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DECEMBER 15, 2017

The best in medical writing

This issue’s installment in our long-running series, “Who is this?” profiles Richard Asher, a noteworthy figure who deserves much greater status in medical history. Although far from a household name, he left quite a mark, as you’ll note from the article (see page 4), including as a writer.

THE MONEY DOCTOR MAKING GOOD DECISIONS: UNDERSTANDING THE HERD MENTALITY

His published articles have been called timeless, well worth periodic re-reading today, decades after their initial publication. Below are brief excerpts from a few.

The Seven Sins of Medicine (The Lancet; August 27, 1949) Asher launched this article by stating that medicine had far more than seven sins to its credit. “There is an unlimited number,” he admitted. Alas, he only had time for Obscurity, Cruelty, Bad Manners, Over-Specialization, Love of the Rare, Common Stupidity (as opposed to Common Sense), and Sloth. Here is the first: OBSCURITY Both in writing and in lecturing clear style and short words are best. Obscurity is bad, not only because it is difficult Please see WRITING page 2

aving success in investing or saving for future goals many times comes down to being aware of our natural behavioral instincts. The cost of making casual financial decisions can be significant. As humans, we are hard-wired with a number of traits that might have helped when we were cave men, but not so much today. One behavioral bias to think about and be aware of is the herd mentality, a term that describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. In an article by Michael Kitces, he noted an example of the herd mentality discussed in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: Science and Practice, which covers a wide range of research on what influences our behavior. He highlights one incident from Singapore in the 1980s when the customers of a bank began withdrawing their money in a frenzy one day for no apparent reason. As it turned out, the cause was surprisingly simple. An unexpected bus strike created an abnormally large crowd waiting at the bus stop in front of the bank. Customers passing by mistook the large busstop crowd for bank customers waiting to make

a withdrawal. They assumed that a huge line in front of the bank must mean it was in trouble, so they got in line themselves to get their money out. The bank was forced to close its doors to prevent an actual bank run. There is vast research on the herd mentality, probably the #1 reason for major financial mistakes. In a recent newsletter, Jeremy Grantham commented on the herd mentality noting, “the enthusiasm of the crowd is hard to resist. Watching neighbors get rich at the end of a bubble while you sit it out patiently is pure torture. The best way to resist is to do your own simple measurements of value. Then hero-worship the numbers and try to ignore everything else. Ignore especially short-term news; the ebb and flow of economic and political news is irrelevant.” In making good decisions it is important to recognize the biases in our own thinking. It is easy to see how the herd mentality can factor into our decision-making. Markets go down and people become more concerned. The media tells scary stories and we jump out with the herd. The market goes up and people get more excited. We hear stories of people getting rich and we jump in with the herd. Please see MONEY DOCTOR page 10

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

WRITING… from page 1 to understand but also because it is confused with profundity, just as a shallow muddy pool may look deep. Here is an example from a recent article. The writers wanted to say: “We judge men’s health by their working places and their homes,” but they embedded their meaning in this sentence: “It is generally accepted that the evaluation of the nutritional status of a community should include assessments of the environmental conditions under which individual members live and work.” As Mr. Ivor Brown has pointed out, such writing produces a slow weak ooze of words instead of a keen forceful jet. The double negative is a common way of making a simple statement harder to understand, and if we read: “It is by no means far from infrequently that the absence of tubercle bacilli is not invariably detected,” few of us can say whether tubercle bacilli are present or not (nor do we care). I warn students taking histories against turning the simple English of their patients into the jargon of their textbooks. If a patient says, “if I go half-way up a hill I feel I’m done for,” these very words should appear in the notes rather than, “The patient complains that during ambulation up a moderate incline he suffers a feeling of impending dissolution.” Why Are Medical Journals So Dull? (British Medical Journal; August 23, 1958) Where to begin? With deft humor, Asher eviscerated medical journals from the outer wrapping and the front covers to the table of contents, the type style, the poor quality of both paper and printing, the confusing graphs and charts, the articles, and even the ads.

TITLES An important addition to the title should be the author’s name, which may attract or repel according to the reputation he enjoys; but medical articles to-day appear to be often written by committees, and this multiple authorship is highly discouraging to readers. Ten men cannot write an article any more than ten men can drive a car. The interest evoked by an author’s name is diluted by listing all his advisors. GOOD PRESENTATION There is a risk of using the fi rst person. Yet avoiding “I” by impersonality and circumlocution leads to dullness, and I would rather be thought conceited than dull. Articles are written to interest the reader, not to make him admire the author. Over-conscientious anonymity can be overdone, as in the article by two authors which had a footnote, “Since this article was written, unfortunately one of us has died.” The Dangers of Going to Bed (British Medical Journal; December 13, 1947) In an era when bed rest was a bedrock principle of patient care, Asher warned “There is hardly any part of the body immune from its dangers,” and then proceeded to explain the harm to the respiratory system, bones, skin, muscles and joints, the renal tract, the patient’s mental state and more. He advocated getting people up and walking right away. The article, called “one of the most influential medical papers ever written,” concluded like this: Teach us to live that we may dread Unnecessary time spent in bed Get people up and we may save Many patients from an early grave. +

Editor’s note: Asher’s many articles range from easy to find to extremely well hidden in the maze of the world wide web, but they are well worth searching for to be read in their entirety.

Correction(s) While it is painful to do so next to an article celebrating excellence in writing, we confess to a multitude of errors in the “Who is this?” article about Alexis Carrel in the December 1 Examiner. A somewhat less error-riddled version may be read in the free online edition available at issuu.com/medicalexaminer. The Examiner apologizes for the errors and pledges a renewed commitment to our ongoing war on tpyos. And typos. +

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The

PROFILES IN MEDICINE

Advice Doctor

presented by Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co.

