Medical Examiner 12-1-23 by Daniel Pearson

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DECEMBER 1, 2023

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RAINING ON THE PARADE T

here is no joy in the role of party pooper. Sadly, we have learned this hard truth at Augusta’s palatial Medical Examiner world headquarters from painful first-hand experience. Nobody wants constant reminders to floss daily, exercise more, and cut back on pork rinds to no more than one bag per day. But somebody’s got to do it. Seriously, someone has to be the bringer of rain, even when the year’s biggest parade is all queued up and the marching bands are ready to play. That’s all happening right now. As the golden oldie issue displayed here (from November 2018) said, “Welcome to Eating Season!” As the cover story went on to explain, we all know this really isn’t eating season; it’s Overeating Season. Eating season lasts a good 10 months of the year, but we’re well into Overeating Season, which begins with Thanksgiving tables sagging under the weight of the vittles thereon, and extends through countless encounters with office snack trays, holiday luncheons, dinners and parties, college football bowl games and pro playoffs, chugging toward the grand finale, a national holiday in February whose main event is eating (mainly junk food) and watching TV.

And we picked now to talk about eating less? Are Why is that of concern? we crazy? Possibly. Anyone reading this who is overweight or obese As we have already established, the role of party knows the answers: Overweight and obese indipooper is no fun. But it’s very important. After all, viduals are at much higher risk for high blood the latest statistics show that 40% of Americans are pressure, stroke, and heart failure; they are more obese. Not overweight. likely to suffer from diabetes, whose rates are Obese. And that’s just the exploding, especially in Western average. Certain populacultures; nearly 10% of all cancers tions have much higher are linked to obesity; obese peorates. A study by the ple are more likely to be afflicted Food Research and by asthma and sleep apnea; obese Action Center reports people are statistically 25% more that 50.6% of Hispanlikely to have chronic depression; ic women and 54.8% obese children are 200% more likely of black women are to develop multiple sclerosis; obesity ANSWERS FO obese. People in the is linked to osteoarthritis and joint R ALL YOUR ME DICARE QUES TIONS South have higher pain and surgical replacements. rates of obesity than All of these side effects of our col706•399•19 other parts of the lective food addictions cost trillions of 89 soosbenefits group.com country. Overall, dollars in healthcare costs each year, obesity rates in the but more importantly they shorten U.S. have more than doubled in both adults and lives and reduce the quality of life for children since the 1970s. And as we say in the millions of people. South, it’s fixin’ to get worse. As the other golden What is the solution? It’s complicated. As we’ll oldie Medical Examiner shown here (from April explain in a brief overview on page 5, it’s a whole 2023) reported, projections by expert researchers lot more than cutting back on Hostess Ho-Hos. But warn that in about ten years fully half the world’s that could be a good start. population will be obese. For more, see page 5.

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The world is getting bigger. Carefully examin And bigger. And even bigger ed data has a little more recently led still. than a decade to from now, more the disturbing predicti will be obese. on that We’re not that than half the tion (or at least far world’s populat severe malnutr removed from a time when ion healthcare commu ition) was a mass starvamajor nity. Ironical ly, that era gave concern for the world’s birth to this How did this one. happen? An extreme is closely related ly complex set of circums tances are all to the scarcity food. When factors, and/or but one of them people cannot unaffordability of millions of people worldw afford those healthful foods of healthful and nutritio It’s the old “Coke ide) they resort us (and poverty affects hundred is cheaper than to less expensi calorie-dense ve, less salubrio s milk” syndrom processed foods us options. even result in with little nutritio e. The less expensive choices are the paradox n. A steady often ical combination Beyond the diet based on direct food factor, of obesity and such foods can that will not malnutrition. experts point be easy to fix. to a frustrat Examples: a their children changing culture ingly long list of culprits to play outside and neighbo where parents due to fear of rhood that discour crime, and the don’t allow The World Obesity design of cities, age walking . towns Federation, emphasize that the organization solving the that released world’s obesity telling people to eat less (or problem is nowher the projections, and challen e near as simple ging than that. healthier) and get more as exercise. It’s far more comple The stakes x could not be higher A world where half of the populat the medical ion is obese commu Healthcare costs nity and the world’s econom would be a world that would tax would run into y to the breakin ents of care the trillions g point. are living at of dollars, and or below the world. What many poverty level, conditions would wherever they of the recipimuch higher be treated? may live in risk for high the blood pressur Overweight and obese likely to suffer individu e, stroke, and from diabete als are at heart failure; tures; nearly s, they are more 10% of all cancerswhose rates are explodi ng, especially be afflicted are linked to by asthma and in Western culobesity; obese to have chronic sleep apnea; people are obese people are statistically more likely to sclerosis; obesity depression; obese children 25% more likely are 200% more is A problem with linked to osteoarthritis and joint pain likely to develop multiple complete inertia: so many causes and so many repercu and surgical replacem it’s so huge ents. can do will ssions can easily that nothing make even a I or my organiz opposite of ation or even result in the correct recipe.tiny improvement. So my no governm are living in one Instead, everyon does anythin ent a g. That is the e needs nor or a senator. gated community or on exact welfare, whethe to do their little part, whethe It’s really everyon r they don’t r they e’s problem vote or and everyon e’s solution. + they’re a gover-

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THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE ALWAYS THE HARDEST

MEDICAL MYTHOLOGY

PARENTHOOD by David W. Proefrock, PhD

Over the past year your 12-year-old daughter has put on over 50 pounds and has really become overweight. She doesn’t seem to be that concerned about her weight gain and never says much when you try to talk to her about it. She always seems to be eating, and you think she might be sneaking more food when you don’t know about it. What do you do? A. Put her on a strict diet. Explain the dangers of obesity and monitor what she eats very closely. B. Weight gain beyond what would be expected could be a sign of a significant health problem. Take her to her doctor and have her checked. C. Weight gain beyond what would be expected could be a sign of a serious emotional problem. Take her to a mental health professional and have her evaluated. D. Some kids get a little chunky at this age. Don’t worry about her. She will outgrow it. If you answered: A. This may be where you end up, but she should be seen by her doctor first to rule out any possible medical issues. B. This is the best answer and is necessary before you make any other interventions. C. This could be a good response, but she should be seen by her doctor first to rule out any medical issues. C. A weight gain of 50 pounds is far beyond the “chunky” stage. She should be seen by her doctor to check for medical issues. Children undergo weight fluctuations for a number of reasons, and some really are “just a phase.” However, medical or emotional factors can also be contributing causes, and should be evaluated by a physician. + Dr. Proefrock is a retired local clinical and forensic child psychologist.

