PageO Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
PageP Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
Cover Story: Yoga
The hottest trend
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Hot yoga offers cleansing workout
magine sitting in a room heated to 105 degrees with the humidity at 40 percent. You’re already sweating, and you haven’t moved a muscle. The air seems scarce, and you breathe with those around you — deep breaths your instructor advises to pull in longer, filling up your lungs with the heat. Just existing in this altered climate is a challenge. Now imagine moving. A lot of moving. That’s the experience of Bikram yoga, the practice popularized in the early 1970s that uses heat to cleanse the body and traditional yoga to relieve both physical and mental tension. The practice has picked up, well, steam over the past decade; upscale studios have become the norm in big cities, and a dozen variations of the 26 traditional poses have been etched out in studios across the country. It paved the way for hot yoga, which many believe to be the same thing. However, Bikram is a series of the same 26 poses each class. It is relatively slow exercise, with stretches held for several breaths, allowing a participant to feel the heat in the working part of the body. Hot yoga, on the other hand, refers to any form of “hatha” — or, the physical practice of yoga — in a heated room. Erin Mulligan, an instructor at Studio A, The Alluvian hotel’s yoga studio, said
that she prefers hot yoga to traditional Bikram because it allows you to focus on the movement, not the heat. Studio A has caught on to the trend. It offers hot yoga every Monday at 8:30 a.m., so that those wanting to give themselves an extra hot challenge can sweat it out early. The class is new this summer. The thermostat isn’t quite as high as some hot yoga classes, though it gets up to 90 degrees — and, Mulligan said, the heat created from a dozen people moving around makes it seem even warmer. A likely question is why anyone would do this intense exercise. Working out in an air-conditioned room is tough enough. But Mulligan explained that the process is a cleansing one, helping participants release toxins through sweat. However, it’s more important to try new techniques to determine what works for you, said Mulligan. With so many types of yoga out there, some students may prefer Bikram, while some may choose a more standard vinyasa. “Some teachers are protective of their own practice,” she explained. Mulligan said her preferred practice is Ashtanga yoga, a fast-paced, set order of poses. In Sanskrit, Ashtanga means “eight limbs.” Though that’s where she finds the greatest balance, Mulligan
encouraged students to try all kinds of yoga. “You like what you like,” she said. “At the end of the day, it’s all yoga. You’re still connecting movement with the breath.” Mulligan said that just the other day a student mentioned that she might try a yoga class in Grenada. The student expressed some reluctance to leave Studio A, since that’s where she felt comfortable, but Mulligan encouraged her to see how she jelled with the teachers, the yoga style and the studio. “And it will also change day to day,” Mulligan said. “Some days you want a really strong practice; some days you want a more restorative class.” Studio A offers a restorative class, too, for those days when a good, long stretch is necessary to relieve extra tension. One advantage of the studio, Mulligan said, is that all of its teachers are trained in different yoga disciplines, allowing for a truly diverse selection of classes. Recognizing that many in the Delta have never experienced a yoga class before, the studio started offering a community class, open to the public on a pay-what-you-can basis. It’s another trend that’s picked up across the country, and one that gets to the heart of what yoga is all about: helping yourself to help
others. Yoga is intended to be a community-minded exercise, so creating a class focused around community is one way to achieve that goal. “We wanted to offer something for the community,” Mulligan said. “The benefits are so great, so we wanted to throw it out there and open it up to people who had never experienced it before.” It’s worked. The Saturday class has become just as popular as the classes the studios operate throughout the week, and the sliding pay scale allows the practice of yoga to reach more people. But no matter the latest yoga trend, each class comes with modifications. An instructor will never stand over your mat with a whistle, yelling for you to push yourself. “My feeling with any of the classes we offer is that whether you’re a beginner or an expert, you can participate,” said Mulligan. “You can always modify the poses to the way you’re feeling.” It’s that flexibility that led Mulligan to yoga in the first place. She was a dancer in Boston, but when she discovered yoga, she recognized a way to dance without being on stage. “It was really powerful,” she said. “It was sort of like dancing, but I was just dancing for myself.” n
