Oct20 17 by Daniel Pearson

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Hair is everywhere. Humans are covered with the stuff, head to toe. The average person has 5 million hair follicles, and only about 100,000, give or take, are on the scalp. The other 4,900,000 can be found everywhere except the palms of our hands and the soles of our feet. Hair is a super-complex topic in many ways. Socially, hair can tell us a lot: that a person is old, that he or she is a rebel or non-conformist, or it can be an indicator of poor or vibrant health. It might suggest a person’s political or religious views, and shaving the head can be a form of punishment or a sign of induction into or membership in a group. Hair is no less complex biologically. It comes in a variety of different colors and consistencies and textures. While we might imagine that a strand of hair is just a long, plain, skinny cylinder, it’s a lot more complex than that. Each individual hair, if you looked at it under a powerful microscope, has an inner core called the medulla. Surrounding it is the cortex, and they are both encased in the outer layer, which is called the cuticle. There is actually a lot more to each and every hair, but those are the three main component. Check out the graphic (right). In short, if someone showed you a cross-section of a human hair and asked you what you’re

looking at, you might guess that it’s a human cell. It is that complex (see p. 10). And we haven’t even mentioned conditioners yet! There are different types of hair growing on various body parts and even different stages of hair growth and production in the womb: “vellus” hair replaces “lanugo” hair on a growing fetus after about 36 to 40 weeks of gestation. But we’re just getting started. The IHSS (Individual Hair Support System, a term we just made up) is almost mind-boggling. It’s out of sight beneath the skin and therefore out of mind, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. Each strand of hair is born in a follicle below the skin’s surface. The support system includes nerves, blood supply, oil or sebaceous glands, and even tiny muscles called arrector pili attached to each hair. When you’re scared or cold and the hair on your arms or the back of your neck “stands up,” they’re being pulled up by the arrector pili. You’ve got questions What function does hair serve? Why is it straight or curly? What makes hair change its texture during and after pregnancy or chemotherapy? Why does it fall out? Please see HAIR page 10

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

OCTOBER 20, 2017

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

DIABETES & PREGNANCY Let’s talk about diabetes during pregnancy, and why it could potentially be an even less sweet of a deal for the baby than for mom to be exposed to chronically elevated blood sugar levels. First of all, let’s clarify the subtypes of diabetes during pregnancy. A woman could have pre-existing diabetes - either type 1 or type 2 - before getting pregnant, which means the baby can be affected the entire 9 months it grows in her womb. A mother could also develop diabetes during pregnancy, called gestational diabetes, that frequently resolves once she delivers. Gestational diabetes tends to develop in the middle of pregnancy, meaning the first few months of a growing baby’s life are not affected by high blood sugar in mom. Is there a difference in the types of diabetes, and does diabetes in general hurt the baby? The answers to both questions are yes, and the differences in diabetes types can have different impacts on baby. Gestational diabetes is associated with lower risks to the developing fetus simply because it doesn’t affect the whole pregnancy. Having uncontrolled type 1 or type 2 diabetes before getting pregnant, and failing to get blood sugar under control once pregnant, can have significant consequences. The chronically high blood sugar can affect the developing organs and baby from the beginning. This is primarily how birth defects, miscarriages, and still births can occur in infants born to diabetic moms. Because high blood sugar in mom stimulates excessive insulin secretion in her baby, affected babies will also usually grow very large in size (termed macrosomia) and may be require delivery via C-section. Vaginally-delivered babies of diabetic moms that are macrosomic are at risk for “getting stuck” and having things such as shoulder dislocation occur in their exit out of the birth canal. Once a baby of a diabetic mom is born, the risks of having low blood sugar (secondary to excess insulin secretion) are higher, and the baby can develop hypoglycemia with associated complications (worst-case scenario being seizures). All of these complications can be fairly well-avoided with adequate blood sugar control before and during pregnancy. If a woman has pre-existing diabetes and knows she could potentially become pregnant, controlling her blood sugar can do wonderful things for both her health and her baby’s health. The same applies for women who develop diabetes during pregnancy. And as always, however, a woman should always follow the individualized recommendations of her own physician to best manage her health. +

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OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The

PROFILES IN MEDICINE

Advice Doctor

presented by Queensborough National Bank & Trust Co.

FAMILY DOCTOR This world-renowned Augusta doctor was not a primary care physician; he didn’t treat generations of families from the cradle to the grave. He wasn’t that kind of family doctor. He was a doctor whose family name is known everywhere, literally from Augusta to China and back again. That name is Sydenstricker. Sound vaguely familiar? Perhaps you recall that the modern-looking part of the Augusta University medical center on Harper Street at 15th facing the Downtown VA is known as the Sydenstricker Wing, opened in 1976 in honor and remembrance of Virgil P. Sydenstricker (shown). Born in Missouri in 1889, Sydenstricker earned his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1915 after receiving pre-med degrees from Washington and Lee University. After serving his internship at Johns Hopkins, he completed his residency at University Hospital here in Augusta from 1919 to 1920; was appointed an instructor in medicine at what became the

Medical College of Georgia in 1920; became a full Professor of Medicine there in 1922; and that same year became Chairman of the Department of Medicine, a position he was to hold until 1957 when he reached mandatory retirement age. After that he moved across the street and served as Chief of Medicine at the VA until his death in 1964, in addition to serving MCG as Professor Emeritus. Those are the bare bones. What Virgil Sydenstricker accomplished between 1920 and 1957 was remarkable. It changed the world in ways younger readers might have a hard time understanding.

One of the main subjects of research for Dr. Sydenstricker was pellagra, a disease which isn’t exactly a household word in 2017. But in 1930 more than 200,000 Americans were suffering from it resulting in upwards of 10,000 deaths per year, particularly in the South. As Sydenstricker noted in a paper presented at a New York City symposium on human nutrition in 1958, “The disease had truly become everybody’s business.” Of course, by 1958 pellagra was no longer a serious public health threat, and Sydenstricker’s research was one of the reasons why. Another noted pellagra research pioneer was Joseph Goldberger, whose research in the South established something that had long been hidden: the link between diet and pellagra. But Goldberger died in 1929 before discovering which specific nutritional deficiency caused pellagra. That link was niacin, and Sydenstricker’s fi rst paper on the link between niacin deficiency and pellagra was Please see PROFILES page 6

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, What is wrong with people? I never thought I would see the day when crazy things and crazy people and crazy actions would dominate the news day after day after day after day. Like the song said, “People are strange,” but it seems like they’re getting stranger. I realize everyone is entitled to their opinions even if I don’t happen to agree with them, but I don’t like all these nuts. And they seem to be everywhere! — Nut Case Overload Dear Nut Case, You talk about all these nuts like they’re a bad thing. While your opinion is shared by many, you are woefully misinformed. Nuts are extremely nutritious and have been linked in many clinical studies to lots of major health benefits. One of the most significant is a reduction in coronary heart disease directly linked to regular nut consumption. Another benefit: lower cancer rates among nut lovers. Nuts have been shown to help prevent diabetes, beneficially control blood sugar, help prevent cognitive decline, offer anti-inflammatory properties and lower weight, cholesterol and blood pressure. As you can see, regularly eating nuts is a very good thing for health in a number of important ways. Amazingly enough, the landmark study that discovered the health benefits of nuts dates back to just 1992. It’s like we just discovered them. Since then lots of additional research has only solidified their status as a very healthy food. One caution: if your daily nut consumption is the topping on a hot fudge sundae or is a mix loaded with salt, you may cancel out some of the benefits. But worked into recipes, sprinkled onto granola or a fresh garden salad or enjoyed as a stand-alone snack, nuts are good for all of us — including you. Try to show a little tolerance, will you? + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in Examiner issues.