NEXTISSUEDEC15

COLD WEATHER CAUSES COLDS Cold weather is synonymous with cold and flu season and sore throats and runny noses and coughs and sneezes. It can’t all be a coincidence, can it? As our mothers used to say, “Put on a coat and hat and mittens or you’ll catch a cold!” Or words to that effect. Contrary to the beliefs of many, cold weather does not cause colds or sickness of any kind. Even so, everything in the first sentence is true. So what’s the connection? For a long time it was thought that colds and flu surged during winter months because cold weather drove everyone indoors where close proximity to others made the spread of disease much easier. New research has discovered that there are biological (specifically nasal) reasons for the increased risk of getting sick when temperatures drop. Scientists at Northeastern University and Massachusetts Eye and Ear found that when cells at the front of the nose detect bacteria or viruses, they release billions of tiny sacs filled with fluid. These

sacs, called extracellular vesicles (or EVs), are quickly absorbed into mucus where they surround and attack bacteria. They also discovered that EVs act as decoys, causing viruses and bacteria to bind to them rather than nasal cells. It’s an ingenious system designed to immediately intercept and destroy invaders right at their point of entry. So far so good. But we’re still left with that opening sentence and the pairing of cold weather and sickness. As the researchers probed further, they discovered that inhaling cold air (about 40°F) reduced nasal tissue temperatures by almost 10°, presum-

ably from 98.6° or so down to 88.6°. That one change reduced the quantity of EVs released by more than 40%, and also reduced the quality and invader-fighting effectiveness of the EVs. Everyone complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it, right? So what can we do instead? Armed with the knowledge provided by the new study, researchers suggest that wearing a good-quality face mask in cold weather, especially in crowded places, reduces inhaled invaders and protects the body’s immune response by preventing the cold-related reduction of EV quality and quantity. A board-certified allergist and clinical immunologist quoted in Healthline says getting sufficient vitamin C can also boost nasal defenses by enhancing mucus membranes and supporting overall immune health. Other steps to staying healthy when we can’t raise the temperature outside include a few old reliables: • regular handwashing • on-the-go hand sanitizing throughout the day • avoiding groups large and small when we’re sick so they can stay healthy; and • avoiding groups large and small when others are sick so we can stay healthy • when you or others in the family have a cold, keep your living space disinfected, since inhaling germs is followed by touching germs as the top two routes of entry into the body Should this space in our next issue be devoted to going out in cold weather with wet hair? +

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ADVENTURES IN

Middle Age BY J.B. COLLUM

but got off a little early and got the sound system set up and tested. Things went a little haywire with the décor though, so some of the folks worked very late on that, but we all ended up sitting around eating pizza and wings when all the work was done around 8 pm Friday evening. Saturday, the day of the party, brought lots more work from the morning on: the food had to be cooked and several other details had to be worked out. I also provided cameras and set them up since they weren’t able to secure a photographer, so that was the last thing I did. The party was supposed to start at 5:30 but people started showing up at 4:00. Not just a few, but about a dozen people out of the invited 70 or so. I had to hurry through some of the prep work to go back to the camper and shave, change into formalwear and get back to the party. The party was a roaring success. The food was great. Almost everyone danced and smiles were plastered all over their faces. As I looked around the venue, the demographic was definitely skewed toward middle-aged and up, with quite a large number in their seventies and some in their eighties. I got to know one particular couple a little better than the others. They were in their eighties, and they were the first on the dance floor and the last off. Let’s call them Fred and Ginger. When the music veered toward more of the slow dancing variety, either Fred or Ginger would come over and ask for faster stuff. They requested things like Electric Slide, songs by Steppenwolf, and some Earth, Wind, & Fire. I obliged by playing everything they asked for. Each time, they went out on the floor and boogied. I got tired just watching them as I sat behind the table with my music equipment, ate the great food, and drank the never-ending supply of light beer the bartender kept bringing. I didn’t want to be rude and say no. Although I was worn out from lack of sleep and the long hours of work that we had done to get things ready, I watched Fred and Ginger and felt some hope that perhaps my better half and I could be dancing into our eighties too. Then again, for that to happen, I have to do my part by doing better with my diet and exercise. I seem to be able to do it in spurts, but something always seems to get in the way. Despite how good things looked for this couple on the dance floor, I would learn about their struggles over the next couple of days and draw comfort and inspiration from them. Check back in the next issue and I’ll tell you all about it. +

{

Here I am writing about the struggles of middle age twice a month, not to mention all of my complaining to anyone who will listen the rest of the month, and then along comes a situation that not only gives me hope, but points out that things could be a lot worse. This past weekend, my wife and I helped our friends Chuck and Vicki throw a formal 50th wedding anniversary party for her sister and brother-in-law. My wife would provide the food and help with décor and I would handle DJ duties. This required traveling down to the gulf coast of Florida, and since we were trying to do it on as small a budget as possible since it was for friends, we planned to stay in our camper in campground on the resort property where the party was being held. Chuck and Vicki also made sure to pay our expenses in exchange for our services, so the fuel and accommodations were free to us, and they, being the generous souls that they are, bought us several meals while down there too. So far so good, right? Well, let me tell you the rest of the story. First though, I must say that some names may have been changed to protect the innocent and/or the guilty. The plan was to leave the house around 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon and go to Atlanta to spend the night with Chuck and Vicki. We were going to leave on Thursday morning for Florida. However, at about 2 o’clock on Wednesday, just as I was finishing lunch at home, my wife called from the gas station to say that after she filled up the truck with gas for the trip, the truck would not start. To make a long story short, after I arrived at the station and tried everything I could, we had to have it towed to the dealer for repair. So we had no way to tow our camper on the trip. We tried to rent a truck but had no luck at all. Sure, they would rent us a truck, but with the stipulation that we couldn’t use it to tow. When Chuck learned of this, he decided to drive the three hours from Atlanta with his big diesel pickup so we could use it to tow our camper, and he would use his other pickup to tow his camper. It turned out to be the only option. This is just another example of the kind of people Chuck and Vicki are. When nobody else in the family was willing or perhaps even able to pay for the party, Chuck and Vicki stepped in and paid for it all. And here Chuck was making sure his caterer and DJ had a ride too. By the time he arrived here and we got everything hooked up it was nearly midnight, and we didn’t reach his home in Atlanta until the wee hours of the morning. We all got just a few hours of sleep and then packed up the next day and headed to Florida. We arrived in the dark, rested up and prepared to face the next day (Friday) when we would set up the party. I had to work on Friday, though remotely,

