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I ni P o r ii . and O bserver • A ugusi 7, 1996
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Strengthening Medicare:
the critical next steps
Medicare has protected the lives
and health o f more than 30 m illion
older Americans for more than 30
years. Formany ofourparents, Medi
care has been their only protection
from the soaring costs o f health care,
and their only hope o f affording the
care they need.
But, even with Medicare's help,
older Americans are spending more
and more o f their income to buy
overpriced drugs and foot the b ill for
long term care
The High Price of Medicines
Look at what’ s happening to two
older Americans: Mary Johnston and
Celia Mahoney.
Mary Johnston’s husband died
eight years ago. Today, at 73, she's
struggling to get along on $726 a
month from Social Security. Mrs.
Johnston began working six decades
ago, when she was twelve years old
After a lifetim e o f hard work, Mrs.
Johnston still isn’t on Easy Street. It
would be tough enough making ends
meet i f all she had to
¿ c
worry about were rent
and groceries. It’s all
her m edications that
makes it near impossi
ble to get by on $726 a
month.
M rs.
Johnston
doesn’t complain about
her health, but she lives
w ith diabetes, a heat
condition, and arthritis,
so her medicines are expensive.
Each month she has to come up
with $ 128 for prescription drugs she
needs to survive.
r hat s a big chunk o f her income.
Sometimes she skips meals. Some
times she skips pills.
So, what happens? Well, onetime,
she wound up in the hospital for
skipping pills.
•/
Mahoney on the cost o f
long term care. She’ s
been in a nursing home
for seven years - at the
sta g g e rin g cost o f
$36,000 a year. That’s
twice what she gets in
pension and Social Se
curity, so she’s going
through her savings.
Even though she
saved
and
saved
throughout a life o f hard work, there's
not much left.
Some days, she stares out the w in
dow, weeping that everything she
worked for is disappearing: her sav
ing and her dignity.
Rather than being able to help her
children, she may soon have to turn
to her children for help.
Her daughter, Dorothy, has two
children in college. Dorothy worries
about her mom, but she's also w or
rying about what the cost o f long
term care is going to do to the family
fes
The Crushing Burden of Long
Term Care
I f Medicare fails Mary Johnston
on the cost o f drugs, it fails Celia
eat the summer heat
Last ye a r’ s summ er w eather
caused a number o f deaths. Heat-
related illnesses have increased.
These illness include heat cramps,
heat exhaustion and heat stroke. A ll
o f these i I Iness are caused by overex
posure to the heat. Heat cramps are
the least severe o fth e three.
This condition is usually the first
signal that the body is having prob
lems with the heat. Heat cramps are
severe and painful muscle spasms.
They occur usually in the legs and
ities. But you should keep in mind
abdomen and can be viewed as a
that you should drink more water
warning signal for a more severe
before, during and after activities.
heat-related emergency.
Heat exhaustion is more serious
To treat heat cramps you should
than muscle cramps. This condition
have the injured person rest in a cool
often affects people who have to
place. You can give the person cool
wear heavy cloths or work in ex
water or a sport’s drink. Rest and
tremely hot and humid conditions.
fluids are usually all the person needs
The signals include cool, moist,
to recover.
pale or flushed skin, headaches, nau
To help make the person com fort
sea, dizziness, weakness and exhaus
able, help them to stretch the muscle
tion.
and gently massage the area. Salt
Heat stroke is the least common
tablets or salt water is not recom
heat illness, but it is the most severe.
mended for the treatment o f heat
It occurs most often when people
related illnesses. They could make
ignore the warning signals o f heat
the emergency worse.
cramps and heat exhaustion. Heat
When the cramps stop, you can
stroke is a serious medical emergen
usually go back to your regular activ
cy because the body’s systems begin
Over $11 million for
MS research
More than $ 11.2 m illion havejust
been committed by the National
M ultiple Sclerosis Society to sup
port 46 new research projects and
other programs by top scientists in
vestigating many aspects o f m u lti
ple sclerosis (MS).
These 46 new projects are part o f
a National M ultiple Sclerosis Soci
ety program that w ill spend some
$ 15.4 m illion this year to advance
research, including funding 200
MS investigations in the U.S. and
abroad.
The National M ultiple Sclerosis
Society funds more MS research than
any voluntary agency in the world.
The Oregon Chapter o f the Na
tional M ultiple Sclerosis Society
contributes funds toward these re
search efforts to end the devastating
effects o f this nervous system dis
ease.
A new drug that helps some peo
ple with MS, Avonex (T M ), went on
the market in May 1996, jo in in g
Betaseron(R), which became a pre
to stop functioning. The signals of
heat stroke are red, hot dry skin,
changes in consciousness, rapid weak
pulse and rapid shallow breathing.
When a heat related illness is
caught early, you usually stop it from
becoming serious. The follow ingtips
are recommended by American Red
Cross:
/. Get the victim out o fth e heat.
2. Loosen tight clothing
3 Remove perspiration soaked
clothing
4 Apply cool, wet cloths to the
skin
5. Keep the victim cool. I f you
have ice packs o r ice place them on
the wrist ankles, on the groin, in each
arm pit and the neck to cool the large
blood vessels.
6 If the victim is conscious, give
cool water to drink Don t give the
victim water ifhe/she should start to
vomit
7. C all f o r an ambulance i f the
victim refuses water, vomits or starts
to lose consciousness
8. Keep the victim lying down or
resting in a comfortable position
Look f o r changes in the victim s con
dition
budget, already straining to cover
tuition for two kids in college.
I t ’s Time to Strengthen Medi
care
Unfortunately, the stories o f Mary
Johnston and Celia Mahoney are not
even unusual these days.
