P age Ab
F ebruary
COPING
D r . C harles YV. F ai
lexer
Stress: The best way to get rid
of stress quickly is to sit dow n in a
comfortable chair (or lie down). Take
a slow, full breath of air. When you
have filled your lungs, hold your
breath and count to five. Then, ex
hale slowly . Repeat this five times in
succession. Do the entire procedure
every half-hour and w atch stress dis
appear.
Hypnosis: Hypnosis is not mag
ic or mysticism. It is science. Hypno
sis is a wonderful way of quickly
changing bad habits into good ones.
By definition, it is a temporary state
of selective concentration in which
you block everything out o f your
mind and concentrate on only one
thing. It is not sleep but is similar to
daydreaming. The subconscious is
open to powerful suggestions.
Dating: Want a successful date?
Then, try to be friends, don't look for
romance, be courteous and respect
the other person's feelings, don't ar
gue or intimidate, ask easy ques
tions, compliment the person, show
interest. Ifthe date fails, don't take it
personally. Try , try , try again.
Sex: What sex acts are accept
able? Anything between a consent
ing male and female (with proper
protection) is acceptable.
Racism: How can I deal with a
racist? Tell him that his behavior
indicates that he is immature and
inferior, instead of mature and supe
rior. If the racist behavior persists (in
public) return it in kind, (on the job )
report it to the Urban League
NAACP. Rainbow Coalition, or sim
ilar organizations.
Spanking: Is spanking a good
form o f discipline? NO. Spanking is
child abuse and means that the parent
lacks knowledge of psychology. It
could result in permanent physical
disability for the child and may mean
that the parent needs long-term per
sonal counseling.
C rack: Crack is the worse o f
the drugs because it addicts you
quickly (before you realize that
is has control o f your life). Also,
crack offers a destructive means
o f m aking a living for thousands
o f young people. It hooks your
mind and blocks your develop
ment as a person.
Job Loss: What should you do
if you lose your job? Guard against
depression by seeing it as an oppor
tunity to try something new. Main
tain a regular schedule of activities.
Don't oversleep or overeat. If you
don't know how to find a job, consult
an experienced job counselor. Ifyou
can't handle it emotionally, consult a
psychology. Your city services offer
this free o f cost to you.
Cholesterol Registry Works to Save Lives
(NU) - Do high cholesterol and
early heart attacks run in your fam
ily ’ If they do. MED-PED, a new
screening and registry program,
could save your life.
Doctors say people with a ge
netic disorder that causes high cho
lesterol, or familial hypercholes
terolemia (FH), are "walking time
bombs." The condition causes dan
gerously high cholesterol levels that
can lead to premature heart disease
and sudden, fatal heart attacks.
Dr. Roger R Williams, professor
of medicine and
founder/director
of the Cardiovas
cular Genetics
Research Clinic
at the University
of Utah School
of
Medicine,
says one in every
500 Americans
has FH.
When
un
News USA
treated, the dis Roger Williams
order typically
causes heart attacks in men between
the ages of 40 and 55 and in women
between the ages of 50 and 65.
FH causes the arteries to clog
with a fatty substance known as
plaque Because FH typically does
not cause symptoms until the arter
ies are blocked, most people don't
know they're affected, even though
a parent or other close relative w ith
the condition died at a young age.
MED-PED attempts to locate the
thousands of Americans affected
with the genetic disorder. People
who register w ith the program and
their physicians receive education
al materials on reducing their risk
for early heart attacks and strokes.
The program also offers a refer
ral service to regional lipid clinics
and a telephone service that physi
cians and registered FH patients can
use to inquire about the program.
The program operates through
out the United States and 14 other
countries.
Take Care
Research shows that intensive
diet and drug therapy can normal
ize high cholesterol levels in FH pa
tients and even stop the progression
of artery elogging.
Doctors suggest FH patients eat
a low-fat. low - cholesterol diet. They
also suggest increasing consumption
of complex carbohydrates.
In addition, experts say smok
ing makes the risk of heart attack in
FH patients even higher. Studies
show that FH victims who smoke
may have their first heart attack in
their 20s. On average, half of the
parents, brothers, sisters and chil
dren of a person with FH w ill also
have the disease. And uncles, nieces,
nephews and first cousins are also at
high risk.
A cholesterol test will show
w hether y ou hav e the disorder. If the
test is normal, there's no need to wor
ry that FH will develop later in life.
A person with FH has a 50
percent chance of passing the
abnormal gene to his/her
children, and a 50 percent chance
of passing on the normal gene.
If your untreated cholesterol lev
el is more than 360 mg/dl and your
untreated triglyceride level is nor
mal (below 250 mg/dl), you are eli
gible for free help and should call
MED-PED at 1-800-814-6450. Or
send sour name and address to
MED-PED FH, 410 Chipeta Way,
Room 161, Salt Lake City, UT
84108.
MED-PED was developed and is
overseen by a council of noted lipid
experts from across the country.