onsidering that the subject of our profile (above) never existed (technically), he has had quite an impact on medicine for almost 240 years. We say “technically” because there was a real-life Baron von Munchausen. Or more correctly, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. He was born in 1720 in Hanover, Germany, into an aristocratic family. One of his cousins was a founder of Germany’s University of Göttingen, and young Münchhausen was a page in the royal court of a duke of Brunswick. Through that connection he was appointed to a post in the Imperial Russian Army during the Russo-Turkish War of 1737-1739 and saw action in two military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in 1740 and 1741. Largely based on those experiences, Münchhausen gradually developed a reputation as a witty and imaginative storyteller, regaling guests with highly exaggerated tales of his military exploits. The Münchhausen we think of today is actually not the real-life raconteur, but instead a fictional character created by German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe (1736-1794), a bit of a rascal if ever there was one. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London, for example, and soon thereafter ejected for fraud and breach of trust. He once had to flee when it was discovered that the rich mineral veins he had discovered on the land of an employer were actually planted there by Raspe. As a one-time librarian at the University of Göttingen he was the perhaps the perfect person to create a character clearly modeled after the respected Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. The depiction was so insulting (particularly to Münchhausen) that Raspe published the work anonymously (which led to others appropriating it and embellishing it for their own purposes over the years). The medical condition (or lack thereof) named after Münchausen (M. by proxy) has only been around by name since the late 70s (see editor’s note below) and is controversial. One of the most recent incidents, the so-called “Take Care of Maya” case, was just decided a few weeks ago in Florida, in which Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital kept a 10-year-old girl away from her mother based on suspicions of Münchausen syndrome. The tragic case resulted in a jury award to the girl’s family of $261 million in punitive and compensatory damages. Editor’s note: To read about how Münchausen by proxy has ties to both the Beatles and James Taylor, click on the following link (or type it into your browser): https://issuu.com/ medicalexaminer/docs/dec15_17. It will take you back to installment #57 of Who is this? from Dec. 15, 2017 The caricature of Münchausen above is by the prolific French illustrator Gustave Doré, 1832-1883. +

{

PARTY. HARD.

J.B. Collum is a local novelist, humorist and columnist who wants to be Mark Twain when he grows up. He may be reached at johnbcollum@gmail.co

DECEMBER 1, 2023

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SHOULD I FAST? No. You should slow. Trying to lose weight fast is a recipe for...well...see the picture? Yo-yos go up and down just like weight does when people try to take shortcuts. Yo-yo dieting (like we need a definition) is the process of losing weight and then gaining it all back, maybe even gaining more than we lost. What does that have to do with the speed of weight loss? The human body, like the people who live inside of those bodies, doesn’t like change. When we’re hot, the body automatically tries to cool us down; when we’re cold, it shivers to generate heat. Similarly, when we lose a lot of weight quickly, the body automatically reacts, going in the other direction. It senses that something is wrong and fights to return us to the place we were before (on the scale). It’s a recipe for failure if the goal is to lose weight. Patience is a virtue that sometimes isn’t compatible with losing weight, but it should be. Baby steps are way better than giant leaps. One of those Monday diets that isn’t even in the same time zone

as the diet someone had on Friday — accompanied by an overnight dedication to daily pre-dawn workouts at the gym — is destined to go down in flames sooner rather than later. Slow change is much more likely to be permanent change. A good place to start might be with a single meal. Every day you’ve been packing a lunch that includes three cookies. Take the first baby step by packing only two. After a couple of weeks, go down to one, or skip cookies altogether and replace them with an apple. In addition to being a cookie-cutter you can add some small, sustainable increase in daily exercise, like always taking the stairs or parking at the far end of the lot at work. As you can see, these kinds of strategies truly are baby steps. They may seem so meaningless and insignificant that the temptation could be to give up. But dietitians say these are exactly the type of thing that works. What doesn’t work is that 4-letter word we used a few paragraphs back: diet. A diet is something people go on;

WHAT ABOUT BABY ASPIRIN? if they can go on it they can also go off it — and they (we) usually do. That’s why weight loss experts often talk about lifestyle changes rather than diets. For the person who can pull off a lifestyle change, it offers its benefits every waking hour, 7 days a week. That is better than any diet. There are a zillion other components to the world’s obesity problem, like cities and neighborhoods that are not pedestrian-friendly as but one example. Things like that are far beyond our control and can take years to fix. This brief article has tried to highlight an approach that anyone can take, starting today. Just remember: slow and steady wins the race. And if you need a coach to help you, contact one of the many registered dietitians in the Aiken-Augusta area. +

MEDICARE CAN BE CONFUSING. CALL US TO HELP UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS.

TURNING 65?

Even just a couple of years ago, taking a daily low-dose aspirin was one of the automatics of preventive medicine. Lately, the picture has become less clear. You might recall a 2020 study that got a lot of publicity. The research found that taking daily aspirin could result in internal bleeding and anemia, a risk only justified among patients who are heart attack or stroke survivors. That meant that nearly 29 million Americans who take aspirin to prevent a first stroke or heart attack were doing so unnecessarily, and putting themselves at risk in the process. That medical opinion has not changed since 2020. The problem is that many never made it past the headlines, like one we saw from around that time (January 2020): “Daily aspirin no longer recommended for many older adults.” Suddenly a mainstay of prevention is in question? Good to know! And so millions of people stopped taking their daily 81mg dose of aspirin, including millions of people who never should have stopped. Research published in late August of this year revealed that only about 65% of Americans who have had a heart attack or stroke are taking aspirin to prevent another one. Doctors say that number should be in the vicinity of 100%. Why not exactly 100%? Some people who haven’t had a heart attack or stroke may be at high risk due to extremely high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other factors. Their doctor might recommend a daily aspirin regimen. Aside from that outside-the-norm group, however, doctors say the standard rule is no stroke/no heart attack/no aspirin. Aspirin’s cons outweigh its pros for that population. For anyone who has had a heart attack, stroke, stent, or coronary bypass surgery, low-dose aspirin is very important to help prevent further events. As one doctor put it, “Nobody will argue with that. That is ironclad in the literature.” A simple, effective, and inexpensive therapy is readily available for millions who need it. Why are they not taking it? As for those who haven’t had a cardiovascular event of some kind, doctors say statins offer a much safer preventive strategy. Talk to your doctor about what’s best for you. +

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The Medical Examiner’s mission: to provide information on topics of health and wellness of interest to general readers, to offer information to assist readers in wisely choosing their healthcare providers, and to serve as a central source of salubrious news within every part of the Augusta medical community. Direct editorial and advertising inquiries to:

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REWARD VS PUNISHMENT How do you get others to do what you want … almost every time? The two main methods are intermittent reward and intermittent punishment. A study measured how many peanuts monkeys normally ate in a day. A machine dispensed one peanut each time a monkey pulled a lever. When the monkey wanted a peanut, he pulled the level and one peanut fell out. Each monkey soon developed a habit of their own relatively constant number of peanuts per day. The dispensing machine was then reprogramed to dispense peanuts randomly. Sometimes it was one peanut per pull. Sometimes only alternate pulls yielded a reward. Or every third pull. And so forth. Uncertainty caused the monkeys to pull the level more often, sometimes “machine gunning” the lever to get a handful

BASED ON A TRUE STORY (most of the time) A series by Bad Billy Laveau

before eating. The number of lever pulls increased dramatically with all monkeys. Consequently, the consumption of peanuts went up as well. Clearly the idea was “if a peanut is dispensed, eat it immediately.” In the business world, bonuses left to the discretion of a superior are more effective than pre-set bonuses. The receiver works harder, right up to the last minute, to be sure he is rewarded. If the reward is fixed, no one ever thinks, “If I work harder, I might get a 20% bonus instead of a 10% bonus like everyone else.” It doesn’t exist. It does exist, however, if

the reward is intermittent. Intermittent punishment is feared more than oneto-one punishment. If a punishment is fixed, the perpetrator must decide if the transgression is worth the prescribed punishment. That is part of the reason that prison terms for a given transgression in our judicial system may be 1 to 5 years rather than a fixed number. Uncertainty is an added punishment. Promise something and then make it uncertain, with the potential to be worse. Even if it doesn’t get worse, the uncertainty creates fear and forces people to react in fear. In present day terms, the Israel-Hamas War is an example in contrast. Hamas attacked Israel, kidnapped 240 or more people while killing 1400. Israel pushed back. Hard. Israel has more hardware and more combatants. Hamas cried “Un-

cle,” wanting a cease fire. (A cease fire would not be needed if Hamas had not attacked.) Now Israel offers to reward Hamas with a cease fire if the hostages are returned. Straight deal. Clear and straightforward. Hamas says “No.” Hamas demanded 3 criminal prisoners for each hostage released. Hamas demanded a 4-day cease fire, 500 Palestine prisoners for 13 hostages on Wednesday. More later, they said. Then Hamas delayed the first exchange for 2 days. This is intermittent punishment disguised as intermittent reward. It is painful and infuriating. Hamas will repeatedly renege, postpone, delay, and reshape their agreement to further traumatize the world. It is their only tool. They will use it effectively. Israel will counter with intermittent punishment.

Pinpoint rocket attacks to take out Hamas leadership and combatant assets. Collateral damage will escalate. Lives will be lost. Rebuilding costs will be monumental, most likely paid for US taxpayers. That’s me and you. Clearlly, intermittent punishment is the most painful and destructive. It is the basis of tyranny, communism, and socialism. By contrast, intermittent reward is the most effective and constructive. It is the basis of capitalism. The world’s greatest country and economy (the United States) is based upon intermittent reward and the freedom to choose. Hamas offers none of these. Hamas and intermittent punishment will fail. Israel and intermittent reward will prevail. But it will be ugly for all concerned. +

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...wherein we share amusing medical mis-speakings and misspellings we have overheard or that have been shared with us.

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In her medical history the new patient listed an atomic pregnancy.

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Kim’s Note: Using 100% artificial sweetener would give you a carbohydrate gram total by 5, down to 13g, but in my opinion the resulting bread is not as good; the carbohydrate change is not worth the inferior product. I did not test this recipe with 100% artificial sweetener. Using the stevia-sugar blend reduced the carbohydrate by about half; the original recipe was 31g carbohydrate. +

OVERHEAD DOOR COMPANY OF AUGUSTA/AIKEN

MARKS

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350°.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, salt, and next four ingredients (through pumpkin pie spice) in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine 1/2 cup water and flaxseed. Place sugar and next 4 ingredients (through eggs) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add flaxseed mixture and pumpkin; beat at low speed just until blended. Add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Divide batter between 2 (9 x 5–inch) loaf pans coated

Yield: 2 loaves, 14 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice) Nutrition Breakdown: Calories 130, Fat 5g (0.5g saturated fat), Cholesterol 25mg, Sodium 290mg, Carbohydrate 18g, Fiber 2g, Protein 3g. Percent Daily Value: 45% Vitamin A, 2% Calcium, 4% Iron, 0% Vitamin C Carbohydrate choices: 1 Carbohydrate Diabetes Exchanges: 1 Starch

HOW YOU DECORATE THEM IS UP TO YOU

I-20

INGREDIENTS • 1-¾ cups all-purpose flour (7.1 ounces) • 1-½ cups white whole wheat flour (6.1 ounces) • 2 teaspoons salt • 2 teaspoons baking soda • 1 teaspoon baking powder • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice • 1/2 cup water • 1/3 cup ground flaxseed • ¾ cup stevia/sugar, baking blend • ¼ cup apple sauce • 1/2 cup canola oil • 2/3 cup honey beer (at room temperature) • 4 large eggs • 1 can (15-ounce) pumpkin • 2 tablespoons hulled pumpkin seeds (garnish) • 2 teaspoons sugar in the raw (garnish) • Cooking spray

with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

n Joi

This is delicious bread is a bake once, eat twice recipe best stored in the refrigerator. This recipe was modified from Pumpkin Honey-Beer Bread from Cooking Light (a longtime favorite in our house) resulting in ½ the carbohydrates and about 60 less calories.

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

ASK DR. KARP

NO NONSENSE

NUTRITION Jennifer from Columbia, SC, asks “I love holiday sweets, which I read are ‘high glycemic’ foods. What does that mean?”

First, let me extend my best holiday wishes to you and yours, Jennifer, and to all my readers. I have gotten quite a few questions about the glycemic index in the last couple of weeks. Yes, there are lots of sweets and goodies around during the holidays; Christmas cookies, chocolate Hannukah gelt, Diwali gulab jamun, and so much more. Can you eat them? What about the glycemic index of these foods? People often misunderstand the glycemic index. Simply stated, the glycemic index refers to a ranking system from 0-100 to gauge the effect a specific food has on your blood sugar (glucose) levels. Knowing this information should enable you to have more control over your blood glucose levels. For example, a food with a high glycemic index would theoretically be digested and absorbed very quickly and lead to high and fluctuating blood glucose levels. On the other hand, a food with a low glycemic index would be digested and absorbed more slowly. This might lead to a

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slower and steadier rise in your blood sugar. Years ago it was assumed that foods high in simple sugars would be absorbed into your blood system more rapidly and lead to higher and more variable spikes in blood glucose compared to starches. The thinking was that because starches must go through an extra digestion step before being absorbed into your blood as glucose, it should take longer for them to affect blood sugar levels. Then, in the 1970s, a dietitian named Phyllis Crapo decided to challenge this idea by testing it in a

