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AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006

MARCH 4, 2016

Calamity howling?

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very time the topic of screen and cell addiction comes up on these pages, we have nightmares here at the Medical Examiner in which we imagine well-meaning people from past generations echoing some the very same thoughts this article will.

There were undoubtedly do-gooders in the Fifties who were convinced TV watching would rot the brains of children, or perhaps literally fry their grey matter with invisible death rays. Children should be outside playing in the fresh air, not cooped up inside watching the idiot box. Decades later (and decades ago) as TV’s reach grew, one doctor’s wife confided to a nurse we know, “There hasn’t been one intelligent conversation in our house since cable came to town.”

Who knows, the same thing probably happened when radios became the big thing.

You can relax: we’re not here to alert readers to invisible death rays or warn of brain cells rotting away from cell phone usage.

Well, let’s just say we won’t warn against invisible death rays and leave it at that.

The consensus of medical research, in fact, is that kids are spending far too much time on smart phones, tablets, computers, TVs and video games. The National Institutes of Health pegs the combined total average screen time for kids (age 3 to 18) at 5 to 7 hours per day.

Adults aren’t doing any better.

D N E E TH R! A E N IS

Why unplug?

What reasoning could justify not enjoying to the full the greatest explosion of information in human history?

That’s just it: we are living through the greatest explosion of information in human history. A thousand people combined — a million — couldn’t drink it all in. Detailed facts about everything from cold fusion to the Red Hot Chili Peppers are at your fingertips 24/7. It’s overwhelming.

According to a 2011 University of Southern California study, each of us is bombarded every day with information equivalent to 174 85-page newspapers. It’s hard to imagine the quantity has gone down over the past 5 years. The word infobesity was coined to describe the phenomenon. Much of it dribbles in a little at a time in brief tweets and posts on places like Facebook and Instagram, but it all adds up. It might be likened to eating huge amounts of food every day, but doing so with one pea-sized bite at a time. While you’re trying to eat all those peas, you’re also trying to concentrate on a conference call at work, prepare a report for your boss, navigate Washington Road during rush hour, fix dinner, watch TV, and get a good night’s rest.

Conversely, it’s also a little bit like telling a waiter you’d like something to drink and he comes back and dumps a 5-gallon bucket of water in the general direction of your face. You’re hit with all five gallons, but you only benefit from a tiny portion of it.

But infobesity — is just the tip of the iceberg.

Please see CALAMITY page 2

Do you have multiple cell phones? Take your iPad to the beach on vacation? Ever find it hard to get through a conversation without posting an update to Facebook? Is your computer always on?

We increasingly miss out on the important moments of our lives as we pass the hours with our noses buried in our iPhones and BlackBerry’s, chronicling our every move through Facebook and Twitter and shielding ourselves from the outside world with the bubble of “silence” that our earphones create.

If you recognize that in yourself – or your friends, families or colleagues— join the National Day of Unplugging and start living a different life: connect with the people in your street, neighborhood and city, have an uninterrupted meal or read a book to your child.

Here’s a short sample of ways you can unplug with your family: AVOID TECHNOLOGY • Eat dinner without disruption. Turn off your cell phone or do not even have it with you at the table.

CONNECT WITH LOVED ONES • Have a member of the family hide the other persons’ tech devices until the end of the 24-hour period (or time period decided in advance). Play the hot and cold game to find the hidden digital devices at the end of the unplugging time.

• Have an unplugged scavenger hunt. Hide alternative activities, such as board games, materials for a science Please see UNPLUG page 6

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

CALAMITY… from page 1

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MARCH 4, 2016

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

— Mahatma Gandhi

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It would be great if the only problem with information overload is simply missing something that would have been interesting to watch or read. That would be like the problem of walking away from the buffet at Ryan’s while there’s still food available: it’s unavoidable.

Instead, the overload can and does translate to health problems, especially for children. For that reason, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recommends virtually no screen time of any kind for children under age 2, and a maximum of only two hours per day for kids over age 2.

Why? Too much screen time can: • Make it hard for your child to sleep at night • Raise your child’s risk of attention problems, anxiety, and depression • Raise your child’s risk of obesity Screen time increases your child’s risk of obesity because: • Sitting and watching a screen is time that is not spent being physically active.

• TV commercials and other screen ads can lead to unhealthy food choices. Most of the time, the foods in ads that are aimed at kids are high in sugar, salt, or fats.

• Children eat more when they are watching TV, especially if they see ads for food.

Computers can help kids with their schoolwork. But surfing the internet, spending too much time on Facebook, or watching YouTube videos is considered unhealthy screen time by the National Institutes of Health.

But how do you do it?

Not cold turkey. Like any other addiction, take it slow. Pediatricians recommend reducing allowed screen time by 15 minutes per day until it drops to the two-hour or lower mark. Rather than making the experience feel like punishment and enforced deprivation, work hard to replace screen time with fun replacement activities.

Suggestions from the National Institutes of Health: Cutting down to 2 hours a day can be hard for some children because TV may be such a large part of their daily routines. But you can help your children by telling them how sedentary activities affect their overall health. Talk to them about things they can do to be healthier.

To decrease screen time: • Remove the TV or computer from your child’s bedroom.

• DO NOT allow TV watching during meals or homework.

• DO NOT let your child eat while watching TV or using the computer.

• DO NOT leave the TV on for background noise.

Turn on the radio instead, or have no background noise.

• Decide which programs to watch ahead of time.

Turn off the TV when those programs are over.

• Suggest other activities, such as family board games, puzzles, or going for a walk.

• Keep a record of how much time is spent in front of a screen. Try to spend the same amount of time being active.

• Be a good role model as a parent. Decrease your own screen time to 2 hours a day.

• If it is hard not having the TV on, try using a sleep function so it turns off automatically.

• Challenge your family to go 1 week without watching TV or doing other screen-time activities. Find things to do with your time that get you moving and burning energy.

The accompanying article on page 1 suggests a great way to jump-start your digital detox — and let’s face it: to one degree or another the majority of us need this.

No one (other than perhaps our Amish friends) is suggesting going completely and permanently tech-free. Screen technology is a fact of life. It’s here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

The goal isn’t abolition. Let’s be realistic. It’s not letting screen addiction take over our lives. +

MARCH 4, 2016

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The

Advice Doctor ©

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Everything you need.

2541 Milledgeville Road, Augusta, GA • (706) 738-2581

Services offered in the Augusta area: • • • • • • • •

Short-Term Rehabilitation • Physical Therapy Long-Term Care • Occupational Therapy Inpatient Rehabilitation • Speech Therapy IV Therapy • Private, Semi-Private Wound Care Rooms Pain Management • Trach Care Provided 24 Hour Nursing Services • VA Contract Facility Oxygen Therapy pruitthealth.com

Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about love, life, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important life topic?

Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in Examiner issues.

AUGUSTA

One family of providers.

Dear Advice Doctor, Our daughter is getting married in June and I’ve been invited to play Greensleeves, her favorite song, at the reception. I’ve been playing the guitar for many years and I love this song too. The problem is that I have arthritis. I have good days and bad days. I don’t want to louse up her special day if my arthritis is acting up. Do you think I should prerecord it just in case, or would that be tacky?

— Fearing Finger Failure Dear Fearing, No one wants to louse up a special occasion like a wedding reception. One tiny louse can strike fear in any of us, and there is an undeniable stigma associated with a lice infestation.

But fear not; the news is good.

The usual source of a lice infestation is school, not a wedding reception, so that’s reassuring. There is often a suspicion that poor hygiene is involved, but that’s just myth: anyone and everyone can get lice. More good news: head lice are not known to be carriers of any disease (although body lice sometimes do), and they don’t fly, jump or hop, so the primary way they spread from person to person is by physical head-to-head contact: hugging, playing, sharing a hat, comb, hair clip, etc.

The first step when a louse has been seen is to use an effective anti-louse shampoo (ask your pharmacist for a recommendation), then comb out the lice eggs (called nits) using a special fine comb.

