Medical Examiner 09-18-20

MEDICALEXAMINER

#PHIL

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006

Have you seen this hashtag around town? It’s here and there on places like t-shirts and billboards. It has a bit of a double meaning.

On one hand, it’s the acronym for a slogan of the Overflow Foundation, an Aiken-based non-profit formed to promote mental health awareness and education and suicide prevention. #PHIL is an abbreviation of the phrase Pouring Hope Into Life.

On the other hand, #PHIL signifies something infinitely more personal than a mere slogan. It was the name of the oldest son of Overflow Foundation’s founder, who took his own life two years ago this month at age 29.

Phillip Lee Jr. was no stranger to tens of thousands of people living in the Aiken-Augusta area. He was a singer and songwriter who performed literally from here to California, occasionally with Ed Turner and Number 9, sometimes in popular area nightspots, sometimes during church services. Overflow

was the title of his final CD. You can listen to it on Spotify and other music services.

As tragic as Phillip’s death was, perhaps people could take some collective comfort in the knowledge that suicide was a rarity. Unfortunately, suicide is anything but a rarity: the latest annual toll counted 48,344 self-inflicted deaths.

As horrific as that number is, estimates are that there are something like 1.4 million suicide attempts every year. As horrific as that number is, one study found that each and every suicide directly affects an average of 135 other people, like family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors. That means the 48,344 “successful” suicide attempts leave more than 6.5 million people suffering from grief, guilt, and bewilderment.

Suicide is akin to COVID-19 in that there are many people who don’t think it’s even close to a serious problem until it touches them personally.

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But as the previous paragraph noted, it touches far too many people personally. In fact, for the year 2018, suicide was the second-leading cause of death (after accidents; see page 10 for details) for the 1014 age group; the 15-24 age group; and the 25-34 age group. It is the fourth-leading cause of death for both the 35-44 and 45-54 age groups.

Even worse, the numbers are growing. Suicides among children and young people (those from 10 years old through age 24) rose nearly 60% from 2007 to 2018, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 42 states had statistically significant increases during that period.

But enough of the bad news. Let’s educate ourselves about misconceptions about suicide, warning signs from experts, and specific ways to help someone who may be contemplating suicide. Please turn to pages 2, 3, 4 and 8 and help Pour Hope Into Life. +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE ALWAYS THE HARDEST

PARENTHOOD

by David W. Proefrock, PhD

Your 6 year-old daughter sucks her thumb. She’s done it since she was a baby. It seems that it a habit she does mostly when she’s tired or not occupied. She seems to do it without thinking. When you tell her to take her thumb out of her mouth, she does with no problem or argument. However, within a few minutes she is sucking her thumb again. You’ve tried everything you can think of to get her to quit, but nothing seems to work. What do you do?

A. This could be a sign of an underlying emotional problem. Take her to a mental health professional for an evaluation.

B. Concentrate on punishing her for putting her thumb in her mouth and she should stop within a week or two.

C. Have a talk with her and tell her that other kids may start teasing her and calling her names if she doesn’t stop sucking her thumb.

D. Gently touch her arm and redirect her when you seek her sucking her thumb. Try to keep her occupied with other things to do with her hands. But don’t make a big fuss about it.

If you answered: A. This would probably be the best response if she were 10 or 12, but it is an over-reaction when she is 6.

B. Thumb-sucking is a self-soothing behavior. Punishing her for it will create stress and anxiety and probably make it worse.

C. This probably won’t hurt anything, but it probably won’t help either. Young children have a hard time processing what might happen. If kids do start teasing her, she will have a reason to want to stop on her own. Telling her they might just won’t do it.

D. This is the best response for a 6 year-old. She will probably stop on her own soon anyway.

Many behaviors are worrisome but if they are not dangerous, they should be handled gently and with understanding.

Offer something else for her to do with her hands as a substitute. As she gets older, thumb-sucking will become more worrisome and less soothing to her. Then she will want to stop. +

One of Overflow Foundation’s billboards (this one on Wheeler Road near Doctors Hospital) featuring Phillip Lee Jr. and the empty stage he left behind.

SUICIDE MYTHS AND TRUTHS MYTHS

TRUTHS

People who die by suicide always leave notes.

Most people don’t leave notes. Only a small percentage leave any type of explanations about why they’ve chosen to kill themselves.

People who die by suicide don’t warn others.

Eight out of ten people who kill themselves have given definite clues to their intentions. They leave numerous clues and warnings to others, although some of their clues may be non-verbal or difficult to detect.

People who talk about suicide Few die by suicide without first letting someone else know how they feel. Peoare only trying to get attention. ple thinking about suicide give clues and warnings as cries for help. Over 70% who do threaten to kill themselves either make an attempt or die by suicide.

Once someone has decided to die by suicide, nothing is going to stop them.

Once the emotional state improves, the risk of suicide is over.

Most of the time suicidal people are ambivalent about suicide. Most individuals don’t want to die; they just want the pain they are feeling to stop.

The highest rates of suicide occur within about three months of an apparent improvement in a severely depressed state. Energy level is the important factor in someone who’s improving having the energy to act on a suicidal impulse, if they perceive a stumbling block to recovery.

After a person has attempted People who have attempted suicide are very likely to try again. 80% of suicide, it is unlikely they people who die by suicide have made at least one previous attempt. will try again.

Don’t mention suicide to someone who’s showing signs of severe depression; it will plant the idea in their mind and they will act on it.

Many depressed people have already considered suicide as an option.

Talking about suicide generally provides a sense of relief and understanding to the person. Talking about suicide is one of the most helpful things you can do.

A non-fatal attempt means that the person wasn’t serious about ending their life.

Some people are naive about how to kill themselves. The attempt in and of itself is the most important factor, not the method. +

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Dr. Proefrock is a retired clinical and forensic child psychologist.

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Two very important subjects to talk about: First, starting in October the print edition of the Medical Examiner is returning for the first time since mid-April! This is exciting news, but it does come with a few caveats. Our pre-pandemic delivery policy basically put Examiners on about 5,000 coffee tables in more than a thousand doctors offices and other locations from Aiken to Evans. Most of those coffee tables are either gone these days or they’re standing empty because of infection control efforts. So our delivery efforts will focus on our dozens of newsstands sprinkled around the area, as well as direct mail to our subscribers. Barring any major spikes in area COVID cases, we’ll continue this delivery policy until we can (hopefully) return to our former ways. Of course, the online edition will continue to be produced as it has been for many years.

