Health Care

Sun Health Auxiliary's board of directors recently approved allocating nearly $175,000 of funds raised this year to acquire medical equipment benefitting local health care and to support medical research.

The all-volunteer board works with other West Valley volunteers who operate the auxiliary's gift shops and thrift shops as well as with donors and event sponsors to generate needed funds which enhance patient care in local nonprofit hospitals - Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical centers - and support scientific research at Sun Health Research Institute.

At Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center's Medical Intensive Care Unit and Critical Care Unit, the proceeds will fund the purchase of a transport monitor, which allows observation of a patient's vital signs when away from the patient care unit to conduct tests or procedures, as well as two point-of-care devices, which deliver lab test results to physicians and nurses within two minutes of completion.

In the MICU and CCU units are four new CritiCare monitors to keep track of patients' critical fluid output and core temperature to detect signs of infection, and a hypothermia unit to induce hypothermia for patients who have experienced sudden cardiac arrest.

Additional new medical equipment at Banner Del E. Webb includes five telemetry monitors for Cardiac Rehabilitation, 10 wheelchairs to transport admitted patients, a specialized stretcher used to transport female patients for ultrasound procedures and a defibrillator monitor to benefit patients in the telemetry unit.

New equipment at Banner Boswell Medical Center includes four patient-safety lifts to assist nurses in moving patients - a measure which helps patient and caregiver alike - as well as two infusion pumps to enhance the safety of medication administration related to high-alert medications.

Also being purchased for Banner Boswell are four recovery-room monitors to assist patient vital-sign observation after surgery as well as a blanket warmer to enhance patient comfort in the emergency department.

To support ongoing investigations at Sun Health Research Institute, the auxiliary is funding the purchase of an electromyography machine measuring electrical impulses for Parkinson's patients with cervical dystonia - characterized by involuntary spasmodic movement - to treat the condition, and providing operating funds to support ongoing Alzheimer's research.

"It is an honor to be able to augment patient care in such an amazing and generous community," said Barbara Ryan, auxiliary chairwoman. "We would not be able to do so without the phenomenal volunteers who work on our fund-raising events and in our gift shops and thrift shops throughout the year, not to mention generous support of our fun-filled community engagement fund-raising events.

"Our friends and neighbors know how to give back, and it certainly is the Sun Health Auxiliary's pleasure to reward those efforts by supporting Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical centers as well as Sun Health Research Institute."

Sun Health Auxiliary is a division of the nonprofit Sun Health Foundation, whose mission is to make a difference in people's lives by encouraging charitable giving for the enhancement of nonprofit healthcare services in the West Valley.

Kim Antoniou is manager of Community Engagement for Sun Health Auxiliary/Sun Health Foundation.

 

The Sun Health Auxiliary thrift shops will adjust hours to help customers beat the summer heat.

Beginning Monday through Aug. 29, the Boswell Thrift Shop, 10226 W. Santa Fe Drive in Sun City, and the Sun City West Thrift Shop, 14445 R.H. Johnson Blvd. in Sun City West, will be open from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday.

Bottled water is available for a small fee. Browsers are encouraged to visit both stores, and tax-deductible donations of gently used household items, furniture, books and clothing are welcome during business hours. All funds raised by the auxiliary support the purchase of medical equipment for Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical centers; Banner Boswell Rehabilitation Center; the Sun Health Research Institute; Banner Boswell/Mesa Nursing Education Program; Banner Alzheimer's Residence; Banner Special Adults Residence, Natvig House; and Banner Olive Branch Senior Center.

The Boswell Thrift Shop may be reached by calling 623-876-5317, or contact the Sun City West Thrift Shop at 623-584-3869.

 

Some veterans who were previously denied enrollment in VA health care, those struggling financially due to job loss or other decrease in income, and those returning from a combat zone can get help from the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System through an assortment of programs that provide health-care services at no or reduced cost.

"VA recognizes that many veterans are feeling the effects of the downturn in the economy," said Dr. Jamie Robbins, interim health care system director. "It's important that eligible veterans learn of the many ways VA has to help them obtain the health care they have earned."

The Department of Veterans Affairs will re-open enrollment in its health care system nationwide to about 265,000 veterans whose incomes exceed certain limits. VA will expand enrollment to a group known as Priority 8 veterans, who have incomes that exceed current VA and geographic means test thresholds by 10 percent or less and who are not being compensated for a military-related disability.

VA will re-determine eligibility for veterans who applied for enrollment on or after Jan. 1 and were denied because of income limits. These veterans will not need to submit another application and will be notified if they are eligible. Veterans who applied for enrollment before Jan. 1 and were denied because their incomes were too high should reapply for enrollment.

In Phoenix, VA anticipates that the new regulations will affect about 2,000 local veterans.

VA nationally is sending letters to each of these veterans to notify them of the change. Locally, the Health Administration Service is reviewing other categories that were rejected prior to January.

VA's Medical Care Hardship program could help veterans qualify for VA health care services if they had a recent change in their incomes, even if they were previously denied enrollment based on their household incomes. Veterans who thought their incomes were too high may want to apply if they have lost their jobs or otherwise experienced sudden decreases in income. Increases in out-of-pocket health care expenses also factor into VA's hardship determination.

In Phoenix, the hardship applications have nearly doubled with about 10 veterans requesting assistance each week.

Most veterans who recently returned from a combat zone are eligible for five years of free VA care. The five-year eligibility period begins with their discharge from the military, not their departure from the combat zone.

For questions about eligibility or enrollment, call the Phoenix VA Health Care System at 602-222-6508, or toll-free 1-800-554-7174, Ext. 6508. Veterans may walk in to discuss eligibility with enrollment clerks from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Veterans may also contact VA's national Health Benefits Service Center at 1-877-222 VETS (8387) or visit www.va.gov/healtheligibility.

What to get for Father's Day? Not to worry - the Sun Health Auxiliary gift shops have the answer.

From travel mugs, so Dad can take his coffee on the go, to  designer fragrances men love and women can't resist, the auxiliary's four gift shops can solve the annual dilemma of what to give the man who already has it all.

"We have all kinds of specialized gifts to please everyone from the consummate career professional to the carefree, retired golfer," said Sue Slezak, manager of the auxiliary's retail and resale operations. "Our selection includes pretty much anything that anyone could want - and, to top it off, all purchases are sales-tax-free. Plus Banner Health employees and volunteers, including all members of our Sun Health Auxiliary, have the added benefit of a 10-percent discount on all gift merchandise.

