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MID-VALLEY HEALTH Albany Democrat-Herald ■ Corvallis Gazette-Times
Sunday, March 16, 2014
HEALTH STAT Quick reads about health topics in the news
Apnea and strokes Silent strokes may not show any outward symptoms, but they create small spots of dead cells in the brain. The cumulative effects of silent strokes include memory lapses, changes in mood and worse — an increased risk of having a major stroke. Recent research shows that men with sleep apnea — a disorder often associated with heavy snoring at night with pauses in breathing — are three times as likely to suffer silent strokes. The good news is that sleep apnea can be controlled, and the risk of stroke decreased. AmieJoe Roper, RN, stroke care coordinator for Samaritan Stroke Services, will explore the connection between strokes and sleep apnea at a seminar scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Conference Rooms A and B, in Corvallis. Call 541-768-5260 for information. The event is part of the Sleep Apnea Support Group which holds regular meetings throughout the year. It is sponsored by the Samaritan Sleep Disorders Center, and is open to anyone with sleep apnea, as well as family and friends. New attendees are welcome. Samaritan Health Services
Knee operations & pain Middle-aged women with rheumatoid arthritis or arthritis resulting from an injury are among the patients most likely to experience serious pain following a knee replacement, researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York have found. One of the biggest concerns patients have is the amount of pain they will have after knee replacement surgery. Although it is a very successful operation overall to relieve arthritis pain and restore function, persistent postoperative pain can be a problem for some patients. Researchers set out to determine which groups were at highest risk for increased postoperative pain based on demographic and surgical variables. “There is no question that pain after total knee replacement is greater than that after total hip replacement,” says senior study author Thomas P. Sculco, M.D., the hospital’s surgeon-in-chief. “Many factors play a role, and our studies found that younger female patients, particularly those with post-traumatic or rheumatoid arthritis, had the highest pain scores.“ Hospital for Special Surgery
Back at the wheel After hip replacement surgery, many patients are anxious to resume driving, and a new study challenges the conventional wisdom that patients should wait six weeks before getting back behind the wheel. Dr. Geoffrey Westrich, director of research, adult reconstruction and joint replacement at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, found that patients in the study were able to return to driving four weeks after total hip replacement. The study was presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Orleans on March 11, 2014. “One of the most common questions patients ask after hip replacement is when they can start driving again, and this is the first study of its kind to test their reaction time after the procedure,” said Westrich, who came up with the idea for the driving simulator while watching his children play video games. Hospital for Special Surgery
Amanda Cowan/Mid-Valley Sunday
Rev. Jeff Hale, a chaplain with Samaritan Health Services, serves as a facilitator for a prostate cancer support group.
Group will help men with cancer M MID-VALLEY HEALTH
an to Man,” a support group for men who have or have had prostate cancer, is getting set for its first meeting on Thursday in North Albany. The Rev. Jeff Hale, a chaplain with Samaritan Health Services, will be the group’s facilitator. We took the opportunity to bounce some questions about the group off of Hale in an email interview. Here are his answers: Q: What was the impetus behind the creation of “Man to Man?” Are men a little more reluctant than women to reach to find support from survivors or others? The Rev. Jeff Hale: The very diagnosis of cancer, any kind, comes as a dramatic stock and more often than not totally unexpected. With such a diagnosis comes a battery of questions even for the informed patient. Too often the patient and family aren’t even sure were to start much less what questions to ask. “Man to Man” is a reorganization of an earlier support group offered by the Samaritan Cancer Resource Center a year or two ago. The goal of this group is to give prostate source. However, the American Cancer Socancer patients the opportunity to talk about ciety published the following numbers in 2004. The prevalence of prostate cancer intheir lives and their problems, to discuss creases with age, and the increase with age their thoughts and especially their feelings with others who can understand them. These is greater for prostate cancer than for any other cancer.” In men 39 others understand because years and younger, one case they’re in a similar situation. for every 10,000 people is The group allows them to “THE GOAL IS TO Between 40 and share their story in a safe and GIVE PROSTATE CANCER expected. 