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August 07, 2002
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H ealth / E ducation
Kaiser Forums Address
Hormone Replacement
Kaiser Permanente will con
tinue a series o f free com m u
nity forums for women inter
ested in learning more about
new findings in horm one re
placem ent research.
One o f the discussions will
take place W ednesday, Aug.
14, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at
the Interstate South Medical
O ffice, 3500 N. In terstate
Ave. A Saturday forum will be
held Aug. 17 from 9 a.m. to
10:30 a.m. at the Kaiser Salmon
Creek M edical Office, 14406
N.E. 20th Ave. in V ancouver.
The forums are led by Kaiser
Permanente physicians, health
care experts and researchers
who worked on a federal study,
just concluded this summer that
when post-menopausal women
with a uterus take estrogen and
progestin, they increase theirrisk
o f heart disease and breast can
cer.
To attend, RSVP by calling
K aiser Perm anente at 503-
813-4388 or 1-888-524-7378.
Minority Teacher Program Expands
The University o f Portland
will join the Portland Teachers
Program to recruit minorities
into the teaching profession.
The P I P is a collaborative
' e ffo rt o f P o rtland Public
Schools, PortlandContmunity
College, Portland State Uni
versity, and now the Univer
sity o f Portland, to increase the
diversity o f the teaching corps in
Portland’s classrooms.
The program places a special
focus on the recruitment o f his
to ric a lly u n d e rre p re se n te d
groups in the teaching profes
sion. The program is housed on
the PCC Cascade Campus.
Heart disease,
which blocks the blood
vessels to cause heart
attacks, strokes, or high
blood pressure, ranks as
a c t a g a in st th e b o d y ’s ow n
tissue, affects nearly 250,000
A m e ric a n s. T h e a rth ritis-
re la te d d ise a se is a c h ro n ic
an d so m etim es life th re a te n
ing d isease that o ccurs in one
o fth re e form s: discoid lupus,
w hich a ffe c ts the skin; d ru g -
in d u ced lupus, w hich occu rs
b e c a u se o f a re a c tio n to one
o r m o re d ru g s and u su a lly
d isap p ears w hen the drug use
h as sto p p e d ; and sy ste m ic
lu p u s e ry th e m a to s o u s (o r
SLE), w hich involves the skin,
jo in ts, k id n ey s, n erv o u s sy s
tem , lungs, heart and/or other
organs.
A cco rding to the A rthritis
F oundation, 90 percent o f lu
Expanded Rockwood Medical Office
Getting a medical appointment
at Kaiser Permanente’s Rockwood
Medical Office on a peak-demand
day, such as a Monday or Friday,
should be easier now that the
health care organization has
opened a new addition there early
this year.
Construction started last fall
on the 7,300-squre-foot addition,
which added 16 exam rooms and
eight clinician offices on two
floors. Internal medicine, family
practice and obstetrics-gynecol
ogy services will be available in
the new wing.
E x istin g exam ro o m s at
Rockwood had already been fit
ted with computers, so Rockwood
now becomes the second North
west Kaiser Permanente medical
office to have a computer in every
exam room.
General contractor for the $ 1.2
million addition at Rockwood was
Baugh Construction.
Legacy Offers Advanced Radiation Therapy
Legacy Health System is the
first in Portland to offer IMRT
(Intensity Modulated Radiation
Therapy) - the most advanced
radiation therapy available for
patients with tumors located in
the head, neck, prostate, chest
and other locations. Legacy also
hired a medical physicist to imple
ment the IMRT program at vari
ous Legacy sites; oversee and
participate in treatment planning;
and provide quality assurance.
“ IM RT is a powerful new tool
that helps us m ore accurately
and effectively deliver radiation
to tum ors w ithout im pacting
nearby stru ctu res or tis su e ,”
says N athalie Johnson. M.D.,
M edical D irector, Legacy C an
cer Services. “T his new level o f
precision should offer added
reassurance to patients who are
facing diagnosis and treatm ent
o f tum ors, especially those lo
cated in critical areas o f the body,
students.