“You like what you like. At the end of the day, it’s all yoga. You’re still connecting movements with the breath.” bêáå=jìääáÖ~å
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Healthy nutrition
PageQ Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
Lisa Norwood
New habits changed her life
L
isa Norwood is her own best advertisement for her Whole Foods grocery store just off West Park Avenue on Walnut Street. Norwood looks fit and healthy, and she says it’s a testament of her philosophy of wellness. It’s what we put into our bodies, along with exercise, that helps to keep us well and strong, she believes. Norwood says she was in a bad state; she had an ulcer and was put on medication for it. “A year later, at work one day, I thought I was having a heart attack,” she recalled. “I couldn’t breathe. I went to the hospital and found out my stomach was destroyed.” A friend convinced her to see a chiropractor who specialized in nutrition, and she ended up working for her. “It was life-changing,” she said. “I -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iáë~=kçêïççÇ=ëÜçïë=ëçãÉ=çÑ=íÜÉ=ÅçäÇ=ÑççÇëI=ëìÅÜ=~ë=äçÅ~ääó=Öêçïå=ÉÖÖëI=ãáäâI=ÅÜÉÉëÉI=~åÇ=ëçãÉ=ÑêçòÉå=áíÉãëI=ÑçìåÇ=áå=ÜÉê=tÜçäÉ pÉÉ NORWOODI=m~ÖÉ=R cççÇë=ÖêçÅÉêó=ëíçêÉK pqlov=^ka=melqlp=_v=orqe=gbkpbk
PageR Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
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Continued from Page 4 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------thought I was doing all the right things. I didn’t drink sodas; I ate salads. She taught me about acidity in the body, the detriment of refined sugar and the nutrients your body needs to heal itself.” She changed her eating habits, and her life changed, too. She began to feel well again and was determined to not go back. That was in 2008, and she was living in Gulf Shores, Ala., but she moved to Greenwood after she met and married Bobby Norwood. Once in Greenwood, Lisa had trouble finding the foods she had grown accustomed to, and she fell back into some old habits. “I was sick all the time,” she said. “One day I said to my husband, ‘You can keep living like this if you want to, but I can’t.’” She started to search for the foods she wanted and decided to open her own
answer for it.” Each week she goes to Taylor to purchase milk from Brown’s Dairy, which raises its cows on mostly grass without n rå~ÇìäíÉê~íÉÇ=ãáäâ giving them steroids, hormones, or n _~Åçå=ïáíÜçìí=åáíêáíÉë antibiotics. When there, she also buys honey, which is an age-old natural sweetn cêÉëÜ=ëéáÅÉë ener thought to have healing properties. n içÅ~ääó=Öêçïå=ÉÖÖë Because it is locally produced, it is also n däìíÉåJÑêÉÉ=áíÉãë shown to help people with allergies. She buys spices and nuts in bulk n içÅ~ääó=éêçÇìÅÉÇ=ÜçåÉó quantities but sells them in whatever n lêÖ~åáÅ=éêçÇìÅÉ amount the customer wants. “I research to see which cinnamon is store, containing only foods determined the best, for example,” she said. “There is to be healthy. one type that has health benefits and “I have pretty much everything you another that does not.” would get in a grocery store – grass-fed The same goes for apple-cider vinegar, beef, bacon with no nitrates or nitrites, which many people swear by. “The kind eggs from locally-raised chickens, as well you usually buy has been pasteurized as honey and milk,” she said. and has no healthy properties,” she said. The store was a “God thing,” Norwood “I sell a brand that I believe is the best.” said. She said she’s not a doctor or nutritionist “It is outside my expertise and my but just “a girl that has ‘been there, done comfort zone,” she said. “It’s amazing that’” and is not willing to compromise. how it all fell in line. Whenever an obsta“I’m not anti-doctor. There’s a need for cle would come up, there would be an them,” she said. “But the more we can