Second, we want to thank our readers for their loyal support of this paper and our amazing advertisers during this highly unusual year. Traffic reports say that thousands of you made the transition to the online version when the print edition had to temporarily stop. Our advertisers stayed with us too, for which we are extremely grateful. If you like the Medical Examiner, you have the advertisers on our pages to thank with your words and your patronage, and we hope you will do just that. This year has been challenging for every one of our advertisers, yet they spent a portion of their hard-earned resources to continue to support this publication. Please join us in sincerely thanking them. Stay safe and salubrious! +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH

SUICIDE WARNING SIGNS Warning Signs of Suicide

Emergency Warning Signs

Contact a mental health professional or hotline if you hear or see someone exhibiting one or more of these behaviors:​

Call 911 or the emergency service number of your country if you see or hear the following: • Someone threatening to hurt or kill themselves or talking of wanting to die.

• Hopelessness • Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge • Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking • Feeling trapped, like there’s no way out • Increased alcohol or drug use • Withdrawing from friends, family & society

• Someone looking for ways to kill themselves by seeking access to weapons or other lethal items (this can be online searches or physically looking for something in the moment of despair).

• Someone talking or writing about death, dying or suicide. +

• Anxiety, agitation, unable to sleep or sleeping all the time • Dramatic mood changes

Mental Health/Drug Treatment National Hotline 1-800-662-HELP (4357) Overflow Foundation

Contact: www. https://overflow.foundation/contact/ Support the Foundation: https://overflow.foundation/store/

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Text 741741 Veterans Crisis Line 1-800-273-8255. press 1

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What does the semicolon signify?

The three words that define this publication’s focus (health, medicine, and wellness, which are strung across every front page right under the name Medical Examiner) suggest that this question has nothing to do with grammar or punctuation.

Because we sometimes try to infuse those three words with a little humor to liven up the occasional dry-but-still-important topic, some might think, “A semicolon is what’s left when part of your colon is surgically removed. Ha ha. Very funny.”

No, that’s not what this question is about either. Actually, within the realm of healthcare the semicolon has a symbolic meaning that is closely related its role in grammar.

The semicolon isn’t the most common punctuation mark.

Instead of writing two separate but closely related short sentences or clauses, a writer will sometimes join them using a semicolon. In other words, it’s used when a sentence could have ended, but didn’t.

For that reason, the semicolon has become a very fitting symbol of suicide awareness and hope, and is often seen on tattoos worn by people who have lost a loved one to suicide, or who have struggled with issues of depression and thoughts of suicide or self-harm.

It is a subject that absolutely deserves attention: 48,344 people died by suicide in 2018, up from 47,173 the year before.

Since 1999, the U.S. suicide rate has risen 35%. Of the 10 leading causes of death during 2018, only two increased that year: suicide and influenza/pneumonia.

Is there anyone who thinks the rates will be lower during 2020?

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time day or night, or chat online. +

E. CLIFFORD ECKLES, JR.

DAVID D. BULLINGTON, JR.

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

#123 IN A SERIES

Who is this?

ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble, Ph.D., is a retired English and creative writing professor who offers her unique perspective as a patient. Contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com

H

ere is a gentleman who blazed new territory in health and medicine, and in the process saved tens of thousands of lives.

This man, Edwin Shneidman, is one of those rare individuals who created a medical specialty where one had never existed before.

And it all started with two sympathy cards.

Born in 1918 in York, Pennsylvania, Shneidman entered UCLA at age 16, earning a bachelors degree in psychology in 1938, followed by a masters degree two years later. After serving in the Army during World War II, he received a doctorate in clinical psychology from USC and studied schizophrenia as an intern at the VA hospital in Brentwood.

That’s where those sympathy cards entered the picture.

One day in 1949 his supervisor at the Brentwood (California) VA Hospital asked him to write letters of condolence to the wives of two patients who had taken their own lives. Rather than send generic and impersonal notes, Dr. Shneidman went to the county coroner’s office to get some background information on the two men. He was ushered down to a dusty basement where records were stored, and in the process of looking for information about two suicides discovered documents pertaining to hundreds more. A brief errand that might have taken an hour or two turned into a day-long exploration.

And that turned into a lifelong career.

By 1955, during an era when the topic of suicide was shunned and stigmatized, Shneidman and two colleagues founded the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, a radical concept in mental health care for the time. Not content with that trail-blazing beginning, Shneidman spearheaded a national project in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health that within just three years saw the number of suicide prevention centers grow from a handful to more than 100 in 40 states. He also founded the American Association of Suicidology, the first professional organization devoted to the study of suicide.

In his nearly two dozen books on the topic of suicide, Shneidman argued that suicide is not as much a desire for death or a symptom of mental illness as it is a quest to escape unbearable pain. He once illustrated the point by observing, “You don’t understand psychopathic murder by slicing [Jeffrey] Dahmer’s brain, and you won’t get E=mc2 by slicing Einstein’s brain. Unfortunately, it’s in the mind.

And the mind is not a structure. It is an ephemeral concept.”

He believed that in many cases two simple questions, “Where do you hurt?” and “How may I help you?” could help stop the suicidal impulse.

In 1970 he became a UCLA professor of thanatology, the study of the phenomena of death and of psychological mechanisms for coping.

“No one has to die,” he was fond of saying. “It is the one thing that will be done for you.” It was done for him on May 15, 2009 in Los Angeles, where he died at 91 years of age. +

by Marcia Ribble The weather is slowly changing towards cooler days and nights. The days are shortening as is to be expected, and my body is feeling those changes. The feeling is actually quite a pleasant one, because it reminds me, not of death like the old poets put it, but of an interlude of festivities, fun, family, and friends. Some years have been so busy that the holidays sneak up on me to find me only slightly prepared, rushed, and frantic. Not this year! This year I am looking forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and finally spring.

Regardless of Covid-19. Regardless of the political climate. Regardless of my own health or lack thereof. There is stability built into the regularity of the coming and going of the seasons. There is comfort in knowing that these holidays have a lasting permanence before my arrival on earth and after my leaving it. My great, great, great, great, grandparents lived these seasons, no matter what else was happening in their lives.

