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MMH 2015 Health FairSaturday, February 28

Montrose Pavilion6:30 am – 12:00 noon

Blood Tests, Health Information and ScreeningsNo Appointments Necessary

MONTROSEM E M O R I A L H O S P I T A L

800 South Third Street, Montrose, CO 81401

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M o n t r o s e H o s p i t a l . c o m

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 VOL. 2, ISSUE 2

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Tips to get the entire family on board with a healthier lifestylePage 3

VALLEY HEALTHMONTROSE PRESS

HEALING POWER OF

LOVEA happy marriage can lead to a healthier life. Married people actually

have fewer visits to the doctor’s offi ce and shorter average stays

in the hospital

ALSO:• Depression

can be caused by

cloudy skies

• Get the lowdown on LASIK

surgery

• The positive

effects of berberine

WHOLE FAMILY HEALTH

Valley HealtHPublisher

Vincent Laboy

Managing editorJustin Joiner

advertising directorDennis Anderson

For advertising information, contact Dennis anderson at 252-7022

or via email at dennisa@montrosepress.com

Valley Health is a publication of the Montrose Press. It publishes monthly on the first Friday.

If you have a health-related news tip, contact Justin Joiner, managing editor, at editor@montrosepress.com.

a publication of the Montrose press

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www.Montrose.Hamptonlnn.com 970-252-3300 Next to the Airport

EXCELLENCE. GUARANTEED.

and compassionate, always eager to lend a helping hand.

We are

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Dear pharmacist

Berberine lowers blood glucose.

Thirty-two Colorado hospitals and health systems, including Montrose Memorial Hospital, participated in a three-year quality improvement project led by the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA), which prevent-ed 2,800 patient harms for an estimated cost savings of $14.8 mil-lion. The results are based on data collected from these hospitals from January 2012 through June 2014. The project is part of a nationwide initia-tive created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) called the Part-nerships for Patients (PfP).

Our hospital has seen success in decreasing adverse drug events, pressure ulcers, blood stream infections, surgical site infec-tions and preventable hospital readmissions within 30 days. This means that patients at MMH are less likely to develop an infection from surgery, experience a medi-cation error or have a return to the hospital for additional care within 30 days. Our physicians and staff work together to study “best practices” and implement new and proven ways to help achieve the

best possible outcomes. In addition, MMH’s Pharmacy

and Therapeutics (P&T) Com-mittee received the 2014 Michael

J. Skolnik Award for Patient Safety regarding “the outstanding work they have accomplished in improving care and reducing risk of harm for our Colorado com-munity.” This award was presented at the October 2014 Patient Safety & Leadership Congress sponsored by CHA and CMS (Colorado Medical Society). By system-atically tracking and trending prescribing er-rors, providing targeted education, furnishing quarterly reports to

providers and fostering strong collaboration between clinicians and pharmacists, MMH was able to significantly decrease prescribing error occurrences.

“Promoting a patient-centered culture of safety, quality and cus-tomer service continue to be top priorities at Montrose Memorial Hospital. We are proud of the work we have done and continue to do around patient safety” says Joan Napolilli, chief nursing officer.

Leann Tobin is the director of marketing and public relations for Montrose Memorial Hospital. l

Hospital Happenings

Leann TobinMontrose Memorial Hospital

Berberine offers hope for diabetes, more“Dear Suzy,

Five years ago this month I was to ER for emergency surgery….. Hernia cut off my colon…anyway after a year of surgeries and pain I was told I had diabetes 2 devastate me after all I had gone through &survived. I was depressed & scared One day by some miracle I ran across your book! I have read at least 50 times!!! I have by lived by it for the last two years!

Results: I have lost my 100 lbs …no longer have acid reflux and this week my doctor took me off my metformin diabetic pills & said I no longer need them!!!!!

Thank you for my life!’ ~ Janet W.Her note brought me to tears!