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remove toxins from our bodies, and the more nutrients we put into them, the better we’ll be.” Norwood hasn’t been to a doctor since she opened the store. Instead of medication, she takes apple-cider vinegar and honey. She also doesn’t eat much that’s outside her store. “If I go out to eat and get a salad, I take my own dressing,” she says. “I would rather have people over and grill.” Norwood is not a vegan but does carry vegan products as well as “a phenomenal raw cheese.” For produce lovers, she has a boxed program, where customers can choose from a variety of organically grown fruits and vegetables. She knows changing to the healthier products can cost a little more. She wants to make it possible for those on nutrition assistance to purchase these foods, so she accepts the EBT card. She also hopes to soon put in a bar to make healthy smoothies. “I want to make it easy as possible for people,” she said. “If anyone wants something specific, I’ll get it if I can.” n
“I’m not anti-doctor. There’s a need for them. But the more we can remove toxins from our bodies, and the more nutrients we put into them, the better we’ll be.” iáë~=kçêïççÇ
Replace, rehab, rejoice
PageS Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
First Person: Total Knee Replacement
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Surgery brings blessed relief
f I could have imagined how much better I would feel so soon after having my right knee joint replaced, I probably would have had the surgery three years ago. Age, heredity and being overweight all my life were staring me down, painfully. The long thigh bone (the femur) and the big shin bone (the tibia — remember ninth-grade biology?) had ground the smooth cartilage “cushion” between them to practically nothing in each knee, but it was disappearing faster in my right one. X-rays had shown those two big bones were now grinding into each other. I knew several people who’d had total knee replacement, or TKR, including my parents, who’d had all four of their knees replaced. Everyone had told me I’d eventually reach a point where the force of the pain would overcome the inertia of maintaining the status quo. The limp I’d been trying to play down
================= became obvious. Friends eyed me with pity. I saw my reflection in a window on Howard Street and wondered for an instant who that stooped-over old lady was. What pushed me gç=^äáÅÉ over the edge, though, a~êÇÉå was finally facing the reality that the pain I n was having would only get worse, never better, while that of surgery and rehab therapy would eventually disappear. The doctor I had been seeing had already told me he would operate on only one knee at a time; I wanted to talk, at least, about having both done to get it all over with at once. Also, I wanted to ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------pÉÉ KNEEI=m~ÖÉ=T aêK=_Éå=píêçå~ÅÜI=äÉÑíI=~åÇ=~ìíÜçê=gç=^äáÅÉ=a~êÇÉå=~í=íÜÉ=ëáñJïÉÉâ=éçëíJçé=ÅÜÉÅâìéK melql=`lroqbpv=lc=a^kfbi=dfijlob
PageT Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
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`çåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=m~ÖÉ=S ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------have this surgery done at a large teaching hospital by someone who has done this operation hundreds of times. I called the University of Mississippi Medical Center and asked to be seen by a surgeon who would consider doing both knees at once. I was connected with the office of Dr. Ben Stronach, and I made an appointment for an initial consultation in April. My husband, Bob, came with me. X-rays confirmed I was a candidate for TKR in both knees. But Dr. Stronach said that, for me, he would not recommend replacing both at once. He said he does about 150 of these operations a year, and maybe one is a bilateral. “If you were 42 instead of 62, I’d consider it,” he said. “But at your age, you’ll hate me a lot less if I leave you with a good leg to stand on.” I’d come this far. And I really liked Dr. Stronach. No turning back now. jó=ëÜáåó=åÉï=âåÉÉ
On June 25, I spent most of the day at UMC for “Pre-hab.” I met with physical therapists and nurses who described what would happen before, during and after the operation, what to expect regarding pain and recovery time, what equipment I would need and what options I had for rehab. I had lab work done. I met with the anesthesiologist. I was impressed — this system was slick. On July 15, I became one of the more than 700,000 people who will get a new knee this year, according to the website of the Centers for Disease Control. When Bob and I arrived at UMC that morning, our neighbors and good friends from Cruger — Kim and the Rev. Al
qÜêÉÉ=Ç~óë=~ÑíÉê=ëìêÖÉêóI=f=ãçîÉÇ=íç táëíÉêá~=d~êÇÉåëI=~=ÅçãÄáå~íáçå=êÉÜ~Ä ÅÉåíÉê=~åÇ=åìêëáåÖ=ÜçãÉ=áå=mÉ~êäI=ïÜÉêÉ f=êÉÅÉáîÉÇ=íÜÉê~éó=Ñçê=íïç=ïÉÉâëK=jó=éÜóëJ áÅ~ä=íÜÉê~éáëíI=^ã~åÇ~=jÅdçï~åI áåëéáêÉÇ=ÄçíÜ=ÉÑÑçêí=~åÇ=ÅçåÑáÇÉåÅÉK=^åÇ ëÜÉ=ÇáÇåÛí=Öê~ÇÉ=çå=íÜÉ=ÅìêîÉK