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The 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.

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

OLD NEWS +

POINTS OF INTEREST TO FORMER KIDS by Trisha Whisenhunt

PET PEEVES

W THIS IS YOUR BRAIN A monthly series by an Augusta drug treatment professional

WALKING STRAIGHT ON A CROOKED PATH by Ken Wilson Executive Director, Steppingstones to Recovery Early months in recovery are a challenge. In fact, statistics support the fact that relapsing early in recovery is a poor sign for long-term recovery. The longer one stays sober “up front,” the better the prognosis for recovery is in the long run. For family members, early recovery still means anxiety for their loved one. It is SO hard to avoid advice and direction to them...but...just save it. Give it sparingly even if asked. There is an old saying “Tell someone something once because you think they need to hear it; twice if you think they didn’t hear it the fi rst time; if you repeat it three times you are trying to control them.” More truth than poetry, believe me. The fi rst part of building a house is the most important part, and sometimes the slowest. And in early recovery it is most important to live well: sleep well, eat well, work well, have healthy relationships and so on. But early recovery often doesn’t find it easy to do these things! It takes about 200 times of doing something for it to be a new habit. Old ones die hard. Recovery is doing a new thing over and over until it becomes second nature. A 28-day or 6-week treatment program is only a beginning, an interlude between active using and sobriety. There are long involved courses taught on the subject of relapsing. The best one I’ve ever heard is a 60-second class. Here goes: Imagine a circle with several “stops” around it...at the top is: Thinking the Thought...then the clock-hand goes to the right to Planning...then to Pursuing It...then to Doing It...then to Feeling Bad About It. The addict knows the best way to feel better is to do what? Do It Again! Over & over! Here’s the magic: when the relapse thought enters the mind, just do something different! Do what? Answer: Anything! It’s a snow-ball effect. The energy builds and builds at each stop to the point of not being able to stop at all. The earlier the newly recovering mind realizes Thinking The Thought is present and interrupts the process the easier it is to stay clean & sober. I’ve heard when The Thought comes, “Go to a recovery meeting!” OK, but what if there just isn’t one right then? Or “Call your Sponsor!” OK, what if he/she is at work and can’t talk? The snowball-stopping strategy is so easy...just do something...do something different. Walk around the block. Wash dishes. Vacuum the house. Take a shower. Anything! The impulse will go away...promise. It’ll come back, too. Promise. Then do what? Anything! There’s a saying out there, “You relapse in thinking before you relapse in drinking.” Family members relapse, too! No, not in drinking. Not in drugging. But in controlling...going back into fi x-it behavior...losing sleep over the anxiety that their loved one might relapse...wondering how to intervene... wondering when the next shoe might drop. Guess what? Family recovery works just like addiction recovery. When The Thought comes, do something different! What? Anything! Remember? Wash dishes...take a walk... It’s the best way to straighten out a crooked road. It’s also a win-win for everybody. +

e all have them, those little things in life that drive us crazy. The things other people do which we do not; that are obvious to us that they shouldn’t do; and that we don’t understand why they can’t see that they shouldn’t do them. At times, it can be a true test to our general well-being. The traffic peeve: sitting through a green light; speeding up to deliberately prevent you from merging; taking two parking spaces; stealing the parking space you have been waiting for; blocking traffic for their own convenience; and holding up the flow of traffic to let passengers out. The store peeve: blocking the entrance/exit; failing to control children; blocking the aisle; cutting in line; holding up the cashier; leaving their merchandise to run back for forgotten items; hitting you with a cart, and leaving perishable foods on random shelves. The movie theatre/airplane peeve: loud talking; constantly getting up and down; kicking the seats; excessive sneezing/ coughing without covering their faces; and littering.

The public restroom peeve (ladies only): The long line/ wait because everyone takes their sweet time with no consideration for those who are waiting, with never a thought that a small child, the elderly or someone with a medical condition may be experiencing a sense of urgency. The concert peeve: The jumper, dancer, screamer seated in front of you; the drunk guy who thinks he’s funny; the drunk girl who thinks she’s sexy and wants to prove it to your husband; the pushing, shoving, stepping on your feet person; the sorry-you-are-in-my-seatand-I-have-to-call-securitybecause-they-get-ugly person; the wait for the parking lot to clear; and ending up with the

wrong size tee shirt. The baby stroller/ wheelchair/walker/cane peeve: anyone who uses durable medical equipment or has small children have a responsibility to keep these items out of the way of the general public. I have no statistics on accidents caused by such carelessness but I have seen many. The restaurant peeve: the party seated after you is served fi rst, their cute but annoying kids won’t leave you alone; the disappearing waiter/waitress; cold food; wrong order; bad attitude by the server; dirty flatware/ glasses; and the server’s thumb in your plate. The office peeve: dirty dishes left in the sink; not wiping out the microwave; rotten food left in fridge (or stealing someone else’s food); taking credit for someone else’s work or idea; taking office supplies home; not relaying a phone message properly — or at all; not replacing fi les where they belong; and failing to fill the copier paper tray when empty. The household peeve: wet clothes left in the washer; perishable food left out; drawers/cabinets left open; toilet seat up; toothpaste cap left off and/or squeezed in middle of tube; half full glasses lying around; dirty plates found under beds and sofas; failure to replace toilet paper, paper towels or take out trash. And finally, my #1 personal pet peeve: replacing the sweet tea pitcher in the fridge when empty.....but leaving it out when full. +

MYTH OF THE MONTH Sugar is bad! Honey is good! Think honey and what comes to mind? Lush fields of clover basking in the sun, massaged by gentle breezes. Nature. Purity. Goodness. Think sugar and what comes to mind? Industrial processing. Refining. Cavities. Diabetes. At the molecular or even the digestive level, however, honey and refi ned sugar look alike to the body. Sugar is sugar. That is not to say that they are exactly equal. Sugar is about half fructose and half glucose, while honey is 40 percent fructose and 30 percent glucose with maybe 20 other sugars thrown in, plus various trace elements bees pick up in their comings and goings that will differ from place to place and hive to hive. Honey tastes sweeter than sugar, so we

may use less of it than refined sugar. Then again, some people switch to honey because it’s “healthier,” and because of that they use more of it. Spoon for spoon, honey has more calories than sugar. It promotes tooth decay as readily as sugar too.Neither honey nor sugar has any real nutritional benefit. Given the choice, most of us would pick honey. There’s nothing wrong wih that option, but we should know that it isn’t a significantly healthier choice compared to sugar. + — by F. E. Gilliard, MD, Family Medicine 4244 Washington Road, Evans, GA 30809 706-760-7607

