Fun good for the mind Cedars of Austin brings Jeopardy to Mower County Senior Center By Christopher Baldus chris.baldus@austindailyherald.com
Surely nobody in the Mower County Senior Center dining room would have ever thought Dagwood — the frenetic husband in the classic comic strip “Blondie” — would ever be considered good for your health. It’s all about context. In this moment, he was the answer to a Jeopardy question.
Cedars of Austin marked National Activities Professionals Week by bringing the game to the center. Every Thursday, Cedars staff lead a brain game, such as Jeopardy, for residents at the senior living community. The engaging games are a kind of therapeutic recreation that helps with memory. There are other games, but Jeopardy seems to be far and away the favorite, said Lisa Nelson, director of sales and marketing at the Cedars. On stage playing the roles of game show host and the ques-
tions board were Cathy Ehley and Sue Barns. Ehley filled the role of Alex Trebek while Barns ran the not always cooperative game board, which was more of a tapestry with hearts attached by stubborn velcro. Ehley directs recreation and wellness as well as memory care. She has been at The Cedars since 2005. Her mission is to “enrich the lives of our residents through meaningful activities,” says her biography on The Cedars website.
See GAME, Page 2B
Audience members raise their hands and flyswatters hoping to be chosen to answer a Jeopardy question Wednesday at the Mower County Senior Center. Christopher Baldus/chris.baldus@austindailyherald.com
Stay sharp, keep active Senior Center offers variety of organized and informal activities By Christopher Baldus chris.baldus@austindailyherald.com
Men with knives meet weekly at the Mower County Senior Center. These are not pocket knives for whittling. These are good blades that stay sharp and are used alongside gougers and V-blades. They are used tocraft wood masterpieces. The Woodcarvers Club, which has between eight and a dozen members, is scheduled to meet from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesdays at the center in Austin. It’s one of a number of activities the senior center hosts. Another group focuses on stitching projects. There is also a call out for chess and bridge players. To get involved with the Woodcarvers Club, you are encouraged to stop by during one of its Wednesday sessions. Experience is not necessary. Club members will help you along. Member Russell Vaale said for that first visit you don’t need to bring anything. Just look around and talk with club members, who will give pointers on tools and such. You likely will see a variety of projects that could inspire you. Some other activites include: • Stitching Bees: Every Wednesday from 1-3 p.m., people are invited to join this group and work on their own projects, such as knitting, quilting and crocheting. “Stitching Bees is the perfect group to sit down , chitchat, drink coffee and complete your projects,” says a note in the Senior Center’s newsletter. • Bingo: Games begin at 1 p.m. on Thursdays. Cards are 50 cents apiece and are good for 17 games. Russell Vaale works on a piece during a meeting of the Woodcarvers Club on Wednesday at the Mower County Senior Center in Austin. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Minnesota’s Better Business Bureau names top scams of 2017 Simply hang up on the most-reported scam, bureau says Austin Daily Herald
newsroom@austindailyherald.com
The purpose of the top-reported scam of the year, according to the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota, is not entirely clear. However, the bureau advised that should one get a call with an automated voice asking “Can you hear me?” simply hang up. The bureau annually compiles a top 10 list of scams based on local reports to BBB Scam Tracker. In the Minnesota and North Dakota area, the bureau received nearly 1,200 re por ts through Scam Tracker in 2017.
“We believe BBB Scam Tracker is an invaluable tool, for BBB, consumers and business owners,” said Susan Adams Loyd, president and CEO of the regional bureau. “It helps us track the pulse of the marketplace and serves as both a reporting tool and an online tutorial on how various forms of fraud are perpetrated.” The top-reported scam of the year was the “Can You Hear Me” calls which made the rounds in early 2017. The process went like this: People would receive phone calls and an automated voice would say, “Can you hear me?” It is believed the goal was to get people to say yes, possibly to serve as ‘proof ’ they had authorized a charge or agreed
to some kind of offer. These calls filtered out as the year progressed, but should they flare up again – as scams so often do – the bureau advises people to simply hang up the phone. Online purchases were the second most-reported scam of the year, with many of these reports having to do with purchases made on less-than-reputable websites or products received being different from what was advertised. Such reports also encompass situations where people signed up for trial offers and were then charged on an ongoing basis, despite attempts to cancel or not authorizing these charges.