Different — were waiting for us at the hospital entrance. We went to the waiting room, and Al, a Baptist minister, read from his Bible and said a prayer for us. I was already on the prayer list at my church, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Greenwood. I wanted all bases covered. I felt blessed and protected as I was called to prep for the surgery. Bob got periodic updates, but for him, the next few hours dragged. For me, it felt like only the next minute when I woke up late that afternoon with a new knee. Bob and I spent three nights in my room at UMC, I in the bed the first night and 6-foot, 3-inch Bob turning into a pretzel on a pullout loveseat. The next morning, I got a recliner that felt like heaven and opted to sleep there, freeing up the bed for a grateful Bob. Also that morning, I had my first taste of rehab therapy. Using the walker I was instructed to buy, I shuffled to the rehab center, where the therapists guided me through exercises that hurt, but not as much as I’d expected, and they measured my progress at each session. Flexion and extension – how far I can bend and straighten my leg, respectively
read for pleasure. While I was at Wisteria Gardens, I finished one book I’d started at home and read seven others. Bob made the two-hour trip for visits as often as he could. He took me to lunch a couple of times and even home to Cruger for part of a day. My sister, Mary Hawkins of Greenwood, and niece, Keely Harrison of Itta Bena, visited the Sunday after surgery and were astonished at the progress. “You’re already limping less than you did before the surgery,” Mary said. I stayed there for two weeks. When I got home, Sta-Home Health set me up for therapy three days a week; because it was my right knee, I wouldn’t be allowed to drive to a rehab facility for six weeks – are the gold standards for range-ofpost-op. motion measurements, the grade on my Kelly Rice, physical therapist with Statherapy report card. The goals are 0o or Home in Greenwood, maintained the less, measured when my leg is as rigor of Amanda’s therapy, adding some straight as I can make it (extension), and moves of her own, and I started repeat120o, measured when I bend my leg as ing the exercises alone so that I was far as I can (flexion). doing three sets daily. The first day after surgery, I think I Bending remains painful — I try so remember scores of 7o extension and 85o hard! Straightening is much easier now. flexion. Painful and pitiful — but we Kelly said the moves are necessary not were just getting started. only to build flexibility so I can move naturally, but also to avoid having scar tismÜóëáÅ~ä=íÉêêçêáëãI=ìÜI=íÜÉê~éó sue build up that would have to be scraped away surgically. Three days after surgery, I moved to Then we’d start all over with therapy. Wisteria Gardens, a combination rehab No. Not an option. center and nursing home in Pearl, where On Aug. 26, Kelly’s last day with me, I received therapy in residence for two my extension measurement was 0o; flexweeks. My physical therapist, Amanda ion was 111o. At my six-week check-up McGowan, inspired both effort and confi- the next day at UMC, to which I drove dence. And she didn’t grade on the curve. (!), Dr. Stronach said I’d advanced After the first few days at Wisteria enough that further therapy, at a rehab Gardens, I no longer used the walker to facility, wouldn’t be necessary if I get around, and I skipped using a cane promised to continue exercising at home. altogether. I did, and I have. Two weeks after surgery, Amanda And while I was there, we scheduled measured me at 3o extension and 98o TKR on my left knee for Oct. 21 — the flexion. Progress! soonest we could make it. When I wasn’t in therapy, I felt as n gç= ^äáÅÉ= a~êÇÉåI= ~= ÑçêãÉê though I were on a relaxing vacation. I `çããçåïÉ~äíÜ= ëí~ÑÑ= ãÉãÄÉêI= áë= ~= ÑêÉÉJ love to read but hardly ever have time to ä~åÅÉ=ïêáíÉê=~åÇ=Äççâ=ÉÇáíçêK
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A new approach
PageU Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
Diabetes
Hospital changes tactics against Delta killer D