DECEMBER 1, 2023 index as a guide to eating. For instance, although the glycemic index is useful in experimental and clinical studies where only a single food is being consumed, you and I do not eat that way. We eat varied, complex foods in a single meal. Under these conditions, the glycemic index is not that useful. Different components and combinations of foods eaten in a meal influence digestion and absorption, and affect blood sugar levels differently. Even what you have eaten the previous meal, or the previous day can affect digestion and absorption. In addition, there is a surprisingly wide variation in how different individuals digest and absorb a food or a combination of foods. Furthermore, the digestion and absorption of starches and sugars are influenced by the ripeness of a food, how it is prepared and the time of day it is eaten. If you have diabetes, the only sure way of determining how what you eat affects your blood sugar level is to routinely monitor your own blood glucose.

laboratory. She fed simple foods to laboratory animals, drew blood after a time, and measured blood glucose. Much to her surprise, she could not predict the effect of a given food on blood sugar levels. Her research led to revelations like eating a potato results in higher blood sugar levels than eating a candy bar! Thus the glycemic index was born, an experimentally-determined value. This initial research was expanded over time and has morphed into the glycemic index diet. There are many problems if you use the glycemic Please see NO NONSENSE page 9

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SHORTSTORIES EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE IN AN INSTANT When I was 17 I worked at a store with a sporting goods department. It was next to the toy department. On this particular day I was stocking items. Two children, about 8 and 6, were playing and running around both areas. Their mom was nowhere to be found. As I was stocking, down the aisle I could see that the older of the two (a boy ) had just come around the corner. He pointed a toy gun at the little girl and yelled “freeze!” She stood there with her hands in the air and said “Don’t shoot me! I give,” or something to that affect. Little did I know the orange-colored toy he had in his hand was actually a 12-gauge flare gun. He pulled the trigger. The flare came screaming out of the gun 30 feet down the aisle and hit the little girl right in the face. It bounced off her face, up and into the ceiling, bounced off the ceiling and rocketed towards me, hitting some oil cans and exploding the cans. All of this happened in a split second. I was in shock. The little girl fell to the floor screaming. The ceiling was on fire, and I had oil all over me from the exploding cans of oil. At about that moment the mom came running around

the corner and started screaming at the sight of her daughter. The flare had knocked her to the floor and cut a deep gash in her face. Her nose was hanging off to the side of her face by a piece of skin and blood was everywhere. In seconds everything had gone from a normal afternoon to utter chaos. Within moments another employee came around the corner with a fire extinguisher and put out the ceiling tiles that were burning. I really didn’t know what to do so I put the little girl’s nose back on her face, picked her up and ran to the pharmacy where I knew the closest thing to a doctor would be. The whole store was in chaos. The fire alarm was going off, people were screaming and running for the exits, and I was this scared 17-year-old trying to keep his cool. Eventually the ambulance arrived and took the girl away. I later learned that after several surgeries the girl would be okay. Apparently an employee had put the flare gun on a display in the sporting goods department with it opened. The boy picked it up and loaded it, thinking it was a toy. What a day that was! +

NO NONSENSE… from page 8 Although presently there are some proponents of the glycemic diet, the advice given by most scientific nutrition organizations is to minimize the concept of the glycemic index and the glycemic diet. “Do not follow fad diets; monitor your blood sugar instead.” Always follow a prudent, healthy way of eating, such as the Mediterranean or DASH eating plans. They are high in fiber and other substances that can slow down sugar absorption and thus lead to a slower and steadier rise in

9 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

blood glucose. What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice for today? Pay less attention to the “glycemic effect of foods” and more attention to following a varied and healthy way of eating. And if you have diabetes, determine the effect a specific food has on your own blood glucose by routinely monitoring your blood glucose. Jennifer, you can, indeed, eat that syrup-soaked gulab jamun that mama made you for Diwali, or those choco-

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CRASH

COURSE

More Americans have died on US roads since 2006 than in World Wars I & II combined

environment each year is an astounding 4.5 trillion. For the record, cigarette butts are made from a kind of plastic which degrades into harmful microplastics which are so micro that they have been discovered in cell membranes of human, aquatic, and animal life. To toss cigarette butts out into everyone’s environment is definitely not cool. Statistically, smoking rates are at their lowest ever, representing only about 14% of the adult population. But those 14-percenters are knocking themselves out in the littering department. Next time you’re sitting at a red light, take a look down outside your window. At many intersections that’s where drivers decide to use the roadside as their personal ashtray. That is truly foul. You 14-percenters, have a little class. Clean up your act.

{

erhaps you missed the first five installments of this series. If so, you’re forgiven. By all means go back and read them all online. You’ll be a better driver and a better human for the experience. To recap, our general premise is that bad driving annoys other drivers, and annoyed drivers become bad drivers. We are not here to excuse reactionary drivers and lay all of the blame on the triggering drivers. No, they are both to blame, the first for their initial offense and the second for being too immature to just be an adult and drive on. Even so, the fact remains that doing something that makes other drivers’ blood boil (rightly or wrongly) has to count for something bad. Those actions should be avoided. And what are some of the actions we’ve covered? Not using turn signals. Tailgating. Running red lights. Talking on the phone while driving, or sitting there looking down at your phone after a light turns green. Hogging the left lane, perhaps side by side with another vehicle, thereby blocking the smooth flow of traffic. Being ridiculously cluelessly over-cautious, like not making a right turn on red despite the nearest oncoming car being a mere speck in the distance. And still others. So what should be #10? Good news! Bonus round! There are far more than just ten things to legitimately hate about other people’s driving. And if the truth be told (but hopefully not), for other people to hate about our driving. But we can’t continue this hatefest indefinitely, so let’s wrap up this extended diatribe with a final pair of hateworthy habits that take place behind the wheel.