Wherever they may have lived at the time, times of celebration and the tender memories of family and friends past, the building of family memories present, and looking forward to the creation of new memories in the future, have always been a significant part of human life.

Those memories are stored in profoundly deep parts of our bodies. That storage is built into our very skin, our senses of sight and smell, and sound. The slight shifting of the smell from summer to fall and then to winter is stored in those deep parts of memory. The scent of pumpkin pie spice, so treasured by many, is just one example of reawakening pleasant memories, not just of pumpkin pies, but of all the people who have ever shared

tables where those pies were served. So it is no wonder that marketers have made gazillions of dollars adding that scent to many products. I am about to bake a spicy apple cake. One my mother made just once a year in fall when the first apples were ripe.

She served it to us still warm and topped with whipped cream One favorite sight memory of mine is Christmas lights, not just on our many Christmas trees, but in our neighborhoods, on displays at city halls and parks, and in my own case, at the Waterworks Building which had many large pine trees gracing its huge, front yard. Those displays, wherever they may be, in all the places where I have spent Christmas, remain with me in that sharp intake of breath when one is suddenly confronted with beauty. And then at a deeper level with that awareness that someone had to care enough to put forth the effort to create that beauty and sustain it.

My favorite of all sounds is the laughter and delight in people’s voices, exuberant in children’s voices, but still there is the voices of old people. I love that sudden outburst of giggling in children when they see costumes at Halloween, or when they first look in a mirror and realize that it is their own face grinning back at them.

And skin carries with it the memories of every touch it has ever received, good or bad.

So deeply is this memory contained in us that we will openly welcome loving touches, and cringe with the memory of unkind touches before a new touch is even felt. Our immune health is either elevated by any and all positive physical stimuli or it is reduced when the stimuli are negative, so for better health, we need to be sure to give ourselves as many of those positive physical memories as possible, and to recall all those good memories that make us smile. +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

ADVENTURES IN

Middle Age

BY J.B. COLLUM

blue marble in the sky that you can see from the moon.

I imagine that communication would be difficult too.

Especially phone calls since there would be a maddening delay of over two seconds for the round trip. If you get irritated on cell phones when the latency causes you to talk over each other, imagine

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about two and a half seconds of latency. That would make people use text messages instead of calling or maybe they would leave video voice mails and you could reply in kind. I like that. I hate phone calls most of the time. This got me thinking and I came up with an idea.

A retirement community on the moon! I’d call it Moon Base Omega. That’s my idea anyway. It might sound crazy and impossible. Okay, it is crazy and impossible right now, but hear me out. Let’s start with a list of the pros: • I already mentioned the most obvious one. People would weigh 1/6th of what they weigh here on earth.

Is anything sagging on your body? Well, on the moon, that won’t be a problem. I won’t get any more specific than that. Got osteoporosis?

No problem on the moon.

Fallen and you couldn’t get up on earth? Not going to happen on the moon. Is something too high on a shelf

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to reach? Not a problem. You could either jump to get it or virtually float up a ladder for it. Watching calories so you don’t gain weight on earth?

Not as much of a problem on the moon.

• Your children and especially your grandchildren would want to visit more often. Imagine them telling their schoolmates that they are visiting their grandparents, wait for it, on the moon this summer! They will be bouncing off the walls in excitement, figuratively on Earth and then literally on the moon.

• Need tech support? Every one of those astronauts on the moon is some kind of genius already.

• We need people for the experiment of living on the moon. This is something we can do for our future generations. We moon pioneers can work out the kinks. After all, if we older folks can hack it, the younger generations would be just fine. Wait a minute. I may have found a potential flaw in my logic.

Which leads me to, in fairness, devote a little space to examine the bad parts about Moon Base Omega.

• The cost would be high, but they are planning on building a Moon base anyway, and this way, just like with most retirement homes, you sign over everything you have, including your social security income, to get into the program. That makes it a net gain for the moon base, right? Plus, it eases the strain on earthbound hospitals. And

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So far my columns have been about events that happened to me or a member of my family related to health issues that come with age. This one is a little different because it is about an idea. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Based on this and a review of my previous columns, I am hovering somewhere between the small minds and average minds area and I’m trying to do better.

You may have heard that they are considering building a manned base on the moon as a step toward the later goal of putting people on Mars. Like most people, I’d prefer to stay right here on Earth, but the idea is intriguing, and I don’t think I’d mind a vacation on the moon at any rate. That is, if they could make it as safe as a trip to Myrtle Beach — and not during bike week or spring break I should further qualify.

Why would I even be interested in a vacation there since there are no beaches, no beautiful green mountains, and no oceans, lakes, or rivers? The main reason is that I would weigh about 1/6th what I weigh on Earth.

I won’t tell you what that is since you might do the math and figure out what I weigh here, but let’s just say that for me, it would be below 50 pounds and for most people it would be under 30 pounds.

There is also the view of the earth to consider, that

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

MIDDLE AGE… from page 5

maybe we could get some rich older folks like Warren Buffett to sign up. Once he, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have moved to the moon, there would be plenty of money to handle it and I’m sure Bezos would make sure that Amazon Prime delivered to the moon, so that’s another bonus.

• You would probably miss your family and friends. I say probably because I don’t know your family and friends, so this could possibly go in the pro column. However, if Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is how to socialize using teleconferencing technology.

It is almost like this pandemic is training us for exactly this kind of future. I imagine that this kind of thing will become a part of our lives permanently anyway, so the technology will improve rapidly. Who knows, once they blend this with virtual reality, we may get the full live experience of being there with the ability to not just see and hear the remote people but feel and smell them too. And if smelling them is a bad thing, you can turn that off, so that makes it even better than reality. Though you would still have that communication delay to deal with, which I will address next.

• The aforementioned communication delay is definitely a thing, but it could also be a bonus if you are like me and prefer text messages to phone calls. This is the one con that I don’t foresee us overcoming in the near future, if ever, unless we can figure out worm holes or subspace communication like in Star Trek.