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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

o k

preacher once inquired of his congregation, “Everybody who wants to go to Heaven, raise your right hand now!” Almost in unison, every right hand the church went up...except one. The preacher looked down at the semiwayward brother and said in a condescending voice dripping with exasperation, “Brother John, you don’t want to go to Heaven?” Brother John glanced around quickly sheepishly and said, “Sure, Preacher, but I thought you were getting up a load to go right now.” Most of us are like that. Regardless of our religious convictions, many of us have doubts about our future. After all, death is a normal part of life. We all have to do it sometime. But I don’t want to do it today. Most likely neither do you. So with that in mind, let us do some preplanning to put off that eventuality. Here are a few things that can increase your longevity. Never exceed the speed limit. Avoiding speeding decreases your likelihood of being a traffic fatality by more than 50 percent. If your vision is questionable or your reaction time is worn down by age, let a younger person drive. Riding shotgun

ABOUT LIVING LONG AND WELL

is not a bad thing. It leaves both hands free to do text messaging or devote full time to back seat driving, even if it is from the front seat. Wear seat belts. It is the law, and it is smart. Maintain normal cholesterol and lipid levels by consuming a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. That decreases heart attack and stroke risks. Take a baby aspirin each day. That will decrease your chance of having a stroke or heart attack by approximately 25 percent. Take a multivitamin each day just in case you didn’t eat a balanced diet. We do not store vitamin B12 efficiently and need to replenish it daily. Overcooking vegetables destroys many of their inherent vitamins. Walking a mile each day is an exercise program. It improves your cardiovascular circulation and clears your mind. It does not cost very much. Exercise briskly 3 to 4 times a week for one hour. This decreases strokes and heart attacks while increasing your quality of life. Never become a pack-aday tobacco smoker. Or a one cigarette a day smoker. Being a non-smoker extends your life 5 years acompared to smokers.

E TH

t s e B And you are less likely to spend the last 2 years of your life lugging around an oxygen tank while you slowly smother to death from COPD. Do not be in a closed space with a smoker. That includes cars, homes and buildings. Secondhand smoke is very damaging to your health. Avoid (or greatly limit) your consumption of alcohol. That will decrease your chance of being in a motor vehicle accident and prevent you from getting a DUI. If you do consume alcohol, limit your intake to 6 ounces of red wine daily. Red wine contains antioxidants. Few things are dumber than drinking shots of whiskey the way cowboys do in Western movies. When driving at night on a divided-lane interstate, drive in the inside lane. Deer are more likely to be on

e n i c i d ME

the outside shoulders, and therefore on an inside lane you’re less likely to hit a deer. Never take someone else’s prescription medicine. You should never self-medicate. Leave the practice of medicine to health professionals. Follow your doctor’s recommendations exactly. If you’re not going to do that, don’t waste his time, your time, or your money. Wear properly fitted shoes. The vascular circulation in the feet of older adults is frequently poor, particularly in diabetics. Ill-fitting shoes can lead to blisters or ulcers of the feet and provide convenient entrances for bacterial infections. (My father did not heed that advice. He developed cellulitis of the lower leg and eventually had his leg amputated surgically.) Be somewhere in bed each night at 11 o’clock to spend

the night. A high percentage of traffic fatalities occur after 11 PM. Grill or bake the meat in your diet. Fried foods tend to elevate your cholesterol and lipid levels. Chose fresh foods over processed foods. Fresh foods have lower sodium levels, which is more desirable for our often sedentary lifestyles. Reduce the amount of sugar and high fructose corn syrup in your diet. They add extra calories you don’t need. Every time you consume 3500 calories more than you burn, you gain 1 pound of fat. 50 pounds overweight subtract 5 years from your life. Maybe these tips will help you live a little longer. And have a better quality of life, too. +

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 706306-9397. F REE T AKE-HO ME CO PY!

Calling all Bad Billy fans! More than two dozen of Bad Billy’s personally handpicked stories are collected together in his first book. Get yours today at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com For personalized autographed print copies, call 706-306-9397

MEDICAL EXAMINER

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OCTOBER 20, 2017

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OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Part Z of a 26-part series

This is going to hurt Technically it’s called herpes zoster, or simply zoster for short, but most people call it shingles. We say that because we can’t print what they really call it. Whatever name you happen to call it, shingles is no fun at all. This condition manifests itself as a nasty rash that can be extremely painful and can last anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, and in rare cases the pain can last for years. That’s a lot of misery. If you’ve never had shingles, count yourself fortunate. If you have had it, that’s probably when you discovered this is one weird malady: the rash almost always appears on only one side of the body. It might march from a victim’s side across the stomach and then spread across the back, but it will not cross the body’s center line, front or back. It might creep up the neck and across the face, but it will not cross from the left side of the face to the right or right to left. Should we call that strange, or just be glad shingles at least leaves one side of the body alone? The culprit in this odd plague that affects a million Americans every year dates back to our childhoods. Remember having chickenpox a few decades back? Well, the virus that caused it hunkers down inside us in a dormant state. It might stay that way forever — and does in the majority of people. But for the unfortunate 1 in 3, something awakens the virus from its long nap — no one is quite sure what — and it wakes up cranky. True, in some case there are clear triggers: people whose immune system is weakened are more likely to get shingles (assuming they’ve already had chickenpox). That can result from chemotherapy, immunosupprssive drugs given after organ transplants, or as a result of having HIV. Despite having herpes in its name, however, shingles is not a sexually transmitted disease. How does one get it? To answer that let’s review how a case of shingles progresses. Once the dormant virus has been awakened by an unknown trigger, the area where the rash will appear may become tingly or itchy or painful. The unsuspecting victim has no idea what’s in store. After a few days of these minor symptoms, the painful rash appears and starts its spread. Eventually small fluid-fi lled blisters form all over the rash, and in time they break open and develop crusty scabs in 7 to 10 days. Shingles can be contagious only during the blister phase, and then only in a limited way: as you recall, the virus that causes shingles comes from the virus that causes chickenpox (varicella zoster virus). If a person who never had chickenpox is exposed to fluid from the blisters, they could come down with a case of chickenpox. But not shingles. You can’t get shingles unless you’ve fi rst had chickenpox. A person who has already had shingles is not necessarily in the clear: about 30 percent of people who get shingles once experience a recurrence at some point down the road. And an unfortunate few people even get shingles a third time. How can shingles be prevented? If you have it, keep the rash covered, and avoid touching it. Wash your hands often to avoid spreading the fluid from the blisters. Stay away from babies, pregnant women who have never had chickenpox, and people with weakened immune systems. If you’ve had chickenpox, the shingles vaccine can significantly cut your chances of ever having to go through the misery of shingles, or prevent a recurrence. It also cuts the odds of experiencing lingering pain long after shingles is gone. The vaccine (Zostavax) is a single-shot affair offered by many pharmacies or your doctor. It’s recommended for people 60 and older and offers peak protection for about 5 years. If you’re younger than that, discuss it with your doctor. +

IS FOR ZOSTER

This article concludes our 26-part alphabetical series of health-related topics.