Tears of joy for her, tears of sad-ness for those of you who remain misdiagnosed, undiagnosed or treated inappropriately. It made me really think about HOW doc-tors treat diabetes today, and it brought back a charged memory of “Dottie” a woman in one of my Gainesville Florida nursing homes, who had no arms or legs. Unimaginable and heart-wrench-ing, the visual is still fresh in my mind 20 years later.

I consider myself a foodie and would never want to give up traditional desserts and pasta, bagels and muffins. That said, if my blood sugar was elevated I would be highly motivated to alter my diet and try natural remedies before prescription drugs or shots. Twenty nine million people in the United States now have Type 2 diabetes and one in three adults have pre-diabetes, blood sugar lev-els higher than “normal,” but not quite high enough to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Having pre-diabetes puts you on the fast track to getting full-blown Type 2 diabetes within five years. Com-plications include severe nerve pain, heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, stroke, or amputation of the toes, feet, or legs. Most peo-

ple don’t know they have diabetes for about 10 years, because they are not tested correctly! You don’t just wake up with diabetes one day, you develop it silently. It’s too bad most people are tested improp-erly (but I can tell you what to do before it’s too late and the damage is done). Read this article to learn how to test properly.

We know that meal choices mat-ter. We also know that exercising works. The big deal is how low thyroid is the number one missed cause for diabetes. I discuss that in my book, Diabetes Without Drugs. As a pharmacist, I’m aware of the side effects and interactions asso-ciated with medications, so today I’m going to spotlight berberine.

Berberine is a compound that scientists extract from the Oregon Grape plant which is the state flower for Oregon in the United States. It grows beautiful yellow flowers and blue grapes (but not the kind of grapes you are think-ing of, these are different).

Medicinal uses of berberine have been documented in China since 3000 BC. More recently, there are scientific papers to show all kinds of cool things! Like how berberine lowers blood glucose (sugar) as effectively as metformin, a popular prescription medicine for diabetes. Doesn’t that just blow your mind?! Berberine is just as effective as this strong medicine, but without as many side effects. That gets my atten-tion. A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Me-tabolism in 2008 found that berber-ine caused a significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and improved cholesterol ratios. In this particular study, 1,000 mg was administered as the total daily dose. Another study (animal) sug-gests that berberine can prevent pre-diabetes from developing.

Suzy Cohen, RPh has been a pharmacist for 26 years. l

Patient safety top priority at MMH

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Marcela Abuid, MDBoard Certified

Sara Knutson, MDBoard Certified

Two of the Most Qualified Pulmonologists on the Western Slope.

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BY DAVE SEGALIf you are near-sighted, far-sight-

ed, or have an astigmatism, a type of eye surgery called LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) might be useful to you; of course, you’ll need to see an ophthalmolo-gist to find out.

The basic concept behind LASIK is for the eye surgeon to use a laser (and other instruments) to reshape your eye’s cornea to sharpen your vision. If successful, this can eliminate the need for eye glasses

or contact lenses for a while.The procedure has been per-

formed millions of times around the world. According to a study by the British National Health Ser-vice, “current evidence suggests that photorefractive (laser) sur-gery for the correction of refrac-tive errors is safe and efficacious for use in appropriately selected patients. Clinicians undertaking photorefractive (laser) surgery for the correction of refractive er-rors should ensure that patients

understand the benefits and po-tential risks of the procedure. Risks include failure to achieve the expected improvement in unaided vision, development of new visual disturbances, corneal infection and complications. These risks should be weighed against those of wear-ing spectacles or contact lenses.”

Meanwile, our own FDA has stated: “The safety and effective-ness of refractive procedures has not been determined in patients with some diseases.”

On the other hand, the vast ma-jority of patients are satisfied with their outcomes. Various surveys report patient satisfaction rates of 92 to 98 percent.

Dissatisfied patients have report-ed problems including new visual symptoms, such as seeing a halo around objects, glare and dry eyes.