See SCAMS, Page 2B
See ACTIVE, Page 2B
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Senior Living
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
A special supplement to the AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
Campaign launches interactive state map chronicling aging Shows rapid growth in senior population county by county Austin Daily Herald
newsroom@austindailyherald.com
Sue Barns, a memory care activity and recreation assistant from Cedars of Austin points out a table of seniors to choose a category Wednesday during a game of Jeopardy at the Mower County Senior Center. Christopher Baldus/chris.baldus@austindailyherald.com
Game: Activity is therapeutic From Page 1 Barns has been working with seniors for about three decades. She is a memory care activity and recreation assistant. The National Institute on Aging advises seniors to “stay involved in activities that can help both the mind and body to stay healthy and deal with changes in memory and mental skills.” National Activity Professionals Week, Jan. 21-
17, is intended to thank, encourage and empower people doing the work Ehley and Barnes engage in. The National Association of Activity Professionals defines the job this way: “Quality of life is something that we all seek at every age and stage of life. Residents in long term care facilities come with their personal history, talents, potential needs and dreams. “The activity profes-
sional is the one who treasures each resident’s history, respects their needs, and enables their potential and dreams to be recognized. Thus the activity professional is the key to providing quality of life experiences for long term care residents.” The Cedars memory care program includes “specialized care and unique pro g ramming designed specifically to recognize each resident’s
different preferences and needs,” says The Cedars website. “The Cedars, we place a priority on helping those affected by memory loss improve their quality of life — for both residents and loved ones,” is says. “We believe there is always something that can be done to improve the comfor t and increase enjoyment and serenity for someone with memory loss as well as their family.
ST. PAUL — Seniors are the fastest growing se gment of Minnesota’s population, with at least 60,000 Minnesotans tur ning 65 every year from now through 2030. To show these demographic changes in an e a s y - t o - v i ew fo r m at , Face Aging MN — a campaign to raise awareness of the significant demographic shift — has created an interactive map where Minnesotans can see how each county’s senior population will increase from now through 2030. The map can be viewed at www.faceagingmn. org. According to the map, Mower County will see a drop to 38,062 in total population by 2030, and 31 percent will be at least 65 years of age. It lists the 2015 actual population at 39,270 with 24 percent at leas 65 years old. “The rapid growth in our senior population is something that affects every Minnesotan, from seniors and their loved o n e s t o p ro f e s s i o n a l caregivers and policym a ke r s, ” s a i d G ay l e Kve nvo l d , p r e s i d e n t and CEO of LeadingAge
Minnesota. “This map illustrates how dramatic the demographic shift is in a short amount of time. Seniors are a critically important part of our communities now and their role will continue to grow in coming years.” In just three years, there will be 1 million seniors living in Minnesota. By 2030, 25 percent of our adult population will be 65 or older. “We need to rethink how we all face aging,” said Patti Cullen, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota. “We not only need to think about how we meet seniors’ needs to keep them living as independently as possible in the communities that they call home, we need to embrace the essential value of elders in all aspects of our communities, from emulating their high levels of civic engagement to better tapping into their wisdom and experience to improve society for all of us.” The Face Aging MN campaign aims to raise awareness about the unprecedented growth in Minnesota’s senior population, how it affects everyone and what needs to be done to ensure all Minnesota seniors get the care and services they need.
Scams: Tax schemes persist From Page 1
Members of the Woodcarvers Club get to work on their projects during a meeting at the Mower County Senior Center. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Active: Group walks at dome From Page 1 •Chess: Open chess is at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, but players at the senior center are flexible. Stop in the coffee shop and start a game on your schedule.