Follow that up with washing all affected pillowcases, bed linens, clothes, hats, scarves, etc., in hot water, followed by hot dryer.

Anything that can’t be washed, toss it or take it to a dry cleaner — and be sure to tell them why you’ve brought it in.

Vacuum furniture, and replace combs and hair clips, etc., or clean them with bleach. +

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MEDICAL EXAMINER

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www.AugustaRx.com 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

(706) 860-5455 www.AugustaRx.com • E-mail: graphicadv@knology.net Opinions expressed by the writers herein are their own and 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 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. © 2016 PEARSON GRAPHIC 365 INC.

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MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

#18 IN A SERIES

Who is this?

OLD NEWS

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POINTS OF INTEREST TO FORMER KIDS

by Trisha Whisenhunt, Senior Citizens Council

SOCIAL SECURITY ONLINE

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his man’s epitaph should read, “He believed in his product.” Instead, his tombstone lists only his name, his date of birth, Jan. 9, 1837, and the date of his death, Sept.

8, 1933. But believe he did, and probably you do, too.

Chances are you have the product he developed in your home right now.

He was born in London, but his parents were American, and he grew up in New York City. As a young man, his work as a chemist working mainly with sperm oil led him to visit Pennsylvania in 1859, where an oil boom was in progress that, thankfully for the whales at least, made sperm oil obsolete. In Titusville, the 22-year-old chemist noticed workers at various oil wells smearing a substance that collected on drills onto their skin. The thick byproduct seemed to have properties that helped heal cuts, scrapes and burns.

Intrigued, he took samples of the goo back to New York and spent the next decade perfecting a process of extracting and purifying this jelly from petroleum, creating petroleum jelly.

With that challenge finally met, “Wonder Jelly” was born, and our chemist, Robert Augustus Chesebrough, launched the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company in Brooklyn, New York in 1870.

It would be nice to think that success and riches followed immediately, but it was slow going at first. Undeterred, Chesebrough saddled up a horse and wagon and traveled around the state, extolling the virtues of Wonder Jelly by actual demonstration: he would cut himself or burn his skin with flame or acid, showing gathered crowds the same wounds elsewhere on his hands or arms from a week or two previously that were healing nicely thanks to Wonder Jelly.

Sensing perhaps that Wonder Jelly had a faint ring of quackery and snake oil to its name, Chesebrough registered the new name Vaseline in 1872, and it worked: within two years Vaseline was selling nationwide at the rate of a jar a minute.

By 1873, Queen Victoria was so impressed with Vaseline’s effectiveness on her dry skin that she bestowed knighthood on Chesebrough.

By the time Sir Robert Chesebrough retired as president of his company in 1908, factories in Europe, Africa and Canada were churning out Vaseline, in addition to the flagship plant, which had moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey.

Vaseline played a key role in Robert Peary’s expedition to the North Pole in 1909, since Vaseline wouldn’t freeze in the polar climate, and was extensively used as a medicinal ointment by soldiers in both World Wars.

Years later, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company merged with Pond’s Extract Company in 1955 to form Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc. The company was purchased by Unilever in 1987.

Sir Robert Chesebrough was 96 when he died in 1933. At that time the average life expectancy in the U.S. was a full 25 years shorter: just 61.7 years. Chesebrough reportedly attributed his longevity to the fact that he ate a spoonful of Vaseline every day.

Did we mention that this man believed in his product? +

any senior citizens have made the leap into the information age and are very adept at using a computer. Others, not so much. The main reason for this is fear of the unknown.

A PC (personal computer) is a machine, a tool to be used for what you need and for fun.

Most people have kids (and grandkids) who can teach them all they need to know. If you aren’t comfortable going that way, there are classes available at the local library and are offered by private tutors. Not to be a smarty pants, but you can find them online.

Social Security is an area of importance to most, and it’s convenient to go online and get answers to questions and do your business rather than calling or having to make a trip to the almost-always busy office. Some of the things you can do online: find out if you qualify for benefits, estimate your future benefits, apply for benefits, get your SS statement and appeal a decision.

If you already receive SS benefits or Medicare, you can create a “My SS Account” to

get your benefit verification letter (including Medicare and SSI), check your personal information, benefits and earnings record, change your address or phone number, start or change your direct deposit, get a replacement Medicare card or even get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA 1042S for tax season. You can also get a letter stating you aren’t currently receiving benefits or block electronic access to your personal information.

The website (www. socialsecurity.gov) is packed with helpful information, and in 2015 they started a blog to make it easier to get answers to questions and to find resources. If you haven’t given the computer a chance, now may be the time to try.

It’s easy, fun and will save you time and gas money. Like it or not, electronic generation of our most private information is here to stay. Social Security checks are electronically deposited for most recipients.

Some still get their check through the mail as a courtesy but the day is on the horizon when that will stop.

For those who need to call, the Social Security office phone number is: 800-772-1213. To keep from being on hold for a long period avoid calling on Monday, their busiest day. If it is necessary to make the trip to the office, it is located at: 115 Robert C. Daniel Parkway, Augusta, Georgia, 30909. It is the small brick building tucked behind Best Buy. The hours of operation are: Monday and Tuesday: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Wednesday 9 a.m. - noon and Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. They are closed weekends and on all federal holidays.

Everything I have mentioned here and much more can be found on the website. If I haven’t convinced you yet, just remember you can stay online as long as you like, you don’t have to wait in line, and you can do it in your jammies. +

MYTH OF THE MONTH Eggs have no place in a healthy diet Says who?

Or if you prefer, says whom?

If your information comes from Aunt Clara, you may have to sneak eggs just to keep the peace in the family and avoid nagging.

But if you prefer to listen to medical researchers from respected places like Harvard and the Mayo Clinic, the consensus is that for most people eggs pose no great threat to their health. The key, as with many other things in life, is moderation. Moderate egg consumption (defined as one a day) does not increase the risk of heart disease in healthy individuals.

This is not a green light for everyone. People who are not controlling their total cholesterol

or are having trouble with their LDL cholesterol, and diabetics should avoid or go easy on eggs (only the yolk contains cholesterol), at least until they’ve discussed it with their doctor.

While eggs may not be the enemy of health some paint them to be, watch out for their plate mates. An innocent egg might be combined with bacon, sausage or ham, home fries, hash browns and toasted white bread.

Sometimes it isn’t guilt, plain and simple. It’s guilt by association. + — by F. E. Gilliard, MD, Family Medicine 4244 Washington Road, Evans, GA 30809 706-760-7607

MARCH 4, 2016

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

WHAT EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW res? k good eno r skin can ugh cer? son.” o

Sometimes in medicine and in life it’s hard to tell what works and what does not work and what was going to happen regardless of what you did.

For example, when more than one solution is applied to one problem simultaneously, it is difficult to tell which one worked. Or were both required to get the end result?

And sometimes a wholly unorthodox method may seem to work without rational explanation.

I recently saw a movie entitled The Apostle starring Robert Duvall. Duvall plays a fundamentalist preacher who encounters a bad wreck on the highway. He stops, goes out to the wreck, and finds a passenger bleeding profusely. He recites a certain passage from the Bible which is reputed to stop bleeding if done so three times consecutively.

The bleeding stops.

That scene took me back to my childhood. My father castrated one of our calves.

The calf would not stop bleeding. Our neighbor was summoned, who brought his Bible. He examined the calf and then stood to one side and read from the Bible in a k

ABOUT BLEEDING AND BURNING

muted tone. We could not recognize the exact verses.

Within a couple of minutes the bleeding stopped. We were relieved. As an eight-year-old child I did not understand anything of what I had just witnessed.

Much later when I was in medical school, I reminded my mother of the event.

She remembered it clearly.

I asked if she knew the verses. She said she did.

After much urging she taught me the verses. But I was a medical student, soon to be a physician, so I did not mention it to anyone at the Medical College of Georgia. I did not feel that Dr. Shepeard, for whom the local blood bank is named, would appreciate it if your Bible verses negated his need to develop a blood bank.

Recently I had the occasion to have lunch with another physician who has been a family friend for two generations. She related to me that as a 10-year-old, my mother had taught her the verses to control bleeding. This physician was the daughter of another physician.

