Medical Examiner 3-5-21 by Daniel Pearson

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HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS

MARCH 5, 2021

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ZOOMFATIGUE

So called Zoom fatigue is real, and its effects are growing. What is the cause, and what is the solution? Had you ever heard of Zoom a year ago? Probably not. Back then if someone was going to videoconference they probably used Skype, a platform that seems to have all but disappeared in the zoom to Zoom.

Seemingly overnight, Zoom became the default means for surviving pandemic isolation in both work/business dealings and in personal and family relationships. In December of 2019 the company reported 10 million average daily users. By March of 2020 that number had grown to 200 million, and by April it was 300 million. That’s a 3,000 percent increase within about 4 months. Zoom became the

room where everyone meets for school (from kindergarten through doctoral level), yoga lessons, choir practice, doctor visits, church services, weddings and funerals, business meetings, family reunions, and much more. It all sounds great. So what’s the problem? Zooming can be exhausting in the same way road trips are. There is energy in movement, but paradoxically, sitting for hours — whether

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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

in a car, an office chair, or on the couch — seems to drain away our energy. A peer-reviewed study by Stanford University researchers published last week in the journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior identified key reasons for Zoom fatigue, along with steps to minimize or prevent its side effects. The spotlight In the old days (2019), Please see ZOOMING page 2

It would be really great to be wrong about this, but here at Medical Examiner world headquarters we have this sinking feeling that there’s a “déjà vu all over again” moment looming on the horizon. Déjà vu is a French phrase meaning “already seen.” Right now it feels like we’re on a replay loop we’ve seen before. It goes like this: pandemic numbers start to go down, and they maintain a downward trend. In response, government and business leaders reopen or reduce restrictions. People start to emerge from their cocoons and spread their wings. And then the numbers start to spike all over again and the roller coaster starts yet another climb. Right now COVID numbers are on a very encouraging downward trend. We all fervently hope they keep going down. If they do, we are going to truly Please see HISTORY page 3

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THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE ALWAYS THE HARDEST

PARENTHOOD by David W. Proefrock, PhD

Your 6-year-old son, who is in first grade, has begun refusing to do his homework. He was good about doing his homework earlier in the year and he is still making passing grades. Any time you don’t keep a very close eye on him, he turns on the television or sneaks outside to play when he’s supposed to be doing homework. Then when you force him to do homework, he cries and has tantrums. What do you do? A. He’s just a child. As long as he is making passing grades, don’t worry too much about the homework. B. Make sure that he does his homework in a place where he can be monitored. Let him know that you are there to help and that there will be no playing and no television until his homework is completed. C. Something must be wrong at school. Set up a meeting with his teacher and find out what’s going on. D. This may be the start of a serious problem. Take him to a mental health professional for an evaluation. If you answered: A. Even at this age, children need to learn that work must come before play. If he doesn’t learn this lesson now, it will be much more difficult to learn later. B. This is the best choice. He is obviously not able to get his homework done without parental supervision, but it should be supportive supervision. C. It is always a good idea to communicate with his teacher, but there’s no reason to believe that the problem is with his school. It could just as easily be a lack of supervision at home. D. This may well be the start of a serious problem, but there are things you can do at home to try to address it first before you take him to a mental health professional. Good study habits will help him throughout his life. This is the time to start developing them. He needs help with this and supportive supervision is the best way to help. + Dr. Proefrock is a retired clinical and forensic child psychologist.

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Can you relate to this headline (even though it’s fake)?

ZOOMING… from page 1 people in a business meeting looked from person to person as various participants spoke during the course of a session. Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford, says that in the Zoom format by contrast, everyone is always staring at everyone else. He likens it to the stress and anxiety of public speaking, except that in Zoom that’s in play even if you aren’t speaking. But that doesn’t matter; you’re still front and center, on display at all times. Of course, everyone else is too. And we definitely notice every peculiarity and quirk among our fellow participants. We’re supposed to be paying attention to whatever the meeting is about, but instead we may be annoyed by the person who, a full year into the Zoom era, still can’t figure out that we can only see the top of their forehead; or all we see is their ceiling fan; or they can’t figure out the most basic features of the app, like how to unmute yourself, for example. All we’re getting out of the meeting is frustration and annoyance. Another cause of Zoom stress identified in the Stanford study referenced previous research which measured the impact of invasions into our so-called personal space. In normal times, anything closer than about 2 feet is the exclusive domain of family members and our closest friends. As most of us can attest, the presence of others who don’t belong within that invisible circle of personal space can be unsettling. On Zoom, however, there are often participants on our screen who are way too close to their camera, and sometimes they can be total strangers. They may be invading our space virtually, but

they’re still invading it, and it can result in energy-draining stress, even if we don’t consciously realize that’s the reason. Stanford’s Bailenson says another psychological drain caused by Zoom is the mirror effect: having our own face staring back at us for hours at a time. Most of us are dismayed when we hear our own recorded voice. It’s much the same when we spend hours every day being forced to look into the Zoom mirror, compared to pre-Zoom times when we may have spent less than 5 or 10 minutes in front of a mirror in an entire day. In the same way we hate hearing our own voice as others hear it, many people hate seeing themselves in the way others see them. It’s another version of that human tendency to be our own worst critic. Or as Stanford psychologists put it, it results in “negative self-evaluation.” Getting back to the energy drain caused by just sitting, Bailenson notes in his Zoom research that a growing body of evidence suggests that movement is tied to both comprehension and creativity. One recent study, for example, found that walking on a treadmill can enhance the flow of creative ideas compared to sitting. Remember the good old days of meetings? Someone might get up and walk around or make notes in a white board or show some charts. Or back in the day when you would be brainstorming through an idea with someone on the phone, pacing around the room as you did so? There is now clinical data backing up the links between movement and cognition and creativity.