LASIK surgery is normally quick and painless, according to Dr. Bri-an Boxer-Wachler, of the website All About Vision (www.allaboutvi-sion.com.

THE LOWDOWN ON LASIKCOURTESY ILLUSTRATION

LASIK surgery can eliminate the need for glasses in many patients.

Tips for families to get healthier together

(StatePoint) — Want your kids to eat right and get moving more? With childhood obesity being a major problem in this country, this sentiment is top of mind for many parents and guardians. But you have more power than you may realize to steer them in the right direction, say experts.

Parents have more potential than anybody else to influence their children’s behavior, according to a study by the Academy of Nutri-tion and Dietetics. In fact, parents outrank sports celebrities as the people most children would most like to be, according to the survey.

SETTING REALISTIC GOALSSmall steps add up. Make healthy

lifestyle changes that are realistic and easy to stick with for the long-haul. Try adopting healthy chang-es for the entire family, such as:

• Make sure your kids know

they are part of the team and that health and fitness are a family af-fair.

• Encourage children to help plan meals — from developing the menu to shopping to preparing and serv-ing the meal.

• Serve regular, balanced meals and snacks with a variety of nutrient-rich foods.

• Eat breakfast daily.• Enjoy family dinner together

each night or as often as possible.• At each meal, fill half your plate

with fruits and vegetables.• Make at least half of the grains

you eat whole grains.• Get active. Incorporate physical

activity where you can in your day, whether taking a family walk after dinner or hitting the gym. Remem-ber, children and teens should get at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day, and adults should get two and a half hours per week.

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Cloudy skies and a blue mood

by Dave SegalDo the gray skies of winter always make

you feel blue? If so, you might have sea-sonal affective disorder, a weather-related form of depression.

The American Psychiatric Association reports that SAD symptoms often begin in autumn, peak in winter, dissipate in spring and go into total remission in sum-mer. January and February are usually the worst months.

The amount of sunlight you receive is a key component of SAD, according to the APA.

“Symptoms usually appear during the colder months of fall and winter, when there is less exposure to sunlight during the day. Depression symptoms can be mild to moderate, but they can become severe,” according to the organization’s website at www.psychiatry.org/seasonal-affective-disorder.

Symptoms aren’t totally tied to seasons in some cases; for example, people who work inside office buildings with few win-dows may suffer from SAD any time of year. Others may find that a long stretch of cloudy weather in the summer can trig-ger depression.

SAD has a variety of symptoms, includ-ing:

• Loss of interest in things you’d nor-mally enjoy

• Fatigue• Carbohydrate cravings• Weight gain• Withdrawal from friends and familySAD sufferers don’t necessarily struggle

with every symptom. For example, you might experience an intense need for foods loaded with carbs, but your energy level could be perfectly normal.

Some people even experience SAD dur-ing months that are sunny, rather than dreary, according to the APA.

“In a small number of cases, annual relapse occurs in the summer instead of the fall and winter, possibly in response to high heat and humidity. During this period, the depression is more likely to be characterized by insomnia, decreased appetite, weight loss, and agitation or anxiety.”

SAD can start at any age, but it typically begins between the ages of 18 and 30.

So how does a person get SAD in the first place? Well, researchers have found that the disorder is connected to a bio-chemical imbalance in the brain which is triggered by lower amounts of sunlight in winter. Scientists have found that reduced sunlight affects the seasonal activities of animals, and they think that it might af-fect some people in the same way.

“As seasons change, people experience a shift in their biological internal clock, or circadian rhythm, that can cause them to be out of step with their daily schedule,” according to the APA.

Fortunately, SAD isn’t too hard to treat. Just get more sunlight. Long walks can help. So can re-arranging your office or home so that you are near a window dur-ing the day. Another effective treatment option is light therapy (phototherapy), us-ing a very bright flourescent lamp for 30 to 90 minutes a day in the winter; scientists have found that bright light makes a posi-tive difference to human brain chemistry.

