4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL FEBRUARY 8, 2017
O PINION
Hypertension in young adults
Editor's note: This column fi rst appeared
in The Sentinel on February 11, 2015
BY JOEL FUHRMAN MD
For The Sentinel
M
any people believe that it is normal for blood pressure to rise as we age,
but this is not true. Cultures whose diet does not contain excessive add-
ed fats, animal protein and salt, and is high in fresh, whole plant foods do not
experience the age-related increase in blood pressure that we see in the Western world. These age-relat-
ed elevations in blood pressure are not related to age itself – instead they are due to the cumulative de-
structive effects of a poor diet and insuffi cient exercise on the circulatory system over years and years.
Hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 or higher) is on the rise – between 1996 and 2006, hyperten-
sion prevalence in the U.S. increased by 20 percent. In 2011, the National Longitudinal Study of Ad-
olescent Health reported that 19 percent of young adults (24 to 32 years old) have hypertension. Plus,
more than half of these individuals were unaware that they had high blood pressure. This is markedly
higher than previous estimates. This will only progress as they continue to harm their blood vessels
with salt and processed food.
If almost one in fi ve already has blood pressure higher than 140/90 by age 32, imagine the health
risks that are in store for this generation. First of all, the risk of death from heart attack and stroke be-
gins to increase when blood pressure climbs over 115/75. Plus, high blood pressure is an important risk
factor for hemorrhagic stroke, kidney disease, stomach cancer, dementia, osteoporosis, hardening of
the arteries, arrhythmia, blindness and enlargement of the heart.
Many people in this age group, who were born between 1976 and 1984, have grown up on diets made
up primarily of processed foods and fast food, and this study revealed that their bodies are already
showing signs of the damage. If they do not change their habits, they will be prescribed medication
that they will have to take for the rest of their lives to control their blood pressure. But this will not
remove the cause of the problem and will put them at risk for harmful side effects. And their poor life-
style habits will continue to cause worsening of their cardiovascular disease. Of course, this outcome is
avoidable with lifestyle changes. This generation of young adults can enjoy a long, healthy life without
blood pressure-lowering medication by starting to follow these guidelines now:
How to reduce blood pressure naturally:
Avoid salt. A population-wide 1200 mg/day decrease in sodium consumption has been estimated to
reduce coronary heart disease cases by 60,000, strokes by 32,000, and heart attacks by 54,000 each
year. Salt infl icts damage unrelated to blood pressure too.
Avoid added sugars.
Minimize caffeine and alcohol.
Focus preferably on plant protein rather than animal protein.
Get plenty of minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants by eating primarily whole plant foods. For
example, fl avonoids from berries have a blood pressure-lowering effect, and nuts can promote proper
blood pressure regulation. Also, a diet high in fruits and vegetables is consistently associated with
healthy blood pressure levels in observational studies.
Exercise regularly and vigorously.
Follow high nutrient diet and achieve a healthy weight.
Dr. Fuhrman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat to Live and Super Immunity, and
a board certifi ed family physician specializing in lifestyle and nutritional medicine. Visit his informa-
tive website at DrFuhrman.com. Submit your questions and comments about this column directly to
newsquestions@drfuhrman.com.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A thanks for act of kindness
Each month, a group of veterans at Coast Fork Nursing Center and a group of veterans from our
local VFW Post 3473 get together for lunch. Usually, the vets from the post come to Coast Fork but
today, we all met up at the local Burger King. Just as I was about to hand over the payment for our
lunch, a man standing next to me handed the cashier his credit card and quietly said, "This one's on
me." I didn't know this man and he didn't know any of us. "Like the Lone Ranger," said Ken, one
of our members in the group. I thanked him, gave him a hug and shook his hand. He said, "They
deserve this." He told me his name was Don. Well, thank you again, Don. You made our day!
Kerrie Wilke
Activity Director, Coast Fork Nursing Center
"No sanctuary" for school district
Your public school are schools, no one regardless of age should be in our country unless that are
here legally. We have no leadership in this state. The governor, Jeff Merckly (sic), Wyden, Peter
D., they all need to go. They think we are going to go by they go against our constitution. Will not
happen. Floyd Prozanski must go as well. I ask you to get your kids out of public schools. It will
only get much worse. I am sick and tired of our veteransbeing slapped in the face. The young peo-
ple between 18 to 40, you best wake up to this attack on your constitutional rights. You're young so
get yourself informed. One more thing, the judge does not have the power to judge from the bench
on constitutional matters of anything. Never go by them, in the end, God wins.
Mike Ritter
Cottage Grove
Likes pet column
This story, fi lled with ups and downs and plot twists was so
intriguing, I didn't stop until I had read the whole thing, including
"Tips." Excellent writing, a great Tale.
Dick Kazan
Offbeat Oregon
California Gold Rush was sparked by a failed Oregon farmer
BY FINN JD JOHN
For The Sentinel
Most residents of Western Oregon complain about the rain — es-
pecially this time of year. But arguably nobody has ever had more
cause to complain about the soggy Willamette Valley climate than James W. Marshall.
