Health & Wellness
ealthbeai
replacement procedure
shown live on the Internet
Jason E. Lang, an assistant professor
e__r_?dic surgery, will perform a computer
total knee replacement during a live webc
gins at noon, Friday, May 2, from Wake
University Baptist Medical Center.
William G. Ward, M.D , an orthopaedic
who also performs joint replacement!, will t
?nocedure and take questions from Internet
Knee replacement surgery is for patients |
extreme knee pain and disabilities caused
;nital defects, trauma, osteoarthritis or i
arthritis. Cartilage may have worn away
? ' thigh and shin bones nib directly
?s. Knee replacement patients typically
tried non-steroidal anti-inflammatory <L
t injections, physician therapy and even
surgeries to relieve their discomfort.
ig. the surgery, the physician trims off
of an inch of the ends of the thigh
ents a curved metal femoral compt
the end of the thigh bone. About a third _
erf the shin bone is trimmed away at the top and;
? i with a flat and stemmed tibial plate that is
i onto the top of the shin bone. The plate has
hylene cushion that allows for movement,
r piece replaces the patella or kneecap.
> view the webcast live or in the archive, go to
' ' ' casts or to OR-Live.com
I IkllJI
Andrea Jot
it work on social s
to
a Johnson, an adjunct professor of
of sociology and social work at
I Agricultural and
State University,
i presentation. May
j the International
on Social Stress
in Santa Fe, New
, a doctoral candi
university's
Studies program,
in sociology
. A&T and a degree
gy from North
Risk Factors ,
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; of this study show that
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elf-esteem have an ei
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finds that Y<
breast cancer
at Wake Forest Univ
have shown that restorative
form of yoga that can !
1 or fatigued, can improve
t status of women with I
? of the study, "Restorative 1
Cancer: Findings from
y," were presented recently!
Danhauer, PhD., at
I Medicine's annual
was awarded the Compk
Medicine Investigator
of Behavioral
in the study were 44
:r. Half were randomly i
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to take yoga classes
i in both groups compl
life and emotional func
again at completion^
1 to the control group, f
ntly higher healtf
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ent of Cancer
a 28-item self-i
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well-being, social/family
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rank
e programs at The Univ
ittboro - Counselor
. - have received lop i
S News A World Report.
at of Counseling and 1
(CED) ranks fourth i
_ slAWR's just-released*
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i UNCG and two other i
University Baptist Medical <
School of Nurse AnestJ
xteenth
ranked CED number four i
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BCBSNC
Foundation .
ups funds for
free clinics
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE _
The Blue Cross and Blue
Shield of North Carolina
(BCBSNC) Foundation has
announced that it is extending
its partnership with the North
Carolina Association of Free
Clinics (NCAFC) with an
additional $10 million invest
ment starting in 2009. With the
extension, the BCBSNC
Foundation is furthering its
commitment to increase the
impact and expand the reach of
North Carolina's free clinic
network.
"Free
clinics
do an
incredi
ble job
of help
ing to
address
t h e
health
care
needs of
Greczyn
North Carolina's underserved
and uninsured,!' said Bob
Greczyn, chairman of the
BCBSNC Foundation. "We are
very proud of the success of
our initial five-year collabora
tion, and we believe strongly
in continuing to support the
work that they do."
In June, BCBSNC
Foundation and NCAFC will
enter the final year of an initial
five-year, $10 million partner
ship that began in 2004. Since
that time, the number of free
clinics and counties served
have each grown by 32 per
cent. Currently, 74 clinics are
providing services to individu
als and families in 79 North
Carolina counties, an increase
of 18 clinics and 19 additional
counties. Total patient visits
have increased by almost 50
percent since the partnership
began. Over the last three
years alone, the amount of
health care services being pro
vided totals $186 million, an
increase of nearly two-thifds.
This is the first time in the
seven-year history of the BCB
SNC Foundation that a second
grant has been distributed at
this level and to the same
organization. According to a
Wake Forest University study,
every dollar invested in a clin
ic results in $4.42 in care,
which means the return on
investment is more than four
times the initial grant.
* . File Photo
Walkers and runners take pari in last year's event.
Breast cancer race slated for May 3
Event raised more than $500,000 last year
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The North Carolina Triad Affiliate of Susan G.
Komen for the Cure will host its 9th annual Race for the
Cure fundraising walk/run on Saturday, May 3, at Salem
Academy and College.
? The start line will be at the Old Salem Bypass near
the covered bridge and the Old Salem Visitor's Center. ?
Last year's event raised over $550,000 and included
8,400 registrants and almost 600 volunteers and spon
sors. Seventy-five percent of the net proceeds from the
Race will remain in the 10 counties the Triad affiliate
serves - Forsyth, Guilford, Davie, Yadkin, Stokes,
Davidson, Surry, Randolph, Wilkes and Alamance coun
ties. The remaining income supports the Susan G. Komen
for the Cure National Research Grant Program, which
funds groundbreaking breast cancer research, meritorious
awards and educational and scientific programs around
the world.
