StemCell Therapy

Snow removal led to 100 deaths and 11,500 injuries that required a trip to the emergency room each year between 1990 and 2006, a study reports. USA TODAY

Winter is coming and many parts of the country have already been walloped with serious snow storms. But shoveling your drivewaycan be more than just a chore it can be hazardous and even lethal if you're not careful.

Snow removal ledto about 100 deaths and 11,500injuriesthat required a trip to the emergency room each year between 1990 and 2006,a study published in the peer-reviewedAmerican Journal of Emergency Medicine found. The most common injuries were soft tissue damage, the lower back was the most frequently damaged part of the body, and cardiac-related injuries were responsible for all of the 1,647 fatalities.

The true total of injuries and deaths may be much higher, according to Barry Franklin, director of preventative cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at William Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Michigan. Franklin begin researching the issue because two of his friends died suddenly after clearing snow.

"Its important that older people simply dont go out and shovel and clear heavy, wet snow," Franklin said. "Unfortunately, every year when youve got major snowfalls you hear of people who go out and die suddenly."

Here's what you need to know to stay safe while digging yourself out after a big snow storm:

Thanksgiving weather: Snow, wind could snarl travel in central, eastern USA as 55M clog roads, airports

If the forecast calls for a heavy snowfall over a long period of time, don't wait until it's over to pick up a shovel. Plan to clear the snow at least once while it's still falling and then again when the storm passes, Hope said.

If your driveway is far away from your house, Hope recommends starting in the middle of the driveway and working your way out until you've cleared a path wide enough for your car.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

If your driveway is very close to your house, Hope said to start at the edge closest to your home and go back in the opposite direction at the end of each pass, getting a little furtherfrom the house each time. If you're using a snowblower, turn the chute 180 degrees each time so that you're always throwing the snow away from the house.

Is fall dead?: Is this a blue norther? And other questions answered about the Arctic blast

"Thatll obviously protect windows and siding and anybody who may be inside near a window," he said. "But it also helps ensure that any snow thats not fully thrown out of the driveway will be caught on a subsequent pass."

When shoveling, don'tthrow the snow over your shoulder or to the side because that twisting motion will stress your back, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Try to push the snow instead of lifting it.

"If you must lift, squat with your legs apart, knees bent, and back straight. Lift with your legs. Do not bend at the waist," the group said in a release. "Holding a shovelful of snow with your arms outstretched puts too much weight on your spine."

Franklin also suggests taking frequent breaks to watch for heart attack warning signs and avoid putting too much stress on your heart. Although chest pain is the most common symptom, women are more likely to experience other symptoms including shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain, according to the American Heart Association.

"Any discomfort that comesfrom the belly button on up could be an angina equivalent and would signal that you should stop shoveling immediately," Franklin said.

If you live in an area that gets constantly hit with major snowstorms, it might be safer to invest in a snowblower, according to Paul Hope, Home and Appliances Writer at Consumer Reports.

"From an injury standpoint alone, if properly used (a snowblower) has the potential to be infinitely safer," Hope said. "If they live in a really snow-heavy region, theyre essentially putting themselves at a greater risk if theyre trying to skate by without a snowblower."

There are five or six different types of snowblowers that are categorized by power source (corded electric, battery or gas) and the amount of snow they can handle (single, two, or three stage). Stage 1 machines can clear about 9 inches of snow while stage 3 machines can clear up to 18 inches, he said.

If you're shoveling when the snow is light and fresh, Hope recommends using a wide, all-purpose, plastic snow shovel. But ifthe snow has had time to get wet and heavy, Hope suggestsusinga metal shovel with sides to help break up icy patches.

Driving in snow: Tips for driving in snow without being a dangerous jerk

Franklin said that those most at risk are 55and older, haveknown or suspected coronary artery disease, orhave one or more risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure)or a habitually sedentary lifestyle.

Snow shoveling is so dangerous because itincreases heart rate and blood pressure, Franklin explained, while exposure to the cold air decreases the flow of oxygenated blood to the heart.

"As George Clooney would say, 'It's a perfect storm'," he said.

Franklin saidthe average weight of a shovel full of heavy wet snow is 16 pounds, citing a small study he published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Themen hestudiedwere able to lift 12 times perminute for 10 minutes, moving nearly 2,000 pounds of snow.

"That's the weight of a mid-size car," he said. "To ask a 50-, 60-, 70-year-old to move 2,000 pounds in 10 minutes in cold environmental conditions with the wind blowing, its not surprising that this activity triggers heart attacks and sudden death each year."

Raking leaves again this fall?: Stop right now

Franklin said people over the age of 55 with known or suspected heart disease shouldn't shovel snow at all.

"Find a local kid in the neighborhood, hire a local plow," he suggested.

If you want to hire someone to plow your driveway, book that well in advance of the coming storm to avoid having to frantically shovel yourself out, Hope said.

"If youre caught in a big snow storm and you cant get somebody to come plow your driveway and youve only got a shovel, that sort of is a recipe for injury," he said.

If you have to shovel, Franklin said to avoid heavy meals, smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol both before and after clearing snow because that can put extra stress on your heart.

TheAmerican Academy of Orthopedic Surgeonsrecommends warming up your muscles for 10 minutes with light exercise before you begin shoveling. Wear layers to provide insulation as well as a hat, gloves that will keep your hands dry and shoes that have slip-resistant soles.

Snow shovels to space heaters: 23 things that will solve all your cold weather problems

Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/27/shoveling-snow-wrong-could-dangerous-heres-what-you-need-know/4190834002/

Here is the original post:
Are you shoveling your snow wrong? Here's what you need to know to stay safe this winter - USA TODAY

ARE you fed up with the usual suspects?

Fed up being unclear of what Labour stands for any more?

Fed up with the Liberal Democrats total disrespect for the popular vote?

Fed up with the old school club which the Conservatives have become?

The Liberal Party stands for an NHS focused on preventative medicine.

We stand for free vocational training and university tuition and for a de-politicised independent education commission.

We stand for reducing waste and promoting and massive investment in realistic sustainable energy solutions. We stand for reducing income tax in the lower bands, increasing inheritance tax and introducing land value tax (with reliefs for farmers).

We stand for a rural subsidy scheme based on practices which are economically sustainable, which safeguard the environment and enhance product quality.

We stand for abolishing corporation tax for start-ups. While strengthening intelligence and countering cybercrime, we oppose Trident and interventionist military actions abroad.

We believe in respecting the outcome of the referendum and seeing Brexit through. People who live in Bridgwater and West Somerset have so much to be proud of.

Lets use what weve got and promote ourselves and our products more and realise our potential as a vibrant economy that is attractive for people of all ages to live, work and visit.

Show the usual suspects that youre fed-up. Show them that its time for fresh, straight-forward, radical and truly Liberal reforms.

Vote for the Liberal Party this election!

Formerly the Theatre Manager at Strode Theatre, I am now the Exec Director of an International arts festival, and live in Chilton Polden.

I have experience in running businesses and charities, teaching and working with communities and stake-holders, having previously been an elected Councillor and worked in community-facing organisations.

Get in touch: email somersetliberals@gmail.com or call 0330 223 5773

Read more:
ELECTION PROFILE: Fares Moussa, The Liberal Party - This is The West Country

Medicine is medicine the world over, but if you studied, interned, and completed your residency in a big coastal city, then you might wonder what its like for your colleagues in the Midwest. Is life slower-paced? Is the money good? Is making the move worthwhile?

The Midwest (and rural areas across the nation, for that matter) is desperately in need of more doctors. The National Rural Health Association says that although a quarter of the U.S. lives in rural areas, only 10 percent of doctors practice in the same setting. And as the general shortage of doctors continues to grow, places like the Midwest will feel it more keenly.

Whats it like to practice medicine in the Midwest? As it turns out, it presents some of the same healthcare challenges and opportunities that you already experience elsewhere in the country.

When you practice in a coastal metropolitan area, youre likely never more than a short journey from one of the best specialists in the country. Sometimes theyre even in the same building. As a result, you can rely on an extensive network of colleagues and professionals to consult with and to direct patients to often with a click of a button. When you live and practice in most parts of the Midwest (bar Chicagoland), however, you dont always have that option.

Physicians in the Midwest say that they find the scope of their practice is much wider than it needs to be elsewhere, and the depth of knowledge required is deeper than it needs to be elsewhere. You can consult research articles and email doctors further afield from your local office, but you wont meet the worlds top specialists in your hospitals physician lounge. Youre well off if you have a decent ER in the area, enough family physicians to take time off, and a general surgeon. And because a substantial number of your patients wont or cant afford to travel, you need to be able to treat more conditions yourself while still using the best available, evidence-based medicine.

Interviews from a new documentary, The New Country Doctor, also suggest that its not enough to be the best-of-the-best in terms of your medical skills. You also need to be excellent at making connections. Not only do your professional connections take more work, but youll need to develop new resources in unexpected places. You may also need to have the skills to seek out and engage with community resources as you connect patients with county or state mental health resources, housing resources, and even food programs. Given the ongoing opioid epidemic, you will also need to get creative when hunting down resources for chronic pain sufferers.

States like Indiana are famous for low cost of living: even Indianapolis is incredibly affordable, particularly for a capital city. As a doctor in a Midwestern state, youll find that its much easier to afford rent or a mortgage, and even pay off your student debt much faster as a result. You may even qualify for student loan forgiveness programs designed to encourage doctors to practice in underserved areas.

At the same time, you may still work longer hours than you might in a highly-structured environment elsewhere. Outside of the metropolitan areas of Chicago, St. Louis, and Minneapolis-St Paul, patient populations not only have fewer health care options, but the agricultural community often presents offbeat schedules. You may find yourself offering evening appointments and making housecalls. Additionally, you may work in a health care system with less support staff than youre used to, leaving more of the administrative up to you and increasing your work week that way.

Your hours may even extend more stealthily than simply staying open later. Small towns, in particular, physicians are friends, coworkers, and family members. The interpersonal dynamics of living in small to medium Midwestern towns can mean that youre on duty both at the clinic and when out to eat with your spouse. As noted by Kathleen Miller in the AMA Journal of Ethics, the overlapping roles in your community mean you are very visible, privacy is hard to find, and it can be hard to separate your personal and professional life, which can take its toll on your marriage and family relationships.

It can be strange to fathom, but when you work in small towns, you arent just missing the latest technology. You may not even have full-time access to an MRI machine, much less the access to medical artificial intelligence technology. Without the basics covered, you need to learn to prioritize your technology and insist on the basics.

Out here, technology in medicine isnt just about increasing the hospitals ROI or competing with another health organization. Technology can transform patient care for both rural and urban patients in the Midwest by helping them avoid long, expensive trips to high-end facilities.

Telemedicine is one thing that most rural and even suburban doctors in the region can and often have to advocate for. Depending on where you settle, it may not even be available yet. But telehealth can improve both preventative care and emergency care, as well as mental health care through the help of social workers. For example, if you suspect a patient is presenting symptoms of a stroke, you can teleconference with a neurologist and get them their anti-clotting medication ASAP and therefore improving patient outcomes.

Practicing medicine in the Midwest comes with new challenges that push you both as a medical professional and as a person.

You probably wont get to enjoy the same resources that come with practicing in a large, well-funded hospital, but you will have a chance to make a real difference in peoples lives and become an essential part of a community. You can even be part of a systemic change that relieves the health inequities that rural Americans face every day.

Go here to read the rest:
What's It Like to Be a Doctor in the Midwest? - Muncie Voice

Jaguar and Land Rover cars are joining the fight against superbugs and killing them in their cars air conditioning units before they can infect their occupants.

The automaker is fitting future models of its vehicles with an ultraviolet light (UVC) to sterilise the interior of the cars.

UV lights have been used in the medical world for more than 70 years and is effective at killing pathogens including bacteria and viruses.

High energy rays from UV light sterilise the contents of the air conditioning system before it is pumped around the cars cabin, reducing the risk of infection.

