Health & Wellness
Healthbeat
Locals who took part in
landmark study reunite
Because of the 5,201 Forsyth County residents
who participated in a long-running study of cardio
vascular health factors, researchers at Wake Forest
University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues
have made major findings that have led to changes in
health care policy at the national level.
' Participants in the 20-year-old Cardiovascular
Health Study (CHS) were invited to attend an appre
ciation event Tuesday. Nov. 13 at the Hawthorne Inn
and Conference Center where they received a big
"thank you" for their important contributions to med
ical science.
The CHS is a landmark study of aging and cardio
vascular health that started in 1988 and is ongoing.
Gregory Burke. MX)., principal investigator and pro
fessor and division head of Public Health Sciences,
said the study has changed how the medical profes
sion looks at aging.
"When we started, in fact, there was a dearth of
information about treating and preventing disease in
older adults. There was the thought that if they've
made it to age 65, then they're ok and we shouldn't
change anything, but this study has changed the way
we think about older adults and their health."
In the beginning, the CHS involved 5201 people
over 65 years old from Forsyth County, Sacramento
County, Calif., Pittsburgh. Pa., and Washington
County, Md. The mean age of participants was 75 and
the majority of the participants (64 percent) were
women. Today, the youngest cohort member is now
84 years of age and the 84+ and older segment of the
study population is the fastest growing. The study is
sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute.
Low carb diet may help fight
prostate cancer, study finds
DURHAM - A diet low in carbohydrates may
help stunt the growth of prostate tumors, according to
a new study led by Duke Prostate Center researchers.
The study, in mice, suggests that a reduction in
insulin production possibly caused by fewer carbohy
drates may stall tumor growth.
Freedland
"This study showed that
cutting carbohydrates may
slow tumor growth, at least in
mice," said Stephen
Freedland, MX)., a urologist at
Duke University Medical
Center and lead researcher on
the study. "If this is ultimately
confirmed in human clinical
trials, it has huge implications
for prostate cancer therapy
through something that all of
us can control, our diets."
Freedland conducted most of the research for this
study while doing a fellowship in urology at Johns
Hopkins' Brady Urological Institute under the tute
lage of William Isaacs, Ph.D., a molecular geneticist
there.
i The researchers published their results on Nov.
13, 2007 in the online edition of the journal Prostate
The study was funded by the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the Department of Surgery and the Division
of Urology at Duke University Medical Center, the
Plostate Cancer Foundation, and the Department of
Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program.
Other study authors include John Mavropoulos,
Timothy Fields, Salvatore Pizzo and Bercedis
Peterson of Duke; Amy Wang and Medha Darshan of
Johns Hopkins University; William Aronson, Pinchas
Cohen and David Hwang of UCLA; and Wendy
Demark Wahnefried of MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Brenner joins FIT program
Breaner Children's Hospital is opening the
region's first and most comprehensive pediatric obe
sity program. Called Brenner FIT (Families in
Training), the program has several components,
including a year-long intensive treatment program for
overweight children with an underlying medical
problem
: Joseph Skelton. M.D., a pediatric gastroenterolo
gist and national obesity expert, joined the faculty in
August to head the center
"We are very excited about Dr. Skelton 's arrival,"
said Jon S . Abramson . M .D . , physician-in-chief of the
children's hospital. "He has a national reputation for
,'njl work with pediatric obesity and is doing novel
| research in the area of childhood obesity."
Skelton comes to Brenner's from Children's
Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of
Wisconson, where he headed an obesity program for
four years.
-tf'The Brenner FIT program will provide compre
hensive, holistic, family-centered medical treatment
for morbidly obese patients in the region," Skelton
said. "Our program is comprised of medical care,
:h, community education and outreach. Early
we hope to include a surgical component to
FIT as well."
m and his team are also part of the
ive to Strengthen Families and
. The collaborative is a partnership
ildren's hospital and the YWCA. This
was developed as a learning lab which
the Community in developing and testing
solutions for important child health issues
health issue the collaborative will focus on
isity.
FIT accepts patients ages 2 to 18.
