Forget the fadsExperts and some who have tried them say skip the fad diets and stick to good old-fashioned healthy habits to drop those pounds. Page 8.

THRiVEnc» NORTHERN COLORADO WELLNESS

February 2014

PLUS...

Tribune copy desk chief shares journey of dropping nearly 100 pounds, Page 10

» INSIDE: STAY COOL BEHIND THE WHEEL • MEDICARE Q&A • FEBRUARY HEALTH EVENTS

n January 29, 20142 n HEALTH

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Only 5-10% of cancer is known to be hereditary based on genetic testing that can identify a specific cancer-causing gene. Carrying an inherited genetic defect is not a guarantee that cancer will develop.

The first step is genetic counseling, which evaluates the health history of close family-members (parents, siblings and children).

A presence of cancer younger than age 50, two or more relatives on the same side of the family with the same cancer, such as breast or ovarian cancer, or a rare cancer show an increased risk.

Genetic testing involves a blood draw and DNA analysis.

Information derived from genetic counseling and testing may help ease uncertainty and allow you to take proactive steps to protect yourself from cancer.

Hereditary cancers are less common than you may think. However, genetics counseling and testing can help to evaluate your risk and health.

If you have a family history of cancer and want to know more, contact us today.

Kerry Williams-Wuch, M.D.Oncologist/HematologistBanner Health Clinic specializing in Cancer and Oncology Services

Appointments Greeley: (970) 350-6680Loveland: (970) 679-8900www.BannerHealth.com/COCancer

1800 15th St., Suite A, Greeley

2050 Boise Ave., Loveland

Should I get genetic testing to find out if I’m at high risk for cancer?

January 29, 2014 n 3HEALTH n

Aggressive driving, which can evolve into violent behavior known as “road rage,” can cause

many serious problems on our highways, including deaths of drivers and passen-gers. New and veteran drivers must be aware of both aggressive driving and road rage and know how to deal with each when they occur.

According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, the “aggressive driver fails to consider the human element involved. The anonymity of being behind the wheel gives aggres-sive drivers a false sense of control and power; therefore, they seldom take into account the consequences of their ac-tions.” Their driving is a progres-sion of unlawful driving actions such as: speeding beyond the posted speed limit, improper or excessive lane changing, failure to signal intent, improper passing, tailgating, gestures, and lane blocking.

There is a difference between aggressive driving and road rage. Aggressive driving is a traffic offense; road rage is a criminal offense. The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration defines road rage as “an assault with a motor vehicle or other dangerous weapon by the operator or passenger/s of another motor vehicle or an assault precipitated by an incident that occurred on a roadway. It requires willful and complete disregard for the safety of others.”

When the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety surveyed drivers about what angered them most, the results were remarkably consistent. A few specific behaviors seem to likely enrage other drivers and are good actions to avoid.

» Cutting off other drivers when merg-ing into a lane of traffic. Use your turn signal to show your intentions before making a move.

» Driving slowly in the left lane.» Tailgating.» Gestures. Almost nothing makes

another driver angrier than an obscene gesture.

Don’t engage in a fight with other drivers; give them lots of room.

If another driver is angry with you, don’t make eye contact.

Get help if you believe the other driver is following you or is trying to start a fight. Use your cell phone and call the police, and drive to a public place where people are located. Do not get out of your car and be sure to use your horn.

Cell phone users are widely perceived as causing a traffic hazard. If you must

talk on the phone while in the car, pull over for a few minutes and complete the conversation.

The most important action to avoid aggressive driving is to adjust your attitude. By changing your approach to driving, every trip can be more pleasant. Try these ideas for a pleasant change:

» Forget winning. For too many motorists, driving becomes a

contest.» Put yourself in the other driver’s

shoes. Try to imagine why he or she is driving that way.

» If you think you have a problem, ask for help. Drivers who successfully “reinvent” their approach to the road report dramatic changes in attitude and behavior.

Motorist would be well advised to keep their cool in traffic. Be patient and cour-teous to other drivers, and correct unsafe driving habits that are likely to endanger, infuriate, or antagonize others.

Lyn Tausan is a retired school admin-istrator and resides in Greeley with her

husband. She is the marketing/public relations specialist for DRIVE SMART

Weld County.

HOW TO STAY COOL BEHIND THE WHEEL

Lyn TAUSAN

DRIVE SMART

Don’t let road rage get the best of you

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n January 29, 20144 n HEALTH

Most Commonly Overlooked Disease In DentistryWe all know someone or have personally had fillings crowns, toothaches, root canals and teeth extracted. Disease processes that include, cavities caused by bacteria and trauma, cause all these circumstances. Most people think of trauma as getting an injury from an object, falling, or biting into something very hard causing damage to a tooth or to multiple teeth; however, the most common dental trauma is called occlu-sal trauma, and it is the most overlooked disease process in dentistry. Disease is defined as “any impairment of normal physiological function affecting all or part of an organism.” In the case of occlusal disease as defined by Pete Dawson DDS, “Occlusal disease is a destruc-tive process that can result from a bite in which the teeth are not properly aligned resulting in the premature wear of teeth caus-ing fracture and possible loss of teeth.” For most dentists, occlusal disease is undiagnosed due to a lack of knowledge as it is oftentimes not part of a usual and customary dental exam. This is where the concept of complete dentistry needs to be applied. “Complete dentistry embraces a goal-oriented ap-proach of eliminating all factors contributing to destruction of either the teeth or their sup-porting structures such as gum and bone” (Dawson, P.E.: Evalu-ation, diagnosis and treatment of Occlusal Problems. 1973). As one can see complete dentistry concepts have been around since the 1970’s, as well as the knowledge of how teeth, gums, and bone can be damaged by a person’s bite not being properly aligned.

Symptoms ofOcclusal DiseaseThere are many signs and symptoms of occlusal disease that are often overlooked or

considered “normal wear.” First of all, “normal wear” is not noticeable. Traumatic wear presents itself with teeth that are flattened, the enamel has been worn through into the dentin (which is the layer of softer tooth structure below enamel), and front teeth are “shorter” in appearance due to the wear. Other more notice-able symptoms are sensitivity to temperature and biting, loose or moving teeth, headaches, and popping or clicking of the jaw joint. If occlusal disease is not treated early, problems will get worse over time and the teeth will have excessive wear or be lost along with muscles and jaw joints continuing to have discomfort. Ultimately this will lead to complexity of treatment and a large increase in cost to repair the damage.

Diagnosis andPreventionThe key to prevention of occlusal disease begins with a thorough examination and diag-nosis. With early intervention more complicated problems can be avoided or when more severe damage has already occurred, predictable long-term treatment and stability can be obtained if the dentist has the necessary training. Unfortu-nately, due to the structure of dental school’s curriculum, time constraints, and lack of funding, this area of dentistry is often ignored in schools or the student is simply made aware of possible complications due to occlusal disease and told to seek additional information and training after completion of dental school. Because of this, insurances rarely cover diag-nosis and treatment aspects of occlusal disease because dentists are not taught in school how to properly examine and treat complex patients without extensive training after dental

school. The Dawson Academy for Advanced Dental Studies provides dentists with this extra training and knowledge to be able to practice predictable complete care dentistry. There are other curriculums as well, but none have been around longer or have completed as much research as the Dawson Academy.

TreatmentDepending upon the findings of the examinations, multi-ple treatments options are available. One of the simplest treatments, depending upon the severity of your situation, is an equilibration, which is a non-invasive re-shaping of the parts of the teeth that interfere with normal jaw function. This requires a records appoint-ment for the dentist to gather necessary information to first perform the procedure on stone models then a series of two or three appointments are needed to correctly align the bite. If joint problems are present, i.e. popping and clicking, a plastic appliance called a splint or occlusal orthotic may be needed to calm the mus-cles before accurate records may be taken. Some people call this a mouth guard or a night guard. Night guards and splints are not the same, even though some may look alike. Again, extra training after dental school is required to be able to properly deliver a quality splint. If the case is severe or there is significant amount of wear of the teeth, then several restorations may be required to restore the tooth structure that was lost along with the alignment of the bite. This can be done in several appointments over time or all at once depending upon what you and your den-tist decide is the best course of treatment.

ConclusionThere is a great deal of research qualifying the need for the bite to be aligned in order to relax muscles and therefore the jaw joint in order to preserve and protect tooth structure from unnecessary wear. However, as previously stated, this process is not taught in dental school, and the dentist must acquire addi-tional education post-doctorate in order to deliver quality and predictable results that will last. A comprehensive examination and records gathering must

be obtained by your dentist in order for those results to be predictable. Complete Dentist-ry involves not only treating and repairing teeth, but also making sure that the teeth function in harmony with the muscles and jaw joints. If you present to your dentist with a chipped or broken tooth, do not just ask to have it repaired, but inquire as to why it was damaged. There could be underlying causes that have not been addressed and the broken tooth may simply be a sign of a larger issue.

Miller, a co-researcher at Michigan, that the noise-induced hearing loss prevention concoction could be available within two years.

In another study funded by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation,researchers Dr. Robert Floyd and retired Army surgeon, Dr. Richard Kopke, M.D., discovered a combination of two compounds stopped damage to the inner ear caused by acute acoustic trauma – something like an IED exploding. Although they did not indicate what the compounds were they felt that,“This is a very exciting finding,” said Dr. Floyd, who holds the Merrick Foundation Chair in Aging Research at OMRF. “The research is still at a pre-clinical stage, but we’re hopeful that we soon can begin testing in humans.

More recently, Dr. Kathryn Campbell's work at Southern Illinois University involves the use of an antioxidant called D-methionine, a component of fermented protein

that is found in yogurt and cheese. The antioxidant, in concentrated doses, has been found to improve some forms of hearing loss and even prevent hearing loss before the exposure to noise. "We've been able to show in animal studies that if we give it before and after noise exposure, that we can get pretty full protection from noise-induced hearing loss," Campbell said. According to Campbell and her colleagues will continue their studies by looking at the effects of varying dosages of D-methionine on animal subjects exposed to different noises. They have already found that the drug can be given up to seven hours after the noise is experienced and still be effective. "It doesn't mean it's going to work for long-standing hearing loss, but it does mean that in the early stages, you could intervene and keep it from becoming permanent," she said. The research will then move into determining if even more time can elapse before the drug is given and the hearing loss becomes permanent. In a discussion in November 2012 Dr. Campbell stated that the human clinical trials with the U.S. Army are in the early planning stages, Campbell said.

So, with AuraQuell in field tests to defend against noise-induced hearing loss, the D-methionine possibilities also in clinical trial, and the ongoing stem cell research reported by Hearing International (www.hearinghealthmatters.org) last fall, a "morning after" pill for that tinnitus and noise induced hearing loss created the night before may soon be a simple swallow away.