Scroll down for video

UV technology is already used for disinfecting water, filtering air and sterilising surfaces but the move to implement it in a car would be a first for the industry.

Exposing pathogens to UVC destroys bonds within the DNA of the harmful microorganism and renders it useless and harmless to humans.

Healthcare and maintaining the well-being of the driver and other occupants is a growing priority for Land Rover and Jaguar, who are owned by the same firm.

Its current heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, which are available inthe all-electric Jaguar I-PACE and Range Rover Sport, uses high voltage to manipulate air particles.

The firm claims trillions of nano-sized negatively charged particles (ions) deactivate pathogens by forming larger particles.

These are then trapped by the cars filters and discarded.

Ion technology such as this, Jaguar Land Rover claims, is also effective at getting rid of smells and allergens.

Dr Steve Iley, Jaguar Land Rover Chief Medical Officer, said: The average motorist spends as much as 300 hours per year behind the wheel. There is a clear opportunity to better utilise cars for administering preventative healthcare.

The firm claims UVC technology in cars would be able to stop the spread of cold and flu while also reducing the transmission of major superbugs by up to 30 per cent.

Immunology expert, Dr Hellmut Mnch, CEO at Medical Enzyme Research Association, added: The rise of superbugs and allergens is one of the largest threats we face as a species today.

Investment in immunology is vital in ensuring that our immune systems stay ahead of the race against microorganisms, which are evolving far quicker than traditional pharmaceuticals can keep pace with.

It is important that we continue to take an innovative look at how we can adapt our environment to help prevent the spread of the most harmful pathogens which is why this research is paramount.

Antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily by GPs and hospital staff for decades, fueling once harmless bacteria to become superbugs.

The World Health Organization has previously warned if nothing is done the world was headed for a post-antibiotic era.

It claimed common infections, such as chlamydia, will become killers without immediate answers to the growing crisis.

Bacteria can become drug resistant when people take incorrect doses of antibiotics, or they are given out unnecessarily.

Chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies claimed in 2016 that the threat of antibiotic resistance is as severe as terrorism.

Figures estimate that superbugs will kill ten million people each year by 2050, with patients succumbing to once harmless bugs.

Around 700,000 people already die yearly due to drug-resistant infections including tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malaria across the world.

Concerns have repeatedly been raised that medicine will be taken back to the dark ages if antibiotics are rendered ineffective in the coming years.

In addition to existing drugs becoming less effective, there have only been one or two new antibiotics developed in the last 30 years.

In September, the World Health Organisation warned antibiotics are running out as a report found a serious lack of new drugs in the development pipeline.

Without antibiotics, caesarean sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements would also become incredibly risky, it was said at the time.

Advertisement

See the rest here:
Jaguar is building a car that could stop you catching a cold - Stock Daily Dish

Family Photo

Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourselves? Where are you from? What was your path to your healing with cannabis? Who were your mentor(s)?

Phiton Nguyen=PN: Growing up in Orange Countys Little Saigon as second-generation immigrants from Vietnam, my sister and I had an ideal environment to explore our mutual interests in nature and health. I was interested in cannabis plants from an early age and even grew 8 plants in our backyard when I was 13. Most recently, I spent several years in the e-cigarette industry pursuing another interest born out of curiosity more than personal use, and learned the mechanics of vaporizer technology. At the time, devices on the market were complicated to use and sometimes downright unsafe, usually designed for self-learned or inexperienced users. I was intrigued by the challenge of engineering a vaporizer that was well designed, safe, high quality, and practical for ex-smokers who wanted to offset health risks. Our parents have been our greatest supporters and mentors. They overcame unimaginal hardship as refugees during the Vietnam War and were able to start a renowned record company, Lang Van once they came to America. Their entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen has guided many of our critical decisions as a young company.

QWIN logo w bar (1)

Mimi Nguyen=MN: We began to explore the medicinal uses of cannabis after my mom and I were both diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully, we are both in remission now, but the experience was serious wake up call for our entire familys health. We collectively developed more health-conscious habits and started researching the benefits of cannabis and Eastern medicine. When California legalized recreational cannabis, we began exploring the potential applications of cannabis as a wellness tool. While there were countless options available on the market, we realized that the majority of those products were designed in a way that mitigated the plants nutrient-rich and medical benefits when consumed. When eaten, at least half of the cannabinoids are effectively lost to the digestive process, and while inhalation allows a higher absorption rate of cannabinoids, many arrive dormant or destroyed by the heat used in standard methods of combustion. Phitons expertise in vaporizer technology and our familys penchant for holistic experimentation converged as a family pursuit of smarter cannabis consumption, leading us to create the product that becameQWIN.

WB: Why CBD? Where do you source your products from?Tell me about your company a bit more? What is micro-fusion technology? How do you determine dosages?

PN & MN: We believe that CBD has the potential to help individuals who depend on medications that are either addictive or have adverse side effects to manage chronic physical or mental conditions. We wanted to create a natural source of relief for anyone who is spending numerous hours a day dealing with pain, anxiety, or distress. Our CBD is sourced from an extraction facility in Milwaukee that is also USFDA approved for bottling and is in the process of being CGMP certified.QWINs MicroFusion technology is an ultrasonic emulsion process where we create a more bioavailable formula where the CBD becomes more absorbent particles that your body can process faster and more efficiently. The process also infuses food-grade flavors into each formula and creates an effective product and maintain a lower cost to the user. We designed QWIN to be used frequently throughout the day to give our customers a steady and balanced feeling. Each CBDi cartridge contains 100 mg of full-spectrum CBD and approximately 45 doses. We do not have a recommended dosage amount because each body is different, but users should feel the effects within 5 minutes of inhaling and can decide if they need more from there.

WB: Did you go to B-School (or school of hard knocks)? What is your professional background in this field? What is your six month and twelve month plan?

MN: I went to Chapman University for film production and did not have a formal business education, but being involved in my familys music business at a young age gave me the skills and insight to runQWIN. I manage the legal aspects of every project, design our digital licensing program for our entire catalogue of music and videos, and lead the acquisition of our cannabis facility and licenses. In the next six months, we expect to have a fully licensed cannabis manufacturing and distribution facility, launch a line of high potency CBD and microdose THC capsules, and focus on building our educational and influencer partnership divisions.

PN: I went to UC Santa Cruz for printmaking and mathematics and also learned how to manage a production facility producing artists which taught me the day-to-day business operations and distribution of entertainment from our parents business. My product development background helped me design and launch QWINs innovative technology. During my five years in the industry, Ive developed several product lines in hardware technology and e-liquid brands. In 12 months, we hope that other vape companies will use QWINs technology and platform in their own products.

WB What kind of stigmas do you face? How do you anticipate removing these obstacles? What do you see as the future of wellness?

PN & MN: The entire vape industry has received a lot of negative press due to the rise in lung illnesses linked to illicit THC cartridges. The media has characterized all vape use as dangerous, which is vastly misguided. Inhaling medicine has been around for decades and is one of the most effective methods for instant relief. The only way to challenge this misperception is through public education. Just like how cannabis use was widely vilified decades ago, people are often scared of what they do not know. We see this current vape crisis as an opportunity to engage with consumers and health officials about the benefits of vaping legal CBD and THC and will diligently work with testing labs to reinforce that our products are safe. The future of wellness lies in taking a preventative approach by having access and education to natural remedies and learning how to be more mindful of our health choices.

Kits-CBDi-Starter (1)

WB: What is your passion?

PN: I love developing products that can enhance peoples life experiences. Some of the most life-changing products ever created resulted in incremental changes that made a significant difference in peoples lives. While we cant solve the underlying problems that cause chronic health issues, what we can do is give individuals a natural tool to make their lives easier as they navigate this challenge.

MN:The Mongo verb temu comes to mind. It roughly translates to, I believe that I am not passionate about one particular thing, but a way of living life. I want to be in a constant state of inspiration, always creating and rushing to create holistic solutions for individuals trying to improve their quality of life.

Go here to see the original:
Meet The Family Behind QWIN: Revolutionizing CBD Technology - Forbes

Personalised nutrition startup Atlas Biomed claims to be the only company in the world offering both DNA and microbiome testing kits for a holistic picture of health and now it is launching a phone app allowing people to discover what foods will best improve their gut health with the simple snap of the camera.

Sergey Musienko, bioinformatician andfounder of the UK-based firm launched in 2014, says the app differs from all other diet apps on the market as it will allow customers to genuinely learn how to modulate their microbiomes through their diet choices by teaching them about diet variety and fibre intake.

He tells NutraIngredients: Itallows the customer to take a photo of their meal and the special algorithm allows us to identify the specific ingredients in the meal and based on their latest microbiome test results the app provides a scoring system for each ingredient, showing how beneficial they are to the users microbiome composition.

The whole idea behind this is to help people gamify the process and better understand what ingredients can be harmful or beneficial to their gut bacteria.

The entrepreneur points out that research has shown that the majority of the population in Europe and the US are not eating enough fibre - a nutrient essential for a healthy microbial diversity.

He points out that therecommended daily intake is 30 grams but according to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, UK adults are only eating around 18 grams per day.

He says people should ideally be eating at least 30 different sources of fibre each week in order to keep their microbial diversity up and the app helps people achieve this.

Believe me, its harder than you would imagine to reach this number. I think when I first checked I was getting maybe 20 on a good week.

There are a lot of apps out there that help people track their calories or their macros but this is the first to concentrate of fibre as well as some vitamins, polyphenols and sugar which also have an impact on microbiome composition.

This will help people to discover the best fibre sources for them and it will help people to diversify their diets. We really want to help people to live healthy lives for longer and as soon as you have a basic understanding its quite easy to stay on track its like learning to ride a bike!

Musienko graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology before going on to join theSilicon Valley think tank, at Singularity UniversityCaliforniain 2011,where they train entrepreneurial minds on how to apply technology into projects that can improve the lives of people around the world.

There I had a chance to meet lots of visionaries and entrepreneurs around health technology."Musienko explains, "I spoke to lots of researchers and shared ideas with them and discussed whats the future of preventative medicine. Thats when I had the idea which would lay the foundation for Atlas Biomed taking a personalised proactive approach to health care by predicting conditions and doing everything we can to prevent them.

Back then, in 2011, companies were offering affordable genomics tests but these tests were in their really early days and there was a lot of criticism that they couldnt tell you in a precise way whats likely to happen to the persons health. Of course with all these common but complex issues, like chrones disease, diabetes, obesity, lifestyle has a huge impact as well as genes.

I realised if we want to personalise healthcare or nutrition in an accurate manner it has to be a combination of different factors and thats how we came up with the concept of multiple tests a saliva test for genes and a stool sample test for the microbiome which covers changes in diet and lifestyle.

The company launched its DNA and microbiome tests commercially in Europe in 2017 and since then it has quickly expanded with sales in 17 countries across Europe as well as Canada with hopes to establish itself in the US soon.

Follow this link:
Startup 'gamifies' gut health with diet app aimed at long-term change - NutraIngredients.com

Is it just me, or have you noticed how we seem to go straight from Halloween to Christmas, almost bypassing Thanksgiving altogether? That is unfortunate because not only is Thanksgiving an important American holiday that reflects our heritage, but individuals, families and churches need one day set aside for the purpose of giving thanks to the Lord and acknowledging that all that we have is from Him.

Is the giving of thanks only on this one day enough? Certainly it is not, but it is a good place to start.

There are numerous benefits to the giving of thanks. Please allow me to mention only a few.

First, the giving of thanks to the Lord is preventative medicine for developing a critical spirit. One with a critical spirit is constantly criticizing others. He tends to see what others are doing wrong and not right, and is constantly finding fault. A person with a critical spirit can always do anything and everything better than the one he is criticizing.

Instead of finding faults in others, why not begin to thank God for them and pray for them. It is difficult to criticize someone you are thanking God for, whether it be government officials, church leaders and even family and friends.

