Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Feb. 17, 1994, edition 1 / Page 79
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Too A/1 any Americans Lie Awake at Night Most people spend a third of their life sleeping, but some struggle to get even four hours of slumber. Sleeplessness is a problem tor a significant number of Americans. It can be caused by many things, such as sleeping in an unfamiliar envi ronment. hot weather and illness. Business travelers, vacation travelers and shift workers coping with changes in bedtimes may find themselves tossing and turning frequent ly. Short periods of stress can also cause mild forms of insomnia. Diet pills, which are often loaded with caffeine, can keep you from getting to sleep, as can taking daytime naps. In a few cases, leg cramps can interrupt a good night's sleep. The elderly are often preoccupied with their luck of sleen The nor J ? r i mal 85-year-old spends about one-fifth of the night awake. Furthermore, chronic nightmares may cause insomnia. Nightmares can occur after bad experiences or as a result of psychological troubles. Nightmares can also occur as side effects of taking or withdrawing from certain medications, such as sedatives. (iHtinu to eippn r Experts offer several ways to treat insomnia. First of all, people who have trouble sleeping should go to bed and arise at the same time every day?no staying up late or sleeping in. This is the most crucial aspect of curing insomnia, experts say. Phy sicians also recommend removing all caffeine from the diet except, perhaps, the morning coffee. Regular exercise also helps improve sleep patterns. Stretching may get rid of the problem; if you suffer from leg cramps at night, ask your physician to recommend a stretching exercise to do before going to bed. In addition, some physicians swear by the time-honored tradition of drinking a glass of warm milk before bed. Some cases of insomnia can be traced to underlying physical prob lems, and can be treated with medication. For instance, antidepressants almost always help people with depression overcome their sleep lessness. However, barbiturates, once commonly used as sleeping pills, may do more harm than good. They are habit-forming, there is no good evi dence that they work and they may actually disrupt normal sleep pat terns. While certain sleep aids can be bought over the counter, they do not restore the rapid eye movement (RL-M) stage of sleep, and are not con sidered by experts to be very helpful. Many more efficient prescription sleeping aids have become avail able in the past few years. Ask your family pharmacist about the ones he or she feels work best. Diabetes And The Kidneys More than 200,000 Americans suffer from chronic kidney failure. Kidney failure means that the kidneys have lost their ability to fil ter waste products and excess fluid from the blood. The individual then must have regular dialysis treat ments or a kidney transplant in or der to survive. Approximately one-third of these patients lost their kidney function because of diabetes. Diabetes is a disease where the body does not produce enough in sulin or cannot utilize the insulin properly. Since insulin regulates the metabolism of sugar, this can result in high levels of sugar in the blood. Having too much sugar in the blood can damage the small blood vessels in the body. When the blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, they can no longer filter the blood effectively. This condition is called diabetic nephropathy. Not all diabetics develop kidney failure. About 30 to 40 percent of people with Type I (juvenile onset) diabetes and 10 to 30 percent of those with Type II (adult onset) dia betes will eventually have kidney failure. Although it has not been rigor ously proven, it is commonly ac ccpted that controlling the blood sugar can prevent or delay the com plications of diabetes including kid ney failure. It is also important to keep blood pressure under control and to treat any urinary tract infec tions quickly. The progression of diabetic nephropathy can be slowed if it is diagnosed early. One of the first signs is albuminuria, or protein in the urine. Once this is found, the doctor may prescribe a special blood pressure medicine and a low protein diet in order to slow the ad vance of kidney damage. This should be done with the advice of a dietitian. If you have diabetes, you should: ? Maintain blood sugar and blood pressure as close to normal as possible. ? Get regular medical check ups, including blood and urine tests. ? Know the warning signs of kidney disease?swelling of parts of the body; lower back pain; burn ing sensation during urination; bloody or coffee-colored urine; high blood pressure; change in the frequency of urination. The American Kidney Fund can be reached at 1-800-63K-82W. Study Takes New Look At Women, The Effects Of Menopause And Heart Disease Gerry Fallon barely stopped to think about her 60th birthday. After all, she was busy with her career, her children and her granddaugh ters. She also barely thought about the occasional unusual feeling in her chest. It wasn't pain exactly, but a strange pressure she felt while walking on the beach