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iabetes has been called the silent killer. Greenwood Leflore Hospital, with the assistance of Dr. Joseph Assini and others, is aiming to take on diabetes in a major way in the next three to six months with a new multi-disciplinary approach to treating it and an expansive educational component to help people prevent it. “The Delta is the epicenter in the country for patients having diabetes,” said Assini, 58, a podiatric medicine physician and surgeon from New York who came to Greenwood 11 months ago. About six months ago, Assini met with the hospital’s board of trustees, physicians and Jim Jackson, the hospital’s administrator, in a far-reaching effort to begin combating diabetes in a coordinated way. Diabetes in the Delta, Assini said, is at “endemic levels” now —– meaning it is regularly found among people or in a certain area. Soon, he said, it will reach the pandemic or epidemic level in the region. Already, he said, one in three hospital patients have diabetes in their medical histories. At the same time, many people aren’t even aware they have it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------pÉÉ DIABETESI=m~ÖÉ=V
Bringing it down
PageV Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
High Blood Pressure
Easier-to-use pills, no copays may reduce blood pressure
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HICAGO — New research suggests giving patients easier-to-take medicine and no-copay medical visits can help drive down high blood pressure, a major contributor to poor health and untimely deaths nationwide. Those efforts were part of a big health care provider’s eight-year program, involving more than 300,000 patients with high blood pressure. At the beginning, fewer than half had brought their blood pressure under control. That increased to a remarkable 80 percent, well above the national average, the researchers said. The research involved Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, a network of 21 hospitals and 73 doctors’ offices, which makes coordinating treatment easier than in independent physicians’ offices. The number of heart attacks and strokes among Northern California members fell substantially during roughly the same time as the 2001-09 study. Dr. Marc Jaffe, the lead author and leader of a Kaiser heart disease risk reduction program, said it’s impossible to know if the blood pressure program can be credited for those declines, but he thinks it at least contributed. Reductions continued even after the study ended; in 2011, 87 percent of roughly 350,000 Kaiser patients had recommended blood pressure levels. The study was published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “What’s unique about this is the sheer scale of what they’ve done,” said Dr. Goutham Rao, a family medicine specialist at NorthShore University HealthSystem, a group of four hospitals in Chicago’s northern suburbs. Rao is involved in research on reducing obesity and other risks for heart disease. “If we were able to keep everyone’s blood pressure under control in the United States, the number of new strokes and heart attacks would go down just exponentially,” he said. High blood pressure affects 1 in 3 U.S. adults, or 67 million people, and the condition caused or contributed to more than t~åÇ~=_çóÇI=êáÖÜíI=ÖÉíë=ÜÉê=ÄäççÇ=éêÉëëìêÉ=ÅÜÉÅâÉÇ=Äó=êÉÖáëíÉêÉÇ=åìêëÉ=^äáÅÉ=c~ÅÉåíÉ 348,000 deaths in 2009, according to the áå=kçêïáÅÜI=`çååK Centers for Disease Control and
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fully utilizing the hospital’s Diabetic Education Center, which has been operational since 1996. The center — one of only two in the `çåíáåìÉÇ=Ñêçã=m~ÖÉ=U Delta — was accredited by the ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- American Diabetes Association in “Since diabetes really affects many sys- August 2011. Under the supervision of tems of the body — the eyes, the kidMedical Director Dr. Henry Flautt, it neys, the feet, circulation, the neurologi- receives referrals from physicians and cal system — we need to give the patient nurse practitioners. Patients referred to the very best of care,” he said. the center can receive general diabetic Prior to the adopting of this team training, insulin dependence training approach, discovering and treating diaand monitor training by a registered betes was often a haphazard affair, nurse. It also provides educational coursAssini said. es for those living with diabetes. “Before, you would see an internist, Assini said the coordinated efforts under who would really not coordinate his find- one roof, with specialists communicating ings with a neurologist or a cardiologist with each other, should help reduce the or a gastroenterologist,” he said. disease and “end-stage disasters” such as “Diabetes affects all these systems.” amputations and kidney disease. It also Too often in medicine, “one hand does- “could mean significant savings to the n’t know what the other one is doing,” health care system,” he said. Assini said. “We feel that through this approach, we would be doing a tremendous service, hÉó=éáÉÅÉ=~äêÉ~Çó=áå=éä~ÅÉ not only for the people of Greenwood, but for the whole Delta region,” he said. One of the first components to the Long before Assini came to coordinated response to diabetes will be Greenwood, he knew diabetes was
