Star treatment

A River City Weekly Publication
November 27, 2008
WORKOUT TIPS FOR
OCTOGENARIANS
Stay in shape with Joe
Weider, father of modern
bodybuilding.
PAGE 4
DENTAL Q&A
LET’S TALK TURKEY!
Advances can improve
your smile.
PAGE 8
How to make this your
change Thanksgiving.
PAGE 11
Star treatment
The smoke
stops here
Surgeon offers
customized
jobs for moms
Healthcare providers
ban smoking from
facilities and property
By Rebecca Long Pyper
River City Weekly
Those who endure pregnancy get
a sweet newborn for their efforts.
Of course they also might get
saggy or smaller breasts, a stretchmarked tummy reminiscent of
topographical maps and an oh-solovely paunchy midsection.
But plastic surgeon Dr. Mark
Freeman can change all that — and
give patients the star treatment to
boot.
Before moving to Idaho Falls
in April, Freeman worked in Los
Angeles on stars and with surgeons-to-the-stars. Because of the
“sacred trust” in his field of medicine, Freeman is hush-hush about
his clientele and said “privacy is
the utmost importance in plastic
surgery. If a patient can’t depend
on me to keep their privacy, they
can’t really depend on me to do a
good job.”
His work hasn’t all been glamorous. In 2005 and 2006 Freeman
His work hasn’t all been glamorous. In 2005 and 2006
Freeman did humanitarian work through the Mayo Clinic,
correcting cleft lips and palettes in Thailand and Vietnam.
The weeklong trips were packed with procedures, and
Freeman operated six 14-hour days out of seven, mostly
working with his head tweaked upside down since
surgery was done inside patients’ mouths.
Dr. Mark Freeman, right, performs a cleft palate surgery in 2005 at
University Hospital in Hanoi Northern Vietnam. In the 10 days Freeman was
there he performed nearly 40 cleft palate surgeries.
COURTESY PHOTO
By Rebecca Long Pyper
River City Weekly
PHOTO BY KORT DUCE
did humanitarian work through
the Mayo Clinic, correcting cleft
lips and palettes in Thailand and
Vietnam. The weeklong trips were
packed with procedures, and
Freeman operated six 14-hour days
out of seven, mostly working with
his head tweaked upside down
since surgery was done inside
patients’ mouths.
Coming back from third-world
conditions to the superficiality of
Los Angeles wasn’t easy.
“It’s a very hard transition to
make when working with a 2-yearold with a mass in the mouth from
cancer to someone in L.A. complaining about a pinpoint scar,” he
said.
Regardless of where he works,
Freeman said the perk is in the
final product — happiness. Before
becoming a plastic surgeon his first
experience was in general surgery,
often working with cancer patients
who were relieved to have procedures that could cure them but not
excited to have mastectomies, for
instance.
“While making people better, I
found I wasn’t always making them
happy. Certainly they were grateful
but not happy,” Freeman said.
With reconstruction like “mommy makeovers” and facial rejuvenation — a two-hour procedure that
can seemingly turn back the clock
— patients are actually happy
when surgery is over, he said.
One reason for their satisfaction
is that Freeman gives women something they can’t achieve on their
own. After pregnancy stretches
skin and distorts abdominal muscles, patients might be unable to
reclaim a svelte stomach with diet
and exercise alone. Every mommy
makeover is customized to patient
CONTINUED ON PAGE 13
When nurse Katie Fisher heard
she wouldn’t be allowed to smoke
on her breaks anymore, she had
mixed feelings.
As a CNA at Good Samaritan
Society, Idaho Falls village, she had
been smoking for a long time —
quitting wouldn’t be easy.
On the other hand, she’d been
wanting to quit anyway.
So Fisher opted to quit before
smoking at work wasn’t an option.
To make her efforts easier, she
turned to non-nicotine, smokingcessation medication, and that did
the trick.
Today the 15-year smoker is living cigarette free and said now was
a good time in her life to go for it.
Besides, her new lifestyle is a better match for her role as nurse.
“It’s healthier, and what we strive
to put out in the community is
health,” she said.
Nov. 20 was this year’s Great
American Smokeout Day, and Idaho
CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
EIRMC maintenance engineers Grant
Gohr, left, and Shannon Jenning
move an outdoor ashtray before
removing the “butt hut” outside the
hospital.
PHOTO BY KORT DUCE
4 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
Workout tips for an octogenarian
BY JOE WEIDER
Tip of the
Week: Pay
attention to
all aspects of
your exercise
form. A break in good form
can lead to a loss in productivity or, worse, injury.
Take, for example, as basic an exercise as the squat.
On the surface, it seems
like a fairly straightforward
exercise to perform: You
place a bar across your
shoulders and squat up and
down. Easy enough.
The fact of the matter,
however, is that there’s
much more to performing
the squat correctly. You
need a straight back and
your eyes facing forward.
You want to make sure that
your knees are aligned with
your feet and that you don’t
lean forward too much.