Children's Hospital is part of Wake Forest
Baptist Medical Center. For more infor
visit www.brennerchildrens.org or call 716
1-800-446-2255.
State of Breast Cancer
report available online
Findings show advances, challenges
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE ; .
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has published the State of Breast Cancer report, a first-ever, reader-friendly snap
shot of where the United States and the global community are in the quest to end breast cancer forever.
Written for readers who have an interest in breast cancer but no formal background in the biology of the disease,
the State of Breast Cancer provides information on advancements in diagnosis, treatment and research that have
made breast cancer a survivable disease for more than 2 million people in the United States. But the news is not all
good . The report also explores cultural , social , educational and financial barriers - or disparities - that prevent many
people from getting screened and receiving life-saving breast cancer care.
The State of Breast Cancer report was
created because Susan G. Komen for the
Cure discovered that no lay-friendly, com
prehensive look at the progress in the
breast cancer movement existed. Reports
geared toward scientists and researchers
were plentiful; but easy-to-understand
reports on breast cancer for everyday peo
ple were non-existent.
"Komen for the Cure's goal was to
produce a report that gives people under
standable information about breast cancer
and reminds them that this battle is far
from over," said Betsey McRae, executive
director. NC Triad Affiliate. "Too many
people - particularly people of certain eth
nic and racial minorities and those with lit
tle or no health insurance - still die need
lessly of breast cancer."
Along with statistics and information
about the disease and treatment approach
es, the State of Breast Cancer report provides practical ways for people to engage in the breast cancer movement. An
extensive breast cancer resource list is included, as well as a glossary of terms.
"The State of Breast Cancer will surprise and upset many readers. People who get upset are usually inspired to
take action, and that is what we hope readers will do," said Hala Moddelmog, president and CEO of Komen for the
Cure.
The report reveals that despite all the medical advancements that have been made, more than 40,000 people -
roughly the population of Burlington - will die of the disease in the U.S. this year.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder. Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, provides a foreword for the 36-page
report.
In it, she says, "This first-ever State of Breast Cancer report is guided by the simple truth that has inspired Susan
G. Komen for the Cure for the past 25 years: every one of us has the opportunity ?in fact, the responsibility? to help
save lives today and, ultimately, end this disease forever. You're not holding just another report? you're holding a
roadmap, a detailed plan for action."
The Slate of Breast Cancer report is available in PDF form at www.komen.org/sobc2007 .
MRSA: What's all the Hype?
There has been a lot of talk in the
news lately about MRSA. or
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus. In 2005, more than 94,000
people in tjie United States devel
oped MRSA, and more than 18,000
of those individuals died from the
infection. MRSA is a type of staph
infection that is resistant to certain
antibiotics that are usually used to
treat infections, including the drugs
methicillin, oxacillin, penicillin, and
amoxicillin. Resistance to antibi
otics occurs when bacteria change
so that they can survive an attack of
antibiotics designed to destroy them.
This mutation makes the bacteria
very hard to treat. While MRSA is a
threat to people of all racial and eth
nic backgrounds, one study found
that African Americans have a high
er incidence of MRSA than do their
white counterparts.
There are two classes of MRSA.
which are determined the mecha
nism through which MRSA is
spread from person to person. These
types include Community
Associated MRSA and Healthcare
Associated MRSA.
Community-Associated MRSA
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), MRSA infections that are
acquired by persons who have not
been hospitalized or had a medical
procedure within the last year are
known as Community Associated
MRSA (CA-MRSA) infections. CA
A
MRSA infections usually manifest
as skin infections, such as pimples
and boils, and occur in otherwise
healthy people. Risk factors associ
ated wiwi the spread of- CA-MRSA
include close skin-to-skin contact,
openings in the skin such as cuts or
abrasions, contaminated items and
surfaces, crowded living conditions,
and poor hygiene. Those groups at
higher risk for contracting CA
MRSA include athletes, military
recruits, students living in dorms,
children (via schools), prisoners,
and anyone in unclean living condi
tions
Healthcare-Associated MRSA
More commonly, MRSA is
spread through hospitals or other
healthcare environments, such as
nursing homes and dialysis centers.