WRITER WANTED

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?

Please call (706) 860-5455 or write to Dan@AugustaRX.com

The building on the right, located at the corner of 15th and Harper Streets, is the Sydenstricker Wing of the AU Medical Center.

PROFILES… from page 3 published in 1936, a year earlier than the research that supposedly fi rst established the link, a 1937 report by Wisconsin researcher Conrad Elvehjem. Sydenstricker had made a name for himself even earlier, publishing a paper about sickle cell anemia in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1924 that is still regarded as one of the significant advances in the progress of the fight against a disease that at the time was largely unchecked across the South. Sydenstricker’s fi rst research, when he was still in medical school, was a paper co-authored with George H. Whipple, M.D., who went on to win the 1934 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his anemia research. Just five years later, Sydenstricker himself was nominated for the 1939 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on niacin deficiency as the cause of pellagra. During his long career, more than 100 of Dr. Sydenstricker’s scholarly articles were accepted for publication by such respected journals as Nature, Science, The Journal of Nutrition, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, JAMA and others. He was also responsible for discoveries that made blood banks possible, spelling the end of direct donor-to-recipient transfusions Overall, the cornerstone of Sydenstricker’s career was nutrition, literally on a global scale. Other than his research into the causes and effects and prevention of niacin, riboflavin and multiple Bvitamin deficiencies, he was pressed into service during World War II to help develop nutritionally balanced combat rations for soldiers in the field. He worked across England and Europe nutritionally evaluating the wartime rations for civilians during the war under various authorities, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Public Health Service, the U.S. Army, and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. As the war ended, he supervised the medical and nutritional care of some 60,000 starving prisoners released from German concentration camps, particularly the notorious Bergen-Belsen camp, where the death toll of 50,000 included Anne Frank. For his efforts he was honored with Britain’s King’s Medal, as well as citations from the U.S. and Dutch governments. Almost 30 years after Goldberger’s death, Dr. Sydenstricker received the Goldberger Award in Clinical Nutrition from the American Medical Association in 1958, among many other awards and honors. Sydenstricker also had the satisfaction of knowing that some 40 percent of all doctors in Georgia were trained in Augusta during his long tenure as Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine. In closing, no article about the Sydenstrickers would be complete without mentioning others of note in the family: his cousin, the noted epidemiologist Edgar Sydenstricker, and his (Edgar’s) sister, Pearl Sydenstricker, who married John Buck and became famous as Pearl S. Buck, author and recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize (1932) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1938). Virgil P. Sydenstricker died of a ruptured aneurysm in Augusta on December 12, 1964. He is buried in Westover Memorial Park. +

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Southern Girls Eat Clean Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Cream It’s the time of year where I break out all my soup recipes. I have been dreaming of all the yummy soups and stews that I want to try this season. I even have a Pinterest board of “Soups I Want to Try.” Butternut squash soup is a favorite of mine. I first discovered this type of soup when we lived in England. I used to order it for lunch at The Petwood Hotel in our village, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. This particular recipe was inspired by a soup I recently found on a blog. Gina Homolka writes the blog Skinny Taste where she has a lot of amazing recipes, but this one jumped out at me. My version is a bit different than Gina’s but both have an Indian flare. Coconut milk is a key ingredient and adds a creaminess to the soup and a much healthier option versus dairy milk. In addition, butternut squash is amazingly healthy and good for your body. Here are a few good things to know about butternut squash: • Rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants • Heart Healthy Curried Butternut Squash Soup • Good dose of fiber • Low in fat Using a hand held seeds with a spoon. • Large amount of potassium, immersion blender, blend the Drizzle 1 Tbsp. of olive good for bone health soup so that it is completely oil over the flesh side of the • B-6, good for immune squash, add a pinch of sea salt pureed. (Alternatively, if you system do not have an immersion and pepper. • Rich in vitamin C blender, you make allow the Place flesh side down onto • An anti-inflammatory soup to cool and place into a a baking sheet and place veggie, helps to reduce high speed blender) in preheated oven for 40-50 inflammation in the body Reduce heat to low and minutes or until fork tender. Enjoy an evening by the fire simmer for an additional 10 Remove from oven and allow this fall season with a warm minutes. Taste and add salt to cool. bowl of curried Butternut Place a medium sized stock and pepper as needed. Squash Soup. While the soup is simmering pot onto the stove top and Soups on! on low, place 1/2 cup of add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and coconut milk into a small heat over medium to high Ingredients: bowl and using a hand mixer, heat. Add shallots to stock • 2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive whip the coconut milk until pot and saute until softened, oil it starts to thicken a bit. Once approximately 3-5 minutes. • 1 medium to large butternut it has thickened, drizzle over Add in the chicken broth squash, roasted the soup as desired to garnish and 1 cup of the coconut • 3 cups of chicken stock Serve immediately. milk. • 1-1/2 cups of light coconut Yield: 4-6 servings + Once the butternut squash milk has cooled, scoop out the • 3 medium shallots, finely Information on the health flesh of the squash using a chopped benefits of butternut squash spoon and place into the pot • 2 Tbsp. of red curry paste soup was found here.....http:// with the other ingredients. • 1-1/2 tsp. of gram marsala www.wholeliving.com/134734/ Stir to mix well. • 1 tsp. of coriander power-foods-butternut-squash Decrease heat to medium • 1/2 tsp. of turmeric - low and add in the curry • Sea salt and cracked black Alisa Rhinehart paste, gram marsala, pepper to taste is half of the blog coriander and turmeric. Stir southerngirlseatclean. well to incorporate all of the Instructions: com. She is a working ingredients. Preheat oven to 400 wife and mother living Simmer on medium - low degrees. in Evans, Georgia. for approximately 15 minutes. Cut the butternut squash in Visit her blog for more recipes and Add sea salt and pepper to half vertically and remove the information on clean eating. taste.

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MEDICAL EXAMINER Augusta’s only independent publication dedicated to medicine, health and wellness

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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 Med. 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) • Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, main lobby, 15th Street • 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 • 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 • 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. • 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. • Family Y (Old Health Central), Broad Street, downtown Augusta • Hartley’s Uniforms, 1010 Druid Park Ave, Augusta • International Uniforms, 1216 Broad Street, Augusta • Marshall Family Y, Belair Rd, Evans • 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 almost 900 doctors offices throughout the area for staff and waiting rooms, as well as many nurses stations and waiting rooms of area hospitals.

