Wallowa County Chieftain
Vaccines
keep pets
healthy
ANIMAL
TALK
Michelle Janik
We often forget the impor-
tance of vaccines in preventing
disease because they do just
that –– prevent disease. Vac-
cines play an enormous role
in both preventing disease and
eradicating it from countries
and even continents.
For example, I’ve never
known anyone who contracted
polio because it was elimi-
nated in North America by
vaccination efforts instituted
40 years before I was born.
Routine vaccinations pro-
vide your pet’s immune sys-
tem with the tools to fi ght dis-
ease in the event of exposure.
By preparing their immune
system, we have insurance
that our pets will either not
become sick or their illness
will be much less life-threaten-
ing than if they had not been
well immunized.
Routine vaccination is key,
as the immune system must
be reminded throughout a
pet’s life of the diseases that
it should be prepared to fi ght.
Proper administration and han-
dling of vaccines is also criti-
cal. Mistakes made in storage
or administration can inacti-
vate vaccinations and result in
a pet that was not successfully
immunized. Your veterinar-
ian has been trained to know
which vaccinations your pet
needs and how to handle and
properly administer that vac-
cine for the optimim benefi t.
The importance of immu-
nizing animals against disease
is not only about pets, it is also
about preventing life-threaten-
ing disease in humans.
Zoonotic diseases are trans-
mitted from animals to people.
Though there are fewer zoo-
notic risks here than devel-
oping countries, we owe that
reduced risk to an infrastruc-
ture developed to prevent dis-
ease, including food safety and
animal and human vaccination.
Thanks to regulations in
place for brucellosis vacci-
nation in cattle, most people
today enjoy a safe beef and
milk supply. Domestic dogs
are the number-one cause of
rabies in humans, transmitting
99 percent of all cases across
the globe. But due to regula-
tions requiring canine rabies
vaccination in the U.S., we
have the confi dence to bring
dogs into our homes.
We may forget the impor-
tance of vaccination until
a risk to our pet’s well-be-
ing is posed. However, strong
herd immunity is not built by
responding to threats. By vac-
cinating our pets throughout
their lives, we are reducing
their risk of sickness and cre-
ating a stronger more immune
community of pets in Wallowa
County.
Michelle Janik is an associ-
ate veterinarian at Enterprise
Animal Hospital, Inc.
Opinion
wallowa.com
November 1, 2017
A5
Do guns really make us safer?
Like many Americans, I am
working hard to come to grips with
the recent violence in Las Vegas. In
trying to comprehend the situation,
I have scoured my experiences and
memories to fi nd some perspective
upon which to focus my thoughts.
In doing so, I cast back to an
experience that remains vivid in my
memory over 55 years later.
In the summer of 1962, I stood on
the street in the city of Las Palmas
in the Canary Islands. The Canaries
were then, and remain today, Spanish
territory.
Burned into my memory is the
image of a member of the Guardia
Civil standing on a street corner
surveying the passersby with eyes
shaded beneath a battle helmet.
Around his neck was strapped a
submachine gun, which looked like
the automatic Sten gun used by the
British throughout World War II.
I had little doubt that the weapon,
which he held ready in his hands,
could be swung into action in an
instant.
Townsfolk and tourists alike
GUEST
COLUMN
Mike Koloski
strolled past the offi cer with little
notice or concern. They seemingly
felt safe in his presence. Not I.
I felt anything but safe. To say
that I was a very naï ve youth would
be an understatement. As a recently
promoted 3rd Class Cadet in the
U.S. Coast Guard Academy, I was a
little over a year removed from my
rural Ohio roots. A year of intense
indoctrination at the Academy and
recent port calls at Halifax, Dublin
and Antwerp did little to season me.
Strolling with Irish shop girls and
twisting the night away in Belgian
dockside taverns may have given
me the temerity to swagger a bit as
I walked down the sun drenched
avineda in Las Palmas, but the veneer
of worldliness was thin indeed.
That soldier of Dictator Francisco
Franco’s regime scared the salt right
out of me.
In 1962, the sight of a militarily
equipped authority on a city street
would have been anathema in the
United States, even in our most
cosmopolitan of cities. The sheriff’s
patrolmen in my rural county were
seldom seen outside their patrol
cars, and city foot patrols twirled
nightsticks not submachine guns.
The thought of that Guardsman’s
weapon being trained on me caused
me to break out in a sweat and
instantly curb my swagger.
I meekly walked past the soldier
(who in truth may have been only
a few years older than I) with my
“eyes in the boat” and a lump in my
throat.
Fifty-fi ve years later, we fi nd
heavily armed police in public places
a routine part of life throughout
Europe and the UK. The increased
use of SWAT in the U.S. and the
nature of the current administration
portend the possibility that we could
follow suit.
