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Health & Fitness Wednesday, August 21, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
County
Vaccination — taking a
offers free purposeful approach
diabetes
prevention
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
Deschutes County Health
Services has announced
upcoming dates for the
Prevent Diabetes Central
Oregon program. This year-
long lifestyle change program
can prevent adults at risk from
developing Type 2 diabetes.
Free information ses-
sions will be offered in Bend,
Wednesday, September 18, 1
to 2 p.m., Mike Maier Services
Building, 1130 NW Harriman;
and in Redmond Thursday,
September 19, 1 to 2 p.m.,
Redmond Senior Center, 325
NW Dogwood.
The program is for adults
with prediabetes 4 a condi-
tion marked by higher-than-
normal blood glucose (sugar)
levels 4 who are 5 to 15 times
more likely to develop Type 2
diabetes than those with nor-
mal blood glucose levels. In
fact, many people with predia-
betes will develop Type 2 dia-
betes within three years if they
do not take steps to prevent it.
It is estimated that one in three
American adults has prediabe-
tes. People can find out if they
may be at risk for diabetes
by taking the risk test below,
or talking to their health care
provider: https://www.cdc.
gov/prediabetes/takethetest/
Guided by a trained life-
style coach, participants will
learn the skills they need to
make lasting changes such
as losing a modest amount
of weight, being more physi-
cally active and managing
stress. Groups meet once a
week for 16 weeks, then one
to two times each month for
the remainder of the year. The
program provides a supportive
environment with people who
are facing similar challenges
and trying to make the same
changes. Together, partici-
pants celebrate their successes
and find ways to overcome
obstacles.
Prevent Diabetes Central
Oregon is a recognized pro-
gram of the National Diabetes
Prevention Program, led
by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC). Deschutes County
Health Services was awarded
funding from the Central
Oregon Health Council to
coordinate Prevent Diabetes in
Central Oregon with multiple
partners.
For questions about classes
in Bend or Redmond, con-
tact Sarah Worthington at
541-322-7466. To learn more
about diabetes prevention,
visit www.deschutes.org/
preventdiabetes or www.cdc.
gov/diabetes/prevention.
Vaccination has removed
terrible scourges from human
ken. Smallpox was, for most
of human history, a deadly
killer. Vaccination has elimi-
nated the threat. Parents used
to dread the advent of sum-
mer, when polio seemed to
lurk in the hot air, poised to
strike down young people
with paralysis that could blight
their lives forever. Vaccination
lifted that pall.
Today there are vaccina-
tions against all kinds of child-
hood diseases, sexually trans-
mitted diseases, and against
seasonal afflictions like the flu.
The ubiquity of vaccines
for all kinds of diseases has
created some cultural back-
lash. While there are ardent
<anti-vaxxers,= most of the
concern raised about vacci-
nation is not extreme 4 but
people do have questions.
<I wouldn9t say I have
anybody who flat-out refuses
vaccination,= Dr. Eden Miller
of High Lakes Health Care in
Sisters told The Nugget.
Dr. Miller advocates a
measured and individual-
ized approach to vaccina-
tions 4 and to the illnesses
they are intended to prevent.
Families should act upon their
needs and requirements and
upon solid, evidence-based
information.
<Vaccination should ben-
efit the herd, but still be indi-
vidualized,= she said. <We
should not be fearful of ill-
ness or fearful of vaccina-
tion. There9s somewhere in
between& We still have to
have room for freedom.=
Some people worry about
side-effects of vaccina-
tions. The concern that has
received the most attention is
a claim that vaccines cause
autism 4 a claim that has
been thoroughly and repeat-
edly debunked. Most people9s
concerns are less dire than that
4 and they9re not entirely
unfounded. Some people can
have a negative reaction to a
vaccine and feel pretty cruddy.
But serious side-effects are
very rare, and pale in com-
parison to the serious health
risks of contracting measles
or pertussis or other childhood
diseases.
For some people, it9s not
the vaccines themselves so
much as the intensity of the
amounts and varieties recom-
mended for kids that raise con-
cerns. The Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) recommends
getting 29 doses of nine vac-
cines (plus a yearly flu shot
after six months old) for kids
aged 0 to 6.
Dr. Miller, again, recom-
mends an individualized
approach based on what works
for a family. She notes that
early, extensive vaccination is
a widespread protocol because
in many environments doc-
tors simply don9t know when
they9ll see a patient again 4
when they9ll have another
opportunity to vaccinate.
In a community environ-
ment where patients and fami-
lies can develop a relationship
and a history with their doctor,
it may make sense to hold off
on some vaccinations.
For example, if a new-
born isn9t going to be out
in the world and potentially
exposed, that family may be
perfectly justified in spacing
out their vaccination regimen.
Problems arise when people
want to have things both ways:
An ancient skill lives on...
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Central Oregon Textiles offered a spinning wheel demonstration at
the Sisters Farmers Market last Sunday. Spinning was once a key
skill for any household, where cloth and clothing were hand made
— and it lives on today among fiber arts enthusiasts. The Sisters
Farmers Market continues on Sunday afternoons through September.
Holistic Mental Health Solutions
Medication Management
Counseling • Functional Medicine
Now Accepting
Insurance
541-595-8337 • www.shesoarspsych.com
102 E. Main Ave., Downtown Sisters
Dr. Thomas R. Rheuben
General, Cosmetic, Implant
and Family Dentistry
~ Your Dentist in Sisters Since 1993 ~
We are here to help you smile with confi dence!
541-549-0109
|
304 W. Adams Ave.
See VACCINATION on page 19
|
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