HE WAS FAMILY This legend of the Augusta medical community, Walter G. Watson, M.D., was more than just a doctor, great though he was at his profession. He was a genuine member of thousands of area families in the truest sense: he brought them into the world; he was there when they took their very fi rst breaths. This didn’t merely happen here and there. He delivered girls and their mothers and their grandmothers. His wife, Audrey, told Steve Hartman, the CBS “On The Road” correspondent who did a story about him in 2010, “We went to a basketball game one night and he looked at the program and said, ‘I delivered every one of these kids.’” During that same interview, Dr. Watson told Hartman he had delivered “somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 babies.” That’s the equivalent of every person in Thomson, Belvedere and Waynesboro combined. The noteworthy thing about W.G. Watson was not that he discovered some

W. G. “Curly” Watson new syndrome or invented a procedure now named in his honor that has saved countless lives around the world. He was never considered for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. His greatest talent: he showed up. He knew the meaning of the word work. In fact, when he answered “20 Questions” for this newspaper in January of 2011, his answer to “The best thing I ever learned to do” was “My work ethic.” Born on February 25, 1910, Watson always knew he wanted to be a doctor, but it took a lot of hard work and

determination to make his dream happen. He graduated from The Citadel during the Great Depression in 1931 with his bachelor’s degree (in chemistry), but could not afford to go on to medical school. Instead he returned home (he was born in Ridge Spring, SC, and moved to Trenton at age 9) and took a job as a school teacher in Edgefield. Although the pay was supposed to be $90 a month, the school sometimes couldn’t afford payroll. The second year he worked for $60 a month. Then in 1933 he was named principal of Edgefield High School, earning $75 a month. His teacher career took him to south Georgia’s Decatur County, where he taught in Bainbridge. Officially a resident of Georgia due to that teaching stint, Watson had saved enough money to afford the in-state tuition at the Medical College of Georgia. Please see PROFILES page 10

Editor’s note: this is a monthly series presented by Queensborough National Bank & Trust and the Medical Examiner profiling exceptional physicians and others of note in Augusta’s long and rich medical history.

W E A LT H M A N A G E M E N T Our experienced, financial team focuses on you, our client, to ensure that all aspects of your financial affairs are being monitored and managed appropriately in accordance with your life goals. We welcome the opportunity to serve. Call today for an appointment.

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.

MEDICAL EXAMINER

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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 news within every part of the Augusta medical community. Submit editorial content to graphicadv@knology.net Direct editorial and advertising inquiries to: Daniel R. Pearson, Publisher & Editor E-mail: Dan@AugustaRx.com AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER P.O. Box 397, Augusta, GA 30903-0397

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Opinions expressed by the writers herein are their own and/or their respective institutions. Neither the Augusta Medical Examiner, Pearson Graphic 365 Inc., or its agents or employees take any responsibility for the accuracy of submitted information, which is presented for general informational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor. The appearance of advertisements in this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services advertised. © 2017 PEARSON GRAPHIC 365 INC.

DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

#57 IN A SERIES

OLD NEWS

Who is this?

POINTS OF INTEREST TO FORMER KIDS by Trisha Whisenhunt

CHRISTMAS 2017

or a guy you’ve probably never heard of, Richard Asher (above) has left quite a mark on both medicine and pop culture. Born in England in 1912, Asher married Margaret Eliot on July 27, 1943 (her middle name was Augusta). The union produced three children. More about them in a moment. Asher was a noted endocrinologist and hematologist on the staff of Central Middlesex Hospital in England, where he was the senior physician in the mental observation ward. That is one of the places that gave birth to his enduring (if somewhat obscure) fame. It was Dr. Asher who coined the term Munchausen Syndrome to describe the compulsion some people have to feign illness, disease or trauma to draw attention to themselves or to illicit sympathy. He borrowed the term from a literary character of the late 18th century who regaled dinner guests with his amazing feats of wartime bravery, all of them invented. Variations of the syndrome (sometimes now called Factitious Disorder) include Munchausen by proxy, in which a caregiver invents or actually causes illness or injury to a person in their care (often a child or elderly adult), and its newest incarnation, Munchausen by Internet, in which imaginary health issues are presented through social media for emotional and sometimes financial support. One early case (lasting from 1999 -2001) involved a fictitious teenager named Kaycee Nicole Swenson with terminal leukemia. Her journey from diagnosis through death — all of it fake — was meticulously chronicled by Kaycee Nicole’s “mother,” Debbie Swenson. The hoax was uncovered within days of Kaycee Nicole’s purported death. Richard Asher’s observational talents didn’t merely identify previously unknown conditions; they also dethroned established ones. He argued that Pel-Ebstein fever was a condition solely because someone had given it a name. That sort of thing demonstrated Asher’s unique talent for original thinking. And the ability to convey it. Two of his most notaqble published papers illustrate the point (See more examples on our front cover). At a time when bed rest was a staple of medical treatment, he wrote “The Dangers of Going to Bed,” published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) of Dec. 13, 1947. An excerpt: “The end result can be a comatose, vegetable existence in which [the patient lies] like a useless and carefully tended plant.” The man definitely had a way with words. Another famous paper, this one from a 1958 BMJ, asked, “Why Are Medical Journals So Dull?” One reason: many doctors “want to be seen in the British Medical Journal or the Lancet because it is respectable...like being seen in church.” It matters not that “they have nothing to say and do not know how to say it.” Although Asher took his own life in 1969, his children live on. First-born Peter (b. 1944) was half of Peter and Gordon, part of music’s British Invasion, since then a hugely successful music producer and manager (he signed the then-unknown James Taylor); oldest daughter Jane (b. 1946) was once engaged to Beatle Paul McCartney; Clare (b. 1948) was a voice actress before becoming a schoolteacher. +

appy New Year, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Happy Easter, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, Happy 4th of July, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas. Why is that? I’ve always wondered why Christmas has a different salutation. Perhaps it’s just because it’s the Cadillac of our holidays. It needs to be set apart, just by the atmosphere it creates alone. Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men. It’s a wonderful phrase regardless of your religion, nationality or politics. Peace and good will. So why does the Christmas season so often end up as stressful as it does? We put a lot of pressure on ourselves that we shouldn’t. Too many expectations can lead to health issues, and those can ruin a holiday faster than the wrong gift. Our Christmas doesn’t have to look like the TV commercials. In fact, Christmas is often pretty messy. The kitchen is in chaos, the living room is wallto-wall torn wrapping paper

and ribbon. The gifts are all over the place. Every light and TV in the house is on and everyone is talking at once; there is at least one baby or small child crying. The only space that is perfect is the Christmas dinner table. Every house in America looks this way. Isn’t it great? Too many relatives, too much food, too much noise. Mix in some burned food, a broken dish, a forgotten ingredient or an unexpected guest and it can all go sideways. It doesn’t have to and it shouldn’t. We need to relax more and go

with the flow. Nothing is perfect and it’s the mistakes that can make it fun. They end up being the stories that we tell during every Christmas thereafter. They become family folklore. We all have them and they’re the glue that holds us together. So this year try to relax and enjoy the holiday. Scale back a little if it will help, or enlist that husband who watches too much football. Maybe get a cleaning service to come in and help with the pre-Christmas housework so you have more time for the things you enjoy. There are lots of ways to make life easier and the holiday more fun. These past few years, I confess I have let my attitude slip. I was beginning to feel it was too much for me; I was looking to cut back on food prep and decorating. But this year, I have a renewed sense of Christmas spirit. I was looking forward to getting the tree up and I put it in place early. I had my shopping done at the start of November. I don’t know what has brought on this renewed interest but I am glad to be experiencing it. We only get so many Christmases and each one is as different from the last as a snowflake and is a precious gift to be savored. I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful and memorable holiday this year and I wish you all peace and happiness for the coming New Year. +