Your knees shouldn’t travel
over your toes as you lower
yourself, and you should
never, ever bounce at the
bottom of the movement.
Once you’ve mastered all of
these individual elements,
you are ready to squat like
a pro.
So, pay attention to detail
in everything you do in the
gym. Your body will thank
you for your cooperation.
Q: I am your age, Joe. I
am an 84-year-old woman,
and I think I’m doing pretty
well, all things considered.
I walk almost every day
for 20 minutes and do my
stretching exercises each
morning. I would like to
know if you think I could
begin lifting light weights. I
don’t want to become Arnold
Schwarzenegger, of course,
but I would like to see some
new muscles on my arms.
Joe: Well, good for you,
my dear! I can’t tell you
how much I enjoyed reading your letter. I have to
say, though, that at 88 I still
have a few years on you.
But since I was once your
age, I think I’m qualified to
answer your question.
As I do with everyone,
both young and old, I would
first recommend that you
receive clearance from your
physician to lift weights.
You didn’t mention any underlying medical conditions
you may have, but assuming you get a clean bill of
health I see no reason why
you couldn’t begin lifting a
pair of light dumbbells.
If you want to build up
your arms, I would recommend performing three sets
of 10 reps of seated dumbbell curls, possibly while
seated on an armless chair
or bench. To work your triceps along with your shoulders, you can do seated
dumbbell presses, again for
three sets of 10 reps. Follow
this combination twice
per week starting with a
pair of 2 pound dumbbells
and working your way up
should they become too
easy for you.
Again, I applaud you,
madam, on your initiative.
I look forward to hearing
from you again once you’ve
begun to see the fruits of
your labor.
Q: I’ve always heard the
phrase “no pain, no gain.”
While working out, I feel the
pain. A few hours after, my
muscles feel tired. The next
day, I feel nothing. Should I
increase my weights or my
reps, or is this normal?
Joe: The phrase “no pain,
no gain” has been around
for many years, and what
it means is if you don’t feel
muscle soreness (not joint
pain or the pain of a muscle
tear) in the days following a
workout, then you didn’t do
enough to stimulate muscle
growth.
While there is a degree of
validity to this statement,
you shouldn’t take it as
gospel. There are a number
of factors involved that can
affect the level of pain you
experience in your muscles
or whether you have any
at all.
Delayed Onset Muscle
Soreness (DOMS) can last
anywhere from 24 to 72
hours and is most likely
the result of microscopic
damage incurred by the
muscles being trained.
It stimulates a response
from the body to repair the
injury, hopefully bigger and
stronger than before.
But don’t expect soreness after every single
workout. Our bodies are
highly adaptable, and so
it tends to be that more
experienced trainers feel
DOMS less frequently than
newcomers. Also, it’s been
found that eccentric (negative) movements tend to
bring on greater DOMS than
concentric (positive) ones
do. So, know that DOMS
means a job well done in
the gym, but also that not
experiencing DOMS doesn’t
mean that your workout
was less productive.
Joe Weider is acclaimed
as “the father of modern
bodybuilding” and the
founder of the world’s
leading fitness magazines,
including Shape, Muscle
and Fitness, Men’s Fitness,
Fit Pregnancy, Hers, Golf for
Seniors and others published
worldwide in over 20
languages.
© 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
PHOBIAS OF
THE WEEK
Asthenophobia -fear of fainting
Athazagoraphobia -fear of being forgotten
or ignored
Ephebiphobia -- fear
of teenagers
Ostraconophobia -fear of shellfish
Euphobia -- fear of
hearing good news
November 27, 2008 RIVER CITY WEEKLY l Idaho Falls Health 5
NUMBER
CRUNCHERS
A single corn
dog (175 grams)
contains 460
calories, 170 from fat.
That’s 29 percent of the
recommended total fat intake
for a
2,000-calorie daily diet.
It also contains 79 milligrams of cholesterol (26 percent);
973 mg of sodium (41 percent); 55.8 grams of total
carbohydrates (19 percent) and 16.8 grams of protein.
A single charbroiled chicken taco “Baja style” from
Baja Fresh Mexican Grill (116 grams) contains 210 calories,
45 from fat. That’s 8 percent of the recommended total fat
intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.
It also contains 25 milligrams of cholesterol (8
percent); 230 mg of sodium (10 percent); 28 grams of total
carbohydrates (9 percent); 2 g of dietary fiber (8 percent);
and 12 g of protein.
A single serving of Fritos Chili Cheese-flavored corn
chips (1 ounce or 28 grams) contains 160 calories, 90 from
fat. That’s 15 percent of the recommended total fat intake
for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.
It also contains 260 milligrams of sodium (11 percent); 15
grams of total carbohydrates (5 percent); 1 g of dietary fiber
(4 percent); 1 g of sugar and 2 g of protein.
A soft-serve cone of vanilla ice milk (103 grams)
contains 164 calories, 55 from
fat. That’s 9 percent of the
recommended total fat intake
for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.