Once when the younger physician was 12 years old, her physician mother got her

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t s e B out of bed and said, “We must go see a neighbor. They want you to do the verses to stop bleeding because the family does not want to go to the emergency room.” The 12year-old later-to-be physician went to the house and recited the verses from memory.

The bleeding stopped.

I have a great deal of difficulty with these two success stories, one of which I witnessed personally and the second was witnessed by a physician and his daughter who later became physician.

I do not debate the validity of any of these events.

However, I have no explanation for any of this, other than the possibility of miraculous timing. To my knowledge there is not an insurance or Medicare code for reciting Bible verses to save a life by stopping bleeding.

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And certainly no research grant can be obtained from the National Institutes of Health, nor would any drug company finance such a study. It is likely that modern medicine will call this urban legend or mere folklore.

There is another verse that when done in the same manner is said to stop the sensation of burning in a burn victim. I have also seen that work on two occasions, once when performed by a physician in South Georgia who is known to be able to “talk out fire.”

It is commonly accepted that 30 to 40% of the symptoms of most disorders can be attributed to psychological causes and therefore amenable to psychological treatment or faith healing.

Bleeding, however, does not fall into the category of psychological causes.

So the question of the day is:

Bad Billy Laveau is a formerlyretired MD who wields a pointed sense of humor and now, tongue depressors too. He speaks and entertains at events for audiences not subject to cardiac arrest secondary to overwhelming laughter and glee. BadBilly@knology. net or 706-306-9397.

FREE T AKE-H OME C OPY!

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MEDICAL EXAMINER

The Augusta Medical Examiner’s publisher, Daniel Pearson, has continuously published a newspaper in Augusta since 1990, longer than any other publisher in Augusta except the gentleman to the right, publisher of The Augusta Chronicle, “The South’s Oldest Newspaper,” founded in 1785.

We’re still wet behind the ears, but proud to have served Augusta area readers for more than a quarter of a century.

e n i c i d ME

What should you know about all this?

There is no clear-cut answer here. I do know four occasions when it worked. In my limited exposure I have seen no failures. However, try it a thousand times in a row and I’m sure they will be many failures.

In the meantime you should reach your own conclusions.

It might behoove you to go see the movie The Apostle with Robert Duvall. It is a decade or so old, so it can be easily found on Netflix.

And just so you will know, I do not know how to “talk out fire.” I could not find anyone to teach me. I could publish the verses for stopping bleeding, but I promised my mother I would not.

And that, Dear Hearts, I will not violate. +

TM

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AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006

MARCH 4, 2016

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William S. Morris III Founder, chairman and CEO of Morris Communications and publisher of The Augusta Chronicle.

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

MARCH 4, 2016

UNPLUG… from page 1 been ignoring for years (if you have).

• Go for a long walk in a new park or a neighborhood you’ve never explored.

• Detail your car. Words cannot express how deeply satisfying this can be.

• Invite your friends over for a meal, a cup of coffee, board games or cards. (Make sure they know their device isn’t invited.)

• Make a bonfire. Bonus points for baking potatoes in the coals!

• Attend a high school sporting event.

• Go to a bar and play pool or darts or monopolize the jukebox with a million Britney Spears songs.

• Hit up your local bingo hall.

THIS IS SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN YOU THINK. • Simply savor the disconnect.

Read a book of poetry or a novel you bought a while ago but haven’t cracked the cover of yet. Or perhaps you’d like to use the quiet to do some research into a fascinating subject. History? Philosophy?

World geography? It’s your choice. +

you could eat every day until you die.

• Go buy postcards from a local tourist spot and send them to your friends in other cities.

• Give yourself (or pay someone to give you) a ridiculous manicure.

• Go on a photo scavenger hunt. (But with a real camera!

Not your phone/Instagram.)

• Spend some really quality time with your pet. Brushing and petting until they get sick of it.

• Go to your city’s tallest building or vista point at sunset.

• Declutter and happy-fy your home. Get rid of your ex’s t-shirts, those canned beets you’ll never eat, and that Very Important Novel you hated.

• Go to a restaurant that serves food you’ve never had before. Ethiopian! Mongolian barbeque! Cambodian!

• Check out a new class at your gym. Maybe water aerobics!

• Go to a second-run theater and watch a $2 movie.

• Swap out your framed photos and prints for different ones.

• Rediscover the library you’ve

project or a series of books and create clues to find the alternative activities. Spend the afternoon playing together.

• Create a family tree. Take time with your family to discuss your childhood, family history, stories and memories.

Have each member share one memory and fill in their section of the tree. Create a beautiful piece of art that your family could hang for generations.

• Cook favorite family recipes or have a mini-family reunion that’s device-free.

• Organize a family book club.

Pick a book that appeals to everyone in your family. Read it together and discuss over a meal. Have kids create art based on themes from the book.

Even more ideas • Start a giant paint-bynumbers piece to hang above your bed.

• Dig through all those cookbooks you have. Find a new, challenging recipe and make it.

• Make lists: favorite people, yuckiest animals, movies to watch when you’re sad, foods

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MEDICAL EXAMINER recipe feature PAGE 7

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Part One of a series

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16 for ’16

As the end of one year and the beginning of another approaches, it’s a Àtting time to consider ways to start the new year in a better state of mind and body. Each installment of this series, now through February, will offer simple ways to do just that by cutting bad things and adding good things. + #1 DRIVE, BABY, DRIVE When you’re driving, do just that:

COVER!

drive. That might sound obvious, but it is far from the norm.

Look around at your fellow motorists as you travel city streets and interstate highways and you will be amazed by how many drivers are hurtling down the road while looking at a cell phone screen.

Once upon a time, drivers were taught to keep both hands on the wheel at the 10 and 2 positions (comparing the steering wheel to a clock face), but for millions of distracted drivers it’s one hand for the phone, one for the steering wheel. According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University, driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity directly associated with driving by 37 percent. Other studies have established that driving distracted is the equivalent of driving with a blood alcohol level of .08. That’s considered DUI in Georgia (although a fraction of that — .02 — is the limit for drivers under 21 years of age). Experts say there are three main types of distracted driving: Visual (taking your eyes off the road), Manual (taking your hands off the wheel), and Cognitive (taking your mind off driving). Texting while driving — illegal but still common — is especially dangerous because it Please see 16 for ’16 page 13

T

he other day as I walked up to a doctor’s office, I saw two men having a conversation near the building’s front door; a woman with them stood nearby. As I walked past them toward the door, I noticed the woman had a strange look on her face. I wondered briefly if she was what we used to call retarded, or blind, or perhaps both: it’s hard to describe, but she was staring off into the distance in a way that seemed vacant and unseeing, yet also in mild distress. Just after I passed her, I heard the reason for the bizarre look on her face: she unleashed a mega-sneeze. When I glanced at her as I walked past moments before, she was in one of those pre-sneeze trances. Have you ever seen that?

Please see COVER! page 9

HIGHLIGHTS: Baby Barf 101 • Page 10 Bad Billy talks about having kids • Page 5

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The Medical Examiner is always available on your favorite device at ISSUU.COM/MEDICALEXAMINER or at the Medical Examiner blog (www.AugustaRx.com/news) on issue dates. Click directly from any Examiner page directly to websites listed in ads and articles. You can easily view back issues, too. +

Age-adjusted percentage of adults who reported 7 or more hours of sleep per 24-hour period, by state - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, United States, 2014 • 56.1-62.1: (the lowest) Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Indiana, South Carolina, New York, West Virginia, Ohio

Getting Enough Sleep?

Twice a year, the comings and goings of Daylight Savings Time interfere with our sleep. Even without that interruption, 35% of U.S. adults do not get enough sleep. Are you one of those adults?

How much sleep do we need and what can happen when we’re not getting enough?

Sleep is an important part of good health.1 Sleeping less than 7 hours per night is linked to increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and poor mental health, as well as early death. Not getting the recommended amount of sleep can affect your ability to make good decisions and increases the chances of motor vehicle crashes.