THE MONEY DOCTOR FALL TAX PLANNING

axes in the fall? Most people start thinking about taxes after they receive their W-2s and 1099s in January and February each year, so why start thinking about taxes before you have too? The concept follows the mantra – “proper planning prevents poor performance”. We have found that taking time to plan in the fall can help avoid surprises in the spring. Your financial planner, the quarterback of your financial situation, should be driving the fall planning process. That means they should be identifying planning items and then coordinating with you and your tax preparer. As part of that process, we spend a lot of time each fall communicating with our client’s tax preparers. The information we provide to tax preparers helps them do tax projections that gives everyone important insight to help with many key year-end

planning decisions Here are a few items we think through each fall for our clients: Income – How does this year look? Providing a copy of your latest paystub and having your financial planner provide estimates for qualified retirement account distributions, dividend, interest, and capital gain income will help your tax preparer get a good feel for what 2017 is looking like. It is helpful to look at the first page of your 1040 which lists all the different income sources. Your tax preparer will want to get an estimate for all your income to help with planning. Savings – your paystub will show tax deferred savings amounts for company retirement plans and other employer accounts like health savings accounts, but you will want to make your tax preparer aware of any additional contributions you have made to IRAs, 529s, HSAs, dependent care

accounts, SEP, SIMPLE, or solo-401ks among others. Major life events – did you experience any during the year? The list is long and includes buying or selling properties, refi nancing mortgages, having a baby, reaching important ages, sending kids to college, experiencing major medical treatments, retiring, starting social security or pensions, and many others. It is amazing what your tax preparer needs to know to help you maximize the deductions available during the different stages in life. Itemized deductions – there are a lot of different things you can include in itemized deductions. It is helpful to review the major categories which include medical and dental expenses, taxes you paid, interest you paid, gifts to charity, and miscellaneous deductions. If you notice anything that will be significantly different from last year be sure to tell your

tax preparer. Estimated tax payments – be sure to tell your tax preparer what estimated tax payments you have made, if any. This is a key piece of information. Once your tax preparer has all this information they can run projections to help everyone make important end of year decisions. We normally provide the tax preparer with a few different scenarios to help us with these decisions. One example is charitable contributions, we ask the tax preparer to show us what impact different amounts of charitable contributions will have. For those nearing retirement, we often front load charitable contributions by gifting appreciated stock to donoradvised funds at the end of each year. This helps us take advantage of the bigger tax deduction during higher income years while working. The projection strategy and planning can be used for many different planning opportunities including; coordinating education tax credits with 529 withdrawals, doing Roth conversions in low income years, making higher or lower estimated tax payments to avoid penalties or large refunds in the spring, and delaying or accelerating income and deductions. One of the most important outcomes from fall planning and the reason your financial planner should be driving the process is year-end capital gain planning. The trades Please see MONEY DOCTOR page 10

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OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

Ask a Dietitian

Voted “BEST BARBER SHOP” in Augusta Magazine many times!

Daniel Village Barber Shop 2522 Wrightsboro Road

736-7230

FEEL FULL WITH FIBER by Lo Bannerman, MS

3 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon cumin Cayenne or red pepper flakes to taste 7-8 cups vegetable broth or water Directions Combine all ingredients in large crockpot and cook on high for 6-8 hours. Add additional liquid if desired. Top with cilantro, chives, avocado, plain Greek yogurt, goat cheese, or lime. Enjoy! Note: If using canned beans, drain and rinse four cans of a variety of beans. Limit vegetable broth or water to about 4 cups. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Yield: 8 servings +

...thanks to Daniel Village Barber Shop! Head to toe service: Jerry will shine your shoes while we cut your hair. We’re on Wrightsboro Rd. at Ohio Avenue.

Medical Complex

76 Circle K

Highland Ave.

DANIEL VILLAGE BARBER SHOP

Ohio Ave.

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate found mainly in oats, grains, beans, and the skins of fruits and vegetables. Although most carbohydrates are broken down into sugar and fuel, our bodies are unable to digest fiber, causing it to add bulk to our foods. This slows down the digestion process and allows us to feel fuller for a longer amount of time. Fiber consists of soluble and insoluble forms, both of which are valuable for regulating many components of our health. Soluble fiber is found in oats, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. It is able to dissolve in water and forms a gel-like substance which helps clean out our blood vessels and lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Insoluble fiber is found in whole grains, beans, seeds, brown rice, and some fruits and vegetables. This type of fiber is not able to dissolve in water, so it stays in the digestive system and helps prevent constipation. Fiber also plays a key role in reducing risk of diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Adults need 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Not sure how to reach these numbers? Try snacking on raw vegetables, choosing whole grains, or substituting beans and legumes for meat a few times a week. As the weather gets colder, try this fiber-full crockpot chili recipe. It’s great!

WRIGHTSBORO ROAD

Daniel Field

Augusta Mall

Tue - Fri: 8:00 - 6:00; Saturday: 8:00 - 2:00

FIBER-FULL CHILI Ingredients 3/4 cup dried kidney beans, rinsed 3/4 cup dried black beans, rinsed 3/4 cup dried pinto beans, rinsed 1/2 cup dried quinoa, rinsed 1 small onion, diced 2 tomatoes (about 1 cup), diced

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”

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

+ 10

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

MONEY DOCTOR… from page 8 that your financial planner or investment manager make in your taxable accounts in November and December must be coordinated with your tax plan. Any capital gains or losses in the taxable accounts will impact your tax return. It is never fun to fi nd out that you missed out on a tax deduction or credit because of additional capital gains generated by a trade in December when that same trade could have been made in January. Unfortunately, this happens often when no fall tax planning is being done. The good news is that identifying if your financial planner is doing fall tax

planning is easy. If your fi nancial planner is sending information to you or your tax preparer in the fall each year to start the fall planning dialogue, then you know the process is getting started. If your planner or you are not talking with your tax preparer each fall, start making that a habit today. + by Clayton Quamme, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) with Calvary Wealth, LLC (www.calvarywealth. com). Calvary Wealth is a feeonly financial planning and investment advisory firm with offices in Augusta, GA and Columbia, SC.