The Department of Homeland
Security has recommended armed
patrols in major U.S. airports as
recently as 2014.
I fear that we as a society may
become so inured to mayhem and
violence that we could come to accept
heavily armed police as a necessary
fact of life.
Before that comes about, we
need to ask ourselves –– would we
feel safer with armed patrols in our
airports, malls and city streets as is
now commonplace in other countries?
Perhaps.
Do more guns in the right hands
always further our personal security?
Perhaps.
However, for me, even as a fi rm
supporter of the Second Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution, I can
truthfully say that, deep down, the
thought of this possibility frightens
me. Much as did the sight of the
Guardia Civil on the streets of Las
Palmas in 1962.
Mike Koloski of Enterprise is a
commander, U.S. Coast Guard, retired
Lifestyle choices help prevent breast cancer
Breast cancer is the angst of every
woman, and deservedly so. It is the
second most common cancer in
women and affects one out of every
eight ladies.
In 2017, nearly 250,000 women
will receive a diagnosis of breast
cancer and more than 40,000 will
die in the U.S. Many think it only
happens in older women, but I’ve
seen it occur in ladies as young as 20.
October is Breast Cancer
Awareness Month, and everything
goes pink. The pink ribbon program
has expanded to all types of
organizations, including the NFL.
This is all in the hopes that
increased awareness will lead to
earlier detection and better survival.
Various strategies like the pink ribbon
program, self-breast exams and
regular mammograms are especially
promoted during this month.
We are blessed in our community
to have one of the top-of-the-
line advanced 3-D mammogram
machines. Over the last few decades,
many medical advances have resulted
in higher survival rates for breast
cancer. Yet, nearly all the education
and awareness is focused on early
detection, as if breast cancer is
inevitable, with little emphasis on
prevention.
GUEST
COLUMN
Kenneth Rose
While getting breast cancer is not
a death sentence, wouldn’t it be even
better if a women didn’t get it in the
fi rst place?
There is more to prevention than
the extreme measures of “preventive
mastectomies” where their breasts are
surgically removed on the off chance
that they might someday develop
breast cancer.
Ample evidence in the medical
literature has shown that breast cancer
can be attributed in part to lifestyle
factors such as our diet and levels of
activity. High lignin intake (a class
of plant nutrients) is associated with
reduction in breast cancer risk.
And the highest concentration of
lignin comes in crushed fl axseeds,
where a teaspoon of ground fl axseeds
a day is associated with a 20 to 30
percent reduction in the risk of getting
breast cancer.
Additionally, a diet low in fat not
only decreases the risk of getting
breast cancer, but can also reduces the
incidence of death after getting breast
cancer.
On the other hand, obesity leads
to an increase in insulin-like growth
factor which increases the risk of
cancer.
Fatty tissues are capable of
manufacturing and storing estrogen-
like compounds which may fuel the
development and aggressiveness of
breast cancers.
Fatty tissues also store a dozen
or more infl ammatory proteins that
promote cancer growth. Patients with
diabetes have a 23 percent increased
risk of breast cancer developing and
a 38 percent increased risk of dying
of the disease compared with patients
without diabetes.
Besides preventing from
developing it in the fi rst place, the
latest review from worldwide data
by the American Institute for Cancer
Research indicated that diet, physical
activity and weight control are major
contributors to long-term survival
after getting a diagnosis of breast
cancer.
The recommendations are to avoid
inactivity and to fi nd more ways to
move throughout the day. Maintaining
an ideal body weight is critical,
as excess weight results in more
fatty tissues and more estrogen-like
compounds.
Additionally, the report suggests
an increase in soy products improves
survival, as well as an increase in
fi ber intake through healthy fruits and
vegetables.
Fiber inhibits the absorption of
estrogen in the gastrointestinal tract
and results in decreased estrogen
levels.
While the focus of lifestyle
medicine is on the prevention of
disease, it is increasingly recognized
that the real issue in health care
— lifestyle — should become
the primary prescription for the
leading causes of many of our
common diseases, including lifestyle
associated cancers like breast cancer.
Hippocrates (460 BC), the Father
of Medicine, had it right when he said
many years ago, “Let food be thy
medicine and medicine be thy food,”
and “If we could give every individual
the right amount of nourishment and
exercise, not too little and not too
much, we would have found the safest
way to health.”
Make daily lifestyle choices that
promote health and well-being.
Dr. Kenneth D. Rose, MD, is a gen-
eral surgeon at Mountain View Medi-
cal Group in Enterprise.
WHERE TO WRITE
Washington, D.C.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden,
D — 516 Hart Senate
Offi ce Building, Washing-
ton D.C. 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merk-
ley, D — 313 Hart Sen-
ate Offi ce Building, Wash-
ington D.C. 20510. Phone:
202-224-3753.