Those that were closest to the late Billy Graham said they never heard him speak a critical word about anyone. Does that mean that Dr. Graham never observed something in others that could not be criticized? I suspect that a man who lived so long and traveled so extensively encountered those he could have criticized, but he chose to keep those observations to himself.

Another benefit of giving thanks is that of learning to be content with what we have. By the time you read this, the collection week for Operation Christmas Child will have just concluded. This ministry of Samaritans Purse collects literally millions of shoeboxes filled with small toys, school supplies, hygiene items, etc. The reports indicate that the kids who receive them are absolutely overwhelmed with joy, appreciation and thanksgiving.

Now, imagine how the average American child would react if one of these shoe boxes was all he or she received for Christmas. I suspect most would complain and be very ungrateful. And why is this? Perhaps one reason is that so many kids have been spoiled and been trained to expect lavish gifts at Christmas time. Many of them have not been raised to be thankful and thus content.

There are many reasons the Greatest Generation is considered to be such. One of those is that they were grateful for what they had. That generation, who is slowly ebbing away, lived through the Great Depression when millions were out of work, and poverty was the norm of the day from rural areas to metropolitan cities. They learned to be grateful just to have something to eat and a roof over their heads.

That generation also survived WWII. Those stateside had to deal with rationing of almost everything. And of course those called into service had to cope with the horrible conditions that go with war. Those who survived were grateful just to be alive. That generation knew how to get by on what they had and were thankful for what they had.

We all could learn a lesson from that generation about being thankful instead of complaining. Instead of complaining about not having a bigger and more up to date house, we should be thankful that we have a house period. We should appreciate the fact that we have a roof over our head, not to mention indoor plumbing and electricity. Instead of complaining that we dont have a newer and nicer car, we should give thanks for the car that we do have, and that it is paid for.

Career missionaries to foreign nations and those who have done short term mission work can testify that some of the happiest people in the world are those who have very little in the way of material possessions. I suspect they have learned the secret of contentment and to give thanks in all things.

Parents, are you teaching your children to be thankful? It starts with the small things like saying thank you, or even writing a thank you note for a gift or some act of kindness shown by another. Does your family take time to say a prayer of thanks to the Lord when you sit down to a meal, whether at home or in a restaurant?

Is one day of giving thanks a year enough? Of course not, but it is a good place to start.

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. I Timothy 6:7-8.

Chip Warren is the past president of the Albertville Ministerial Fellowship.

Read the original post:
Chip Warren: One day of giving thanks isn't enough, but it's good start - Sand Mountain Reporter

Renae Moomjian pretty much gets the same reaction from everyone she tells about her new business, NipLips.

In fact, it's the same reaction she had when her teenage daughter Helena Moomjian first told her about the concept.

"I was driving my daughter home from school, and she was reading something called 'Uncle John's Bathroom Reader'" Moomjian recalls. (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, by the way, is a trivia book). "And it was very quiet, and then all of a sudden, she said, 'Hey, Mom. Did you know your perfect lipstick color is your nipple color?'"

To which Moomjian responded. "WHAT?"

Renae Moomjian, left, and her daughter Helena started NipLips.

Intrigued, Moomjian went home and tested the theory with the lipsticks in her makeup drawer. None of them matched.

"So I was like, 'Let's take pictures and go to Walgreens' ... so we are walking around Walgreens, looking at our phones secretly and putting lipstick in our cart," Moomjian says. "It was about $110 worth of lipstick, and we went home and found our perfect match and one shade darker. And we both loved it."

Neither would have normally selected those colors.

"And I said to Helena, 'Maybe there's something to this,'" Moomjian says. That was in May 2018.

When the internet went crazy

The beauty trend seems to have taken off in spring 2017 when a segment on the talk show "The Doctors" made the connection between a person's nipple color and her ideal nude lipstick. The internet went crazy, and beauty magazines including Marie Claireand Refinery 29tried it out, with mixed results. Some people loved the lipstick shade they picked and others, not so much.

Margarita Potts GoDiva, a hair and makeup artist of more than 20 years and owner of I Do Hair and Makeup Artistry, says that the idea of using your body as a reference has been around for way longer.

"The rule of thumb has always been, nature knows best," says Potts GoDiva, who does celebrity, print, film and TV makeup. The inner cheek and upper lip are go-tos for her when color matching.

"For us in the TV world, you know if you're going with the inner cheek or upper lip or body, it's going to be a good match on camera," she says. "It makes people look fresher, youthful and more alive."

Matching to your nipple color is the same premise.

"Beauty trends come and go, but you can always come back to yourself," Potts GoDiva says, adding that it's also case-by-case. Getting too matchy-matchy can actually wash you out or make you look flat, she says. Plus, sometimes you just want to wear a bright, bold color.

There's an app for that

A few months after Moomjian and her daughter did their own experimenting, Moomjian asked 20 friends to give it a try. She wanted to know if matching your lipstick color to your nipple was actually a thing. She says 80 percent of her friends loved their exact match and all of them liked one shade darker.

The mother-daughter duo launched NipLips at the beginning of 2019to help women find a nude lipstick that flatters their skin tone.

Right now, NipLips has eight colors with Tucson-inspired names, such as Prickly Pear, Purple Agave or Burnt Adobe. Using the NipLips app, you can scan a close-up of your nipple to get matched to the closest color for you.

"Nothing is ever saved on your phone or uploaded to us," Moomjian says. "I was very clear that there could never be any invasion of someone's privacy. The only thing we save is the color."

Moomjian also owns a medical device consulting business, which is why after she and Helena took their Walgreens field trip, sneakily checking their phone photos as they shopped, she knew tech could make the process easier. Hence the color-matching app.

Eventually, NipLips hopes to customize colors specifically from your scan, but they'refundraisingfor that right now.

Ada Trinh, a makeup artist in Los Angeles, is a brand ambassador for NipLips and loves the product. As someone who has seen plenty of beauty trends come and go, Trinh says the tech part of NipLips sets it apart.

"You're not just talking about it," says Trinh, a celebrity, film, TV and print makeup artist. "They have an app that can actually show people that this is how it works."

Keeping it au naturel

Moomjian has also made a point to make NipLips a clean beauty business because that's the way she lives her life.

"Because I bring new medical technologies to the market, I deal with very sick people ..." she says. "I feel like preventative medicine is the best medicine so I live clean and I eat clean."

Moomjian says clean beauty means no synthetic or toxic ingredients. The NipLips website clarifies that products have "no parabens, phthalates, DEHP, SLS, petrolatum, talc, synthetic fragrances or colorants or silicons." So even if you're not keen to match your nipple color or use the app, the lipstick is worth checking out, at $22.50 each.

"I've used it on a couple of clients," Trinh says. "On set, I couldn't do the nipple scan ... but I could tell them about the concept ... and use the product on them without the scan."

Trinh says she has also used it on set to go from a day look to a night look just by adding another layer.

"A lot of the colors are really poppy, but the app gives you choices if you don't want to be as poppy, you can use one that's more natural," she says. "The pigment is great and buildable, or you can use it almost as a nice tint that doesn't go on too harsh."

The cosmetics are made locally, by the same lab that makes Sia Botanics, using some naturally-sourced Sonoran Desert ingredients such as prickly pear seed and jojoba oil. The next, soon-to-be-released NipLips collection a glosswill take its inspiration from the ocean. The one after that, the rainforest. The goal is to package all of it sustainably.

NipLips helps women find the right lipstick shade by matching it to their nipple color.

As the business grows, Moomjian wants to eventually support nonprofits that work in women's health issues, specifically heart disease and breast and ovarian cancers all diseases that have impacted her family. In the meantime, Moomjian says they will gift lipstick to any woman with breast cancer or a mastectomy.

Potts GoDiva adds that if you're checking your nipple color, it's also a great time to do a self breast exam.

"That, to me, is a great reason for this," she says.

A mother-daughter business

Before launching NipLips, Moomjian says she mostly wore bright reds and pinks. Helena, a student at University High School, mostly wore dramatic makeup for theater productions.

"I'm not a big makeup person," Helena, 16, says. "But putting the right lipstick on is a boost of self confidence."

The whole experience has been a ride, she adds.

"When I was younger and imagined my life in the future, I never ever would have imagined such a wild thing," Helena says with a laugh.

Although school keeps Helena busy, Moomjian says working together on the business has been one of the sweetest parts.

"We do a lot together," she says. "And to see her excitement and input along the way has been really fun, and for us to work together like this has been very special."

Try it out

Besides shopping online, you can try NipLips at upcoming markets including the Made in Tucson Market on Sunday, Dec. 1 and Cultivate on Saturday, Dec. 7. A privacy booth will allow you to use the app to find your best shade. You can also buy the lipsticks and try samples of the NipLips Desert Botanical matte collection at English Salon Spa, 27 N. Scott Ave., downtown.

"For Helena and me, it's about looking within to define your beauty and who you are and speaking from that place," Moomjian says.

Read more here:
A Tucson business is helping women find the perfect lipstick ... by matching their nipple color - Arizona Daily Star

Briefs

WINN-DIXIE REOPENS: Winn-Dixie reopened its remodeled store at 36348 State Road 54 in Zephyrhills on Nov. 3. The store includes an updated farm-fresh produce department, improved deli with expanded grab-and-go meals and wing bar, upgraded meat case and floral department, and a new Dollar Shop section.

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRESIDENT NAMED TO INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL: The Board of Directors of the International Economic Development Council has elected Bill Cronin, president and CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council, to serve on its board of directors. The nomination took place during the International EDCs 2019 conference in Indianapolis Oct. 13-16. Cronins term begins Jan. 1.

BABY ITEMS DRIVE: Butash and Donovan Law is hosting a Baby Stuff Drive through the end of November at its office at 23554 State Road 54, Lutz. The drive is to benefit GuidingStar of Tampa, a womens healthcare practice offering medical and educational services, as well as ongoing support for women. Items needed include: gently used or new baby clothing for boys and girls, sizes newborn to 4T; newborn diapers; baby wipes, baby shampoo, baby soap and other toiletries; gently used maternity clothes; and small- and medium-sized stuffed animals. For information, call (813) 341-2232.

GRAND RE-OPENING OF HOSPITAL WOUND CARE CENTER: Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point held a grand re-opening of its Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center on Nov. 13. The center underwent a $500,000 renovation that took six months and included renovations of everything from podiatry chairs to updating all the furniture. Hyperbaric chambers were added, and the wound care center has been expanded to two suites, totaling 3,865 square feet.

HOSPITAL NAMES NEW CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Medical Center of Trinity has appointed William Bill Killinger, MD, as its new chief medical officer. Dr. Killinger is a third-generation Florida physician. He was trained in cardiothoracic surgery, and was in private practice for 27 years in Raleigh, N.C. He is completing work on his healthcare executive masters degree with Brandeis University.

NEW DQ GRILL & CHILL OPENS: American Dairy Queen Corporation announced its new DQ Grill and Chill restaurant has opened in Hudson, at 14671 State Road 52. The restaurant is owned by Carlos and Pam Saenz. The Saenzes have been owners of a DQ Grill and Chill since 2016, with their first location in Land O Lakes. Carlos served five years in the U.S. Air Force, and still serves as a Reservist. Pam is also an elementary school teacher.

ALARM COMPANY MOVES TO PASCO: AFA Protective Systems recently relocated to a 5,800-square-foot facility in the West Pasco Industrial Park off State Road 54 in Odessa. The company designs, installs and monitors fire, safety and security systems.

CARES NAMES NEW DIRECTOR: Community Aging and Retirement Services (CARES) has named Melissa Kehler its new director of community engagement. Kehler has more than 20 years experience in nonprofit leadership roles, most recently serving as executive director of Chinsegut Hill Retreat and Museum in Hernando County.

HEALTH SEMINAR: AdventHealth will host a seminar, Treating Pain without Pills, from noon to 1 p.m. Dec. 3 at AdventHealth Zephyrhills, 7050 Gall Blvd. The speaker is Kamal Patel, MD, a fellowship-trained pain specialist who is double-board certified in preventative and occupational medicine. Reservations are required. RSVP to 877-534-3108.