MYTH OF THE MONTH To lose weight, eating a little less is good; a lot less is great. Drastically cutting the number of calories you eat might seem like a much better plan to quickly shed pounds than cutting back just a little. And it might actually work at first. In the long run, however, crash dieting leads to a high likelihood of weight gain, often more than the original pre-diet weight. In fact, the rule of thumb in dieting is that the faster the weight loss, the fast the ensuing gain, while the slower and more gradually weight is lost, the greater the chances are that the weight is off for good. Severe calorie cutbacks can actually be dangerous to health, causing headaches, dizziness, low

blood sugar, anemia and even kidney and liver problems. One threshhold accepted by many nutrition experts is 1,200 calories per day. Consuming less than than can result not only in fat loss but muscle loss as well. Take it slow and you have a better chance of success. One of the simplest ways many people begin: replace something unnecessary and unhealthful from your diet, such as soft drinks, and replace it with a better option, such as (in this case) water. + — by F. E. Gilliard, MD, Family Medicine, 4244 Washington Road, Evans, GA 30809 706-760-7607

DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

WHAT EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW

o, I am not writing this in my underwear. Prolonged concentration ain’t my style today. Neither does that seem to be the style of our mainline media news programs. So brace yourself for some profundities. Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. (I stole that from Benjamin Franklin.) Regardless of what they say, everybody listens to RAP music ... at red lights, at gas stations, at drive thrus... How to make a psychological diagnosis in one easy lesson: If someone drives slower than you, he’s an idiot. If he drives faster than you, he’s a maniac. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean the bastards aren’t out to get you. Just because the monkey is off your back doesn’t mean the circus left town. This weather forecast is always 100% correct: Tonight, we’ll have darkness. So is this one: Gradual onset

ABOUT BRIEF HUMOR

of darkness at sundown with increasing intensity by midnight and gradual clearing by sunrise. What is so hard about that?

t s e B

Everybody talks about the weather. Nobody does a damn thing about it. (Stolen from Mark Twain) Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? I ask, why do the rest of us have to go to work and not have time for silly questions? Do you know why Santa is so jolly? He knows where all the bad girls live.

Luther told me he overheard two lesbians whispering in a bar about how they liked tall skinny women with medium boobs, perfect hygiene, long blond hair, and high cheek bones. That’s when he realized he was a lesbian trapped in a male body.

If you read the Bible more as you get older, does it mean you are cramming for final exams?

Luther said his wife was afraid of the dark... then she saw him naked. Now she’s afraid of the light.

You have the perfect job situation if you work just hard enough not to get fired ... and get paid just enough money so you can’t quit.

Luther told his wife he was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told him that she was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender.

The Perfect Employee: An obese black female who is a pregnant, single, HIV positive, atheist, communist, lesbian, who walks with a limp. She fits every minority. She will not have to work, just show up and tell federal regulators how openminded her employer is.

Luther’s wife met him at the door in a sexy negligee. Unfortunately she was just coming home. Luther’s wife is ridiculously jealous. The other day she looked at his calendar and demanded to know who May was.

e n i c i d ME

I gave Luther some sage advice: Never raise your hands to a woman. It leaves your groin unprotected. The other night I ate at a real nice restaurant. I knew it was a family restaurant because every table had an argument going on. Don’t worry about the present. There is no such thing. There’s only the immediate future and the recent past. When you step on the brakes, your life is in your foot’s hands. Women are like elephants. I like to look at ‘em, but I wouldn’t want to own one. The world is such a dangerous place no one can get out of it alive. Yuppies think it is cool and sexy to tell a fetching young lady that they want some Poon

Tang: That’s Prune Juice and Tang with a dash of Vodka. I first tried that 40 years ago. She slapped me. I hear times haven’t changed. My editor said I had to write something about medicine or give some medical advice, so here goes: I have discovered a medical breakthrough: the best cure for insomnia is to get lots of sleep. Don’t worry about your heart. No matter how you treat it, it will last a lifetime. 98% of people who die from colon cancer use toilet paper. Are you sure it is safe to drink water? After all, that stuff rusts pipes. He forgot to tell me I had to + be totally serious.

Bad Billy Laveau is a formerlyretired MD who wields a pointed sense of humor - and now, tongue depressors too. He speaks to and entertains audiences not subject to cardiac arrest secondary to overwhelming laughter. BadBilly@knology.net or 706-306-9397. F REE T AKE-HO ME CO PY!

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MEDICAL EXAMINER

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

S E I R E S W NE

The vitamin alphabet In the brief vitamin alphabet, vitamin B1 — aka thiamin or thiamine — is definitely an A-list vitamin even though it is Exhibit1 of the B complex vitamin group. It’s also relatively new. Some of its effects and benefits were unknown until the late 1950s. The groundwork for its eventual discovery was laid in 1884 by Takaki Kanehiro, a surgeon in the Japanese navy. At the time, it was common for sailors on long voyages to suffer from beriberi, a debilitating disease that can cause rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, pain, mental confusion and memory loss, numbness, weakness and paralysis of the hands and feet, loss of appetite, constipation, cardiac failure and even death. Back in the day, beriberi was thought to be something caused by germs, a disease you could catch from someone else who already had it. Other theories about its cause included blood contamination, respiratory

metabolism, perspiration and seasonal temperature variations. Takaki rejected all the prevailing wisdom, believing beriberi was caused by dietary deficiencies. He tested his theory on a 9-month voyage that left port stocked with bread, milk, vegetables, meat and barley. Sure enough, the crew was beriberifree. The problem was that the ship was so well-stocked that it was difficult to determine which food provided protection from the disease. Takaki himself drew faulty conclusions, but eventually (in 1905) he was recognized for discovering that beriberi was not a germ-based disease. The actual specific connection was established purely by accident in 1897 by a Dutch physician, Christiaan Eijkman. Sent to the Dutch East Indies to study beriberi, Eijkman had chickens in his laboratory that were beginning to exhibit the same symptoms as stricken sailors. The chicken’s diet was leftover

rice from military rations. The breakthrough came when a new cook with a sense of the proprieties of rank refused to allow military rice to be fed to civilian chickens. The staple of military rations was rice that was polished, a process that removed outer layers or endosperm from grains of rice. Unpolished rice had come to be viewed as a more crude and unrefi ned version.