Some solutions That last point is a perfect jumping-off point for the solutions recommended by the Stanford study. Is there something about this meeting which requires a visual element? Or would a phone call have worked just as well? That’s the first question. Should this be a Zoom meeting in the first place? Second, does everyone’s camera need to be on? Should everyone’s camera be on? The answers might be no more often than we think. If it’s permissible in meetings you’re attending, turn your camera off at least some of the time. For meetings that have some visual component requiring cameras and viewing other participants, Stanford researchers recommend building segments into a presentation that are audio- only. Give your participants some off-camera time. Individual participants, says Stanford, should adjust their camera’s position or their own position so others aren’t viewing them so close up that they give the impression they’re in everyone’s personal space. Think about something like the nightly news. If your camera angle and centering aren’t somewhat similar to that, you’re probably an annoyance and a distraction to others. Pandemics come and go. Or at least we all hope they do. But the predictions are that the Zoom boom is probably here to stay, even if it is used far less once this pandemic finally ends. All of us — both meeting hosts and attendees — should learn to maximize this useful tool and minimize its negative side effects. Sometimes that will mean not using our cameras. And sometimes it will mean not using Zoom at all. +

HISTORY… from page 1

enjoy being wrong about this Chicken Little article you’re currently reading. But we still can’t shake the feeling that we’ve been down this road before; we’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel and were disappointed to discover that it was indeed an oncoming train. Again. Granted, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic. The numbers really are going down. The vaccine roll-out is gradually working out its kinks. And there’s the plain and simple fact that pandemics always go away eventually, even without medical intervention. They seem to tire themselves out, or they run out of victims and fade away as mysteriously as they arrived. But one pandemic expert, Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam, in a Medscape interview published last week, thinks we’ve become a society with a “live-with-avirus” strategy. We’re like a landlord who continues to tol-

3 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

MARCH 5, 2021

erate a destructive tenant, trying to limit his damage and hoping he gets better instead of forcibly evicting him. Bar-Yam likens the virus to a fire. The whole world operates on a no-fire policy, he says. “We don’t let fires burn in houses; we don’t let fires burn in the city and then put them down when they’re big enough. We put them out [right away].” This expert says we’ve been letting the virus smolder when we should have acted decisively to put it out completely, once and for all. How do we do that? It’s a strategy we’ve heard before. It has been proposed and shot down. Hopefully we’re past the point of needing it. Maybe the numbers will keep going down. But if they surge again, Bar-Yam and other experts have been saying that a near-total lockdown for 5 weeks will do the trick. (A time frame chosen

to cover a 2-week incubation period, a 2-week infection period, and an extra week for good measure.) No matter what happens, that is a highly unlikely scenario. After all, people loudly and often violently resisted measures as simple as wearing a mask. After an entire year and more of assorted restrictions already, a mandatory lockdown would probably mean riots in the streets. But our two cents is this: don’t feel forced to go along with the crowd. If the world starts to reopen and restrictions begin disappearing, no one has to participate if they’re still hesitant. Even if there is a mad dash all around us to return to normal, anyone who wishes can and should continue to exercise due caution. An abundance of caution is far superior to an abundance of regret every day of the week. +

YOU’RE JUGGLING ENOUGH ALREADY

If I can still get COVID-19 after getting the vaccine, why would I bother? Because you are an intelligent human being who cares about yourself and others. Do you remember the efficacy numbers released after the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines emerged from clinical trials? Both were about 95 percent effective. The numerical specifics of the studies were that 15,210 people got the vaccine during trials (using the Moderna vaccine as our example) and an equal number received the placebo. Among the 15,210 who got the vaccine, 11 developed COVID-19.* None of the 11 got very ill. 11 out of 15,210 was a positivity rate (a failure rate) of 0.07 percent. The bottom line: the vaccine was very effective. It prevented illness for the overwhelming majority and prevented serious illness for the tiny number who got sick anyway. So out of a pool of 15,210 people, 15,199 of them did not get the virus and therefore would not be able to infect others. A mere 11 people — zero point zero zero zero seven if you prefer decimals to percentages — were infected despite getting the vaccine. They could then conceivably transmit the virus to others. As an intelligent person, you want the vaccine because you have no trouble grasping the concept that it’s better to have 11 people potentially spreading the virus than 15,210. You are smart enough to do the math and compute that by the time a million people get vaccinated, if the 0.07 percentage holds true fewer than 725 of the million might get COVID-19. And from the clinical data, you know those few hundred people will experience only mild symptoms. You can also easily see why public health experts recommend people still wear masks and avoid close quarters with others in public places even after vaccination. The simplest answer to the question is that you don’t want to get COVID-19. You want to dramatically improve your odds of staying well. And you want the vaccine so that if you do get the virus despite the vaccine, you will have mild symptoms. In summary, a good rule of thumb is: listen to the experts. They usually know what they’re talking about. + * By comparison, of the 15,210 who received the placebo in the Moderna trial, 185 ended up contracting COVID-19.

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MARCH 5, 2021

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#134 IN A SERIES

Who is this? ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble, Ph.D., is a retired English and creative writing professor who offers her unique perspective as a patient. Contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com by Marcia Ribble

or someone whose history obviously dates back so far, clearly visible from his portrait, this physician is still considered to be a key medical pioneer. His name is Ambroise Paré, and his life stretched 80 years, from 1510 to 1590. During that time he progressed from practicing the time-honored barber-surgeon trade to becoming a physician to the French royal court. He is remembered to this day as the father of modern surgery and a pioneer in forensic pathology, and battlefield medicine. Why were barbers the recognized medical experts of their day? It makes a great deal of sense: they owned razors and scalpels and they weren’t afraid to use them. In the Middle Ages, doctors were often professors, members of academia, and frequently more like what we might today describe as consultants. When they did practice actual medicine, they preferred appointments to royal families, reserving their practice to treating the wealthy. Someone had to serve the medical needs of ordinary people, and over time that task became the purview of barbers. Already an experienced battlefield medic by his late 20s, Paré observed first hand the common practice where surgery and amputations were followed by cauterization using boiling oil or a red-hot iron. Naturally this was agonizing for victims, but Paré was astute enough to make observations of how patients fared in the days following such procedures. Curiously enough, there was an alternate cauterization procedure sometimes employed which used egg yolk, oil of roses and turpentine. If you’re thinking that was a random concoction of ineffective cauterizing agents if ever there was one, go stand in the corner. The concoction worked, largely due to the antiseptic properties of turpentine. Once he saw this, Paré avoided thermal cauterization thereafter. Paré published his first book, a treatise about effectively treating gunshot wounds, in 1545. Paré also instituted the practice of tying off arteries when a limb had to be amputated instead of the standard practice of cauterizing with a poker pulled from a nearby fire. Paré invented a ligature technique that was a predecessor to hemostats surgeons still use today. Speaking of amputations, Paré was centuries ahead of his time in his accurate belief that phantom pains often experienced by amputees are actually registered in the brain, not in the remnants of the amputated limb. Ambroise Paré didn’t bat a thousand (he introduced the practice of lancing infants’ gums, for example, in the mistaken belief that teething was caused by teeth that were trapped inside) but for a man whose practice of medicine took place in the 1500s, he was a physician of great foresight, innovation and talent. +