Psychotherapy and antidepressants might help, too.

If you suspect that you might have SAD, get to a doctor soon, especially if the depression is severe and includes suicidal thoughts.

Seasonal affective disorder can have you feeling down

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(970) 249-2077

646 South 1st StreetMontrose, CO 81401

www.blossdentalcare.comsmile@blossdentalcare.com

Call for an appointment today! We look forward to meeting you!

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Our professional team of nurses, therapists, certified home health aides and personal care providers will help patients and their caregivers regain and maintain their independence at home!

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MONTROSE AREA947 South Fift h StreetMontrose, CO 81401970-249-2421970-249-8897 fax

DELTA AREA242 Cott onwood Street #101Delta, CO 81416970-874-7552970-874-7554 fax

Compassion. Quality. Care.When your child is in need, we will be there.

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629 East Star Court • Montrose, CO 81401 • 970-249-3330 www.HansenAndAmundson.com

Dr. PeterB. Amundson

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Over 40 years of combined experience.

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The right dietary choices can not only improve your health but the environment as well. But urbaniza-tion and increasingly busy sched-ules force many people to seek the most convenient, and not necessar-ily the healthiest, foods.

The growing reliance on pro-cessed foods may be hurting humans and the planet they call home. Processed foods tend to be loaded with starches and preserva-tives, increasing consumers’ risk of diabetes and being obese. In addition, many prepackaged foods are shipped from faraway process-ing plants, and vast amounts of fuel must be consumed for prod-ucts to get from those plants to local grocery stores.

But subtle shifts in dietary habits and trends can decrease mortality rates and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions resulting from food production. Adopting alternative diets that feature a higher ratio of fish, whole grains and locally grown produce can greatly reduce

an individual’s carbon footprint. The “New Nordic Diet” is one

example of a growing dietary trend that has the potential to improve the health of humans and the environment. So says Henrik Saxe, an associate professor who special-izes in sustainability at Copenha-gen University. Researchers found a reduction in greenhouse gases of at least 6 percent with the New Nordic Diet, as compared to typical diets in Denmark.

The following are a few ways average men and women can eat to promote their own health while simultaneously protecting the environment.

• Adopt climate-friendly eating habits that rely on more domestic, in-season foods.

• Cut down on meat consumption.• Eat organic foods as much as

possible.• Avoid seafood harvested from

fish farms which can negatively impact your own health and ma-rine life.

Top books for heaLThy Living

‘THE CREATIVE

AGE’By Gene D. Cohen,

M.D., Ph.D.Combining age,

experiences and creativity Dr. Cohen explains how inner growth can reward the aging population when they take responsibility for making needed changes in diet, social contacts and community involvement.

He explains that sleep disorders can be eliminated by stimulating the brain and is not an inevitable part of aging. Vocabulary can expand well into the 80s by reading, writing and doing word games.

‘SEVEN STRATEGIES

FOR POSITIVE AGING’

By Robert D. Hill, Ph.D.Learn successful

ways to develop positive aging skills from a researcher who says “positive agers” can be found everywhere and come from people in all walks of life. Seniors can find satisfaction, emotional health and rewarding experiences by reaching out in the community if they choose to, which helps one to age well.

Hill focuses on dealing with grief, forgiveness, volunteering and being grateful to make later years rewarding and positive.

‘LIFE GETS BETTER’

By Wendy LustbaderBy looking back

on life’s lessons the later years can be an emotionally and gratifying time of life.

Filled with first-person stories by seniors in all walks of life the author tells how her subjects primarily spoke of mental and emotional richness and satisfaction in their later years.

Aging people were happier, more courageous and more interested in being true to themselves than when they were young.