Marshall was a carpenter by trade, originally from New Jersey. Looking for new opportunities in the
West, he settled on a land claim in Missouri in 1844, along the Platte River — and promptly contracted
malaria. Seeking a more healthy climate, he joined a late-departing wagon train heading out the Oregon
Trail, and arrived in the Willamette Valley late that year.
Of course, when he arrived he was greeted by the most miserable weather the Beaver State can dish
out. Taking a claim, he tried to tough it out; but by late Spring, the rain had only gotten slightly warmer,
and he was feeling sicker than ever. Finally, as the month of June made an unseasonably soggy and
miserable appearance, he decided he’d had enough. He packed his things and headed south, along the
Siskiyou Trail, into what was then the Mexican territory of Alta California.
A month or so later, he found himself in Sutter’s Fort, the fi rst non-Native settlement in the Califor-
nia Central Valley, near what today is Sacramento. Sutter’s Fort was owned by John Sutter, a German
fellow who was the alcalde (mayor, basically) of the settlement under a grant from the government of
Mexico. Mayor Sutter dreamed of building an empire there in the balmy uplands of central California,
and when Marshall — who was, remember, a skilled carpenter — arrived, he was very happy to see
him. Soon the two of them were in partnership on various projects.
Marshall scouted a likely spot on the American River, and construction got under way. Things went
well, but when it was done Marshall realized the tailrace — the canal that carried the water away after
it turned the water wheel — was too narrow to let the water properly drive the saws. To fi x this, he
started coming down to the mill late at night, opening the sluice gates, and letting the full impoundment
of water roar down through the channel. Out of fear that a worker would be swept away and drowned,
he didn’t do this during the day. He would then come in the morning, close the sluice gates again, and
examine the progress in the temporarily empty tailrace bed. One morning, when he was doing this, he
found something in the bed that sparkled. It was a cluster of large yellow stones. When he beat on one,
it smashed fl at.
Sutter, when he found out, was horrifi ed. He understood what Marshall did not: that with easy money
under foot, nobody would ever do a lick of actual work again until it was all dug up. And if no workers
could be hired, his dreamed-of empire would never be built. Sutter raced to the mill to beg everyone
who knew to keep the fi nd a secret, just for a few months, until the mill could be built.
Of course, word got out. Of course, the labor market dried up as every able-bodied worker grabbed
a gold pan and hit the hills. Of course, the mills languished and Sutter lost his investment. Had Sutter
and Marshall cut their losses at that moment and thrown themselves into the race, collecting all the gold
they could get their hands on as fast as they could, they would have wound up rich men — probably
richer than Sutter had dreamed his agrarian empire would make him. But they did not. Both of them
continued stubbornly trying to make money the old-fashioned way, struggling to build Sutter’s empire
with hired labor while billions of dollars in gold crunched beneath their feet.
Eventually Sutter found himself plagued with aggressive squatters who hired lawyers to try to defeat
his land claim, which was originally through the Mexican government. The squatters also fi lched food
from his fi elds and stole his cattle.
“By this sudden discovery of the gold, all my great plans were destroyed. Had I succeeded for a few
years before the gold was discovered, I would have been the richest citizen on the Pacifi c shore; but
it had to be different. Instead of being rich, I am ruined,” he wrote in 1857 in Hutchings’ California
Magazine.
Marshall fared even worse. The squatters forced him off his land and he lacked the resources to fi ght
them. Like Sutter, he became a miner only reluctantly and not very successfully. He tried a vineyard,
which worked well for a few years but eventually failed as well. In the end, he wound up in a tiny cabin
eking out a living with a subsistence garden.
Ironically, if he’d stayed in the Willamette Valley just one more month and experienced Oregon in
the dry part of spring, he probably never would have left – and his great-grandchildren might still be
farming his land there today.
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Come out and celebrate Valentine's this Saturday, February 11 with friends at the Rural Art movie night at Lorane Grange. Bring your
favorite chocolate potluck dessert to share after a delicious soup dinner. Then after visiting, settle down with popcorn to enjoy the Three
Stooges and their antics followed by the main feature, "Farewell to Arms". Enjoy this timeless movie with Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes
all in a cozy, warm atmosphere in Lorane.
Lorane Christian Church invites you to join them in their annual Friendship Dinner, this Sunday, February 12 at Sizzler's on Gateway
in Springfi eld at 5:30 pm. Everyone purchases their own meal. Come enjoy the company of friends and neighbors plus a good meal.
Pennies for Patients Campaign goes from February 13 - 27. Ask a student about this.
Congratulations to the wrestling team for the great performances in their meets. For a small school, they are doing extremely well
competing against larger schools.
Crow Middle/ High School school is due a huge congratulations. Ten (10) students in the middle and high school are being recog-
nized for their outstanding work at the National Poetry Writing Contest and will be published in the " Imagine" Collection. Great work
everyone.
Senior Meals will now be on Mondays at Rebekah Lodge.
Applegate Elementary is looking for some interested volunteers to read with students during Dr. Seuss week -February 27 - March
2. If interested, contact Megan Leturno at 541-935-2100 or email - mleturno@cal.k12.or.us.
February 27 is the fi rst day of Spring practice at Crow H.S.
(USP 133880)
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