It also contains 28
milligrams of cholesterol (9
percent); 92 mg of sodium (4
percent); 24 grams of total
carbohydrates (8 percent);
zero grams of dietary fiber; 16
g of sugar and 4 g of protein.
© 2008 CREATORS
SYNDICATE INC.
George’s idea
of fun is different.
Coincidentally,
so is our idea
of retirement.
Our idea of retirement? Fun with a capital “F.” And
Luxurious, too. With a capital “L” of course. Which is
exactly why Fairwinds - Sand Creek looks and acts
more like a luxury resort than a retirement community.
I mean gee-whiz, where would you rather live, a retirement community, or a five-star resort? We thought so.
Call now to schedule your complimentary lunch and
tour. And see for yourself just how different we are.
3310 Valencia Drive • Idaho Falls
(208) 542-6200
www.leisurecare.com
6 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
WELLNEWS
BY SCOTT LAFEE
brain of your intentions.
And thus warned, your
brain ignores the subsequent tickling sensations.
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
• On average, people can
hold their breath for two
minutes. The world record
is 8 minutes, 58 seconds.
• A baby has taste buds
all over the inside of its
mouth, not just on the
tongue.
• One out of every 2,000
newborns sports a tooth at
birth.
• The average person ingests about one ton of food
and drink each year.
• Why can’t you tickle
yourself? Your cerebellum informs the rest of the
GET ME THAT. STAT!
• About one-third of
men are affected by male
pattern baldness by
age 45. Researchers at
McGill University, King’s
College London and
GlaxoSmithKline Inc. have
identified two genetic variants in Caucasians that together produce an astounding sevenfold increase in
the risk of male pattern
baldness. They estimate
that one in seven men — or
roughly 14 percent of the
population — have both
risk variants.
• According to an 11-year
study of 32,269 postmenopausal American women,
vigorous activity can
reduce the risk of breast
cancer by about 30 percent
in normal-weight women.
• Using a fan to keep
air moving in a bedroom
appears to dramatically
reduce a baby’s risk of
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), new research
suggests. Researchers
at Kaiser Permanente
in Oakland, Calif., found
that in babies’ bedrooms
equipped with fans, SIDS
risk was reduced 72 percent compared to rooms
without fans.
• Far more than hotels,
hospitals are all about
clean sheets. The 900-bed
Massachusetts General
Hospital, for example,
launders 27,200 pounds of
material each day using
42-foot-long commercial
tunnel washers, each of
which can wash 5,200
pounds per hour. Eightytwo percent of the laundry
is patient linen; the rest are
scrubs and linen used during operations.
Many hospitals, however,
don’t do their own laundry.
According to a Modern
Healthcare survey, laundry
is the number one hospital
service that’s outsourced.
• The average female
fashion model weighs up to
25 percent less than a typical woman and maintains a
weight that is 15 percent to
20 percent below what is
considered healthy for her
age and height.
A natural remedy
for depression
By Bill Ayzin
It’s a fact
that more
prescriptions
are written
for antidepressants
around the
holidays than any other
time of the year. We live in
a northern climate with a
lack of sunshine. Combine
that with very little exercise, abuse of sugar, and
almost no consumption of
cold-water fatty fish, which
is critical for the brain and
mood, and you can see why
so many anti-depressants
are dispensed.
Like antibiotics, antidepressants are over
prescribed, and to make
matters worse, anti-depressants carry all kinds of
black box warnings.
In 1996, the ABC News
program “20/20” introduced
a little-known herb called
St. Johns Wort, and discussed its benefits for mild
to moderate depression
to the U.S. This natural
medicine has been used
in Europe for many years
as a prescription anti-depressant, outselling Prozac
in Germany. And 13 years
later, St. John’s Wort is
outselling anti-depressants
in the U.S.
When standardized for
hypericum and hyperforin,
St. John’s Wort becomes
a natural drug-like antidepressant, which is far
less expensive (under $20/
month), safer, without any
“real” negative side effects.
Numerous published
double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have shown
its safety and effectiveness
compared to prescription
anti-depressants.
As with all other herbs,
not all St. John’s Worts are
created equal. If you stick
with a reputable brand
using raw materials from
clinical trials, you will give
yourself the best chance to
succeed. The one brand
that dominates clinical research is PERIKA, a German
made product that has a
specific extract number assigned to it by the German
Commission E (our FDA
equivalent), which guarantees quality, potency and
efficacy.
So if you are going to
try natural alternatives to
anti-depressants, here is
the protocol recommended by many integrative
practitioners:
• Work with the doctor who will support your
decision.
• Never go off prescriptions cold turkey. Clinical
dose for adults is 900 mg/
day of the standardized
extract. By the end of three
to four weeks you should
be able to evaluate your
results.
Bill Ayzin is the owner of
Wealth of Health. Send
questions for Bill to news@
rivercityweekly.com.
November 27, 2008 RIVER CITY WEEKLY l Idaho Falls Health 7
LIFELONG HEALTH
Gene can affect ability to
lose weight, study says
BY DR. DAVID LIPSCHITZ
Many of my
overweight
patients swear
that they eat
very little.