People got polished rice, not chickens. Lo and behold, within days of the cook switching the civilian chickens from polished rice to unpolished, their beriberi symptoms vanished. Eijkman incorrectly concluded from this that rice contained a toxin, and the outer layers of rice lost in polishing offered natural protection from it. His associate, Gerrit Grijns, got it right: whole grain rice contains a vital nutrient lost by polishing. Other experiments with chickens by other scientists have demonstrated that chickens with serious symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency can experience complete recovery within as little as 30 minutes when their feed contains thiamine. The research provides an important lesson that modern society often needs to be reminded of: processed and refined foods lose essential, life-sustaining nutrients. Whole grains, along with meat and fish, are a key source of vitamin B1. Although thiamine is

essential for life, humans are unable to make it, so it’s obviously an important part of a healthy diet. Thiamine is a watersoluble vitamin, meaning that it dissolves into the bloodstream. Fat soluble vitamins, by contrast, are absorbed into fat cells throughout the body. Water soluble vitamins tend to leave the body more quickly and therefore need to be a regular art of the diet. Thiamine deficiency isn’t common in this part of the world, although conditions like Crohn’s disease, anorexia and alcoholism can negatively affect thiamine levels. People who need dialysis are also at risk for vitamin B1 deficiency, and some diuretics and other medications can effectively flush thiamine from the body. Supplements or injections can counteract the bad effects. Natural sources of vitamin B1 include oranges, nuts, oats, eggs, seeds, legumes, and peas. Rice, pasta, flour, breads and cereals are often fortified with thiamine.

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Southern Girls Eat Clean Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

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This past weekend I did a cute DIY project. Bright and early on Saturday morning just before decorating our tree, I made these precious cinnamon applesauce ornaments. They made the house smell wonderfully like Christmas and it really got me into the spirit of the season. This is a really great project to do with the children and a fun memorymaking activity. Kids will love getting their hands into the dough. These ornaments would make sweet gifts for teachers, grandparents or friends, but I make a batch every few years just to decorate our Christmas tree. The recipe is super simple: - 2 cups of cinnamon - 2 cups of applesauce Mix the two ingredients together to form a ball of dough. Using your hands, knead the dough until it holds together well. Place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll with a rolling pin until the dough is approximately 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes and use a straw to make a little hole at the top for a cute red satin ribbon. Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments Place into a low temp oven until hardened, or you can air sequins, but personally I like ornaments are made from dry for a couple days. I chose the simplicity of them just food, they are not meant to be to dry my ornaments in a 250 the way they are. They will edible. + degree oven. Whether you air keep for years if you pack dry them or put them in the Alisa Rhinehart is half of the blog them away carefully. Each oven, you will want to turn southerngirlseatclean. year when you pull these the ornaments as they are com. She is a working ornaments out to decorate the drying. wife and mother living tree they will still have the One batch makes in Evans, Georgia. lovely cinnamon apple smell approximately two dozen Visit her blog for that fi lls the room. ornaments depending on the more recipes and Merry Christmas friends. size of your cookie cutters. information on clean eating. You can decorate the NOTE: Although these ornaments with paint or

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This is our

FINAL ISSUE

(of 2017.)

We hope to see you in our next issue: January 5, 2018.

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READ THE MEDICAL EXAMINER ONLINE • issuu.com/medicalexaminer •

DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

IF NOT INPATIENT TREATMENT, THEN WHAT? by Ken Wilson Executive Director, Steppingstones to Recovery Last month we looked at the “illusion” of inpatient treatment, not that it is bad, but dispelling the myth that its level of care is the only and best. And how insurance will NOT pay for it anymore beeyond a few days of detox and stabilization — if the patient warrants such a high (that is, expensive) level of care. Yes, in order to utilize your dearly-paid-for insurance benefits for inpatient treatment you basically need to be in extreme need of detox from alcohol or benzodiazepines or be in such poor physical condition that you cannot get out of bed and make it to outpatient treatment. But for all you out there suffering from an addictive disease, don’t feel too picked on. The same is true for every medical condition that exists these days that can possibly be treated on an outpatient basis. It’s called Cost Containment. This phenomena was introduced into our health care insurance system back in the ’90s and has come to be known as “managed care,” since the healthcare provider has to call

the insurance company every day or every few days to get an authorization for more days in treatment. I do get it. However, in many cases we healthcare providers sometimes call it “mangled care and managed cost.” I am walking on thin ice here, but to throw my opinion out there the only real solution at this point is healthcare coverage for all, however that may be possible, single payer or not. “Obamacare” was a good start but it had its shortcomings, such as recipients needing income of at least $11,000 per year in order to purchase governmentsubsidized insurance. Many who needed it most were not eligible for it. And most policies had such high deductibles ($3,500 - $8,000!) that the policy was basically a catastrophic policy, mainly good for unplanned high healthcare fees. That’s the backdrop for the “inpatient” dilemma. So, if not inpatient, then what? Isn’t inpatient the best treatment? Not necessarily. You see, a lot of people are “weekend warriors” when it comes to substance abuse: sober all week, but they “tie one on” over the weekend. Insurance