{

TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU Part 6

10-A. Trashy people (See the Sept. 15, Oct. 6, Oct. 20, and Nov. 3 and Nov. 17 Medical Examiners online at issuu. com/medicalexaminer for nos. 1 through 9) There are those trashy humans whose own yards look like a garbage dump home version. But for the most part, littering is what people do to other people’s property. Littering is done from car and truck windows, not bedroom windows. Littering is a huge global problem. If you were to list the Top 10 items littered in the U.S., even lowly item number ten is tossed by the roadside hundreds of millions of times each year (#10 is plastic water bottles; 275 million of them were thrown to the wind in 2020 alone according to National Litter Survey estimates). The numbers going up from #10 are staggering, culminating with the King of Litter, the lowly and disgusting cigarette butt, the most littered item on the planet by a mile. In this country, the estimated number of tossed butts each year is 9.7 billion. Worldwide the number casually thrown into the

10-B. Speed demons See that second word? No one ever refers to speeders as angels or cherubs or saints. No, it’s always demonic. Why? It isn’t a stretch to view speeding as a selfish me-first action that endangers others. It says “I’m in a hurry, and my needs right now supercede law and order — and your safety.” Studies all over the world have conclusively established (if anyone had any doubt) that higher speeds result in higher numbers of crashes and fatalities. In Germany a national speed limit reduction in 1994 reduced all crashes by 20%. When Denmark cut its speed limit in 1996, fatal crashes dropped by 24%. Right here at home, when New York City reduced its city-wide speed limit on surface streets from 30 mph to 25 mph, there was a 28% reduction in all fatalities and a 48% drop in pedestrian fatalities. Conversely, the U.S. repeal of the 55 mph speed limit in 1989 in favor of 65 mph resulted in a 21% increase in fatal crashes the following year. In 2004, the World Health Organization reported that 22% of all injury mortality worldwide was the result of vehicular incidents. They are the #1 cause of deaths among children (age 10 to 19). As of 2021, WHO estimates that 1.3 million people die in highway crashes each year around the world, and they identify controlling speed as one of the most effective ways to reduce that toll. Is anyone so important that they deserve the right to speed? Fact: In 1872, then-President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant was arrested for speeding in his horse-drawn carriage in Washington. Are we somehow better than Ulysses S. Grant? Of course not. So let’s show it by easing off that pedal on the right. It’s the right thing to do. +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The blog spot SHORTSTORIES — posted by Steven Zhang, MD on July 11, 2019

WHY MEDICAL WRITING IS ESSENTIAL TO MEDICINE

I wasn’t as happy as I expected to be when I walked out of the hospital on my last day in medical school. But then again, there was little to celebrate — my last few patients had terminal cancer, a stroke, and end-stage liver disease from alcoholism. I signed off my patients to my resident, and so my medical school career came to an unceremonious end. I thought that I was finally done with my schooling. How many times have we told ourselves that we reached some final milestone, that it will be smooth sailing from now on? I remember telling myself that I was done with medical school when I finished my first board exam. Then, I repeated those words to myself when I finished my second board exam. And then again when I finished my last residency interview, and once more after Match Day. But it’s never done. The reality of being responsible for patients slowly took shape during these past few weeks. Maybe that’s why my last day of medical school came and went without any fanfare — even with an MD after my name, nothing will have really changed. I’ll still be learning and taking care of patients just as I’ve done over the past year. Some special aura appears around you when you don a white coat. Suddenly to outsiders, you’re seen as a healer and sometimes a last resort. Magically, you possess the backstage pass to delve into the lives of strangers and hear about their most intimate details. I’ve had patients tell me many times about their joys and worries, their relationships and vices, and even their sex lives, all unprompted. There is no other relationship comparable to that between a doctor and the patient — at least not one that can form so swiftly built on blind trust and confidence. Still, there hangs a thick and opaque curtain between us, patients and doctors — patients know so little of what goes on inside our heads, and we devote so little of our time to figuring out what they’re thinking and feeling. That’s why medical writing is essential to medicine. The goal of my columns over these last four years was never to persuade or to convert or to proselytize. After all, you can’t do that in a 600-word monthly column. You can’t change anyone’s opinion these days even if you hand them a thick binder filled with scientific facts. Instead, my goal was simply to teach, to inform, and to reveal. To let patients know that their doctors cared for them and are invested in their lives, even if they manage to see them for only 15 minutes after an hour of sitting in the waiting room. These pieces intended to tell patients that we know that being a patient not easy, but neither is being a doctor. Every patient and doctor has untold stories that deserve to be exchanged. My columns were a collective attempt to build a two-way bridge between those who were being cared for and those who cared for them. As I enter residency next month, I’ll continue to write and tell these stories. +

“IT’S NEVER OVER, NEVER DONE.”

Steven Zhang is a physician and blog writer

HOW TO LEAVE MEDICINE AT WORK I frequently review cases in my mind at the end of the day. For the sake of my sanity, I try hard to limit that to the car ride home. During that time, I try to reflect on the cases I saw that day, thinking about what I might do better next time and trying to praise myself for what I did right. Reflection and a healthy amount of self-criticism is an important part of improving performance in any profession, including medicine. However, I try to limit that just to the car ride home because if you spend every waking moment second-guessing yourself or worrying about your patients, you will be miserable and unfit to help anyone. Burn-out is a big issue in medicine, and the general consensus is that it usually occurs as the result of “moral injury.” That is, it tends to occur in environments that aren’t conducive to helping people. For example, working for a health care system where the administration is so focused on the bottom-line that patient care is sacrificed. Or spending 70% of the time clicking boxes in an Electronic Medical Record and only 30% of time actually treating patients. Or fighting with insurance companies because they want to dictate what treatment is appropriate. These kinds of headaches can make you take your work home mentally, especially if you feel like one of those situations negatively impacted the care you were able to provide. There are always cases here and there that really nag at your mind and make it hard to fall asleep that night. It may be a situation where you wish you had handled something differently, or a situation where you felt powerless to help. It might be a situation where you were treated poorly by a patient, where (at least in the field of psychiatry) you have to remind yourself that their behavior was part of their illness. It might be a patient for whom death might be imminent. It might be a case where a clear diagnosis eludes you, or the treatment plan isn’t clearcut. Most physicians got into the field of medicine because 1) they enjoy helping others and 2) they love puzzles and problem-solving, among other reasons. A good puzzle will definitely stick in your mind… Ultimately, we try to leave most of that at work, and focus on our own families and self-care when we get home. +

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The Examiners

DECEMBER 1, 2023

THE MYSTERY WORD

So what’s your plan for surviving the holidays?

by Dan Pearson

To eat as little as possible. I’m almost 100 lbs overweight.

Then on New Year’s Day I’m going to really start getting in shape.

Good luck with that.

Well, ho ho ho to you too.

Round is a shape.

