MGordon_MD
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Apr 9, 2009, 8:24 AM
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By Dr. Michael Gordon
My favorite spring and summer recreational pastime is cycling. I am not a great cyclist - perhaps I should say serious bicycle riding – on a good morning I might cycle 30-40 kilometers - preferably on cycle paths - I do not like cycling in traffic.
On a recent outing on Toronto’s Don Valley cycle path, where one can get to the fashionable Beaches from suburban North York with almost no exposure to traffic, I was struck by the number of older cyclists on the path, which for a geriatrician like me was very satisfying.
But, there was something that stood out quite dramatically - many of them were not wearing helmets. The first few that passed I thought, “An anomaly – they should know better - maybe I should stop them and give them some unsolicited advice.”
I reconsidered and realized that such a move would likely not be welcome – it did not matter that I was a geriatric medicine specialist - this was a matter of ‘choice’ or so it would seem.
But as more and more rode by I wondered what was going on. Of interest was most of the un-helmeted cyclists were wearing sun protective hats - some quite elaborate affairs with wide brims- others the more durable Tilley types. I was willing to bet they had all slathered on sun screen to protect their aging skin from the wrath of the sun’s rays and had bottles of water to protect them from the dreaded dehydration.
It made me think about how people look at the idea of risk. In my office practice I often have patients and their families ask me at side effects and risk from medications that I am recommending for some medical condition, one which may be serious or disabling, and for which a medication holds a reasonable promise of benefit. Sometimes the drug although not life-saving can have a profound beneficial impact on the condition - sometimes it is a surgical procedure in question - one that might relieve serious symptoms or prevent some awful event such as a bowel obstruction.
Understandably the issue of risk of treatment often comes up and I try and alleviate anxiety and fear by presenting the benefits and risks in an equation that shows the balance to be on the side of treatment. For most people it works.
With that intrinsic concern about avoiding harm I wonder what kind of “blanking out” would an informed senior have to do to get on a bicycle without a helmet. We are not talking about an unusual procedure – most of the people on the path were wearing helmets. The fact that a previous premier of Ontario rescinded a law requiring helmets based on some principle of individual choice is besides the point - most people understand the law related to seat belts is in place as part of public safety policy. Maybe older people assume that because they used to cycle without a helmet when they were younger or they are not ‘racing’ it doesn’t matter. I know that it does professionally and personally.
Some years ago while cycling on the same Don cycle path I took a sharp turn over a bridge – a turn I had taken hundreds of times previously – but with a small amount of rain that had fallen my wheel skidded and I went head first into the steel and wood railing. I was stunned – my helmet was cracked and I escaped what likely would have been a serious head injury. The message - at every age wear a helmet when cycling for you and your family’s sake!
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Dr. Michael Gordon is Medical Program Director, Palliative Care Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System in Toronto, Canada and Professor of Medicine, at the University of Toronto. He is co-author with Bart Mindszenthy of Parenting Your Parents.
Parenting Your Parents is available in bookstores and online at: Indigo-Chapters, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It is available in a US edition: Parenting Your Parents: Support Strategies for Meeting the Challenge of Aging in America.
For bulk orders email info@dundurn.com. Call: 416-214-5544 or Fax: 416-214-5556
Dr. Gordon is the author of the engaging memoir Brooklyn Beginnings: A Geriatrician's Odyssey, published by I-Universe.
Brooklyn Beginnings is available in bookstores and online at: Indigo-Chapters, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and I-Universe
Visit Dr. Michael Gordon's website.
(This post was edited by MGordon_MD on Apr 9, 2009, 8:44 AM)
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