This shirt could be yours

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HAIR… from page 1 For answers to those question and more, we turned to Beurena Johnson, a certified hair expert. In the business, she’s called a trichologist, since trichology is the branch of medicine concerned with hair and the scalp. Her practice is in Hillbrook Family Medicine on Blue Ridge Drive in Evans. Is stress related to hair loss or gray hair? According to research, quite possibly, although the verdict is still out. Yes, President Obama went gray during his fi rst term in office (as have others before him), but some people are gray before their 20th birthday without any major stress in their lives. Part of the equation is heredity: our genes are hard-wired at birth in some matters that may include when we turn gray. But if a person goes gray before their time (such as years before other family members when they reached the same age), the cause can be prolonged stress, or other issues like diet, illness and even depression. Why does hair turn gray? Believe it or not, hair in its basic unpigmented state is white. Melanin is the coloring agent, and hair color depends upon our personal combination of the two types of melanin, eumelanin (dark brown or black) and phaeomelanin (reddish yellow). Depending on the quantity of each and how they combine, they create a range of colors from strawberry blonde to jet black. As we get older, pigment cells in our follicles slowly die, leaving behind a shade of hair that gets closer and closer to the unpigmented white. Why do men go bald but not women? Women do experience hair loss, but men are usually the ones who experience complete baldness. Male pattern baldness is a function of two factors: hormones and genetics. This type of hair loss is called androgenetic alopecia. As men age their testosterone levels change, and in the process the growing cycle of hair follicles is affected. What is normally and naturally a 2 to 7 year growing cycle can be reduced to months or just weeks. While this is happening, the follicles can begin to shrink, resulting in finer hairs and fewer of them. When the follicle shrinks enough, it closes completely. Baldness is the result of this process happening over a large area of the scalp. Female pattern hair loss covers a smaller area of the scalp, usually resulting in thinning on the top of the head while the hairline normally remains intact. Women may experience male pattern baldness if they have excessive levels of androgens and a genetic predisposition to it.

We’ve just added this shirt to the haul winners of the Mystery Word contest receive — in addition to gift cards from Wild Wing Cafe and Scrubs of Evans.

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

Our next issue will be dated Nov. 3.

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Why did my hair change when I was pregnant? Pregnancy comes with many cycles of high and low hormones, especially estrogen and progesterone. During pregnancy, hair will look and feel healthier, fuller, thicker and bouncier, and both hair and nails will often grow faster than normal. After the baby is born there is a massive decrease in the body’s level of estrogen, and dramatic changes can occur, even hair loss. New follicles can grow back differently. If

they produce round hair shafts (which maybe they didn’t before), the resulting hair will be straight; oval hair shafts mean wavy hair; a follicle that produces a very flattened oval hair shaft will result in kinky hair. Why does hair fall out during chemotherapy? It’s a logical side effect of ant-cancer dugs when you think about it. These powerful drugs are designed to inhibit rapid cell proliferation. That’s great when it comes to a growing tumor, but it can also affect hair follicles, the second-fastest- growing cells in the body. There have been attempts to minimize this side effect of chemotherapy. In Europe, studies have been underway to test a scalpfitting hood that is filled with ice packs. The theory is that the cold may help shut down follicles and prevent them from absorbing the damaging drugs. Some oncologists fear that cancer cells in the follicles or scalp could escape death by chemo and complicate or prevent recovery or remission. In the larger picture, baldness may not be anyone’s wish, but it’s a small (and usually temporary) price to pay to be cancer-free. What is the whole purpose of hair? Hair serves various protective functions, depending on where it is on the body. The hair on our head (for those who have any) offers protection from the sun; eyebrows and eyelashes offer protection from dust and sweat; pubic hair is essentially a dry lubricant; hair in general wherever it is on the body can offer sensory feedback: our eyes will reflexively close if eyelashes detect anything close to them; hair on our arms can feel the slightest breeze or alert us that a bug has landed. What products will help my hair look its healthiest? Healthy looking hair does not come from a salon or a bottle from WalMart’s hair care aisle. Daily nutrition impacts hair health, growth and appearance, and should never be underestimated. What you see on the outside is a reflection, good or bad, of what is going on inside. A balanced daily diet of proteins, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, iron and minerals from a variety of sources — fruits, vegetables, salads, protein, etc — is the best prescription for healthy hair. The problem with a poor diet is that the body will never make the nutritional needs of hair its priority. It will sacrifice your hair before it lets the brain suffer damage, for example. That’s a good thing. But it also means that your hair might be the first thing to suffer if your diet is poor. +

OCTOBER 20, 2017

11 +

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

The blog spot From the Bookshelf — posted by Starla Fitch, MD, on December 8, 2014 (edited for space)

DON’T LOOK BACK AT HOW MEDICINE USED TO BE Is it just me, or is the world of medicine getting way more complicated? Sometimes I long for the good old days of practicing medicine. First, the hospital switched over to electronic medical records, which required us to to attend Saturday morning classes to learn how to tell the nurses our patients could go home after surgery. Next, our office got an insurance memo that said we must now add extra codes on our billing forms. The codes indicate that we’ve told our patients to quit smoking, warned them about the risks of our treatment, and offered them a follow-up appointment. As if doctoring wasn’t time-intensive enough, now we must enter and re-enter data that has very little meaning to anyone except the pencil-pushers in insurance land. It’s enough to make a doctor weary. Burned out. Aggravated. It reminds me of a call I made 10 years ago to one of my mentors. It went something like this. I asked him why medicine had gone to hell in a hand basket, and how could I turn back the clock to the days when he was fi rst in practice. Here’s what he then asked me: 1. When you go to a restaurant, do you feel like you can order pretty much whatever you want? 2. Do you like where you live? Is the neighborhood safe? 3. Does your car run OK, without you being fearful of it breaking down on your way to work every day? Of course, my answers were yes, yes, and yes. His response was, “Then quit your complaining.” (I believe he actually used a stronger word that rhymed with “itching.”) He went on to remind me of all the things we all take for granted on a daily basis. That we are more fortunate than at least 90 percent of the world. And how we have the ability to help people, to know people more intimately and more authentically than in any other profession, and that we make a reasonable living doing it. His take home message was: Don’t look back. Don’t look back to how medicine used to be. Or how it looked when Marcus Welby, MD, was a not-so-unrealistic TV doctor. Or even how it was when we started medical school. Instead, look forward at the innovations that have come to medicine that are helpful. Be grateful for the improvements in treatment for many diseases that used to have no hope. Appreciate the technology that, despite the overkill, allows us to Google medications we don’t know (even as it lets our patients Google symptoms that lead to their anxiety). So, whenever I’m having the kind of day I had yesterday, where I have to pull myself up short and give myself a talking to ... I remember my dear mentor’s words. I remind myself to search for joy. I remind myself to be grateful. And I think about other words of wisdom that tell similar tales. Words from teachers such as Deepak Chopra, who said, “Each of us is like a millionaire with amnesia. We go through life feeling poor, having forgotten that in reality we are very rich.” Deepak wasn’t talking to doctors and health care providers. But he could’ve been. +

Just be grateful for how it is now

Starla Fitch is an ophthalmologist.