According to professional sleep societies, adults aged 18 to 60 years should sleep at least 7 hours each night for the best health and wellness.

How much sleep are we getting?

About 1 in 3 U.S. adults (an estimated 83 million) reported usually sleeping less than 7 hours in a 24-hour period, based on data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey that was done in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. If you are not getting enough sleep, you should make sleep a priority and practice good sleep habits. You should also talk to your healthcare provider about how much sleep you get and any other sleep problems you might have.

Who is at higher risk for not getting enough sleep?

Everyone is at risk of not getting enough sleep, but the risk is higher for shift workers. Shift work— any shift outside normal daylight hours, such as night shift, evening shift, or rotating shift — is more common for some occupations: • Medical professionals (doctors and nurses) • Emergency response workers • Transportation industry workers (truck drivers) • Workers in the manufacturing, hospitality, or retail industries How can you get healthy sleep?

Some habits that can improve your sleep health: • Be consistent. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on the weekends • Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature • Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smart phones, from the bedroom • Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime • Avoid tobacco/nicotine • Get some exercise. Being physically active during the day can + help you fall asleep more easily at night.

— Source: Centers for Disease Control

Read the Examiner — and lots more — online at AugustaRx.com/news

MARCH 4, 2016

7+

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Southern Girls Eat Clean Butternut Squash & Chickpea Curry

A curry of any type will turn my head. I love the flavor of the coconut milk and curry paste combined with the cilantro and spicy red pepper. Vegetable curries tend to be my favorite. Chicken or shrimp can be awesome in a curry as well, but personally.....Who needs meat with all that flavor?

For those of you that might be afraid of coconut milk because of the high fat content, let me give you a few health benefits of coconut milk.

• Easy to digest and even helps heal damage done by IBS or Crohn’s disease.

• A great combination of fats and amino acids. Omega 3, 6 and 9...and protein in this milk is much better for our bodies than all other animal fat and most vegetable fats.

• Aids in lowering blood pressure because of high potassium content.

• Helps reduce inflammation in joints by controlling free radicals in our system.

• Contains phosphorus which Butternut Squash & Chickpea Curry with Brown Rice you need, along with calcium steam. Cook, stirring often until • 1 can of coconut milk (Thai for strong bones. has squash has softened but Kitchen brand) Along with the benefits of still a bit firm...adding 1-2 Tbsp.

• 1-1 1/2 cups of filtered water coconut milk this curry adds of water at a time as needed to • 1 Tbsp. of organic brown another protein with the prevent sticking. sugar chickpeas and all the vitamins Add snow peas to pan as • 3/4 of a container of organic and nutrients from butternut well as the chick peas, and stir squash, spinach and snow peas. baby spinach to mix with other ingredients.

• 1 cup of organic snow peas, You can’t go wrong with this Cook for approximately 3-5 ends trimmed and cut in half curry recipe if you want an minutes stirring often.

• 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper amazingly nutritious meal that Reduce heat to low and add is full of flavor. It is very easy to • Sea salt and cracked black coconut milk, the remaining pepper. Approximately 1/2 tsp. prepare because you don’t have water, brown sugar and of each. to roast the butternut squash crushed red pepper and stir ahead of time. The curry and well.

Allow to simmer for 3 rice is an awesome left over dish Instructions: minutes.

Cook brown rice according to for lunch the next day too.

Add spinach and cilantro to I hope you’ll give this recipe a the package directions, either on the saute pan and toss lightly to the stove top or in a rice cooker try! Enjoy! coat with coconut milk mixture then set aside. and other veggies.

In a large saute pan, heat Ingredients: Add salt and pepper to taste coconut oil over medium to • 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil and simmer on low for 5-8 high heat.

• 1 yellow onion, chopped minutes.

Place onions in the pan and • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed Serve immediately over short • 3-4 cups of cooked short grain cook until softened slightly. grain brown rice. + Add garlic, and curry paste and brown rice stir to mix with onions.

• 1 medium butternut squash, Alisa Rhinehart is half of the blog Add about 2 Tbsp. of the seeds removed, peeled and southerngirlseatclean. water and place the butternut chopped into 1 inch pieces com She is a working squash into the pan and stir to • 1 can of organic chick peas, wife and mother living drained and rinsed (I used Eden coat with the other ingredients. in Evans, Georgia.

Reduce heat and lay a piece organic brand) Visit her blog for • 2 Tbsp. of green curry paste (I of foil lightly over the pan, more recipes and allowing butternut squash to used Thai Kitchen brand) information on clean eating.

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OUR NEWSSTANDS Medical locations: • Children’s Hospital of Georgia, Harper Street, Main Lobby • Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Ctr, 15th St., Main Entrance • Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Uptown Div., Wrightsboro Rd., main lobby • Doctors Hospital, 3651 Wheeler Rd, ER Lobby Entrance • Eisenhower Hospital, Main Lobby, Fort Gordon • George C. Wilson Drive (by medical center Waffle House and mail boxes) • Augusta U. Hospital, 1120 15th Street, South & West Entrances • Augusta U. Medical Office Building, Harper Street, Main Entrance • Augusta U. Medical Office Building, Harper Street, Parking Deck entrance • Augusta U. Hospital, Emergency Room, Harper Street, Main Entrance • Augusta U., Laney-Walker Boulevard transit stop, Augusta • Select Specialty Hospital, Walton Way, Main entrance lobby • Trinity Hospital, Wrightsboro Road, main lobby by elevators • Trinity Hospital Home Health, Daniel Village, main lobby • University Health Federal Credit Union/ University Hospital Human Resources, 1402 Walton Way, Main Lobby • University Hospital, 1350 Walton Way, Emergency Room lobby area • University Hospital, 1350 Walton Way, Outside Brown & Radiology/Day Surgery • University Hospital - Columbia County, 465 N. Belair Road, Main Lobby • University Hospital Prompt Care, 3121 Peach Orchard Road, Augusta

Around town: • Barney’s Pharmacy, 2604 Peach Orchard Rd. • Birth Control Source, 1944 Walton Way • GRU Summerville Student Bookstore • Blue Sky Kitchen, 990 Broad Street • Columbia County Library, main branch lobby, Ronald Reagan Drive, Evans • Enterprise Mill (North Tower), 1450 Greene Street, Augusta • Daniel Village Barber Shop, Wrightsboro Road at Ohio Ave. • Hartley’s Uniforms, 1010 Druid Park Ave, Augusta • International Uniforms, 1216 Broad Street, Augusta • Marshall Family Y, Belair Rd, Evans • Mellow Mushroom, 12th and Broad Streets, Augusta • Parks Pharmacy, Georgia Avenue, North Augusta • Southside Family Y, Tobacco Road, Augusta • Surrey Center, Surrey Center Pharmacy, Highland Avenue, Augusta • Top-Notch Car Wash, 512 N. Belair Road, Evans • Wild Wing Cafe, 3035 Washington Road, Augusta

Plus... 800+ doctors offices throughout the area for staff and waiting rooms, as well as many nurses stations and waiting rooms of area hospitals.

MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Very little if anything about healthcare is inexpensive, and that includes medicine. Tiny pills can command large prices. Over-the-counter medications may be less expensive, but are they also less effective? Find the answers to lots of your drug store questions in this column written by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson exclusively for the Medical Examiner.

WHICH BRAND OF VITAMINS SHOULD I BUY? As we talked about last issue, not all manufacturers of vitamins and supplements are the same. Some are better quality than others and the price is not always the piece of information that tells the story. So do your research and try to pick a good quality brand for your vitamins and supplements.

The FDA has recently been cracking down on supplement manufacturers. They have shut down numerous companies for failing to comply with good manufacturing practices.

To keep from falling prey to the next company in line for federal action use good judgement and choose wisely. To help facilitate this there are a couple of subscription websites you can use to choose your manufacturer. These are Consumer Lab and Consumer Reports. Research into a vitamin company itself through these consumer protection websites is a good method to ensure that the brand you spend your money on is a good investment.Another website to look to for help in choosing a manufacturer is usp.org and it is a free website. The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is an independent organization that sets the standards for the purity of products. The FDA then enforces these standards, while the USP awards the USP seal to manufacturers whose products have been tested and confirmed to be in compliance with its standards.