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companies have a good point when they say “we’re not going to pay for your room and board if you can.” This individual is an ideal client for Intensive Outpatient treatment. Live at home, see mom, wife, kids as usual and go to group meetings after work, usually for about 3 hours for 4-6 weeks, M-F with selfhelp meeting attendance on weekends. What if they relapse and drink or use while in treatment? Thanks to modern medicine more help is available now than ever before for “medication assisted treatment.” If a person does not meet criteria for inpatient detox, some doctors will prescribe what we call “ambulatory detox,” especially if the medication is given to a stable family member who will guard the prescription and administer it to the client exactly as prescribed on the bottle. Healthcare costs and disruption of a person’s daily schedule is minimal and thousands of dollars less expensive. Of course not all conditions

have such assistance, but alcoholism, addiction to benzodiazepines, and even opiates can be treated medically with positive results. Prescription Antabuse can be given to an alcoholic who has trouble interrupting the habitual and compulsive cycle of drinking long enough to become stabilized and receive counseling and education for permanent sobriety. This med is best administered by a stable family member or disinterested party, dissolved in about an inch of water and sipped from a clear container (it is tasteless). Many people will try to drink alcohol once while on this medication, but most won’t do it again due to the extreme sickness caused by mixing alcohol with it! For opiate dependence, an injection of Vivitrol (or in pill form, Naltrexone) can be given to block the opiate receptors from absorbing opiates. Literally, there is no feeling from any opiates taken. This injection is costly ($1,000 – 1,500 each) and lasts for about 28 days. The pill form needs to be taken daily in

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN A monthly series by an Augusta drug treatment professional order to insure ingestion. For those needing more structure, a little research can locate a recovery residence for your loved one to live in while being driven (or walking) to the treatment facility for daily group meetings that present the same material as Inpatient facilities. Insurance will assist with the treatment portion and the family pays for the residence (which includes food, 24/7 supervision, etc.) and cuts inpatient costs by 80%. If you have questions, call a facility and discuss options. Not every car engine needs a complete “inpatient” engine overhaul. Some just need a good tune-up, oil change, and knowledge of how to treat a car to be good as new. +

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by Sarah Tankersley, RD, LD Pediatric Clinical Dietitian, Children’s Hospital of Georgiaq The holiday season is upon us! While many of us are enjoying this cheerful time, another event is ever looming in the background...the New Year and with it comes New Year’s resolutions. The first day of the New Year often signifies a fresh start following this occasionally gluttonous time in December. For this reason, about 45% of all Americans make New Year’s resolutions with the intent of bettering themselves. Common resolutions include losing weight, eating healthier, and exercising more. However, research shows that less than 10% of New Year’s resolutions are actually achieved, while approximately 80% of them are ditched by the second week of February. Why is this? There are many reasons for failed resolutions, including setting unattainable goals, a lack of positive reinforcement, and generally being overwhelmed by life. How can you make a New Year’s resolution that you can actually accomplish? Here are some ideas to help you get ready for the beginning of 2018: • Keep your list short. Instead of coming up with numerous small goals that can easily overwhelm you as time passes, pick only a few to focus on at a time. This will increase

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your chance of success since you can contribute the needed time to complete each goal. Throughout the year, if you notice your goals are no longer challenging you, set new ones. New Year’s is not the only time of year for making resolutions! • Think small. One surefi re way to fail at achieving New Year’s resolution is to set an extremely lofty goal, like an overly restrictive diet or intense exercise regimen. It is much better to set smaller, more reasonable goals that are sustainable. For example, if you currently drink 5 regular sodas per day, don’t set a goal of eliminating all soda cold-turkey from your diet. This will only increase your desire to have a soda. Instead, set a goal to decrease your daily intake by one can every 3-4 weeks until you are no longer drinking soda. • Make your resolutions tangible. Goals are difficult to achieve if they are not given detailed conditions and deadlines. For example, a New Year’s resolution for exercising more is extremely vague. How often will you exercise? For what amount of time? What exercises will you do? When will you do these? Not establishing these guidelines allows you to develop excuses for not reaching your goals. Instead, set a more specific goal. For instance, going for a walk for 30 minutes on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after you get off work. It’s reasonable, specific and measurable. • Provide positive reinforcement. While it’s great to know you’ll be healthier if you shed a few pounds, it’s not always motivational. Set up rewards for achieving your goals. For example, if you lose 5 pounds, go see a movie with your best friend or buy yourself a new shirt. These small rewards will renew your drive to continue accomplishing your resolutions. Use these guidelines when developing your New Year’s resolutions and they’re sure to be a success! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year’s Resolution-ing! +

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To avoid this cycle, have a plan focused on your goals as the main driver of your investment strategy. This forces you to focus on the risk you are taking and allows you to contemplate and understand how your portfolio responds to good and bad times. If you understand the risk you are taking and you’re investing consistently based on your goals, then you will be less likely to follow the herd in stressful times. The most successful investors use this to their advantage. Look at investors like Warren Buffet who bought companies in 2008 and 2009 at the height of the financial crisis. Planning and contemplating risks ahead of time allows you to take advantage of others mistakes by not following the herd. +

He graduated and began his medical practice 70 years ago, in May of 1947. But it wasn’t quite that simple. World War II intervened, interrupting not only Dr. Watson’s internship but also his romance with the nurse he had been dating. His marriage to Audrey and his call into the army more or less coincided, so they spent their honeymoon on a California army base. Each day, Dr. Watson told her tomorrow might be the day he wouldn’t come home to their quarters on post, meaning he had been shipped out. Finally one day it happened; he was deployed in the Pacific theater as a general surgeon, doing things like tonsillectomies and appendectomies. That is where the most terrifying chapter of his life unfolded.

by Bill Cleveland, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and CPA with Calvary Wealth, LLC ( HYPERLINK “http://www. calvarywealth.com” www.calvarywealth.com).

Roger M. Smith, M.D. announces the closing of his practice for ophthalmology at 820 St. Sebastian Way, Suite 5-A. Please contact the office immediately for records at (706) 724-3339, or Augusta Data Storage (706) 793-0186

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One Tuesday morning he and two other medics were sent to investigate a cholera outbreak that had erupted on an island in the South China Sea. With a small crew of sailors they embarked aboard a “lil’ old ship about 30 feet long” headed for the island. It was Wednesday morning before his commanding officer contacted the island to confi rm their arrival. The return message said no ship had arrived. Planes were sent out to search for the missing vessel, which left port with enough food and water for one day — plenty for a planned 12-hour crossing, but not enough for one that lasted five days. “That was the most afraid I have ever been in my life,” Watson would say years later. Eventually coming home

safe and sound after two years, he met his baby daughter, Donna, who grew up to marry Augusta physician Randy Cooper. Even though medicine was Dr. Watson’s profession, his lifelong avocation was sports. After the war with an M.D. degree he obviously didn’t return to school teaching, but he did return to school, serving as the team doctor for North Augusta High School for many years and supporting the team in many important but unheralded ways. Although Dr. Watson slowed down a little before his death in October 2012, he always operated by the philosophy he expressed in the Examiner in 2011: Always do your best. Never give up. Room is at the top. Be a lady. Be a gentleman. +

LIFE IS SWEET WHEN YOU’RE

CARL

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Carl is a recent winner of our celebrated Mystery Word contest and sent us this selfie sporting his sweet Medical Examiner jersey — plus he won gift cards from Wild Wing Cafe and Scrubs of Evans. Life is good when you’re Carl.