The Mystery Word for this issue: EERNTMTTA

Simply unscramble the letters, then begin exploring our ads. When you find the correctly spelled word HIDDEN in one of our ads — enter at AugustaRx.com

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

20 21 22 23 ACROSS 1. Grinding tooth 24 25 6. Augusta talk radio source 26 27 28 29 30 10. Word of sorrow or regret 31 32 33 34 14. Fragrance 15. _____ Grey 35 36 37 38 16. Short pasta tubes 39 40 41 17. 1943 Best Picture Oscar winner 42 43 44 45 19. Lengthy era (British ver.) 46 47 20. 2-time Masters runner-up 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 21. Common onomatopoeia 22. Fullness, as of hair 55 56 57 58 24. It comes in yellow and 59 60 61 white varieties 62 63 64 25. Wine partner 26. Cottonmouth by Daniel R. Pearson © 2023 All rights reserved. 31. Hammers, pliers, etc. 33. Wheel shaft DOWN 28. Main part of the Iberian 34. In favor of 1. Chemical defense spray peninsula 35. Donations to the poor 2. Thermometer type 29. Liver is a good source of it 36. Mr. West 3. What one team experiences 30. Prying 38. Its capital is Vientiane in nearly all games 31. Baby powder 39. Prevaricate 4. Doc’s org. 32. Potpourri 40. Latin: In [this] veritas 5. Bunnies 36. Science of body language 41. Like Seattle weather 6. A recently weaned animal 37. Formicary residents 42. Mental focus 7. Group or band 38. Its capital is Vientiane 46. Commits perjury 8. Doug Barnard and Judy 40. Vessel 47. Charged particles Woodruff’s H.S. 41. ______ lactate (IV) 48. They get played on Sundays 9. Collarbone 43. Cool, damp skin is this 51. Store or bust lead-in 10. Flowering shrub of the 44. Post-collision protector 52. Standard abbreviation genus Rhododendron 45. Type of guide 55. Partner of gloom 11. Stead 48. River in central Europe 56. “What do you do for a 12. _____ bomb 49. Traveled by horse living?” for example 13. Trigonometric function 50. Objective 59. Dutch cheese coated with 18. Kent’s crush 51. Moore of G.I. Jane red wax 23. Fairy tale beginning 52. Gull-like predatory seabird 60. Prolonged 24. Friends 53. Try out unconsciousness 25. Ortho ending 54. Mariel Hemingway’s 61. Awaken 26. Females daughter 62. Depend 27. Gilbert ______, one-time 57. “Don’t have a ___!” 63. Gulp Augusta housing project 58. Pop ISP 64. Bluish-gray Solution p. 14

We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

DIRECTIONS: Every line, vertical and horizontal, and all nine 9-square boxes must each contain the numbers 1 though 9. Solution on page 14.

QUOTATIONPUZZLE ’ S A M S R H S G C E T A D O Y C A E N R Z

N N Y B N N Y A Y R M E O O W I O G C E A B T D E E

7 4 8 3 5 1 3V 9 4Z 6 2 7 9Y 2 1I 8 6 5

— Charles Manson

DIRECTIONS: Recreate a timeless nugget of wisdom by using the letters in each vertical column to fill the boxes above them. Once any letter is used, cross it out in the lower half of the puzzle. Letters may be used only once. Black squares indicate spaces between words, and words may extend onto a second line. Solution on page 14.

Use the letters provided at bottom to create words to solve the puzzle above. All the listed letters following #1 are the first letters of the various words; the letters following #2 are the second letters of each word, and so on. Try solving words with letter clues or numbers with minimal choices listed. A sample is shown. Solution on page 14.

W 1 2 3 4

1 2 3

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 1

U 1 2 3

E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10

1 1

L 1 2 3 4 ’

1 2 3 I 1 2 3 4

1 . O O A AW I F I C F LY Y T T T T 2 . A H H H I L L N N O O O O R R S S 3 . M I N I E E E E E T U U 4 . E E N N G G 5 . H H E 6 . C T T 7 . T 8 . I 9 . N 1 0 . G

SAMPLE:

1. ILB 2. SLO 3. VI 4. NE 5. D =

6 2 9 5 8 1 3 7 4

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

WORDS NUMBER

Click on “MYSTERY WORD” • DEADLINE TO ENTER: NOON, DEC. 10, 2023

5 6 3 8 1 9 7 4 2

2 1 4 7 3 5 6 9 8

9 7 8 4 2 6 5 3 1

DECEMBER 1, 2023

13 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

THEBESTMEDICINE ha... ha...

pessimist sees no light at the end of the tunnel. An optimist sees there is light at the end of the tunnel. A realist sees the light and notices it’s getting bigger and bigger. The engineer sees three idiots on the track ahead. Moe: I just read that the inventor of Velcro passed away. Joe: RIP Moe: “May ya live as long as ya want, and not want as long as ya live,” is an Irish toast. Joe: That’s interesting. “Bread, eggs, cinnamon, and maple syrup,” is a French toast. My top 3 assumptions when the doorbell rings: 1. An escaped convict has come to kill me. 2. It’s the police here to tell me my entire family has died in a hot air balloon crash. 3. The book I ordered about positive thinking has arrived.

The

Advice Doctor

Moe: When I rule the grammar police, the worst offenders will not be hung. Joe: Oh? Moe: No! They will be hanged. On the first day of creation, God made cats. On the second day of creation, He created the human to selflessly serve the cat. On the third day, He created the tuna, the mice, and the inferior animals of the Earth to serve as potential food for cats. On the fourth day, He created honest toil so that man could labor long and hard to fulfill the cats’ every need. On the fifth day, He created the ball of yarn, the feather-on-a-stick thingie, the laser pointer, and catnip so the cat may or may not be entertained. On the sixth day, He created veterinary science to keep the cat healthy and the man broke. And on the seventh day, He rested and tried to sleep, but the cat woke Him up at 5 am. Moe: What happened when those kids climbed up in the church steeple and cut all the ropes? Joe: Doesn’t ring any bells...

Moe: I bumped into my plumber the other day in the store. I asked him what time it was. Joe: And? Moe: He looked at his watch and said, “Between 8 am and 4 pm.” Moe: What does a person with two left feet wear to the beach? Joe: Flip-flips. +

Why subscribe to theMEDICALEXAMINER? Staring at my phone all day has certainly had no Effect on ME!

Because try as they might, no one can stare at their phone all day.

Dear Advice Doctor, I don’t know if you ever do any financial advice, but I just found out I will be inheriting more than a million dollars from a recently deceased relative. She was a woman of modest means who lived a very ordinary and conservative life. In my wildest dreams I never imagined she had saved and invested so well. I don’t want to be one of those people who blows a huge sum of money and is broke again five years later. Do you have any advice to share? — The Future Looks Bright Dear Future, I can certainly understand why this subject interests you. Unfortunately though, even scientists don’t really understand dreams and whether they serve a specific function, such as helping us to process and store information for future retrieval. One thing everyone can agree on: as you say, dreams can be wild. The brain’s prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that controls logic, is unusual in that unlike other portions of the brain that are functioning continuously, the prefrontal cortex “sleeps” when we do. That explains why dreams can be absurd, nonsensical and illogical in the extreme. Most people have numerous dreams every night, although most are not remembered the next morning. Interestingly, it is said that dreams of people who have been blind from birth feature tastes, smells, sounds and touch, but not visual elements. While there are a million or two websites that claim to offer dream interpretation, reputable sleep science experts generally agree that no clinically-supported method of accurately analyzing dreams has ever been established. Even so, there is no shortage of dissenting opinion on the subject. If someone promises you that they can analyze your dreams and interpret their meaning, beware: chances are they are after your inheritance. + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in Examiner issues.