Well, I think that covers it. My completely fair and balanced rundown of the pros and cons clearly shows that we need to pursue this absolutely flawless idea of mine, so please write to your congressmen and the president, and ask them to push this genius idea forward. I’m sure that the current political unity and cooperation we all seeing because of facing this pandemic together will help any important and needed legislation get through without any partisan bickering.

Hold on one second. Okay, never mind. On second thought, we may have to put this on the shelf for now. + J.B. Collum is a local novelist, humorist and columnist who wants to be Mark Twain when he grows up. He may be reached at johnbcollum@gmail.com

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

CAN YOU SAY

UPGRADE?

by Kim Beavers, MS, RDN, CDCES Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Chef Coach, Author

Mexican Spaghetti Squash

The Mexican flavors blend perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the spaghetti squash.

Ingredients • 1 spaghetti squash • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil • 1 medium green bell pepper, diced • 1 onion, diced • 1 pound lean ground turkey • 1 (15 ounce) can no-saltadded black beans • 1 (6 ounce) can no-saltadded tomato sauce • ½ cube vegetable bouillon cube • 1-½ cups water • ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce • 1 tablespoon chili powder • 1-½ teaspoon garlic powder • ½ teaspoon ground cumin Instructions To cook the squash, begin by puncturing it carefully with a knife or fork to create vent holes. Then microwave for about 2-4 minutes (this makes it easier to cut in half). Carefully remove from the microwave and cut the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash cut-side down in a microwavable baking dish and add about 1-inch of water to the dish. Microwave until soft (6-8 minutes).

Allow to cool slightly before you rake the inside of the

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squash with a fork to remove the spaghetti-like strands of the squash. Reserve the squash strands until ready to serve.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; once the oil is hot add green peppers and onions to the skillet; sauté 3-5 minutes. Add turkey breaking it up with a meat chopping tool or wooden spoon, cook until done (5 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients (beans, tomato sauce, bouillon, water, Worcestershire, chili powder, garlic and cumin) and cook

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To serve simply spoon the turkey mixture over four equal portions of squash and enjoy.

Yield: 4 Servings: (Serving size: 1 cup squash, 1 ½ cup meat mixture) Nutrition Breakdown: Calories 400, Fat 14g (3g saturated), Cholesterol 65mg, Sodium 420mg, Carbohydrate 43g, Fiber 10g, Protein 30g.

Diabetes Exchanges: 2 Starches, 4 Vegetables, 4 Lean protein +

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“It’s true, he killed himself!” And how many times have you heard the response, “Oh no! I sure didn’t see that one coming!”

What is often left out of these conversations is the fact that alcohol is in the blood of around one-third of all who attempt and complete a suicidal gesture!

And why is that? It is speculated that alcohol serves several functions for a person who has decided to end his/her life. First, it helps a person to get the courage to follow through with the thought of dying at one’s own hand, then it helps numb fears, then helps anesthetize the pain of dying, and at times alcohol is chosen as the method of suicide itself by drinking to death via alcohol poisoning (about .50% blood alcohol content) as a way to stop breathing without inflicting the physical pain of cutting wrists or risking a gunshot wound.

In other words, one’s sound judgment becomes impaired which causes inhibitions to decrease and

suicide is then seen as an option to continue living with whatever pain he/she is feeling at the time. And interestingly, heavy intoxication lends one to choose a more sure method of ending life, like using a gun, than suicide without the assistance of alcohol.

Medical experts also feel that heavy intoxication may promote self-inflicted injuries by increasing impulsivity and promoting depressive thoughts and feelings of hopelessness (go to nih. gov and SAMHSA.gov, like I did, to find excellent articles on this subject).

And all of this is not to even venture into the facts of drug overdose deaths, whether intentional or not.

Truly, alcohol and drug abuse is one of the most neglected public health issues of 2020 and unfortunately treatment for it is one of the lowest funded medical conditions in our country.

Nobody really wants to bring it out in the open and COVID is a much more interesting topic these days for the media to capitalize on. (Although I am tired of getting so many mixed messages. How about you?!!!)

A popular saying about suicide among self help groups is “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” And there is probably no other group that expresses the level of understanding and forgiveness towards the one who has suffered so intensely as the one who prematurely ended life itself.

Sadly, the family members of one who has taken his/her own life have a more difficult time dealing with the death than if the death was caused by natural causes. They are left with questions and bewilderment, often taking part of the blame themselves for not seeing the signs of suicide and wondering if they could’ve done something to prevent it. All death is not created equal. What is not understand is that for most people, most of the time, suicide is not an act of immediate impulse. More often than not the person has decided to end his/her own life at some time in the future and is just waiting for the opportune time. It is usually not done in the very depths of despair, either,

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN A monthly series by an Augusta drug treatment professional

but often after some signs of improvement is experienced.

Looking at suicide prevention, the best antidote is to live a really good life… right now. When the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous spoke to audiences about recovery from alcoholism, he rarely if ever mentioned the word alcohol!

His theme was about what self-help groups know as restoration to sanity, insanity being known as “doing the same thing over and over expecting different and better results.”

If you or someone you know and love is not living the good life, do call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 800-273-8255, and confidentially talk to someone who cares before someone says of your friend — or even you — “He did what?!!!” +

DRIVING LESS?

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

DON’T LICK THE BEATERS Useful food facts from dietetic interns with the Augusta University MS-Dietetic Internship Program

CUTTING OUT THE SALT

by Tara Smith, MS, Graduate Student Intern, Augusta University mended to promote reducing The majority of Americans sodium intake and consumconsume too much sodium, also known as salt, on a daily ing a diet rich in necessary vitamins and minerals. The basis. But what exactly is DASH diet is high in fruits sodium, what does it do for and vegetables, fiber, potassiour bodies, where is it hidum, and low-fat dairy prodden, what is considered “too ucts, and is low in sodium, much,” and what happens cholesterol, and saturated and from consuming too much? total fats. The DASH eating Sodium is an electrolyte, and plan suggests consuming on it is needed by the body to a daily basis 6 to 8 servings function properly and help of grains, 6 or less servings maintain blood and fluid of meats, poultry, and fish, 4 volume. However, too much to 5 servings of vegetables, 4 sodium in our diet places us to 5 servings of fruit, 2 to 3 at a higher risk of developing servings of low-fat or fat-free cardiovascular diseases such dairy products, 2 to 3 servas high blood pressure. The ings of fats and oils, no more more salt we eat, the more than 2,300 mg of sodium. our bodies hold onto water.