prevalent in the Delta. “I come from New York, and yes, there’s some of this up there, but the disease here is so far advanced that we have people in their 40s with strokes and amputations,” he said. “Up north, that may not happen until they are in their 70s and 80s.” He recalled one patient who weighed nearly 400 pounds. “That sets off red flags,” he said. “The grandfather had diabetes, the father had diabetes.” But it’s not inevitable that a patient will develop diabetes just because a relative had it, he said. Breaking that intergenerational cycle of hypertension and obesity in families is key to beating back the disease, he said. Assini said obesity is the No. 1 precursor for diabetes. He also said education is the top way to stop the spread of the disease. mêÉîÉåíáçå=áë=âÉó
In diabetes prevention, every little bit can help, whether it’s eating healthy or exercising more. Education is a critical component in the hospital’s plans, Assini
Prevention. Normal blood pressure is considered a reading of less than 120 over 80; high blood pressure is 140 over 90 or higher. High blood pressure typically causes no symptoms, at least initially, and can sometimes be managed with a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity plus avoiding salty foods, heavy drinking and excess weight. But two or more prescription drugs are often needed to bring high blood pressure under control. In 2001, the Kaiser group introduced a systemwide program involving its 1,800 primary care doctors to tackle the problem. It created a registry of adult members with high blood pressure, based on medical records. At the start, about 44 percent of 235,000 registry patients had their blood pressure under control. The registry grew and by 2009, the portion under control reached 80 percent of 353,000 patients. That compares to 64 percent of people with blood pressure problems nationwide. Two features likely played a big role in the program’s success: In 2005, the region started using a single generic pill combining two common blood pressure drugs, lisinopril and a diuretic. The pill is less expensive than taking the two medicines separately, and easier to use. And in 2007, the program began offering free follow-up visits with medical assistants, rather than doctors, checking blood pressure readings. Besides charging no insurance copayment, these brief visits were available at more flexible times, increasing chances that patients would stick with the program. “Patients really liked it because it was shorter, more convenient and more affordable,” Jaffe said. He did not provide information on patients’ costs or overall program costs and said that wasn’t part of the study. Donna Arnett, immediate past president of the American Heart Association, said “it’s well documented that compliance to medication increases” when it’s simpler to take. She said the results suggest that other large medical systems could adopt similar programs and achieve similar success. n
said. “It’s a real proactive approach, as opposed to having someone come in with the problem and then having to treat the problem,” he said. Although learning healthy lifestyles may be difficult, it can soon become habit to those who understand the dangers and then can avoid them, Assini said. Assini is ready to do missionary-like work to get his message across, adding that he plans to speak about it in schools. He said he hopes that the new marketing plan for the combined effort with be something along the lines of “Greenwood Leflore Hospital — The Delta’s Diabetic Center of Excellence.” “When you have everybody turning the wheel at the same time, it will make a tremendous improvement,” Assini said. He said the hospital will have an opendoor policy. “We’re not going to turn down anyone that has diabetes regardless of insurance or the ability to pay,” he said. “We want to provide this service to the people of the Delta. We have to make this a standard-of-care issue.” n
Health in sight
PageNM Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
Eye Care
Diabetes not only disease that harms eyes W