It looks like the stimulus will pass. I saw a message on Facebook asking people what they will do with the extra money. I’ve been thinking about that. It makes a lot of choices possible for people who have been living on the edge for a year, some barely hanging together and fearing their insides will explode from the tension. I have lived like that. Remembering those days, I asked myself what very poor me of the past would have done with that much money. This list is what I came up with. I had five children then, so I’m taking them into account. • Pay off the credit card so I can start from zero when the money runs out. I’m dangerously near maxing it out. • Pay as many bills as I can so the amount I owe is reduced to zero, or as close to it as possible. • Buy all the kids new shoes and underwear and one outfit for each of them. • Fill the pantry with food like peanut butter, cereal, tuna fish, soup, canned fruit, dry beans, and graham crackers. Stuff that can tide us over for heavens knows how long. • Buy the kids fresh fruit and vegetables. They are awfully expensive. • Twenty pound bag of flour, a big can of shortening, salt, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and yeast I can freeze so it won’t go bad and I’m set for baking. • Long lasting produce: a 50-pound bag of potatoes, winter squashes, onions, carrots, turnips, parsnips. Build a cold box if I don’t have a cold basement. • Buy yarn for sweaters, mittens, scarves, and afghans. • Check tools to see what needs replacing. Winter can be tough on snow shovels, at

least in places where they use snow shovels. Gardening can be tough on yard tools. Get the lawnmower blades sharpened (or a new push mower). Make list of seeds to plant in spring. Buy additional jars for canning. Buy a pressure cooker for canning. • Buy fabric, thread, patterns, zippers, and other notions for present making. My oldest son’s favorite toy when he was little was Clownie, a little clown I made for him from an old sheet, buttons, yarn and time. • Get weatherizing materials from the hardware store to minimize costs of heating and cooling. Check to see if new fans are needed. • Send checks to charities to help others to survive. Local feeding programs, housing for people who have lost their homes, heating/ cooling resources, United Way, St. Jude’s, animal shelter. You know what to do. • Stock up on cleaning supplies. Clothes have to be washed. Homes have to be kept clean. • Buy marshmallows and Hershey bars. We all need a treat for making it this far. • Most importantly, invest in yourself. Find a way to increase, expand, update your skills. During our hardest years, I worked my way through a BA, an MA, and a PhD, not all at once, but in bits and pieces. It took from 1961 to 2001 to complete all of them, but each step improved our income and our quality of life. • Your greatest gift to your children will be showing them concretely how to face and surmount life’s greatest challenges. They may not emulate what you have shown them, in the way you did it, but they will remember that first, they may cry and feel like it’s impossible, but second, they will marshal their resources, imagine new resources, reinvent themselves, and come out a winner. +

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ADVENTURES IN

Middle Age BY J.B. COLLUM

Here, with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, is my “You might be middle-aged” column, his theme borrowed and adapted to suit my own purposes.

and in my pajamas. Young me never imagined this could happen. I’d stay up late and get up early with no apparent consequences. Now I try to go to bed early, and then I wake up too early. And speaking of sleeping. If you wake up at even the slightest sound, you might be middle aged. I used to be able to sleep through a passing freight train, driving through a tornado, with a hydrogen bomb as a crescendo. My father would have to walk into my room banging pots and pans and singing an awful song, off key, for me to even lift one eye lid. Now, I wake up from sounds like the house settling, or the TV cooling down, or an insect running into the window. I have to run a fan in the room to help drown out noises so I can sleep.

THE

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If your weekly pill organizer is larger than some foreign cars, you might be middle aged. I have gotten by with a small one for so long now that all of the days of the week are worn off, so I had to learn braille to know which day was which. I’m not kidding. I guess I’m also cheap. The career of my little pill organizer is about to come to an end though, as I can no longer come close to fitting my weekly pill payload in such a small container. But at least I learned some braille. Well, the letters M, T, W, F, and S anyway. I’ve recently had four giant fish oil pills added to my daily regimen, so I will be shopping for a new pill organizer this weekend. I also have so many different times of the day I’m supposed to take different medicines that I may need more than just morning and afternoon sections. Do they make one with morning, just after breakfast, noon, afternoon, just before supper, just after supper, and right before bed? I ask because those are the assorted instructions accompanying my prescriptions. Maybe they could throw in an extra section for future expansion too. What can you do? Trust it to your memory? I think not. My wife will tell you, that won’t work for me. She calls me the absent-minded professor for a reason. And here is a clue for that reason: I am not a professor.

drink right before bed and still go all night without getting up to go to the bathroom. On the rare occasions when I did go during the night, I fell right back to sleep with no trouble at all. Now it seems like I have an appointment with the porcelain throne every hour of every night, and once three

{

If you have to get up six times every night ...you might be middle-aged.

If you have to stop drinking anything at all hours before bedtime, you might be middle aged. I used to be able to guzzle down a Big Gulp fountain

or four o’clock rolls around, I can pretty much forget about falling back asleep quickly, if at all. If you wake up with sore muscles, unexplained injuries, or mysterious aches and pains, you might be middle aged. As a young man, I could work hard and play hard all day long, and maybe even fall out of a tree (it happened) and have no pain the next day. Now, I can just turn a corner, get out of a chair, or just wake up and have something hurting with no memory of anything that could have caused it. Just yesterday, I got out of my recliner, took one step, and it felt like someone had hit the back of my heel with a sledgehammer recently. I’m sure it was just some arthritis acting up. If you keenly anticipate going out and doing something fun, but then can’t wait to go home shortly after getting there, you might be middle aged. I still look forward to going out to do fun stuff, but once it gets late, around eight or nine o’clock for me now, I really just want to be home

I could go on and on, but I would love to hear from you folks. If you have some more ideas for this series, please send them to the email address that is referenced at the end of the column. If they are good, I might even share them in a future column. Thank you for your readership, and I hope you are enjoying your personal adventure in middle age while you read about mine. Or, if you aren’t there yet, I hope you are enjoying life to the full before middle age sneaks up on you and smacks you upside the head makes life a little more challenging. + 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.com