•Tai chi: Classes are from 9 -10 a.m. Wednesdays. An in-person leader guides the group through video lessosn. •Silver Sneakers: This fitness program is on Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 8:15 -9:15 a.m. • A walking group from the senior center is meeting at the Packer dome Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 a.m. Meet by the north door. If interested, call Tere-
Lawyer: Hotel valet gave Ferrari to wrong man Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The owner of a $300,000 Ferrari is suing Marriott International, saying a hotel valet gave his keys to a young man who was trying to impress a woman he just met. The Tampa Bay Times reports that James “Skip”
Fowler, 73, parked his yellow 458 Italia Spider outside the Vinoy Renaissance Resort & Golf Club last July 27 while attending a lawyer’s convention in St. Petersburg. There the 2014 Ferrari remained for more than 12 hours, until Levi Miles, then 28, showed up. Miles said he told the woman it
was his and demanded the keys, telling the valet that the ticket was in the car and he’d bring it back. He never did. The two sat in the car for “quite a while,” according to a St. Petersburg police report. Eventually, the valet said he stopped paying attention after he “figured he wasn’t getting a tip.”
sa at the senior center at 481-3332.
Based on reports to BBB Scam Tracker, the Top Ten Scams of 2017 in the two-state area were: 1. Phishing (Can you hear me?) 2. Online purchases 3. Travel/vacation offers 4. Tech support scams 5. Sweepstakes/lottery/prize offers 6. Employment schemes 7. Suspect debt collection calls 8. Unwanted credit card offers 9. Tax/IRS collection schemes 10. Counterfeit products The BBB Scam Tracker was launched in North America in 2015. Since that time, it has received more than 93,000 reports of suspect offers, fraud or attempted fraud. Better Business Bureau staffers review all
submissions to the site in order to watch for patterns of a problem and ensure the submissions are authentic. Reports that involve legitimate businesses are converted to complaints. Scam Tracker also gives people the ability to see where scams are occurring locally and nationally, and allows them to search for fraudulent activity by keyword or within geographic regions. Even if consumers or business owners don’t fall victim to schemes they’re confronted with, they’re encouraged to file a report through BBB Scam Tracker. Data collected through these reports is compiled and shared with law enforcement who, with enough infor mation, may be able to take steps to shut down fraudulent websites and illicit operations.
Senior Living
A special supplement to the AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
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Woman buys ballroom of her childhood By Mary Divine St. Paul Pioneer Press
STILLWATER, Minn. — Laura Miron Mendele grew up going to the Withrow Ballroom in northern Washington County. There’s a photo of her as a toddler, dressed in a frilly white dress, posing with her younger cousin, Ann Miron, at a family wedding in the late 1980s. She’s not sure when it was taken — it could have been at Uncle Bob and Aunt Theresa Miron Coeing’s wedding, or maybe it was when her godfather, Uncle Gerard Miron, married her Aunt Shelly. “There’s a debate going on within the family on Facebook right now about it,” Mendele told the Pioneer Press. “We’ve had so many family weddings at the Withrow.” Now, almost three decades later, Mendele is the new owner of the ballroom. Mendele, 32, of Lakeville, purchased the historic ballroom, believed to be the oldest ballroom in Minnesota, during an online auction in November; she and a silent partner paid $376,000 for the property. Mendele and her husband, Tyler, plan to reopen the ballroom in time for the Thursday-afternoon polka dance on March 1. The Thursday-afternoon dances, which ran from 1 to 4 p.m., used
to attract hundreds of seniors from around the state. “I have to admit I was kind of contemplating stopping them,” she said. “I didn’t realize it was such a huge tradition until I started hearing about them around town. Even some of my relatives said, ‘Don’t stop the dances!’ It will be nice to keep the tradition going.” Mendele said she’s trying to update the facility. “It still has the ballroom feel, but we just want it to be more in tune with brides nowadays,” she said. “We repainted the whole thing from peach to gray and white, and as soon as it gets warm enough, we’re going to tackle the outside.” T h e M e n d e l e s d e c o r at e d many of the walls inside the 12,000-square-foot event center with shiplap — wide-paneled planks of distressed wood — which gives the space “an old-fashioned, but modern look,” she said. An on-site apartment will be turned into a wedding party lounge and dressing area. Plans also call for windows to be replaced, garages to be expanded and a renovation of the outdoor wedding space “to boost appeal,” she said. “I want it all to be less barn and a little more rustic.