HOLIDAY PARADE: The Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce will host its 43rd-annual Holiday Parade on Dec. 14. The deadline for sponsorships and to enter a company float is Dec. 3. For details, contact the Chamber at (727) 842-7651.

Trinity Positive Business Network: 8:30 a.m. Mondays at Oasis Coffee Spot, 9213 Little Road, New Port Richey. Call Kelly Steen at (813) 388-8726.

Womens Connection of New Port Richey: 11:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month (September through May) at Spartan Manor, 6121 Massachusetts Ave., New Port Richey. Cost is $15 and includes lunch and a speaker. To RSVP, call Linda at (727) 856-4042 or Betty, (727) 807-6760.

BNI Overachievers Chapter: 7 to 9 a.m. Wednesdays at Myrtle Lake Baptist Church, 2017 Reigler Road, Land O Lakes. Call (813) 317-5556 or visit facebook.com/bnioverachievers.

BNI Outlook to Success: 7:30 a.m. Tuesdays at Verizon Event Center, 8718 Trouble Creek Road, New Port Richey. Cost is $10 and includes breakfast. Call (727) 815-7744.

Suncoast Women in Networking: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at Beef O Bradys, 5546 Main St., New Port Richey. Suncoast WIN is a group of professional businesswomen. Membership is $10 per year. Call Linda McFarland at (727) 863-6151.

Rotary Club of Lutz: 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays at Heritage Harbor Golf and Country Club, 19502 Heritage Harbor Parkway, Lutz. Cost is $12, includes lunch and speaker. Call (813) 857-7089 or visit lutzrotary.org.

West Pasco Business Association: Monday Lunch Chapter, noon to 1 p.m. Mondays, Johnny Bruscos, 10730 State Road 54, Trinity. Tuesday Breakfast Chapter, 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Hampton Inn, 1780 State Road 54, Odessa. Tuesday After Hours Chapter, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, FlameStone Grill Trinity, 10900 State Road 54, Trinity. Thursday Lunch Chapter, noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays, Giovannis Fresh Italian Kitchen, 37611 U.S. 19, Palm Harbor. Friday Breakfast Chapter, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Fridays at the Oasis Coffee Spot, 9213 Little Road, New Port Richey. The group is made up of professionals who promote each others businesses. Each chapter is seat-specific. Contact Maria Johnson, maria@wpba.biz or (727) 934-0940. Visit wpba.biz.

Coffee First: 8 to 9 a.m. the fourth Tuesday of the month at First National Bank of Pasco, 23613 State Road 54, Lutz. The event is hosted by the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce in partnership with First National Bank of Pasco. Free and open to the public. (813) 607-2555.

East Pasco Networking Group: 7:30 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at IHOP, 13100 U.S. 301, Dade City. Annual dues are $25. Nils Lenz, (813) 782-9491.

Trinity Business Association: 6 to 7:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of each month at Fox Hollow Country Club, 10050 Robert Trent Jones Parkway. Networking begins at 5:30 p.m., meeting starts at 6 p.m. Guests welcome. Cost is $12. Call Ginny Pierce at (727) 433-4073.

BNI Platinum: 7:15 a.m. Wednesdays at Heritage Harbor Golf & Country Club, 19502 Heritage Harbor Parkway, Lutz. Call Bob Nixon at (813) 263-5632.

Pasco Business Connections: 7:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Broken Yolk, 3350 Grand Blvd., Holiday. Email noworries@tampabay.rr.com.

Wednesday Morning Networking Group: 7:30 a.m. the first Wednesday of each month at Hungry Harrys Family Bar-B-Que, 3116 Land O Lakes Blvd. A short networking presentation will be followed by a chance for all attendees to do a 30-second commercial. Cost is $7 in advance for members, $10 for guests, and includes breakfast. Call the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce at (813) 909-2722.

Keep It Local-Trinity Chapter: 8 a.m. Wednesdays at Havana Dreamers Cafe, 3104 Town Ave., Trinity. (813) 405-7815.

Pasco Aging Network: 8 to 10 a.m. the second Wednesday of each month. Location changes each month. For information or to RSVP, visit pascoagingnetwork.org. PAN is a coalition of agencies and private providers of elder services in Pasco.

Keep It Local-Wesley Chapel Chapter: 8:30 a.m. Wednesdays at Lexington Oaks Golf & Country Club, 26133 Lexington Oaks Blvd., Wesley Chapel. (813) 405-7815.

Keep It Local-Christian Womens Network Chapter: 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Direction Connection, 2632 U.S. 19, Holiday. (813) 405-7815.

Free Networking International: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Cantina Laredo, 2000 Piazza Ave., Building 4, Suite 170, Wesley Chapel (at the Shops at Wiregrass). Attendees pay for their own lunch. Call Martine Duncan at (813) 929-6816.

Keep It Local-New Port Richey Chapter: 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the Direction Connection, 2632 U.S. 19, Holiday. (813) 405-7815.

Keep It Local-Odessa/Trinity Chapter: 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays at Seven Springs Golf & Country Club, 3535 Trophy Blvd., Trinity. (813) 405-7815.

BNI Eagles: 7:15 a.m. Thursdays at Spartan Manor, 6121 Massachusetts Ave., New Port Richey. Cost is $10 and includes breakfast. Call Clay Henderson at (727) 534-5191.

BNI Referral Connection: 7:15 to 9 a.m. Thursdays at Vallartas Mexican Restaurant, 22948 State Road 54, Lutz. Call Rob Hamilton at (813) 431-5887.

Christian Business Connections of Central Pasco: 7:45 to 9:15 a.m. Thursdays at Quail Hollow Golf Club, 6225 Old Pasco Road, Wesley Chapel. Cost of $9 per meeting, includes breakfast and beverages. Annual membership dues are $100. Call Rene Van Hout at (813) 300-7511.

Trinity/West Pasco Chapter of NPI: 7:45 a.m. Thursdays at The Grand Plaza Caf, 4040 Little Road, New Port Richey. Call Rob Marlowe at (727) 847-2424.

Networking For Your Success: 8 a.m. Thursdays at Lexington Oaks Country Club, 2615 Lexington Oaks Blvd., Wesley Chapel. Cost is $5 and includes a continental breakfast. Annual membership is $79. Call Matt at (813) 782-1777.

Women-n-Charge: 11:30 a.m. on the first Friday of each month, Plantation Palms Golf Club, 23253 Plantation Palms Blvd., Land O Lakes. The cost is $15 for members and $18 for guests who RSVP by Monday prior to the meeting. Tuesday and after, the cost is $20 for members and $23 for guests. To RSVP, visit women-n-charge.com/meetings/. For information, call Judy at (813) 600-9848.

Women of Wesley Chapel (WOW): 7:30 to 9 a.m. first Friday of each month, Beach House Assisted Living and Memory Care at Wiregrass Ranch, 30070 State Road 56, Wesley Chapel. WOW is the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerces women only networking group. The cost is $5, includes breakfast and networking. To RSVP, call (813) 994-8534 or email office@northtampabaychamber.com.

See the rest here:
Remodeled Winn-Dixie opens in Zephyrhills, and other Pasco business news - Tampa Bay Times

A look at the Radio City Rockettes training room with Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, and Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedi, the Rockettes' new medical director, Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Tania Savayan, tsavayan@lohud.com

On a Monday afternoon, just days before opening night, Emily King, 22, a Radio City Rockette, dropped by an office in Radio City Music Hall.

King, who is in her second season as one of the famed dancers, came to see Dr. MelodyHrubes, the new medical director for the Rockettes, andElaine Winslow-Redmond,the director of athletic training, for a consultation.

It just provides a lot of security for us as performers," King said. "We know that if anything goes wrong, like they have our back and they are going to provide help where it's necessary.

November 6, 2019: Dress rehearsal for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes.(Photo: Zack Lane, Zack Lane/MSG Photos)

King,who is from Michigan and has a BFA in Commercial Dance from Pace University,is one of 80Rockettesknown for their signature eye-high kicks and a precisiondance technique that requires both artistry and athleticism.

Hrubes and Winslow-Redmond make surethe Rockettes are in top shape as they ascend the Radio City Music Hall stage multiple times a day to perform the Christmas Spectacular.

Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, left, the Radio City Rockettes' new medical director, and Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, give Rockette Emily King a pre-screening Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

While they range in height from 56 to 510 , the dancers succeed in creating the illusion that they are kicking at the same height through a combination of formation (tallest woman in the center) and technique.

They perform up to 16 times a week and can kick up to 650 times a day. Each 90-minute performance requires 160 kicks in high heels.Theunforgiving routine can put considerable strain on their bodies.

For Hrubes, that means preventing injuries before they happen.

Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Radio City Rockettes, left, talks about the program as Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, the Rockettes' new medical director, looks on Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

What is so interesting to me about dance is that it's choreographed, so there's a lot of biomechanical and overuse injuries that happen, said Hrubes, who practices with RothmanOrthopedic Institute, which opened a location in Harrison last month and is the official provider of orthopedic services to the Rockettes.

That's why we're so interested in how to prevent that, since they're doing the same thing over and over again.

October 22, 2019: The Radio City Rockettes rehearse for the Christmas Spectacular at the St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City.(Photo: Carl Scheffel, Carl Scheffel/MSG Photos)

A lot of what she sees with the Rockettes also applies to other athletessaid Hrubes, a specialist in sport medicine who has previously worked as a team physician for the United States Soccer Federation and with United States Gymnastics.

A lot of young athletes aren't taught to listen to their bodies;they think that if there's no pain, theres no gain. If I'm hurting, that means I'm just working hard enough, said Hrubes, talking about injury prevention. And actually pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong. So learning the difference between soreness and pain is super valuable because then they could actually learn to listen to their bodies.

Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, left, the Radio City Rockettes' new medical director, and Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, give Rockette Emily King a pre-screening Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

That philosophy dovetailswith what Buchanan resident Winslow-Redmond has sought to do with the Rockettes since 2005.

A former Rockette who performed for 11 seasonsfrom 1994-2005,Winslow-Redmond said she was frustrated when, in her first season,she sought treatment for a shin splint a kind of stress fractureand found doctors who didnt fully understand what she did.

They would say things like, 'there's no hopping in tap dancing.' And I thought to myself, I don't think they understand what I do if they don't think I'm hopping while I'm tap dancing, she said."They didn't understand that I needed to stay in the show. I couldn't like just take a few weeks off.

November 7, 2018: Dress rehearsal for the upcoming Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.(Photo: Carl Scheffel, Carl Scheffel/MSG Photos)

She was eventually helped byan athletic trainerwho taught Winslow-Redmond how to prevent injury through her next 10 seasons. And she learned firsthand how important it is to focus on recovery after a show.

So I had great longevity and I was able to dance injury free for the rest of my seasons, she said.

Winslow-Redmond said she was bothered by the fact that the Rockettes didnt have an in-house trainer or doctor. So, whilecontinuing to dance as a Rockette, Winslow-Redmond, who hasa BFA in dance, took advantage of a tuition assistance program available to Rockettes to transition to other careers.

She got masters in physiology and nutrition at Columbia University and eventually became the Rockettes' trainer in 2005.

As part of herthesis, she analyzed five years worth of Rockette injury reports andshowed that the majoritywere preventable overuse injuries.

"Overall the choreography has gotten more difficult," she said. "So as we're challenging the Rockettes and they're rising to a higher level, their injuries are decreasing. Theres been a 78% decrease in injury. So that's the impact.

Her advice for current and aspiring dancers?

They should pair their dance training to incorporate a strength element so that they strengthen the muscles that tend to be weak on dancers.

She also emphasizes recovery. I push hard on recovery because I really understand the impact of many shows in one week," she said. Understanding the level of fatigue that I experienced and being able to teach them the necessary steps on how to recover and that pushing through is not always the way to go.