It suggests consuming on a Potassium is another elecweekly basis 4 to 5 servings trolyte needed for the body of nuts, seeds, dry beans, and that works with sodium to peas, and 5 or less servings of maintain these normal body sweets (NHIBI). So what does functions and fluid volumes. this mean when it comes to It is common in America making choices while grocery for people to consume too shopping, preparing meals, much sodium and too little and eating out? potassium. According to the A few tips and tricks to CDC, because sodium and help reduce salt include: potassium work together in • Choosing “reduced sodiour bodies to maintain fluid um” or “lower sodium” items balance, eating too much salt when available throws off the sodium-potas• Picking fresh and frozen sium balance. This excessive poultry that hasn’t been insodium level in our bodies jected with a sodium solution leads to negative health (This can save up to 500mg effects. Increasing potassiof sodium!) um while lowering sodium • Reading the labels of packcan help control high blood pressure and lower the risk of aged and prepared foods and choosing the items with the cardiovascular disease. lowest amount of sodium per Do you know where you are serving getting the sodium in your • Choosing canned vegetables diet? If you guessed addlabeled with “no salt added” ing additional salt from the and frozen vegetables without salt-shaker at the table, this salty sauces next fact may surprise you.

• Looking for products that Only about 5% of dietary have the American Heart Assodium is added at the table, sociation’s Heart-Check mark. while more than 70% of the Before buying pre-made sodium in our diets comes meals, check the label and from restaurants, processed, aim for options that have less and prepackaged foods. Pizthan 600 milligrams (mg) za, breads, rolls, sandwiches, of sodium per meal. 600 mg and lunch meats are some of of sodium is the upper limit the major sources of sodium set by the FDA for a meal or in the American diet. main dish to be labeled as The Dietary Approaches to “healthy”.

Stop Hypertension, or DASH, eating plan is highly recom-

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER When eating out: • Order vegetables without salt • Ask that no salt to be added to your meal • Ask for the nutritional information before ordering and inquire about lower sodium meal options.

Instead of adding salt to dishes while preparing them, try using other spices to add flavor instead such as garlic, herbs, citric juices, vinegars.

Before using canned vegetables and beans, rinse and drain them to wash away excess sodium in the can.

Incorporate foods rich in potassium into your meals, such as: • Sweet potatoes, baked potatoes with the skin on, tomatoes, kidney beans, bananas, vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy (example: plain yogurt with fresh fruits and berries), seafood (example: salmon and fatty fish that are rich in omega-3’s Here’s an easy, potassium-rich yogurt parfait recipe to get you started!

9 +

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Ingredients: • ¾ cup 0% fat plain Greek yogurt • 2 tablespoons chocolate whey protein powder (optional) • 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chia seeds • 10 raw almonds • 1 cup fresh blueberries Directions: Measure out ¾ cup of the Greek yogurt into a mixing bowl with a lid. If desired, add the protein powder on top first. Then add the chia seeds, the almonds and blueberries last.

Place a lid on the container and put it in the fridge for a great grab-and-go breakfast or mid-morning meal. + Yield: 1 serving Nutrient Breakdown: Calories 419, Fat 16g (2g sat. fat), Cholesterol 30mg, Carbohydrate 41g, Fiber 13g, Protein 34g, Sodium 89mg (4%), Potassium 610.7mg (13%)

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

CRASH

COURSE

More Americans have died on US roads since 2000 than in World Wars I & II combined

O

k, it’s time for another pop quiz. We have to see if you’ve been paying attention during our Crash Course sessions on Zoom.

But relax. This quiz has only two questions:

{

1. What is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. for people between the ages of 1 and 44?

A. Diabetes B. Suicide C. Accidents D. COVID-19 E. Cancer

that were caused by some mechanical issue? The brakes suddenly failed? The gas pedal got stuck in the floored position? A wheel flew off at 70 mph?

Never? That’s what we thought, although there may be an “almost never” or two out there.

That doesn’t mean every crash is the victim’s fault. The world’s safest driver might be killed when an oncoming driver veers into her lane as he answers a text on his DumbPhone. It happens.

But that’s another example of human error, of the fact that the vast majority of all accidents are preventable.

POP QUIZ!

What did you put down as your answer for question 2?

Class, we hate to tell you that most of you are going to get this wrong. We hate even more to tell you that the correct answer is E: 66%, two-thirds! Two out of every three fatalities in Georgia involve unsecured occupants. That statistic is courtesy of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). And that statistic is utterly shocking.

Are there that many of us still driving around without seatbelts on? Seriously? Or are that many of us allowing our children and passengers to ride unbuckled?

A study published in Lancet examined the effect unbelted back-seat passengers had on frontseat passengers. The finding: “The risk of death [for] belted front-seat occupants with unbelted rear-seat passengers was raised nearly five-fold.”

Over the past three years for which numbers are available (2016, 2017, and 2018), Georgia has averaged slightly more than 1,500 annual traffic deaths. The GOHS figure means that nearly 1,000 of those deaths each year were unbelted occupants. Would they all have survived with seat belts? Statistically, wearing seat belts reduces the odds of death and serious injuries by about half.

In other words, by the simple act of buckling a seat belt, 500 lives could be saved in Georgia every year.

That’s a very valuable return on a twosecond investment of time. +

{

2. In Georgia, what percentage of highway fatalities involve vehicle occupants who are not wearing seatbelts?

A. 10% B. 25% C. 33% D. 50% E. 66%

Did you answer B for both questions? If so, you have in-school suspension.

Let’s take them one at a time. The correct answer for question 1 is C, accidents. More specifically, car crashes. For the 1 to 4 age group, accidents are four times higher than the second-place killer, and for 5- to 9-year-olds they’re nearly double the next biggest cause of death. It doesn’t really get better over time either. For 25to 34-years-olds, for instance, road deaths are almost three times higher than the second leading cause of death. Those numbers represent a huge and tragic toll on families and society as a whole.

No wonder the Medical Examiner has a series devoted to traffic safety in every issue. This is serious business, and in all likelihood you, our reader (readers if we have more than one), have been personally affected if a friend or someone in your family has died in a highway accident.