FIND THE WORD AND ENTER TODAY! Remember: the Mystery Word is always hidden. It is never in plain sight and it’s never in an article. See all the deets on page 14.

DECEMBER 15, 2017

11 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The blog spot From the Bookshelf — posted by Jennifer Gunter, MD, on Oct. 22, 2017

THE FLU VACCINE DOES NOT CAUSE THE FLU. PERIOD. Flu vaccines are now available, and so that means the anti-vaccine brigade is out in force. Britain’s Daily Mail published an anti-vaccine op-ed by a former reality TV contestant named Katie Hopkins. It was followed by a shorter counter-argument by a doctor, but when you are given less than half the word count and are at the bottom of the page it is hard to mount an effective response. Hopefully the Daily Mail will give us an op-ed next week on how the earth is flat. I noticed many responses to Ms. Hopkins on Twitter were from people who claimed that they previously caught the flu from the vaccine. John Rice: I had to receive these shots when I was in the military, all the time. I out over 20 years. I refuse them and haven’t been ill since.

One more time, for the kids in the back

Jane Jay: Sorry but I’m with [Katie] on this one, only had it once and had the worst case of flu soon after and I’m rarely ill. One more time, for all the kids in the back: The flu vaccine does not cause influenza. The flu vaccine is made with an inactivated virus that cannot cause illness or with a process using a recombinant technology that contains no virus at all. The nasal spray, not recommended currently in the United States due to lower efficacy, also can’t cause the flu. It does have a live virus, but it is highly weakened and can’t cause infection. Children should absolutely get the vaccine. In the 20162017 flu season over 100 children in the United States died from the flu. More than 80 percent of those who died were not vaccinated. If you get sick right after the flu vaccine one of the following has happened: 1. You have a cold, and you have mistaken it for the flu. 2. You have the flu, but you were incubating it before the vaccine. The vaccine takes about two weeks to work. 3. You have the flu and were unlucky enough to get a strain not covered by the vaccine. 4. You have the flu, and it is a strain that is covered by the vaccine, but you did not get as sick as you would have without the vaccine. 5. Nocebo effect. You expected something bad to happen and so your body produced symptoms. If you aren’t sure it is the flu, let me tell you: it isn’t. With the flu, you really feel as if you are going to die. It’s that bad. I had it several years ago and for two days I had to crawl to the bathroom. I was too weak to walk. So let’s please put this myth to rest. The flu vaccine doesn’t cause the flu. And one more thing. Dear Press, please stop using photos of screaming kids in vaccine stories. + Jennifer Gunter is an obstetrician-gynecologist and the author of the Preemie Primer.

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Publisher review: If the conscious mind--the part you consider to be you--is just the tip of the iceberg, what is the rest doing? In this sparkling and provocative book, renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate its surprising mysteries. Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you become consciously aware of danger ahead? Is there a true Mel Gibson? How is your brain like a conflicted democracy engaged in civil war? What do Odysseus and the subprime mortgage meltdown have in common? Why are people whose names begin with J more like to marry other people whose names begin with J? And why is it so difficult to keep a secret? Taking in brain damage, plane spotting, dating, drugs, beauty, infidelity, synesthesia, criminal law, artificial intelligence, and visual illusions, Incognito is a thrilling subsurface exploration of the mind and all its contradictions.” “Written in clear, precise language, the book is sure

Eagleman’s book are wellarticulated and entertaining, elucidated with the intelligent, casual tone of an enthusiastic university lecturer.” —TheMillions.com

to appeal to readers with an interest in psychology and the human mind, but it will also please people who just want to know, with a little more clarity, what is going on inside their own skulls.” —Booklist “Incognito is popular science at its best . . . beautifully synthesized.” —Boston Globe Best of 2011 “Eagleman presents difficult neuroscience concepts in an energetic, casual voice with plenty of analogies and examples to ensure that what could easily be an overwhelming catalog of facts remains engaging and accessible. . . . The ideas in

“After you read Eagleman’s breezy treatment of the brain, you will marvel at how much is illusory that we think is real, and how we sometimes function out autopilot without consciously knowing what is happening. . . . This is a fascinating book.” —The Advocate “A fascinating, dynamic, faceted look under the hood of the conscious mind. . . . Equal parts entertaining and illuminating, the case studies, examples and insights in Incognito are more than mere talking points to impressed at the next dinner party, poised instead to radically shift your understanding of the world, other people, and your own mind.” —Brain Pickings Incognito — The Secet Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman, 304 pages, published in 2012 by Vintage +

Research News Flat means fat By “flat” we’re referring to flat screens, whether they’re wall-mounted or hand-held. New research by Penn State University has found that using digital devices before bed can contribute to sleep and nutrition problems in children. Screens are convenient babysitters used by many parents to occupy their children, but researchers found that using technology before bed was associated the less sleep, poorer sleep quality, more fatigue in the morning, and, among children who watched TV or used their cell phones before bed, higher body mass indexes (BMI). Translation: heavier weight. Public health scientists say the findings suggest a vicious cycle is in play: fatigue has been linked to higher BMIs. Children who watched TV or played video games before bed got an average of 30 minutes

less sleep per night than those who did not, while children who used their phone or a computer before bed averaged a full hour less sleep per night compared to those who did not. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents establish technology boundaries, such as no devices at mealtimes, keeping phones and tablets, etc., out of bedrooms at night, and establishing a cut-off time (an hour before bedtime, for example) after which devices must be put away for the day. Blind dangers Earlier this week a Nationwide Children’s Hospital study published in Pediatrics found that injuries from window blinds send an average of two children to emergency rooms across the U.S. every day. Nearly 17,000 children under age six were treated in emergency rooms

for window blind injuries between 1990 and 2015, their study said, most treated and released. Most of the injuries were strangulation injuries caused by children becoming entangled in the blind’s cords. Nationwide, those incidents cause an average of one death per month, many with cords that have a continuous loop design, or loops created by homeowners by knotting the cords. Recommendations include replacing units with cordless blinds, making cords inaccessible, and moving cribs, beds or other furniture items away from cords. The need is also critical in schoolrooms, daycare centers, at grandparents’ homes, and other places where children spend time. If money is tight, researchers suggest replacing blinds in rooms where children spend the most time first. +

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE EXAMiNERS

THE MYSTERY WORD

by Dan Pearson

Can you recommend a good veterinarian for my dog? I only know of one vet.. I’m not sure.

