Did you know that most people who have a sudden cardiac arrest don't survive? Sad, but true; because only four to six minutes is the window of opportunity for someone to act before it is too late. Yet less than one-third of all sudden cardiac arrest victims get CPR from someone nearby.

The American Heart Association wants more people to take action and help cardiac arrest victims by learning about Hands-Only CPR, playing "Be the Beat" to learn the correct rate of CPR compressions, or recording your CPR & AED training or the training you gave someone else.

Lake Health offers Infant CPR classes.  Visit http://www.lakehealth.org/classes-and-programs to sign up for a class. 

For more information about CPR, also called cardiopulmonary resuscitation, visit the Medline Plus CPR health topic.  You can learn basic overview, read the latest news, view videos, keep up with the latest clinical trials and research, and more.

Help make your community safer!

Source:  http://www.cprweek.org/Default.aspx

For more information, please contact a Lake Health Professional Librarian.

Developing Energy Pathways 

As we already know, energy pathways develop in different ways with some overlapping between them. Time and intensity are two key words in this discussion, which define the energy pathways in utilization. The charts below will give you examples on how to increase your upper and lower body explosive power by efficient utilization of this energy pathway.  Let’s talk about the football position called the running back.  Running backs are generally the fastest players on the offensive team. Their position requires them to sprint at a high intensity for a very short period of time.  For a running back to get better they must challenge their Anaerobic Adenosine Triphosphate – Creatine Phoshate (ATP-CP) Energy System and Anaerobic Lactate (Glycolytic) System. 

Process of ATP-CP energy system:

-         ATP can be stored in the muscle for 2 seconds

-         After the 2 seconds is used up, re-building of ATP from CP will last until CP stores are empty (4-6 seconds)

-         There is approximately 5-10 seconds of ATP production

-         For the body to continue using the ATP-CP energy system, there must be an adequate recovery time for CP stores to return to normal.  The longer the recovery time the greater the peak power output recovery (PPO).  Recovery time range is 15 seconds to 3 minutes.

One of the goals in a strength and conditioning program is to introduce and develop training methods that will improve the body’s ability to utilize all energy pathways.  A thorough training program with variation allows the body to become accustomed to the various energy sources.  The next blog entry will discuss the Anaerobic Lactate (Glycolytic) Energy System.

Now that school is out for summer you may be looking for some summer fun and safety tips for you family.  Some helpful links and information are listed below.  Have a happy and healthy summer!

Insect Bites and Stings

Most insect bites are harmless, though they feel unpleasant. Bee, wasp, and hornet stings and fire ant bites usually hurt. Mosquito, flea and mite bites usually itch. Insects can also transmit diseases, such as yellow fever and malaria. These diseases mainly are a risk for travelers outside the United States.

To prevent insect bites and their complications

• Don't bother insects
• Use insect repellant
• Wear protective clothing
• Be careful when you eat outside because food attracts insects
• If you know you have severe allergic reactions to insect bites, carry an emergency epinephrine kit
• Beware of Bug Bites and Stings(Food and Drug Administration)
• Bug Bites and Stings(Nemours Foundation)  Also available in Spanish
• Insect Bites and Stings: First Aid(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Updated Information Regarding Insect Repellents(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Heat Illness or Sunstroke

Your body normally cools itself by sweating. During hot weather, especially with high humidity, sweating just isn't enough. Your body temperature can rise to dangerous levels and you can develop a heat illness. Most heat illnesses occur from staying out in the heat too long. Exercising too much for your age and physical condition are also factors. Older adults, young children and those who are sick or overweight are most at risk. Drinking fluids, replenishing salt and minerals and limiting time in the heat can help.