or carrying something heavy. She attributed it to a general feel ing of lethargy, to the weight she gained when she quit smoking. But one night the pressure turned to pain?persistent, severe pain Gerry Fallon was having a heart attack. Leading Cause of Death Until recently, heart disease was thought to be a man's illness. The statistics show, however, that heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, just as it is in men. Each year, about 500,(XX) Ame rican women have heart attacks. Nearly 245,000 die. Doctors have some theories about women and heart disease. In a new clinical trial, the Heart and Estrogen-Progestin Study (HERS), physicians at IS medical centers around the country are trying to de termine whether hormone replace ment therapy has an impact on postmenopausal women with heart disease. The findings could be sig nificant for the 43 million women who are at or nearing menopause. All IK centers are recruiting post -menopausal women up to 80 years of age with heart disease to partici pate in the study. Most of the research in heart dis ease in the past was done \s ith male participants. Now researchers feel the differences between men and women warrant studies that focus solely on women. Among those differences: ? While men usually experience crushing chesl pain, women arc likely to feel a lingering pain, vague discomfort and nausea when ha\ ing a heart attack. ? Women are more likely to die from a first heart attack. Those who survive have a greater risk of a sec ond heart attack than men. ? Women who have bypass sur gery are more likely to die from si i n?icaI com p! ications. ? Women are less likely to be given thrombolytic ("clot-busting") drugs. Help for Women 1IURS researchers hope to recruit at least 2,3-10 women for their tri ills. The five-and-a-half year study will look at the relationship be tween hormone replacement thera py and recurrent heart attacks in women with heart disease. Women who participate will get free exams, including mammograms and blood tests. Gerry Fallon was one of the first to join the trials. As the HERS study and other re search projects provide more facts, women will have more information to protect their health. By partici pating in HERS," she says, "l be lieve I'm doing something very constructive, something I can feel good about." Anyone interested in participat ~.jU i Ufin "?ui jir-pc* 3IIUUIVI Cclll i -OUU*?Oft 1 National Flu Trackin Consumers Against A new influenza monitoring net work could diminish the impact of this year's epidemic by alerting communities to flu activity before an outbreak hits. The Flumadine FluAlert Center, diiveloped to track influenza activi ty this season, will notify physi cians and the public where type A influenza, the most severe form, has been confirmed. The FluAlert Center consists of a panel of health providers, physi cians and hospital groups that test for the influenza virus in 70 major geographic areas every week throughout the season. Because influenza is caused by a virus, most people feel that nothing can be done to treat and prevent the illness. However, by recognizing the influenza alert quickly, phvsi g System Arms influenza Outbreak cians and patients in afflicted cities may be able to prevent influenza before it occurs and lessen the severity of the illness through treat ment with new antiviral medicines. Vaccination is the primary met hod of preventing influenza infec tion; however, antivirals are also useful for preventing influenza A. When one medication was given to prevent infection during outbreaks, more than 90 percent of patients who took it in clinical studies did not develop influenza. Preventing influenza A is espe cially important for persons with chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart, lung or kidney disease, adults and children with asthma, and everyone over the age of 65; these groups are most likely to de velop serious complications from influenza. MAKE AN OFFER ON ONE OF THESE, !? miM* a ? as Jte" n?^ PW3 <wv ASH AREA-3-BR, 2 bath brick home with approximately 1700 sq ft i sitting on 2V4 acres* in nice quiet area EXCEL ash AREA 3 BR 1 bath brick home 1500 sq ft - 'ire LtN I CONDiTiuN. Located within 15 min to beach and golf piace, EXCELLENT CONDITION and outside storage"build f k Vf f inn *AHr ** -'TTt' m? Hllli . J -- iwmm 11 - ? ? ? ? ??*?.?? Jiirsr *r. -, - ^ \\S?' ' ' MfBSSHgJWWW?r oargwayjo. SHALLOTTE POINT-Waterfront. 2-story. 2.000 sq ft t .?MPWUW . ? ? ?* ^ restored to natural look front and rear porch 3 BR, 2 baths, N?> 4 FPs, 7 ceiling fans, office and much more Large oak trees This 2 BR. 1 bath home is located approximately 6 miles beautiful view. Deep water pier and cabin on water with over from Shallotte on Hwy 130 West Includes one acret and is 135 ft of water frtg, total of \ 'A acresi ONE OF A KIND! "deal for starter or retirement Owner financing available cj" For additional listings call... L Simmons Realty H P.O. Box 4749, Thomasfooro Road, Calabash, NC 28470 (910)579-0192 ? FAX #(910)579-0814 Licensed in North & South Carolina ___
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 17, 1994, edition 1
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