This huge death toll is also largely avoidable.

Consider: what fatal accidents do you have personal knowledge of or have you heard about

Sparkle

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

HUMAN BEHAVIOR It all started with notecards.

In high school and college, I used to make these ridiculous notecards for school. I figured, “Well, if I’m writing it down, it’s getting into my brain.”

It took me almost eight years to figure out that, at least for me, stacks of notecards did nothing for me.

While it could work for someone else, I just don’t learn that way.

It would have been nice if someone said to me, “Cut that out. Try this instead.”

Now, I get to be that someone.

HOW TO TURN Ds INTO As AT SCHOOL

Paying Attention Yet? Say the words “neurobehavioral testing,” and prepare for eyes to glaze over. But for a family whose kid has a learning disability or a behavioral or cognitive disorder, testing is really, really important to help figure out what their child needs to do better at school.

But testing’s not just for kids with learning, behavior or cognitive problems. It’s also valuable for any kid who is just like I was.

The kid who’s struggling with figuring out the best way to learn.

The kid who works so hard but is still getting Ds in school. The kid who really, really wants to do better (even if they don’t know it yet) just but doesn’t know how.

It’s also for children in categories you might not think about: Those with diabetes whose brains might be just a little slower at processing (a possible side effect of the disease). It’s for children with asthma or another chronic illness who’ve missed a lot of school and can’t seem to catch back up. And it’s definitely for that star athlete who chokes in big competitions because nerves take over, or who’s had a concussion.

This is where (cue the big words) neurobehavioral testing and training can really make a big difference.

Let’s Start Training A lot of us think that to help kids focus, medicine has to be a part of that. Sure, it can help in some instances, but you don’t necessarily have to start there. In other words, medicine shouldn’t be a substitute for learning how to use your brain.

Think about it: We work out because we want stronger bodies and stronger hearts. Mental training is just as important to help improve our memories, our focus and attention, and our ability to learn effectively. And just like with working out, it’s important to have a personal trainer to help your child get there.

The only difference is that mental training uses pencil and paper or a computer program instead of weights or exercise machines.

Here’s one example: To help train kids to focus their attention, we use a computer program where the child focuses in on a specific image while regular stimuli (visual distractions) change around that image. As kids keep working on maintaining that focus, their ability to pay attention improves.

One final, important piece is figuring out ways to help children compensate for areas where they may not be as strong. For example, maybe a child has a really hard time staying organized with how they study. While notecards didn’t work for me, they might be a great solution for your child.

The Whole Point All of us want our kids to succeed in school. But not all kids learn the same way.

So for any child, whether or not they have a diagnosis, the point of this kind of neurobehavioral testing and training is to help them figure out the way that works best for them, help train them to think faster and remember best, and use their brain effectively so that school is less about work—and notecards—and more about learning. +

Jeremy Hertza, Psy.D., is a neuropsychologist and the executive director of NeuroBehavioral Associates, LLC, in Augusta, on the web at http://nbageorgia. com. Contact him at 706-823-5250 or info@nbageorgia.com

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

11 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The blog spot From the Bookshelf — posted by Melhim Bou Alwan, MD, on May 21, 2020

AFTER YOU FINISH READING ARTICLES ON THE INTERNET, I’LL BE HERE TO TREAT YOU With the rise of the internet, people started exploring ways to get medical advice online. The medical community was initially humored by this development, thinking of it as a cute way for patients to look up their symptoms before coming to see us, their doctors.

The next stage in our response was irritation. As more people flooded our offices, our emergency rooms and our hospital wards demanding treatments and tests they read about online that were totally medically unnecessary, we started to get irritated at this whole situation, including the many players involved, and yes, even at the patients sometimes.

Next came total and absolute anger. Although I am not a pediatrician, I would get furious when I saw antivax posts and articles, and I still get irate when I see pictures of kids suffering and sometimes succumbing to infectious diseases that had almost gone extinct thanks to vaccinations. These medical dinosaurs are enjoying a resurgence thanks to the overall atmosphere of skepticism that is taking over the world and specifically the world of medicine.

I have no words or emotions to describe how I feel about the current wave of inaccuracies, falsehoods, madeup stories, and simply lies being thrown around during this pandemic. I understand that people are getting bored, angry, frustrated, sad, and even hungry due to the current crisis, and I am in no way trying to minimize the torrent of emotions people are experiencing.

For, in the end, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to believe the opinions of random “experts” just because they created a video on YouTube with cropped pictures of people you see on TV. It doesn’t matter if you believe random numbers made up by “doctors” and refuse to take the word of hundreds of us on the front lines seeing the impact of this virus first hand. It doesn’t matter if you choose to treat one study here and there as the gospel, yet dismiss hundreds of publications in peerreviewed medical journals. It doesn’t matter if you want to convince yourselves that COVID-19 is “just like the flu,” because we will be there to take care of you anyway.

My colleagues and I will be there to treat you when all of these internet movie creators that convinced you this is no big deal are nowhere to be found.

It doesn’t matter; it just hurts. +

Maybe tomorrow they will listen.

The central character in Breakthrough is an elevenyear-old girl. But not just any eleven-year-old girl. This one happened to be the daughter of Charles Evans Hughes.

If that name rings a bell, you’re probably something of a student of American history, and Mr. Hughes holds a fairly prominent place on the pages of U.S. history. He was Governor of New York, served as U.S. Secretary of State, as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and was finally the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice. In the middle of all that, he also found time to run for President. (He lost to our own Woodrow Wilson.)

But aside from all those things, Charlie Hughes (as we used to call him) was a father, and he was the father of a very sick child, the aforementioned eleven-yearold.

In 1919, Elizabeth Hughes was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, which at the time was not only incurable and untreatable, but also usually fatal.

Fortunately, at about that same time, researchers were making a breakthrough —

which just might explain the title of this book — that led to the isolation and mass production of insulin.

Elizabeth was one of the first to benefit from this new discovery.

Incidentally, we’ve written about this amazing discovery process before. Check your family Examiner scrapbook for the February 5, 2010 issue on page 7 for a brief “Insulin bio.”