Heat-related illnesses include

• Heatstroke - a life-threatening illness in which body temperature may rise above 106° F in minutes; symptoms include dry skin, rapid, strong pulse and dizziness
• Heat exhaustion - an illness that can precede heatstroke; symptoms include heavy sweating, rapid breathing and a fast, weak pulse
• Heat cramps - muscle pains or spasms that happen during heavy exercise
• Heat rash - skin irritation from excessive sweating
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Extreme Heat(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)   Also available in Spanish
  • Hyperthermia: Too Hot for Your Health (National Institute on Aging) Also available in Spanish

First Aid

Accidents happen. Someone chokes on an ice cube or gets stung by a bee. It is important to know when to call 9-1-1 -- it is for life-threatening emergencies. While waiting for help to arrive, you may be able to save someone's life. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is for people whose hearts or breathing has stopped and the Heimlich maneuver is for people who are choking. CPR should only be done if you have had the training.

You can also learn to handle common injuries and wounds. Cuts and scrapes, for example, should be rinsed with cool water. To stop bleeding, apply firm but gentle pressure, using gauze. If blood soaks through, add more gauze, keeping the first layer in place. Continue to apply pressure.

It is important to have a first aid kit available. Keep one at home and one in your car. It should include a first-aid guide. Read the guide to learn how to use the items, so you are ready in case an emergency happens. 

• First Aid and Safety(Nemours Foundation)
• What to Do in an Emergency(American College of Emergency Physicians)
• Home First Aid Kits(American College of Emergency Physicians)
• Traveler's First Aid Kit(American College of Emergency Physicians) - PDF
• When Should I Go to the Emergency Department?(American College of Emergency Physicians)   Also available in Spanish
• Teaching Your Child How to Use 911(Nemours Foundation)

Sun Exposure and Skin Cancer

Miscellaneous Links

• Summer Safety Tips.  American Academy of Pediatrics.  http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/summertips.cfm
• Summer Water Safety Guide.  American Red Cross.  http://american.redcross.org/site/DocServer/watersafety0609.pdf?docID=735
• Five Steps to Choosing Summer Child Care.  National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.   http://www.childcareaware.org/docs/pubs/107e.pdf
• Children and Summer Camp.  American Psychiatric Association.  http://www.healthyminds.org/More-Info-For/Children/Children-and-Summer-Camp.aspx
• Safe Kids USA.  http://www.safekids.org/
• Going Barefoot?  Beware!  American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.  http://www.foothealthfacts.org/Content.aspx?id=1430&terms=Tips
• Keeping Literacy Alive Over the Summer.  National Center for Learning Disabilities.  http://www.ncld.org/in-the-home/supporting-learning-at-home/study-aamp-organizational-skills/keeping-literacy-alive-over-the-summer
• Fireworks and Summer Fire Safety.  Public-Private Fire Safety Council. http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/fireworks.shtm
• 7 Simple Steps to keep your Food – And Family – Safe in Every Season.  MedlinePlus.  National Institutes of Health.  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/summer08/articles/summer08pg28.html

For more information, please contact a Lake Health Professional Librarian.

What if you could cloak yourself in a defensive shield that warded off disease and extended your life? Would you do it? Would you take a pill that could do it for you? Many of us are already trying to, by swallowing tablets of antioxidants and resveratrol, swigging acai and pomegranate juice and downing loads of vitamins of uncertain benefit. But a growing body of research suggests that the solution may be as seamless and elegant as nature itself. It’s possible that we can activate just such a defensive shield this very moment…simply by eating less. 

As readers of this blog know, I am especially interested in the role of food choice in life extension. I am also deeply convinced that the hormone insulin is the central “superhormone” which mediates fat storage, obesity, inflammation and longevity. Whenever you read any research about overweight and its related conditions, you will find the fingerprints of insulin all over it. I also believe that a broken or poorly functioning insulin system is the reason that the vast majority of us develop modern disease. We don’t need to have diabetes or even elevated blood sugar to have a struggling insulin system. Defects in insulin signaling can be going on for years before we can detect them. This doesn’t mean that our bodies are not suffering.

Now, in a paper that is due to be published in Nature, “Hungry Immune Guardians Are Snappier: Nutrition Has a Direct Influence on the Immune System,” German scientists have shown that we have a second defensive system which acts independently of our classic immune system.  When we go without food for awhile, this system switches on. Surprise, surprise…. the hormone which is responsible for flipping the switch is insulin. Once the system is activated, cells produce proteins which are capable of destroying harmful microbes and defending us against invasion from the outside. According to the the study director, “This happens every minute every day. What is fascinating about this is that a function of the immune system directly depends on how much and what we eat.” In other words, slightly stress your cells by making them hungry and your shields will go up.