Author’s Bio:Melvin

Bensin Jr.,DDS

Melvin Benson, Jr is the owner and practicing dentist at Integrated Dental Arts in Greeley, Colorado. Dr. Benson graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2001 with a degree in Microbiology. Following undergraduate school, he earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the University of Oklahoma School of Dentistry in 2006. Since then, Dr. Benson has sought out any opportunity to pursue continuing education and refine his skills. He has completed the Core Curriculum at The Dawson Academy, which is a post-graduate institute dedicated to the research and improvement of practicing dentist’s clinical excellence. He has completed a min-residency in surgical dental implant placement and bone grafting from the McGarry Implant Institute. He has also obtain certification in Adult Conscious Sedation from DOCS Education, a nationwide training program that educates practicing dentists on how to ensure the highest level of patient comfort and safety during sedation dentistry. Dr. Benson is a general dentist that has been in private practice since his graduation from dental school in 2006, and he is currently pursuing the Dental Medicine Track and Advanced Restorative Track at the Dawson Academy, including diagnosis and treatment of TMJ Disorders and Sleep Apnea.

January 29, 2014 n 5HEALTH n

We reached out to Aman-da Wood, a radiologic technologist and manager of breast imaging at Uni-versity of Colorado Health in northern Colorado to get an idea of what pa-tients should expect when they go to the doctor’s office for a mammogram.

QUESTION — What is a mammogram and

why are they needed?

ANSWER — It is an X-ray of the breast

tissue to detect breast cancer. It is the gold standard to detect breast cancer at the earliest pos-sible stage, which is often before it can be physically felt. Mammograms are important to detect if there is breast cancer or other potential breast abnormalities.

Q — When should wom-en have their first

screening mammogram and how often thereafter?

A — There are multiple recommendations of

when to start the screen-ing routine. The American Cancer Society recom-mends that at the age of 40, women begin getting

annual mammograms and continue as long as they are in good health.

Q — How should women prepare for a

mammogram?

A — It is preferred for patients to schedule

a mammogram a week after their menstrual cycle because this is when the breasts are the least tender. On the day of the appointment, it is highly recommended to wear two-piece clothing since patients are asked to change into a robe and need to undress from the waist up.

Q — How are patients cared for and what is

the process of a mammo-gram?

A — A mammographer will take a short

patient history question-

naire to document infor-mation such as menstrual cycle history, number of babies delivered, if there is any concerns with either breast and any information about recent mammograms. The patient then is taken to the mammography room where the mammogra-pher will explain and perform the procedure. During the procedure, a soft pad called a Mam-moPad or Bella Blanket is placed on the mammo-gram machine. This pad is transparent to X-rays and helps make the machine less cold to the touch. The mammogram takes four images, two images of each breast. One image is top to bottom — called a craniocaudal, or CC, and the other image is a side angle called mediolateral oblique, or MLO. The compression device goes down the patient’s chest

wall firmly on the breast to spread out the breast tissue and get the best images. This takes about five to 10 seconds. The mammographer performs a quality check to assure the best images will be sent to be interpreted by the radiologist.

Q — What does it feel like?

A — Some people de-scribe mammograms

as painful or uncomfort-able because the pressure gets tight on the breast. If a patient is hurt during the procedure, she should let the technologist know because the last thing they want is to create a painful experience. Routine screenings are generally expected to end in less than 30 minutes, which includes the entire

procedure, from regis-tration to performing the mammogram and leaving the clinic. The images themselves take less than 10 minutes.

Q — What should pa-tients expect?

A — Most women are nervous about the ex-

perience. There are rumors about mammograms and how they can be painful or uncomfortable. Many patients leave the clinic surprised by how good of an experience it was.

Q — What happens after the images have been

taken?

A — The radiologist will read the mammogram

the following day and if more information is need-ed, the patient will receive a call to ask her to return. If there is no additional eval-uation needed, the patient will receive a letter in the mail with results.

WHAT TO EXPECT...

By Odil Maciasomacias@greeleytribune.com » Resources

For more information about breast cancer and its treatment, go to the University of Colorado Health’s Breast Diagnostic Centers web page, www.pvhs.org/breastcare or the American Cancer Society site, www.cancer.org. An online breast cancer risk assessment is available at www.Myriskofcancer.org. If you have questions, contact your health care provider.

» More onlineWant to see what to expect? Go to www.greeleytribune.com and check out a video from University of Colorado Health.

When you get a mammogram » What to expect

It’s not uncommon to feel a little stressed out when you head to the doctor’s office for a new procedure. Of course, a lot of what makes us worry is that we don’t really know what to expect. This series is designed to give you a basic idea of what to expect when you go in for a common medical procedure. If you’d like to know more about a procedure and would like to see it featured here, contact Tribune reporter Odil Macias at omacias@greeleytribune.com.

greeleytribune.mycapture.comP • H • O •T• O R • E • P • R • I • N •T• S

n January 29, 20146 n HEALTH

«Cardiac Education Classes, 3:45 and 5:30 p.m. Mondays and 8:45 and 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays. Call (970) 350-6204 to confirm class times and dates.

«PAD Screening (Peripheral Vascular Disease), 1-3 p.m. Feb. 4 and 18 at Summit View Medical Commons, 2001 70th Ave. Greeley. NCMC’s Peripheral Vascular Disease Screening program offers the education and preven-tion proven to be the best tools for fighting vascular disease and stroke. Patients receive: ankle brachial index: evaluation of leg circulation; carotid artery disease screening: ultrasound of the carotid vessels; abdominal aortic aneurysm screening: ultrasound of the aorta; CardioChek fingerstick: lipid panel; health education with a wellness specialist; health information packet. Cost is $100, payment is due at time of service. NCMC is unable to bill insurance. To schedule an appoint-ment, call (970) 350-6070

«Body Check... What you need to know: Head to Toe, by appointment Feb. 4 and 18 at Summit View Medical Commons. This head-to-toe health assessment gives you the tools to put your health first by receiving a com-prehensive set of preventive health screenings. This screening includes: Health Fair Panel (fasting blood work-please fast 10-12 hours), sleep questionnaire, lung function test, body composition, weight and Body Mass Index, hip and waist measurements, health education with a wellness specialist, EKG with results read by a board-certified cardiologist, Peripheral Arterial Disease screening including: education about peripheral vascular disease, stroke, stroke prevention and osteoporosis prevention, ankle bra-chial index, ultrasound of the carotid vessels, ultrasound of the aorta (above four screenings are read by a board–certified radiologist). Upon Request: colorectal take-home kit, $10, Prostate Specific Blood Antigen screening, $23. Cost for screening is $175. Upon request: Body check with colorectal

take-home kit, $185, body check with PSA, $205, and body check with both, $210. Payment is due at time of service. Wellness Services cannot bill insurance. Call (970) 350-6070 to schedule an appointment. All results are sent to your personal physician and to you.

«STAR-support touch and reach breast cancer survivors (Breast Cancer Support Group), 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 6 at NCMC Cancer Institute Con-ference Room. For more information, call Betty Parson at (970) 339-7137.

«CPR for Health Care Providers (Initial), 5-8:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at NCMC Colonial Room. This class is designed for licensed and non-licensed health care providers. Topics covered include: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, airway obstruction and rescue breathing for adult, children and infants. The certifi-cation is valid for two years. The class is located in the Longs Room, on the second floor, unless otherwise noted. Registration closes at noon, two days prior to class. To register, please call (970) 350-6633. Please notify us one week in advance if you are unable to attend the class. Your registration will be refunded less a $10 service charge. If you are absent from the class, you will be charged a $10 service fee. Cost is $55.

«CPR for Health Care Providers Skills Check, at the Wellness Conference Room. To register, call (970) 350-6633. This class is designed for licensed and non-licensed health care providers who need to recertify through the American Heart Association. The cer-tification is valid for two years. Renew your CPR certification by completing an online CPR module which includes watching a video, reviewing content and an exam. When the online module is complete and a Course Completion Certificate is printed, call Wellness Ser-vices to schedule a skills check. Please bring a copy of the Course Completion Certificate with you. Fee is $50 for CPR

for health care providers and it includes skills check with a certified American Heart Association instructor. Separate fee for online course, payable online.

«Cooking Classes, 6-7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at NCMC Cardiac Rehab Kitchen. Come and learn about healthy cooking options by mixing up some favorite Italian recipes loaded with flavor, anti-oxidants and less guilt. These courses are taught by a registered dietician and are a great way to modify your cooking habits and learn about heart-healthy cooking. Recipes and samples are included! Cost is $10 per class.

«Blood Tests, 7-8:45 a.m. Feb. 12 and 26 at NCMC via entrance No. 6 and Feb. 19 at Johnstown Family Physicians, 222 Johnstown Center Drive in Johnstown. Wellness Services offers low-cost blood screenings open to community members; some immunizations are also available upon request and availability. Appointments preferred, please fast 12 hours prior to blood draw. To schedule an appoint-ment, call (970) 350-6633. Payment is due at time of service, NCMC will not bill insurance. Cost varies.

« “Treat” Your Mini-Valentine to Well-ness, 9-11 a.m. Feb. 14. Join Wellness Specialist, Nicole Alessi and Registered Dietician Stephanie Tarry-Yoo for a special event geared for ages 4-8. It will include a kids cooking class, a creative activity and movement. Cost is $10 for first participating child and $5 for each additional child with same adult. To register, call (970) 350-6633. Space is limited, call early.

«Walk with a Doc, Feb. 15 at the South entrance of the Greeley Mall. WWAD is an international program where interested people meet at a park or public location for an informal 5 minute health talk, and a 30 minute walk at your own pace. Families are encouraged to attend. There are healthy snacks at the completion of the walk and free blood pressure

checks are available for those interest-ed. More upcoming walks are posted at WalkwithaDoc.org.

«Safe Sitter-Windsor, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 17 at Windsor Recreation Center, 250 11th St. Windsor. Safe Sitter is a one-day, six-hour curriculum designed for 11-13 years of age. Participants learn care of the choking infant and child, babysitting as a business, success on the job, childcare essentials, safety for the sitter, preventing injuries, injury and behavior management and preventing problem behavior. Call (970) 674-3500 to register. Registration closes at noon, two days prior to class.

«Elegant Evening in Red Celebrating the Hearts of Women, 6-8:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Embassy Suites, 4705 Clydesdale Parkway in Loveland. Don your red apparel, shoes, or baubles and enjoy an evening of laughter, ladies and love! Dinner, music and guest speaker will delight women of all ages. Admission is $25 per person. Tickets will be on sale until Feb. 12 at the NCMC, McKee Medical Center Gift Shops, Accessories with a Flair 801 8th Ave., Suite 4 in Greeley, or by calling (970) 350-6633. Tickets will not be sold at the door. For more information, call (970) 392-2222 or visit www.bannerhealth.com/NCMCspirit.