hen Dr. Paul Kosko of Kosko Eye Clinic was asked the importance of eyes and eye care, he first quoted a well-known passage from William Shakespeare that stems from the Book of Matthew: “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” Heathy eyes and vision are essential. However, even those who are health-conscious may not think about their eyes until a problem prompts a trip to the doctor. There are several unpreventable eye problems and diseases, but that doesn’t make eye care and health any less important. “More people than ever need glasses, contacts or some type of vision assistance, and that’s a recurring problem for them,” said Kosko, who has been an ophthalmologist in Greenwood for 35 years. “That’s probably the number one problem, but it’s certainly not the most serious.” Kosko said the most serious conditions he encounters in the Delta stem from diabetes. “It’s known that when diabetes is not kept under control, there are numerous health issues that arise from it,” he said. “It can make you blind in several ways.” Diabetes, when mismanaged, causes circulatory problems in the eye, forces cataracts to occur at an earlier age and with more frequency and is associated with glaucoma. “I probably have half a dozen to a dozen people a day in here with bad glaucoma,” Kosko said. Although not the majority of those patients, many are also diabetics. “People feel that if they have a problem, they’ll let the doctor take care of it,” Kosko said. “Diabetes is something that requires the individual to do most of the care. Medication is only one part of managing diabetes.” Like caring for the rest of the body, eye care requires a healthy lifestyle. Eating heathy foods, limiting junk food and not overeating are important, as well as exercise and eliminating activities that are stressful on the body, such as poor sleeping habits, infections, fevers and injuries. A healthy lifestyle also increases the chances for better health in the body and in the eyes, said Kosko. “It makes it less problematic. It doesn’t rule out glaucoma or cataracts, but it does rule out that you’ll have a hemorrhage in your eyes from diabetes,” said Kosko. “In fact, if you control your diabetes and control it according to the American Diabetes Association’s standard, you are not subject to having blindness associated with diabetes and are no more likely than the general population to have cataracts or glaucoma. If (diabetics) don’t keep the disease controlled, they are 800 times more likely to have one of those.” Other diseases also affect the eyes. For example, a variety of types of arthritis
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cause chronic dry eye. And anemia and sleep apnea have commonly caused glaucoma to worsen. Itchy eyes are usually associated with allergies. Although this is a common side effect of seasonal allergies, Kosko said allergies may not be the cause if the symptom persists. “The really chronic ones, the ones that just go on and on and on, are almost always due to dust,” Kosko said. “You could correct half the asthma and itchy eyes in children and adults by getting a new pillow once a month or washing the pillow in scalding hot water once a month.” Since a pillow is stuffed, if rubbed, it will get static electricity and absorb what is in the air, including dust, mildew spores and pollen, Kosko said. So addressing that problem is a lower-cost alternative to expensive medications or drops. n
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Back where she began
PageNN Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================
Dr. Mary Blair
Pediatrician has family ties to area
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f you ask Dr. Mary Blair why she decided to become a pediatrician, she has a simple answer. “I’ve always just seen myself as a big kid, so working with the children has always just been a big joy to me,” she says. Plus, she adds with a laugh, “I never was interested in adults.” And now she works for the hospital where she was born — Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Blair, 33, joined the hospital’s children’s clinic in early August. Dr. Melynda Noble, who formerly worked at the clinic, now is the hospital’s full-time pediatric hospitalist. Blair already knew the area well, since her mother, the late Jeanie Jackson Blair, was from Greenwood and other relatives still live in the area. In fact, Blair lives in the house where her mother once resided. She grew up a “military brat,” so she was accustomed to moving often. Her father, the late Charles Edward Blair, was from Canton and was in his second year of medical school when she was born. Her mother came home for the birth while he was away. “As soon as he came back, we moved back to Nashville,” she said. “And so I’ve been moving ever since then.” She said the first time she showed an interest in medicine, it was during an argument with her father, who was a family practice physician.
