Read as much as possible and prepare as best you can.”

copyright © 2019 by bankrate, llc reprinted with permission for more information visit bankrate.com, creditcards.com, and thepointsguy.com.

What is NUEDEXTA (dextromethorphan HBr and quinidine sulfate)

20 mg/10 mg capsules approved for?

• NUEDEXTA ® is approved for the treatment of PseudoBulbar Affect (PBA) PBA is a

medical condition that causes involuntary, sudden, and frequent episodes of crying and/or laughing in people living with certain neurologic conditions or brain injury PBA episodes are typically exaggerated or don’t match how the person feels PBA is distinct and

different from other types of emotional changes caused by neurologic disease or injury.

• NUEDEXTA is only available by prescription

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Before you take NUEDEXTA, tell your doctor:

• If you are taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), quinidine, or quinidine-related drugs These can interact with NUEDEXTA causing serious side effects MAOIs cannot be taken within 14 days before or after taking NUEDEXTA

• If you have previously had an allergic reaction to dextromethorphan, quinidine or

quinidine-like drugs

• About all medicines, herbal supplements, and vitamins you take as NUEDEXTA and

certain other medicines can interact causing side effects.

• If you have had heart disease or have a family history of heart rhythm problems

NUEDEXTA may cause serious side effects, including changes in heart rhythm If you have certain heart problems, NUEDEXTA may not be right for you Your doctor may test your heart rhythm (heartbeats) before you start NUEDEXTA.

• If you have myasthenia gravis

While taking NUEDEXTA, call your doctor right away:

• If you feel faint or lose consciousness.

• If you experience lightheadedness, chills, fever, nausea, or vomiting as these may be signs of an allergic reaction to NUEDEXTA Hepatitis has been seen in patients taking quinidine, an ingredient in NUEDEXTA.

• If you have unexplained bleeding or bruising Quinidine, an ingredient in NUEDEXTA, can cause a reduction in the number of platelets in your blood which can be severe and, if left untreated, can be fatal

• If you feel dizzy, since it may increase your risk of falling.

• If you have muscle twitching, confusion, high blood pressure, fever, restlessness,

sweating, or shivering, as these may be signs of a potential drug interaction called

serotonin syndrome.

The most common side effects of NUEDEXTAare diarrhea, dizziness, cough, vomiting, weakness, and swelling of feet and ankles This is not a complete list of side effects

Tell your doctor about any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA.

Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 800-FDA-1088.

See Important Facts on next page.

©2018 Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc All rights reserved AVANIR and NUEDEXTA are

trademarks or registered trademarks of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc in the United States and other countries MLR-NUE-US-0288-1118

Think you could have PBA?

Learn more at NUEDEXTA.COM

I learned that these unpredictable episodes could be symptoms of PBA, a condition that can be effectively treated with NUEDEXTA.

If you are bothered by sudden, frequent, uncontrollable episodes of crying and/or laughing that are exaggerated

or simply don’t match how you feel, you might have PBA (PseudoBulbar Affect) PBA can follow certain neurologic conditions or brain injury When these episodes occur, they can seem out of place and confusing

If you’re experiencing symptoms, talk to your doctor about the first and only FDA-approved treatment for PBA, NUEDEXTA

After

my STROKE,

I would find myself

CRYING UNCONTROLLABLY

for no reason.

It made me feel

MISUNDERSTOOD

ABOUT NUEDEXTA

• NUEDEXTA® is approved for the treatment of PseudoBulbar Affect (PBA) PBA is a

medical condition that causes involuntary, sudden, and frequent episodes of crying and/or laughing in people living with certain neurologic conditions or brain injury PBA episodes are typically exaggerated or don’t match how the person feels PBA is distinct and

different from other types of emotional changes caused by neurologic disease or injury

• NUEDEXTA is only available by prescription.

POSSIBLE COMMON SIDE EFFECTS OF NUEDEXTA

The most common side effects in patients taking NUEDEXTA were diarrhea, dizziness,

cough, vomiting, weakness and swelling of feet and ankles

• If you are unsteady on your feet or if you have fallen before, be careful while taking

NUEDEXTA to avoid falling

• This is not a complete list of side effects.

• Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away.