«Prostate Cancer Support Group, 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 20 at NCMC Cancer Institute Conference Room. For more information call Julianne Fritz at (970) 350-6567

«NCMC Adult Fitness, the program is available to people in the community who are interested in starting an exer-cise program in a health care setting. Call (970) 350-6204 for information. Cost per month is $45 for individuals and $80 for couples living in the same household.

« Living Well with Diabetes Program, by appointment or class schedule. Services available in Greeley, Loveland,

Windsor and Johnstown. Education offered for patients with diabetes, and their caregivers or families, to provide knowledge, skills and tools to success-fully manage their diabetes. Topics include nutrition, activity, monitoring, medications, problem solving, healthy coping, reducing risks, weight loss, insulin, or considering insulin pump therapy. Cost varies, insurance billing available. Call (970) 392-2344 to schedule an appointment.

«Diabetes and Pregnancy infor-mation, by appointment or class schedule. Services available in Greeley, Loveland, Johnstown and Windsor. Group and individual sessions for women with type 1, type 2, or gesta-tional diabetes to teach skills needed to care for themselves during preg-nancy. Topics include: healthy eating, being active, blood glucose monitoring, medications, problem solving, healthy coping and reducing risks. The goal is to help you and your baby stay healthy. No referral needed for group sessions, referral from provider is required for individual appointments. Individual appointments billable to insurance. Cost is $10 per class. Call (970) 392-2344 to schedule an appointment.

«Pulmonary Rehabilitation — Lung Disease Management Education and Exercise, For more information, call (970) 350-6924.

«Celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday and Good Health, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. March 1 at the Family FunPlex, 1501 65th Ave., in Greeley. The CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado and NCMC Spirit of Women invite you to bring your entire family to dance and learn with hand-on exhibits, healthy food demos, health screenings, and “Ask-the-Doc” with Banner physicians. Meet players from UNC sports teams, enjoy “Minute to Win It” games, kid’s activities, give-aways and more. Fun for all ages. No cost. For more information call (970) 392-2222 or go to www.BannerHealth.com/NCMCspirit.

FEBRUARY HEALTH EVENTS

January 29, 2014 n 7HEALTH n

It’s the start of a new year, which is a time of review and reflection for many people. Now also is a good time to look at the Medi-care changes that will hap-pen this year, and a good time to talk about Medicare as an important source of health coverage for readers who’ll be turning 65.

QUESTION — What will 2014 bring for Medi-

care beneficiaries in terms of changes in out-of-pocket costs?

ANSWER — While prices for everything

seem to go up every year, the good news for Medi-care beneficiaries is that premiums for Medicare Part B will remain the same for 2014, holding steady at $104.90 a month. The Part B deductible also remains unchanged at $147 a year.

Q — What if I have Medi-care Part D prescrip-

tion drug coverage?

A — Those with Medi-care Part D will see a

$15 drop in their deduct-ible, from $325 in 2013 to $310 in 2014. And the “doughnut hole” (cover-age gap), which has been getting smaller each year since 2011, will continue to get smaller, too. In 2014, the doughnut hole will be $158.75 smaller than it was in 2013, another step closer to the goal of eliminating

this coverage gap by 2020.And while you’re in the

doughnut hole, you’ll pay less than half (only 47.5 percent) of the cost of name-brand drugs. The discount for generic drugs also goes up this year: People with Part D will pay 72 percent of the cost of generic drugs, down from 79 percent in 2013.

Q — What else will 2014 bring

for Medicare bene-ficiaries?

A — The Afford-able Care Act

added a strong emphasis on preventive care to Medicare. The start of a new calendar year means that a whole range of free preventive services are again available to Medi-care beneficiaries. Annual services (those you get once every 12 months) include a wellness visit with your primary care physician, a mammogram or prostate cancer screening, and a flu shot.

Other preventive services are available for free, too, including screenings for ab-dominal aortic aneurysms, bone mass measurements, and diabetes screenings. A list of free preventive services is available on the Medicare website at http://www.medicare.gov/cover-age/preventive-and-screen-ing-services.html.

Q — What if I’m turning 65 in 2014? How do I

sign up for Medicare?

A — The answer to that question depends on

whether you are getting Social Security benefits.

If you are getting Social Security, you should receive

materials from the Social Security Administration (or from the Railroad Retirement Board, if you are a railroad retiree) about your Medicare options a couple of months be-fore your 65th birth-day. When you turn

65, you’ll automatically be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, with an option to decline Part B. If you want to decline Part B, be careful: Unless you have other health insurance (such as coverage through a spouse’s policy), there’s a big penalty for sign-ing up later. And you should research your options for Medicare Part D so you’re ready to choose a drug plan.

If you are not receiving Social Security, you have to proactively sign up for Medi-care, with the same options for Part B as just described.

Whether you are receiv-ing Social Security or not, you have an alternative to signing up for traditional Medicare: You can sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan instead. Medicare Advantage plans are private plans that include the

coverage you’d get under Medicare Parts A and B, and they may include drug coverage too.

Your best sources of infor-mation on your options are:

» The Social Security website http://www.ssa.gov/medicareonly/

» The Medicare website http://www.medicare.gov/

You can also get free, in-person help from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP). Call 1-800-MEDICARE to get a referral.

Q — What are key dates to keep in mind for

2014?

A — If you didn’t sign up for Part A or B when

you first became eligible, you can sign up during the general enrollment period, which runs from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2014. Remem-ber, you may pay a higher premium for enrolling late.

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, you have until Feb. 15, 2014, to leave your Medicare Advantage

plan and move to (or back into) traditional Medicare.

Between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7, 2014, you can change your Part D drug plan, join a Medicare Ad-vantage plan, and exercise other Medicare coverage options.

Families USA is the national organization for health care

consumers. We have advocat-ed for universal, affordable,

quality health care since 1982. Ron Pollack is the Executive

Director of Families USA.

MEDICARE IN 2014 — WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Ron POLLACK

Families USA

www.columbinehealth.com

Windsor Medical Clinic1455 Main Street • 970-460-9205

Columbine Health Systems At

• Columbine Medical Equipment• Columbine Poudre Home Care• Poudre Infusion Therapy

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970-449-5540

Columbine CommonsHealth & Rehab FacilitySkilled Nursing/Rehab970-449-5541

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Now Providing Care In Weld County

n January 29, 20148 n HEALTH

From there, she tried the LA Weight Loss program, which uses a menu plan and its own brand of sup-plements to help dieters lose weight. The program seemed to provide a more scientific approach to weight loss, but Park said she began to see that she couldn’t sustain the program in the long term.

“They tell you you have to take their special supplements, and your food choices are really limited,” Park said. “I lost 30 pounds, but the second I quit doing it I gained 45 back.”

She also briefly tried the SlimFast diet, but couldn’t cut a meal from her day without feeling hungry.

“Everything I tried, I would just feel hungry,” Park said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

FEELING DEPRIVEDDr. Emily Anderson, a family

medicine physician at University of Colorado Health’s Windsor Medical Clinic, 1455 Main St., said about half of the patients she sees are trying to lose weight or have health problems related to their weight.

“It’s a huge part of my practice,” Anderson said.

North Colorado Medical Center Clinical Nutrition Manager Kristyn Clark said just as gyms fill up early in the year, registered dietitians also seen an increase in patients. With 68 percent of the U.S. population over-

weight, she said the highest on the list is weight loss.

“During this time it is common for patients to ask about the latest diet they heard about on the radio or on TV or read a book about. We do not encourage the use of fad diets.”

Some of the people looking to lose weight turn to popular diets like the Atkins diet, Beta HCG and liquid juice diets, which Anderson said of-ten produce weight loss up front to get dieters hooked, but generally ar-en’t sustainable.

“They definitely don’t work that well, at least in the long term,” Ander-son said. “A lot of them don’t teach be-havioral changes, and that’s one of the big things for sustaining weight loss.”

Park said the problem with many of the diets she tried was she felt lim-ited by her food choices and had trou-ble in social situations, when she felt like she couldn’t eat what everyone else was enjoying.

“They would work for a little while I was doing them, but I just felt de-prived,” Park said.

Fad diets are often endorsed by ce-lebrities or have infomercials touting their benefits, and in our busy society, these diets can often seem like a quick fix for losing weight, Anderson said. They can also be expensive — many of them requiring dieters to buy the company’s food or pills to produce the weight loss.

Instead, what Anderson usually recommends for patients trying to lose weight is the tried-and-true pro-cess of watching calories, eating nu-tritious foods and getting in an exer-cise routine.

“I know it sounds like an old-school thought, but I recommend they balance their calories in a way that fits their lifestyle. Maybe take three 10-minute walks during the day, or find something that works for their schedules,” she said.

She said she likes dieting pro-grams like Weight Watchers because the program tries to steer dieters to healthy foods, such as fruits and

vegetables, while maintaining a bal-anced diet that doesn’t restrict diet-ers from certain foods completely.

“We recommend no more than two pounds of weight loss in a week,” Anderson said. “On ‘The Big-gest Loser’ you’ll see more, but two pounds per week is the safest mode of weight loss.”

FINDING WHAT WORKSPark decided to try Weight

Watchers at her doctor’s suggestion. The program assigns point values to different foods, and allows dieters a budget of points each day to use however they’d like.

JUST FORGET THE FADSBy CASEY KELLY | ckelly@greeleytribune.com

A SPECIAL MESSAGE ON the refrigerator reads “Eat well-laugh often-love much” as Casey Park prepares a healthy meal for her family at their Greeley home. In the past few years, Park has lost more than a hundred pounds. Below, a wedding photo of Jerry and Casey Park in 2006.

JIM RYDBOM/jrydbom@greeleytribune.com

T en years ago, Casey Park was involved in a car wreck. In the aftermath, she began stress-eating and gained more than 100 pounds in two years. Faced with her upcoming wedding and plans to have a family, she

knew she had to change.“When I got engaged, I started to try some of these diets,”

Park said of the numerous weight-loss products and programs she said she has spent thousands of dollars on over the years.

Park tried numerous metabolism pills, which had helped her lose about 15 pounds, but were expensive and left her feeling jit-tery. She tried the Atkins diet, a low-carbohydrate and high-pro-tein diet, but didn’t get the results she was looking for.

January 29, 2014 n 9HEALTH n

vegetables, while maintaining a bal-anced diet that doesn’t restrict diet-ers from certain foods completely.

“We recommend no more than two pounds of weight loss in a week,” Anderson said. “On ‘The Big-gest Loser’ you’ll see more, but two pounds per week is the safest mode of weight loss.”