"When you consider that all proceeds made in our gift shops go back to benefit Banner Boswell and Del E. Webb medical centers, the Sun Health Research Institute and our other local ancillary facilities, there's no better place to shop."

Sun Health Auxiliary gift shops are inside Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center near the east lobby and at the entrance of the Louisa Kellam Center for Women's Health. On the Banner Boswell Medical Center campus, they reside inside the hospital's main lobby and also at the Banner Boswell Rehabilitation Center, Honoring Norbert and Sonia Grove.

GENEVA - The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic today - the first global flu epidemic in 41 years - as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.

In a statement sent to member countries, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 - its highest alert - after holding an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts.

The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity," WHO said in the statement, urging nations not to close borders or restrict travel and trade. "(We) remain in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."

 

 

Here's an idea for the dog days of summer: Do your yoga workouts with your four-legged friend.

A young yoga and dog-loving entrepreneur named Amy Stevens has made that possible by creating a new DVD that provides instruction in yoga exercises viewers can perform with their canine pets.

Called "doga," the practice is catching on across the country, according to some published reports, with classes, videos and books being offered to those who want to find peace and enlightenment with their dogs as partners.

"I wanted to motivate people to get off the couch and get healthy along with their pets," Stevens said. "This is an ideal way for pet owners and their dogs to get fit without having to go to the gym."

For some, doga is hard to take seriously. An article on the subject in The New York Times elicited such reader comments as: "What next? Meditation with your cat? Tantra with your hamster?" and "Oh, please. Another sign of the decline of American civilization. What's next, Kitty Jazzercise?"

But Stevens, 24, says she has received only positive feedback about her video.

"It's a great stress release and a way to bond with your dog," said the Mesa woman.

Stevens, a longtime fan of yoga, became interested in practicing the body and mind control discipline with her dog, Ginger, after observing her furry friend try to join in as she did her exercises at home.

"She would walk up beside me or put her paw on my shoulder," Stevens said. "She loved stretching out, and I was spending extra time focusing on her."

After doing some research, Stevens discovered there actually were classes available in the Valley on yoga with dogs. But she said they were expensive and only seasonal.

That gave Stevens the idea of producing an instructional video that would demonstrate the exercises for humans and dogs together. She and three business partners formed a company called Redfield Manor Productions, which uses the brand name Yoga4Dogs, to create the DVD and related products.

She claims it's the only doga instructional video on the market.

The DVD, which can be purchased for $20 at Yoga4Dogs.com, includes 30-minute workout routines with big and small dogs plus a five-minute massage for the dog. It also contains sample recipes from a future "Cooking4Canines" book that Stevens plans to release soon.

With each DVD purchase, Stevens is donating $1 to either the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the Wildlife Alliance.

Although Stevens is trained in yoga, she concedes she hasn't received formal training in doga, which has no official instructor-certification program yet.

"It has been mostly self-teaching," she said. "But we have done a lot of research to make sure they (the doga exercises) are safe."

In addition to the cookbook, Stevens plans other products in the future, including a Yoga4Dogs-branded clothing line for both dogs and owners.

"There are lots of opportunities for us to grow as a business," she said. 

Banner Health's Sun Health Research Institute will have a special screening of HBO's Alzheimer's documentary "Momentum in Science," from 2 to 4 p.m. June 5 in the institute's Morin Auditorium, 10515 W. Santa Fe Drive, Sun City.

"Momentum in Science" is part of a four-part documentary film from HBO Documentary Films' The Alzheimer's Project. "Momentum in Science" takes a look at groundbreaking discoveries made by the country's leading scientists as well as the future of the disease. Filmed in part at Sun Health Research Institute, "Momentum in Science" features Alzheimer's researchers Joseph Rogers and Tom Beach.

The screening includes a discussion with Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, director of clinical research at the institute, who also is highlighted in the film. Seating is limited. Call 623-875-6565 to RSVP.

 

GENEVA - Britain, Japan, China and other nations urged the World Health Organization today to change the way it decides to declare a pandemic - saying the agency must consider how deadly the virus is, not just how fast it is spreading.

The debate arose as WHO began its annual meeting, a five-day event attended by hundreds of health experts from the agency's 193 member nations. Swine flu is expected to dominate this year's conference - and WHO must consider whether it should raise its alert level or tell manufacturers to begin making a specific swine flu vaccine.

WHO's current system focuses on how widespread the disease has become without regard to its severity. Some member nations are anxious to avoid having the agency declare a swine flu pandemic, because the ramifications of that scientific decision could be very costly and politically charged.

"We need to give you and your team more flexibility as to whether we move to phase 6," British Health Secretary Alan Johnson said.

Japan also called for changes in WHO's system, which would move to pandemic if the virus starts to be transmitted among people outside schools, hospitals and other institutions where viruses typically pass quickly.

"It's certainly something we will look at very closely," Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's flu chief, said of the proposal.

Health experts were examining new swine flu cases in Spain, Britain and especially Japan, where more than 130 people, the vast majority of them teenagers, have been infected, prompting the government to close 2,000 schools and cancel public events. A good number of the new cases were transmitted in-country, infecting people who had not traveled overseas recently.

WHO says transmission rates in countries outside the Americas is the key factor in whether the agency should raise its pandemic alert scale to the highest level. Right now it is at phase 5 - out of a possible 6 - meaning a global outbreak is "imminent."

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the WHO meeting that the outbreak is "not winding down" in the United States and "widespread transmission" continues. He also said the epidemic also was not over in Mexico.

 

TRENTON, N.J. - Ailing from the recession, many U.S. hospitals have had to begin making painful cuts to patient services and laying off staff, as previous cost-cutting hasn't been enough, an industry survey found.

In previous recessions the health care industry has held up well, but this time hospitals and other health care businesses are hurting. Besieged by financial pressures including more needy and uninsured people, hospitals now are making tough decisions that affect their patients and communities.

The American Hospital Association found 22 percent of hospitals that responded to its March survey have reduced services since the economic crisis began in September. Those services range from outpatient clinics and behavioral health programs to patient education and home health care after discharge.

University Medical Center of Southern Nevada had to close its mammography center and started phasing out outpatient cancer treatment in November, said spokesman Rick Plummer. The decision was made right after Nevada's legislature, squeezed because high unemployment and foreclosure rates have slashed tax revenue, cut about $30 million from the Las Vegas safety-net hospital's charity care and Medicaid funding.