This, and other research studies, provides a great deal of non-caloric food for thought. We know that obesity and the diseases it spawns lead to increased inflammation in the body and can result in reduced life span. We also know that uncontrolled inflammation is bad. Might it be that the habit of affluent societies to eat continually results in a chronically lowered defense system?  If more invaders are able to penetrate our outer barrier, we would likely respond with aggressive inner defenses, in other words: inflammation! 

One of the strategies for weight maintenance that I suggest in my book and that I continue to suggest to patients is that we spend parts of each day in the non-eating state. This allows insulin levels to fall. We now know that these lower levels can active the FOXO transcription factor; the messaging system which turns on defense genes. 

So put up those shields and rethink that grazing habit.  As those of us who are maintaining weight know, the body does best on small amounts of highly nutritious foods. Our miraculous physical plant is finely tuned and we may be best off if we stop trying to second guess it with pills, potions and manipulations.  More and more, we are coming to know that a return to simple basics and realignment with our genetic priorities is the only way to put nature to work for us.

Home Safety Month is a perfect time to prepare yourself and your family for an emergency. Planning ahead can keep you and your family safe if a flood, fire, flu pandemic, terrorist attack, or other public health emergency strikes.

Take these steps to prepare for an emergency:

• Do a walk-through of your home. Check your smoke alarms, child safety locks, and first aid supplies.
• Get an emergency supply kit.
• Make a family emergency plan.

Stay informed
Personal Health Tools

• Emergency Supply Checklist (PDF - 325KB)
• First Aid Checklist

Quick Guide to Healthy Living

• Prepare for an Emergency
• Protect Your Child from Injury
• Protect Your Family from Lead Poisoning

Household Products Database
This database links over 9,000 consumer brands to health effects from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provided by manufacturers and allows scientists and consumers to research products based on chemical ingredients. The Household Products Database of the National Library of Medicine is based on the Consumer Product Information Database ©2001-2009 by DeLima Associates. All rights reserved. The database is designed to help answer the following typical questions:

• What are the chemical ingredients and their percentage in specific brands?
• Which products contain specific chemical ingredients?
• Who manufactures a specific brand? How do I contact this manufacturer?
• What are the acute and chronic effects of chemical ingredients in a specific brand?
• What other information is available about chemicals in the toxicology-related databases of the National Library of Medicine?

Resources

• Home Safety Checklist American College of Emergency Physicians - PDF  
• Home Safety Council and their Home Safety Month Toolkit
• Home Safety Tips National Institute on Aging.  Video with some tips to make your home safer.  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Gardening Health and Safety Tips
• Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging, Emergency Preparedness and Response
• National Institutes of Health, Senior Health, Taking Medicines Safely
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Safety for Older Consumers Home Safety Checklist (PDF - 75KB)
• U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fire Safety
• U.S. Fire Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Get Out Safely: A Factsheet on Fire Escape Planning

 Source: Healthfinder.gov

 For more information, please contact a Lake Health Professional Librarian

Table adapted from Fox E. L. et al, The Physiological Basis for Exercise and Sport, 1993

ATP- (Adenosine triphosphate) is the energy molecule of all living cells. Humans get energy from food; this energy must be converted to ATP before it can be used by the cells to carry out all necessary functions.  ATP is stored in the muscles and blood.

CP- (Creatine Phosphate): a chemical compound stored in muscle, which when broken down helps in the production of ATP. ADP and CP together produce ATP.

Muscle glycogen- is the main fuel during heavy and prolonged exercise and is only available in the muscle that stores it. Fatigue is linked with muscle glycogen depletion, even when fatty acids are available for fuel.

Lactic acid- provides fuels for many tissues in the body.  Lactic acid is formed during the breakdown of glucose to be used as energy when oxygen is low. The lactic acid system provides energy for high intensity activities lasting up to two or three minutes.