FINDING WHAT WORKSPark decided to try Weight

Watchers at her doctor’s suggestion. The program assigns point values to different foods, and allows dieters a budget of points each day to use however they’d like.

A breakthrough occurred for Park shortly after starting the diet, when she attended a birthday party serv-ing only pizza and cupcakes. On pre-vious diets, Park said she wouldn’t have been able to eat anything and would have been preoccupied with her hunger. Instead, she was able to look up the point value for a slice of cheese pizza, decided she could eat the pizza and still have points bud-geted for later and skipped the cup-cakes because she felt full from the pizza.

“It was a moment for me,” Park said. “It was really cool to me that I could do real things like that, because

I’m going to live the rest of my life like this.”

She also began making small changes to her routine, like parking farther away from the entrances of stores and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. In the summer, she be-gan taking nightly bike rides with her husband and kids.

She said her family eats out less and she’s cooking more healthy foods — even learning to cook vegetables so that her kids will eat them.

Park believes the changes she has made to her diet are paying off. Since Thanksgiving, she said she stopped counting her points with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but hasn’t gained any weight since then.

“It says I’ve learned how to eat bet-ter,” she said.

In all, Park has lost more than 100 pounds since she set out to change her life after the car wreck. She still has 20 pounds left to reach her goal weight, but said the impacts she’s seen in her life already have been tre-mendous.

“I tried and failed for six years. I felt so bad for myself,” Park said. “Now, I don’t hide from the camera anymore.”

She still wears the belt she used to wear on the loosest setting while she was at her heaviest, only now she has had to put extra holes in it to com-pensate for how much her waist has shrunk.

“I’ve gone through every hole in the belt and I’ve even had to make new ones,” she said. “It helps me remem-ber — one step at a time, one belt hole at a time.”

JUST FORGET THE FADS

A SPECIAL MESSAGE ON the refrigerator reads “Eat well-laugh often-love much” as Casey Park prepares a healthy meal for her family at their Greeley home. In the past few years, Park has lost more than a hundred pounds. Below, a wedding photo of Jerry and Casey Park in 2006.

JIM RYDBOM/jrydbom@greeleytribune.com

Experts say key to dropping pounds is to stop fumbling with fad diets

» Thinking about starting a diet?WHAT IS A FAD DIET?There are no foods or pills/supplements or diets that magically burn fat or cause weight loss. Any program that has any of the following is probably a fad diet:» Claims of rapid weight loss. Registered dieti-tians suggest steady, slow weight loss of one to two pounds per week. If you are losing weight faster than this it is most likely water weight, muscle and bone loss. You will likely gain at least all of it back.» The diet eliminates certain foods or allows only certain foods. Registered dietitians suggest all foods in moderation. It is not healthy to avoid all carbohydrates or eat unlimited amounts of protein. Your body needs some of each nutrient.» The diet claims use of specific food combina-tions will lead to weight loss. Registered dieti-tians know that combining certain foods does not cause them to burn fat or metabolize faster.» The meal plan is too rigid. Registered dietitians say that compliance with strict diets can only last so long. Healthy eating should be a lifestyle, not a military boot camp you can’t keep up with.» The diet plan claims results with no exercise. Registered dietitians recommend 30-60 min-utes of exercise nearly every day. Healthy diet and exercise in combination is the real “ticket” to a healthy weight.

HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M ON A FAD DIET?The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has resources available on its website, www.eatright.org, under the key word “diet reviews.” This website offers registered dietitians who have the knowledge and expertise to help decipher fact from fad, and review popular fad diets and diet books. This is a great place to start if a person is considering starting a diet.

WHERE CAN YOU GO FOR ACCURATE INFO?» 1. “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans” are jointly issued and updated every five years by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services. They provide authoritative advice about consuming fewer cal-ories, making informed food choices, and being physically active to attain and maintain a healthy weight, reduce risk of chronic disease and pro-mote overall health. Go to www.dietaryguide-lines.gov for a detailed health resource.» 2. Go to ChooseMyPlate.gov to help you follow the new dietary guidelines.» 3. Find a registered dietitian in your area at www.eatright.org.

Source: NCMC Clinical Nutrition Manager Kristyn Clark and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website, www.eatright.org.

» Cooking classes at NCMCThese courses are taught by a registered dietitian and are intended to modify cooking habits and teach about heart-healthy cooking. Recipes and samples are included. All classes are held at North Colorado Medical Center in the Cardiac Rehab Kitchen. Please call (970) 350-6633 to register. Cost: $10 per class unless otherwise notedTime: 6-7:30 p.m. unless otherwise notedLocation: Cardiac Rehab Kitchen at NCMC» Feb 11: “Italian Made Lighter” — Mixing up some favorites loaded with flavor, antioxidants and less guilt. Taught by registered dietitian Mary Branom.» March 12: “Quick and Healthy Breakfast Ideas” — Start your day off right with these simple breakfast ideas that will add power to your day. Taught by registered dietitian Mary Branom.

n January 29, 201410 n HEALTH

It was actually a slow transition at first. Sometime in early winter 2012 I started taking baby steps. I didn’t drastically change my eating habits, but started cutting back on portion sizes, skipping desserts, really paying attention to what I was eating, every time I ate something. I started losing pounds off my 5-foot-5-inch, 235-pound frame. I still remember my grandma being the first person to say something at Christmas. My family thought it was a new haircut, but my grandma, with her grandmotherly instincts, knew better and remarked it was my face that was getting thinner.

I remember how great it felt someone acknowledging the work, even if it was just a little so far, I’d done. I’d seen the progress and so had others. I was hooked and there was no turning back.

After celebrating the holidays, I got to work. On Jan. 5, 2013, I started a food diary and fitness app, MyFitnessPal. It helps that I’m pretty obsessive-compulsive when it comes to making lists for everything, so tracking my food and setting a strict regimen for working out and weight-loss goals was easy.

I did research on a healthy weight for my height and frame — I’ve been blessed with a large build like my dad — and I gave myself all of 2013 to make my goal weight of 150 pounds.

I later revised that number to 143 because of some goofy story I read about Mister Rogers appar-ently maintaining that weight the

last 30 years of his life. True or not, I loved the idea, plus it gave me some wiggle room once I got near my goal, so I went with it.

My goal put me on track to lose about 7 pounds a month or just under 2 pounds a week. I knew I’d be over my goal some weeks, under others. But it was a realistic, healthy pace for me. I reminded myself, like I would many times later, I was in this for the long haul and this is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

I’ve tried countless diets over my lifetime and none has stuck. You name it, I’ve tried it. The most weight I’ve ever lost before was in summer 2003 prior to starting college at Colorado State Universi-ty. I weighed 192 pounds and lost almost 40 pounds on the Atkins diet. But then I went off to CSU, gained it all back and then some, and more over the years.

Growing up I was always very active and athletic, but through most of college and post-grad, life had become very sedentary. I maxed out at 255 pounds a few years ago. There was no incen-tive or motivation to do anything about my weight because behind the scenes I’ve always been very healthy — really good blood pres-sure, good cholesterol, no diabetes, etc. But that didn’t mean it would always stay that way. I never ate terribly bad, either. I wouldn’t sit on the couch all night eating entire bags of chips or doughnuts. I don’t care for soda. I love fruits and vegetables.

But things needed to change.

And this time would be different. It already felt different. I stuck to a simple mantra of eating less and better and working out more.

I entered The Tribune’s annual weight-loss contest in the spring and won after losing 21 pounds, 9.48 percent of my total weight at the time. I remember telling my co-workers I was going to keep go-ing, but I don’t think anyone knew how far I had in mind.

The exercise was the toughest part, as most people can attest to. It’d been years since I had con-

sistently worked out, so I started slow. I walked a ton and danced my butt off, literally, with Just Dance on my Nintendo Wii. Walk-ing turned into walking mixed with a little bit of jogging. Slowly it became jogging mixed with a little bit of walking. The first time I ran a mile straight I thought I could conquer anything. It was my own mini version of a runner’s high.

By summer, I had shelved the video games and was running and biking most days of the week, mixed with strength training.

My lifestyle change was in full swing. I did my first of two big closet purges. By nature I hate shopping and having to start from scratch was quite the undertaking. But the reason I was doing it was worth it.

Soon 30 pounds turned to 50. I remember aiming to weigh 175 by my 10-year high school reunion at the end of June. That morning, I weighed 174.5. Setting little goals along the way made the long-term more attainable. And I let myself splurge. I’d have ice cream every once in a while and drink beer during football games. This was a lifestyle change after all. Real-istically, I’d be eating sweets and imbibing on occasion, so I had to find a way to make it all work.

I hit my goal of 143 pounds on Nov. 10, about a year after those first subtle changes.

Looking back at old photos I still can’t believe it’s me I’m staring at. Now I look more like my mom every day. At least I know what I’ll look like when I’m 50, and I’m not complaining.

I’ve documented nearly every-thing I’ve eaten, drank and every workout I’ve done since Jan. 5, 2013. I weigh 137 pounds as I write this column and fit in a size 6 jeans for the first time since I was in middle school. But it’s not a numbers game, although the Type A person in me loves it. I feel better about myself and for myself. I can run a mile without mentally screaming “When will it stop?” I actually enjoy shopping — in small doses. And the encourage-ment from my friends, family and co-workers has been nothing short of amazing. It’s been a long road, but an exciting one. And I’m happy to say that I’ll never diet again.

Nicole Durham is the copy desk chief and web editor for The

Tribune. She can be reached at ndurham@greeleytribune.com.

IT’S A LIFESTYLE CHANGE, NOT A DIETBy Nicole Durham | ndurham@greeleytribune.com

TRIBUNE EDITOR NICOLE DURHAM shows off a pair of jeans she once wore before she set out to reach her target weight of 143 pounds.

JOSHUA POLSON/jpolson@greeleytribune.com

T he first thing almost everyone says to me is “What made you do it now?”

And I never have a good answer. There wasn’t a huge event in my life, a health scare prompt-

ing change or an epiphany one morning that today was the day I was going to start losing weight. It all just sort of came to fruition, pieces of a puzzle that fell perfectly into place that would end up changing my life.

January 29, 2014 n 11HEALTH n

At the tail end of last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug that may cure some 3 million Americans who have hepatitis C, a disease that interferes with liver function and can eventually lead to liver cancer. It’s a serious illness; many people don’t know they have it until the first symptoms show up years later, and those who do have it undergo grueling and sometimes ineffective treatments.

So when Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of sofosbuvir, which goes by the brand name Sovaldi, announced its new drug was ready for prime time, doctors who treat patients with the disease cheered. Results of clinical trials showed side effects appeared to be mild com-pared to those from conventional treatment and cure rates seemed to be high. A hepatitis expert at Johns Hopkins said, “This is about as hot as I’ve ever seen.”

