Page 8 The INDEPENDENT, April 16, 2009 To Your Health! Diabetics, learn your eye health ABC’s By Judy Hargis, P.A., and Audeen Wagner Growth Hormones There is an ongoing contro- versy regarding the use of growth hormones to obtain greater productivity in dairy cows. Foremost in this debate is a growth hormone called re- combinant bovine growth hor- mone (rBGH), also called rBST, recombinant bovine soma- totropin. This hormone is found naturally in humans and all ani- mals; the problems arise with its overuse. The FDA approved the use of rBGH in the 1930s after a short trial with laboratory mice. After decades of scientific studies that indicate human health issues, the FDA “turns a deaf ear to the pleas of consumers, food safety organizations, and scientists to reverse its approval of the hormone, or simply to require labeling of foods containing rBGH,” states the Center for Food Safety. CFS is a public interest environmental advocacy group whose mission is to challenge the harmful product technology and to pro- tect the public. We do see some products these days labeled “does not contain growth hormones” but it is not required univer- sally, and you seldom, if ever, see a label that claims growth hor- mone use! In dairy cows treated with rBGH, a number of health problems occur, including leg and hoof problems and serious reproductive abnormalities. Birth defects in calves, for instance, can be direct- ly linked to the use of rBGH. Most alarming, though, from the con- sumer standpoint, is a dramatic increase in the frequency of mas- titis, an infection of the udder that affects the quality of the milk, making it unfit for human consumption. As reported in a recent issue of To Your Health!, antibiotic re- sistance in humans is becoming a huge health problem. Well, guess what, antibiotics are used to combat mastitis in milk cows, and residues of these drugs end up in milk and other dairy prod- ucts. Scientists agree that this contributes to the increase in an- tibiotic resistance, which makes the use of antibiotics used to treat human infections less effective…it’s a vicious cycle. In addition, studies have shown conclusively that the levels of a hormone called “insulin-like growth factor-1” (IGF-1) are elevat- ed in milk from dairy cows treated with rBGH, raising concerns that this might be contributing to the increased incidence of dia- Please see page 21 VERNONIA INN Enjoy a quiet weekend with us. FULL SIZE, IN ROOM HOT TUBS Queen Beds • Private Bath • Separate Entrance Cable TV • Phones • Handicapped Access • Commercial Rates FOR RESERVATIONS CALL 1-800-354-9494 / 503-429-4006 Gift Certificates Available 900 MADISON AVE., VERNONIA, OR 97064 Just one block off scenic Nehalem River Hwy. (Oregon 47) Did you know that an esti- mated 17.9 million Americans have been diagnosed with dia- betes and another 57 million people are at risk of getting the disease? What many of these individ- uals may not know is that all people with diabetes – both type 1 and type 2 – are at risk for developing diabetic retin- opathy, a leading cause of vi- sion loss among adults in the United States. In fact, people with diabetes are 25 times more likely to lose their vision than those without the disease. So this April, EyeCare Amer- ica is asking Americans with di- abetes to know the ABCs of di- abetes and eye health. A – Alert your Eye M.D. if you have been diagnosed with diabetes; B – Be sure to have your eyes examined regularly; and C – Call 1-800-272-EYES (3937) if you are 65 or older and without an ophthalmolo- gist, to see if you qualify for a no-cost dilated eye exam through EyeCare America’s Di- abetes EyeCare Program. By following these simple steps, EyeCare America hopes to help protect seniors from preventable vision loss caused by diabetes. “Diabetes causes up to 24,000 new cases of vision loss each year,” said C. Pat Wilkin- son, MD, ophthalmologist and chairman of EyeCare Ameri- ca’s Diabetes EyeCare Pro- gram. “What people don’t know is that early detection, timely treatment and appropriate fol- low-up care can reduce their risk of blindness by 95 percent even for people with estab- lished and significant diabetic retinopathy.” Diabetic retinopathy is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. In some people with diabetic retinopathy, blood vessels may swell and leak fluid. In other people, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina. In its early stages, diabetic retinopathy usually has no warning signs. Over time, however, the vision blurs and everyday tasks become more difficult. Vision loss cannot usu- ally be regained. EyeCare America’s Diabetes EyeCare Program is designed for people who: · Are age 65 and older · Are U.S. citizens or legal residents · Have not seen an ophthal- mologist in three or more years · Do not have insurance through an HMO or the VA. People eligible for a referral through the program receive a comprehensive, medical eye exam and up to one year of care at no out-of-pocket cost for any disease diagnosed dur- ing the initial exam. Volunteer ophthalmologists accept Medicare and/or other insur- ance reimbursement as pay- ment in full. Individuals without insurance are seen at no charge. For a Diabetes EyeCare Program referral, those inter- ested may call 1-800-272- EYES (3937) toll-free, 24 hours a day, every day, year round. To learn more about diabetic retinopathy, its risk factors and treatment options; view inform- ative videos; and to learn how your vision would be affected by diabetic retinopathy, visit www.eyecareamerica.org. Founded in 1985, EyeCare America, a public service pro- gram of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthal- mology, is committed to the preservation of sight, accom- plishing its mission through public service and education. EyeCare America’s (ECA) pub- lic service programs provide eye care services to the med- ically underserved and for those at increased risk for eye disease, through its corps of 7,000 volunteer ophthalmolo- gists. More than 90 percent of the care is provided with no out-of-pocket cost to the pa- tients. Public service includes programs for seniors, glauco- ma, diabetes, AMD and chil- dren. EyeCare America, the largest program of its kind in American medicine, has helped more than one-million people since its inception in 1985. More information can be found at: www.eyecareamerica.org. No health insurance? You aren’t alone Chris Thomas, Oregon News Service. About one in three Oregoni- ans younger than age 65 has gone without health insurance for at least a portion of the last two years, according to a new report from Families USA, a national health care reform ad- vocacy group. The group is re- leasing data by state to add momentum to the push for re- form. In Oregon, most of the uninsured are working, and Families USA executive direc- tor Ron Pollack says their lack of insurance is not just a tem- porary situation. “One of the significant things to understand about this is that the overwhelming majority of these 1.1 million Oregonians, 75.8 percent - more than three out of every four - were unin- sured for at least six months.” Pollack says Oregon’s unin- sured figures are slightly higher than the national average. His group advocates making health insurance available to every- one in America – an idea that some see as giving too large a role for government to play, at the expense of private insur- ance companies. Ellen Pinney, director of the Oregon Health Action Cam- paign, refers to it as “churning,” when people move in and out of the health care system based on their inability to get – or to afford – insurance for months at a time. “You don't have to scratch too hard at the data that Fami- lies USA has just released about our state to see that it proves that, more likely than not, one-third of Oregonians are churning. They do not have the ability to establish a rela- tionship with a provider.” Pinney says the result is that people don't seek regular med- ical treatment, which ends up See Health on page 20