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ASK DR. KARP

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NUTRITION Mark from Augusta asks, “I have a job that includes a lot of daily walking, and I would like to put on some weight.What do you suggest?” These days, most people are trying to lose weight. Mark’s question reminds us that there are people who are concerned about gaining or maintaining weight. For example, one such group of people is the oldest-old, people over 85 years of age. For people in that age group, weight loss may occur due to the “anorexia of aging.” Anorexia of aging may be associated with a decreasing appetite, decreasing sense of taste and smell, dental issues and depression or anxiety. On the other hand,

there are younger individuals like Mark, who, because of physical activity, are trying to gain weight, or at least avoid weight loss. If you are otherwise healthy and have no underlying medical issues, the very first thing you need to do is step back and consider if you really need to worry about your weight. Job #1, then, is to calculate your BMI and make sure it falls within the healthy range. Search for “BMI Calculator” on the web and put in your weight and height to determine your BMI. Being at the lower end of your BMI does not automatically mean that you need to gain weight. Living longer and being healthier, with fewer chronic diseases, is actually associated with a lower BMI, as long as it falls within the healthy range. The time to be concerned is if your BMI falls below the normal range, indicating that you might be undernourished. Then, action needs to be taken to determine the reasons for this and to correct it, especially if it is a trend. If you are within your healthy BMI weight range, there is no need for you to gain weight. With so many people overweight, many individuals have lost sight of what “underweight” actually means. For example, when you show people human silhouettes and ask them to pick out the underweight ones, these days people often point to the normal weight

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silhouette as being underweight. This is particularly critical for parents who may mistakenly conclude that their overweight child is normal weight, or their normal weight child is underweight by comparing them with how their child’s peers look. If you are a very active person who is concerned about weight loss, start by monitoring your weight. Weigh yourself once a week, let’s say every Tuesday morning before you take a shower. That means you are using the same scale at the same time of day with the same amount of clothing (none). This is much better than jumping on a scale when you happen to pass one in Walmart or in your supermarket, where the scales may not be accurate and standardized, and time of day and what you happen to be wearing changes. The best thing to do is simply put a scale in your bathroom and use it once a week in the

MARCH 5, 2021

morning, before you take a shower. Some people confuse weight gain with “bulking up.” If you are interested in gaining muscle bulk rather than simply gaining weight, do some weight training. This is quite different from normal weight gain. Gaining “bulk” usually means you are gaining muscle mass, not fat, which is much healthier. An extra benefit is that muscle is much more metabolically active than fat, which usually means you can eat more. If it turns out that you are below your healthy BMI range and need to gain weight, this is usually easy to do. The key is to increase your weight without decreasing your health. Anyone can gain weight by eating two extra burgers a day with fries and shakes or sitting around eating chips and dip. This, of course, is not the way to go.

If you need to gain weight, the extra calories should come from healthy foods. One option is to simply increase the portion sizes of what you eat. Another suggestion is when you cook, add some extra olive oil to your pasta and veggies. Think about eating an extra, healthy “mini-meal” or snack each day, making sure that foods from all the food groups are present. You also might consider adding a can of Sustacal, Ensure or other liquid supplement to your food intake each day. These products are created to contain about 250 calories and about ¼ of your daily vitamin and mineral needs. This is quite different from going to a “health bar” at a gym and guzzling a “health shake,” which usually contains lots of calories, lots of sugar, lots of supplements, and which are of questionable nutritional value. What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice for today? If you decide you want to gain weight, first decide if you actually need to gain weight by calculating your BMI. If you are an otherwise healthy person and fall within your expected BMI range, even near the low end, then relax. You do not need to gain weight. If you want to gain “bulk” muscle, then do weight training. And, lastly, if you do decide to gain weight, eat healthy food, not junk. +

Have a question about food, diet or nutrition? Post or private message your question on Facebook (www.Facebook. com/AskDrKarp) or email your question to askdrkarp@gmail.com If your question is chosen for a column, your name will be changed to insure your privacy. Warren B. Karp, Ph.D., D.M.D., is Professor Emeritus at Augusta University. He has served as Director of the Nutrition Consult Service at the Dental College of Georgia and is past Vice Chair of the Columbia County Board of Health. You can find out more about Dr. Karp and the download site for the public domain eBook, Nutrition for Smarties, at www.wbkarp.com Dr. Karp obtains no funding for writing his columns, articles, or books, and has no financial or other interests in any food, book, nutrition product or company. His interest is only in providing freely available, evidenced-based, scientific nutrition knowledge and education. Dr. Karp The information is for educational use only; it is not meant to be used to diagnose, manage or treat any patient or client. Although Dr. Karp is a Professor Emeritus at Augusta University, the views and opinions expressed here are his and his alone and do not reflect the views and opinions of Augusta University or anyone else.

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MARCH 5, 2021

Ask a Dietitian

9 +

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OVERHEAD DOORS

GO GREEN!

by Lizzie Keen, MS, RD, LD Clinical Dietitian at Doctors Hospital of Augusta March is a month chock full of reasons to celebrate. Warm weather slowly creeps in, allowing new vegetation to break ground. Time springs forward with daylight savings which allows for lighter, longer days. Earth Day rolls around on March 20th, which also signifies the first day of spring. March 8th is known worldwide as International Women’s Day. “March Madness” basketball playoffs begin. Dietitians have a particular soft spot for March because not only is it deemed National Nutrition Month, but the 2nd Wednesday in March is nationally recognized as Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day. With the full moon on the 15th comes the “Ides of March” which in ancient Rome meant the middle day of the month. This day has gained an unlucky reputation thanks to Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar in which Caesar is warned by a prophet to “beware the Ides of March.” Why? Because Caesar met his untimely demise on March 15th 44 B.C. One of the most famous, most fun and most widely celebrated holidays in March is St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrated on March 17th, it honors the death of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who is credited with bringing Christianity to the country. St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated for over a thousand years in Ireland. It began as a religious holiday, and even mandated pubs to close in respect. However, much has changed since its beginning. In the 1990s, the Irish government saw the opportunity to market St. Patrick’s Day to drive tourism. Fast forward to the 21st century, and St. Patrick’s Day is commonly associated with leprechauns, shamrocks, parades, & green beer! Speaking of the color green, if there is one thing that can be associated with the month of March, it is that vibrant hue. Green represents new growth and symbolizes

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Place all ingredients and place into a blender. Blend until smooth and enjoy. Note: This smoothie is easily turned into smoothie packets for the freezer. Simply put the kale, mango, banana and ginger into individual plastic zip-top bags and store in the freezer. When ready to make the smoothie place the contents of a packet into a blender with the milk and blend. Smoothie packets make morning smoothies a breeze to prepare. Yield: 2 servings Nutrient Breakdown: Calories 172, Fat 0g, Cholesterol, 80mg. Carbohydrate 27g, Fiber 4g, Sodium 70mg, Protein 9g, Potassium 780mg. Diabetes Exchanges: 1 vegetables, 1/2 milk, 1 fruit