While these websites can help you choose a reputable manufacturer, there is more research to do before starting a vitamin or supplement program. These websites measure the quality of a product not its safety or effectiveness. Everyone should check with their physician about whether

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a particular supplement is appropriate to take. Even though vitamins and supplements are over-the-counter and do not require a prescription, you should still be cautious and verify that any given supplement will be safe for you. Vitamins and supplements can have side effects and drug interactions, so make sure that your doctor has a complete list of all medicines and over-the-counter items that you are taking. Also include all medical conditions you may have so that your complete medical history is present in one place.

Let’s finish with a quick thought about how to determine if a store brand is appropriate.

Store brands are often made by other manufacturers and simply labeled with a private brand label. The individual items of a given store brand may be made by different companies, so checking the original manufacturer may be difficult. Try to search online for the information and to determine if the given brand has a history of problems. Don’t rule out all store brands as being inferior just because a news report comes out about one store label.

I hope this helped point you in the right direction and will help you choose the vitamin or supplement that is right for you. Finally, however, remember that a nutritious and well-balanced diet is for most of us a far better option than taking vitamins or supplements. + Written for the Medical Examiner by Augusta pharmacists Chris and Lee Davidson Questions, comments and article suggestions can be sent by email to cjdlpdrph@bellsouth.net

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MARCH 4, 2016

Ask a Dietitian WHAT A DIETITIAN CAN DO FOR YOU

by Jeanne Lee, RDN, LD Augusta District Dietetic Association All of us read or see things in the media about foods that we should or should never eat and wonder if there is any truth behind those statements.

How does anyone know if any of those foods would be harmful or beneficial to them personally?

Since March is National Nutrition Month I think that question comes at the perfect time to remind readers that we are fortunate in the Augusta area to have more than 75 Registered Dietitians who can help answer your questions about food, nutrition and diet claims.

The Augusta District Dietetic Association and the Augusta Area Dietetic Internship have nutrition experts ready to answer your questions in this column or the “Don’t Lick the Beaters” column each month.

Feel free to write in using the email addresses in the box on page 3 of every Medical Examiner.

Here are just a few of the benefits of working with a registered dietitian or registered dietitian nutritionist explained in an article by Karen Ansel on the eatright.org web site: The highest level of nutrition counseling Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, but only a registered dietitian (RD) or registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) has completed multiple layers of education and training established by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree, an RD or RDN must fulfill a specially designed, accredited nutrition curriculum, complete an extensive supervised program of practice at a health care facility, food service organization or community agency, and pass a rigorous registration exam. What’s more, roughly half of all RDs and RDNs hold graduate degrees, and many have certifications in specialized fields, such as sports, pediatric, renal, oncology or gerontological nutrition.

9+

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Personally tailored advice When you see an RD or RDN, the last thing you’ll get is one-size-fits-all diet advice. “A dietitian is like an investigator seeking to learn about your current and desired state of health,” says one expert. “At your initial visit, expect to do a lot of talking while the dietitian does a lot of listening.” After learning about your health history, favorite foods, eating and exercise habits, an RD or RDN will help you set goals and prioritize. Follow-up visits will focus on maintenance and monitoring your progress.

Help managing chronic diseases If you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer it can be hard to

know what to eat. “An RD [or RDN] can review your lab results with you, help you understand your condition and provide education about the nutrients that affect it,” says Angela Ginn, RDN. “Then, he or she will help you create an eating plan that includes all the important nutrients that can help you manage your condition.”

Guidance navigating food allergies, sensitivities and intolerances When you suffer from conditions such as celiac disease, food allergies or lactose intolerance, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by what you think you can’t eat. That can translate into a boring diet and may even lead to nutrient deficiencies. An RD or RDN can teach you how to read food labels so you’ll know which ingredients to avoid and a help you find substitutions to keep your diet balanced and tasty, too.

A weight loss program that really works Fad diets may sound like the quick ticket to weight loss, but they rarely work for very long. A registered dietitian or registered dietitian nutritionist will partner with you to develop a safe, effective weight loss plan that you can stick with for the long haul. To guide and motivate you, an RD or RDN will use creative and out-of-the-box strategies to help with meal planning, grocery shopping, food journaling and mindful eating.

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MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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Does your dog have, well, dog breath? That can be hard to deal with, especially if your dog likes curling up on your lap.

But no need to worry; here are some home remedies for curing dog breath courtesy of The Dogington Post: 1. Ask your veterinarian for help.

Sometimes a dog’s bad breath can be a symptom of disease.

Your vet can also clean your dog’s teeth, which might be a good option for older dogs.

Plain unsweetened yogurt can help a dog’s digestion, since most digestion-related illness result in bad breath as a sideeffect.

2. Brush your dog’s teeth regularly Oral hygiene isn’t just for humans; it’s for animals too, and that includes dogs. They get cavities like us. Don’t use human toothpaste or baking soda. Instead, use veterinary toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush.

There are also nubby-surfaced rubber caps available for dogs.

Start gradually, first in small amounts of toothpaste then in medium ones. Brushing 2-3 times a week should do the trick, and this frequency should be maintained.

dogs given a small chew treat can swallow it whole and cause choking. Small dogs given a big treat can cause muscle strain. Don’t forget senior dogs whose teeth aren’t very strong anymore, and should be given softer treats than normal ones.

Give these to your dog under supervision, especially when trying a new kind to avoid possible choking.

4. Pick the right food for your dog.

Dry foods are less likely to cause bad breath than wet food, particularly those without corn. This is because corn is considered a wet food. If you still can’t avoid canned food, then balance the two, but gradually switch to more dry.

Avoid feeding human food and table scraps to your dog.

5. Give your dog fresh parsley.

Get some from the supermarket, finely chop it up, and sprinkle on your dog’s food.

6. Try dog breath sprays.

Usual ones have peppermint flavors and many are antibacterial to freshen up your dog’s breath.

7. Always keep fresh water in your dog’s bowl.

Usually, bad breath comes from bacteria, and if the bowl is kept clean, your dog’s breath may not smell.

There are also products in the market that can be added to his drinking bowl to help prevent bad breath.

8. Examine your pet’s teeth.

Sometimes there are bits of food stuck in his teeth and over time could be the source of bad breath. If these can’t be removed by brushing, head to the vet for a cleanup.

Hopefully these home remedies will help your dog’s breath to freshen up so you can now enjoy being near your dog without that awful odor! +

3. Give your dog some chew treats You’ll find a wide selection of these at the local pet store.

Pick the right one for your dog, depending on the dog’s size. Big

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MARCH 4, 2016

11 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

From the Bookshelf The blog spot — Posted by Greg Shumer, MD, on Feb. 26, 2016 at kevinmd.com

I QUIT. THEN I UNQUIT. When I was young, I wanted to quit everything I tried. It happened first at age 5. Tears welled in my eyes when I was unable to kick the ball correctly during my second soccer practice. The coach tried to help me, but the ball just wouldn’t go where I wanted it to. I was a stubborn child, and on this occasion, I stomped off the field after practice and cried all the way home. I told my mom I was never going to play soccer again. I took a pen and stabbed holes in my jersey to prove the strength of my 5-year-old will.

The next day, my mom and dad sat with me during breakfast, and calmly told me that despite my wishes, I was not going to quit soccer — they wouldn’t let me.

I was still angry, and I fought back. In the end, we agreed to a compromise: that I would finish the season, but afterwards, if I didn’t want to play anymore, I could stop. By the end of the season, I loved soccer. I continue to play today in adult leagues.

It happened again when I was 11, this time during summer camp. It was my first experience spending a significant amount of time away from home. By day three, I was homesick and miserable. The other kids were too loud at night, and I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t like the food. The activities were boring. I wrote my parents every day, begging them to come pick me up. Again, my parents pushed back, reminding me that just a few weeks earlier I had begged them to go to camp in the first place and that I must finish my commitment.