Fatty acids- are a major source of energy production at any time, except after a carbohydrate enriched meal, and they are the main nutrient utilized from fat stores in extended exercise (activity longer than 4 min).

When an athlete designs their strength and conditioning program it is necessary for the program to focus on development of their energy systems and sport specific skills.  Why is this important?  The development of your energy systems will have your muscles, nervous system, and hormones acting together in order to help your body work as efficiently as possible. When you learn a new skill the central nervous system will store the learned motor pattern for the future.  Each time you perform an exercise or a skill, the neuromuscular system continues to develop and build upon the previous experience. Frequent practice of sport specific exercises will create more neuro pathways which are essential for an athlete’s progression.  George Liset says in the article on sensory motor learning that “as an athlete begins to refine a skill, the information is fed back and forth between the brain and the senses until a successful and coordinated pattern of action is formed. This development may be accelerated by stimulation and may be slowed by injury or lack of stimulation. There is an orderly progression in the development of these abilities. Unnecessary and counterproductive muscular movement in the body is detected and weeded out. The movement gradually becomes more refined and efficient over time. Information is exchanged.”

All living things are the same.  Life is complex, achingly beautiful, and enduringly mysterious. Sometimes it's hard not to be amazed by its toughness.  Life goes on, stubbornly, even after disasters occur. 

 But life, while incredibly durable in recovery,  is fragile while it exists.  That is because the conditions for life are so specific.  All organisms have optimal environments and internal balances which cannot be breached without disaster.  In the bloodstream of humans, a minor decrease or increase in potassium levels can be fatal, as can blood which becomes too acidic or alkaline.  Life is a walk on a tightrope with the balancing pole handled by a master wire-walker.  Life's corrective mechanisms, however, are meant to work within a narrow range of challenge.  A hurricane will blow even Phillipe Petit off the high wire. 

 All life is the same.  Oceans.  Animals.  Humans.  It is our failure to understand this, our hubris about our superiority as a species that has gotten us into what is rapidly becoming fatal trouble.  As I listen to the increasingly depressing news coming from the Gulf of Mexico, I am continually reminded of the parallels to be found in our own personal pollution.

 The rapid development of technology in the 20th century has led us to a dark place.  We have come to believe that we can control nature, even create it.  We have come to rely on technology as a way to repair the damage we have done to ourselves and our planet.  The fragility of life is unimportant.  We can do what we please, consume what we please, and fix it all later.  The message of the Gulf should be one we take personally.  Just as the Gulf is dying, so are we.

 In the Gulf, BP extended the reach of its technology beyond its powers.  In order to produce the oil we gulp like thirsty infants, pipes have been placed into the very heart of our tender earth.  Did we ever think about the fact that we had no equipment to address a problem at that depth?  Did we ever consider the extent of the disaster that would occur if things went wrong?  No. When consumption and gluttony are primary, questions of stewardship become secondary.  

 Now we find, to our horror, that life can be easily extinguished by our errors.  Because of our supposed scientific prowess, we always felt we could stem the tide, mop up the mess.  As of this morning, a machine that looked like a pair of ragged lobster claws was trying to hack away at BP's spewing oil pipe.  This resembled nothing so much as an attempt to stop a ruptured aorta with a pair of pliers.

 So too is it with us.   Because all life is the same, we are the Gulf of Mexico: a gorgeous, fragile ecosystem that should be preserved at all costs.  Instead, we have allowed endless pollutants in the form of manufactured foods, additives, pesticides, carbon monoxide, sugar loads, preservatives, ad infinitum, into our inner marshes.  We gasp when a blood test shows that we have diabetes, when a CAT scan reveals a cancer.  We turn to technology to fix us:  pills, stents, injections, surgeries...only to find that these are roughshod solutions, about as precise and effective as the aforementioned pliers. 

 Like the people of coastal Louisiana, we should be angry that we have trusted those who told us that all this was safe.  When we stop connecting with who we are, with what our planet is; when we focus more on what feels good for the moment, we become vulnerable to the talk of people who want to sell us the things we crave.