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THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: CLINICS ...cleverly hidden in the veins in the p. 16 ad for AUGUSTA VASCULAR CENTER

THE WINNER: AMY ENGLER! If that’s your name, congratulations! Send us your mailing address using the email address in the box on page 3. The new Mystery Word is on page 12. Start looking!

DECEMBER 1, 2023

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER THE PUZZLE SOLVED M O L A R W G A C A L A S A R O M A E A R L Z I T I C A S A B L A N C A A E O N E L S B A N G V O L U M E P I N E D I N E W A T E R M O C C A S I N T O O L S A X L E P R O A L M S K A N Y E L A O S L I E V I N O R A I N Y C O N C E N T R A T I O N L I E S I O N S O R G A N S D R U G S T D D O O M I C E B R E A K E R E D A M C O M A R O U S E R E L Y S W I G S L A T E

SEE PAGE 12

The Celebrated TheSUDOKUsolution MYSTERY WORD CONTEST 7 4 6 5 2 9 1 3 8

...wherein we hide (with fiendish cleverness) a simple word. All you have to do is unscramble the word (found on page 12), then find it concealed within one of our ads. Click in to the contest link at www.AugustaRx.com and enter. If we pick you in our random drawing of correct entries, you’ll score our goodie package! SEVEN SIMPLE RULES: 1. Unscramble and find the designated word hidden within one of the ads in this issue. 2. Visit the Reader Contests page at www.AugustaRx.com. 3. Tell us what you found and where you found it. 4. If you’re right and you’re the one we pick at random, you win. (Winners within the past six months are ineligible.) 5. Prizes awarded to winners may vary from issue to issue. Limited sizes are available for shirt prize. 6. A photo ID may be required to claim some prizes. 7. Other entrants may win a lesser prize at the sole discretion of the publisher. 8. Deadline to enter is shown on page 12.

8 5 3 4 2 9 1 6

3 1 9 6 7 2 8 5

2 9 5 8 1 3 7 4

6 3 8 1 9 7 4 2

1 4 7 3 5 6 9 8

7 8 4 2 6 5 3 1

9 6 2 7 8 4 5 3

5 2 1 9 4 8 6 7

QuotatioN QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION [Once] being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody’s crazy. — Charles Manson

WORDS BY NUMBER When the flight you are on is late, the flight you are connecting to is on time. — Author unknown

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READ EVERY ISSUE ONLINE WWW.ISSUU.COM/ MEDICALEXAMINER

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY +

ACUPUNCTURE

DERMATOLOGY

EMF PROTECTION

Dr. Eric Sherrell, DACM, LAC Augusta Acupuncture Clinic 4141 Columbia Road 706-888-0707 www.AcuClinicGA.com

Georgia Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center 2283 Wrightsboro Rd. (at Johns Road) Augusta 30904 706-733-3373 SKIN CANCER CENTER www.GaDerm.com

EMF Safe Homes Sheila Reavill Certified Building Biology Specialist 209-625-8382 (landline) SURVEY•ASSESSMENT•REMEDIATION

WOODY MERRY www.woodymerry.com Long-Term Care Planning I CAN HELP! (706) 733-3190 • 733-5525 (fax)

IN-HOME CARE

PHARMACY

CHIROPRACTIC Evans Chiropractic Health Center Dr. William M. Rice 108 SRP Drive, Suite A 706-860-4001 www.evanschiro.net

COUNSELING Resolution Counseling Professionals 3633 Wheeler Rd, Suite 365 Augusta 30909 706-432-6866 www.visitrcp.com

DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICS Karen L. Carter, MD 1303 D’Antignac St, Suite 2100 Augusta 30901 706-396-0600 www.augustadevelopmentalspecialists.com

DRUG REHAB Steppingstones to Recovery 2610 Commons Blvd. Augusta 30909 706-733-1935

DENTISTRY

YOUR LISTING

Jason H. Lee, DMD 116 Davis Road Augusta 30907 706-860-4048

Augusta Area Healthcare Provider 4321 CSRA Boulevard Augusta 30901 706-555-1234

Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!

Steven L. Wilson, DMD Family Dentistry 4059 Columbia Road Martinez 30907 706-863-9445

CALL 706.860.5455 TODAY!

Everyday Elder Care LLC Certified Home Health/Caregiver 706-231-7001 everydayeldercare.com Zena Home Care Personal Care|Skilled Nursing|Companion 706-426-5967 www.zenahomecare.com

YOUR LISTING HERE Your Practice And up to four additional lines of your choosing and, if desired, your logo. Keep your contact information in this convenient place seen by thousands of patients every month. Call (706) 860-5455 for all the details!

LONG TERM CARE

Parks Pharmacy 437 Georgia Ave. ARKS N. Augusta 29841 HARMACY 803-279-7450 www.parkspharmacy.com

SLEEP MEDICINE Sleep Institute of Augusta Bashir Chaudhary, MD 3685 Wheeler Rd, Suite 101 Augusta 30909 706-868-8555

WEIGHT LOSS/DETOX 3K BODY CONTOUR (NON-SURGICAL) BYE BYE BELLY • Detox Juice/Tea 233 Davis Road Suite H Augusta GA 30907 706-403-7536

CALL THE MEDICAL EXAMINER (706-860-5455) TO BE LISTED HERE

Thank you for supporting our advertisers! advertisers!

DECEMBER 1, 2023

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

Money

OUR NEXT ISSUE DATE:

Because wallets should be healthy too

2023

The

Doctor

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE!

DEAR READERS

VISIT US IN THE UPTOWN VA BY THE RETAIL STORE

DECEMBER

IFIF YOU YOU ENJOY ENJOY THIS THIS NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER

TWO WORDS TO SHARE WITH OUR ADVERTISERS ARE SHOWN ABOVE.

Read us online at AugustaRX.com

WINDOW CLEANING • PRESSURE WASHING Free estimates! Call us today at 706-828-1919

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

DECEMBER 1, 2023

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DIABETES WOUND CARE CLINIC

Kaushal J. Shah, MD

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David LaChance, DO

DIABETES NEUROPATHY CLINIC

Ihab Azab, MD

DeAnn Henderson, MD

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CALL NOW FOR SAME-DAY APPOINTMENTS*

ARTHRITIS CENTER KNEE PAIN CLINIC

Sergei Sobolevsky, MD

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