The Withow Ballroom in north Washington County is thought to be the oldest ballroom in Minnesota. Photo courtesy of Withrow Ballroom Rustic weddings are really popular right now.” Eight weddings have already been booked for 2018. Outside caterers will be allowed, and a renewed liquor license is pending. Mendele said she has wanted to own a wedding venue for years and has been “saving money and working on a business plan toward that goal.” “I’ve always wanted to own an event center, and this became available and was perfect and ready to go,” said Mendele, who is the niece of Washington Coun-
ty Commissioner and former Hugo mayor Fran Miron. “I’ve always loved Hugo and was jealous of family who lived there, so the fact this was (near) Hugo was just an added bonus.” Withrow Ballroom was built by Ben and Anna Zahler in 1928. It stayed in the Zahler family for three generations before being purchased by Marvin Babcock in 1983 and Scott and Kimberly Aamodt in 2001. Paul Bergmann, the owner of Bergmann’s Nurseries in Stillwater, bought the ballroom and the 11 ½-acre prop-
erty in 2009. Bergmann said he was thrilled that Mendele won the bidding. “She’s got this wonderful karma,” he said. “She understands the importance of the history of the ballroom, and she’s got local roots, too. She will be a great caretaker of the place.” Mendele, a mortgage loan officer, grew up on a farm in Princeton and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in education. She taught second grade for two years in the Princeton district and then got a master’s in business administration from the Minnesota School of Business. She worked as an events planner for Buffalo Wild Wings corporate, worked at Maple Grove Tavern in Maple Grove, and produced and hosted sports- and real estate-focused radio shows for radio stations WCCO and ESPN. She later earned certification to become a full-time mortgage loan officer with Envoy Mortgage of Edina. Mendele and her husband have two children — Madden, 5, and Afton, 16 months. Let’s hope they like polka music. “They’re going to be spending a lot of time at the ballroom,” she said.
Minnesotans continue to enjoy TV dancing show By Robb Murray Mankato Free Press
M A N K AT O — O n a cool November night, the neon letters of the Kato Ballroom sign glow warm in the evening sky. A few falling snowflakes dance around the doorway. Folks hustle inside. It’s polka night at the Kato, the night KEYC records episodes for the next few weeks of its iconic, and increasingly popular, “Bandwagon” program. A hand-written sign on the wall says admission is $8, and by the time the music starts, a few hundred souls who plunked down eight bucks will populate the Kato’s polished dance floor, two by two. Super dancers Laura Malek and Steve Weber will have all eyes on them as they toss and twirl each other like a pair of teenagers. Carol and Marlon Portner will have their eyes on each other — the love birds met here many years ago . and the romance hasn’t died. Kathy Pohlen’s eyes will be peering through camera lenses and keeping an eye on her assistants. Rick Keane’s eyes will be on his sheet music, although the master trumpet player probably doesn’t need it — he can likely play most of these polkas by heart. And Tania Cordes’ eyes will be everywhere, keeping watch over the food, the bar, the stage, the guests; as owner of the Kato, she keeps her eyes on everything. Overhead, several sections of sheer fabric accented with white lights gently bow over the dance floor. Bartenders pour b e e r s a n d C o ke s. O l d friends exchange hugs and handshakes while band members organize
yellowed sheets of music. Kathy Pohlen fiddles with a few wires and consults with a camera operator. “We’re having technical difficulties,” she told the Mankato Free Press. “Technical dif ficulties that seem to happen every time.” Not that it’s a problem. While Pohlen said the “Bandwagon” staff gets the newsrooms hand-medowns — which includes cameras that still record on tape — Pohlen’s 20-plus years of experience are more than enough to handle any problems that arise. She’s a part of the great tradition that has kept this show running since the mid-1900s. “Bandwagon” began in 1960, and was launched to help promote the launch of KEYC itself. It’s often said of the show that it’s “quite possibly” the longest-running television show in the country (if not the world.) In any case, Bandwagon has been around forever, and its history in southern Minnesota is strong. In the early days, it was sponsored by John Deere, and later Randall’s (the supermarket.) The original host was Earl Lamont, who gave way quickly to Chuck Pasek. Pasek ruled the Bandwagon airwaves from 1961 to 1995. Dick Ginn hosted alongside Pasek for several years as well. Tom Goetzinger took his tur n. Today, Cordes hosts the program. T h r o u g h t h e ye a r s, the format remained the same: polka music, people dancing, cameras rolling. Watching it today is like looking back in time t o s i m p le r d ay s, d ays when real men and women playing real musical