Rockette Emily King in the athletic training and wellness room at Radio City Music Hall Nov. 18, 2019 in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

For Rockette Emily King, working with Winslow-Redmond and Hrubeshas been helpful. Just in a preventative sense, the pre-screening is so helpful," she said. "They give us exercises to help prevent injuries that are specific to us, like things that we are susceptible to, which is incredible.

Dr. Hrubes and Winslow-Redmond offered advice for athletes on preventing injury:

TAKE A HIKE: 6 spots to walk off Thanksgiving dinner

EVELYN FARKAS: Former defense official, joins race for Nita Lowey's House seat

LISA WILLIS: First female coach for New York Knicks' franchise

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy covers women and power for the USA Today Network Northeast. Write to her at svenugop@lohud.com

Read or Share this story: https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/new-york/2019/11/26/radio-city-rockettes-westchester-trainers/4183469002/

Original post:
Keeping the Radio City Rockettes on their toes, with help from Westchester - Lohud

The biggest game of the season looms this weekend for the Dallas Cowboys. But as they get ready to travel north and east to face the New England Patriots, many Cowboys players have been down and out with the flu.

Temperatures are expected to be in the low 40s at kickoff with rain and snow in the forecast. Some Cowboys players are getting past the flu, some are in the beginning stages and quarterback Dak Prescott is taking preventative medications, according to Calvin Watkins, beat writer for The Dallas Morning News.

"Flu bug has swept the Cowboys this week," Watkins tweeted. "Joe Thomas and Ben Bloom have it. Justin March has a respiratory infection, Jordan Lewis and Xavier Woods just recovered from it. Cowboys gave Dak Prescott some medicine as a precaution for any issues."

The Dallas Cowboys are 6-4 on the season, but none of their wins have come against teams with a winning record. Only the Philadelphia Eagles are among the teams they have beaten that don't have a losing record, as they are 5-5.

The Patriots are 9-1 and hold the best record in the AFC. Led by quarterback Tom brady, the Patriots have won 21-consecutive games in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

With six games remaining in regular season and holding just a one-game lead over the Eagles, every game is importantand beating the Patriots would give Dallas not only a much-needed win to stay ahead, but beating New England would likely give them a push through the final stretch toward the playoffs.

"I just think it's important to lock in on the task at hand every week. The best teams are able to do that," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said in another Morning News report. "It's one day of preparation for that week's ballgame. That's what we try to instill around here. We don't do a lot of reflecting during the year on signature wins or this kind of a win or that kind of a win."

The schedule does not get easier for the Cowboys after their trip to New England. They host a 7-3 Buffalo Bills squad on Thanksgiving Day, and then travel to face the 4-6 Chicago Bears that allow just 17 points a game.

The Cowboys finish the last three regular-season games with the Los Angeles Rams (6-4), who was last year's NFC champion, at Philadelphia for perhaps the NFC East title on the line, and the Washington Redskins at home.

Then there's Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, having his best season so far as a professional. Prescott has passed for 3,221 yards and 21 touchdowns in 10 games, including 444 yards last week against the Lions. He is on ace to surpass the 5,000-yard mark this season, which has never been done in Dallas' illustrious history.

Prescott has been given the flu preventative medication before the upcoming New England trip. Now is time for the travel, time change and temperature drop before kickoff.

Read the original here:
Dallas Cowboys Battle the Flu Ahead of Their Biggest Game of the Year in Chilly New England - Newsweek

One night in her Nashville apartment, Bre Banks read a comment from her boyfriend on Facebook. They were in a shaky spell, and his words seemed proof she would lose him. She put her laptop down on the couch and headed to the bedroom to cry. My legs seized up, and I fell, she recalled. With her knees and forehead pressing into the carpet, she heard a voice that said, Slit your wrists, slit your wrists. She saw herself in the bathtub with the blood flowing. She was terrified that if she moved she would die.

Banks, then 25, was a disciplined graduate student with a job and close friends and had no psychiatric history. I had never considered suicide an option, she says. But for the next three days, she couldnt sleep while the voice and disturbing images persisted. After seeing a therapist, she decided to teach herself techniques from dialectical behavior therapy, one of the few treatments shown to reduce suicidality. The voices and images came back over the next few months, but eventually faded. Eight years later, Banks now evaluates suicide prevention programs across Tennessee as a manager at the large mental health provider Centerstones research institute, and she and the same boyfriend just celebrated their 10th anniversary.

In the public imagination, suicide is often understood as the end of a torturous decline caused by depression or another mental illness. But clinicians and researchers know that suicidal crises frequently come on rapidly, escalating from impulse to action within a day, hours, or just minutes. Many also point to the fact that they may strike people like Banks, who are otherwise in good mental health.

That understanding is one reason a movement is building to define suicidality as a condition in its own right. Most recently, researchers from Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Florida State University have agreed to collaborate on a joint proposal for a new diagnosis in the next Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a handbook published by the American Psychiatric Association. The criteria include familiar symptoms of depression, but these symptoms occur in an acute state that is not currently obvious to clinicians. Proponents say it could spur more research and make it easier for suicidal patients to get the care they need.

Suicide rates have been rising sharply since 1999, figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. More than half of those who take their lives do not have a known mental health condition. There is also no established way to pinpoint when a patient is in immediate danger. You cannot rely on people telling you when they are or are not suicidal, said Igor Galynker, a professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine in New York.Some have expressed skepticism. Far too many diagnoses in psychiatry come and go, said George Makari, a Weill Cornell Medicine psychiatrist and historian of psychiatry. The idea that suicidality may not be a symptom of something else a mood or personality disorder is novel. If theyre making the claim that weve been seeing this upside down for a long time, he said, thats fascinating.

Research backs that up: A 2019meta-analysisof 71 studies conducted around the globe found that about 60 percent of people who died by suicide had denied having suicidal thoughts when asked by a psychiatrist or general practitioner. Here in the U.S., a2016 studyexamined data from four health systems that use standardized questionnaires in primary care and specialty clinics. (The questionnaires ask whether the patient has experienced thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way.) Although the answers did predict future suicide attempts to some extent, there were plenty of false negatives. Thirty-nine percent of the suicide attempts and 36 percent of the suicide deaths occurred among patients who had responded not at all to the key question. In another study, about a quarter of the suicide attempts were made by people who reported zero suicidal thoughts.

Its easy to assume they were lying, but thats not quite true. Greg Simon, a psychiatrist and investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington in Seattle, who led the 2016 study, was involved in a follow-up study based on interviews with 26 people who had made attempts after denying any suicidal thoughts on the standard questionnaire. The interviews revealed that some people had lied, he said. But they also revealed people who had provided aspirational responses they weretryingnot to have suicidal thoughts and people who had experienced no suicidal thinking whatsoever. (Among the latter group, alcohol often factored into their attempts.) None of them woke up that morning with a plan to die that day.

For his part, Galynker determined long ago after he lost a patient who took him by surprise that he couldnt rely on patient reports. In 2007, he set out to develop a set of symptoms that would help pinpoint imminent suicide even if the patient didnt report suicidal thinking. We hypothesized that the pre-suicidal state leading to suicidal action was short-lived, kind of like pulling a gun trigger, he said. In 2009, he called it suicide trigger state. Over dozens of research papers, he explored various symptoms as predictors, developing checklists and then testing how well they predicted future behavior. While these checklists are still new, they are being used to screen for suicidal risk among high school students in Moscow, Russia, and among hospital patients in Chicago.

In 2017, Galynker coined the termsuicide crisis syndrome. People with this syndrome feel trapped, though they might not think of death per se. They may be flooded with misery and unable to think clearly. Certain thoughts, like Banks images and voices, return repeatedly, no matter how much they are resisted. They may experience mood swings or overwhelming emotional pain.

At Florida State University, Thomas Joiner, the author of several books on suicide and the editor of a suicide journal, outlined his own criteria for a quick-onset suicide crisis, which he calls acute suicidal affective disturbance. This describes rapidly escalating plans for suicide over hours or days faster than clinicians may expect. The key difference is that Joiner includes reports of suicidal thinking as an essential criterion.

The pair teamed up more than two years ago when the first paper describing both of their diagnoses appeared. Together, the two researchers envision a new DSM suicide diagnosis with two sub-types, one with thoughts of suicide, and one without. Before this diagnosis is approved for the DSM, however, the researchers may need to show more conclusively that the phenomenon they describe isnt a symptom of depression or another mental illness, and that their methods of screening for it are effective.

Psychiatrist Michael First at Columbia University, who presided over earlier revisions of the DSM, sees a suicide-specific diagnosis as an appealing idea. If the melding of Galynkers and Joiners formulations worked well and proved to be accurate, First said, then it would clearly be very useful to have it.

Clinicianscurrently struggle with little guidance on how to identify imminent risk or make sense of suicides that seem to come out of the blue.

Nearly once a week, attending psychiatrist Dmitriy Gekhman at Mount Sinai Beth Israel sees a patient who has attempted suicide and is hard to classify, though he must find a relevant code for each patients chart. You kind of go through the history and everything, and theyre not depressed. They dont meet the criteria for depression, they dont meet criteria for bipolar disorder, and they dont have a personality disorder, he said. We just discharged somebody this week who that happened to, and we still have somebody on the unit now.

If a diagnosis based on Galynkers and Joiners research were put in place, it would put the patients doctors on notice that the patient is a risk for suicide with rapid onset. Over time, its possible that clinicians and even teachers and parents would become better at seeing the signs. The diagnosis, Joiner explained, is a warning sign for the future.

Detroits Henry Ford Health System provides a glimpse of how suicide prevention might evolve. At Henry Ford, suicide is considered its own mental health category, not primarily a symptom of depression. In 2002, the health system began a series of initiatives, and reduced patient suicide rates a dramatic 80 percent over the next seven years.

The staff at Henry Ford discovered that from 2000 to 2010, only half of patients who died by suicide had received a mental health diagnosis, closely matching current national statistics. This could be undiagnosed illness, but I think a lot of people dont meet the criteria, said Brian Ahmedani, who directs the health systems Center for Health Policy & Health Services Research.

Henry Ford screens everyone with questionnaires asking about suicidal thoughts, a practice the Joint Commission, which certifies health care organizations, started recommending in 2016. But in its behavioral health units, the risk assessment focuses on triggers, such as a job loss. Ahmedani says that patients in the highest risk percentile usually have a number of triggers: chronic pain, opioid use, and insomnia, for example. Because assessing the many possible combinations can be difficult, Henry Ford uses artificial intelligence to analyze electronic medical records, helping clinicians who may not have time to catch a perfect storm before its already too late. Veterans are a high-risk group, so the Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun using these algorithms too.

Currently, suicidal people are often prescribed antidepressants. However, other than lithium, most often used to treat people with bipolar disorder, theres little evidence that medication prevents suicide, Ahmedani observed. New VA clinical guidelines alsosupportshort-term infusions of a drug calledketamine.

Henry Ford offers treatments specific to suicide: identifying triggers and coping mechanisms, for example. It also offers cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, the treatment that helped Banks. Patients are encouraged to develop a safety plan that includes removing guns or painkillers from the home, and an idea of who they might call under duress.

David Covington, a suicide prevention activist, said, we used to think that if you treat addiction, the mental health will get better, and the other side thought if you treat mental health, the addiction will get better. Now we say you have to treat both. Similarly, a person might need treatment for both suicide and depression.

The new diagnosis, more fundamentally, could change who we think might be driven to the extreme of a suicide attempt. Psychiatrists still refer to suicide attempts with a short buildup as impulsive, but Joiners team disputes that these are impulsive people. Megan Rogers, a Ph.D. candidate who works with Joiner, sees outpatients at the university clinic. She recalls one who within hours would go from no risk to high risk but had what she describes as a conscientious and vigilant, rather than impulsive, personality.