DO NOT TAKE NUEDEXTA IF YOU

• Are taking other drugs that contain

quinidine, quinine, or mefloquine

• Have a history of allergic reactions or

intolerance (including hepatitis, low blood

cell count, or lupus-like syndrome) to

quinidine, quinine, or mefloquine

• Have ever been allergic to

dextromethorphan (commonly found in

some cough medicines)

• Are taking, or have taken, drugs called

monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

MAOIs cannot be taken within 14 days

before or after taking NUEDEXTA

• Have had heart disease or have a family

history of heart rhythm problems

• Are taking drugs such as thioridazine and

pimozide that interact with NUEDEXTA

and cause changes in heart rhythm If you

have certain heart conditions or are taking

certain medicines, your doctor may test

your heart rhythm (heartbeats) before you

start NUEDEXTA

NUEDEXTA MAY CAUSE SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS

• Stop NUEDEXTA if these side effects occur:

Symptoms including lightheadedness, chills, fever, nausea, or vomiting may

be a sign of an allergic reaction, or thrombocytopenia which if left untreated can be fatal

Hepatitis has been seen in patients taking quinidine, an ingredient in NUEDEXTA.Abnormal heart rhythm Stop NUEDEXTA and tell your doctor immediately as it may

be a sign of Torsades de Pointes

• In some cases NUEDEXTA can interact

with antidepressants causing confusion, high blood pressure, fever, restlessness, sweating, and shivering Tell your doctor if you experience any of these side effects

• Tell your doctor if you’ve ever been

diagnosed with myasthenia gravis If so, NUEDEXTA may not be right for you

IMPORTANT FACTS

(Pronounced: new-DEX-tuh)

TAKING NUEDEXTA ALONG WITH OTHER MEDICATIONS

• Tell your doctor about all medicines, supplements, and vitamins you take before

starting NUEDEXTA.

• NUEDEXTA may interact with other medications causing potentially serious side-effects,

and may affect the way NUEDEXTA or these other medicines work Your doctor may adjust the dose of these medicines if used together with NUEDEXTA:

Antidepressants

Certain heart or blood pressure medications Your doctor may test your heart rhythm before you start NUEDEXTA

Digoxin

Alcohol Limit alcohol intake while taking NUEDEXTA

These are not the only medicines that may cause problems when you take NUEDEXTA.

• Before starting a new medicine, remind your doctor if you are taking NUEDEXTA.

ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• If your PBA symptoms do not improve or if they get worse, contact your

healthcare provider.

• NUEDEXTA has not been studied in patients less than age 18 or in pregnant women

Tell your doctor if you may be pregnant

• Nursing mothers: Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, discuss with your

healthcare provider if you are nursing

• Take NUEDEXTA exactly as your doctor prescribes it.

• You and your healthcare provider should talk regularly about whether you still need

treatment with NUEDEXTA

• NUEDEXTA may be taken with or without food.

• Keep NUEDEXTA and all medicines out of reach of children.

• The need for continued treatment should be reassessed periodically, as spontaneous

improvement of PBA occurs in some patients

NEED MORE INFORMATION?

This information about NUEDEXTA is important but is not

complete To learn more:

• Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist

• Visit www.Nuedexta.com for FDA-approved Prescribing

Information or call 1-855-4NUEDEX (1-855-468-3339)

Marketed by Avanir® Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

©2016 Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc All rights reserved.

AVANIR and NUEDEXTA are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc in the

United States and other countries NUE-0445-OTH-1116 Rev Date Nov 2016

NEED PRESCRIPTION ASSISTANCE?

• Call 1-855-4NUEDEX

(1-855-468-3339) to speak with a member of our support team for tips, tools and co-pay information

*From RD.com reporting

1

Book a Cruise ASAP

travel March is the last month of what the industry calls “wave

season.” Cruise lines want to sell as many cabins as possible, so they often throw in upgrades and amenities such as free excursions.

A FIX

9 ways to

Improve Your Life*

Sit Comfortably in Any Chair

healthThe problem with most chairs is that they’re too soft or too deep That forces your lower back into

a slouched, C-shaped position, which can lead to pain Jean Couch, founder

of Spinefulness and the Balance Center, has a trick

4

Don’t Let Your Leather Weather

organizing Extreme temperatures will cause leather jackets and shoes to lose moisture and crack When putting away your seasonal belongings, keep them in your climate-controlled home or storage unit rather than in the garage or basement

2

Remove Water

Stains from Wood

cleaning Did your most

recent party leave you

with rings on your wood

furniture? To make

them disappear, apply

petroleum jelly and let

it sit overnight In the

morning, wipe the marks

away with the jelly

3

Get Rid of Drain

Flies

home “Unused drains

create a slimy film that

creates an ideal breeding

spot for drain flies,” says

Brad Smith, president

of Preferred Pest Control

Also sometimes called

sink moths, drain flies are

harmless to humans, but

they are unsightly and

can multiply quickly To

get rid of them, boil a pot

of water and pour it down

the drain, then scrub it

with a metal pipe brush

Follow up with more

boiling water one or two

times a day for a week

to help your posture:

