SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2018 | 9A
Siuslaw News
Community Voices
Natural Perspective — In a Jam
By Emily J. Uhrig, Ph.D
Special to Siuslaw News
F
or Oregon, the latter half of
summer is berry season. Be-
sides cultivated varieties, our area
abounds with native species like
thimbleberries, salal berries and
huckleberries growing wild.
All are tasty in their own right,
but not quite as well-known as the
blackberry, which many folks par-
ticularly treasure. Reaching among
thorns to pluck berries is not the
easiest task, but, for the persistent
picker, the reward of a juicy pie or
sweet batch of blackberry jam is
worth the effort.
While picking wild berries may
seem like a back-to-nature expe-
rience, the most prominent wild
blackberry in our area, the Hima-
layan blackberry, is actually an in-
vasive introduced species. These
berries were brought to the Pacific
Northwest from Eurasia over 100
years ago for agriculture, but have
since spread well beyond the con-
fines of farms.
Himalayan blackberries sport
thick canes that can extend over 20
feet and are covered in large, sharp
thorns. Some locations have over
400 canes per square yard. These
are the berries commonly seen
along edges of roads and fields and,
with many large berries dangling
near eye-level, they are popular for
picking. However, the successful
Himalayan blackberries often out-
compete native plants — thereby
reducing biodiversity. Riverbanks
covered in shallow-rooted Hima-
layan blackberries may be more
prone to erosion than banks en-
twined with the deep roots of na-
tive trees, and a particularly timely
concern is the fact that dense thick-
ets of dry canes pose fire hazards.
The negative qualities of the Hi-
malayan blackberry led the Oregon
Department of Agriculture to list
it as a noxious weed that must be
controlled or eradicated. However,
anyone who has tried to get rid of
these berries knows how resilient
Us TOO Florence —
they are. Roots can reach nearly
3 feet in depth and over 30 feet in
length, and plants can regrow from
small pieces of roots or stems, mak-
ing complete eradication unlikely.
Although we may be in a jam
with invasive Himalayan black-
berries, native berry seekers take
heart: Oregon does have a native
blackberry. Called the trailing
blackberry, its thinner canes creep
along the ground and its berries are
much smaller than those of the Hi-
malayan, making the native berry
more challenging to pick. However,
persistent pickers will find sweeter,
more flavorful berries.
So, if you’re up for a bit of ber-
ry picking, try applying the adage
of “bigger isn’t always better” and
look for the more understated —
but more rewarding — trailing
blackberry.
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1938 Newmark St., North Bend, OR, 97459
1217 N. Coast Hwy. Suite D Newport, OR 97365
541-423-3142
541-236-2628
541-435-2753
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2775 Hwy 101 Suite B • Florence, OR 97439
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Behind the headlines
F
irst, an update from last month’s
Behind the Headlines. You may
recall that I spent about six hours
on June 23 viewing an Us TOO
International webinar conference
from Kirkland, Wash., titled, “Pros-
tate Cancer Pathways for Patients
and Caregivers.” Well, the good
news is the same top-notch infor-
mation is now available to you.
Going to youtu.be/O3wu-Va38FE
takes you to the video from the en-
tire day’s events, thanks to Us TOO
International.
Each speaker’s presentation has
been broken into their individual
topics with exact times.
Once the link opens, you will see
the introduction by Chuck Strand,
CEO Us TOO International at 0.01
and, at 6:12, the introduction to
Dr. Brian W. Lawenda. Below that
you will see “SHOW MORE.” Click
on that and you will get the entire
day’s speakers/topics/times.
There is no way I could begin
to report all the information pre-
sented at the conference and now I
don’t need to try. You can watch it
at your own pace and “attend” the
entire conference at home. It will
be very informational for all who
view it.
Now, I want to turn your atten-
tion to something I just learned.
Many of you are aware that in the
quest for more accurate biopsies
of the prostate, the MRI has come
into play. It is being recommended
by some for use in determining “if ”
a biopsy is necessary and, if so, to
guide the urologist to those cancer-
ous locations on the prostate gland
identified by the MRI.
Currently, most biopsies of the
prostate are ultrasound guided.
We do know that prostate cancer
is more likely to occur in certain
areas of the prostate, so those will
get biopsied. However, some areas
of the prostate are simply out of
reach of the urologist’s needle. This
is where the MRI comes in handy,
because it can scan the entire pros-
tate gland.
Now the concerns: On July 16, I
received the Summer 2018 Prostate
Digest published by the Prostate
Cancer Research Institute (PRCI).
Inside was an article, “Gadolini-
um Contrast Agents and the New
FDA Warning,” by Mark Moyad,
MD, MPH, Director of Alternative
Medicine, University of Michigan
Medical Center.
The “contrast” to which Moyad
is referring is the dye used with
MRI scans that help healthcare
professionals see internal organs,
blood vessels and other tissues
By Bob Horney
Special to Siuslaw News
more clearly, thus improving the
diagnostic accuracy of the scan. He
pointed out something that I had
never given thought to — potential
kidney problems with the contrast
we receive with many MRI scans.
As he states, “For the most part,
contrast agents are incredibly nec-
essary. One of the most utilized
contrast agents is Gadolinium. The
FDA came out at the end of 2017
and said that all (not some) gado-
linium contrast agents used in MRI
must now carry a warning about
how they could be retained in the
body and potentially cause kidney
injury.”
Moyad shares that it appears
gadolinium contrast agents have
not been linked to anything truly
concerning for those individuals
with “NORMAL KIDNEY FUNC-
TION.” (His emphasis). Unfortu-
nately, for most of us older adults,
our “normal” kidney function is
about 50 percent of what it used to
be.
Reading what Moyad said con-
cerned me, so I picked up the
phone and called Dan Goldblatt,
Supervisor of Peace Harbor Im-
aging. What he told me was very
reassuring.
Out of eight gadolinium agents,
only three are listed as “less con-
cern,” meaning easier for the kid-
neys to flush from the body. They
are the ones he uses at Peace Har-
bor: Gadavist, Prohance and Dot-
arem, in that order. He would not
use one of the high-risk agents
unless it was the only one suitable
for the MRI scan AND the patient’s
kidneys could handle it.
Additionally, he uses only one-
half of the recommended dose,
even of the low-risk agents. Prior
to receiving the MRI, and to as-
sure that our kidney function is
adequate, everyone over the age of
50 and every diabetic (regardless
of age) gets their kidney function
checked (simple finger-prick).
Patient safety first — I like that.