Earth with all its lush green plant life. And of course, green is intricately connected to St. Patrick’s Day for many reasons, such as Ireland’s famed nickname “The Emerald Isle.” History suggests St. Patrick used green shamrocks to symbolize the holy trinity, and legend has it leprechauns pinch anyone not wearing their favorite color green, which birthed the tradition of

pinching non-green wearers. Green is also often associated with nutrition because many highly nutritious foods are green. This can be attributed to different phytonutrients, which is a broad name for a variety of compounds produced by plants. The phrase “eat the rainbow” is often used by dietitians when counseling Please see GO GREEN page 16

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CRASH

COURSE

More Americans have died on US roads since 2000 than in World Wars I & II combined

tality rate during those dozen years by far was 1.33 back in 2008....until 2020, that is. The rate for 2020 for the 3rd quarter was an unprecedented 1.48. The other quarters were no better. Here’s a look at the first three quarters of 2019 compared to the first three quarters of 2020: Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Sept 2019 1.05 1.08 1.17 2020 1.11 1.45 1.48 What is surprising about these numbers is that it appears that 2020 was going to be a typical year until the pandemic hit. Between 2016 and 2019, first quarter fatalities ran 1.11, 1.12, 1.10, 1.05, respectively. Last year’s first quarter fatality rate of 1.11 was right on target. But oddly enough, April and all of its restrictions and new work from home norms and sharply lowered miles driven saw sharp increases in highway deaths. By summer there were double-digit jumps in fatalities.

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ast year was a year like no other in our lifetimes, and as you migh expect, it had quite an effect on highway safety and accident rates. Official statistics always lag behind the calendar on the wall by a factor of years, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published preliminary statistics for the first 9 months of 2020 (Jan. - Sept.) As we all clearly recall, about this time last year the U.S. was in such a state of lockdown that a pedestrian could practically walk across Washington Road blindfolded at rush hour and be no worse for the experience. Americans drove billions of miles less in 2020 than in 2019. In fact, the preliminary figures from NHTSA say that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the first 9 months of 2020 dropped by about 355.5 billion. That’s nearly a 15-percent decrease. Based on that, what is completely unexpected — what is actually shocking — is that thousands more people died in motor vehicle crashes in the first 9 months of 2020 compared to the first 9 months of 2019. The actual numbers are 28,910 in 2020 versus 26,941 in 2019. That translates to roughly a 4.6 percent increase in fatalities. Think about that for a minute. Even though we collectively drove hundreds of billions of miles less than the year before, we still had thousands more deaths. NHTSA compiles a statistic that measures highway fatalities per 100 million miles driven (or VMT). Despite the perils of winter driving in much of the country, the highest fatality rates are always in the 3rd quarter (July-Sept) peak summer driving season. For the previous 12 years (2008 - 2019) the average fatality rate for 100 million VMT was 1.19. The highest fa-

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Another reason why 2020 was the worst year ever.

Sparkle

July August Sept Total 2019 3,294 3,351 3,308 9,953 2020 3,710 3,810 3,740 11,260 % Incr. 13% 14% 13% 13.1% Stay-at-home orders last year started in midMarch, while April saw the first full month of stay-at-home measures. During May 2020, some states began to reopen, and almost all states were at least partially reopened by June. The June highway fatality numbers, incidentally, were 3,189 in 2019. In June of 2020 the number rose to 3,695, a 16 percent increase. It makes no sense that deaths rose so sharply during a year when we drove much, much less, billions of miles less. But that’s exactly what happened. +

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MARCH 5, 2021

HUMAN BEHAVIOR WHY BODY & BRAIN NEED BALANCE

It’s an online school day. So, after cramming in as much work as you could yesterday while eating a PB&J by Jeremy Hertza, Psy.D. lunch at the computer in your home office, today you’re juggling morning and afternoon meetings while supervising your children on Zoom. You take a half-hour lunch with the kids, and late afternoon means it’s time to cook dinner. After dinner, your spouse takes over bath and bedtime, while you’re back at it, working until 9 p.m. Your bedtime involves a lot of tossing and turning until the alarm blares you up from an exhausted sleep at 6:30 a.m. In this time of corona, most of us are just pushing through. What’s not on our to-do lists? A good work-life balance. And experts confirm more of us are feeling anxious and stressed because of it.

What Happens When We Don’t Have Balance Feel like your life is one giant hamster wheel right now? But guess what? This idea of grinding through what you need to do doesn’t actually make you more productive—it makes you less. Good rest, which includes both sleep and breaks, allows your brain to regenerate so it can continue to function normally. It boosts levels of certain hormones, like serotonin, which help keep us happy, motivated and able to focus. Getting up from our desks once in a while moves our blood around and keeps blood vessels elastic, which holds down the risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Moving around also boosts levels of gaba, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, a neurotransmitter that gives us calm vibes and keeps memory sharp. How we approach breaks also makes a big difference. Let’s say you run downstairs every day to slap together a sandwich, then eat it at your desk while trying to get in a few more emails. Compare that to taking that sandwich and curling up on the sofa to enjoy lunch with a few minutes of your new favorite show on Netflix. Both probably take just about the same amount of time, but scheduling in the time to rest your brain can be huge in helping you feel less stressed and anxious. Here’s What You Can Do Right Now The trick to getting off the hamster wheel starts with this: Forcing yourself to change just one small thing. We get that life can be crazy right now. But think about scheduling in 15 minutes or a half-hour lunch every day that’s time for yourself—to enjoy a simple lunch but also watch that show on Netflix, read a few pages of a book, or take a walk down the block and back. Do your breaks right now involve more sitting at your computer and scrolling through social media? Instead, walk— around your house or down the block—and you can even bring your phone with you. Changing to a new environment, even if it’s just downstairs, really matters to cue your body and your brain to disconnect. Sunshine matters too, so go outside if you can. Those 15 minutes may not sound like much, but as a general rule, it takes only 15 minutes of rest for our bodies to get into a relaxed state. Less stress also means that you’ll probably sleep better at night too. Don’t Be a Hamster So if you want better sleep, less stress, and more balance, don’t be a hamster stuck on a wheel. Your work schedule needs to include breaks, and they should be as high a priority as your work. If it feels hard, aim at first for just a few minutes for a restful lunch—and see Please see HUMAN BEHAVIOR page 11