And yet, basic
science would
show that
they are consuming more
calories than their body
requires and the excess
goes into fat stores. So
what is the deal? Do they
really not eat that much? Is
there some disconnection
between perception and
reality?
Recent research seems
to show that obesity is
not as simple as counting
calories — there are actually genetic, metabolic and
psychological elements to
weight.
In a nutshell, the food
that we consume is used to
provide nutrients and metabolic fuel to our bodies.
Some of the excess calories
enter fat stores and some
leave our body in the form
of heat — most of it in the
air we exhale during each
breath.
On a physical level,
weight gain or weight loss
is all about how you handle
your calories or how efficient you are at burning
excess fuel. In this case,
less efficient is actually better. Some people are less
efficient at diverting excess
calories to fat so more calories are burned off as heat.
These people seem to have
a greater proclivity to eat
anything they want. They
also tend to be more active,
spend less time sitting and
move a great deal more.
A recent study in the
journal Science identified
some unique differences
between overweight and
lean people. Surprisingly,
despite what you might
expect, overweight people
seem to enjoy food less.
Using sophisticated brain
imaging studies, a group of
scientists from the Oregon
Research Institute studied
the so-called pleasure center of the brain.
Thin and obese women
were shown a picture of a
chocolate milkshake or a
glass of water. Upon seeing
the milkshake, the obese
women had far more activity in the pleasure center
than the thin women.
However, after drinking
the shake, activity in the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
See all of our past issues online: www.rivercityweekly.com
8 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
Dental advances can
improve your smile
Foothills Dental Care gives
an inside look at some of the
newest advances in dental
technology. Doctors Wayne
B. Murdock, Justin D. Bell
and Joshua Reid Bell discuss
Invisalign and Lumineers.
RCW: What is Invisalign?
Foothills Dental Care:
Invisalign is new way to
straighten teeth that uses
3-D computer imaging
technology to plan and
predict the outcome of an
orthodontic case. It’s an
alternative to braces that
can be used to treat many
cases of crooked, crowded
or otherwise misaligned
teeth. It’s also a great way
to eliminate spaces or gaps
between teeth.
RCW: How does it work?
Foothills Dental Care:
Invisalign uses a series of
clear plastic trays to move
the teeth to the desired and
predetermined position. A
set of clear trays is worn
for a two-week period.
Then a new set of trays is
used for another two weeks
and so on until all of the
teeth are straight. Each
set of successive trays is
a slightly different shape
than the previous ones.
This difference in shape
applies gentle force to the
teeth, moving them in a
way very similar to braces
until all teeth are in the
desired position.
RCW: What are the benefits of Invisalign?
Foothills Dental Care:
Invisalign straightens your
teeth without many of the
drawbacks of braces. The
clear Invisalign trays often
go unnoticed by those
around you. There are no
metal brackets, no rubber
bands and no wires. While
it is often used for teenagers, it is great for adults
that want to straighten
their teeth but don’t want
braces. Also, keeping
your teeth clean at home
is much easier than with
braces. The trays can be
removed to brush and floss
your teeth. The results are
predictable. Since Invisalign
uses 3-D computer imaging technology, the final
result can be seen before
treatment even begins. This
allows the patient to see
what can be accomplished
as well as give input on
how they want their teeth
to look.
RCW: How do I get
started?
Foothills Dental Care:
While some cases can’t
be treated with Invisalign,
many can. If you are curious to see if you qualify,
just schedule a consultation with your provider.
It is a great
way to see if
Invisalign is
for you, as
well as learn
if your dental
insurance
will cover it
or to discuss
financing
options.
Dr. Wayne B. Murdock
RCW:
What are
Lumineers?
Foothills
Dr. Joshua Reid Bell
Dental Care:
Lumineers
are ultra-thin
porcelain
veneers that
are bonded
to the enamel
of teeth. They
Dr. Justin D. Bell
are used to
permanently
whiten a smile. They are
also used to address other
problems such as chipped,
stained, misaligned or
discolored teeth. Often
they can be used to close
gaps between teeth as well.
Basically they are a smile
makeover. The patient can
choose what shade as well
as what shape of teeth they
want.
RCW: Is there any discomfort with Lumineers?
Foothills Dental Care:
Lumineers are so thin that
very little reshaping of
the tooth is needed. Often
there is no need to drill at
all before Lumineer placement. When reshaping is
required it is so minor that
no anesthesia is necessary,
which means no needles
and no shots.
RCW: How long will it
take to change my smile?
Foothills Dental Care:
Generally speaking
Lumineers require two office visits. At the first visit
an impression is taken. This
visit is fairly short. The
next visit is usually two
to three weeks later and
takes about an hour. At the
second visit the Lumineers
are tried on and bonded to
the teeth. Before and after
photos are usually taken as
well.
RCW: How can I find out
if Lumineers would work
for me?