In medical school, it very nearly happened again, this time threatening to end my medical career before it got started. I took a year off before starting medical school, working as an English teacher in Japan. Not only was it difficult for me to transition back into the role of student, but I wasn’t prepared for the difference in intensity and volume of medical school work compared with undergrad. After three months of courses in anatomy and biochemistry, I was performing poorly and not putting in the time needed to succeed. I began feeling more and more overwhelmed, and those old tendencies that I had as a child started to creep in.

Maybe this isn’t for me, I remember thinking. I was so much happier in Japan, so much more carefree! Maybe I should quit medical school and go back. I could get another job as a teacher.

I thought back to the childhood lessons on the importance of perseverance. Instead of giving up, I decided instead to dig in and work harder, because I remembered why I entered medical school in the first place: my dream of becoming a primary care physician. I spent more time in the library. I joined study groups. I did extra practice problems and took more thorough notes. Better results came almost immediately. My scores improved, as did my mood. Now, nearly seven years later, I am so relieved that I stuck with it. I am enjoying my final year of residency, and I’m excited about my future career as a family medicine doctor.

Medical training is hard, no doubt about it. The hours are long, and the job can be demanding and stressful. Although burnout and stress are sometimes unavoidable, my advice from personal experience is to try to keep those feelings at bay when you see them approaching. If the stress becomes too much and threatens to overtake you, think twice before giving up. Maybe what’s needed is some personal time, a change of direction, or a conversation with someone you trust and admire as a mentor.

For me, what was needed during that first year of medical school was a long look in the mirror and a greater commitment to my long-term goals. I’m not sure I would have made the same decision without some timely lessons throughout my childhood.

Thank you, mom and dad! +

Timely lessons during childhood paid off.

Author Sherry Turkle has made something of a career out of our page 1 topic. One of her previous books, a 2012 volume, was entitled Alone Together, in which the MIT scholar noted that our relentless connections have paradoxically led us into solitude and isolation. As its subtitle puts it, we expect more from technology and less from each other.

This book explores the subject again as society’s (that means us, you and me) addiction grows deeper.

As it turns out, conversationalists seem to be destined for the endangered species list.

We have all seen the evidence: the briefest lull in conversation at work, at lunch, at the family dinner table or even a candle-lit restaurant sends people to their phones for texting, checking their email, or posting Twitter and Facebook updates.

“I only do that when I’m bored,” someone might offer in their defense. But Turkle counters that we get bored at the drop of a hat these days because we have become

accustomed to a constant flow of “connection, information, and entertainment. We are forever elsewhere.” We pay attention to our immediate environment if it interests us, and the second it doesn’t we’re gone, in mind if not in body, disconnected here but connected out there somewhere.

“Relax, I talk all the time and so do my friends,” counters a skeptic. Good for you. But sociologists increasingly note the many ways we seek to actively avoid conversations, preferring to hide behind a screen. To

illustrate, there was a time when to be sent to someone’s answering machine was an annoyance; now we’re annoyed when we’re told someone does not have an answering machine.

Conversation, as Turkle points out, is a uniquely human capability that builds empathy and understanding with others, and which ironically requires contemplation and selfreflection. By contrast, screen communication is often simplistic, brief and onedimensional. 3-D friendships reflect the same cardboard cut-out dimensions Solitude, once the perfect opportunity for daydreaming and imagination-building in children, is consumed by screen time.

But it isn’t all doom and gloom. “Once aware, we can begin to rethink our practices.”

She writes of this problem with optimism. + Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in the Digital Age

by Sherry Turkle; 448 pages, published by Penguin Press in 2015

Research News The apocalypse is upon us?

Last week a New York Times food column made waves by citing data from an August 2015 survey of more than 1,900 U.S. Internet users 18 and older about their cereal eating habits.

Participants were asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements, one of which was, “Cereal is inconvenient because I have to clean dishes after preparing it.”

Thirty-nine percent of the responding millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000) agreed.

Naturally, that got headlines.

It was tailor-made for easy pot shots about laziness and the decline of the work ethic. If rinsing out a bowl — a 10second job — before putting it into an automatic dishwasher is too much work, then abandon hope all ye who enter here.

Not so fast, say some in the second wave of commentary.

The article noted that cereal sales have been steadily dropping, losing about a quarter of their market share of just five years ago. Apparently

laziness isn’t the only factor.

There is also a trend toward carb reduction and avoidance, as well as a drive toward more convenient breakfast foods that can be eaten one-handed, as in while driving.

That is not laziness: it takes effort to hold food, steer, and operate a cell phone all at the same time.

doctors are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and don’t always have ways to download or use the data efficiently or effectively.

By identifying the problem, Washington researchers say the next step for research, at least in this specific subject, is designing ways to make the data more accessible to physicians.

Fitbit overload It’s great that many people today are tracking every move they make, every step they take, and every morsel of food they eat.

Just don’t expect your doctor to be able to use all the information, or maybe any of it.

A University of Washington study released on Feb. 29 points out that many devices and apps minutely track extraneous information or summarize relevant data in ways that’s not readily digestible for healthcare providers, or that might not be relevant to the specific issue that brought the patient in to see their doctor. Even if that’s not the issue, the study found that

Cancer discovery UNC pharmacy researchers in Chapel Hill say they have devised a way to turn skin cells into cancer-hunting stem cells whose mission in life is to destroy brain tumors known as glioblastomas.

If confirmed, the breakthrough would represent the first new treatment for the disease in 30 years.

Skin cells called fibroblasts are reprogrammed to find and attack cancer cells, and the hope is that they can also be engineered to produce a tumorkilling protein.

The research was reported Feb. 24 in Nature Communications. +

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MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE EXAMiNERS +

by Dan Pearson

How did your I’m going to need your doctor help. Can you watch appointment go? my kids for a while?

No problem.

How long?

Probably a couple of weeks. At least.

What???

Why?

My new medicine says “Keep away from children.”

The Mystery Word for this issue: NEIGHSSL

© 2016 Daniel Pearson All rights reserved.

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

14

15

16

17

18

19

11

12

All Mystery Word finders will be eligible to win by random drawing.

We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

VISIT WWW.AUGUSTARX.COM Click on “READER CONTESTS”

QUOTATION PUZZLE R M E I N P A H T R

E E Y U S E T E N A S D E E P T R I M A L I N S V L R R U R P E L P U H D

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2016 All rights reserved

— Oscar Wilde

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.

6 2 5

S

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

U D O K U

E7

X A M I N E R

9 6

5

6

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2016 All rights reserved. Built with software from www.crauswords.com

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

N 1 2 3 4 5

U 1 2 3 4 5

Y 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 ’ 1 2 3 4

1 2

I 1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4

1

2

O 3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

2

3

S 1 2

1 2 3 4 5

1.AIAITWWIBBKDN 2.DRYDEESHHONIN 3.CIVITGESNOO 4.UTOOWHEAT 5.ATTEUR 6.NS 7.ED 8.E 9.R 10.S

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

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2016 All rights reserved

BY

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

13

20 21 22 23 ACROSS 1. Shoe from a popular brand 24 25 26 27 5. Muslim holy war against 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 unbelievers 36 37 38 39 10. Hurt 14. Skin 40 41 42 43 15. Wolfpack leader 44 45 46 16. Word of sorrow and regret 47 48 49 50 51 52 17. Enrollment intro?

18. Small letter embellishment 53 54 55 19. Tear apart 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 20. ________-pub 22. Field official, in brief 65 66 67 68 23. Tent stakes 69 70 71 24. Specialized M.D. 72 73 74 26. Lymph follower 28. Death of major cell groups

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2016 All rights reserved. Built in part with software from www.crauswords.com 32. Stem from 36. Lyric poem harvest 30. Tree of note in Lebanon 37. Most cruel, said T.S. Eliot 74. Seaward 31. Sudden spate of activity 39. Fictional diner owner 33. Louvre pyramid architect 40. Talks prefix DOWN 34. Strict vegetarian 41. Netanyahu, for example 1. Its acronym used to be CMC 35. Overjoy 43. ____ Tour 2. All My Children alumna 38. Walton _______ 44. Nashville awards show 3. Lyric poems 41. Islamic terror org.