"It's a domino effect," Plummer said. "We had to make some difficult choices."

He said there women can get mammograms at plenty of other places, but it's tougher for patients getting chemotherapy and other lengthy cancer treatments.

"Very few other community providers stepped up to the plate," Plummer said, so some patients without health insurance but not poor enough for Medicaid have had trouble getting care. Some have had to make long drives for treatment or even move.

Meanwhile, nine of 10 hospitals said they cut expenses in the first quarter, with eight in 10 cutting administrative spending. Other strategies include eliminating jobs, selling assets, reducing overtime, cutting staff hours, freezing salaries, cutting benefits and reducing supply costs. In addition, some hospitals are considering mergers to reduce costs.

Just under half the hospitals have cut staff, and the number resorting to mass layoffs - 50 or more employees at once - is up.

And while total employment at hospitals grew somewhat in 2008, even as millions of jobs were lost in other industries, hospital employment grew by only 0.1 percent each in January and February and was flat in March. That's according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For the first quarter of this year, 43 percent of hospitals said they expected to lose money, up from 26 percent in the first three months of last year. About one in three hospitals saw a drop in the ratio of income to what they must pay creditors. Declines in such measures of financial health can lead creditors to demand immediate repayment of loans.

Meanwhile, many hospitals are seeing increased interest expenses, insurers taking longer to pay their bills, more difficulty or inability to borrow money and other problems. That's led more than three-fourths of hospitals to delay, stop or scale back building projects or upgrades to medical or information technology.

The survey was sent to all 4,946 community hospitals in the country, and 1,078, or 22 percent, responded. Data was collected from March 5 through March 27. The hospital association said the respondents generally represented all types of hospitals, such as urban, suburban and rural.

 

Dr. Amir Goldenberg will discuss colon cancer, prevention and the importance of early detection through regular screening at 1:30 p.m. April 27 at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center Auditorium, 14502 W. Meeker Blvd., Sun City West. This is the second educational talk in the nonprofit hospital's Ask the Expert series.

Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it doesn't have to be.

"If everybody ages 50 or older had regular screening tests, as many as 60 percent of deaths from colon cancer could be prevented," CDC officials said.

Goldenberg, who is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, is passionate about people learning how to prevent the disease.

"Colon cancer is easily detectable through colonoscopies," he said. "We can find precancerous polyps, which are abnormal growths in the colon or rectum, and remove them before they become cancer. Moreover, if a cancerous tumor is found at an early stage, it can be removed, giving the patient a much better chance of surviving the disease than if the tumor had languished for years before being detected."

Goldenberg is hoping his talk will encourage people to get screened regularly. He will also discuss the role proper nutrition and bowel habits have in disease prevention.

To join Goldenberg for the event, call 602-230-CARE (2273) to reserve a seat.

 

Nonprofit Banner Health recently announced five executive re-assignments and appointments, including a new chief executive officer at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center.

The new assignments, which affect three of Banner Health’s 10 Valley hospitals, are effective immediately. Following are the re-assignments and appointments:

• Kathy Bollinger, CEO of Banner Estrella Medical Center in west Phoenix since 2006, has been promoted to president of Arizona West Region for Banner Health.

• Robert Gould, associate administrator at Banner Estrella since August, has been promoted to chief executive officer at the hospital.

• Becky Kuhn, chief executive officer of Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center since September, has been promoted to president of Arizona East Region for Banner Health.

• John Harrington Jr., chief executive officer of Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa since 2006, has been re-assigned to serve as chief executive officer of Banner Del E. Webb.

• Laura Robertson, chief nursing officer since 2006, has been promoted to chief executive officer at Banner Heart Hospital.

Harrington has served three years as chief executive officer of Banner Baywood Heart Hospital, one of the nation’s largest free-standing heart hospitals. During his tenure, the hospital received national recognition as a Top 100 Hospital by Thomson Reuter’s Healthcare, the nation’s primary source of information products for the health care industry. This recognition ranks the facility among the top 10 percent of cardiovascular programs nationwide.

Based in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. In Arizona, Banner Health employs approximately 20,000 people, making it the state’s second largest private employer. In addition to basic emergency and medical services, Banner Health offers a variety of specialized services, from heart and cancer care to high-order multiple births and organ transplants, as well as Level 1 trauma services, rehabilitation services and behavioral health services.

For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.

Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center will be featured on "Mystery Diagnosis" today on the Discovery Health channel.

The show, which was filmed in December, will tell the story of Carly Eykhout, a Peoria resident who lived with intermittent pain for seven years before physicians at Banner Del E. Webb were able to solve the mystery and restore Eykhout to health.

Eykhout relived her experience when the film crew for the show was at the hospital to film the episode.

"It was quite emotional to re-enact the experience," Eykhout said. "But I wanted to tell my story and let people know how grateful I am to the doctors and staff at Banner Del E. Webb for their care."

Eykhout suffered for years with nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction. Dr. Curtis Henderson, an emergency department physician, diagnosed what turned out to be an intussuseption, a blockage in her intestine caused by a folding or telescoping of the organ. Dr. Marco Canulla performed the surgery. Dr. Gordon Haugland, an interventional radiologist, confirmed the diagnosis.

After years of weight loss and failed attempts of trying to have a child, Eykhout gained weight and was able to get pregnant with her first child shortly after the surgery. She gave birth in Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center's The Nesting Place Obstetrical Suites.

Recently, Eykhout called Banner Del E. Webb's Public Relations department with more good news.

"I'm three months pregnant with my second child," she said. "And I'll be back to Banner Del E. Webb to have my baby."

Check local listings for the airing of "Mystery Diagnosis." The program's title is "The Black and Blue Baby."

 

DES MOINES, Iowa - As if saving for retirement wasn't enough to worry about, now comes a study that shows a couple retiring this year needs about a quarter of a million dollars to cover medical expenses.

The $240,000 estimate is a 6.7 percent increase from last year's and the cost is expected to keep rising.

The Fidelity Investments study is based on projections for a 65-year-old couple retiring this year with Medicare insurance coverage. It assumes no employer provided insurance and a life expectancy of 17 years for the man and 20 years for the woman.

To paint a full picture, Fidelity also factors in Medicare deductibles, copayments, as well as certain services that may not be covered.

In just seven years of its annual study, projected medical expenses have increased by 50 percent.

When you retire, health care is likely to be your largest expense and it's one that many people forget to factor fully into their retirement plans, said Sunit Patel, a senior vice president at Boston-based Fidelity.