Foothills Dental Care:
A free consultation is the
easiest way to learn more
about Lumineers in general. You can find out what
shade your teeth are now
and see what shade they
could be. The dentist will
also help you decide how
many you should do based
on your smile line.
November 27, 2008 RIVER CITY WEEKLY l Idaho Falls Health 9
Exposure to bright light can help SAD
BY CATHY KOTTER
Q: Help! I
hate winter
and as
each day
shortens I
feel myself
wanting
to pull the
covers over
my head and retreat from
life. It doesn’t help that the
wind drives pellets of rain
into my face as I run from
my car to the door. I have
lived all my life in Idaho and
I would like to say that I love
the changing seasons — and
I think that I do love living
here except for the dreariness of dark winter days.
What can I do short of moving to Florida?
A: While personal preferences for seasons and seasonal activities might be at
play, another possibility is
Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD). Some people are
vulnerable to this cyclic
experience of depression.
Symptoms reoccur each
year and may even increase
from one year to the next.
They seem to be associated
with the decrease in daylight hours and the colder
temperatures. Wanting to
“pull the covers over your
head and retreat from life”
might be your response to
feelings of fatigue and low
mood. Other symptoms
include:
• Irritability
• Looking for comfort food
and putting on weight
• Difficulty concentrating
• Loss of interest
• Occasional thoughts of
suicide
Flying to Florida is a valid
form of treatment, but your
pocketbook might demand
that you seek other solutions. Research indicates
that individuals with SAD
often respond to morning
and evening treatments
of exposure to bright
light. This can be done
by replacing your regular
fluorescent lights with full
spectrum tubes in areas
that you spend the larger
part of your day, or sitting
near a light box for a period
of time each morning and
night. Some research is
now suggesting that it is
the quantity of light rather
than the quality of light
that is important — that is
the brightness level is what
is important.
Additionally, you may
choose to visit with your
doctor and see if medication is an appropriate
answer to your needs. The
family of antidepressants
Flying to Florida is a valid form of treatment,
but your pocketbook might demand that
you seek other solutions. Research indicates
that individuals with SAD often respond to
morning and evening treatments of exposure
to bright light.
known as SSRI’s have demonstrated themselves to be
useful in resolving symptoms of this disorder. It
might be interesting to note
that while you are reacting
to winter, some individuals
develop SAD in the spring
and summer. Medication is
frequently the treatment of
choice in such cases.
In the process of maintaining mental well being
any time of the year, it is
good to remember the
three basics:
• Eat healthy
• Exercise regularly
• Get an appropriate
amount of sleep — six to
eight hours most nights
Thanks for your question
and best wishes for surviving Idaho’s stormy days.
Cathy Kotter, LCPC, is a
mental health counselor at
Creekside Counseling, 2375
E. Sunnyside, 529-5777.
Subscribe
online!
10 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
Gene can affect ability to lose weight, study says
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
pleasure center was much
lower in the obese women.
This research suggests
that obese women get less
reward from eating high
caloric foods and as a consequence are less satisfied.
Less satisfaction leads to a
particularly vicious cycle,
where less satisfaction
per bite means increased
consumption; this further
blunts the sensations of
the pleasure center, causing less enjoyment of food,
which leads to less satiety, more food intake and
weight gain.
In the same study,
researchers also showed
that overweight people
were more likely to have a
gene variant called Taq1A1,
which not only suppresses
the pleasure response but
also leads to reductions of
the hormone dopamine.
Lower levels of dopamine
can contribute to increased
hunger and a decreased
sense of reward from eating
well.
This information clearly
indicates that genetic and
metabolic differences contribute to obesity risk. This
sort of insight could one
day lead to highly effective
therapeutic strategies to
alter our metabolism and
responses to food intake,
which will hopefully make
maintaining a normal
weight or losing weight
easier.
As we learn more about
obesity, it is vitally important that we become
aware of the many different
causes and factors contributing to weight gain.
Clearly, the brain plays an
important role in maintaining weight. But at the same
time, for some overweight
people, weight loss is not
simply an issue of will or
strength. Correcting the
problem is extremely difficult and requires a clear
commitment to healthy
living as well as strong
external support.
If you have a friend or
loved one battling weight
gain, never demean, insult
or belittle his struggle.
Always be supportive,
nonjudgmental and
encouraging.
If you are overweight
stock photo
or obese, seek help from
an expert if possible and
recognize that it is never
healthy to “diet.” Instead,
you must adopt the “don’t
diet diet,” which is balanced, enjoyable and promotes health. Learning to
eat healthfully is not about
restriction, but rather a
process of learning to make
healthier choices.
Most importantly, exercise is the key to weight
control and longevity.
Recent studies have shown
that exercise boot camps
promote health and reduce
weight, as does walking, bicycling, swimming or other
activity that causes you to
sweat. Not only will you
look and feel better but you
will live longer and more
independently as well.
Dr. David Lipschitz is
the author of the book
“Breaking the Rules of
Aging.”