Although there was a fair amount of wrangling between rival scientists and competing claims of discovery, the story ends happily: the Canadian scientists credited with

BINGEREAD

Melhim Bou Alwan is an internal medicine physician.

This could be you.

The Medical Examiner can be delivered right to your door!

Use the handy form on page 13

discovering how to extract and mass produce insulin sold the patent to the University of Toronto for exactly $1. The university, in turn, granted license without royalty to any company producing insulin (which for many years was Eli Lilly Co. and only Eli Lilly Co.).

One of the cool things about this book is that it tells the story of a disease once thought to be a death sentence. As was the case with polio and any number of dreaded diseases of the past, there is always hope that in some laboratory someplace — maybe tomorrow or even later today — some researcher might make the key discovery that will lead to the conquest of cancer or another similar bane to humanity. Maybe even the breakthrough that leads to a completely effective vaccine for COVID-19 One can always hope. +

Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg, 320 pages, published in September, 2010 by St. Martin’s Press.

VISIT ISSUU.COM/MEDICALEXAMINER, WHERE MORE THAN 200 ISSUES OF THE EXAMINER ARE ARCHIVED FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE.

MEDICALEXAMINER

+ 12

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The Examiners

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

+

Why the long face?

by Dan Pearson

I just feel bad for my son, that’s all.

He is. But my wife and But I thought he’s I just didn’t think he’s being home-schooled. very good.

He tried out for the baseball team but didn’t make it

What happened?

THE MYSTERY WORD O The Mystery Word for this issue: ELLBIRA

© 2020 Daniel Pearson All rights reserved.

N ACAthen begin exploring Simply unscramble theVletters, TIONspelled word our ads. When you find the correctly hidden in one of our ads — enter at AugustaRx.com

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. Poet 5. Major shin bone 10. Sugar source 14. Great lake 15. Writer of lyric poetry 16. Second son of Adam & Eve 17. Pleasant to hear 19. Famous Eliot 20. California NBA team 21. Raise 23. Nematocyst 26. Officiating mosque priest 27. Blood element 30. Ambulance svc.

31. Circumference to diameter ratio 33. Codlike fish 34. Payment for regular work 36. Alternate prefix for 39-D 37. Roman poet 38. Arrest 39. Remain undecided 40. First down yardage 41. Feudal tenant 44. Wife of a rajah 45. Otherwise 46. Empl. Asst. Prog.

47. Abstract; arcane 49. Islamic chieftain 50. X-Games and Olympics snowboard & skateboard medalist White 51. An individual without wealth or influence 54. Spain’s dictator, 1939-1975 58. Employs 59. Fire follower 62. Small prefix 63. External 64. Emollient for mild burns 65. Permission to leave Ft. Gordon?

BY

2

3

4

5

14

6

7

10

18

23

24

25

34

35

37

45

32

56

57

36

38 41

31

E X A M I N E R

22

30

40

13

26

29

33

12

19 21

28

11

16

20

39

42

43

46

47

49 51

9

15

17

27

8

44 48

50

52

53

54 60

55

58

59

62

63

64

65

66

67

61

DOWN 1. Telfair auditorium 2. Norman melody 3. Jeopardize 4. Discovered 5. Lymphatic throat tissue 6. First Lady, 1897-1901 7. Front part of an apron 8. Speck of land surrounded by water 9. Artist studio 10. Item in many a 9-D 11. At right angles to a ship’s length 12. _____ egg 13. Otherwise 18. Sea eagle 22. TV award 24. AU’s ______ list 25. Books of maps 27. Finish start?

S U D O K U

8

4 5 7 2 8 4 3 4 2 1 9 2 1 5 6 5 6 3 2 5 7 9 3 1 2 9 6

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2020 All rights reserved.

DIRECTIONS: Every line, vertical and horizontal, and all nine 9-square boxes must each contain the numbers 1 though 9. Solution on page 14.

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2020 All rights reserved.

66. Chairs 67. Optical device

We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

28. Winner of 200 singles titles, #1 all-time (in men’s tennis) 29. Related by blood 31. Former Finland money unit 32. Containing iodine 35. Embarrass 36. Within reach 39. Prior to birth 41. Narcissistic 42. Fitting 43. Idlers 46. Vomiting 48. Rotate 49. Levels 51. Wednesday: ____ Day 52. ______ Minor 53. Genuine 55. 4,132 mi river 56. _____ skin 57. Singles 60. Bush Field abbrev.

61. Doggie doc Solution p. 14

QUOTATIONPUZZLE T A T G T R G U G J M S V I H A E R E N O R N H N A N E A N E H W U S U E T H N A T A Y H

3 5 7 6 T 2 R 9 8S 4 1

— St. Francis De Sales

2 4 9 7 1 8 5 6 3

DIRECTIONS: Recreate a timeless nugget of wisdom by using the letters in each vertical column to fill the boxes above them. Once any letter is used, cross it out in the lower half of the puzzle. Letters may be used only once.

Black squares indicate spaces between words, and words may extend onto a second line.

Solution on page 14.

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2020 All rights reserved

Use the letters provided at bottom to create words to solve the puzzle above. All the listed letters following #1 are the first letters of the various words; the letters following #2 are the second letters of each word, and so on. Try solving words with letter clues or numbers with minimal choices listed. A sample is shown. Solution on page 14.

V 1 2 3 4 1

2

3

4

L 1 2 D 5 6

3

1 2 4 5 6 L 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1

F 1

2 2

1

2 2

L 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 V 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1.VUTTUBBBHLF 2.AAOOOLLSSIU 3.TTIVIRU 4.NRLTEN 5.DUDET 6.EDSSS 7.S

SAMPLE:

1. ILB 2. SLO 3. VI 4. NE 5. D =

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2020 All rights reserved

WORDS NUMBER

1

Click on “MYSTERY WORD” • DEADLINE TO ENTER: NOON, June 1, 2020

8 6 1 4 3 5 7 9 2

1 3 8 2 4 7 6 5 9

9 2 5 1 8 6 4 3 7

4 7 6 5 9 3 1 2 8

SEPTEMBER 18, 2020

13 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

THEBESTMEDICINE ha... ha...

A

man who had just arrived at a hotel has trouble finding his room, so he goes down to the front desk and asks, “I’m sorry, can you please tell me what room I’m in?”