Stock analysts were ecstatic. One

told the New York Times global sales — about 170 million people worldwide are infected — could sur-pass the sales record of $13 billion set by Lipitor, the statin used to treat high cholesterol. The press touted the good news, too, as it customarily does when a new wonder drug hits the market. And as it too often does, it gave short shrift to the price.

Sovaldi has one major drawback — its budget-busting price tag. Gilead says it will cost $84,000 for the three-month treatment regime. That’s $1,000 a pill.

The debut of sofosbuvir offers a clear example of how expensive technology enters the medical mar-ketplace even before all the evidence comes in that the drug works. In Sovaldi’s case not all the new drug combinations have been extensively tested. “We may be in for surprises, still,” said Charles Rice, a hepatitis C expert at Rockefeller University in New York City.

It also raises important questions about who should pay for the drug. Should it be Medicare? Medicaid?

Commercial insurers? Or should it be the patients whose insurance policies increasingly come with high amounts of cost-sharing in the form of deductibles and coinsurance? And what contribution does Sovaldi make to the overall high price of medical care in the U.S., the highest in the world?

Indeed these questions can be asked about any new drug or medical device. But they aren’t. Other countries have agencies that deliberate such trade-offs. We don’t. To raise them conjures up unpleas-ant images of rationing — patients deprived of life-saving treatments. Asking them also conflicts with a deeply held American belief that the medicine man sits at the right hand of God, and we’re willing to spend anything for cures and treatments even if they are extraordinarily pricey.

The entry of Sovaldi also invites serious questioning about why the price of new medical technology doesn’t seem to decrease as prices for other technological advances

do — computers, for example. There’s no downward pressure on prices. The patent system for new drugs — protection from competi-tion for seven to 12 years — leaves drug makers in the driver’s seat. Payers pretty much have to cough up what drug makers charge. And federal rules prevent Medicare, one of the largest buyers of drugs, from negotiating with drug makers over prices. Basically, what’s left is nega-tive publicity, and the press doesn’t provide much of that.

A recent NPR segment did, however, probing the high price of sofosbuvir. It questioned why the drug maker needed to make its prices so high especially given the large potential market for the drug. One hepatitis expert wanted to know why once Gilead recovered its costs it couldn’t reduce the price.

“I don’t want to say it’s unfair, but it does start feeling more exploit-ative,” she told NPR listeners.

A Gilead vice president respond-ed, “That’s very unlikely that we would do that.” Right now they

don’t have to. Instead Gilead said it would help

patients pay for the drug. You know one of those patient assistance programs that no doubt helps those who have no money for such expen-sive treatment. (These programs do means test; that is, help is available only for those with the lowest incomes.) But does that gesture do much to bring down the cost of the drug and thus the country’s health care tab that feeds into the insur-ance premiums and cost of care we pay out of pocket? No, say many experts. Such programs may serve to keep drug prices high.

All this is something to ponder as we move into an election year with health care and its cost promising to dominate the campaign.

The Rural Health News Service is funded by a grant from The Com-monwealth Fund and distributed

through the Nebraska Press Associa-tion Foundation, the Colorado Press

Association and the South Dakota Newspaper Association.

HOW MUCH SHOULD WE PAY FOR MEDICINES?By Trudy LiebermanRural Health News Service

A number of credible but controversial studies in re-cent years have found that people with certain chron-ic illnesses live longer if they’re carrying too many pounds than if they’re of “normal” weight.

Now, Harvard University researchers have weighed in on the “obesity paradox” with a study that concludes diabetics who are too heavy get no survival benefit. On the contrary, the heavier the diabetic, the likelier an early death.

“These data dispel the notion that being over-weight or obese confers a survival advantage among diabetics,” said Frank B. Hu, a Harvard professor of nutri-tion and epidemiology. Hu’s team carefully accounted for the diabetics’ smoking status, because smokers tend to be thinner but have higher death rates. They also calculated the body mass index — a ratio of weight to height — shortly be-fore diabetes diagnosis.

Studies that bolster the obesity paradox have been faulted for not adequately controlling for the impact of smoking, and for misclassi-

fying people who lost weight after their diagnosis.

Among smokers in the Harvard study, being too heavy increased the risk of death, although the pattern was not as pronounced as for nonsmokers.

The new research, pub-lished in last week’s New En-gland Journal of Medicine, won’t settle the debate. Like previous analyses, it is based on observing a group of peo-ple, then deducing con-nections between certain characteristics and certain health outcomes.

The Harvard research-ers mined two past studies

- one that followed 8,900 nurses for 36 years and another that tracked 2,500 health professionals for 26 years.

“These are epidemiolog-ical studies,” said endocri-nologist Rexford Ahima, a diabetes researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. “They don’t prove cause and effect. We are making infer-ences. My argument would be: Why don’t we design experiments to study the direct effect of weight man-agement in these groups? We could see how phys-ically fit people are, how much muscle they have, not

just how much they weigh. Those studies need to be done.”

While obesity is clearly a modern public health crisis, one of the key measures of the crisis — the Body Mass Index — is a crude tool for assessing individual risks. It doesn’t measure the pro-portion of fat to muscle, or whether fat is concentrated around the waist, a factor that raises the chance of heart disease.

In any case, over the last decade, studies of patients with heart failure, heart disease, end-stage renal dis-ease, high blood pressure,

and diabetes have found that normal weight, based on the BMI, correlates with shorter life.

One theory, Ahima said, is that chronically ill people tend to lose their appetite and become malnourished, “so if you have extra pounds, that’s protective.”

The Harvard researchers don’t buy it.

“Given the relationship of overweight and obesity to cardiovascular disease and cancer, the maintenance of a healthy body weight should remain the corner-stone of diabetes manage-ment,” they said.

STUDY COUNTERS ‘OBESITY PARADOX’ FOR DIABETICSThe Philadelphia Inquirer

n January 29, 201412 n HEALTH

DALLAS — Gotta love January. Beguiling and bewitching, she beckons with possibilities of fit-ness, of health, of habits broken and of others made. And for some, it brings the elusive hope of some-thing that will help us achieve those goals:

The one perfect exercise.It works every muscle! It’s us-

er-friendly! Improves cardio! Makes you look hip and buff!

It’s a tantalizing idea, but it’s not gonna happen, says Dr. Ben-jamin Levine, director of the In-stitute for Exercise and Environ-mental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian. “It would be naive to assume one perfect exercise could do it all.”

So does that call for packing up your gym bag or relegating your Christmas workout shoes to the corner? Of course not - no more than you’d eliminate a favorite and seemingly perfect meal from your diet because it didn’t contain all the proper food groups.

Instead, think smorgasbord based on your own personal as-pirations, says Levine, who is also professor of medicine and cardiol-ogy at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

“People have multiple goals that are important to them indi-vidually — endurance, strength, muscle tone, mortality, functional capacity, competitiveness. They’re all very reasonable,” says Levine, whose physical activities include tennis, cycling, rowing, skiing, jumping rope and running.

“You get yourself in more trou-ble worrying whether one is better than the other,” he says, “rather than how to work a variety into your life.”

But that doesn’t mean a com-mitted fit person doesn’t have fa-vorites. So we asked Dallas-area trainers what they’d deem as the

most (or at least closest-to) per-fect exercise.

They stressed to learn proper technique; otherwise, the exer-cise can do more harm than good. Plus, they agreed that you need to make them part — not all — of your workout.

THE LUNGE» The pro: Lee Goggin, per-

sonal trainer at SWEAT gym.» The reason: It uses a large

number of muscles and joints, strengthening hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, hip adduc-tors, ankles, knees and hips.

I t can be done any-

where and is one of the most versatile ex-

ercises you can have in your tool-box, he says.

» How to do it: Stand straight, hands on hips. Bending your right knee, take a big step forward so your knee is over the middle of your foot; do not bring your knee past your toe. Keeping your back straight and shoulder blades pulled together, lean forward.

Pretend an imaginary line is connecting the dots from chest to knee to heel. When you’re in position, push up on your right leg slowly into standing posi-tion, keeping your foot flat on the ground. Make the motion smooth, stand up, repeat on the other side.

» Variations: Do them going up stairs. Or hold a weight or ket-tle bell in the opposite hand of your bent leg.

PUSH-UP» The pro: Ryan Lehman, per-

sonal trainer and Pilates instruc-tor at Studio 6.

» The reason: It’s an “essential exercise” that works the full body

— shoulders, arms, core, legs, he says.

» How to do it: Position

your body on the floor so your el-bows are bent, your hands un-der your shoul-ders, your legs

back and y o u r

b e l l y drawn

i n . S l o w l y l o w e r yourself to the ground and use your arms to push yourself up.

» Variations: Keep elbows wide or tight; hands wide or to-gether. Or stagger your hands so one is lower than the other. Mod-ify by doing them on your knees or off a countertop. Make them tougher by using only one arm or leg, or clap between each. Or pulse your arms up and down, up and down.

THE BURPEE» The pro: Jonathan Pylant,

director of D-FW and San Anto-nio Camp Gladiator boot camps. (Further support comes from theartofmanliness.com website, which calls burpee “the one exer-cise to rule them all.”)

» The reason: It works four major areas of the body: the front region (chest and shoulders); pos-terior chain (back, glutes, ham-strings); core (front and back); and legs, he says. Adding a push-up also helps work arms; specifi-cally, the triceps.

» How to do it: Stand straight, arms at sides. Bend your knees and lean forward slightly, putting your hands on the ground in front of you. Keeping your moves as smooth as possible, kick your legs behind you so you’re in plank po-sition. Add a push-up if you’d like, then kick your legs so your knees are under you. Throw your arms above your head and jump, re-turning to starting position.

» Variation: While in plank position, with legs either straight or bent, add a push-up. To tone it down a little, instead of kicking both legs back, move one at a time.

THE ‘EXHALATION SQUAT’» The pro: Bill Neal, professor

of physical education at Richland College.

» The reason: You’re using your center of gravity, he says. “That’s your power source.”

» How to do it: To do this vari-ation on a traditional squat, exhale completely. Then, holding your arms straight in front of you and keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees as you lower your body. Go as deeply as you can, keeping your feet flat on the ground and knees facing forward. Then use your pelvis, not your quadriceps, to raise your body to standing posi-tion.

The exhalation squat helps open your hip flexors, which can help prevent such issues as knee and prostate problems, he says.

» Variations: Use a countertop or chair for balance.

THE PLANK» The pro: Erin Bedell, personal

trainer at SWEAT.» The reason: It generates

core strength in the abdominals, hip flexors and back. With a few tweaks, it can be versatile.

» How to do it: Get in push-up position, keeping your body in a straight line and your elbows

straight. “Make sure you are pull-ing your belly button in and that your head and neck are in correct alignment. Hold for 30 seconds and build up to a minute.”