"A lot of individuals feel today that Medicare covers a vast majority of costs," he said. "We know that's not true. It's better not to be blind about that."

In fact, Medicare pays about half of the health care costs for current retirees and it could be less very soon.

The Medicare trust fund reported last year that it expects to be insolvent in 2019 and needs either a payroll tax increase or a cut in benefits to keep it fully functional. That means Medicare may not provide the same level of support for future retirees, making it more vital to understand the medical costs in retirement.

"There are deductibles and co-payments and things that aren't covered that people aren't aware of until they get there unless they have a parent that they're helping navigate the system," said Paul Fronstin, director of health research and education at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

EBRI has researched the issue of rising health care costs in retirement. It found that just 12 percent of private companies offer insurance for retired workers.

That means most retirees need to buy insurance themselves or pay medical costs out of their own savings.

Patel said it may make sense to start thinking about a savings account separate from your retirement account for health care.

"We think it's significant enough that it should potentially be a distinct goal," he said.

If you've been looking at a ravaged 401(k) balance, you likely don't want to hear that.

Patel said he understands that sentiment, but believes it's better to be forewarned than caught off guard.

Without a plan, you could end up significantly changing your lifestyle from what you had expected or looking for a job to help pay for health costs.

"We have to face up to the reality of the situation and that may be that people have to work longer just for health care," EBRI researcher Fronstin said.

So as you digest what it all means, consider a separate savings account dedicated to health care. Also, research various supplemental health insurance options so you go into retirement informed.

You may want to consider a phased retirement in which you go from full time to part time if your employer offers health insurance for part-time workers. By gradually entering retirement, you delay tapping into savings.

Once you're retired, ways to save money on health care include getting routine screenings to stay ahead of any health issues, selecting quality providers by using the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site www.hospitalcompare.HHS.gov and routinely reviewing claims for accuracy to ensure you're not paying more than necessary.

 

Tickets are on sale for Sun Health Auxiliary's Southwest Airlines drawing, which offers a prize of two $500 gift cards toward any Southwest Airlines destination.

The gift cards are transferable and have no expiration date.

Drawing tickets, priced at $1 each or six for $5, are available in the gift shops of Banner Del E. Webb and Boswell medical centers, as well as at the Sun Health Auxiliary Community Engagement office, 10448 W. Coggins Drive, Suite C, Sun City. Winner of the drawing will be announced at the auxiliary's seventh-annual Garden Soiree, "Springtime by the Lake," April 17.

Funds from the drawing go toward the purchase of an ultrasound stretcher to benefit patients at Banner Boswell Medical Center.

For information, call Sun Health Auxiliary Community Engagement at 623-876-4931.

 

WASHINGTON — You’ve heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease and may speed dementia once it strikes.

Doctors long suspected diabetes damaged blood vessels that supply the brain. It now seems even more insidious, that the damage may start before someone is diagnosed with full-blown diabetes, back when the body is gradually losing its ability to regulate blood sugar.

In fact, the lines are blurring between what specialists call "vascular dementia" and scarier classic Alzheimer’s disease. Whatever it’s labeled, there’s reason enough to safeguard your brain by fighting diabetes and heart-related risks.

"Right now we can’t do much about the Alzheimer’s disease pathology," those sticky plaques that clog patients’ brains, says Dr. Yaakov Stern, an Alzheimer’s specialist at Columbia University Medical Center. But, "if you could control these vascular conditions, you might slow the course of the disease."

The link has staggering societal implications: More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and cases already are projected to skyrocket in the next two decades as the population ages. The question is how much the simultaneous obesity-fueled epidemic of Type 2 diabetes may worsen that toll.

There are about 18 million Type 2 diabetics who are considered to have at least two to three times a non-diabetic’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Still, Type 2 diabetes often leads to heart disease and other conditions that kill before Alzheimer’s typically strikes, in the 70s.

Don’t panic if you’re diabetic, stresses Dr. Ralph Nixon of New York University, vice chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association’s scientific advisory council. Genetics still are the prime risk factor for dementia.

"It by no means means that you’re going to develop Alzheimer’s disease, and certainly many people with Alzheimer’s don’t have diabetes," he cautions.

But the latest research strengthens the link, and has scientists asking if diabetes and its related "metabolic syndrome" increase risk solely by spurring brain changes that underlie Alzheimer’s — or if they add an extra layer of injury to an already struggling brain, what Nixon calls "essentially a two-hit situation."

Among the findings:

• Brain functioning subtly slows as Type 2 diabetics’ blood-sugar rises, well before people have any obvious memory problems.

• Type 2 diabetes occurs as a result of insulin resistance, as the body gradually loses sensitivity to this hormone that’s essential for turning blood sugar into energy. A similar effect in the brain helps explain the dementia link.

AARP has launched Rx Snapshot, a free, online tool that Arizonans can use to help older family members, friends or neighbors manage their medications safely and effectively.

About 65 percent of Americans over 65 are using one or more inappropriate medications, and 57 percent are taking medications that are ineffective, duplicative or not necessary, accoring to AARP.

An initiative of Create the Good, a network of independent volunteers active in neighborhoods across the country, Rx Snapshot is a way to help older Americans record the medications they are taking and talk with their health care professional about how they might better manage the drugs. The free resource is available at www.AARP.org/CreateTheGood.

"Helping a loved one or a neighbor complete an Rx Snapshot is easy and it can have a big impact on their health and maybe even their pocketbook," said David Mitchell, AARP Arizona state director.

The Rx Snapshot toolkit provides:

-- A way to keep updated records of medications.

-- Tips to having a conversation with health care providers about the risks and benefits of their prescriptions.

-- The opportunity to consider generics as money-saving alternatives.

Information on where to volunteer or to get local community groups involved can be found at www.AARP.org/CreateTheGood.

 

NEW YORK - When Mike Stevens learned his lungs were riddled with cancer, it took only a week to start chemotherapy - but six weeks to find out if it was doing any good.

"You're going through all this suffering and stuff and you want to know, am I going to survive? Is this stuff working?" said Stevens, 48, of La Jolla, Calif. "Your whole life is in sort of a limbo."

Doctors typically must wait weeks or months to see if a treatment is shrinking tumors or at least halting their growth. But researchers are exploring a new use for medical imaging that could shorten the stay in purgatory, possibly revealing within a few days whether chemo is working.