© 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
November 27, 2008 RIVER CITY WEEKLY l Idaho Falls Health 11
ENERGY EXPRESS
Let’s talk turkey! How to make this your change Thanksgiving
BY MARILYNN PRESTON
My tail feathers get all
twisted when I read that
the average American
gains 40 pounds between
Thanksgiving Day and New
Year’s Eve. OK, the statistic’s more like 7 pounds.
But even that’s depressing
— enough extra poundage
to make your jeans feel like
a blood pressure cuff or
plummet you once again
into the downward spiral of
dieting hell.
Take heart. It doesn’t
have to be that way. We
humans have choices.
Dogs, cats and children
pretty much have to eat
whatever’s piled in front of
them, but we grown-ups are
free to choose, free to make
small meaningful changes
in our life.
It’s not easy, but it’s
possible. It’s one of many
things you can be thankful
for this time of year. Yes,
you can.
Here are some things
you can do to make this
Thanksgiving a holiday of
transformation for you and
yours.
NEW RECIPES FOR A NEW DAY
I am speaking now to
the cooks out there. If
you’re not one, you should
be. Learning to assemble
simple, healthy, real food
meals is an essential
healthy lifestyle skill, right
up there with 10,000 steps
on your pedometer and a
steady tree pose.
The problem is when
Thanksgiving rolls around,
we often revert to old, bad,
comfort-zone habits. We
melt a stick or two of butter
into the already-brownsugared sweet potatoes because that’s the way Mom
used to do it. Or we lard
the stuffing with all kinds of
suspicious sausage meats
because that’s the way your
husband likes it, and you
don’t want to fight.
You can’t change and still
do things the same old,
same old. Be bold, starting
on Thanksgiving and going
forward.
Move past your old ways
of cooking that depend
on super-sized amounts
of butter, sugar and saturated fats. Discover broths,
purees, herbs, fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains
and nuts. Leave fried foods
behind.
Are you ready for this
change? If not, why not?
Here’s my promise: If you
cook with love and choose
tasty, fresh ingredients,
your family and friends will
not be disappointed in your
new, heart-healthy dishes. If
they are, keep a chocolatechip pecan pie handy.
You can’t change and still do things the same old, same old. Be bold,
starting on Thanksgiving and going forward. Move past your old ways
of cooking that depend on super-sized amounts of butter, sugar and
saturated fats. Discover broths, purees, herbs, fresh vegetables, fruits,
whole grains and nuts. Leave fried foods behind. Are you ready for this
change?
stock photo
BUILD REFLECTION AND
RECREATION INTO YOUR DAY
I don’t care how busy you
are on Thanksgiving Day —
or the day before or after
— this is the year you will
finally take 30 to 60 minutes
for yourself to take a walk,
to ride a bike, to do some
down dogs or push-ups,
to sit in a calm space and
focus inward.
Thanksgiving strength
through relaxation. It begins now. This is your time.
Exercise — physical and
mental — helps you stay
calm and centered, to deal
with challenging times and
difficult relationships, and
yes, to burn off the extra
calories.
Other Thanksgivings took
their toll, didn’t they? You
were so exhausted by the
time the company showed
up that joyful feeling just
never happened.
Thanksgiving can’t be all
about you — or you’d have
nothing to be thankful for
— but change requires new
behaviors. Open the door,
go for a walk, and come
back with a clear mind and
an energized body.
CREATE A RITUAL
Thanksgiving didn’t
start out as a holiday to
celebrate overeating and
football. When the Pilgrims
and the Native Americans
sat down together, they
were following their healthiest instincts, sharing a
meal as a way to develop
harmony and trust. If only
it had worked. But what
could be more timely? This
is the year you can create
a non-partisan, everyoneincluded ritual that inspires
your guests to express
simple gratitude. Begin by
establishing a stress-free
zone around your table. No
cell phones, no screaming,
no gossip and no fights.
Before the meal, call for
quiet, dim the lights,
light a candle, and pass it
around so everyone at your
table can say who or what
they’re thankful for. I know
it sounds corny and may
be awkward to initiate, but
who said change would be
easy?
MODERATION
Eat well, and taste all
your favorites, but keep
your portions small. Chew
slowly, and focus on the
flavors so you don’t keep
shoveling it in just because
you can. Before you take
seconds, reflect for seconds, and ask yourself if
you’re really hungry. Touch
your belly. Is it full? Touch
your heart. Is it full?
Marilynn Preston, a fitness
expert, personal trainer and
speaker on healthy lifestyle
issues, is the creator of
Energy Express, the longestrunning syndicated fitness
column in the country.
© 2008 ENERGY EXPRESS, LTD.,
DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS
SYNDICATE, INC.
12 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
The smoke stops here
CONTINUED from PAGE 1
Falls healthcare facilities
celebrated by kicking off
new policies requiring
people to refrain from using
tobacco products while on
facility premises.
Area providers who
formed the Smoke-Free
Healthcare Coalition
worked together to rid
facilities and campuses of
tobacco products, picking up tips from providers
who’ve tackled the issue
and encouraging others to
do likewise.