Roll a sweater, blanket, pillow, or towel into a makeshift wedge and place it in the middle of your chair Then sit on the front part of the wedge with your legs at

a 120-degree angle (not 90 degrees) This will help tip your pelvis forward and let your knees sit comfortably below your thighs

Teach the Leash

pets Think you have a headstrong dog when you’re

out for a walk? Most dogs are like that “Dogs have an

opposition reflex You pull back; they pull forward,”

says Russell Hartstein, a certified dog behaviorist and

trainer The way to train your pet to go with your flow

is to start by taking him or her on a distraction-free

walk The best place to do that: inside your house

“After your dog has successfully walked next to you

on the leash in your home, advance to the backyard,

then a few houses down, and so on,” Hartstein says

8

Get a Key Chain Remote for Your Garage

auto A thief who breaks into your car can grab the remote for easy access to your garage This isn’t a problem only when you’re parked in the driveway;

the registration card in your glove box gives away your address So get rid

of the remote on your visor and buy a key chain re-mote, which you can easily take with you every time you leave the car You’ll find universal remotes online from about $20

of transportation to your volunteer location is tax deductible—you can use the standard 14 cents per mile Out-of-pocket costs are deductible too Just be sure to keep accurate records

unplugging your laptop

can help save its battery

The capacity of the lithium

ion batteries most laptops

use diminishes slightly

with each charging cycle,

so keeping it plugged in

when you don’t need to degrades its capacity more quickly Aim to keep the charge between 50 and 80 percent A good strategy? Plug your lap-top in first thing in the morning, recommends Tim Katsch, former vice president of iDropped

Once it’s charged, unplug

it for the rest of the day

The same applies to your smartphone battery

One in six deaths worldwide is from can-cer, yet research shows that at least 42 percent

of cancers could be prevented Along with healthy eating and not smoking, add these habits to your list of ways to lower your risk

1Wear a hat A

wide-brimmed hat gives your face an added layer of protection on top of your sunscreen

It also covers the back

of your neck and your scalp, where many people forget to apply lotion A University

of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that people with mela-nomas on the scalp or neck die at almost twice the rate of people with skin cancer on other parts of their bodies

2Consider taking

baby aspirin.

Research shows

it may protect you from

as many as ten different cancers, including liver, lung, and prostate can-cer In a recent study, women who took a

low-dose aspirin

regu-larly had a 23 percent

lower risk of ovarian

cancer Some studies,

though, have shown

that for certain people,

aspirin is not as

effec-tive as originally

thought in protecting

against other diseases

Because aspirin can

cause bleeding issues,

ask your doctor whether

it’s right for you

3Indulge in a

daily cup of joe.

A 2017 review of

the evidence indicates

that drinking just one

cup of coffee—either

decaf or regular—every

day could lower your

risk of several types of

cancer, especially liver

and endometrial

can-cer Scientists think this

may be due to the phyto-

that high levels of

expo-sure to artificial light

at night—especially the

blue light emitted by cell phones, TVs, and tablets—may boost your risk of breast and prostate cancer

Light disrupts circadian rhythms, which may weaken your body’s immune function The science is evolving, but you might want to limit your electronics usage

in the evening or use

a blue-light filter such

as the Night Shift setting

on most Apple devices

5Check your home

for radon. This gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, and as many as

1 out of every 15 homes has unsafe levels Radon comes from the natural breakdown of uranium

in the ground under your house, and it’s just

as likely to be a problem

in newer homes as in older ones Because radon is odorless and colorless, a test is the only way to know your risk Pick up a test kit

at the hardware store,

or hire a professional

to check your home

Repeat at least every two to three years

6Spend less time

sitting. According

to a large-scale study published in the

Journal of the National Cancer Institute, people

who sat more hours during the day had a

24 percent increased risk of colon cancer and

a 32 percent increased risk of endometrial cancer compared with those who sat the least The connection held true even for those who were physically active, indicating that exercise alone is not enough to offset the risks of too much sitting

7Get screened for

hepatitis C. tis C is the most commonly reported blood-borne infection

Hepati-in the United States Yet carriers often don’t know they have the virus, because it has no obvious symptoms For reasons not entirely understood, baby boomers are five times more likely to have the

rd.com 33

Reader’s Digest

virus than other adults,

so it’s especially

impor-tant to be tested if you

were born between

1945 and 1965 “We

can cure hepatitis C,”

says Anna Giuliano,

PhD, an epidemiologist

at the Moffitt Cancer

Center “But if you don’t

get screened and it

pro-gresses to liver disease,

your risk for liver

cancer is very high.”