instruments perfor med real songs, and couples dressed up in their good clothes for a night of fun. The television cameras, it seems, is beside the point . yet, is the point. Without them, this thing wouldn’t exist. In fact, it almost stopped existing a few years ago. Without sponsors and with ratings falling, KEYC nearly killed the program. Instead, it cut back on tapings to every other month instead of every month. Also, to stop the financial bleeding — the show had been losing money — Cordes decided to start charging for admission. And a funny thing happened. More people started coming. And the ratings, somehow, started going up. “We did a survey,” Cordes said. “We asked people if they’d pay, and what bands would they want to see.” People said they’d pay. And when she star ted charging for admission, nobody, not even the regulars, seemed to mind. “In fact, more people came,” she said. In 2014, “Bandwagon” had a 4 percent audience share. In 2016, that number had jumped to 16 percent. Remember that scene from “Grease,” at the high school dance, where all eyes are on Danny and Sandra (and later Danny and Cha Cha after she cleverly steals Danny away)? Laura Malek and Steve Weber are the Danny and Sandra/Cha Cha of “Bandwagon.” They don’t just dance. They are dance. They look like they could transition from polka to swing to tango at the drop of Weber’s cowboy hat. Every move-
ment is smooth and effortless, like they’re floating on air. “We met here,” Malek said. “And we’ve been dancing ever since.” They’ve also been a couple ever since. Weber, from St. Peter, said he’s been dancing since he was a kid. Took lessons as a youngster. Malek, from Duncan, Iowa, said the pair has been d a n c i n g at b a l l ro o m s around the region since they met at a taping of “ B a n dw a g o n ” s eve r a l years ago. They love coming here b e c a u s e o f t h e at m o sphere, she said. “The people are here to
dance,” she said. “At a bar, people are walking around on the dance floor with drinks in their hands. You’d never see that here.” E ve r y o t h e r m o n t h , “Bandwagon” night is an event. And no southern Minnesota event would be complete without large quantities of steaming food. Before the music starts, people wait in line for their tur n to fill their plates with scoops of tasty spaghetti out of stainless steel vats. Others grab s l i c e s o f wh i t e b re a d for pulled chicken sandwiches, accompanied by mashed potatoes and corn. And no one skips those tri-
angle cuts of cheesecake. “I want people to feel comfortable here,” Cordes says. “I want them to feel welcomed.” Seems they do. A man, having just procured a pair of whisky drinks from the bar, is beckoned to a table other than the one his partner is sitting at. “You’re bringing those drinks to the wrong table!” a woman beckons as he walks by. “You should be bringing them here!” The man looks over, smirks knowingly, but never breaks stride. At his table, a smiling woman had been watching the exchange.
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Senior Living: Health
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018
Protect your skin in the winter
A special supplement to the AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
By Jason Howland Mayo Clinic
Wi n t e r we a t h e r changes can negatively affect the skin – the body’s largest organ. Colder temperatures and a lack of moisture in the air can damage unprotected skin, especially on the face and hands. They’re the wounds in an annual battle with dry winter air. “When the temperature drops, the humidity tends to drop with it,” says Dr. Dawn Davis, a Mayo Clinic dermatologist. “And, so, naturally your skin dehydrates.” Dr. Davis says hands are especially vulnerable to cracks and cuts that can put you at risk for infection. “So the use of winter clothing is very helpful to help slow or delay or prevent evaporation off the skin surface,” says Dr. Davis. If that’s not enough, Dr. Davis suggests one of three cate gories of moisturizers: ointments, which contain oil; creams, which may have oil and water; and lotions, which are generally water-based. “If your skin is extremely raw, you may want to start with ointments,” says Dr. Davis. Once skin improves, rubbing in a hypoallergenic, fragrance-free cream or lotion may provide enough moisture to prevent further problems. “And, remember, these products only last for a few hours at maximum,” says Dr. Davis. “So you really need to hydrate and moisturize at minimum two to three times daily.”