For the past 20 years, my extended family has visited the Bahamas and has enjoyed its pristine beauty.  It is a place that is dear to our hearts.  The photo above was taken in January.  What will this beach look like next year at the same time?   I found myself having the very same thought as I stood behind a mother and her daughter in Starbucks this morning.  The mother was very overweight, fairly bursting out of her jeans, and having some difficulty walking.  Her daughter was about 16, a bit too heavy and very pretty. Her mother offered her a large chocolate frappacino with extra syrup and encouraged her to add whipped cream.  The barista happily made it up.  Starbucks contentedly collected the six bucks.  It was 7 am.  

All living things are the same.  

Strength and conditioning principles, along with the terminology, can be really confusing.  For example, what is the difference between functional exercise and sport-specific exercise?  Sounds like the same thing, right?  Well, in certain aspects they are similar and in other aspects they are not. 

Functional exercise is connected to both everyday physical activity and sport specific exercise.  Examples of functional exercises, like everyday physical activity, are reaching in a cupboard or walking up and down a flight of stairs.  To get better at these daily movements, functional strength training is a must.  Functional equipment can include dumbbells, resistance bands, exercise balls, and medicine balls.   

The focus of sport-specific exercise is on the conditioning, strengthening, and skill component for the particular sport.  Remember that functional and sport-specific exercises do have the same purpose which is to restore balance, strengthen, lengthen, improve the neuromuscular relationship, and coordinate movement patterns specific to the particular sport, household, or recreational activities.   With that said, an athlete must plan a training program with the thought of how to meet the needs of their specific sport and this is where the SAID principle comes into the picture. 

 The SAID principle stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.  In other words, the SAID principle describes how various exercises or training programs, targeted for a specific activity, can generate changes only in the muscles, soft-tissues, and energy systems stressed by the activity.  (The body has two main energy systems: aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.)  Remember, energy is needed for growth, repairs, and everyday physical activities.  The intensity and duration of the activity will change the amount of energy required for the body’s performance.

 Continuation of article next week.

When you have questions about your health, where do you turn?  Your health care professionals, your physicians, nurses and therapists should be your first choice.  But have you or a family member turned to the Internet?  There is a lot of good information on the Internet, but there is also much information which erroneous, outdated, designed to sell products or services, or just someone’s personal opinion.  Now there is another option to find accurate, reliable, current health information. 

 The Patient and Community Resource Center, located in the Carol DeJoy Lake Health Resource Center, is available for all Lake Health patients, family members and our community residents.  It is located on the 1^st floor, Suite 113 in the Physician Pavilion adjacent to TriPoint Medical Center. 

 The staff of the Lake Health Resource Center are professionally trained, with many years of reference experience.  The Resource Center Team will:

• Find answers to your health care questions
• Provide you with a current overview of a disease or health concern
• Assist you in conducting your won health care research
• Guide you in selecting authoritative resources
• Advise you on identifying good information on the Internet

Come visit the Patient and Community Resource Center.  You may browse or borrow books, health newsletters, and DVDs.  You may access our health information databases which are not available on the Internet.

 If you have a friend or loved one who is a patient in the TriPoint Medical Center, the Patient and Community Resource Center provides a quiet, change of scenery, a place to read the newspaper, computers to check your email or catch up on business, research health information, or simply relax.

 Lake Health wants you to be an informed partner in your own care, working with your health care professionals.  Good health information is vital for making good health care decisions.  The Patient and Community Resource Center at TriPoint Medical Center is ready to partner with you. 

 Do you know of a community group who would like to learn more about the Patient and Community Resource Center, and about how they can be an informed partner in their health care?  The Lake Health Resource Center librarians will give a presentation about their services, resources and finding good health information.  Contact information is given below.

 To visit the Carol DeJoy Lake Health Resource Center please call to check on staff availability.  Email and voicemail are available 24/7.

Carol DeJoy Lake Health Resource Center
Phone:  440-639-4387 or ext.42019
Email:   library@lakehealth.org

Holly S. Kimborowicz, MLS, AHIP                                          Cathy Murch, MLIS, AHIP
Health Science Librarian                                                            Systems Librarian