I heard this book being discussed on a radio program a few weeks ago and I was instantly intrigued and knew I wanted to read it. The subject of PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) has been on the short list of topics for Medical Examiner cover stories for quite awhile. It’s a fascinating topic on its own merits, but we in Augusta live in what is, by some measures, a military town. Statistically, we have the likelihood of facing PTSD issues much more than people in many other cities. However, as this book reminds its readers, psychological trauma is not exclusive to the military. It is experienced by crime victims, members of families splintered by domestic violence, and victims of rape, molestation and abuse, to mention just a few. PTSD is a curious affliction: why does a person continue to relive a terrifying event years, even decades, after it happens? Why, long after the danger has passed and the person is safe and sound and has been for hours, days, weeks or years, do they continue in the grasp of the original terror? In short, how can distant memories — even some we thought were forgotten long

ago — become more important than the reality of today? One of the keys to unlocking that secret, van der Kolk says — and which is alluded to in his book’s title — is that the machinery of the entire body is involved. Experiences that cause emotional trauma are not just emotional or mental, even if there are no physical scars. In other words, “post-traumatic stress isn’t ‘all in one’s head,’ as some people suppose.” The entire body’s response to the original trauma comes into play, not just the mind’s. Having said that, the book’s glimpses into the power of the mind to create alternate realities, even from something as generic as an inkblot, are dramatic,

illustrating the mind’s ability to superimpose one scene on top of another. That can just as easily happen at the dinner table as in a psychiatrist’s office. This is an extremely important topic in today’s world, and for us, living in a center of both medicine and the military, one that many more of us should become conversant in. As van der Kolk says, for every soldier who serves in a war zone abroad there are ten children right here at home who are living through their own war of neglect or abuse. They could be our relatives or neighbors. van der Kolk does his part for us: he seems to take pains to avoid the complex medical terminology of his profession, and when he does use a technical word or phrase he explains it clearly and simply. This case-history-filled book knows the score in a game that affects countless lives. +

The Body Keeps the Score: Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk, MD, 464 pages, published in Sept. 2014 by Viking. NOTE: This review appeared previously in the Examiner in April 2015.

Research News Up with people This past August a fascinating study, the largest of its kind ever undertaken, dropped a public health bombshell: loneliness is deadlier than obesity and should be considered a major public health hazard. The study of 4 million people found that lonely people had a 50 percent greater chance of early death compared to people with active social connections. By comparison, obesity only elevates the risk of premature death by 30 percent. The study found that for many people, the workplace is their primary source of companionship, so retirement and old age leaves them largely cut off from meaningful face-toface human interaction. 17 percent saw friends and family only once a week, and for 10 percent it was only once a month.

The study authors suggest all of us prepare for retirement by widening out. Among their specific suggestions: 1. When conversing with friends, talk about things other than work. 2. Make plans for holidays or special events well in advance, avoiding being alone at times when it seems to hurt the worst. 3. Reach out to someone you’ve recently met: invite them to eat with you or go to a movie together. 4. Be proactive: don’t wait for someone to contact you. Be the initiator, and don’t take a “no” personally. People are busy. Try again. Splendid suicide news Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (that sounds promising already) have discovered a compound which induces cancer cells to commit

suicide without harming healthy cells. Their initial tests were directed against acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but they have hopes the discovery will have applications in attacking other types of cancers too. The compound works by triggering apoptosis, the natural process the body uses to rid itself of unwanted or malfunctioning cells. Existing chemotherapies use this same technique, but cancer cells can produce “anti-apoptotic” proteins. The compound tested at Albert Einstein has so far been able to suppress the cancer cells anti-apoptotic defense mechanisms and destroy them. Tests on animals are continuing, including tests grafting human cancer cells into mice. The results so far have been promising. The study was published in the Oct. 9 issue of Cancer Cell. +

+ 12

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE EXAMiNERS +

Are you excited to get a job in Augusta’s growing film industry?

I sure am!

by Dan Pearson

Well keep those cameras rolling. You know what they say!

Actually we say, “You shoot 100% of the takes you don’t miss.”

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

What’s that?

The Mystery Word for this issue: YARDITE

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

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 L N Z T T O E S H A W I E A A A A

G O W E W R E N C R I E A M V R

S T C E N T O A I I S I E T T O D S I H V — Biologist E. O. Wilson

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.

X A M I N E R

1 2

7 4

5 6 8 2 5 4 7 6 1

7 8

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

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.

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

C 2 3

1 2 3

D 1 2 3 4 5

’ 4

1 2 3

H ’ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 2 3 4

’ 1 2 3 4 5 6

— Alcohol

1 2 3 4 5

1.BDDDMYYCJS 2.AAAEEOOOUH 3.AUSCUNNNEO 4.SCCAUNTT 5.UNLEE 6.DTS 7.NE 8.T

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

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

19 20 ACROSS 1. Drain, as a waterlogged or 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 flooded area 29 30 31 32 33 34 8. Matured 35 36 37 38 39 15. An ophthalmologists’s job 16. Make eggs naturally 40 41 42 43 44 17. Mosquito protection 45 46 47 48 18. Architectural column in 49 50 51 52 53 the form of a man 19. A golf ball’s resting place 54 55 56 57 20. Used up 58 59 60 61 62 21. Yard invaders 25. Curtain calls 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 29. Glass ornament 71 72 30. A puff, especially from 73 74 a joint 31. Ovum by Daniel R. Pearson © 2017 All rights reserved. Built in part with software from www.crauswords.com 35. Nerve involved in 15-A 37. Speech defect DOWN 28. Repose 39. Swiss mountain 1. What an extra bedroom 32. Forced feeding 40. Long-tailed rodent could be 33. Unpowered aircraft 41. Abundantly supplied 2. Irma had one 34. Tight & brief swimsuit 44. Contend 3. Like rainy weather 36. Shed tears 45. Entirely 4. Behave 38. Favorite, as a theory or 46. School founded in 1701 5. Follow closely student 47. Commerce 6. Banks of Chicago 42. Consumes 49. Deceptions 7. University governor 43. Deere implement 51. Garment of 57-A 8. Decay 48. Operated 53. Old 9. Got A Secret beginning 50. Stitch 54. Like some hairdos 10. Beat 52. Become visible 57. Notorius Roman emperor 11. Pass by 55. Freezing cold 58. Medical prefix 12. Title 56. Type of park 61. Non-medical doc 13. English public school 58. Nursing add-on 63. Of the eye 14. Body blemish 59. Symbol 66. Weirdest; creepiest 21. Away from the mouth (Zool.) 60. ____-free 71. Place for docking a boat 22. Someone from Kathmandu 62. Wine sediment (usu. plural) 72. Severe intellectual 23. ______-tale 64. It often goes with ice disability 24. Military “Star Wars” abbrev. 65. Blood is this 73. Went in 26. First word of the city that’s 67. Traveler’s stop 74. Reigning home to Texas A&M 68. Bush Field abbrev. 27. Character in a Steinbeck 69. Wrongdoing classic 70. Make lace

WORDS NUMBER

THE MYSTERY WORD

OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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THE BEST MEDICINE ha... ha...

wo conspiracy theorists die and go to heaven. With the chance to ask God anything, one of them asks, “Who was really behind the attacks on September 11?” “It was a group of Al-Qaeda terrorists led by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,” says God. The conspiracy theorist turns to his friend and whispers, “Dude. This goes up even higher than we thought.” Moe: Three conspiracy theorists walk into a bar... Joe: You can’t tell me that’s just a coincidence. Moe: I woke up in the middle of the night last night convinced there was a monster under my bed. Joe: What was it? Moe: Turns out it was a Red Bull. Moe: I got fired from my job at the keyboard factory today. Joe: What happened? Moe: They said I wasn’t putting in enough shifts.