African Americans
are dying at higher rates than
whites from heart disease.
the number
one killer of
African
Americans.
Black Women Can Learn
Common Signs of Lupus
W h at is lu p u s? H ow d o e s
it fe e l? A sk th e o n e in 250
A fric a n -A m e ric a n w o m e n
w h o h a v e th e d ise a se an d
th e y ’ll probably all say so m e
thing different. M any people
w ith lupus feel tired , e x p e ri
e n c e jo in t a c h e s an d p a in s,
lo ss o f h air, sc a rrin g skin le
sio n s, w h ile o th e rs m ay d e
v elo p co m p lic a tio n s w ith in
v o lv e m e n t o f th e k id n e y s o r
cen tral n erv o u s sy stem . T he
sy m p to m s c a n be p e rsiste n t
o r in te rm itte n t, an d th e d e v
a sta tin g re a lity is th a t m a n y
w om en d o n ’t even know they
h a v e th e d ise a se .
Lupus, an autoim m une d is
e a se in w h ic h a n tib o d ie s re-
The University o f Portland
w illpaytuitionforupto 10PTP
students each year, planned
for full phase-in by 2010. The
agreement also calls for PCC
to waive tuition for 33 students
this year, and PSU will provide
tuition waivers for up to 45
such as the b rain .”
Ho» IMHT Worte
IMRT requires highly sophis
ticated com puter softw are pro
grams that use a variety o f data
-in e lu d in g C T and MRI s c a n s -
and com putation m ethods to
determ ine the best plan for su c
cessfully treating each tum or.
R adiation is used to shrink or
control the grow th o f tum ors by
killing tum or cells or interfering
with their ability to grow.
The radiation is adm inistered
through a linear accelerator m a
chine that is equipped with a
m u lti-le a f c o llim a to r (m etal
leaves that m ove to conform to
the tu m o r shape c re a tin g a
“cookie cutter” outline through
which the radiation beams pass).
Since a tum or is three-dim en
sional, beam s are directed at the
tum or from different angles or
directions to conform to its ir
regular shape.
pus patients are w om en and —
a larg e m a jo rity o f th o se
w om en being A frican-A m eri
can. Studies suggest that there
is an inherited tendency to get
lupus. H ow evor. the disease
o v e r w h e lm in g ly a f f e c t s
w om en and m ost com m only
affects them in theirchildbear-
ing years— ages 15 to 45.
T he A rthritis F oundation
w ants w om en, especially A f
rican-A m erican w om en, to b e
aw are o f the com m on signs o f
on’t have to
Prevention works. Get screened.
Ask your doctor about cardiovascular disease today.
lupus.
F o rm o re in fo rm atio n , call
800-283-7800 for a free book
let titled “ L u p u s,” o r visit the
A rth ritis F o u n d a tio n ’s
w ebsite at w w w .arth ritis.o rg .
It’s our right.
African American Health Coalition, Inc.
2800 N. Vancouver Avenue-Suite 100
Portland, Oregon 97227
Phone: 503-413-1850
www.aahc-portland.org
Made possible by the
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Smoking doesn’t work
in Oregon.”
I remember walking out of our conference
room and my eyes were literally stinging. My
boss smoked, so everybody felt they had a
right to light up whenever they felt like it.
That was before the Oregon Smokefree
Workplace Law.
Because now smoking doesn't work in Oregon.
And I'm breathing a lot easier.
If you’ve got questions,
please contact us:
Information About The Law
• Toll-free 1-866-621-6107
• www.healthoregon.org/tobacco
• Your county health department
Oregon Tobacco Quitline
• 1 877 270-STOP
• 1-877-2NO-FUME (Spanish)
• TTY: 1 8 7 7 777 6534
If you have a disability and need the
material in an alternate format, call
503-731-4273 (TTY: 503-731-4031)
SMOKEFREE WORKPLACES. IT’S OREGON LAW.
O regon D epartment O f H uman S ervices ____________________________