‘Reflexology’By Walter Evans

This book helps those new to reflexology learn the benefits of the practice, how to perform calculated pressure techniques on the hands and feet designed to get rid of some pain-related disorders. The books highlights which parts of your hands, feet and ears need to be treated and which organs they correspond to.

‘Eat to Live Cookbook’By Joel Fuhrman

The book identifies delicious food that you can eat to help you lose weight without going hungry. The author is a board-certified family physician, a New York Times bestselling author and a nutritional research who specializes in preventing disease through nutritional and natural methods.

How a healthy diet helps the environment

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by Dave SegalThe body mass index is a

simple mathematical tool used by doctors and insur-ance companies to deter-mine whether your weight is appropriate for your height.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “BMI is a fairly reliable indicator for body fatness for most people.”

Notice that they call it “fairly reliable,” not “abso-lutely certain.”

First, let’s look at how the BMI is calculated. The easiest way is to find a BMI calculator online, such at the CDC or AARP websites.

Despite the fairly strong correlation between the BMI and how much body fat you actually have, there are some deviations based on age, sex and race. The CDC reports that:

• Older people, in general, tend to have more body fat than younger adults, even if they have the same BMI.

• Women tend to have more body fat than men, even if their BMIs are identical.

• Hard-bodied athletes may have high BMIs, but low actual body fat levels, due to being muscular; the BMI can’t differentiate between muscle and fat content.

You also need to keep in mind that the BMI is just one factor in determining your risk of weight-related illness. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says two other factors should be considered:

• The individual’s waist circumference (because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases).

• Other risk factors the individual has for diseases and conditions associated with obesity (for example, high blood pressure or

physical inactivity).Your physical health isn’t

the only thing you put at risk by a high BMI; it can hurt your financial health,

too. In 2013, health insur-ance premiums for Ameri-cans in the “obese” cat-egory averaged 22 percent more than those who had a

“normal” BMI, according to eHealthInsurance.com.

Also, it may actually be slightly more dangerous to be underweight than

overweight. Researchers in Toronto have found a link between a low BMI (18.5 or below) and fatalities from any cause, according to the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.

Scientists found that underweight patients were 1.8 times more likely to die than those with a normal BMI. In contrast, people with an obese BMI (between 30 and 34.9) were 1.2 percent more at risk for fatalities than those in the “normal” BMI range. Severely obese patients, with a BMI over 35, had a 1.3 times higher death rate.

The underweight patients suffered from “malnour-ishment, drug or alcohol use, smoking, poverty and mental health issues.”

examining the body mass index scaleBMI CATEGORIES

Less than 18.5 underweight

18.5-24.9 normal

25-29.9 overweight

30 or more obese

(StatePoint) — While formal edu-cation may not begin until age five, those years preceding classroom learning are crucial to brain de-velopment. You can get your child started on the right path early on by encouraging learning whenever possible.

SING A SONGSimple songs can be a fun and

helpful way to reinforce basic concepts like numbers, letters and animals. Sing with your little one in the car, or when you have free time at home. Great choices include “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” “The Alphabet Song,” and “The Wheels on the Bus.”

COLORFuL BOOkS“Books for young children should

also be learning tools that help build vocabulary and language

skills,” says Sophie Mitchell, pre-school publisher at DK Publishing.

For newborns, Mitchell recom-mends books that feature bright, bold colors and vivid patterns that are easy to hold, for sharing be-tween baby and parent.

BE ACTIVEBabies, toddlers and preschoolers

need lots of mental stimulation for brain development. Rather than simply sitting them in front of the television, take little trips that can foster questions and observations. Whether that be the playground, the zoo or even a run-of-the-mill trip to the grocery store, these expe-riences are crucial for early learn-ing. Talk to your child throughout the trip, pointing out things you see. When you get home, you can reinforce the real-world concepts with learning books.

Don’t wait until kindergarten to get the ball started on education.