A policeman pulls a man over for speeding and asks him to get out of the car. After looking the man over the policeman says, “Sir, I can’t help but notice your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking?” The man looks the cop over and says, “Officer, I can’t help but notice your eyes are glazed. Have you been eating doughnuts?” Moe: Do you ever wake up, kiss the person sleeping beside you and then just lie back and savor being alive? Joe: Just once. And now I’m not allowed on that airline anymore. A drunk was hobbling down the street, walking with one foot on the curb and the other foot in the gutter. A passing police officer saw the man, stopped and told him, “I’ve got to take you in. You’re drunk.” The man asked, “Officer, are you absolutely sure I’m drunk?” “I’m sure,” said the cop, “Let’s go.” Breathing a sigh of relief, the wino said, “Thank goodness. I thought I was crippled.” Moe: Do you think Google is male or female? Joe: I think it’s female. Moe: Why? Joe: Because it doesn’t let you finish your question before it starts giving answers. Moe: Who gave you this gift? It’s anonymous. Joe: I’m pretty sure it’s from my psychiatrist. Moe: What makes you say that? Joe: It’s shrink wrapped. +

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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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

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 When health professionals are attempting to find out what my social life is like, what support systems I have in place, they ask about family members and friends. They rarely ask about neighbors. That is a mistake. I have wonderful, caring neighbors. We’re not “pals.” We don’t go out and do things together. We don’t have coffee or tea at one another’s homes. But when a need comes up, we do things for one another. When I was a toddler, my mother emphasized that I must not go about screaming as it might disturb the naps of our aging next-door neighbors. She wasn’t afraid of “what the neighbors might think.” She was genuinely concerned for their welfare. Because she respected them all, we respected them, too. And as a result, they all liked us. Mrs. Clements gave us honeycombs from her beehive. Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Fox shared their delicious Queen Anne cherries that Mom canned and we ate all winter as a special treat. In a time when children could be seen but not heard, I paid all of the old lady neighbors on my street occasional social calls when none of my friends were available. I liked and respected all of them, regardless of any demographics that might have otherwise intervened. I didn’t care if they were of a religion which was not mine, so I learned that we can love folks no matter what religion they might profess. I didn’t care if they were tall, short, thin, fat, with wrinkles or without them. None of that mattered then and none of it matters now. We see that kind of neighborliness in action today in the aftermath of the recent storms. We see perfect strangers reaching out to help one another with no thought of being paid for help offered and given. There have been drives for food, water, cleaning supplies, and other necessities like diapers. People with little means give more than they can afford. Some people pack up and head for storm zones to do whatever needs to be done. Some can do little but pray, and they bend God’s ear a lot with their pleas for his love to be poured out to save lives. Across the whole metro area during Hurricane Irma, places were set up to receive evacuees, and many came. Then, and next time, we will obey Jesus’ command to “do unto others as we would want someone to do for us” if the tides had gone a different way. Some Augustans will prepare meals. Some will hold evacuees’ hands and listen to people’s fears and concerns. Some will help sort through clean clothes to find clothes for the naked, diapers for the babies. Some will supply medicine for the sick, relief for the weary, an extra eye to look out for the children, Thinking about the huge need and the powerful responses to those needs, I am reminded of the person who asked Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?” And the answer was everyone. In times of great trouble, we seem to be able to remember this instinctively and act on it. Blessings to all who struggle and to all who answer the call for help in any way. +

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Please thank them with your business and patronage.

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OCTOBER 20, 2017

AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: PATELLA ...cleverly hidden on the urn in the p. 7 ad for SAVANNAH RIVER CREMATORY THE WINNER: KARYNN DEPEW 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 D E W A T E R E Y E C A R E N E T T I N G L I E A N T S E N B E A D T O P T I C R A T R E P A L L Y A L L I E S T O U P S W H I S T O O C C U L A R M O O R A G E E N T E R E D

C O L L E G E

R I P E O V U L T E L A S P O R E S K E E I S P E T E T R A A P T N P H D E E R I A M E N R E G N

N A M E

E T O N

D E N T

G A V A G E

G L I D E R

S P E E D O

E S T T I A A N T

SEE PAGE 12

The Celebrated WORDS BY NUMBER because you can’t dance doesn’t MYSTERY WORD CONTEST “Justmean you shouldn’t dance.”

...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.

— Alcohol

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

2 3 6 5 9 1 7 8 4

9 5 8 4 7 2 3 1 6

8 9 5 7 1 4 2 6 3

3 1 4 6 2 9 8 5 7

7 6 2 3 5 8 1 4 9

4 2 9 1 3 5 6 7 8

6 8 1 9 4 7 5 3 2

5 7 3 2 8 6 4 9 1

QUOTATION QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION: “We have created a Star Wars civilization with Stone Age emotions.”

READ EVERY ISSUE ONLINE

— Biologist E. O. Wilson

The new scrambled Mystery Word is found on page 12

WWW.ISSUU.COM/ MEDICALEXAMINER

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DENTISTRY

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

F. E. Gilliard MD, Family Medicine 4244 Washington Road Evans, GA 30809 Floss ‘em or lose ‘em! 706-760-7607 Industrial Medicine • Prompt appts.

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

DERMATOLOGY

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 706-724-3339

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Georgia Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center 2283 Wrightsboro Rd. (at Johns Road) Augusta 30904 Medical Center West Pharmacy 706-733-3373 465 North Belair Road www.GaDerm.com Evans 30809 Vein Specialists of Augusta Resolution Counseling Professionals 706-854-2424 G. Lionel Zumbro, Jr., MD, FACS, RVT, RPVI 3633 Wheeler Rd, Suite 365 www.medicalcenterwestpharmacy.com 501 Blackburn Dr, Martinez 30907 Augusta 30909 706-854-8340 706-432-6866 Parks Pharmacy Karen L. Carter, MD www.VeinsAugusta.com www.visitrcp.com 437 Georgia Ave. 1303 D’Antignac St, Suite 2100 N. Augusta 29841 Augusta 30901 803-279-7450 706-396-0600 If you would like your www.augustadevelopmentalspecialists.com www.parkspharmacy.com medical practice listed Your Practice in the Professional And up to four additional lines of your choosing and, if desired, your logo. Directory, Keep your contact information in Steppingstones to Recovery Psych Consultants call the Medical this convenient place seen by tens of 2610 Commons Blvd. 2820 Hillcreek Dr Augusta 30909 thousands of patients every month. Augusta 30909 Examiner at Literally! Call (706) 860-5455 for all 706-733-1935 (706) 410-1202 706.860.5455 the details www.psych-consultants.com

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

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AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER

OCTOBER 20, 2017

DIETARY