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden,
R — (Second District) 1404
Longworth Building, Wash-
ington D.C. 20515. Phone:
202-225-6730.
Medford
offi ce phone: 541-776-4646.
Salem
Gov. Kate Brown, D —
160 State Capitol, Salem
97310. Phone: 503-378-
4582. Fax: 503-378-8970.
Web site: www.governor.
state.or.us/governor.html.
Oregon Legislature —
State Capitol, Salem, 97310.
Phone: (503) 986-1180. Web
site: www. leg.state.or.us
(includes Oregon Consti-
tution and Oregon Revised
Statutes).
State Rep. Greg Bar-
reto, R-Cove (District: 58),
Room H-384, State Capitol,
900 Court St. N.E., Salem
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1458. E-mail: rep.gregbar-
reto@state.or.us. Web site:
http://www.oregonlegisla-
ture.gov/barreto
State Sen. Bill Hansell
R — (District 29) Room
S-423, State Capitol, Salem
97301. Phone: 503-986-
1729. E-mail: Sen.BillHan-
sell@state.or.us. Web site:
www.oregonlegislature.gov/
hansell.
All She Left Behind
The most valuable and
respected source of
local news, advertising
and information for
our communities.
eomediagroup.com
A wondeful new book
by Jane Kirkpatrick
T HE B OOKLOFT
Across from the courthouse in Enterprise
107 E. Main • 541.426.3351
always open at www.bookloftoregon.com • booklofteoni.com
Introducing
the Newest
Newest Member
of the
ntroducing
the
Member
Winding
Waters
Provider
Team
of the Winding Waters Team
Kevin
Vandenheuvel, PA-C
PA-C
Kevin
Vandenheuval,
Accepting
new
patients
Accepting
new
patients
beginning October 31st
Call to schedule
call
schedule
an to
appointment!
an appointment
IREMENT JOYC
T
E
R
Y
P
E!
HAP
541-426-4502
vin Vandenheuvel is joining the Winding Waters team as a Physician Assistant in October.
vin is a Pacific NW native from Seattle, Washington, and received his undergraduate
• Annual
Well-Person
Exams
• Walk-In
Urgent
Care
ning from Western
Washington
University
in Disaster
Risk and
Reduction
and
Hazards
gation with a focus
community
health
and resiliency.
He has
worked
as a Paramedic
• Help on with
Chronic
Conditions
• Online
Health
Portal
oth Oregon and Michigan, as well as a clinical researcher for OHSU focusing on cardiac
• Discounts for qualifying patients
est and resuscitation.
vin received his Masters of Physician Assistant Studies from OHSU in 2017, and recently
mpleted his final clinical rotation at
Winding Waters Medical Clinic. He enjoyed his
www.windingwaters.org
erience at Winding Waters and quickly formed bonds with the staff and patients and is
led to become a permanent part of our clinic family. Extended
Kevin has Hours:
a special interest in
ole-person health, and believes good health comes
from
physical,
mental and spiritual
7 am
- 7 pm
weekdays
l-being. In his free time, Kevin enjoys running, backpacking,
climbing, skiing, cooking
9 am - 1 pm Saturday
541-426-4502
d playing music. Help us welcome Kevin to Wallowa County!
603 Medical Parkway, Enterprise, OR 97828
Extended Hours:
7 am - 7 pm weekdays
In 1979, Joyce was involved in creating a Quick Response Unit in the remote area of Montana where she lived.
Joyce was an EMT Basic and responded out of a station wagon. Thanks to Joyce, the QRU unit is still in
operation today and now has a fleet of ambulances serving the remote areas of Montana.
Joyce and her family moved to Enterprise, Oregon in 1991. She was granted reciprocity that allowed her to
volunteer as an EMT Basic for the Wallowa County Heath Care District. She advanced her career to become an
EMT-Intermediate and 2006 she became a full time employee for The Wallowa County Health Care District.
She has been a dedicated employee for a total of 26 years with the District.
Joyce has served tirelessly for a total of 38 years in EMS.
She’s busy with 3 children, 7 grandchildren and one great grandchild. In her spare time she grows a
bountiful garden, quilts and is an avid hunter. In 2016, Joyce was awarded the State of Oregon Lifesaving Medal.
While off duty, Joyce performed the Heimlich Maneuver on a choking victim in a restaurant.
She also teaches CPR and First Aid classes through Blue Mountain Community College. If you need to contact
her for her CPR and First Aid courses, please call Wallowa Memorial Hospital at (541) 426-3111.
The public is invited to join us at The Enterprise Christian Church located at 85035 Joseph Hwy in Enterprise
for a dessert social from 6-8pm on Nov 3rd in honor of Joyce’s retirement and
to thank her for her years of dedicated service.