Results bode well for test to detect cancers Associated Press
Scientists are reporting progress on a blood test to detect many types of cancer at an early stage, including some of the most deadly ones that lack screening tools now. Many groups are working on liquid biopsy tests, which look for DNA and other things that tumors shed into blood, to try to find cancer before it spreads, when chances of cure are best. In a study Thursday in the journal Science, Johns Hopkins University scientists looked to see how well their experimental test detected cancer in people already known to have the disease. The blood tests found about 70 percent of eight common types of cancer in the 1,005 patients.The rates varied depending on the type — lower for breast tumors but high for ovarian, liver and pancreatic ones.
A senior couple takes a walk in a park during an autumn morning. Six-month studies showed twice-weekly workouts may help people with mild cognitive impairment as part of an overall approach to managing their symptoms. Photo provided
Try exercise to improve memory and thinking By Susan Barber Lindquist Mayo Clinic
RO C H E S T E R — Fo r patients with mild cognitive impairment, don’t be surprised if your health care provider prescribes exercise rather than medication. A new guideline for medical practitioners says they should recommend twice-weekly exercise to people with mild cognitive impairment to improve memory and thinking. The recommendation is part of an updated guideline for mild cognitive impairment published in the Dec. 27 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Regular physical exercise has long been shown to have heart health benefits, and now we can say exercise also may help improve memory for people with mild cognitive impairment,” says Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., lead author, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Mayo Clinic, and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging. “What’s good for your heart can be good for your brain.” Mild cognitive impairment is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious decline of dementia. Symptoms can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes. Generally, these changes aren’t severe enough to significantly interfere with day-to-day life and usual activities. However, mild cognitive impairment may
increase the risk of later progressing to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease or other neurological conditions. But some people with mild cognitive impairment never get worse, and a few eventually get better. The academy’s guideline authors developed the updated recommendations on mild cognitive impairment after reviewing all available studies. Six-month studies showed twice-weekly workouts may help people with mild cognitive impairment as part of an overall approach to managing their symptoms. Dr. Petersen encourages people to do aerobic exercise: Walk briskly, jog, whatever you like to do, for 150 minutes a week — 30 minutes, five times or 50 minutes, three times. The level of exertion should be enough to work up a bit of a sweat but doesn’t need to be so rigorous that you can’t hold a conversation. “Exercising might slow down the rate at which you would progress from mild cognitive impairment to dementia,” he says. Another guideline update says clinicians may re c o m m e n d c o g n i t ive training for people with
mild cognitive impairment. Cognitive training uses repetitive memory and reasoning exercises that may be computer-assisted or done in person individually or in small groups. There is weak evidence that cognitive training may improve measures of cognitive function, the guideline notes. The guideline did not recommend dietary changes or medications. There are no drugs for mild cognitive impairment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. More than 6 percent of people in their 60s have mild cognitive impairment across the globe, and the condition becomes more common with age, according to the American Academy of Neurology. More than 37 percent of people 85 and older have it. With such prevalence, finding lifestyle factors that may slow down the rate of cognitive impairment can make a big difference to individuals and society, Dr. Petersen notes. “We need not look at aging as a passive process; we can do something about the course of our aging,” he says. “So if I’m destined to become cognitively impaired at age 72, I can exer-
cise and push that back to 75 or 78. That’s a big deal.” The guideline, endorsed by the Alzheimer’s Association, updates a 2001 academy recommendation on mild cognitive impairment. Dr. Petersen was involved in the development of the first clinical trial for mild cognitive impairment and continues as a worldwide leader researching this stage of disease when
symptoms possibly could be stopped or reversed.
About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. For more information, visit mayoclinic.org/ about-mayo-clinic or newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.