MARCH 5, 2021

11 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The blog spot From the Bookshelf — posted by K. Maravet Baig-Ward, on May 17, 2020

HOW TO WORK FROM HOME AND NOT LOSE IT Your alarm may still go off at the same time, but I’ll bet what happens next is not the same as it was a year ago. There is no denying our daily lives have been turned upside down in both stressful and heartwarming ways. While recent stories have made headlines of news anchors in boxers while they are conducting an interview, we all have our dirty little video conference secrets. Did you shower that morning? In the last two mornings? What about your bunny slippers? Are they still a thing? The kids are parading through your video conference (because snack time waits for no person), the dog and cat are video bombing your meetings; the world has gone in a direction none of us were quite prepared for. Now, add a dash of work-life-now-I’ma-homeschool-teacher-balance, and what you have is a potential recipe for a real family crisis. But that doesn’t have to be the case. From a social perspective, we are spending a lot of quality time with our families. Maybe this is something you struggled with in the speed drill that used to be our “normal.” This is actually a really good thing, or at least it can be. I know we are all trying to find the new normal, but one adjustment we need to make is: relax. Yes, you still have your deadlines. Yes, you are now teaching grade school math (and boy they don’t teach it like they used to), while designing random art projects, somehow being a music teacher, writing and… you get the point. Yes, I am still telling you to relax. The deadlines will be met, and the kids will learn. However, make sure it’s happening in a way that is working for you. This isn’t the time to squeeze yourself into some impossible corner that no horde riding in from the east could ever rescue you from. This is the time to stand up for your needs. Arrange your daily schedule in a way that can work for your entire family. Things will go much more smoothly, and your family will be much happier in the process. Talk to your boss. Let them know what you are doing to make things work. Talk to your kids’ teachers. Maybe even write a letter to the principal. This isn’t a time for stereo silence; it’s a time for unity. Let the cat bomb your video call. Who said everything had to be so formal all of the time? Maybe this is a time for a change. Maybe, just maybe, this is a time where we can embrace our differences and glory in our imperfections. And for heaven’s sake, cut yourself some slack. Go on a walk with your family, turn that music/ art/math assignment in … when it works for your family. Your family’s health and happiness right now are what matters most. +

We can make the new normal better than the old normal.

If you like breathing — and who doesn’t? — you just might enjoy this book. Who knows, you might even be breathing as you read this review. Breathing is something we can take for granted, but it keeps us alive every second as much as our heart does. We are all fully aware of that, yet sometimes the heart and the brain get a lot more publicity than our hardworking lungs. First-time author Michael Stephen wants to put lungs in the spotlight where they belong. And he’s the perfect man to do it. He isn’t just a doctor; he’s a pulmonologist, the ideal tour guide for these two amazing organs. People who believe in creation will have to forgive Dr. Stephen for his evolutionary side trips; people who believe in evolution will have to forgive Dr. Stephen for the ink he devotes to the Bible and its many references to the breath of life, all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It is probably mere coincidence that this book came into the world in the middle of a pandemic driven by a virus that affects the lungs of its victims more than

anything else, but the timing certainly accentuates the importance of our lungs. Dr. Stephen helps us understand the miraculous way lungs function as both our fresh air intake and exhaust pipes and how they instantaneously accomplish their gas exchange to the bloodstream. Blood does its drive-by thing, and the lungs pick up and drop off cargo in a split second. It’s an astounding feat that takes place all day every day from the moment of birth, accelerating or decelerating its performance as needed depending on whether we’re straining through Mile 25 of a marathon, or we’re sound asleep in the old La-Z-Boy. All of us have at least one

HUMAN BEHAVIOR… from page 10

Jeremy Hertza, Psy.D., is a neuropsychologist and the executive director of NeuroBehavioral Associates, LLC, in Augusta, on the web at http:// nbageorgia.com. Contact him at 706-823-5250 or info@nbageorgia.com.

Breath Taking by Michael J. Stephen, MD, 320 pages, published in January 2021 by Atlantic Monthly Press

BINGEREAD

K. Maravet Baig-Ward is a psychiatry resident

how that makes you feel. Because having good work-life balance doesn’t doing nothing. In the hamster wheel of life, it helps with stress, it moves blood and oxygen around your body, it helps keep us from getting sick, and it helps us sleep. And that’s all pretty important stuff. +

lung, which is a remarkable notion in itself, that we can lose half of our respiratory capacity and still go on to live a normal life. But after that, we’re out of spares; the only other available option is a lung transplant. All the more reason to do everything we can to take care of our lungs. You might have read that last sentence and thought, “Hey smokers, are you listening?” Fair enough. But Dr. Stephen takes it far beyond any individual’s lungs. Even smoker’s lungs. He takes breathing to a completely out of body experience in advocating for the quality of breath and breathing for the entire human race. In other words, we all need clean air to live a healthy life and enjoy our fullest potential to keep breathing and to enjoy a decent quality of life while we’re doing it. In short, it might be hyperbole to describe this book as breathtaking, but it definitely is Breath Taking. +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The Examiners +

by Dan Pearson

It’s okay. With no commuting For years I’ve wanted to really and How do like working my hours cut back I have I bet you’re thoroughly clean my house. Ah, but now that you I discovered lack of a lot more free time. from home? enjoying that. I just never had the time. have the time... time isn’t the reason.

PUZZLE ACROSS 1. Forearm bone 5. Virus abbrev. 8. Area in short 12. A criminal might jump it 13. Pigeon coop 14. McCain’s running mate 15. Verge 16. Party of Five actress 18. Patch in Aiken 19. Snakelike fish 20. National standard 21. Type of party 22. Sites for games & concerts 24. _____ drive 26. Doc’s Rx book 27. Former Walton Way bakery 30. Blood vessel prefix 33. DOJ drug agency 34. University bigwig 36. ___ brain (insult) 37. Swoon 39. Self-esteem 40. Word in a sloth’s name 42. Nutrition label abbrev. 43. A punctuation mark and a body part 45. Queasiness 47. New Zealand parrot 48. Augusta native Bernanke 49. Abraham’s successor 52. Cabin component 55. NCAA Division I conf. 57. Louvre pyramid architect 58. High tennis shot 60. James with a statue downtown 63. Smoke pipe 64. They often play in 22-As. 65. “The ____” is on Telfair St. 66. Bits of thread 67. Clarets