» Variations: Bend your elbows, lower to your forearms and hold. “From there, the possibilities are endless: planks with leg lifts, plank to push-up position, planks with hip raises,” she says.

DOWNWARD DOG» The pro: Shannon D. Cald-

well, yoga instructor.» The reason: It offers strength,

flexibility and balance, plus “gives a quick flush of circulation to the entire body, as well as waking up the brain,” she says. It strengthens the arms and shoulders, opens the chest, stretches the legs from glutes to the Achilles tendon, even when the knees are bent.

» How to do it: Start in plank position with unbent elbows. Keep-ing your hands where they are, push your hips to a 45-degree angle upward. You’re trying to get into the position of an inverted V which, she says, “may take awhile.”

» Variations: By bending your knees to 90 degrees, you “turn the legs into a strength-burning fur-nace.” Or extend one leg to the sky to create a balance challenge. Re-peat with other side.

ADDITIONAL MOVEMENTSIf you’re looking for more cardio,

Molly Setnick, co-owner of Crow-bar Cardio, recommends rowing.

“As a full body exercise, it’s one of the top calorie-burners out there, yet puts very little stress on the joints. It’s a low-trauma, high-re-ward exercise,” she says.

Yolanda Alameda of the Dallas YMCA suggests stair-climbing for its “cardio, strength, stamina and endurance” properties. Walking, of course, almost always figures in, especially if you incorporate hills as well as varying levels of intensity.

Exercises to supplement your workoutThe Dallas Morning News

January 29, 2014 n 13HEALTH n

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ALLERGY AND ASTHMA

COLORADO ALERGY & ASTHMA CENTERS, P.C.7251 W. 20th Street, Bldg N, Ste 1Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 356-3907

1136 E. Stuart St, Bldg 3, Ste 3200Ft. Collins, CO 80525Phone: (970) 221-1681

4700 E. Bromley Ln., Ste 207Brighton, CO 80601Phone: (303) 654-1234www.coloradoallergy.comProfessionals: Dr. Daniel LaszloDr. John James

NORTHERN COLORADOALLERGY & ASTHMAGreeley Phone: (970) 330-5391Loveland Phone: (970) 663-0144Ft. Collins Phone: (970) 221-2370www.NCAAC.comProfessionals: Dr. Vel Kailasam, MDKrishna C. Murthy, MDLoran Clement, MDMichael Martucci, MD

ALZHEIMER’S/SKILLED CARE

BONELL GOOD SAMARITAN708 22nd StreetGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)352-6082Fax: (970)356-7970Web Site: www.good-sam.com

GRACE POINTE1919 68th Avenue Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 304-1919www.gracepointegreeley.com

MEADOWVIEW OF GREELEY5300 29th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)353-6800Web Site: www.meadowviewofgreeley.com

ASSISTED LIVING

BONELL GOOD SAMARITAN708 22nd Street Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970) 352-6082Fax: (970) 356-7970www.good-sam.com

COLUMBINE COMMONS1475 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 449-5540Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

GRACE POINTE1919 68th Avenue Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 304-1919www.gracepointegreeley.com

MEADOWVIEW OF GREELEY5300 29th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)353-6800Web Site: www.meadowviewofgreeley.com

THE BRIDGE ASSISTED LIVING4750 25th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)339-0022

AUDIOLOGYALPINE ALL ABOUT HEARING1124 E. Elizabeth Street, #E-101Fort Collins, CO 80524Phone: (970)221-3372Fax: (970)493-92373820 N. Grant AvenueLoveland, CO 80538Phone: (970)461-0225Fax: (970)593-0670Web Site: www.allabouthearing.comProfessionals: Renita Boesiger, M. A., CCC-A Rachel White, M. A., CCC-ACheryl Hadlock, M. S., CCC-A

AUDIOLOGY ASSOCIATES2528 16th Street Greeley, CO Phone: (970)352-2881Professionals: Robert M. Traynor, Ed. D. F-AAA; Karen Swope, M. A. CCC-A

MIRACLE-EAR2404 17th Street Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)351-6620

749 S. Lemay Avenue, Suite A1Fort Collins, CO 80524(970)221-5225

UNC AUDIOLOGY CLINICGunter Hall, Room 0330Greeley, CO 80639Phone: (970)351-2012/TTYFax: (970)351-1601Web Site: www.unco.edu/NHS/asls/clinic.htmProfessionals: Diane Erdbruegger, Au.D., CCC-A;Erinn Jimmerson, M.A., CCC-AJennifer Weber, Au.D., CCC-A

BALANCE

LIFE CARE CENTER OF GREELEY- ASCENT4800 25th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)330-6400Professionals: Cozette Seaver, PT;Leslie Vail, PT

CARDIAC VASCULAR SURGERY

CARDIAC, THORACIC & VASCULAR SURGERY (NCMC)1800 15th Street, Suite 340Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)378-4593Fax: (970)378-4391Professionals: Lyons, Maurice I. Jr. DORichards, Kenneth M. MDTullis, Gene E. MD

CARDIOLOGY

CARDIOVASCULAR INSTITUTE (NCMC)1800 15th Street, #310Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970) 392-0900Professionals: James H. Beckmann, MD;Harold L. Chapel, MD;John Drury, MD;Lin-Wang Dong, MD;Cynthia L. Gryboski, MD;Cecilia Hirsch, MD;Paul G. Hurst, MD;Brian Lyle, MD;Randall C. Marsh, MD;Arnold Pfahnl, MD; James E. Quillen, MD;Gary A. Rath, MD;Shane Rowan, MD;Ahmad Shihabi, MD;Stephen Zumbrun, MD

HEART FAILURE CLINIC (NCMC)(970) 350-6953Missy Jensen, FNP-C

DENTISTRYASCENT FAMILY DENTALScott Williams, DMD3535 W. 12th Street, Suite BGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)351-6095www.dentalgreeley.com

JULIE KAVANAUGH, D.D.S.3400 W. 16th Street, Suite 8-EGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)351-0400www.drjuliekav.com

RALPH R. REYNOLDS, D.M.D., M.D.Oral Surgery7251 W. 20th St.Building H, Suite 2Greeley, CO 80634(970) 663-6878www.reynoldsoralfacial.com

ENDOCRINOLOGY

ENDOCRINOLOGY CLINIC (NCMC)1801 15th Street, Ste 200Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)378-4676Fax: (970)-378-4315www.bannerhealth.comProfessionals: Nirmala Kumar, MDKimberly Rieniets, MDCorinn Sadler, MD

FAMILY PRACTICE MEDICINEBANNER HEALTH CLINIC1300 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: 970-686-5646Fax: 970-686-5118Providers:Jonathan Kary, M.D.Trina Kessinger, M.D.Anthony Doft, M.D.

BANNER HEALTH CLINIC100 S. Cherry Ave., Suite 1Eaton, CO 80615Phone: (970)454-3838Professionals: Marianne Lyons, DOLance Barker, DO, Internal Medicine

BANNER HEALTH CLINIC222 Johnstown Center DriveJohnstown, CO 80534Phone: (970)587-4974Professionals:Cara Brown, MDJ.Matthew Brown, MDJoseph Gregory, MDCourtney Isley, MDStephen Kalt, MD, Internal MedicineThomas Kenigsberg, MD

FAMILY PHYSICIANS OF GREELEY,LLP-CENTRAL2520 W. 16th St.Greeley ,CO Phone: (970) 356-2520Professionals: Joanna H. Branum, M.D.;Ann T. Colgan, M.D.;Jennifer D. Dawson, D.O.; Douglas A. Magnuson, M.D.;Lori A. Ripley, M.D.;Andrew P. Stoddard, M.D.;D. Craig Wilson, M.D.

FAMILY PHYSICIANS OF GREELEY,LLP-COTTONWOOD2420 W. 16th StreetGreeley ,CO 80634 Phone: (970) 353-7668Professionals: Christopher T. Kennedy, M.D.; Daniel P. Pflieger, M.D.; Mark D. Young, M.D.; Stacey L. Garber, M.D.Amy E. Mattox, M.D.

FAMILY PHYSICIANS OF GREELEY,LLP-WEST6801 W. 20th Street, Suite 101Greeley ,CO Phone: (970) 378-8000Professionals: Daniel R. Clang, D.O.; Tamara S. Clang, D.O.;R. Scott Haskins, M.D.;Mathew L. Martinez, M.D.; Chima C. Nwizu, M.D.;Michelle K. Paczosa, D.O.; Jeffery E. Peterson, M.D.;Kyle B. Waugh, M.D.;Charles I. Zucker, M.D.

KENNETH M. OLDS6801 W. 20th Street, Suite 208Greeley ,CO 80634Phone: (970)330-9061

WESTLAKE FAMILY PHYSICIANS, PC5623 W. 19th StreetGreeley, CO Phone: (970) 353-9011Fax: (970) 353-9135Professionals: Richard Budensiek, D.O.; Jacqueline Bearden, MD;Tong Jing, MD; Janis McCall, MD;Frank Morgan, MD;David Puls, D.O. www.bannerhealth.com

n January 29, 201414 n HEALTH

TRiBUNE MEDiCAL DiRECTORY 2010TRiBUNE MEDiCAL DiRECTORY 2014FUNERAL SERVICES

ALLNUTT & RESTHAVEN FUNERALSERVICES702 13th Street, Greeley, CO Phone: (970) 352-3366650 W. Drake Road, Ft. Collins, CO Phone: (970) 482-3208 8426 S. College Avenue, Ft. Collins, CO Phone: (970) 667-02022100 N. Lincoln, Loveland, CO Phone: (970) 667-11211302 Graves Avenue, Estes Park, CO Phone: (970) 586-3101

GASTROENTEROLOGY

DOWGIN, THOMAS A., MD.CENTERS FOR GASTROENTEROLOGY7251 W. 20th St., Bldg J, Greeley, CO Phone: (970)207-97733702 Timberline, Ft. Collins, CO Phone: (970)207-97732555 E. 13th Street, Suite 220, Loveland, CO Phone: (970)669-5432Website: www.digestive-health.net

NORTH COLORADO GASTROENTEROLOGY (NCMC)2010 16th Street, Ste. AGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)378-4475Fax: (970)378-4429Professionals:Tong Jing, MDMark Rosenblatt, MDAhmed M. Sherif, MDYazan Abu Qwaider, MD

HEALTH AND FITNESS

STUDIO Z FITNESS3483 W. 10th Street, Unit A, Greeley, CO313-6924 or 388-7956

WORK OUT WESTHealth & Recreation Campus5701 W. 20th Street, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: 970-330-9691

www.workoutwest.comHOME HEALTH CARECARING HEARTS HOME HEALTHCARE6801 W. 20th Street, Suite 207Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)378-1409

BLOOM AT HOME1455 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 460-9200Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com/bloom