45. Buckler beginning 4. Tallest Hawk?

42. Synonym of 29-D 46. ___-in 5. It introduces 27-D 48. Enlarge; widen 47. Davis of note in these parts 6. We have a tree named for him 50. Glascock County (GA) seat 49. Time, for instance 7. Deutsch man 51. Malt beverage 53. Small dot of land 8. Extraterrestrial 52. Room for women’s seclusion 55. Liver fluid 9. Yellow flower (in India or Iran) 56. Word with steel or pepper 10. Medical district street 54. Art supporter 59. Kind of coat 11. On sheltered side 56. Medical guinea pigs?

61. Tumor type 12. Tolled 57. Image of a deity 65. Notion 13. Chemical safety sheets 58. Sometimes it’s more 66. Small dots of land 21. Ransom Olds’ car brand 60. Democratic state adjective 68. Operatic solo launched in 1905 62. Colored part of the eye 69. Effective lead-in 25. Betty Cantrell wears one 63. Deride; taunt 70. Nervous prefix 27. It follows 5-D 64. Agency estab. by DDE in ‘58 71. Pen points 28. Jugular _____ (anatomical 67. It was 3.16 for Maddux’ 72. Instead; besides landmark) career 73. Gather leftovers after 29. Synonym of 42-D Solution p. 14

WORDS NUMBER

THE MYSTERY WORD

MARCH 4, 2016

13 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE BEST MEDICINE ha... ha...

What do you call a pessimistic horse?

A neigh-sayer.

What do you call a chicken at the North Pole?

Lost.

What’s the difference between Bird flu and swine flu?

For one you get tweetment and the other you get oinkment.

A

very sick old man was lying on his deathbed. His doctor, one of the few who still make house calls, had just left after telling the man he probably had mere hours left to live.

As he lay there reflecting on his life, he smelled a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen: his favorite cookies, chocolate chip.

Summoning up all the will and energy he could muster, he dragged himself out of bed and slowly crawled down the hallway to the kitchen.

He sat down at the table, exhausted, and reached for a cookie. Just then his wife popped his hand with a wooden spoon.

“Don’t touch those! They’re for your funeral!”

Moe: Did you hear the sad news?

Joe: No, what?

Moe: The guy who invented AutoCorrect died.

Joe: That’s too bad. When is the funeral?

Moe: Saturated.

What are caterpillars afraid of?

Dogerpillars.

What do you call a school with no colors?

A greyed school.

Serving the Medical, Dental and Education Communities since 1976 Visit us at any of our 5 locations or at www.hccu.coop 706-434-1600

What does Geronimo say when he jumps out of an airplane?

“Meeeeeeeeeeee!”

A dad asks his son, “What has four legs but isn’t alive?”

The son says, “Nice try, dad. A chair.”

“Not this time, son. Fido is dead.”

A televangelist, a rabbi and a Hindu were traveling together. They came across a farm and asked to spend the night there. The farmer said, “I only have room for two, so someone will have to sleep in the barn.”

The Hindu volunteered, but moments later there was a knock on the door. The Hindu said, “There is a cow in the barn. I can’t sleep on sacred ground.”

“I will go,” said the rabbi. Moments later there was a knock on the door. “I’m sorry, but I can’t sleep with a pig. They are not kosher.”

So the televangelist goes out to the barn.

Moments later, there was another knock on the door.

It was the pig and the cow. +

Why subscribe to the Medical Examiner?

Don’t feel like kissing your money goodbye?

The Medical Examiner offers advertisers a focused, specific, targeted audience. If your marketing program values quality over quantity, the Examiner is just what the doctor ordered..

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

Call today!

CALL 706-860-5455

+ +

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER 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

TO OUR READERS AND OUR ADVERTISERS, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.

+ 14

MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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

...very cleverly hidden (under the wing) in the p. 7 ad for DANIEL VILLAGE BARBER SHOP Congratulations to SAM JOHNSON, who scores a coveted Scrubs of Evans gift card, 2 movie passes courtesy of Health Center Credit Union, and a $20 Wild Wing Cafe gift certificate. Want to find your name here next issue? The new Mystery Word is on page 12.

Start looking!

The Celebrated MYSTERY WORD CONTEST ...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. 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.

EXAMINER CLASSIFIEDS HOMES, APARTMENTS, ROOMMATES, LAND, ETC.

SERVICES

HILTON HEAD For sale: Hilton Head oceanfront timeshare, 2 bdrm, 2 bath, first week of March. $790 OBO. More info: (706) 738-2292

HOUSE CLEANING Your house, apartment, rental move-outs. Thorough, dependable.

Weekly, or whatever schedule you prefer.

References. 706-267-9947

WANTED Room / roommate on The Hill, downtown, Martinez, West Augusta, or North Augusta. I can pay $100 - 150 per week or $400 - 600 per month. I’m a clean, trustworthy, business oriented, 52 yr old, social drinking, single male. You can CALL me between 11:00 am - 11:00 pm @ (706) 251-5554 I will pay a $20 - 50 referral if you know of someone looking for a good roommate or already has a place and I move in. Thanks.

BIBLE BY PHONE - Free daily Bible readings; for Spiritual Encouragement and Growth. Call 706-855-WORD (9673)

POND VIEW! Evans all-brick 2-story with solar panels. Avg. electric bill $170 in Northwood, 3,400 sqft. Call 1-800401-0257, ext. 0043 24/7 for price and details.

ELIPITICAL IN EXCELLENT CONDITION Asking $75.00. Please call 706-306-4666

AUGUSTAGAHOMESEARCH.COM Foreclosures • MLS • Builders • Rentals (706) 564-5885 HOUSEBOAT FOR SALE Tradewinds Marina, 30 minutes from Augusta. Live at the lake - or have a second home there with NO grass to mow!

Recently upgraded. $65,000 Text me at (803) 640-9732 for pics

F. E. GILLIARD, MD FAMILY MEDICINE Acute & Chronic Illnesses Occupational Medicine PROMPT APPOINTMENTS 706-760-7607

MISCELLANEOUS

SUNSET MEMORIAL GARDENS Opening and closing at Sunset Mem. Gardens in Graniteville. Sale: $760 (Value: $1520+) Call 706-736-0596

cellent condition. $300. Double bed early 1930s with mattress spring coverlet shams $150. Call (706) 860-2170 WANT TO BE HEALTHY? (Energy, weight loss, mental clarity) Go to gethealthyat.le-vel.com See video and Facebook. Sign free as customer.

BEING PAID WHAT YOU ARE WORTH? Then make more money! Watch movie all out interview: ExtraMoneyInterview.net CEMETERY SPACES (2) Sunset Memorial Gardens, Graniteville SC adjacent to lighted military flagstaff, includes granite bench with urn space, installation and inscription.

All $4700 ($8600 value). Spaces only: $2700. Call (803) 295-3033 FISHING CLUB wants more grey-haired members. Meet 2nd Thurs of month at Harbor Inn Restaurant, 12 noon.

“Adventure Before Dementia” Info: (706) 736-8753 or (706) 829-1729 PET CARE in Martinez-Evans area. Dogs to 40 lbs, $9.00. Cats (1-3), $9.00 For interview/information, phone 706-829-1729

KING-SIZED bed frame with rails, dark wood, some surface scratches but overall very good condition. $90 Call 706-3730193 ANTIQUE maple dinette set with buffet corner cabinet table with pull-out leaves.

Four chairs with two captain’s chairs. Ex-

The new scrambled Mystery Word is found on page 12

SENDING US A CLASSIFIED?

THE PUZZLE SOLVED R I P A

USE THE FORM BELOW AND MAIL IT IN, OR GO TO WWW.AUGUSTARX.COM AND PLACE & PAY CONVENIENTLY AND SAFELY ONLINE. THANKS!

WHAT’S YOUR DRUG OF CHOICE?