40 45

35 39

38 44

48 52

21 24

26 30

8 14

19 22

51 59

DOWN 1. Ride sharing service 2. Former local amphitheater 3. Its capital is Niamey 4. Malt beverage 5. Loses heat 6. Ridiculousness broadcaster 7. He serves under the prez 8. Call of the crow 9. Long narrow cut 10. Aid beginning (sometimes) 11. Rectangular pier 13. Weather without clouds 14. Dental prefix 17. Type of suit 19. Internal; within (prefix) 23. Pen prefix 25. Cushion 27. Rep.’s colleague 28. Brooks of AU 29. Type of palm 30. Likely

Click on “MYSTERY WORD” • DEADLINE TO ENTER: NOON, MAR. 15, 2021

We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

E X A M I N E R

4 7 1 5 3 2 9 6 7

4 3

8 7 4

8 2

S U 7 D 2 O 8 K U

6 1 3 4

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

68. Male child 69. Fed food agency

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

31. Inert gaseous element 32. Greek goddess of the earth 33. Day in Tijuana 35. Invasive beginning 37. Surrey’s ______ Market 38. Dental org. 41. Classic Hollywood’s Taylor, raised in Augusta 43. Monetary unit of Ghana 44. Scull power 46. Acts as an usher 47. Rest on the knees 49. Put to use 50. Downtown street 51. Hurt 52. Tolkien work, in short 53. Double curve 54. Happy 56. Big name in Augusta baseball 59. Blocker beginning 61. Ambulance svc. 62. ___ Speedwagon 63. Viral infection, briefly Solution p. 14

3 4 9 5 2 6 H S O 5 I9 T D D 6 I1 T W7W8 4 3 1 2 8 7 — Satchel Paige

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.

H 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4

D AK N 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 V O P 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 2

1.THYMAPNAPMAPHCMY 2.IOAIAHAHAOOOA 3.KURRVIAVAUKA 4.EEEENNLINI 5.NNONISSD 6.GTSGR 7.TE 8.N

SAMPLE:

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

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

WORDS NUMBER

THE MYSTERY WORD The Mystery Word for this issue: HAILTOPS

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

MARCH 5, 2021

7 1 8 3 4 2 5 9 6

1 6 5 4 7 3 9 8 2

2 3 9 1 8 6 7 4 5

8 7 4 2 5 9 6 3 1

MARCH 5, 2021

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

THEBESTMEDICINE ha... ha...

hat am I supposed to do with this?” grumbled an unhappy motorist as the policeman handed him a speeding ticket. “Keep it,” said the officer. “When you collect four you get a bicycle.”

Job interviewer: What is your greatest strength? Applicant: Yeah, sure. Interviewer: Excuse me? Applicant: You asked me if I was listening, right? Job interviewer: Can you handle a variety of tasks? Applicant: I’ve had ten different jobs in the last four months. So yeah, I’d say so. Moe: Why was 6 afraid of 5? Joe: Uh, I give. Why? Moe: Because 5 was a registered 6 offender. Moe: Why was Yoda afraid of 7? Joe: Tell me. Moe: Because 9 7 8. Moe: Women. I’ll never figure them out if I

live to be a hundred. Joe: Now what? Moe: I did exactly what she asked me to do, but she’s mad at me anyway. Joe: What did she want you to do? Moe: She asked me to put ketchup on the grocery list. So I did. And now she’s mad at me. Joe: Go figure.

The

13 +

Advice Doctor ©

Moe: I made my final mortgage payment! Joe: So, your house is paid for. Moe: Well, not exactly. I still owe about $200,000. I’m just not going to pay them any more. Moe: Scientists have discovered that it’s healthy to celebrate birthdays. Joe: That doesn’t sound very scientific to me. Moe: Well it’s true. The research shows that people with more birthdays tend to live longer. Moe: I came this close to stardom. Joe: You? How? Moe: I was on a TV show, but the show was canceled before the episode I was in aired. Joe: Wow, I never knew you were in show business! That’s cool. What show was it? Moe: COPS. Moe: You’re making pancakes? We just ate. Joe: They’re for the dogs. Moe: Why are you making pancakes for the dogs? Joe: They don’t know how. If you look at them really, really closely, all mirrors look like eyeballs. +

Why subscribe to theMEDICALEXAMINER? What do you mean?

Staring at my phone all day has had no Effect on ME!

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

Dear Advice Doctor, I live in a neighborhood where we all pitch in together to take care of the common areas. About a dozen people agreed to do these little chores, which is supposed to happen every first Saturday of the month starting at 10 am. I swear, if three people ever showed up I would have a heart attack on the spot. Even one is a sight for sore eyes. How can I get these people to keep their promise? — I’m the Lone Arranger Dear Lone, I don’t think this is the time and place to be discussing potential heart attacks — like the message says when you call your doctor or pharmacy, “if this is a medical emergency, please hang up and dial 9-1-1” — but I’ll be glad to give you some pointers about your sore eyes. Although ocular soreness could be a sign of something serious, the cause is often something simple: some dust or a grain of sand could have blown in someone’s eye; a person could have spent too much time intently peering at a computer screen or a document; there could be a problem with a contact lens. Your first goal should be to rule out the simple or the obvious. Does your eye feel scratchy? Don’t rub it. Apply eye drops or gently flush it with eye wash. In a pinch you can bend over your kitchen sink and use the dish sprayer at very low flow and just slightly warm to softly bathe your eye and wash away any foreign object. Sometimes a good night’s rest, a nap, or simply closing your eyes for several minutes can do a world of good and completely solve the problem. Many times identifying the location of the pain is the key to eliminating it. Is it coming from the eye itself, or from the eyelids? Perhaps the problem is a sty or an infected eyelash. The eye is actually one of the faster healing body parts, but vision is nothing to be trifled with. Any eye issue, with or without pain, that affects your vision is something that should be examined by a doctor (if not an ophthalmologist). Don’t hesitate to call 9-1-1. Better safe than sorry. The same goes for eye pain that persists longer than a day or two despite medication to treat it. Another obvious candidate for immediate medical attention is a chemical injury to the eyes or if you experience eye swelling or difficulty moving your eyes. Thanks for writing, and I hope I answered your question. + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about health, life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in the Examiner.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MEDICALEXAMINER +

By popular demand we’re making at-cost subscriptions available for the convenience of our readers. If you live beyond the Aiken-Augusta area, or miss issues between doctor’s appointments — don’t you hate it when that happens? — we’ll command your mail carrier to bring every issue to your house! NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP Choose six months for $20 ____ or one year for $36 ____. Mail this completed form with payment to Augusta Medical Examiner, PO Box 397, Augusta GA 30903-0397

Why read the Medical Examiner: Reason #427

+ 14

6 1 3 4

THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: ALLERGY ...cleverly hidden on the butterfly in the p. 9 ad for CASKETS & MORE

THE WINNER: ALESIA SOMERVILL! Want to find your name here next time? If it is, we’ll send you some cool swag from our goodie bag. The new Mystery Word is on page 12. Start looking!