Forall the good that Medicare has
done for older Americans, more
needs to be done. It’s time for Amer
ica to take the next step.
Medicare should be strengthened,
and it should cover prescription drugs
and long term care. T hat’s a priority
for American families, and it should
come ahead o f new tax loopholes for
the wealthy.
America has Social Security and
Medicare only because our parents
created them for their parents.
It’s our turn to do what needs to be
done for our parents, our children
and ourselves.
Ron Pollack is executive direc
tor o f Families I'S'. i, the national
health care consumer group.
Selecting
a nursing
home
Placing a loved one in a nursing
home is d iffic u lt task.
"There are many factors to con
sider,” said Dr. Ilusam Ghusn of
the Huffington Center on Aging at
Baylor College o f Medicine in
Houston.
People who are com paring
nursing homes should:
♦ Find out when the nursing
home was inspected and granted a
license.
♦ Check the staff-to-patient ra
tios.
♦ Determine i f the medical d i
rector is qualified in geriatric med
icine.
♦ Determine i f the fa cility has
an emergency-transfer agreement
with a hospital.
♦ Find out i f a professional so
cial worker w ill be available at
every stage o fth e admission pro
cess to help ease the transition.
♦ Include the loved one in vis
iting and evaluating the nursing
home, i f possible.
Babies and sun not
a good mix
a pediatrician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
“ In addition, it’s not a good idea to take an infant to a sandy beach
or a swimming-pool area,” D rutz said. “Sunlight can reflect off the
water or the sand, causing sunburn even when an umbrella is used.”
I f being outside is necessary, dress the baby in lighUcolored
men are slightly higher.
Possible warning signs, which
are even more likely to be symp
toms o f benign prostatic hyper
plasia, include:
♦ D ifficulty in beginning or main
taining a urinary stream.
♦ Frequent urination, especially
at night.
♦ Weak or interrupted urine flow.
• Painful urination or ejaculation
♦ Presence o f blood or puss ir
urine or semen.
A doctor can detect prostate can
cer by using a combination o f phys
ical examination, blood and urine
tests and ultrasound scanning.
A rectal exam can determine i f the
prostate feels hard, a possible sign o f
cancer. The procedure, done in a
physician’s officer, is simple, quick
and only sligh tly uncomfortable,
Morton said.
A prostate specific antigen, or
PSA, test can help make the diagno
sis, but a biopsy o f the prostate is
needed to confirm the presence o f
cancer. I he PSA test is also used to
follow the progress o f the disease
after the patient has been treated.
Make Self Care A Priority
Making a personal commitment to take time out for
you may mean reshuffling priorities.
With our unique roles as mother, wife, sisters, career
women - and sometimes all of the above - our schedule
Is already full.
Cherish your body fo r the great g ift th a t it is, and give
it the best of care.
It is recommended th a t women 4 0 and older get
annual health exams. Early detection saves lives.
Ifyou are 4 0 or older you may
qualify fo r a free Women’s Health
Check, which includes a pap te s t
and mammogram.
Sign Up for the Race For The Cure
September 8th, 1996
For more information call 795-3908
X.
Multnomah County
Breast and
Cervical Cancer
Partnership
B C C P
Susan G. Komeii
Hreast Cancer Inundation
muLTnomAH county oregod
Polio. Measles. Diphtheria. Whooping
Cough. I he fart is, once a child contracts a
scary disease like this, there's not much a par
ent can do. It's up to the doctors. And fate.
Which makes it inconceivable that 33% of
Oregon children still aren't fully immunized
by the age of two.
Yes, School Law requires they be immu
nized by kindergarten. But unfortunately, that
law also creates the perception that it's okay to
wait until then. People don't realize that wait
ing puts their infants at risk, llnimmunized
infants are not protected. Therefore, they are
more likely to get diseases and to have severe
side effects from them.
faith is, 80% of all vaccines can be given
by age two. Safely. All it takes is four quick vis
its to the doctor. Meaning you must follow
through with all the shots. They don't have to
cost a lot either.
Most impoaant, don't be afraid to ask your
doctor, nurse practitioner or health depart
ment questions. And keep track of your child's
immunization schedule. After all, the one who
can best take care of your baby is you.
For more information about MS
research or local programs and ac
tivities, contact the Oregon Chapter
o fth e National M ultiple Sclerosis at
1-800-422-3042.
“Children younger than 6 months should not be exposed to sun for
Prostate cancer is in the future o f
one o f every 11 men
Prostate cancer can spread w ith
out pain or other symptoms,” Says
Dr Ronald Morton Jr ofthe Baylor
Prostate Center at Baylor College
o f Medicine in Houston, "which
makes it all the more important to
get regular examinations." Accord
ing to Morton, the risks for black
6 o ME B O O -B O O S, A KISS CAN'T FIX.
scription drug for MS in 1993
third new drug—C opaxone(TM )—
awaits marketing approval by the
U.S. Food and Drug Adm inistra
tion.
The National M ultiple Sclerosis
Society’s commitment to support
ing MS research includes two (2)
MS research projects in the Oregon
Chapter area, representing a total
funding of $109,604. These include
ongoing investigations at Oregon
Health Sciences University and the
V A Medical Center, both in Port
land.
MS is an unpredictable disease
that attacks the nervous system and
wears away control over the body.
MS strikes in the prime o f life, with
symptoms ranging from imbalance
and numbness to paralysis and blind
ness.
long periods and never placed in direct sunlight,“ said Dr. Jan Drutz,
Early detection
saves lives
Free or low cost immunizations available.
For more inform ation call 1-800-SAFENET (1-800-723-3638)
or in the Portland Metro area call 306-5858.
clothing, keep a bonnet handy and try to avoid being outside between
10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
I N (