“Becoming tobacco-free
supports the mission of
all healthcare providers.
It promotes healthy lifestyles for our employees,
patients, residents and
visitors, and it sets the
right example,” said Jordan
Herget, coalition chair and
Eastern Idaho Regional
Medical Center COO.
The coalition announced
its plans for the smokeout
day five months in advance
so employees would have
time to overcome their
Jordan Herget, EIRMC
COO, is chairman of
the healthcare coalition
that instituted a smokefree environment at any
members’ establishments.
habits if they chose to
do so. Tobacco-cessation
classes and medical support were available for
those who sought it.
Coalition members hope
employees will choose to
use the new policies as an
opportunity to stop using
tobacco products, although
it isn’t required. However,
they now must refrain from
using them while at the
facilities or on the property.
Some employees chose
not to confront the addiction until after the policy
took effect, and some did
not receive the news well.
Good Samaritan employs
between 50 and 60 nurses,
and approximately 40
percent of the nursing
staff smokes, said Janell
Price with Good Samaritan
marketing.
“Some take it as an opportunity to quit, others
view it as a removal of a
right, but when we related
to them it’s for healthcare
reasons, they understood.
We are a healthcare facility, and it’s simply to promote the best healthcare
around,” she said.
For facilities like Gem
State Dialysis, the smokefree benefits are twofold.
Fewer employee smokers
should increase general
health and lower insurance premiums for those
engaged in good health
practices. And tobacco
EIRMC maintenance engineers remove the “butt hut” outside the hospital on Nov. 20 during
the Great American Smokeout
Photos by Kort Duce
Wanda Waggoner, a dialysis technician at Gem State
Dailysis, smoked for 25 years. “I quit to better my health,”
said Waggoner, who quit cold turkey six months ago.
elimination mimics the lifestyle patients should adopt,
facility manager Linda
Williams said.
“If any of our patients
want to try to get a transplant, the transplant people
always tell them they
have to quit smoking; if
they want to get a kidney
transplant, they can’t be a
smoker,” Williams said.
The coalition will continue to meet as a support group and hopes the
initiative will inspire other
businesses and entities to
adopt tobacco-free policies
too. Although other industries have banned smoking
indoors, “to go campuswide is a big deal,” Herget
said. “We hope we are setting a precedent.”
The Smoke-Free
Healthcare Coalition
includes the following
providers from Blackfoot
to Rexburg:
DaVita Dialysis
Eastern Idaho Regional
Medical Center (EIRMC)
Eastern Idaho Public
Health District
Gem State Dialysis
Idaho Falls Health and
Rehabilitation
Idaho Falls Good
Samaritan Society
Life Care Centers of
Idaho Falls
Madison Memorial
Hospital
Rexburg Nursing and
Rehabilitation
Bingham Memorial
Hospital
November 27, 2008 RIVER CITY WEEKLY l Idaho Falls Health 13
Star treatment
Before moving to Idaho Falls, Freeman worked in Los Angeles on stars and with surgeons-tothe-stars. Because of the “sacred trust” in his field of medicine, Freeman is hush-hush about
his clientele and said “privacy is the utmost importance in plastic surgery. If a patient can’t
depend on me to keep their privacy, they can’t really depend on me to do a good job.”
Photo by Kort Duce
CONTINUED from PAGE 1
needs, and Freeman said
he can address both breast
and tummy issues at once if
requested.
“A lot of these women
had a body that was a lot
different before they had
children. That’s something
I can give them back,” he
said.
And while Freeman’s
work must be precise
because results are visible,
he likes that every surgery
puts his abilities to the test.
“That’s what makes
plastic surgery interesting
to me. When you take out
someone’s appendix, you
either did it or you didn’t.
Plastic surgery is graded on
an infinite scale. Every day
is a different type of challenge,” he said.
Coming in December:
Dec. 4: Idaho Falls Home • Dec. 11: Idaho Falls InBusiness
Dec. 18: Idaho Falls Wheels • Dec. 25: Idaho Falls Health
TO ADVERTISE, CALL 552-7710
14 Idaho Falls Health l RIVER CITY WEEKLY November 27, 2008
WELLNEWS
BY SCOTT LAFEE
Everybody lives with
stress. And everybody
deals with it differently.
That appears to be
broadly true for age
groups, too. A University of
Southern California study
says stressed older adults
alter their behavior more
than younger adults under
stress, particularly in situations involving risk.
Mara Mather of
USC’s Davis School of
Gerontology and colleagues
exposed two groups of volunteers (ages 18 to 33 and
ages 65 to 89) to a stressful event: holding a hand
in ice-cold water for three
minutes.
Participants were then
asked to play a driving
game in which they were
confronted with the choice
of running a yellow traffic
light. Points were awarded
for every second spent
driving during a yellow,
but points were lost if
the light turned red while
driving. The length of the
yellow light was randomly
determined.
Mather said that in
control groups (people not
exposed to the ice water
portion of the experiment),
the older participants
performed the driving test
better than the younger
adults.