“Certainly sir,” said the receptionist. “This is the lobby.”

Moe: Did you know that SCUBA is an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus?

Joe: Sure. But did you know that tuba is also an acronym?

Moe: It is?

Joe: Absolutely. It stands for Terrible Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

Moe: Most people are shocked when they find out something about me.

Joe: And what would that be?

Moe: How bad I am as an electrician.

Moe: How does an electrician prepare for a vacation?

Joe: I give up. How? Moe: He packs light.

Moe: I met a Muslim yesterday. We got to talking and he showed me several verses in the Quran that were really interesting.

Joe: He happened to be carrying a copy of the Quran? That’s devotion.

Moe: He actually had a digital copy. I told him I wanted to learn more.

Joe: But you don’t have a copy of the Quran do you?

Moe: No, but he had a copy on CD. I asked him to burn one for me.

Moe: I own a real skeleton.

Joe: I’ve always wanted one! Do you mind if I see it?

Moe: I’d take it out and show you, but I’m using it right now.

A neighbor was watching the boy next door playing with a bat and ball in his backyard. “I’m the greatest batter in the world” the boy said as he threw the ball into the air and got ready to take a swing.

He swung with all his might but missed the ball and fell down himself. “Strike one!” he said as he got up.

He throws up the ball a second time and swings. Again he misses and the ball falls to the ground with a thud. “Strike two!” he yells, still undeterred.

“I’m the greatest hitter in the world!” he says as he swings one more time, hitting only air as the ball falls to the ground.

This time he dances around the backyard as he yells “Strike three! I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!” +

Why subscribe to theMEDICALEXAMINER? What do you mean?

Staring at my phone all day has had no Effect on ME!

Because try as they might, no one can stare at their phone all day.

The

Advice Doctor ©

Dear Advice Doctor, I love my wife, but she has a habit that drives me up the wall. She has a very contentious relationship with her mother, yet for some unknown reason they talk on the phone every day. Correction: they argue every day. Then the same thing happens after every call: she’s mad at the world, but she vents her spleen by yelling at me. I’m 100% innocent, but I’m the most convenient target. How can we break this cycle?

The Cycle is Vicious Dear The Cycle, You definitely raise an interesting point, one that I think many people ponder from time to time.

After all, I would say that nearly everyone has heard of the spleen, but how many people know what its function is, or even where it’s located in the body? My guess: very, very few.

So let’s see if we can rectify that situation.

The spleen has three main roles. #1: it cleanses blood.

It contains cells called phagocytes which devour viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms. The phagocytes or macrophages also devour old red blood cells and red blood cells that are misshapen. The components of those cells are stored and recycled by the spleen. That’s pretty amazing all by itself, isn’t it? #2: your spleen is one of the places where B-cells and T-cells are produced. These lymphocytes produce antigens that attack infecting organisms as key elements of the immune system. #3: the spleen stores one-third of the platelets in our body. Platelets are responsible for clotting blood and thereby controlling bleeding.

The spleen is adjacent to the stomach on the upper left side of the body and is its location near the surface makes it vulnerable to injury. A ruptured spleen can cause serious life-threatening internal bleeding and is a life-threatening emergency. An injured spleen may rupture immediately after an injury, or in some cases, days or weeks after an injury. As vital as its various roles are, it is possible to live without a spleen, although someone who has had their spleen removed (a splenectomy) is vulnerable to infections.

I hope this answers your question. Thanks for writing! + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about health, life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will be provided only in the Examiner.

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THE TRIPLE THREAT

COVID-19, FLU, AND HURRICANE SEASON When the state of Georgia began feeling the effects of COVID-19 in early March, the only certainty was uncertainty. Our hospitals quickly became laser focused on treating patients with therapeutics and available care with the hope that cases would gradually decrease, eventually reaching zero. But spring brought virus surges, hot spots, too many new cases, and a spike after Memorial Day when people let their guard down.

Yet, we still had hope that, going into late summer, we’d see a sharp decline in the COVID-19 numbers. While the number of cases is, fortunately, holding steady, we never saw the plummet in numbers we so desperately sought.

As we press onward, more knowledgeable, and better equipped to battle COVID-19, we now face two additional threats entering the fall: influenza outbreaks and peak hurricane season.

Each year, we see public service announcements about the importance of getting your flu vaccination. But for 2020, there is an added layer. Getting your flu shot not only helps prevent the flu, it also helps avoid serious flu complications that could result in hospitalization. Why is this important now more than ever? During this once-in-a-hundred-years pandemic, hospitals cannot afford to be overwhelmed with some-

thing as preventable as the flu. Hospitals and our front line health care providers are working tirelessly 24/7 to ensure adequate bed capacity for the treatment of current and potential COVID-19 patients. We still can’t predict exactly what will happen with COVID-19, but we know we can protect ourselves from the flu. So, add that to the list of ways we can do our part to stay healthy: Wear a mask, watch your distance, wash your hands, limit the size of your gatherings, and get a flu shot - a high dose if you are age 65 or over.

Adding to the perfect storm of 2020 challenges, hurricanes are another danger we know awaits us this time of year. With emergency preparedness plans looking very different in the wake of COVID-19, we must all take the necessary extra time to prepare emergency food, water, and other supplies. For example, with in-person shopping at a minimum, consider that it could become necessary to order many crucial staples and medications through delivery, which could take a little longer. Additionally, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and masks have become essential items in emergency kits. While staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, keep in mind it may become necessary to evacuate when fully pro-

tecting yourself and others becomes especially important.

By adding just a few steps to the list of simple behaviors that help us all remain safe, we can keep Georgians healthy: 1. Wear a mask. #MaskUpGeorgia!

2. Watch your distance. Social distance at least six feet from those not from your household and limit the size of gatherings.

3. Wash your hands frequently. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

4. Get a flu shot.

5. Build emergency preparedness kits and allow ample time to obtain medications and supplies, including those essential for COVID-19 protection, such as masks, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer.

The triple threat of COVID-19, influenza, and hurricane season is upon us. I have faith that Georgia’s citizens, our hospitals, and our communities are wise enough and strong enough to face and overcome what comes our way.

Stay safe and well for your and others’ sake. +

Earl Rogers President and CEO Georgia Hospital Association

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