This type of MRSA is known as
Healthcare-Associated MRSA (HA
MRSA). HA-MRSA accounts for
approximately 85 percent of MRSA
cases. According to the CDC, these
infections occur most frequently
See MRSA on A13
Atlanta 's
Grady
in poor
condition
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA - For genera
tions, Grady Memorial
Hospital has treated the poor
est of the poor, victims of stab
bings and shootings, and
motorists grievously injured in
Atlanta's murderous rush-hour
traffic.
Now, Grady itself is in
grave condition.
Staggering under a deficit
projected at $55 million, the
city's only public hospital
could close at the end of the
year.
leaving
Atlanta
without a
major
trauma
center
and
foisting
thou
sands of
poor
people
onto
Heilpern
emergency rooms at other hos
pitals for their routine medical
care.
"I don't have the words to
describe the onslaught of
health care needs that will hit
the region if Grady were to
close," said Dr. Katherine
Heilpern, chief of emergency
medicine at the Emory
University medical school,
which uses Grady as a teach
ing hospital and supplies many
of its physicians. "This is a
huge deal. We may literally
have people's lives at stake if
the Grady Health System fails
and spirals down into financial
insolvency."
On Monday, Grady's gov
erning board of political
appointees was scheduled to
consider turning day-to-day
operation of the hospital over
to a nonprofit board in hopes
the move would attract big
corporate donations and enable
Grady to keep its doors open.
Founded in 1892, Grady
has struggled financially for
years. But.now it has reached a
crisis because of rising health
care costs, dwindling govern
ment aid, a lack of paying cus
tomers, and years of neglect ?
a situation not uncommon
among urban hospitals like
Grady that primarily serve the
needy.
In addition to losing money
on patient care, Grady needs
an estimated $300 million to
repair and modernize its build
ings and acquire new equip
ment such as CT scanners and
an up-to-date computeosys
tem.
The loss of Grady would be
unconscionable to many politi
cal and civic leaders in this
booming metropolitan area of
5 million people. The over
whelming majority of the
900,000 patients treated at
Grady each year are poor and
See Grady on All
Study: Trust fund helping N.C. kids lose weight
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
RALEIGH - The N.C. Health and
Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) childhood obe
sity grants succeeded in helping children
achieve a healthy weight through small,
dietary changes, according to an evaluation of
the grant program conducted statewide by
East Carolina University.
East Carolina University researchers
reviewed the results of 19 childhood obesity
grant projects funded by the Trust Fund that
aimed to help North Carolina children achieve
a healthy weight. ECU researchers looked at
1,346 children from four to 18 years of age
who were grouped into one of four categories
when the projects began: underweight,
healthy weight, overweight and obese.
Using approaches such as nutrition les
sons that encourage less sweet beverage con
sumption, 90 percent of the children stayed in
their category or improved over the three
years of study. Among overweight and obese
children in the study, 51 percent improved
their weight category. For some, improving
their weight categoujwneant they actually lost
weight. For others, nfmeant they grew taller
*
while maintaining their weight. Some did
both.
"Childhood obesity is a real challenge for
North Carolina, and there are rial conse
quences for the future health and well-being
of our kids," said HWTF Chair Lt. Gov. Bev
Perdue. "These evaluation results demon
strate how important healthy eating is to
achieving a healthy weight."
The projects were part of HWTF's child
hood obesity grant program, which aims to
reduce obesity and encourage healthful
lifestyles in the state. Projects across the state
each received approximately $300,000 to
$400,000 over three years.
The full evaluation report is available at:
http://www.healthwellnc.com/hwtfc/htmfiles/
fundprty_obesity-grants .htm .
"These projects have demonstrated small
changes can make a difference." said lead
researcher Dr. Lauren Whetstone, clinical
associate professor of family medicine at
ECU's Brody School of Medicine. "While
physical activity may well have played a role,
outcomes were largely achieved by the
dietary changes that took place, at least in this
study."
The historic effort comes against the back
drop of mounting studies showing that North
Carolina's young people are dangerously
overweight. A report recently released from
the Washington-based Trust for America's
Health indicates that North Carolina's chil
dren are the fifth most obese in the United
States.