C H O G N O T C H

E D E M A

Augusta Medical Examiner Classifieds

(OURS IS COFFEE)

M I C E

I D O L

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING FORM Name Address Work number (if applicable) ( ) Home phone ( ) Category of ad (leave blank if unsure):

O D E S

C J I E A K N S E T R O E E N T C R O S I E A D I S R A S W A R D I E I S L E L L L A E A I S S T N E S E G L

H E R R

A L I E N

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

H A R P D E E R L I

A L E E

R A N G

M S D S

I M P E A Z I L E E N I A R N I A S

V E G A N

E L A T E

G I B E

N A S A

SEE PAGE 12

QUOTATION

In case we need to contact you. These numbers will not appear in the ad.

QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION: “The pure and simple truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

AD COPY (one word per line; phone numbers MUST include the area code):

— Oscar Wilde .25

.50

.75

1.00

1.25

1.50

1.75

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

4.25

4.50

4.75

5.00

5.25

5.50

5.75

6.00

6.25

6.50

6.75

7.00

7.25

7.50

7.75

8.00

8.25

8.50

8.75

9.00

The Sudoku Solution

COFFEE IS GOOD MEDICINE

(Copy this form or continue on additional sheet if more space needed.)

Send this form with payment to:

AUGUSTA MEDICAL EXAMINER, PO BOX 397, AUGUSTA, GA 30903-0397 Total ad cost by number of words as shown above: $

VISIT DRUGOFCHOICECOFFEE.COM

Multiply by number of times ad to run: x

3 7 5 8 1 2 4 6 9

9 4 1 3 5 6 8 2 7

8 2 6 7 4 9 3 1 5

4 8 3 1 9 5 2 7 6

1 6 9 2 7 8 5 4 3

7 5 2 4 6 3 1 9 8

6 3 7 5 2 4 9 8 1

2 9 8 6 3 1 7 5 4

5 1 4 9 8 7 6 3 2

WORDS

BY NUMBER “Never argue with an idiot because bystanders don’t know who the idiot is.”

— Mark Twain

Total submitted: $

The Augusta Medical Examiner publishes on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month.

Your ad should reach us no later than 7 days prior to our publication date.

Thanks for reading!

www.AugustaRx.com

MARCH 4, 2016

15 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH

And the thought may very well be, “Seriously???” We’re looking for those things at the market or grocery store that make you think, “What is going on here?”

A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble wrote a long-time column in this paper entitled The Patient’s Perspective that disappeared — temporarily — for reasons you’re about to read. We’re happy to have The Patient’s Perspective — and Marcia Ribble — reincarnated in this new format. Feel free to contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com

by Marcia Ribble As someone with a desire to be more participative in the community, there are some roadblocks in my path. The first is not knowing whether event sites are handicapped accessible.

The second is not knowing how to get to those sites. The third is not knowing about available parking for people with handicaps (this includes how far parking is from the event site). The fourth is the times events are scheduled (many seniors do not feel safe driving after dark). It would be neat if CSRA seniors could receive a booklet with all that information in it.

When listening to the news or reading the newspaper, I often think, gosh that would be fun to do. But then the questions above occur to me, and I decide going to those events is just too difficult to attempt. At that point I usually just stay home and watch TV, which is always accessible without any hassles.

You might wonder why I don’t already know the answers to my questions, and that is a reasonable question if you assume that I have lived here all my life. But I haven’t lived here for very long, coming here only in 2010, and being quite restricted in my movements due to arthritis.

I came here to be with my daughter, but shortly after I arrived, she and the company she worked for moved to Charlotte. So she hasn’t been here to help me find my way around. Such is life, right?

However, knowing that doesn’t fix the problem of lack of familiarity with this city and its suburbs.

Put me in Bay City, Saginaw, and Lansing Michigan where I lived for most of my life, and it

would be a very different story. I’d just hop in the car and go, already knowing the answers to my questions. There I’m familiar with the streets and buildings. Here I can get very lost once I am out of familiar neighborhoods—basically the areas along Belair, Columbia, and Washington roads.

Downtown is a total mystery to me, and other places in the area are the cause of confusion and dismay, even a little panic. The Imperial Theater?

The Kroc Center? The Columbia County Center?

Phinizy Swamp?

Columbia County Fairgrounds? How do I get there? Can I park closely enough that I can walk to the event (walking can be a problem for me). My kids and grandkids all use their GPSs to find places, but I find them very difficult to program and navigate. For me they act more like how-to-get-really-lost machines.

Columbia County has transportation available for seniors, but it only gives rides during certain daytime hours. Forget going places at night when no transportation is available. There is also the problem of the vans they use. They require that people be able to climb up several steps to board them and have a significant drop to the ground from the bottom step when exiting the van.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy living here. On days like today when the news is talking about blizzards and ice storms, it’s nice to be someplace where, if it does dare to snow, the snow melts the next day. It’s hot here in the summer, but at least I’m not freezing in below zero weather! I just want to be able to choose to be more involved in the community as my health continues to improve. +

103 This is how many back issues of the Medical Examiner are available at issuu.com/medicalexaminer

— Froot Loops sent in by Anonymous

Forget that “marshmallows” is splashed across the package. Ignore the fact that the Nutrition Facts label shows almost zero nutritional value that isn’t artificially added (your first clue: everything is exactly 33% or 50% or 100% etc. of the Recommended Daily Allowance). Yes, forget all of that. Instead, let’s focus on the blue box that says this cereal is an excellent source of iron! +

Next time you see something on the grocery store shelf that’s a head-scratcher, whip out your phone, snap a picture and send it to: info@augustarx.com

THANKS IN ADVANCE! Happy shopping!

THERE IS NO “U” IN MEDICAL EXAMINER. AND IF YOUR AD ISN’T ON THESE PAGES, THERE IS NO “YOU” EITHER. LET’S FIX THAT. GIVE US A CALL TODAY! 706.860.5455

+ 16

MARCH 4, 2016

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

+

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY DERMATOLOGY

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

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

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

DIABETES WOUND CARE

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

DENTISTRY Dr. Judson S. Hickey Periodontist 2315-B Central Ave Augusta 30904 706-739-0071

Aiyan Diabetes Center “A Comprehensive Diabetes Clinic” Dr. Janaki Nadarajah, DPM 706-868-0319 462 Furys Ferry Road

Floss ‘em or lose ‘em!

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

Steppingstones to Recovery 2610 Commons Blvd.

Augusta 30909 706-733-1935

YOUR LISTING HERE

This could be yyou.

Use the handy form on page 13

Augusta Gardens Senior Living Community 3725 Wheeler Road Augusta 30909 SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY 706-868-6500 www.augustagardenscommunity.com

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

Cornerstone Compassion Center 420 Warren Road Augusta 30907 706-228-5359 or 706-394-6518 Assisted Living • Personal Care

OPHTHALMOLOGY Roger M. Smith, M.D. 820 St. Sebastian Way Suite 5-A Augusta 30901 706-724-3339

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

PHARMACY

VEIN CARE

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

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

WEIGHT LOSS

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 tens of thousands of patients every month. Call the number in the yellow bar below, or write to Dan@AugustaRx.com

CALLING ALL M.D.S!

SENIOR LIVING

F. E. Gilliard MD, Family Medicine 4244 Washington Road Evans, GA 30809 706-760-7607 Industrial Medicine • Prompt appts.

Medical Center West Pharmacy 465 North Belair Road Evans 30809 706-854-2424 www.medicalcenterwestpharmacy.com

DRUG REHAB

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

The Medical Examiner can be delivered right to your door!

FAMILY MEDICINE

Medical Weight & Wellness Specialists of Augusta Maycie Elchoufi, MD 108 SRP Drive, Suite B Evans 30809 • 706-829-9906 YourWeightLossDoctor.com

SUPPORT YOUR PRACTICE - AND THE MEDICAL EXAMINER A simple listing in the Professional Directory is less than $100 for six months or less than $200 for an entire year, and puts your contact information in front of 30,000 readers a month.

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