COLUMBINE POUDRE HOME CARE1455 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 460-9200Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

REHABILITATION AND VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION2105 Clubhouse DriveGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 330-5655Fax: (970) 330-7146Web Site: www.rvna.infoProfessionals: Crystal Day, CEO

HOSPICE

HOSPICE OF NORTHERN COLORADOAdministration Office2726 W. 11th Street RoadGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)352-8487Fax: (970)475-0037

PATHWAYS HOSPICE305 Carpenter RoadFt. Collins, CO 80550Phone: (970)663-3500Fax: (970)292-1085 Web Site: www.pathways-care.orgEmail: info@pathways-care.org

INDEPENDENT ASSISTED LIVINGGRACE POINTE1919 68th Avenue Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 304-1919Website: www.gracepointegreeley.com

MEADOWVIEW OF GREELEY5300 29th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)353-6800Website: www.meadowviewofgreeley.com

INDEPENDENT ASSISTED LIVING W/SERVICES

BONELL GOOD SAMARITAN708 22nd StreetGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)352-6082Fax: (970)356-7970Web Site: www.good-sam.com

FOX RUN SENIOR LIVING1720 60th AvenueGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)353-7773Fax: (970)330-9708Web Site: www.good-sam.com

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

BREEN, JOHN F., MD (NCMC)1801 16th StreetGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)350-6071Fax: (970)350-6702

INTERNAL MEDICINEBANNER HEALTH CLINIC2010 16th StreetGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)350-5660www.bannerhealth.com Professionals:Danielle Doro, MD Giovanna Garcia, MD

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIESBANNER HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT (NCMC)Phone: (970)506-6420

COLUMBINE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT1455 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550(970) 460-9205Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

NCMC - BEHAVIORAL HEALTHDr Patricia Al-Adsani, Child and Adolescent PsychiatryBanner Health Clinic-Internal Medicine2010 16th Street, Suite C, Greeley, CO 80631Banner Health Clinic- Windsor1300 Main Street, Windsor, CO 80550

Shawn Crawford, LPCBanner Health Clinic 222 Johnstown Center Dr., Johnstown, CO 80534Banner Health Clinic-Internal Medicine2010 16th Street, Suite CGreeley, CO 80631

Stephanie Carroll, LCSW, CACIIIBanner Health Clinic1300 Main Street, Windsor, CO 80550Banner Health Clinic Fossil Creek303 Colland DrFort Collins, CO 80525

Elise Pugh, LPCBanner Health Clinic Westlake 5623 W 19th St, Greeley CO 80631Banner Health Clinic1300 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550

Susan Goodrich, LCSW Banner Health Clinic-Loveland PediatricsLoveland Pediatrics, Loveland COBanner Health Clinic- Windsor1300 Main Street Windsor CO, 80550

Renee Rogers, LMFTBanner Health Clinic1300 Main Street, Windsor, CO 80550Banner Health Clinic303 Colland Drive, Fossil CreekFort Collins, CO 80525

NEPHROLOGYGREELEY MEDICAL CLINIC1900 16th Street, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970) 350-2438Professionals: Donal Rademacher, MD

NEUROLOGY

CENTENNIAL NEUROLOGYDr. David Ewing7251 W. 20th Street, Unit CGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 356-3876

NEUROLOGY CLINIC (NCMC)1800 15th Street, Suite 100BGreeley, CO 80631Phone: (970) 350-5612 Fax: (970) 350-5619Professionals: Barbara Hager, MDTodd Hayes, DOWilliam Shaffer, MDChristy Young, MD

NEURO-SURGERY BRAIN & SPINE

BANNER HEALTH NEUROSURGERY CLINIC1800 15th St., Suite 130Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)350-5996Professionals:David Blatt, MDBeth Gibbons, MD

NURSING HOME REHABILITATIONCENTENNIAL HEALTH CARE CENTER1637 29th Ave. PlaceGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 356-8181Fax: (970) 356-3278

COLUMBINE COMMONS HEALTH & REHAB FACILITY1475 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 449-5541Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGYBANNER HEALTH GYN CONSULTANTS1800 15th St., Suite 130Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)353-1335Professionals:Susan Carter, MD

BANNER HEALTH OB/GYN CLINIC2410 W. 16th StreetGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)352-6353Professionals:Neil Allen, MDLaurie Berdahl, MD

WESTLAKE FAMILY PHYSICIANS, PC5623 W. 19th StreetGreeley, CO Phone: (970) 353-9011Fax: (970) 353-9135Professionals: Jacqueline Bearden, MD; Richard Budensiek, D.O.; Janis McCall, MD;Frank Morgan, MD;David Pols, D.O. www.bannerhealth.com

January 29, 2014 n 15HEALTH n

TRiBUNE MEDiCAL DiRECTORY 2014ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY

CANCER INSTITUTE (NCMC)1800 15th Street,Greeley, CO 80631 Phone: (970) 350-6680Toll Free (866) 357-9276Fax: (970)350-6610Professionals: Jeffrey Albert, MDElizabeth Ceilley, MDBrian Fuller, MDBenjamin George, MDSamuel Shelanski, MDKerry Williams-Wuch, MDAlice Wood, MDAriel Soriano, MD

OPTOMETRYFOX HILL VISION CLINIC2001 46th AvenueGreeley, CO 80634(970) 330-7070Professionals: Dr. Nancy Smith, ODDr. Tarry Harvey, ODWebsite: www.foxhillvision.com

ORTHODONTICS

GREELEY ORTHODONTIC CENTER2021 Clubhouse Dr., Suite 110Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 330-2500Fax: (970) 330-2548E-Mail: gocpc@doctork.comWebsite: www.DoctorK.comProfessionals: Dr. Gary J. Kloberdanz

ORTHODONTIC ASSOCIATES OF GREELEY, PCProfessionals: Bradford N. Edgren, DDS, MS3400 W. 16thSt., Bldg 4-VGreeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 356-5900Website: www.drbradsmiles.com

ORTHOPEDICS

MOUNTAIN VISTA ORTHOPAEDICS 5890 W. 13th Street, Suite 101Greeley, COPhone: (970)348-0020Fax: (970)348-0044Web Site: www.bannerhealth.comProfessionals: Randy M. Bussey, MDRiley Hale, MDDaniel Heaston, MDThomas Pazik, MDKelly R. Sanderford, MDSteven Sides, MDLinda Young, MD

PEDIATRICSBANNER HEALTH CLINIC6801 W. 20th Street, Suite 201Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)350-5828www.bannerhealth.com Professionals: Amanda Harding, MDJames Sando, MD

PEDIATRIC REHABILITATIONBANNER REHABILITATION CENTER1801 16th Street, Greeley, COPhone: (970)350-6160Fax: (970)378-3858

PERSONAL RESPONSE SERVICE

BANNER LIFE LINE (NCMC)2010 16th Street, Suite C, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: 1-877-493-8109(970) 378-4743

PHYSICAL THERAPY

FRONT RANGE THERAPY1475 Main Street, Windsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 492-6238Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

HOPE THERAPY CENTER(Formerly North Colorado Therapy Center)2780 28th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)339-0011Website: www.GCIinc.orgProfessionals: Chris Denham, PT; Kryste Haas, OT;Kathie Hertzke, PTA;Moni Kohlhoff, PT;Alex Luksik, PTA;Jeanne Rabe, PT;Howard Belon, PhD, Clinical Psychologist

NORTHERN COLORADOREHABILITATION HOSPITAL 4401 Union Street, Johnstown, CO 80534Phone: (970) 619-3400Website: NCRH@ernesthealth.com

PODIATRYFOOT & ANKLE CENTER OF NORTHERN COLORADO P.C.1931 65th Ave., Suite A, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 351-0900Fax: (970) 351-0940

4401 Union Streetm, Johnstown, CO 80534Phone: (970) 443-0925Web Site: www.footandanklecolorado.comProfessionals: Daniel J. Hatch, D.P.M. Mike D. Vaardahl, D.P.M.

PULMONARY/CRITICAL CARENORTH COLORADOPULMONARY (NCMC)1801 16th Street, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)392-2026Professionals: Kelli Janata, DORobert Janata, DODavid Fitzgerlad, DOMichael Shedd, MDDanielle Dial, NP

PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS

CERTIFIED PROSTHETICS &ORTHOTICS, LLC (GREELEY LOCATION)1620 25th Avenue, Suite A, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: 970-356-2123Fax: 970-352-4943

HANGER PROSTHETICS & ORTHOTICS7251 West 20th Street, Building M, Greeley, CO 80634 Phone: (970)330-9449 Fax: (970)330-42172500 Rocky Mountain Avenue, Suite 2100North Medical Office Building, Loveland CO 80538 Phone: (970) 619-6585 Fax (970) 619-6591Website: www.hanger.comProfessinal: Ben Struzenberg, CPOMichelle West, Mastectomy Fitter

REHABILITATION

ASCENT AT LIFE CARE CENTER 4800 25th Street, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)330-6400Website: www.lcca.comProfessionals: Annie BennettLeslie Vail

BANNER REHABILITATIONPhone: (970)350-6160

COLUMBINE COMMONSHEALTH & REHAB FACILITY 1475 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 449-5541Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

FRONT RANGE THERAPY1475 Main Street, Windsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 492-6238Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

NORTHERN COLORADOREHABILITATION HOSPITAL 4401 Union Street, Johnstown, CO 80534Phone: (970) 619-3400Website: NCRH@ernesthealth.com

PEAKVIEW MEDICAL CENTER5881 W. 16th St., Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)313-2775Fax: (970)313-2777

SKILLED CARE/REHAB

BONELL GOOD SAMARITAN708 22nd Street, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)352- 6082Fax: (970)356-7970Website: www.good-sam.com

COLUMBINE COMMONS HEALTH & REHAB FACILITY1475 Main StreetWindsor, CO 80550Phone: (970) 449-5541Web Site: www.columbinehealth.com

GRACE POINTE1919 68th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970) 304-1919Website: www.gracepointegreeley.com

SPORTS MEDICINE

MOUNTAIN VISTA ORTHOPAEDICS 5890 W. 13th Street, Suite 101, Greeley, COPhone: (970)348-0020Fax: (970)348-0044Web Site: www.bannerhealth.comProfessionals: Randy M. Bussey, MDRiley Hale, MDDaniel Heaston, MDThomas Pazik, MDKelly R. Sanderford, MDSteven Sides, MDLinda Young, MD

NORTH COLORADO SPORTS MEDICINE1801 16th Street, Greeley, COPhone: (970)392-2496

SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY

BANNER REHABILITATION CENTER1801 16th Street, Greeley, COPhone: (970)350-6160Fax: (970)378-3858