That speed could save both lives and money. It would allow doctors to switch more quickly from an ineffective drug to a different one, and save health care dollars by waving doctors off expensive but futile treatments.

The same approach may also prove useful for monitoring radiation therapy.

This experimental imaging relies on a familiar hospital workhorse: PET scans, typically used for things like detecting cancer or revealing the effects of a heart attack. Unlike CT scans or MRIs, PET scans can show a tumor's internal activity, not just its size.

When used to assess the effects of cancer treatment, it can reveal inside information about what the therapy is doing to a tumor even when there's no outward sign.

To do a PET scan, doctors inject a patient with a radioactive substance that shows up on the scan in places where certain processes are happening - like hungry cancer cells gobbling up a lot of blood sugar. Think of it as looking around your neighborhood late at night for light in bedroom windows to see who is still awake.

Many cancer patients get PET scans now to assess their disease before treatment, or to spot recurrences later on. But except for lymphoma, PET scans aren't routinely used to get a quicker answer on how cancers are responding to therapy.

The new research tests both standard PET scans and a newer approach that involves injecting a different tracer substance.

The standard scan, which looks for blood sugar usage, has gotten good results in tests with a variety of tumors including breast, prostate, colorectal and esophageal cancers, said Dr. Steven Larson of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"I think it's going to be extremely valuable for most tumors where there are effective treatments," he said. Some experiments have revealed chemo's effects within 10 days to two weeks.

As a practical matter, the goal of researchers is to convince federal regulators to cover the procedure under Medicare and Medicaid, which would open the door to routine use. That might take two or three years, he said.

Farther out on the research horizon is a PET scan that uses injections of a different radioactive material and has revealed chemotherapy's impact even faster. Larson figures it will be especially useful for assessing newer drugs that aim to stop a patient's cancer from growing rather than killing the tumor.

This scan is called FLT PET, after radioactive fluorothymidine. These scans show whether cancer cells are dividing. Uncontrolled division is a hallmark of active cancer, and stopping that division should be an early effect of successful chemotherapy.

"Our hope ... is you might be able to give a single dose of a chemotherapy agent and within a day or two figure out whether the tumor is going to respond," says Dr. Michael Graham of the University of Iowa.

If the tumor doesn't respond, doctors would "go on to Plan B," he said. "This is really ... giving us the ability to tailor the therapy to the disease."

Research into FLT PET is still in the early stages. Graham said there are maybe a dozen published human studies so far, most involving too few patients to draw a firm conclusion.

One report that impressed him involved 28 patients in Korea who were treated for advanced lung cancer - just like Stevens, who had to wait six weeks to learn whether it was working. The researchers reported that just one week after treatment began, they could tell with 93 percent certainty which patients would eventually respond to the drug and which would not.

In a much smaller study at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, seven patients with acute myeloid leukemia were scanned at various times during a week of aggressive chemotherapy. Normally, doctors wait a month after chemo is stopped to see if it worked. But the FLT PET scans offered an answer as soon as a day after treatment started.

"It's always hard to get too excited about a study that just involves seven people," said Dr. Mark Juckett, one of the authors. But "in these few patients, it looked like we could predict those who were going to respond well to chemotherapy and those who weren't."

Other preliminary studies suggest the new PET technology might be useful in gauging treatment for breast and brain cancers as well as lymphoma.

Graham figures there's a good chance FLT PET scans will become routine for assessing therapy in the next 10 years.

"It's a terrible waste of money to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on these patients when it doesn't do any good," he said.

Graham, president-elect of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, has been involved in discussions between the society and drug companies about incorporating FLT PET in their studies of experimental cancer drugs.

The hope is that, over time, FLT PET would prove reliable for giving a faster answer on whether an experimental treatment is working. That would save companies a lot of money, because they could spot ineffective drugs more quickly and not waste further research on them. And the drug company research would produce data to help persuade federal regulators to approve FLT PET for use in tracking therapy.

Dr. Samuel C. Blackman of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. said he couldn't comment on the specifics of talks with the nuclear medicine group, but he said, "We're definitely enthusiastic about FLT PET" for cancer drug research.

Mike Stevens, the lung cancer patient, has seen his disease held generally stable by continuing chemotherapy since 2005. And along with the scientists, he also likes the idea of an earlier end to the limbo of not knowing whether a new treatment is working.

"It's like having a rope tied around you and you're leaning over a canyon at about a 45-degree angle, and you don't know if someone is going to pull you back in, or let go of it," he said. "If you get that encouragement earlier on that you're doing well ... you've got something to fight for."

 

 

WASHINGTON - How the heart handles anger seems to predict who's at risk for a life-threatening irregular heartbeat.

Negative emotions like hostility and depression have long been considered risks for developing heart disease, and deaths from cardiac arrest rise after disasters such as earthquakes.

But research released Monday goes a step farther, uncovering a telltale pattern in the EKGs of certain heart patients when they merely recall a maddening event - an anger spike that foretold bad news.

In already vulnerable people, "anger causes electrical changes in the heart," said Dr. Rachel Lampert, a Yale University cardiologist who led the work. When that happens even in the doctor's office, "that means they're more likely to have arrhythmias when they go out in real life."

At issue is cardiac arrest, when the heart's electrical system goes haywire and heartbeat abruptly stops. Survival requires a fast electrical shock from a device called a defibrillator.

To track anger's effect, Lampert gave EKGs to 62 patients who had defibrillators implanted in their chests because of preexisting heart disease. When they recounted something that had made them angry, some patients experienced beat-to-beat EKG alterations that were similar to irregular heartbeat-predicting alterations that doctors can spot during treadmill testing.

In other words, the emotional stress was producing a red flag like physical stress can. But it did so without causing the jump in heart rate that exercise does, suggesting anger's Adrenalin rush may act directly on heart cells.

The result: People whose EKGs showed a big anger spike were 10 times more likely to have their defibrillators fire a lifesaving shock in the next three years than similarly ill patients whose hearts didn't react to anger, Lampert reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Next she's studying whether anger-reducing techniques might help those high-risk patients avoid irregular heartbeats.

 

Sun Health Auxiliary's board of directors has committed to more than $200,000 in new funding of vital medical equipment and health care facility expansion programs.

The board's decision on the selection of items to be funded came after it received its year-end financial report for 2008.

The all-volunteer board works with thousands of other West Valley volunteers to generate needed funds, which enhance patient care in local nonprofit hospitals - Banner Boswell Medical Center and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center - and support scientific research at Sun Health Research Institute.

