PAGE 5
HEALTH
(Continued from page 4)
DO CHILDREN HAVE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Yes. Even very young babies can have high blood
pressure. At one time doctors thought that most high
blood pressure in children was secondary, that is, caused
by other disease. They now know this may not be so. A
small number of children have higher blood pressure
than others. These children are said to have primary
high blood pressure. Children who are overweight
usually have higher blood pressures than those who are
not. Some have higher blood pressure which may be
related to eating salty foods. Some children inherit the
tendency for high blood pressure from one or both
parents who have high blood pressure. Children with
high blood pressure usually have no symptoms. The
only way to discover high blood pressure is to have the
blood pressure checked at least once a year.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
1. Get your blood pressure checked at least once a year.
2. Ask for the actual figures and keep a record.
3. If your doctor prescribes pills, take them regularly,
they could literally save your life.
4. If you are overweight, you should lose weight and then
continue to control it.
5. Get regular exercise.
6. Learn to manage stress and tension.
7. Cut down on salt.
The next "Staying Healthy" workshop will be held at the
Grand Ronde Tribal Headquarters March 10, 1988 at
1:30 p.m. in the Tribal Council Room. Be sure to join
us then.
Carol Terp,RNC
Tribal Health Nurse
ALCOHOL EDUCATION
I would like to thank all who came to the General
Council meeting February 7, 1988 and brought the
delicious food, and viewed and checked out books,
pamphlets and handouts from our educational display
on alcohol prevention.
As the Alcohol Prevention Education Counselor, I will
be presenting films and movies on alcohol for our young
people and community. This is a primary prevention
program designed to help children develop a lifetime of
prevention from substance abuse. Prevention activities
will also include implementation of children oriented
projects. Prevention services at the community level will
focus on the development of additional community
activities, support programs and information dissemina
tion. The prevention services will be designed for youth
between the ages K-12. But all are encouraged to attend
and are welcome to participate.
Tribal members are encouraged to call me if you have
any questions, suggestions or would like to help with the
alcohol prevention education program. Remember,
tribal members are welcome to come to the tribal office
and visit the Alcohol Department.
Watch for future articles about some of our tribal
members who are staying sober and having fun racing
cars, dune buggies, ATCs at Sand Lake, skiing, etc. Its
OK to be Sober!
Respectfully submitted,
Margaret Provost
Alcohol Prevention Education Counselor
TEENS AND ALCOHOL USE
Historical records show us that alcohol has been
consumed for centuries. In fact, there is evidence that
grain was fermented to make a form of beer before the
development of great Egyptian societies. Today alcohol
is used by nearly every society on earth. In the United
States the average alcohol consumption by those over 14
has grown from over 2 12 gallons per year. For the
alcoholic beverage industry this translates to over 12
billion dollars in sales each year.
Many people have difficulty understanding that alcohol
is a drug. Once you remove the ingredients that give
alcohol it's taste and color, you have ethyl alcohol.
Remove the water from ethyl alcohol and you get ether.
Ether is an anesthetic drug that works on the brain and
puts it to sleep. A hospital patient, under the effects of
ether will experience dryness in the mouth, euphoria,
excitement, nausea and loss of normal controls. These
are the same symptoms experienced when a person
drinks alcohol.
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. The
body's normal functions are slowed down and the
individual experiences a "high" or euphoric feeling. As
with any other drug the degree of euphoria depends on
the quantity of alcohol consumed. Different types of
alcoholic beverages appear to give different degrees of
euphoria. But as you can see from the following, it is
not the type of beverage that makes the difference but
rather the amount of ethyl alcohol in the beverage:
21 ounce can of beer - 4 alcohol
1 ounce of hard liquor - 30 - 50 alcohol
4 ounce glass of table wine -12 alcohol
The issue of alcohol consumption in the United States is
a serious problem. Regarding highway deaths, it was
estimated two years ago that 25,000 Americans died on
our nation's highways. Over 60 of those accidents
could have been prevented if people simply did not drink
or drive. In addition to the loss of life, alcohol is costing
our society approximately 69 billion dollars per year in
treatment, lost time at work, insurance costs, etc.
Further, we know that alcohol use can cause broken
homes, child abuse, neglect and criminal behavior.
Young people are particularly susceptible to the effects
of alcohol Of all the organs in the body, the brain
matures more slowly, and the effects of alcohol are seen
most predominantly in the brain. The portion of the
brain that controls the autonomic nervous system is the
hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates the heart
beat, breathing, and the operation of organs which the
individual has no conscious control Many believe that
the earlier an individual drinks alcohol, the more
potential there is for damage on the brain. In adoles
cence the brain is still maturing and the effects of
alcohol may be permanent and irreversible.
After years of treating alcoholics in hospitals, Dr. Jorge
Valles, at the Baylor University College of Medicine,
came to the inescapable conclusion that the earlier a
person begins chinking, the greater the chance of
developing alcohol addiction. In this book, From Social
Drinking to Alcoholism, he wrote,
"Emotional immaturity is completely normal in adoles
cents, for it is the age at which the human being reaches
the peak of hypothalamic imbalance. The ease with
which the adolescent becomes intensely disturbed about
something insignificant, the facility with which he
vacillates between moods of depression and elation and
between paroxysms of tears and uproarious laughter, the
speed with which he fluctuates from one extreme to the
other in the spectrum of human emotions, have con
founded, amused, annoyed and worried us at various
times. Parallel to this typical emotional instability is the
imbalance of the autonomic nervous system which is
evidenced readily in the adolescent's tendency to blush
or faint or grow pale, or become nauseous, often under
circumstances of only slight emotional stress."
Illf
"It is well to recall that alcohol is both toxic and stimu
lating, and when introduced to an already unbalanced
hypothalamus, the results are tumultuous throughout
the entire organism. Thus, the younger the age at which
an individual starts to ingest alcohol the greater the
chance is that he will develop into a chronic alcoholic.
For the action of the alcohol is channeled directly
toward the adolescent's unbalanced hypothalamus and
autonomic nervous system, thereby obstructing his
emotional maturity on both psychological and physio
logical levels"
"The regular or frequent ingestion of alcohol during
adolescence may produce a permanent imbalance of the
hypothalamus and a concomitant, irreversible malfunc
tion of the autonomic nervous system, thereby leading to
the development of chronic alcoholism."
If Dr. Valles' theory is correct, the permanent imbalance
may explain why many alcoholics behave foolishly and
childishly. They may be, in a very real sense, individuals
who never grow up.
(Continued on page 8)