NORTHERN COLORADOREHABILITATION HOSPITAL 4401 Union Street, Johnstown, CO 80534Phone: (970) 619-3400Website: NCRH@ernesthealth.com

UNC SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY CLINICGunter Hall, Room 0330, Greeley, CO 80639Phone: (970)351-2012/TTYFax: (970)351-1601Web Site: www.unco.edu/NHS/asls/clinic.htmProfessionals: Lynne Jackowiak, M.S., CCC-SLPJulie Hanks, Ed.DPatty Walton, M.A., CCC-SLP

SURGERY GENERAL & TRAUMA

BARIATRIC SURGERY (NCMC)1800 15th Street, Suite 200, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)378-4433866-569-5926Fax: (970)378-4440Professionals: Michael W. Johnell, MD

SURGERY WESTERN STATES BURN CENTER (NCMC)1801 16th Street, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)350-6607Fax: (970)350-6306Professionals: Gail Cockrell, MD Cleon W. Goodwin, MD BURN

SURGICAL ASSOCIATES OF GREELEY PC (NCMC)1800 15th St. Suite 210, Greeley, CO Phone: (970)352-8216Toll Free: 1-888-842-4141Professionals: Molly Decker, DO;Michael Harkabus, MD; Jason Ogren, MD;Samuel Saltz, DO; Robert Vickerman, MD

URGENT CARE

SUMMITVIEW URGENT CARE2001 70th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)378-4155Fax: (970)378-4151www.bannerhealth.comProfessionals: Susan Beck, MDThomas Harms, MDSusan Kelly, MDAmy E. Shenkenberg, MDLinda Young, MD

UROLOGY

MOUNTAIN VISTA UROLOGY5890 W. 13th Street, Suite 106, Greeley, CO 80634Phone: (970)378-1000Professionals:Curtis Crylen, MDDavid Ritsema, MDJames Wolach, MDwww.bannerhealth.com

VEINS

VEIN CLINIC (NCMC)1800 15th Street, Suite 340, Greeley, CO 80631Phone: (970)378-4593Fax: (970)378-4591Professionals:Maurice I. Lyons Jr., DOKenneth M. Richards, MDGene E. Tullis, MD

n January 29, 201416 n HEALTH

Miller, a co-researcher at Michigan, that the noise-induced hearing loss prevention concoction could be available within two years.

In another study funded by the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation,researchers Dr. Robert Floyd and retired Army surgeon, Dr. Richard Kopke, M.D., discovered a combination of two compounds stopped damage to the inner ear caused by acute acoustic trauma – something like an IED exploding. Although they did not indicate what the compounds were they felt that,“This is a very exciting finding,” said Dr. Floyd, who holds the Merrick Foundation Chair in Aging Research at OMRF. “The research is still at a pre-clinical stage, but we’re hopeful that we soon can begin testing in humans.

More recently, Dr. Kathryn Campbell's work at Southern Illinois University involves the use of an antioxidant called D-methionine, a component of fermented protein

that is found in yogurt and cheese. The antioxidant, in concentrated doses, has been found to improve some forms of hearing loss and even prevent hearing loss before the exposure to noise. "We've been able to show in animal studies that if we give it before and after noise exposure, that we can get pretty full protection from noise-induced hearing loss," Campbell said. According to Campbell and her colleagues will continue their studies by looking at the effects of varying dosages of D-methionine on animal subjects exposed to different noises. They have already found that the drug can be given up to seven hours after the noise is experienced and still be effective. "It doesn't mean it's going to work for long-standing hearing loss, but it does mean that in the early stages, you could intervene and keep it from becoming permanent," she said. The research will then move into determining if even more time can elapse before the drug is given and the hearing loss becomes permanent. In a discussion in November 2012 Dr. Campbell stated that the human clinical trials with the U.S. Army are in the early planning stages, Campbell said.

So, with AuraQuell in field tests to defend against noise-induced hearing loss, the D-methionine possibilities also in clinical trial, and the ongoing stem cell research reported by Hearing International (www.hearinghealthmatters.org) last fall, a "morning after" pill for that tinnitus and noise induced hearing loss created the night before may soon be a simple swallow away.

Homeopathic Medicine and Tinnitus Treatment– Part IAudiologists know that many people suffer from Tinnitus every day. Historically, it was a problem for Joan of Arc, Ludwig von Beethoven, Charles Darwin, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo, and many other famous and not so famous people. Our quest in this series of articles is to look at tinnitus and its treatment with Homeopathic Medicine. 40 mil-lion people suffer from an auditory disorder known as tinnitus. Tinnitus is condition of a white noise, ringing, a buzz or other noise in the ear that is only heard by the patient. A frustrating and annoying noise, it is most noticeable in quiet places or when trying to sleep. While it may occur in isolation, it often is associated with a hearing loss. Patients come to the audiology clinic after seeking their physician who has tried some of the accept-ed treatments such as vasodila-tors and other medication which usually end with no cure for the problem. Consequently, patients are told there is nothing that can be done for the condition and just get used to it, or just live with it. Tinnitus patients become then become desperate and try a number of alternative medicine techniques, compounds that are said to be helpful for tinnitus. In reality, most are not helpful and a total waste of funds.

These days there seems to be a plethora of homeopathic treatments for tinnitus. They take the form of pills and compounds of roots, bark, animal parts and other ingredients that are all sup-posed to get rid of tinnitus. We know the trade names, such as Quietus, Ring Stop, T-Gone, Tinni-tus Miracle Cure, and many lesser known and/or even homemade brands. The next few weeks we will investigate the homeopathic treatment of tinnitus and then discuss some of the non-medical audiological treatments for the disorder. Does these homeopath-ic compounds really work or are there testimonials and “results” just plain poppycock praying on

the suffering and frustration of tinnitus patients? Can homeo-pathic medicine be used in a tin-nitus treatment regimen either in isolation or to augment non-med-ical audiological treatment such as counseling, masking, tinnitus retraining therapy, or the new Neuromonics tinnitus treatment program? To begin our discus-sion, this week we will review Homeopathic Medicine and its origin.

Origins of Homeopathic Medicine?Modern homeopathy was pio-neered by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1877-1843). Samuel Hahnemann studied medicine at the Universi-ty of Leipzig, University of Vienna, and finally graduated with an MD from the University of Erlangen in Germany in 1779. Subsequently, he took jobs as a village doctor in addition to various other

positions and, finally, resort-ed to work as a translator in order to feed his family. Ob-viously medi-cine was not a very lucrative occupation in

1780s Europe. Dr. Hahnemann was justifiably distressed about the traditional treatments of the time such as bloodletting, leech-ing, purging, and other 18th Cen-tury medical procedures that did far more harm than good. In the early 1800s he began to develop a medical system based upon single drugs in harmless doses, pure observation, empiricism and experimentation. Although unpopular in his own time, his writings and teachings at the University of Leipzig established the fundamental principles of the science and art of Homoeopathy and netted him the title of the “Father of Experimental Pharma-cology”. Among his numerous publications were Essay on a New Principle (1776), The Medicine of Experience (1805), Contrast of the Old and New Medical systems (1825), as well as a number of other controversial publications or Organons on his homeopathic methods. Thinking that treat-ment of disease should be to “balance the body’s humors by

opposite effects”, Dr. Hahnemann developed his “Similia Similibus Curentur”/“Like Cures Like” or “The Law of Similars” that states that symptoms of disease can be cured by extremely small amounts of substances that pro-duce similar symptoms in healthy people when administered in large amounts – a notion that prevails today in the development vaccine for various diseases. The Law suggests that when a remedy produces symptoms in a healthy person, that same substance will cure those same symptoms when manifested by a person in a diseased state. Dr. Hahnemann was the first physician to actually prepare medicines by proving

their efficiency on healthy human beings to determine how they would act to cure diseases. Before Hahnemann’s homeo-pathic methods, many spurious medicines and treatments were introduced on speculation, mainly on the basis of author-ity without any knowledge or experimental verification. The law of cure has been verified by millions of homoeopaths all over the world since the time of Hahnemann. In 1835, Hahnemann moved to Paris where he become the physician to the elite of the city and his methods were refined. Throughout his life Dr. Hahnemann continuously experimented with various sub-stances and even introduced the smelling of remedies, or Olfaction, in 1832. It was, how-ever, during this last phase of his long life that he established Olfaction and the LM potencies as central pillars of his Paris homeopathic practice. These procedures are mentioned in detail in his sixth and final Orga-non published in 1842, which did not see the light of day until 1922. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the first physician to really eval-uate pharmaceuticals and what

they could cure, was truly one of the 18th and early 19th Century medical pioneers.What IS Homeopathic MedicineWeb MD defines a homeopathic health practitioner or homeopath as one that uses pills or liquid mixtures (solutions) containing only a little of an active ingredi-ent (usually a plant or mineral) for treatment of disease. These are known as highly diluted or “potentiated” substances. There is some evidence to show that homeopathic medicines may have helpful effects. In Europe, home-opathy is a very popular form of treatment for many disorders in countries such as the UK, Bel-gium, France and Germany. It en-joys a strong and increasing level of support from both the general population and the medical com-munity. In the US, however, it is much less popular and does not enjoy the same support from the medical community. In many respects, this is not surprising as

the general population will usu-ally accept a treatment method-ology that works for them, while many in the medical community are unable to accept or unable to be seen to accept, a (Insert Slide #5 about here) treatment mode that is contrary to their teaching. Dr. Hahnemann found this out in the early 19th Century and it is no different today. However, the latest research by leading Univer-sities, private research institu-tions and companies, using new devices such as NMRI (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging), is showing that some homeopathic treatments are being proven scientifically. The fact that ho-meopathy appears to work on a completely different set of princi-ples to that of allopathic medicine explains why the technology used to quantify its benefits has only recently become available. The next article will explore some of these benefits and how they are being proven.

Robert M. Traynor is the CEO and practicing audiologist at Audiology Associates, Inc., Greeley, Colorado with particular emphasis in amplification and operative monitoring. Dr. Traynor holds degrees from the University of Northern Colorado (BA, 1972, MA 1973, Ed.D., 1975), the University of Phoenix (MBA, 2006) as well as Post-Doctoral Study at Northwestern University (1984). He taught Audiology at the University of Northern Colorado (1973-1982), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (1976-77) and Colorado State University (1982-1993). Dr. Traynor is a retired Lt. Colonel from the US Army Reserve, Medical Service Corps and currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Audiology at the University of Florida, the University of Colorado, and the University of Northern Colorado. For 17 years he was an Audiology Consultant to major hearing instrument and equipment manufacturers providing academic and product orientation for their domestic and international distributors. A clinician and practice manager for over 35 years, Dr. Traynor has lectured on most aspects of Audiology in over forty countries.

Author’s Bio:Robert M. Traynor,

Ed.D., MBA, FAAA

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