Banner Boswell Medical Center will receive funding toward a fluidotherapy machine for occupational therapy, a crash cart with defibrillator for responding to patients suffering cardiac arrest, cardiac monitors with remote capabilities for the telemetry care unit, vital-sign monitors and a specialized microscope for neurosurgical procedures.

Additional investments in Banner Boswell will include the purchase of wheelchairs and gurneys, expansion of the acute rehabilitation center, construction of the new Critical Care Unit and expansion of the emergency department.

Equipment benefiting patients at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center are flexible endoscopes for colonoscopy procedures, additional emergency department treatment beds, pneumatic tourniquets and a special lighting system for surgical services, as well as a cardiovascular blood-flow test and stent-placement items for cardiac catheterization.

Taking into account the auxiliary's mid-year gift to Banner Boswell and Del E. Webb medical centers, Sun Health Research Institute and Banner Child Development Centers totaling nearly $290,000 - also allocated for medical equipment - the volunteer group's cumulative support for 2008 came to more than $517,000. The funds were raised in 2008 and represent proceeds from the auxiliary's special events, gift shop and thrift shop operations.

"The auxiliary's ability to give these gifts in support of our local nonprofit health care facilities is a testament to the amazing community we serve," said Barbara Ryan, auxiliary chairwoman. "Without all the talented volunteers who work tirelessly on our fund-raising events and in our gift shops and thrift shops throughout the year, we would not have the high caliber of special events that attract such patronage."

 

On Sunday, Lifetime Network's weekly health series, Health Corner, will feature Interfaith Community Care's caregiver support group, Creative Expressions.

The group, based on theories of art therapy, is co-facilitated by Linda Morgan, Mary's Place supervisor and licensed art therapist, and Regina Thibideau, intake and outreach specialist.

"The use of art with caregiver support groups is a new and growing idea," Thibideau said. "Interfaith Community Care is one of the first organizations to recognize this new trend. I think as time goes by, we'll be seeing more attention paid to the use of art therapy for caregivers and for people in general."

Using watercolors, collage, oil paints, music and a variety of art forms, Creative Expressions Caregiver Support Group offers relaxation for those who are caring for loved ones. Participants are provided the opportunity to explore all types of art through self-directed projects in a safe and nurturing environment. There are no fees, and caregivers are encouraged to take their loved one to any of Interfaith's five adult day centers to receive free respite care while the caregivers meet.

The group is co-sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging, Region One, and meets the last Wednesday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to noon. For information and meeting locations, call 623-584-4999.

Check local listing for the Lifetime Network program's air time and channel.

Interfaith Community Care is a non-denominational, nonprofit, community-supported human services agency providing care services for seniors and disabled adults since 1981.

For information on services, call 623-584-4999 or visit www.interfaithcommunitycare.org.

 

WASHINGTON - It's one of medicine's uncomfortable truths: That blood test for prostate cancer is far from perfect. Would as many men take a PSA test if they knew?

Or consider treatment for early breast cancer: Is saving the breast worth all the extra doctor visits for radiation or would you prefer the whole breast removed in one trip?

There's no single right answer for everyone yet patients often are ill-equipped to weigh increasingly complex medical options. Now there's a small but growing movement to get unbiased reports of the pros and cons of different tests and treatments into patients' hands before they fall back on, "Doc, just tell me what you'd choose."

"No matter how hard I tried" to be objective, "inevitably my personal biases got involved," recalls breast surgeon Dr. Dale Collins of New Hampshire's Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, which helped pioneer the concept that it calls shared decision-making.

Think of it as "informed consent 2.0," going a step beyond the brief patient education that doctors are required to provide. One state, Washington, has passed a law encouraging the trend. And it may get renewed attention in this era of health care reform because studies suggest that patients who get the full scoop frequently choose more conservative therapy than their doctors initially recommend.

Savvy patients today turn to places like the National Institutes of Health or American Cancer Society for advice. For the less savvy, some medical groups are developing what they call decision aids, plain-English guides that give equal voice to the advantages and disadvantages of options and include real patients explaining why they chose differently. They can be videos or pamphlets, but the goal is for patients to get the guides even before doctor appointments so they come armed with better questions.

Consider that PSA blood test. Most men over 50 have had one even though it's hugely controversial. Why? Most men who undergo a biopsy for an abnormal PSA test don't turn out to have prostate cancer at all. Of those who do, there's no proof yet that the early detection saves lives. But finding an early prostate cancer forces a decision about trying surgery or radiation treatments that can cause incontinence and impotence - known harm for unknown benefit.

In fact, health guidelines issues last year concluded men over age 75 shouldn't get a PSA test while younger men should make an individual choice after hearing the pros and cons.

But getting upfront objective information is rare, Dr. Michael Barry of Massachusetts General Hospital told a meeting of the nonprofit Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making last week, where health workers gathered to debate how to spread "informed choice."

In a decision-aid video the foundation sponsored about PSA testing, one doctor says, "Is this a slippery slope that I really want to get on?" He decided not to have his own PSA level checked.

"It's a good way to diagnose a potentially fatal condition," says another physician on the video who did get tested.

At Dartmouth, every woman diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer now sees a similar decision-aid video before meeting a surgeon. They're also quizzed to be sure they understood that survival is equally good regardless of whether they choose removing just the tumor, followed by radiation, or removing the whole breast - but that there are valid reasons for either choice, such as anxiety about keeping the breast, the time radiation requires, how often more surgery is needed.

Patient choice is only one part of good health care; a separate problem is how often doctors fail to offer proven care, such as medications that improve survival after a heart attack.

But many other scenarios - back surgery, knee and hip replacement, enlarged prostates, especially end-of-life care - have no one-size-fits-all guidelines, and Dartmouth research suggests where patients live often is the biggest determinant of what they get. For example, elderly patients with chronic illnesses spend 11 days in the hospital in Bend, Ore., over their last two years of life - while those in Manhattan spend 35 days in the hospital, although the extra care doesn't lengthen life.

A new University of Michigan study of how 3,000 patients made common medical choices suggests patients frequently have misinformation. Fewer than one in five could name the most common side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs they were considering, for example. Moreover, patients said their doctors discussed treatment advantages more than the disadvantages.

Whether decision aids or some other approach truly improves informed choice remains to be seen, but a handful of medical centers are trying the guides.