59 years of age, 1 man of nonjudgmental environment. PATIENTS THE every 103 will be diagnosed. Often the support that means the most occurs when people OPPORTUNITY TO TALK For men from 60 to 79 years, simply listen to one another, rate goes up to one in ABOUT THEIR LIVES AND the and then affirm and validate eight. THEIR PROBLEMS.” what the other has to say. In men over 80 the The second goal of this prostate cancer does not REV. JEFF HALE group is to help educate its grow at an expedient rate members to the issues they and many men will die of face, allowing them to make other causes and are not informed decision as to the path they desire identified as having prostate cancer before to take on this frightening and unexpected their death. journey. Q: As you work with men who have gone Q: What do the most recent statistics tell through prostate cancer and the surgery, do us about the incidence of prostate cancer? you notice some common themes emerging? Hale: Statics will vary depending on the Hale: Perhaps one of the biggest concerns
IF YOU GO
What: “Man to Man,” a free local prostate cancer support group for men. When: The group will meet from 4 to 6 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of the month beginning on March 20. Where: The group will meet at the Samaritan Cancer Resource Center, 400 N.W. Hickory St. in North Albany. Your facilitator: The Rev. Jeff Hale, a chaplain with Samaritan Health Services. Some meetings will have guest speakers. For more information: Call 541-812-5888.
among men seeking treatment, during treatment, and after treatment for prostate cancer is; “How will this affect my sexual performance?” The answer is as varied as the number of persons asking the question. Q: What can participants expect from these sessions? And, just to be clear: People can elect to join the sessions in any given week? Hale: These sessions will allow cancer patients to tell their story, to share their journey with others traveling a similar road. It is a place where members will find that they are not alone in their journey for others go with them. It is a place where its members at times will find support and at other times will offer it. It is a place where its members can discover the resources and knowledge from clinicians to make informed decisions about their treatment. The sessions are open for participants to come and go as they feel the need. The first three months, March thru June, have been scheduled and the program established. However, during that time I intend to survey the group as to their wishes for frequency, time and subject matter members would like to explore. This will allow me to tailor the program to the members’ needs and wants. There also will be an educational group separate from the men for caregivers dealing with the issues that they will face on this journey with their partner.
Changing your brain keeps it sharp as you age BY ANNA KUCHMENT THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DALLAS — After she retired from her job as a medical transcriptionist, Elaine Savage grew isolated. She rarely went out or talked to friends on the phone. She relied on her family to do her grocery shopping. Then, a class changed her life. After seeing a leaflet, Savage signed up to take part in a study on aging run by psychologists at the University of Texas at Dallas. There, researchers assigned her to
a 14-week course on digital photography and quilting. Meeting new people and learning new things whet her appetite for adventure. Since the course ended, Savage, now 67, has kept up her quilting and plans to enter the State Fair of Texas competition this year; stayed in touch with her classmates, taking the bus to meet them for lunch once a month; and has enrolled in new classes — the history of religion, English composition, jewelry making — at El Centro College in
downtown Dallas. Participating in the university study, Savage says, “is probably one of the highlights of my life.” Those results are well beyond what Denise Park, head of the university’s Center for Vital Longevity, might have expected. Park, a psychologist, studies the aging mind. Along with many other researchers, she is hunting for clues that will help older adults preserve their cognitive health for as long as they have their physical health.
Her study, published in January in the journal Psychological Science, found that adults who took the same combination of classes as Savage improved their memory and the speed with which they processed information more than volunteers who joined a social club or stayed home and did educational activities such as playing word games. “Being deeply engaged is key to maintaining the health of the mind,” Park says. See BRAIN on B7
ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD, CORVALLIS (OR) GAZETTE-TIMES
SUNDAY, MARCH 16, 2014
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