"This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we are
expecting approximately 10,000 people to join us on
May 3," said Betsey McRae, executive director, NC
Triad affiliate. "Although our race takes place on one
day, the impact will have an effect throughout the years.
Since our first local race in 2000, the triad Komen affil
iate has invested more than $2.5 million in local breast
health and breast cancer education, screening and treat
ment projects."
"You may still form a team, join as an individual or
simply donate to the cause. There are so many options for
folks and they can find all that information on our Web
site. If you're just not a morning person and you can't
make it on Race Day, consider supporting the race by
registering for Sleep In For The Cure," said McRae.
While online team registration has ended, individual
registrations will be accepted online through April 28.
Donations can also be made online at
www.komennctriad.org.
Treating Heart Disease
For the past two weeks we have
been discussing what heart disease is
and how you can reduce your risk of
developing heart disease. As we
'talked about last week, quitting smok
ing and getting to a healthy weight are
also great steps to treating hyperten
sion (high blood pressure), or high
cholesterol, and heart disease, but
sometimes even those people who do
live a healthy lifestyle develop these
conditions. Medications and surgical
procedures can be needed to control
heart disease and its risk factors.
Having regular, yearly checkups with
your doctor helps monitor your health
and allows you and your doctor to
determine the right treatment regimen
for you.
WtefojwtUwfrejMteg*
How is Heart Disease Diagnosed?
Your doctor may perform several
tests, some noninvasive (do not
involve inserting instruments or fluids
into the body) and some invasive.
Examples of noninvasive tests are:
resting or non-resting electrocardio
gram (ECG or EKG), chest X-ray, I
exercise stress test, computed tomog
raphy (CT) scan, and magnetic reso
nance imaging (MRI). The CT and
MRT scans allow the doctor to see a 3
D image of your heart. The most com
mon invasive procedure i? a cardiac
catheterization, during which a doctor
inserts a thin plastic tube (catheter)
into an artery or vein in the arm or leg.
From there it can be sent into the
chambers of the heart or into the coro
nary arteries, allowing the doctor to
see what areas are blocked or affected
by disease. ?
Medications
There are a variety of heart med
Sec Heart on All
Study: N.C. turning away from cigarettes
SPECIAfc TO THE CHRONICLE
Public health leaders and teen
tobacco use prevention advocates
are applauding the results of a 2007
statewide survey that indicate his
toric lows in teen smoking in North
Carolina. For the first time since
youth, smoking has been assessed
in our state, results show that the
majority of teens have never tried
smoking, not even a puff.
The NC Health and Wellness
Trust Fund (HWTF) announced the
results of the 2007 North Carolina
Youth Tobacco Survey last week at
C.E. Jordan High School in
Durham. vThe Youth Tobacco
Survey, administered by the NC
Tobacco Prevention and Control
Branch, is the definitive study of
tobacco use among high school and
middle school students in the state.
According to survey results,
middle school smoking in North
Carolina has dropped to 4.5 percent
and high school smoking has
dropped to 19 percent. From 1999
to 2003, NC had seen only modest
improvements in current youth cig
arette smoking rates. However,
from 2003 to 2007, the time period
when HWTF funded its youth pre
vention and cessation initiative,
significant changes in current ciga
rette smoking occurred among both
middle and high school students.
Since 2003, middle school
smoking dropped by 51.8 percent
and high school smoking dropped
by 30.4 percent. This data trans
lates into 34,000 fewer teen smok
ers since 2003.
Peer influence may be working
in a healthier direction since social
no>ms around smoking have defi
nitely shifted among NC youth:
78.9 percent of middle school stu
dents and Sl.l percent of high
school students have never tried
smoking.
This represents a dramatic
change from 1999, when, accord
ing to studies, only 60.7 percent of
NC middle school students and
3 1 .8 percent of NC high school stu
dents had never tried smoking. }'
More than 7,500 middle and
high school students from 191
schools and 74 school districts
(plus one charter) participated in
the survey. The response rate was
one of the highest in the nation.
"Our North Carolina teens are
making history," said Lt. Gov. Bev
Perdue. HWTF chair. "The declin
ing rates in youth smoking show us
that thousands of teens around the
state have made a decision to be
smoke-free. These results push us
another step closer to reaching our
goal of creating the first tobacco
free generation in North Carolina.
In the long ruii, we're saving
" lives."
The timing of the announce
ment of the survey results coin
cides with another reason to cele
Photo courtesy of
Tobacco .Reality Unfiltere
d Campaign
TRU ^ cam
paign mem
bers collect
cigarette butts
in Durham 's
Duke Park as
part of an
anti-smoking
initiative.
brate NC youth's commitment to c>
staying tobacco-free - the fact that
HWTF's youth grassroots recruit
ment campaign has reached its goal
two months ahead of schedule.
The Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered
(TRU) recruitment campaign was
launched last September by HWTF
in Raleigh with an ambitious goal
of having, the end of the current
school year, 5,000 NC youth take
the pledge to remain tobacco-free.
Last week the number of TRU
pledges reached the 5,000 mark,
and hundreds more have signed on
since then.