She was only 10 at the time. “He basically said, ‘You can’t do this,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, yes, I can.’” In fact, she told him she wanted to be a psychiatrist, as her aunt was, although he didn’t think highly of that field then. While the family was living in the mountains of Asheville, N.C., and she was considering colleges, she decided she wanted to go to a school in a big city far from home. She chose Howard University, where she earned a partial scholarship. There, she worked with children with autism and became more interested in pediatrics and developmental issues. She completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology/pre-med, and it took her two years to get into medical school. But after applying twice and taking the Medical College Admission Test four times, she was accepted at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. — her father’s alma mater. He didn’t get to see her graduate, but she said he had already told her and others that she would be a success. “He was very proud,” she said.
Canton anyway, so it was a chance to bring the family closer. “I think everything just sort of works out the way God wants it,” she said, “because I found out about it my second year of medical school, and it was specifically for Greenwood Leflore Hospital. ... I definitely jumped on it and was prepped and ready to go when I got here.” Blair has experience in dealing with children with developmental disorders including autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, spina bifida and Down syndrome. She is trained to treat patients ranging from newborns up to the age of 21, but she enjoys dealing with pre-adolescents the most. So is she good at calming down children who might be scared of doctors? “Oh, yeah, that’s the best part,” she said, smiling. “That’s the best part — the interaction.” ^=ïçêäÇ=íê~îÉäÉê=
Her work has taken her to many different places, including Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. She also has done medical work in oççíë=áå=dêÉÉåïççÇ= Honduras and the Dominican Republic. She said a trip she took to Honduras Although she never lived in during her fourth year of medical school Greenwood, she still had roots in the city. was an eye-opener. She had taken plenty So, when she heard about a scholarship of Spanish in school but wanted to hone that included a five-year commitment to her medical Spanish skills in an immerwork in the hospital system, she pursued sive setting. And while working in a hosit. Her parents had planned to move to pital there, she saw what practicing pqlov=^ka=melql=_v=a^sfa=jlkolb
pediatrics is like in a poor country. “The town that I was staying in was rather nice compared to the other towns, but they still had a lot of disparities when it came to health care,” she said. But she enjoyed the trip and plans to return at some point. In fact, she tries to go to a Spanish-speaking country every so often to keep her language skills fresh. She said growing up in a military family gave her the skills to adapt to new settings and people, such as the Hispanics and Native Americans she dealt with in Arizona. “You learn different cultural practices and different things that people believe in. ... Just being a military brat, you just learn to be a chameleon and blend in where you need to and just be flexible,” she said. Blair also has a background in research. In fact, she presented a paper at a pediatrics conference based on spina bifida research she had done through the University of Arizona. She was active in Arizona LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) and hopes to do more research once she is more settled in Greenwood. An avid runner, she said she definitely plans to participate in the 5K in the 300 Oaks Road Race. She also has joined Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Money and plans to look for more opportunities to volunteer. “I’m still trying to figure out what the community needs,” she said. n
PageNO Greenwood Commonwealth / Wednesday, September 4, 2013 eb^iqe=^ka=cfqkbpp =======================================================================================================================================================================