But among the stressed
groups, older adults were
not just more cautious drivers, showing greater reluctance to take a risk with the
yellow light, but they were
also more erratic, braking
and restarting almost three
times as much as their
younger, calmer peers.
stock photo
Beer taps wine’s health
benefit
Lately, there’s been a lot
of news about resveratrol,
a chemical in red wines
and grapes that appears to
significantly reduce cancer
and heart disease. Or at
least it does in inebriated
lab animals.
Beer, alas, can make
no such claims. When it
comes to resveratrol, suds
are duds. But maybe not
for much longer. A team of
undergraduate students at
Rice University has produced a beer that’s rife with
resveratrol; they created a
genetically modified strain
of yeast that ferments beer
and makes resveratrol at
the same time.
The students (most of
whom aren’t old enough
to legally drink their
concoction) will enter
their brew in next month’s
International Genetically
Engineered Machine. The
event is synthetic biology’s
biggest competition, drawing dozens of teams from
around the world who have
used standard DNA building blocks to create living
organisms that do odd
things.
People’s common scents
You may be what you eat,
but not how you smell.
Scientists at the Monell
Chemical Senses Center in
Philadelphia say new research suggests a person’s
underlying odor — our
distinct individual aroma
— remains intact and
detectable even with major
changes in diet.
The findings using this
animal model support
the proposition that body
odors provide a consistent
“odorprint” analogous to a
fingerprint or DNA sample,
said Gary Beauchamp, a
Monell behavioral biologist.
Mammals from mice
to humans are known to
produce unique genetically
determined body odors,
which are thought to help
distinguish individuals from
one another. Some foods,
such as garlic, can influence body odor if eaten in
large amounts.
But in behavioral tests
at Monell, special “sensor”
mice were trained to use
their sense of smell to seek
a certain ìodortypeî among
other mice, who represented different genetic
types and diets. Invariably,
the sensor mice sniffed out
their targets.
“If this can be shown to
be the case for humans,”
said Jae Kwak, one of the
study authors, “it opens
the possibility that devices
can be developed to detect
individual odorprints in
humans.”
Similar approaches are
being used to investigate
body-odor differences associated with disease, with
an eye, uh, nose toward
developing early detection
electronic sensors.
Memory loss
If you find yourself
increasingly forgetful or
struggling to maintain
concentration, there’s good
and bad news.
The good news: It may
not be the first sign of dementia. The bad news: Your
brain may be shrinking.
In a Dutch study of 500
people ages 50 to 85 with
no dementia, researchers
found that 453 participants
reported occasional memory or thinking problems,
minor issues like struggling
to find the right word or
forgetting things that happened within the last day
or two.
Researchers scanned
participants’ brains,
focusing on the hippocampus, an area of the brain
strongly linked to memory
formation and among the
first brain regions to be
damaged by Alzheimer’s
disease. They found that
in people with occasional
memory problems, the hippocampus was smaller (6.7
milliliters in volume) than
in people who said they
had no memory problems
(7.1 milliliters).
“These occasional, subjective memory complaints
could be the earliest sign
of problems with memory
and thinking skills, and we
were able to discover that
these subjective memory
complaints were linked to
smaller brain volumes,”
said Dr. Frank-Erik de
Leeuw, a neurologist and
clinical epidemiologist
at Radboud University
Nijmegen Medical Center in
the Netherlands.
“Because occasional
memory lapses were so
common, though, much
more work needs to be
done to use such complaints diagnostically.”
Break the fast, not the
scale
The old adage about
breakfast being the most
important meal of the
day has long been backed
up by apparent scientific
fact. Breakfast eaters, for
example, tend to be leaner
than folks who skip the first
meal of the day.
But you may want to
digest some new data. A
study out of Queens College
in New York City shows
breakfast eaters average
fewer calories consumed
per day than those who
skip breakfast, and women
who eat breakfast have a
lower average body mass
index (BMI) than women
who don’t eat breakfast.
But folks who eat really
big breakfasts also tended
to consume an abundance
of calories and fat during
the day, more than they
needed, according to the
study, which surveyed
12,300 people. And there
was no difference in BMI
among men who did or did
not eat breakfast.
The take-away message,
say researchers (who,
incidentally, received funding from The Breakfast
Research Institute, an
industry group), is to eat
breakfast, but make it modest and make it healthy.
In other words, a doughnut with coffee doesn’t
count.
Speaking in tongues
There’s a certain irony
that one of the major factors in most speech impediments — the tongue —
can’t really speak for itself,
until now.
French researchers have
tested a dental device that,
when placed in the mouth,
records the minute details
of tongue movement during
speech, giving therapists a
much better idea of what
might be causing speech
problems.
The denturelike device
contains pressure sensors that signal every time
the tongue touches them.
There’s just one problem:
The device can be used
only in the mouths of
people who are toothless.
But scientists at
the Institut de la
Communication Parle in
Grenoble, France, are busy
developing products that
can be attached like braces
or retainers to teeth.
© Creators News Service