Still, some question whether a new diagnosis would actually benefit patients. For one thing, it isnt clear how such a diagnosis would influence treatment or whether it would save lives. There is simply no value in a prediction that cannot lead to an effective preventative measure, writes psychiatrist Matthew Large in a2018 paperevaluating suicide assessment approaches generally. More people could land in hospital psychiatric care, or be kept longer than they desire, he said. And while it is generally assumed that hospitalization can prevent suicide, this has never been demonstrated empirically. In fact, suicide rates are high among recently discharged patients and some say hospitalization can make things worse.

Galynker agrees that hospitalization is not necessarily the answer and is looking at new treatment methods. In the meantime, the diagnosis might communicate the higher risk to insurance companies, explained Lisa Cohen, a professor of psychiatry at Icahn School of Medicine and co-author with Galynker, giving patients better access to treatment options.

Psychiatrists who make decisions about hospitalization say they would appreciate more science to guide them. It would be incredibly helpful to have a very clear indication that someone is at higher risk, observed Julie Holland, who once presided over a psychiatric emergency room at Bellevue Hospital in New York. A close look at the buildup to a crisis would be invaluable. We do that when somebodys heart stops, or when somebodys heart is imminently stopping, said Chicago psychiatrist Leo Weinstein, who teaches at Northwestern University. Making the unstable state a diagnostic entity in its own right, like ventricular fibrillation or congestive heart failure, he says, is crucially important.

Temma Ehrenfeld is a writer and ghostwriter in New York drawn to philosophy and psychiatry. Her most recent book is Morgan: The Wizard of Kew Gardens. Follow her on Twitter @temmaehrenfeld

A version of this article was originally published on Undarks website as Can a New Diagnosis Help Prevent Suicide? and has been republished here with permission.

View original post here:
Treating 'suicidality' as its own medical condition could spur research, better treatment options - Genetic Literacy Project

Heritable diseases that are passed down through the generations have been known for quite some time. For most of that time though, people had no idea why it was this way, let alone what to do about it. This all changed with the arrival of DNA sequencing from the completion of the Human Genome Project over a decade ago.

Not only do people recognize that genes can play a factor in the likelihood of contracting certain ailments, but increasingly scientists are able to pinpoint where these genes are, how they are contributing to something, and to formulate a solution.

The Importance of HealthIt is not enough that people are living longer lives if those extra years are spent in a hospital bed. What really matters is not how many years you spend on this Earth, but how many healthy years. This is why the subject of health is so important. Health can be said to be the key to a truly fulfilling life.

As we age, our body accumulates more flaws and as a result we become less vigorous over the years, generally speaking. But if we take care of our health when we are young, we can slow this process down by quite a bit. There are a good number of retirees who have done this and are reaping the benefits.

In the days of old, most knowledge people had of maintaining good health was traditions passed down over the generations. This of course is not always perfect as some traditions might not be rooted in the best of science. Some traditions might be outright harmful to family and societal health.

The health of one person can potentially affect the entire family. If someone falls ill, the whole family is wrought with worry anxiety because a loved one is in distress. If it turns out to be something major, like cancer, not only is the familys emotions dragged down, but potentially their finances as well.

The miracle of modern technology is the gift that does not stop giving. With genealogy and heritage DNA tests available to the public, families might just be able to save a members life just by knowing more of something. Through knowledge and preventative medicine, people are being empowered to take matters of life into their own hands. While this of course means that a greater degree of personal responsibility is needed, this also means that we can make better decisions on what to do with our life simply because we now know more about ourselves.

As with many things, modern technology always has the potential to lend a helping hand. In the past couple centuries, human life expectancy has actually doubled worldwide! Improved sanitation, mass vaccination and germ theory have all contributed to this rise in life expectancy.

Another truly remarkable achievement has been the dramatic drop in infant mortality. Just a few short centuries ago, two in five children did not reach the age of five. In most developed countries, this has dropped to less than one in a hundred. This has resulted in the elimination of suffering for nearly countless families worldwide.

With the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, scientists were able to confirm that certain gene expressions contributed to the rise of certain ailments and also that some of these expressions were transmitted from parent to child. And through better understanding of these gene expressions, scientists will be able to better combat these diseases.

With the Genome Project completed, the field transformed into an information technology and was able to ride the exponential wave of IT development along with countless other fields that have been swept by the IT fairy. Now, scientists are able to attack the problem of heritable diseases with even more pinpoint precision.

DNA Kit testing has exploded in popularity in recent years. With technology making everything cheaper, DNA testing kits are now within financial reach of millions of families. Some people use this technology to satisfy certain curiosities while for others, it could very well be a lifesaver.

DNA testing kits work by sending a testing kit to your address with instructions on what they need from you, usually a large saliva sample, as well as how to get it back to them. After a certain amount of time, some documents will be mailed back to you documenting their findings.

There are some DNA testing kits that specialize in looking for heritable traits with real world consequences such as predispositions to certain heritable diseases and even certain allergies. Many of us go around our daily activities not even slightly aware that we have certain predispositions we have no control over.

This can be very helpful because a DNA test might produce information that can be applied to a real-life medical situation. If you have a high chance of contracting a certain disease than most, it might make sense to take action now that might save your life and spare your family from suffering a loss in the family.

Go here to see the original:
A New Frontier in Family Health and History - The Nation Newspaper

Why it matters: The latest deep dive by Britains leading political historian examines Theresa Mays time as prime minister and details how her attitude and approach to the NHS changed during her time in Number 10.

Theresa May didnt understand what had gone wrong [on the NHS] or how to put it right when she entered Number 10, according to Sir Anthony Seldon.

She was instinctively anti-reform because she knew previous attempts had backfired, while at the same time hyper-sensitive to the possibility of a winter crisis.

Sir Anthony also claims she did want to see increased funding for the NHS, something that will surprise those senior NHS figures who met with her at this time.

Indeed, her first budget in 2017 only produced a 2.8bn increase for the NHS, despite the PMs own policy unit and NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens arguing for 4bn.

Sir Anthony quotes Mrs May as saying: The problem with conceding to what Simon Stevens is always demanding is that we end up putting the money into short-term solutions like reducing waiting lists rather than systematic improvement, or into preventative medicine or mental health.

Then health secretary Jeremy Hunt apparently agreed with the PM.

The settlement ended up riling the NHS rather than pleasing them recalls special adviser Alex Dawson.

However, towards the end of the year, Mrs Mays attitudes had begun to change.

The PM felt the Conservatives had got into a ridiculous position on the NHS as a result of being banned from discussing it by campaign guru Lynton Crosby during the 2015 and 2017 elections.

NHS performance was continuing to worsen, Mr Stevens was again growing vocal and House of Commons health select committee chair Sarah Wollaston began to call for a Royal Commission, which scared No10 and No11 witless.

On 7 February 2018, Mrs May was shown polling by Mr Dawson which demonstrated that people were prepared to pay extra taxes to fund improvements to the NHS.

Sir Anthony becomes a little too credulous at this point, taking at face value statements like the PM started to think that the NHS leadership needed to be treated in the same way as the police: it needed reform to become much more biddable.

There had been a plan to announce an inquiry into the NHS at the end of 2016, similar to the one conducted into higher education, but this had been overruled by the Treasury, says Sir Anthony.

Now the idea was reheated as a 10-year NHS Plan.

This would apparently enable Number 10 to hold the NHS to account for delivery.

The truth as most HSJ readers will know is that by 2018 the government had little choice but to significantly increase NHS funding or face a total service melt-down and the resulting political backlash. Chancellor Philip Hammond tried to hold out for a three-year settlement, but finally accepted it had to be five.

The NHS plan full of good ideas as it is was still sophisticated window dressing for dragging the NHS out of the traditional public sector spending round to be given a 70th birthday present. A fact instantly recognised by savvy commentators like Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, who was both admiring of the conjuring trick pulled off by Mr Stevens and Mr Hunt and, irritated that the spoilt NHS could get even more cash.

From the start of Mrs Mays premiership, Sir Anthony says mental health was an area in which she was prepared to take risks. He claims Mrs May won an 18-month battle from 2012 with Mr Hunt to get David Camerons government to take mental health more seriously.

Mrs May arranged for Sir Simon Wessely, former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Poppy Jaman, founder of Mental Health First Aid, to address Cabinet for 45 minutes.

Most ministers were attentive, apart from foreign secretary Boris Johnson who gave the impression that he thought it was all nanny-state stuff and made sotto voce asides throughout.

No surprise then that, according to Sir Anthony, those working on a subsequent project to improve black, Asian and minority ethnic mental health did their best to make it Boris proof.

Sir Simon is glowing in his praise for Mrs Mays interest in and support for the most intractable aspect of mental health, one in which there were the fewest votes: severe mental illness. Nobody since Stephen Dorrell, Conservative health secretary between 1995 and 1997, had taken such a real interest in the most difficult part of the whole spectrum, the former Royal College of Psychiatristspresident tells Sir Anthony.

Perhaps the most illuminating section of the book is the one on the disaster which befell Mrs Mays proposed social care reforms in 2017.

Here was an issue on which according to Number 10 deputy chief of policy Will Tanner Mrs May believed people felt let down by politicians and that it was her duty to act.

Her senior communications adviser Fiona Hill told the PM it was a mistake, but Sir Anthony quotes Mrs May as saying: I know Ill have to use up some of my political capital, but this is the time to do it.

As Ms Hill rowed with Mrs Mays other chief adviser Nick Timothy, the PM with tears in her eyes banged the desk and said: Were going to do this.

When as Ms Hill predicted the negative media coverage of the social care proposals provoked widespread panic among Tory MPs, Mrs May did nothing to calm the storm.

Sir Anthony notes she simply could have said: Nobody would lose their homes during their lifetime and they would be left with at least 100,000. But she didnt and, as Sir Anthony remarks later in the book, as far as Mrs May was concerned social care was dead in the water.

One intriguing side note was that the first draft of the 2017 Conservative manifesto contained a proposal to introduce social insurance. Mrs May vetoed it, saying over my dead body.

The section on the January 2018s botched reshuffle confirms Mrs May had intended to replace Mr Hunt with the solid Greg Clark to calm things down after the junior doctors strike. However, Sir Anthony has also discovered that Mr Hunt had spoken to No10 before the general election about wanting to be moved, and that rumours swirled in the corridors of power that he wanted the job of deputy prime minister.

As that possibility receded, Mr Hunt began to change his mind, without notifying Number 10. He was, recounts May at 10, increasingly keen on becoming the longest-serving health secretary in history something, of course, he achieved in due course.

If there is any political or influential figure you would likeHSJto interview, please emailalastair.mclellan@wilmingtonhealthcare.com.

The past five Bedpans

Will Hutton

Cardiac Arrest and Bodies writer Jed Mercurio

The Grenfell Tower fire

Margaret Thatcher and the birth of the internal market

Doctors for Extinction Rebellion

You can read all 44 Bedpanshere

Here is the original post:
The Bedpan: 'The problem with conceding to Simon Stevens' - Health Service Journal

Now, more than ever, the field of cardiology needs women.

But as the national need for more cardiologists overall increases, fewer medical students are choosing to pursue a career in cardiology. Shockingly, the percentage of women entering the cardiology workforce has remained low for well over 10 years. While half of all medical students are women, fewer than one in five cardiologists is female.

I wish I better understood the reasons why. I fell in love with cardiology on the first day of medical school, almost literally. I thought the heart was an amazing organ, and because it was so intuitive, I could easily determine what would happen if certain parts stopped working or what it meant if an image showed an abnormality. I can whole-heartedly say there has not been a single day when Ive regretted making that decision, but many women hesitate to do so.

Some believe they cannot have an adequate work-life balance if they choose such a demanding field, but I have found that women truly can have it all, just perhaps not at the same time.

A series of papers in the May 30, 2018 issue of JAMA Cardiology discussed a range of potential reasons for underrepresentation of women in cardiology. In a survey of internal medicine trainees in 198 residency programs, female respondents and all respondents who chose not to go into cardiology placed a greater value on factors related to work-life balance than on finding stimulating work.