"You're getting so much information thrown at you at one time, it's hard to assimilate," says Alethea Cassidy, 53, of Erie, Pa., who was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March 2007 and received a similar decision-aid video from Allegheny General Hospital. It helped her decide to keep her breast. "It alleviates any doubts."

The Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging, has developed a nationwide information network of people who are interested in learning more about Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

The purpose of the Alzheimer's Disease Information Network is to educate the public about Alzheimer's research and upcoming clinical research studies through a monthly e-newsletter.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease. Age is the major risk factor. It is estimated that one in eight people age 65 and older have the disease; it affects 50 percent of people older than 85.

Unless researchers find a way to delay or prevent Alzheimer's, it is estimated nearly 7.7 million people will develop the disease by 2030. By 2050, that toll could reach 16 million. In 2011, the country's largest generation, the Baby Boomers, will begin turning 65.

"The only way we will ever find a cure or prevention for Alzheimer's is to study every viable avenue for therapeutic treatment," said Dr. Paul Aisen, director of the ADCS. "To date, we have investigated 23 therapies and have several more in the pipeline. The drugs currently on the market that help improve symptoms got there because people were willing to help us study these therapies. The only way to move forward is through clinical trials, and for this we need volunteers willing to help us test new ideas."

To be part of the information network and receive regular e-mail alerts announcing new clinical studies, as well as updates on research and treatment, visit http://www.adcs.org/Research/registry.aspx.

For information on the ADCS, visit www.adcs.org.

Banner Health reduced its Arizona workforce by 334 jobs Wednesday, including 50 in the West Valley, citing difficulties in being paid for patient care due to the ailing economy.

Banner has approximately 4,000 employees at Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City and Banner Del Webb Medical Center in Sun City West.

In addition to the job cuts, an outpatient behavioral health program will be moved from Banner Boswell to Banner Del Webb.

Bill Byron, Banner Health spokesman, said Banner will no longer be offering adult education programs at the Community Education and Wellness Center on 99th and Thunderbird avenues.

"It doesn't mean we are going to be ceasing adult education programs completely," he said. "We are just no longer conducting them at this center."

Byron said everyone signed up for programs there is being notified, and those who paid for the programs will have their money refunded.

"We will still be offering programs such as health lectures, CPR education and free monthly blood pressure readings all over the Northwest Valley," he said.

Byron said Banner will be making every effort to find a home for the employees who lost their jobs.

"One of the advantages of Banner Health is we have a tremendous number of facilities and we certainly do want to, where there's a match, provide opportunities to employees who have been displaced," he said.

Layoffs occurred at all of Banner's hospitals across the Valley and 44 corporate support workers lost their jobs.

"The majority are going to be in the support areas, transportation, clerical and office functions and administrative," Byron said. "It does involve some managers."

Some "bedside" clinical workers were laid off and Banner hopes to place them in similar positions at other facilities, he said.

"We were very careful to ensure that we would not affect patient care," Byron said.

Because of the economy, more people have lost their medical benefits and therefore are relying on the state's Medicaid system, Byron said. Others who may still be insured and can afford to pay at least some of their medical expenses are choosing not to, he said.

Costs associated with caring for these patients are growing, and therefore placing a financial strain on the organization, Byron said. 

With the help of a class called PD 101 and another to improve their golf game, people battling Parkinson's disease do not have to look far to find ways to improve their health and well-being.

And in January, they only have to look as far as Sun City and Sun City West.

The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center will offer a course in Sun City West next month called Parkinson's Disease 101, a four-week seminar for people with the disease and their families. Also in January, a golf clinic will take place in Sun City where people with Parkinson's can receive tips on how they can continue playing the game they love.

"PD 101" will meet from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 8, 15, 22 and 29 at the Desert Palms Presbyterian Church, 13459 W. Stardust Blvd., Sun City West.

The course will cover basic neurology and the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, medication, exercise, nutrition, mind-body connections such as sleep disturbances and depression, caregiving, how to talk to your doctor and any other topics of interest to the group, according to the center.

There is no charge for the course, and participants should apply early, as registration is required.

The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center offers treatment, research and education for people and families affected by Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.

To register, call 1-800-227-7691.

In addition, The Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center is offering a course called Golf Clinic for People with Parkinson's Disease.

Each session will include an hour of group golf instruction with a PGA professional, an hour of education about managing Parkinson's with golf (nutrition, medication, stretching, strengthening) and a nutrition break. During the last session, participants will be able to test their game in a skills challenge.

The course will be at the Sun City Country Club, 9433 N. 107th Ave., Sun City. It will run from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 5, 12, 26, Feb. 2 and 9. The fee of $30 includes a luncheon at the conclusion of the skills challenge.

To register, call Darolyn at 602-406-6903.

Visit www.maprc.com for other dates and times and to learn about other programs offered by the center.

 

 Banner Boswell Medical Center has hired Julie Nunley, RN, as chief nursing officer. Nunley brings more than 18 years of nursing and nursing administration experience to Banner Boswell, most recently serving as vice president and chief nursing officer at Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colo. Nunley earned her associate degree of nursing at New Mexico State University, and her BSN and MBA degrees from the University of Phoenix.

"I was drawn to Banner Boswell because of the commitment to patient safety and employee engagement," Nunley said. "I believe patient satisfaction is directly related to engaged employees."

Banner Boswell Medical Center is a 501-bed, acute-care hospital, founded in 1970.

 

Northwest Valley residents are invited next week to Community Town Halls hosted by the chief executive officers of Banner Boswell and Banner Del E. Webb medical centers.

Becky Kuhn, CEO for Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, and Dave Cheney, CEO for Banner Boswell Medical Center, along with their respective administrative teams, will meet the community and share information about the transition of Sun Health to Banner Health.

The Community Town Halls will be conducted:

• In Sun City West at 9 and 11 a.m. Nov. 19 in the auditorium at Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, 14502 W. Meeker Blvd.

• In Sun City at 2 p.m. Nov. 21 at Willowbrook United Methodist Church, 19390 N. 99th Ave., just north of Union Hills Drive.

"You’ll find these meetings to be very helpful in providing updates on your nonprofit community hospitals," said Jeff Nelson, spokesman for Banner Health. "Questions are encouraged, and refreshments will be provided."

Founded in 1911 and headquartered in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the country.

Call Banner at 602-230-CARE (2273) to register.

 

Influenza season is here, and Veterans Affairs encourages all eligible veterans to get their free flu shot.