I was going to suggest this vet who advertises in the Medical Examiner, but I don’t Why not? know if they take dogs.

What on earth would give you that idea?

Their ad says “Accepting gnu patients.”

The Mystery Word for this issue: VURSLACA

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 ACROSS 1. Grinding tooth 6. Augusta talk radio source 10. Word of sorrow or regret 14. Fragrance 15. _____ Grey 16. Short pasta tubes 17. 1943 Best Picture Oscar winner 19. Lengthy era (British ver.) 20. 2-time Masters runner-up 21. This is done to a drum 22. Fullness, as of hair 24. It comes in yellow and white 25. Wine partner 26. Cottonmouth 31. Hammers, plyers, etc. 33. Wheel shaft 34. In favor of 35. Donations to the poor 36. Mr. West 38. Its capital is Vientiane 39. How a golf ball lands 40. Latin: In [this] veritas 41. Like Seattle weather 42. Mental focus 46. Commits perjury 47. Charged particles 48. They get played on Sundays 51. Store or bust lead-in 52. Typical abbreviation 55. Partner of gloom 56. “What do you do for a living?” is one 59. Dutch cheese coated with red wax 60. Prolonged unconsciousness 61. Awaken 62. Depend 63. Gulp 64. Bluish-gray

Click on “READER CONTESTS”

QUOTATION PUZZLE

VISIT WWW.AUGUSTARX.COM

’

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

— 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.

DOWN 1. Chemical defense spray 2. Thermometer type 3. What one team experiences in nearly all games 4. Doc’s org. 5. Bunnies 6. A recently weaned animal 7. Group or band 8. Doug Barnard and Judy Woodruff’s H.S. 9. Collarbone 10. Flowering shrub of the genus Rhododendron 11. Stead 12. _____ bomb 13. Trigonometric function 18. Kent’s crush 23. Fairy tale beginning 24. Friends 25. Ortho ending 26. Females 27. Gilbert ______, former Augusta public housing

V Z Y I

28. Main part of the Iberian peninsula 29. Liver is a good source of it 30. Prying 31. Baby powder 32. Potpourri 36. Science of body language 37. Formicary residents 38. Its capital is Vientiane 40. Vessel 41. ______ lactate (IV) 43. Cool, damp skin is this 44. Post-collision protector 45. Type of guide 48. River in central Europe 49. Traveled by horse 50. Objective 51. Moore of G.I. Jane 52. Gull-like predatory seabird 53. Try out 54. Mariel Hemingway’s daughter 57. “Don’t have a ___!” 58. Pop ISP

2 9 1 7 5 9 3 8 2 3 8 6 8 7 9 6 2 7 5 4 4 6 4 2 8

X A M I N E R

3 1 9

U D O K U

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

Solution p. 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 =

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

WORDS NUMBER

All Mystery Word finders will be eligible to win by random drawing. We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

DECEMBER 15, 2017

13 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE BEST MEDICINE ha... ha...

woman shopping for groceries sees a grandfather and his badly behaved little grandson in aisle after aisle. In this aisle the toddler is screaming for candy; in the next one it’s cereal; later it’s chips, then ice cream. The poor grandfather has his hands full, but his calm is admirable. In one aisle the woman overhears him say, “Easy now, William. It won’t be much longer.” The woman encounters the old man in another aisle and during a lull in the boy’s latest outburst she hears the grandpa calmly say, “It’s okay, William. Just a couple more minutes and we’ll be out of here. Hang in there, buddy.” At the checkout, the little terror is screaming and throwing items out of the cart and grabbing gum and candy bars, and she hears Gramps say in a cool voice, “Now William, calm down. Don’t get upset. We’ll be home in five minutes. Stay cool, William.” When the woman leaves the store she sees the grandfather is loading his groceries and the little boy into a car near hers. Impressed, she says to the gentleman, “Excuse me, sir. It’s none of my business but you were amazing in there. I don’t know how you did it. That whole time, you

kept your composure, and no matter how loud and disruptive he got, you just calmly kept saying things would be okay. William is very lucky to have you as his grandfather.” “Thanks, lady,” said the grandfather, “but I’m William...the little terror’s name is Charlie.” A man was dangling from the edge of a cliff after a wreck when emergency personnel arrived. The fi rst rescuer to approach the man cautioned him, “Whatever you do, please don’t look down.” So the man started to smile. Moe: I definitely learned my lesson today about speeding. Believe me, it won’t happen again. Joe: Oh no! Were you in a wreck? Moe: Nope. Joe: Did you get a speeding ticket? Moe: Nope. Joe: Then what happened? Moe: I got to work 15 minutes early. Moe: What is a cop’s favorite kind of sweater? Joe: A pullover. Moe: I would describe myself as an atheist. Joe: Then why do you celebrate Christmas? Moe: Because I’m eggnogstic. Moe: I come from a tiny little town in rural Alabama that is densely populated. Joe: Tiny, in the middle of nowhere, and densely populated? How is that possible? Moe: No one in town has an IQ over 80. +

Why subscribe to the Medical Examiner? Because no one should have to make a trip to the doctor or the hospital just to read Augusta’s Most Salubrious Newspaper.