8Cut out alcohol.

Alcohol has been

classified as a

known carcinogen

and has been linked

to at least seven types

of cancer While some

researchers say alcohol

in moderation is OK,

a 2018 study that looked

at connections between

alcohol and different

types of cancer suggests

that no amount is safe

9Rethink that ham

The food industry has responded with new nitrate-free deli meats and bacons, but there’s

no evidence that they are any better than tra-ditional varieties

10Get the HPV

shot This cination pre-vents up to six types of HPV cancers The shot was originally recom-mended just for young people, but recently the FDA approved it for everyone under age 45

vac-11Question the

need for a CT scan

CT scans are portant diagnostic tools, but research shows they are overused Each blast

im-of radiation can damage DNA and may cause tumors later in life In one study, researchers predicted that nearly

2 percent of all future cancers in the United States might be caused

by CT scans While the association appears to

be slight, if your doctor

suggests a CT scan, ask whether it’s possible to try another type of im-aging tool that doesn’t use radiation, such as

coauthor of Anticancer

Living BPA has gotten the most attention, but some BPA-free products contain a chemical called BPS that is also believed to be harmful

13Don’t count on

vitamin D.

Although ous research had sug-gested a link between lower levels of the pop-ular supplement and cancer, a clinical trial published in late 2018 found that taking vita-min D did not help pre-vent the disease (But it

previ-is still important for bone health.)

34 april 2019 | rd.com

PUT TWO & TWO

TOGETHER

and you could save

Have GEICO car insurance? Get home insurance through the GEICO Insurance Agency and you could get a

ѴঞŊoѴb17bv1om|.

Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states, in all GEICO companies, or in all situations Homeowners, renters and condo coverages are written through non-affiliated insurance companies and are secured through the GEICO Insurance Agency, Inc GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc subsidiary © 2019 GEICO

The Doctor Is

In(sane!)

By Simon Rich

from the book hits and misses

Getting medical treatment is never fun, except on April 1

dr #1: You wanted to see me, sir?

dr #2: Yes, Dr Metzger I’m afraid I’ve

got some bad news I’ve been receiving

complaints from your patients, and I’ve

decided I can’t allow you to make April

Fools’ jokes this year

Oh my God

I know you’re disappointed, but my

mind is made up

What about the one where I tell the

patient I’m out of anesthetic?

No

What about the one where I put on a

janitor’s outfit, grab a scalpel, and

walk into the operating room just as

my patient loses consciousness? So

he thinks he’s about to be operated

on by a janitor?

No

What about the one where the

pa-tient wakes up after his operation

and I start shouting, “Where’s my

stethoscope? Where did I leave my

stethoscope?” And then I stare at the patient’s torso with a look of horror, like I maybe left it inside his body?

No

You can’t do this to me! April Fools’ Day is the highlight of my year It’s the only reason I finished medical school—to experience the holiday as

a doctor

I’m sorry, Sam, but my hands are tied

What about the one where the tient wakes up and I’m wearing a robot costume, so he thinks he’s been in a coma for 80 years? And I’m like, “Welcome to the future, Mr Greenbaum The world you remem-ber is gone.” You know, in a robot voice So he thinks I’m a robot

pa-I get it The answer is still no

How can you be so cruel? I mean, for God’s sake, what happened to the Hippocratic oath?

“First do no harm”?

36 april 2019

DEPARTMENT OF WIT

Reader’s Digest

I know where you’re going with this.

to imply, like, maybe I operated on the wrong kidney? Like, maybe I did the left one instead of the right one because I don’t know the difference between my—

No

At least let me workshop it!

I’m sorry, Sam, but my decision is final

(Pause)

April fool!

No way!

I can’t believe you bought that!

Man, you got me good! Guess that’s why you’re the head of surgery

Pass me my robot mask It’s time to make the rounds

That’s how it goes?

Yes

You sure it wasn’t something about

April Fools’?

Yes

What about the one where I tell the

patient his kidney operation was a

grand success, but then, while I’m

talking to him, I have an intern come

in and say, “Dr Metzger, you’ve got

some dirt on your left shoulder”? And

I start to brush my right shoulder And

the intern’s like, “No, your left

shoul-der.” And I’m like, “This is my left

shoulder.” And he’s like, “No, it’s your

right shoulder What’s the matter with

you, Dr Metzger? Don’t you know

your left from your right?” And then

we both look at the patient’s torso

with a look of horror, to imply, like

from the book hits and misses by simon rich

copyright © 2018 by simon rich reprinted by permission of little, brown and company

all rights reserved.

rd.com 37

illustration by Istvan Banyai