They have been conditioned to believe that the field of cardiology in particular has extensive irregular hours and significant on-call demands in interventional cardiology and other cardiovascular fields. Many also believe that there are very limited opportunities for female cardiologists to only be able to lead a womens heart program, for example. While womens heart programs are critically needed, they are not be our sole career option.

While the field admittedly is intense, cardiology has many career options. There are a number of subspecialties that allow for a better balance of work-life from preventative care and the management of lipids and high blood pressure, to doing catheter-based interventions in heart attack patients or those with rhythm disorders. There are also more choices in how we practice: solo practitioners versus members of group practices, or office versus hospital-based.

In a Viewpoint from the same JAMA issue, the author writes that more than half of women in cardiology have been asked during interviews about their intention to have children. For medical students, the decision to have children is large it often means an interruption in intensive training that can be very difficult to make up.

When I was in training, it was practically unheard of for anyone to have children, and there were absolutely no resources for childcare or maternity leave. I chose to wait until after my training to have my children a now 32-year-old son and 31-year-old daughter. I chose a job in imaging that allowed me a normal schedule, and the time I needed to be both a mother and Dr. Gillam.

But because of the groundswell of support from the professional community for more female cardiologists, more hospitals and training programs are implementing maternity or family leave policies that make it possible for women to complete their training.

At Atlantic Health System, for example, we work with women who want to have a family to create training schedules on an individual basis and are committed to figuring it out together. At present, four out of nine cardiology fellows are women.

While many programs still require expectant mothers to take sick or paid leave time before these policies take effect, this is an example of the way the profession is changing to encourage more women to enter the field.

We are becoming increasingly supported by medical professional societies dedicated to encouraging more women to go into medicine. This is true in the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere in the world. The American College of Cardiology (ACC) has a Women in Cardiology Section, and I have been active in the Women in Cardiology Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA). Other groups, such as the Society for Catheterization and Angiography (SCAI), and a new international organization called Women as One have also taken on this issue.

Together, we are committed to not only changing the perception of what having a career in cardiology and a family life means for women, but providing strong female mentors who can share their own journeys, lend support and mentor the next generation of young female cardiologists.

Some of the steps we are taking include formal leadership training, mentorship programs, and conducting studies to better understand decision-making about how women choose specialties and subspecialties. We are reaching out to physicians to create a databank of women who are available to speak and serve on advisory boards. We are asking professional societies to actively look at ways to establish gender equity (as well as ethnic and racial equity) as they assign speaking roles, podium opportunities and editorial opportunities in their professional society journals and meetings.

As women are taking more leadership roles in industry, support across the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and medical technology industries has also been increasing. I credit much of this discussion and spirit of empowerment to the #MeToo movement, and the importance of banding together to encourage and support each other.

Today, I have a strong support network of colleagues and mentors (many of them men!) that I go to for guidance, support or clinical decision making. I also speak to them about their journeys.

I did sacrifice. In the 19 years my children were growing up until the point they left for college, I didnt change jobs and I traveled little. I did stay in close contact with my professional colleagues, but in ways that did not require me to travel.

When my youngest left for college, I made up for lost time. I took a job at Columbia in a mainstream academic program, went back to school and earned my MPH in health policy and management, and got very involved in professional organizations. I also took advantage of speaking opportunities, editorial opportunities all of the things I had to say no to in earlier parts of my career. I am friendly with a number of now-prominent female cardiologists who have the same types of stories.

What I tell my mentees, and those who speak with me about my career, is that you cant have everything at the same time, but if you think things through, you can have most things, just at different stages of your career.

There is an exceptional amount of room for women in cardiology, and a strong support network of people who are willing to work with young women to have it all in this male-dominated field.

I look forward to the day when I will read the headline, More Women Choosing Cardiology, and supporting them when they do.

About the author: Linda D. Gillam, M.D., MPH, FACC is the Dorothy and Lloyd Huck Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at Morristown Medical Center/Atlantic Health System and professor of medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. She recently completed a term as chair of the Women in Cardiology Committee of the American Heart Association and serves on the leadership committee of the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology.Under Gillams leadership, Atlantic Health System and Morristown Medical Center have become nationally recognized as leaders in cardiovascular medicine and surgery, attracting best-in-class talent, state-of-the-art technology and clinical trials.

Related Women in Cardiology Content:

Women Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Structural Heart

See the original post here:
Women: Cardiology Needs You! - Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology

A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked. Blood carries the oxygen and nutrients that the organs need to work properly. Blood also carries carbon dioxide to the lungs and when a blockage occurs it can be fatal. The blockage is most often a buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances and this is known as atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.

Over time, the fatty material can build up inside the walls of the arteries and if it blocks the coronary artery and cuts off the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle, the heart may become permanently damaged.

Leading health experts suggest foods that help cleanse the arteries and these include asparagus, avocado, broccoli, fatty fish, nuts and watermelon.

There is also a cooking oil that comes highly suggested for helping reduce the risk of heart attacks and cleanse the arteries.

READ MORE: Heart attack: The biggest signs you could be having a silent heart attack - what are they?

Food is directly involved in many of the risk factors for coronary heart disease and heart attacks.

Paying attention to what one eats is one of the most important preventative measures to take.

Saturated and trans fats in the diet tend to increase LDL cholesterol in the blood.

Common sources of saturated fats include animal products including butter, meat, chicken skin and full cream dairy foods and processed foods like pastries and biscuits.

The oil one cooks with could either help or hinder a persons risk of developing a heart attack.

DONT MISS

Olive oil

Olive oil has long been hailed as one of the best oils one can use for its many health benefits.

It is a staple in the Mediterranean diet and the heart-healthy benefits are well documented.

Olive oil is packed with antioxidants which relieve inflammation and decrease the risk of chronic disease.

Its also rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and many studies have associated it with improvements in heart health.

What the study says

One study in 7,216 adults at high risk for heart disease showed that those who consumed the most olive oil had a 35 percent lower risk of developing heart disease.

In another study with the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, olive oil intake was linked with a risk of cardiovascular disease.

Another large study also showed that a higher intake of olive oil was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Medical News Today said: There is a protein in our blood that rises after we eat. Now, new research reveals that it plays an important role in preventing a major cause of heart attack.

"This protein is called apolipoprotein A-IV (ApoA-IV) and evidence already suggest that higher blood levels of it are linked to lower risk of cardiovascular diseases.

"For the first time, scientists at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto, Canada, have shown that ApoA-IV stops blood platelets forming into blood clots.

"The researchers suggest that the rise in ApoA-IV blood levels following meals containing olive oil and other unsaturated fats reduces "platelet hyperactivity and bonding," which, in turn, reduces inflammation and stroke and heart attack risk.

Visit link:
Heart attack: This cooking oil has been proven to prevent the life-threatening condition - Express

How does a piece of bread cause a migraine?

Migraine is the third most prevalent illness in the world and causes suffering for tens of millions of people. In fact, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. household includes someone with migraines.

Migraine is not just a headache but also includes a collection of associated symptoms that can be debilitating. These include nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity and dizziness. Often people struggle to determine what triggers their migraines. It can be environmental, hormonal, genetic, secondary to an underlying illness, or triggered by certain foods, such as cheese, red wine or chocolate. One food that has received a lot of attention in recent years is gluten - a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

As a registered dietitian and board-certified neurologist who specializes in headache management, I often will have my patients try a gluten-free diet.

Celiac disease vs. gluten sensitivity

When someone suffers from celiac disease a digestive disorder caused by an allergy to gluten there is a clear link between migraine headaches and gluten. Gluten triggers immune cells to release antibodies to attack substances the body sees as foreign.

When someone without celiac disease eats gluten, it goes into the gastrointestinal tract where food is broken down and the nutrients are absorbed. In the case of celiac disease, that persons immune system sees the gluten as a foreign substance (like a virus or bacteria that shouldnt be there) and attacks it with a specific antibody called transglutaminase (TG) 2 serum autoantibodies to destroy the gluten.

The problem is the persons own healthy tissues gets destroyed in the process. In other words, when people who are sensitive to gluten consume it, the immune system sees this protein as an invader and creates antibodies to capture and destroy the protein. If the protein is sitting in the GI tract or has been absorbed by other organs, the antibodies go looking for it and attack whatever tissue is harboring the gluten protein.

This triggers an inflammatory reaction that puts the body in high alert that injures various healthy organs. Organs then release molecules that cause blood vessels to become leaky and release water, electrolytes and protein into the tissues and cause swelling.

This is an inflammatory response that affects the whole body, not just the brain. In addition to headaches, it can cause broader symptoms including gastrointestinal problems, fatigue and learning difficulties, just to name a few.

Step by step, how gluten leads to migraines

But just looking at a gluten-intolerant persons inflammatory response doesnt provide the whole picture on glutens link to migraine.

In recent years scientists have gained a better understanding of how and why migraines occur. Migraine is now considered a genetic condition that is found commonly within families.

Early theories suggested migraines occurred because of enlargement or dilation of the blood vessels. But now neurologists realize this isnt the whole story. We now know the cascade that leads to a migraine involves the nerves in the trigeminovascular pathway (TVP) the collection of nerves that control sensation in the face as well as biting and chewing.

When TVP is activated by the presence of gluten, for example, it causes the release of many chemicals including histamine, a substance that immune cells produce when responding to injury, allergic and inflammatory events. The TVP nerves also produce a recently discovered trigger for migraines; a protein called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).

When CGRP is released it causes the dilation of blood vessels in the meninges the layer of tissue protecting the brain. As the blood vessels dilate they leak water and proteins into the meninges which causes swelling and irritation. The swelling activates the trigenimial nerves which relay messages to other regions of the brain, including the thalamus which creates the perception of pain that is associated with a migraine.

Within the past year a new class of medications has gained FDA approval for migraine prevention. These medications are called CGRP monoclonal antibodies and have proven to be an effective preventative treatment. They stop the protein CGRP from getting into its receptor.

What to do about food triggers

In both gluten sensitivity, or celiac disease, and migraine, there is an inflammatory process occurring within the body. I hypothesize that the inflammatory response to gluten makes it easier to activate the trigeminovascular pathway, thus triggering a migraine. There has never been a large study of how exactly gluten triggers migraines, and this is something I hope to explore in future studies.

Typically, a food trigger will cause a migraine to start within 15 minutes of exposure to that substance.

If someone tests positive for celiac, or wheat allergy, then the answer is simple: remove gluten from the diet. So the question arises when someone tests negative should we still eliminate gluten? It is often worth a try, because there is a condition called non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

If someone does not have celiac disease but suffers from symptoms of gluten sensitivity, an elimination trial of gluten is often helpful for reducing migraine frequency or severity. The reason I suspect is that removing gluten will reduce chances of an inflammatory response that will activate the trigeminal nerves and trigger pain. Gluten elimination for migraines is still experimental.

We need to treat the whole person in medicine. This includes looking at potential triggers for headache and doing an elimination diet can be of benefit. There are so many gluten-free products currently on the market, it makes removing gluten from the diet easier.

[ Like what youve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversations daily newsletter. ]

Lauren Green, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of Southern California

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image: Reuters

See the original post:
How Gluten Destroys the Human Body - The National Interest Online

Goals

Action plan

1. Increase the average life expectancy by an additional 3 years through improvements in healthcare facilities.

2. Identify the top 10 reasons for deaths in Sri Lanka and take the necessary preventative measures.

The top 10 causes of death are:

a. Coronary heart disease.

b. Stroke.

c. Diabetes.

d. Wheezing or asthma.

e. Alzheimers disease.

f. Lung illnesses.

g. Chronic lung diseases.

h. Suicide.

i. Chronic kidney disease.

j. Cirrhosis.

3. Develop fully-fledged hospitals in the 7 main corridors to Colombo (Moratuwa, Piliyandala, Kottawa, Battaramulla, Kadawatha, Ragama and Negombo).

a. Public outskirts of Colombo will get access to high quality healthcare.

b. This will reduce the number of people coming into Colombo City for healthcare.