+ +

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ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble wrote a long-time column in this paper entitled The Patient’s Perspective reincarnated in this new format. Feel free to contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com Depression comes in many forms to many people and it often increases during the fall and winter, when less sunlight creates a darkness of spirit as well. I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and it affects me with a kind of bone-numbing sense of the blahs and makes it hard to carry out life’s normal functions. Unfortunately SAD arrives just as the wonderful holiday season does. For me that means shifting thought into action is challenging. My mind is willing, but my body doesn’t want to participate. My body wants to go into hibernation and stay there until spring. It affects everything I would like to or should do. The brain says, “You need to do the laundry.” I agree with that wholeheartedly, but what I actually do is nothing. The laundry piles up until I run out of clean underwear, at which point I am forced to put some clothes in the washing machine. The problematic nature of this dysphoria is increased because I have enough underwear to last at least a month. Right now my dirty laundry fills a mounded laundry basket and spreads out onto the floor. I can actually see this as kind of funny in a strange way. “Eaten by dirty laundry” comes to mind as the title of a short story. I make lists. Do the laundry is item #1 at the top of the list. I ignore the list and read the newspaper. Eating is another issue. Thank God for Meals on Wheels! Those meals make sure I have at least one nutritious meal a day on days when cooking is just too much for me. On those days breakfast might be peanut butter on whole wheat bread and dinner might be hummus and crackers, with some fruit thrown in and some veggies I can just toss in the microwave. I don’t lose my appetite. I still enjoy eating. It’s the cooking and the doing dishes I find difficult to manage. On bright, sunny days I try to cook a big dinner with a roast beef, potatoes, carrots and onions, something I can eat for several non-sunny days, or a big pot of soup, or a big pot of chili. Today, which is lovely with sunshine, my goal is to take the chicken bones and make soup from them. Dumplings would make the soup a real treat. We’ll see if I can translate this delicious thought into an actual pot of soup and dumplings. I’m crossing my fingers on that one, but at least I have enough energy today to write this column. I have found that talking about SAD is helpful. For years I didn’t say it out loud and just accused myself of being lazy, irresponsible, a bad person. But last week I had an appointment for physical therapy and that morning was cold, damp, and foggy after several days of being socked in with dark clouds. I felt bone-deep weariness and fatigue. So, unlike in the old days when I would have made up some ridiculous and untrue excuse, I simply told the scheduler, “I have SAD and I just can’t move this morning.” She was wonderful. “Oh, honey, I hope you feel better soon,” she said. I felt heard. I told her, “Thank you for your compassion.” I have tears in my eyes as I write this because her words made it OK to be me, struggling with this nasty trick my body pulls on me when sunlight is lacking. +

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: DOSAGE

...cleverly hidden on the brick wall in the p. 9 ad for MAKERSON DENTAL THE WINNER: CONSTANCE HOLSEY 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!

THE PUZZLE SOLVED M A C E

O R A L

T A L C

O L I O

O D E R

R O D E

L A R W O M A E S A B L A S B A N P I N E W A T E R O L S M S K A E V I N N C E N T L I E S G A N S O M I C A M C O L Y S W

G A C A R L N C A G V O D I N M O C C A X L E N Y E O R R A T I I O N D R U G E B R E M A R I G S

A Z A L E A

L I E U

A T O M

S I N E

S P L A A I O N S S A K O U L A

I R O N

N O S Y

T E S T

D R E E

SEE PAGE 12

The Celebrated WORDS BYyouNUMBER are on is late the MYSTERY WORD CONTEST fl“ightWhenyoutheareflightconnecting to is on time.”

...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 of 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.

WRITER WANTED

— Author unknown

The Sudoku Solution 7 8 5 3 4 2 9 1 6

4 3 1 9 6 7 2 8 5

6 2 9 5 8 1 3 7 4

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

1 9 6 2 7 8 4 5 3

3 5 2 1 9 4 8 6 7

8 4 7 6 5 3 1 2 9

QUOTATION QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION: “[Once] being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody’s crazy.”

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— Charles Manson

The new scrambled Mystery Word is found on page 12

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The Medical Examiner has for years published a monthly column by an Augusta medical student as a chronicle of his or her thoughts and experiences during medical school. Are you interested in becoming the next author of The Short White Coat?

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DECEMBER 15, 2017

Kid’s Stuff

NOTES FROM A PEDIATRIC RESIDENT by Caroline Colden, M.D., Children’s Hospital of Georgia

Have you had your flu shot? Flu season is here! Has everyone gotten their flu shots? If the answer is “no,” this is why you need to make it a priority to get one today. The flu (short for influenza) is a horrible disease, and there is a reason why new vaccines are made every year in an attempt to prevent it. In fact, scientists all over the world track its patterns and changing qualities all year long in order to tailor each year’s

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

vaccine to best combat the predicted new and changing viral strains. Let’s address first things fi rst. The flu shot does not cause the flu. Many patients fear that getting the shot will guarantee they will get sick, and they think not getting the vaccine will actually leave them safer. While it

does happen that the body’s reaction to the flu vaccine (or any vaccine for that matter) can sometimes include flulike symptoms, such as body aches, tiredness, even mild cold symptoms, the body will ultimately be stronger and better at fighting an actual live influenza viral infection should it later be exposed. Why is the flu such a big deal? Isn’t it just a bad cold? The answer is yes and no. Like the common cold, the flu can have respiratory symptoms such as stuffy, runny nose and cough, but it is usually accompanied by more uncomfortable symptoms as well, such as extreme fatigue, body aches, chest pain, vomiting or diarrhea (especially in

Why is the flu such a big deal? children), and higher fevers. The symptoms are generally more severe in certain populations, primarily the elderly, young pediatric patients and babies, pregnant women, and patients with certain chronic medical conditions (namely asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, chronic liver or kidney disease, etc). The risk of complications is also higher in these groups, and it is common for at-risk individuals to be hospitalized for complications related to the flu. These complications can potentially be life-

threatening, and can include superimposed bacterial pneumonia or abscesses in the lung, infections of the heart, brain, or other organs. This is why it is so important to take the risk of influenza seriously and to get vaccinated each year with the annual flu vaccine. Vaccines are available at your local doctors office and also at most pharmacies and are covered by insurance. Talk to you doctor today to see if the flu vaccine is recommended for you or your loved ones. + To learn more about the flu, visit the CDC website to find answers to frequently asked questions and facts about the disease: https://www.cdc.gov/ flu/about/index.html

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Jason H. Lee, DMD 116 Davis Road Augusta 30907 706-860-4048 Steven L. Wilson, DMD Family Dentistry 4059 Columbia Road Martinez 30907 706-863-9445

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Urgent MD Augusta: 706-922-6300 Grovetown: 706-434-3500 Thomson: 706-595-7825 Primary Care Rates

OPHTHALMOLOGY Roger M. Smith, M.D. 820 St. Sebastian Way Suite 5-A Augusta 30901 PRACTICE CLOSED 706-724-3339 See ad on page 10

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