MARCH 5, 2021

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER THE PUZZLE SOLVED U B E R

L A D Y A

N I G E R

A N G P E A T O E N A L O T R

O G E E

G L A D

A L E

C L E E E N A P D R I O F D R U S E B E N A C E T H M S S

C M V C O T E P A O V E H E W L P A R S Z I P S M O A D E A D A I N T D A C O A K E A A N D R C P E I O R P E F B E L L L B O Y U

S L I T

R I T E

A N T A

K E E L

S A N G O O N

E L L I S

W O U N D

B E T A

SEE PAGE 12

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

...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.

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Love to stare at your phone? Visit issuu.com/ medicalexaminer and stare away.

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QuotatioN

QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION: If your stomach disputes you lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts. — Satchel Paige

WORDS BY NUMBER

Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist. — Michael Levine

READ EVERY ISSUE ONLINE WWW.ISSUU.COM/ MEDICALEXAMINER

MARCH 5, 2021

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

JEWELRY SURGEON

SPEND A HALF HOUR PER DAY EXERCISING AND THIS IS HOW MANY HOURS YOU STILL HAVE LEFT. SPEND THEM ANY WAY YOU WISH.

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EYEGLASSES REPAIRED

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Read online: issuu.com/medicalexaminer

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY +

ACUPUNCTURE

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

ALLERGY Tesneem K. Chaudhary, MD Allergy & Asthma Center 3685 Wheeler Road, Suite 101 Augusta 30909 706-868-8555

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

DENTISTRY

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

IN-HOME CARE

Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!

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

DERMATOLOGY

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

LONG TERM CARE

Georgia Dermatology & WOODY MERRY www.woodymerry.com Skin Cancer Center 2283 Wrightsboro Rd. (at Johns Road) Long-Term Care Planning I CAN HELP! Augusta 30904 (706) 733-3190 • 733-5525 (fax) 706-733-3373 SKIN CANCER CENTER www.GaDerm.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

PHARMACY Parks Pharmacy 437 Georgia Ave. ARKS HARMACY N. Augusta 29841 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

TRANSPORTATION AMBULANCE • STRETCHER • WHEELCHAIR

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VEIN CARE Vein Specialists of Augusta G. Lionel Zumbro, Jr., MD, FACS, RVT, RPVI 501 Blackburn Dr, Martinez 30907 706-854-8340 www.VeinsAugusta.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!

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

Daniel Village Barber Shop 2522 Wrightsboro Road

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THE ELECTION MAY BE OLD NEWS, BUT WE HAVE

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Tue - Fri: 7:30 - 5:30; Saturday: 7:30 - Noon

Visit us at danielvillagebarbershop.com

WE’RE BEGGING YOU!

GO GREEN… from page 9

patients or clients, because every color group has a different set of phytonutrients that are nutritionally beneficial. For example, orange foods like butternut squash or sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene, which is pertinent to vision, skin, and immune health. Red foods such as tomatoes or red peppers contain lycopene which is great for heart health & cancer prevention. The richer the color, the more benefits will be derived. Let’s focus exclusively on foods with a green hue. Green foods contain a wealth of phytonutrients, many of which act as antioxidants to help combat oxidative stress and cellular damage. Some specific phytonutrients found in green foods include polyphenols like catechins, tannins, or flavonoids (particularly isoflavones), and others such as phytosterols, chlorophyll, lutein, folates, and nitrates. These rather intimidating names describe tiny, helpful compounds that pack a big bang for their nutritional buck. For example, polyphenols such as flavonoids and tannins are associated with different aspects of improving

MARCH 5, 2021 DARK LEAFY GREENS Mustard greens Collard greens Turnip greens Beet greens Spinach Arugula Kale Swiss chard Cabbage Lettuces Watercress

OTHER VEGETABLES Artichokes Celery Green peas Green beans Edamame Bell peppers Broccoli Brussel Sprouts Okra Asparagus Bean sprouts Zucchini

cardiovascular health. Phytosterols may help reduce LDL or “bad cholesterol” in the blood. Folate (the generic term for naturally occurring folates in food) is essential during pregnancy in preventing neural tube defects. Nitrates present naturally in dark leafy greens may in fact help reduce risk of cancer, whereas added nitrates commonly found in cured meats have cancer-causing properties. A variety of green foods are listed above that can be incorporated into meals to make them even more nutritious and delicious! These green goddesses are also jam-packed with vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, C, and K, magnesium, calcium, and potassium which all play a vital role in

FRUITS/OTHER Kiwi Honeydew Pears Green apples Green grapes Limes Avocado Green olives Green tea

various processes throughout the body. Let us not forget most of these foods are also a great source of fiber which helps keep the digestive tract moving smoothly, maintain blood sugar levels, and lower cholesterol. Try to practice eating the rainbow by incorporating brilliant colors into everyday nutrient intake, with a particular focus on green this month to not only honor St. Patrick, but to add a wealth of health benefits to your plate! + Sources: https://www.nutrition.gov https://www.eatright.org https://www.mayoclinic.org https://fruitsandveggies.org https://nationaltoday.com https://www.history.com/topics/stpatricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day

Michael Sharkey, MD Lauren Ploch, MD Caroline Wells, PA-C Chris Thompson, PA-C John Cook, MD, Emeritus GENERAL, SURGICAL & COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY

MEDICINE IN THE FIRST PERSON Everybody has a story. Please tell us yours!

Send your interesting (or even semi-interesting) stories to the Medical Examiner, PO Box 397, Augusta, GA 30903 or e-mail to Dan@AugustaRx. com. Tell us if you want it “by you” or if it needs to be anonymous. Thanks!

Augusta Office:

The

Advice Doctor

Aiken Office:

Will he ever get one right? Probably not. +

Questions. And answers. On page 13.

GADERM.COM

YOU ARE ESSENTIAL DON'T DELAY. GET THE CARE YOU NEED.