4. Establish an Oncology (cancer) unit at a hospital in each district in association with Maharagama Cancer Hospital.

5. Establish a modern and fully equipped patient testing laboratory in each district.

6. Build fully equipped health centres for heart, lung, neurology, Ophthalmology (eye) and paediatric illnesses in association with the respective specialised Colombo hospitals.

7. Introduce a new overtime payment scheme for doctors and medical staff to reduce the waiting time of patients for surgeries.

a. Currently, patients are listed on the waiting list for 1 week to 10 months.

b. With the new payment scheme, theatres which are used for 8 hours of work can be extended to 12 hours, including Saturdays and Sundays.

8. Apply the overtime payment scheme to all medical staff in order to make use of underutilised theatres, test and scan rooms to reduce the waiting time for patients.

9. Increase the intake of medical students from 1,300 to 2,000 at Government universities to address the shortage of qualified doctors in the country.

Increase other relevant healthcare staff.

10. Increase the intake of students in Nursing Colleges.

Sponsor foreign scholarships for senior level nurses to upgrade their skills.

11. Encourage the establishment of private hospitals through 0% corporate tax and 0% VAT incentives.

a. Additional insurance schemes will be provided to Government servants to receive medical care.

b. Patients waiting in month-long queues for operations will be transferred to these hospitals.

12. Introduce a Digital Health Hub (DHH) which will be available both online and via a mobile app.

DHH can be accessed with the Digital National Identity Card.

A strong and healthy population lives longer and is more productive. This makes an important contribution to the economic progress of a nation

Services of the DHH include:

a. Access to patients health history for the past 10 years.

b. View time slots available for scans, doctors appointments at all hospitals/clinics.

c. Alerts on scheduled appointments.

13. Develop an online portal to monitor stock availability of medicines in each hospital.

a. This can track medicine stocks available in other hospitals in a stock out situation.

b. Hospitals can order stocks in advance to avoid stock out situations by checking current stock counts digitally.

14. Digitalise the hospital bed distribution at wards to ensure the maximum utilisation of hospital beds.

15. Digitalise all test lab reports of patients in collaboration with the blood bank and use these 16. reports to forecast the patterns of the patients medical conditions.

Patients can take necessary preventive steps to control any medical condition.

16. Develop and maintain toilets according to the following standards:

a. 1 toilet for every 20 inpatient users.

b. At least 4 toilets per outpatient setting.

c. Separate toilets for medical and general staff.

17. Introduce and maintain an affordable pricing policy for essential drugs and equipment.

18. Maintain an agreed quality standard on medicines when released to markets.

Introduce labels with the content of medicine and details on any side effects.

19. Provide easy access to needed medical facilities for families who cannot have children due to medical reasons.

20. Geo-tag kidney patients and identify affected areas, including those prone to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and construct deep-well (bore well) facilities with proper filtration. Already certain villages are equipped with the above-mentioned water purification systems, e.g. Saddiyawara project by Hayleys PLC.

21. Distribute soil health cards and soil-test base fertiliser recommendations.

Currently, 35,000 containers of fertiliser are imported. With the introduction of soil health cards and fertiliser recommendations, 20% (7,000 containers) of imports can be reduced.

22. Introduce Tele-medicine services to provide information and diagnosis by healthcare professionals, especially for rural areas through an online call or through preloaded data.

23. Develop videos to promote physical activity among adults and children to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases.

24. Implement proper waste disposal methods at all hospitals.

25. To attract professional medical staff to rural postings:

a. Build international schools for their children.

b. Fully renovate rural hospitals with necessary healthcare facilities.

c. Encourage building of private hospitals for private practice.

d. Facilitate doctors quarters with all essential items.

26. Accelerate reforms in the paramedical education sector to increase the availability of nurses, pharmacists and other paramedical personnel.

27. Introduce an accident-free house planning guide for senior citizens above 65 years of age.

28. Develop Ayurveda treatment segment:

a. Provide training and access to new methods used in Ayurveda for practitioners.

b. Plant more herb farms to strengthen Ayurveda medicine production.

c. Introduce income and pension schemes for Ayurveda practitioners similar to Western medicine doctors.

d. Assist top Ayurveda practitioners in the country to establish treatment centres at tourist hubs.

29. Introduce a Low Risk Drinking Guideline to reduce health risks associated with drinking.

30. Introduce a guideline on recommended sleeping habits for all age levels to promote a healthy lifestyle among citizens.

31. Raise awareness on mental health issues and establish centres with the necessary professional staff and equipment for counselling and treatments.

32. Introduce an application with behavioural analytics technology to identify individuals with depression and anxiety.

33. Develop online video-based training programs to teach basic first aid techniques for the public in emergency situations.

34. Conduct good health habit workshops at schools, workplaces, hospitals and religious institutions.

35. Address the issue of absenteeism of girls due to menstruation, following steps to be taken:

a. Conduct awareness programs at schools, communities and families covering areas such as:

i. The process of menstruation.

ii. The importance of washing menstrual cloth.

iii. Types of absorbents that can be used during menstruation.

iv. Build the confidence of adolescent girls and educate them to accept the changes which happen during menstruation.

v. Prepare adolescent girls and their families on what to expect during menstruation and how to take care of their hygiene during that period.

b. Develop online awareness videos on menstrual hygiene.

c. Establish disposal mechanisms.

d. Develop water, sanitation and hygiene-related facilities supporting menstrual hygiene management (one toilet for every 40 girls, with water and soap).

e. Promote production of sanitary napkins at village level.

f. Counsel and support adolescent girls on how to improve their diets.

g. Conduct training programs for social development officers and teachers.

Objectives of this training program are:

a. To understand the importance of menstrual hygiene management.

b. To develop skills and capacities to address menstrual hygiene management in schools and the community level.

36. Establish active health labs around the country for health and wellness, especially of sportspersons, by giving them a free reading of their health parameters.

37. Launch a website and an app with essential information for new and expecting mothers with details about what to expect, when to get vaccinations, when to see the doctor, and book appointments with doctors.

38. Allocate free airtime and print space for health promotion, particularly for non-communicable disease risk factors in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.

Continue reading here:
Ministry of Health: A nation rich in wellbeing - ft.lk

The global health and wellness market is often cited as the next trillion dollar industry and rightly so, considering the wealth of applications and products it incorporates in a variety of industries such as nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals. Since a last few years, sectors such as healthy eating, nutrition, and weight loss, complementary and alternative medicine, preventative and personalized health, and beauty and anti-aging have grown in leaps and bounds. Currently, there are three trends making their presence known in the global market, viz. athleisure, boutique fitness, and organic diet. From real estate to shopping to smart technology, health and wellness has found a significant place in the everyday life of the world population.

The report on the international health and wellness market sheds light on the important segmentations by nutraceutical and cosmeceutical product types. Besides this, the analysts have explored some of the key geographical segments that the global market is anticipated to mark its territory in. With a conclusive segmentation study provided in this comprehensive publication, interested parties can take hold of the crux of the market.

Buyers of the health and wellness market publication are offered with an up-to-date analysis of the vital technological improvements and market trends. Moreover, it crafts an impact analysis along with a well-defined technological growth map. The report is a crucial guideline to understand the critical market forces restraining and propelling the global market.

Request a Brochure of Health and Wellness Market Report

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=450

Global Health and Wellness Market: Trends

By nutraceutical product, the global health and wellness market is segmented into functional foods, functional beverages, and dietary supplements. According to cosmeceuticals, the market is segregated into cosmeceutical ingredients, cosmeceutical products, and cosmeceutical sales. The market is primarily driven by increased health awareness and boosted store presence of health and wellness products. The demand for healthcare devices, exercise equipment, organic foods, and supplementary diets has also augmented the growth of the market.

Global Health and Wellness Market: Geographical Analysis

The international health and wellness market has grown at a substantial rate not only in developed regions such as North America and Europe but also developing countries of the world. Consumer health awareness and consumer interest continue to rise in Canada on the back of the role of foods and beverages in health maintenance and their benefits. Consumers in the U.S. are anticipated to take a paradigm shift toward healthy and organic food choices as their skepticism about manmade healthy products continues.

Emerging economies such as China have persisted to show signs of growth, riding on widening consumer focus on health and increasing household income. New product development has supported the organic baby food segment. In India, the market has been propelled by the demand for health and wellness foods, increased uptake of weight control pills, and growing gym memberships.

Request for a Discount on Health and Wellness Market Report

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=450

Global Health and Wellness Market: Competitive Overview

The report has studied some of the leading players which are vying to attain a top spot in the global health and wellness market, viz. Philips Healthcare, Abbott Laboratories, LifeScan, Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Animas Corporation, LOral, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle S.A., General Mills, Inc., Coca-Cola, Omron Healthcare, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, and Medtronic, Inc. With a scrupulous analysis of the competition dynamics, it helps to gain a competitive edge in the worldwide market.

Originally posted here:
Health and Wellness Market Shares, Strategies and Opportunities 2024 - The Denton Chronicle

Some people might not see a connection between ballet and football, but a sports medicine doctor at University Hospitals knows just how similar dancers and football players are.

In fact,Dr. James Voos, chair of UH'sorthopedics department, says treating dancers as athletes can help prevent injuries and lengthen dancers careers.

Contact athletes such as football players and our performing artists such as ballet dancers put an incredible force on their body, day in and day out, Voos said. While you may be moving more gracefully in ballet, those stresses on the body are very significant, so the ability to maintain flexibility, to put together a preventative program, is just as important in both sports.

This season is the first year the Cleveland Ballet is partnering with the sports medicine department at UH, giving the dancers more opportunities to receive preventive care. And the partnership means Voos and physical therapists are treating both the Cleveland Ballet and the Cleveland Browns.

Dancer Madison Campbell says taking care of their bodies is one of the most important things about ballet.

Our bodies are our instrument. Those are our tools. Thats the same as football players, theyre using their bodies as an instrument, as a tool, to get to where they need to be in the game, Campbell said. The amount of stress you put on your body, day in and day out, the amount of agility and stamina if thats not an athlete, I dont know what you call it.

The physical therapists working with the dancers know how to treat the artists as the athletes they are, says 16-year-old Marla Minadeo, the youngest dancer in the Cleveland Ballets history.

Im so young, but obviously if Ive been dancing professionally, like Im dancing all day, every day, my body doesnt feel young, Minadeo said. I think that if I keep on going to physical therapy, the life of my dance career will be a lot longer.

Its Minadeos first season as a professional dancer. Her mom, Gladisa Guadalupe, is the artistic director for the Cleveland Ballet. An injury sent Guadalupe into retirement as a dancer, which she thinks could have been prevented.

The career of a dancer is very short. But if you take care of your body now, in a professional environment and with professionals in the medical field that understand the wear and tear, and how to prevent it, they could have careers up to 45 and 50 [years old], why not? Guadalupe said. And thats what we want. We want to give them tools that they understand their limitations, they understand their assets, they understand how far they can go with their bodies.

Proper training and physical therapy help professional dancers like Minadeo, but treating dancers as athletes is also important information for young dancers and parents.

This is particularly close to me, having young dancers at home, Voos said.

He recommends flexibility and strength training for dancers between practices.

Audiences often dont recognize the athleticism of dance because the dancers try to hide it, said dancer Lauren Stenroos said.

Our job is to make it look easy on stage, and were not supposed to show that its difficult, she said.

Guadalupe hopes that in the future, audiences will recognize that while it takes months to rehearse for a production, but it takes decades for dancers to train their bodies for ballet.

I dont think people understand. They just see the beauty. The curtain goes up, and they just see the end product. They dont see the sweat and the hard work, she said. And thats my hope, that as much as I would like the audience to enjoy which they do enjoy the performance that they understand what this artist goes through and respect the profession.

Go here to read the rest:
Is Ballet A Sport? Doctors And Dancers Think So - ideastream