For eligible veterans flu shots will be offered from 8 a.m. to noon every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday through Nov. 26 in the Sun City (NW) VA Health Care Clinic, 10147 N.W. Grand Ave., Suite C1. This year, participants will receive a 2009 "Salute to Our Veterans" calendar.

For information and other locations, call 602-222-2630.

Tickets are on sale for Sun Health Auxiliary's Holiday Fast Cash Drawing, offering $3,000 in total cash prizes benefiting four lucky $500 winners and a grand-prize winner of $1,000. Monies raised through ticket sales will go toward the purchase of a stretcher for cardiac patients for Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center.

"Fast Cash" tickets, priced at $1 each or six for $5, are available in the gift shops at Banner Boswell and Del E. Webb medical centers as well as in the Volunteer Services offices at each facility.

All five prize-winners will be drawn on the day of the auxiliary's Holiday Home Tour, Dec. 6, and need not be present to claim their winnings. 

For information, call 623-876-4931.

Beginning at 7 a.m. Friday, the Banner Sun Health Line phone number, 623-876-5432, will transition to "Banner 230-CARE," or 602-230-2273. Toll-free, the number is 800-230-2273.

Although the community is asked to remember this new Banner number, the 623-876-5432 Sun Health Line number will continue to operate for six to nine months, which allows time for people to become familiar with the change. During the interim period, this number automatically will connect to 602-230-2273.

The call center will continue to serve as a centralized source for physician referrals, information on Banner Health services and registrations for special events and health and wellness programs.

The "Banner 230-CARE" phone line will be answered by administrative support assistants. Callers will hear "Thank you for calling ‘Banner 230-CARE'" and will be connected to the people and services that can help to meet their varied needs.

All registrations for upcoming events and programs that began through Sun Health Line will continue to occur through "Banner 230-CARE." This includes community health and women's health classes, and the Founder's Day Program Nov. 13 at Banner Boswell Medical Center.

For information or to ask questions regarding this transition, contact Shane Burleson, I.T. call center manager, at 602-747-7280 or Welch at 602-747-4880.

Financial worries and health concerns are leading to a rise in sleep disorders.

Representatives from the Banner Thunderbird Sleep Disorders Clinic in Glendale and Arizona Medical Sleep Institute in Sun City say they've seen a rise in transient insomnia, where worries and stress affect patients quality sleep time.

At Banner Thunderbird's Sleep Disorders clinic, Troy Sebastian, director and registered sleep technologist, said he has seen an increase in stress-induced transient insomnia.

"We saw an increase about six months ago," Sebastian said. "People are losing their homes to foreclosure, causing stress-induced insomnia. Their 401Ks are dropping, they are having to pick up a second job which also cuts into their sleep."

In the Sun City area, doctors have observed transient insomnia as a consistent problem with seniors.

"Transient insomnia is an ongoing problem," said Khaleel Salahudeen, a doctor with Arizona Medical Sleep Institute, which treats a large senior population. "It's usually caused by an underlying distress."

Salahudeen said health-related issues cause seniors to lose the most sleep.

"What we see is, it's caused by mostly health-related issues, such as if they received bad health-related news and can't sleep," Salahudeen said.

Transient insomnia could mean patients can't get to sleep, or if they do get to sleep, they don't stay asleep, which is cutting into the time a body needs to reach optimum levels of restorative sleep.

Having an occasional bout of sleepless nights isn't cause for a great deal of concern.

But ongoing lack of quality sleep can cause serious health issues, including feeling fatigued, losing the ability to concentrate and increased irritability.

"You can't think if you are not getting restorative sleep," Sebastian said.

Continued cases of insomnia can lead to cardiovascular disorders, memory lapses and teeth grinding, he said.

"And if that is compounded with other health concerns, including cardiovascular disease or if they have sleep apnea, it can lead to severe health consequences including heart attacks."

Patients who aren't receiving adequate sleep also can act out in their dreams, Sebastian said, including kicking and fighting.

Patients who suspect they could be dealing with a sleep disorder after consulting with their primary care physician may be set up for a sleep study at a sleep clinic.

Once diagnosed, patients can combat transient insomnia by incorporating proper sleep hygiene habits.

Sebastian suggests avoiding caffeine after noon and sitting in a chair to read and when sleepy, go to bed.

"Having a normal bed and waking times helps," Sebastian said. "And drinking a warm glass of milk, and then, when you feel sleepy, going to bed."

Those affected by transient insomnia also can try relaxation exercises, Sebastian said, such as breathing in through the nose and exhaling through the mouth to help the diaphram to relax.

Joy Slagowski may be reached at 623-876-2514 or jslagowski@yourwestvalley.com.

Those entering the Medicare health care system who meet certain criteria are eligible for a free ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Rupture of these aneurysms is one of the leading causes of death among seniors in the United States, but death may be preventable when the aneurysms that cause them are detected early.

Ultrasound screening, a minimally invasive procedure, is part of the Welcome to Medicare physical for seniors who have certain risk factors and register within six months of joining Medicare.

When abdominal aortic aneurysms are detected, they can be treated either by open surgery or through a method called endovascular repair, in which a fabric stent graft is used to replace the blood flow in the area of the aneurysm.

Stent graft procedures have been shown to be as effective as open surgery, with fewer complications and a shorter recovery period.

The first step is for people with risk factors to undergo the free screening, which is available to men who have smoked at any time in their lives, and for men and women with a family history of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

The aneurysms develop over time as a weakness in the wall of the aorta. It exists in an estimated 2 million Americans, with an estimated 15,000 seniors dying from ruptures each year.

Legislation passed last year included provisions of the SAAAVE Act (Screening Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Very Efficiently), which was sponsored in Congress by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., Rep. Ron Lewis, R-Ky., and Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas.

The act also was endorsed by the National Aneurysm Alliance, a group of medical professional organizations such as the Society for Vascular Surgery, as well as patient advocates, individuals and medical technology manufacturers.

To learn more about the screening and reducing the risk of abdominal aortic disease, Medicare recipients and others should consult their physician, or visit www.sunhealth.org or www.aneurx.com.

Arrowhead Community Hospital

18701 N. 67th Ave., Glendale AZ 85308

623-561-1000

Sun Health Boswell Hospital

10401 Thunderbird Blvd., Sun City

623-977-7211

Sun Health Del E. Webb Hospital

14502 W. Meeker Blvd

623-214-4000

Banner Thunderbird Medical Center

5555 W. Thunderbird, Glendale

602-588-5555

Banner Estrella Medical Center

9201 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix

623-327-4000