Boost baby brain development

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Call Us at: (970) 249-4301

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by Dave SegalSome people think marriage is

old-fashioned and outmoded, but new scientific research points to the ancient institution’s lasting value. Scientists are finding strong links between healthy marriages and healthy bodies.

Humans are hard-wired for love; we need long-term, warm, mean-ingful relationships to survive and thrive. Good connections have excellent health pay-offs for us, but only in the long run. So-cial scientist Dr. Harry Reis told WebMD Health News that “There’s no evidence that the intense, pas-sionate stage of a new romance is beneficial to health. People who fall in love say it feels wonderful and agonizing at the same time.” The agony and the ecstasy can actually put your body under a lot of unhealthy stress.

However, a report by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Ser-vices has discovered that a happy marriage can seriously help your health. For example, the federal agency found that married people actually have fewer visits to the doctor’s office, and shorter average stays in the hospital.

Reis told WebMD that nobody has yet figured out exactly why this is true. “The best logic for this is that human beings have been crafted by evolution to live in closely knit social groups. When that is not happening, the biological systems get overwhelmed.”

Some researchers have theo-rized that good relationships inspire people to take good care of themselves. For example, having a spouse who tells you that your breath is bad can result in better oral hygiene.

The “happy marriage effect” also applies to some mental health issues, according to the Health and Human Services report. Scientists have shown that people who have successful marriages have reduced rates of depression, too; converse-ly, social isolation is closely tied to higher rates of depression, accord-ing to Reis. Another fascinating fact is that married people—espe-cially young adult couples—are less likely to drink too much or abuse drugs.

Marital bliss is even good for your blood pressure, according to a study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. Those scientists discovered that happily married couples had the healthiest blood pressure levels. Single people came in second, with unhappily married folks having the highest rates of hypertension.

Reis commented on that study to WebMD. “It’s marital quality

and not the fact of marriage that makes a difference,” he concluded.

A loving, stable marriage can also help keep your anxiety level low — much more so than a bud-ding new romance, according to

scientists at the State University of New York. Taking a remarkably unromantic approach to studying people in love, they ran functional MRI scans on the brains of some head-over-heels couples. Then,

they compared those scans with those done on people in healthy, long-term marriages. Both groups showed a lot of activity in a sec-tion of the brain associated with intense love—the dopamine re-ward area, which also lights up after people have done cocaine or won a lot of money. However, there was a major difference between the two groups in other sections of neurological geography, according to Dr. Arthur Aron, one of the lead researchers. He says that long-term marriages “also have activa-tion in the areas associated with bonding ... and less activation in the area that produces anxiety.”

A happy marriage might even contribute to reduced physical pain. Another fMRI study found that happily married couples had more activity in the part of the brain associated with pain control. Also, the Centers for Disease Con-trol has done a study of 127, 000 adults which found that married people were less likely to suffer from headaches and back pain.

Of course, loving support also makes it easier to deal with emo-tional pain. Aron says there is evidence linking love and stress management. “If you’re facing a stressor and you’ve got the support of someone who loves you, you can cope better,” he told WebMD. “If you lose your job, for example, it helps emotionally and financially if a partner is there to support you.”

In fact, all that love might help your immune system bulk up, too. People who are content and calm apparently have greater resistance to cold and flu viruses, according to scientists at Carnegie Mellon University.

And if you do get sick, or in-jured, being in a happy relation-ship might even help you heal faster. Ohio State University researchers gave blister wounds to married volunteers. The blisters reportedly healed about twice as fast in the spouses who were emo-tionally close, compared to those who had rocky relationships.

Of course, there is a significant body of research that shows that happily married people tend to live considerably longer than those who have never married. Nobody knows precisely why, but you can bet that love has a lot to do with it.

relationship between love and health “IT’S MARITAL quALITy AND NOT THE FACT OF MARRIAGE THAT MAkES A DIFFERENCE,”

SOCIAL SCIENTIST DR. HARRy REIS

Research shows happily married people tend to live longer than those who never married.