By Larry Lucas
exercise can help reduce these risk
factors. Your doctor may prescribe
Since knowledge is power, the
medicines to help reduce your
more you know about health the
blood pressure or cholesterol level,
more power you'll have to keep
if necessary. Studies have shown
yourself healthy.
that litestyle changes and medica
For this reason, the pharmaceu
tions together are often more effec
tical research industry is producing
tive in reducing these risk factors
and distributing booklets on such
than one or the other alone.
important diseases as heart attacks,
Just as knowledge can be a
breast cancer and stroke. The first
pow'er to help you avoid a heart
booklet, "What You Need To Know
attack, it can also help you detect
About Heart Attacks," is available
one and, most important, survive
with 24-hour emergency cardiac
now. You may obtain a copy by
one.
care. Call the local emergency
calling 1-800-862-4110.
The sooner a person receives
number or ambulance service or
Heart attack is the leading cause
medical treatment, the greater the
have someone drive you.
of death tor both men and women
chances of surviving a heart attack
• Chew one aspirin tablet imme
in the U.S. Every year, 1.5 million
and avoiding permanent damage to
diately to reduce the size of the clot
Americans suffer heart attacks.
the heart. Some potent new drugs
(unless you're allergic to aspirin).
And death rates from heart disease
that can prevent the death of the
It you use nitroglycerine for
are higher for African-Americans
heart muscle, for example, work
angina, put a tablet under the
than for others. In fact, African-
only if they are given within the
tongue.
American women between the
first four to six hours of the attack.
• Lie down, propped up with
ages of 35 and 74 are twice as
So, if any of the followine symp
pillows, and try to stay calm.
likely to die of a heart attack than
toms start to occur, don’t wait. Get
• Have someone call your per
white women in the same age
help immediately:
sonal physician.
group.
• Crushing chest pressure or
The good news is that the vast
That doesn’t mean you should
pain in the center of the chest that
majority of people survive their
just sit back and become a statistic.
last more than a few minutes or
first heart attack, and most are able
Although there are some risk fac comes and goes. The pain may be a
to lead normal lives afterward. The
tors you can't change—your age,
burning sensation easily mistaken
outlook for heart attack patients
your gender and your family his
for severe heartburn.
today is a lot brighter than it was in
tory, tor example—there are others
• Chest pain that spreads to the
the past—and it's getting better as
you can do something about:
shoulders and arms on the left or
researchers learn more about the
People who smoke, people with
both sides, as well as to the neck or disease.
high cholesterol and/or high blood
back.
Just as knowledge can help you
pressure, people who are obese and
• Accompanying nausea, vomit avoid, detect and survive a heart
people who don’t exercise are
ing, sweating, cold sweats, short attack, knowledge is also helping
eight times more likely to develop
ness of breath, palpitations, light-
researchers develop new medicines
heart disease. Therefore, by mak
headness or faintness.
to prevent and treat heart attacks.
ing some changes in your lifestyle,
• A sense ot impending doom.
you can lower your risk of heart
Once you’ve recognized the
Larry Lucas is Associate Vice
disease.
signs of a heart attack, you must
President of the Pharmaceutical
Quitting smoking, following a
act quickly:
Research and Manufacturers of
low tat diet and getting regular
• Get to a hospital equipped
America in Washington, DC.
Kaiser Signs Transportation Agreement
Kaiser Permanente is contract
ing with American Medical Response
Northwest to dispatch non-emergen
cy medical transportation for the
health maintenance organization.
Kaiser’s 350,000 members in
the Portland and Vancouver area will
now receive better service because
there will be just one number to call
when non-emergency medical trans
portation is needed, according to
Mike Anderson, special services
manager for Kaiser's community
medical services.
Anderson said under the con
tract, trained personnel will deter
mine appropriate levels of transpor
tation, dispatching an ambulance or
wheelchair car if one is needed or
directing members to alternative
transportation when that’s more ap
propriate.
The agreement is expected to
reduce the number o f inappropriate
911 emergency calls.
Trace Skeen, chief executive
officer o f American Medical Re
sponse Northwest, said the contract
represents the first time a local emer
gency medical services provider and
a major HMD have cooperated to do
centralized dispatching for non-emer
gency medical transportation.
Safeway Low Prices
Prices effective February 15 through February 21, 1995 at your nearby Safeway store.
Fresh Lean
Ground Beef
•Approximate 10-Lb.
Package
• Maximum
Fat 22%
• SAVE UP TO
61$ LB.
Sunkist Seedless
Navel Oranges
Young, Tender
• 4 to 7-Lbs
• SAVE UP TO 71 1 Lb
Flav-R-Pac
¡(í 'OrangeJuice
io rS S fL ee S liis S lS ^ es a" n g "D u 'a e !\
. .
, ' 12-0unce
h ' • SAVE UP TO
u u , l 80« on 2
. . . .
.
; h lS W v k
rr~ n
a i i i u j ▼ ▼ w
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f to
; .• , • ;
P orti and O bserver
Take One of These and
Help Avoid a Heart Attack
Stress. Hypnosis and Sex Excerpts from previous columns
b \
15, 1995 • T he
*
iY
0
4 „98
Sn/oy Wra Savings With The
EXTRA In-Store
Safeway Savings Guide
Available at your Safeway store.