Published: April 25, 2007 09:17 pm         

Health Matters: Hospital will use old magazines

TERRE HAUTE — You hate to throw away all those magazines you have laying around the house — after all, they cost money — but what do you do with them?

Well, does Volunteer Services at Union Hospital have a deal for you: Just take your magazines to their office on the first floor of the hospital and they’ll take them off your hands. You don’t even have to remove your name and address labels; the volunteers will do it for you.

After that, the magazines will be distributed to waiting areas in the hospital for visitors to read while they wait for an appointment or to find out how a loved one is doing. There’s only one rule: No magazines older than six months, please.

It’s a win-win situation. You get rid of some clutter while at the same time helping people pass the time during what is often a stressful situation.

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If you have a child who needs a sports physical for school, mark May 16 on your calendar. The Clay City Center for Family Medicine at 316 Lankford St. will offer free physicals from 3 to 7 p.m. that day.

The center, which is just across the street from Clay City High School, has been giving the free physicals for about 14 years now, says Nancy Hyatt, who’s the receptionist “and apparently the PR person now, too.”

On average, about 200 school-age athletes show up for the annual free physical day. “We have eight exam rooms, a doctor in every room and I control the front,” Hyatt said. “We have stations for height, weight, blood pressure and an eye exam, then the doctor checks you out.”

The center usually is staffed by two physician’s assistants and its medical director, Dr. Eric Beachy. Residents from Union Hospital’s Family Practice Center will be helping out with the sports physicals on May 16. The usual cost of a sports physical, by the way, runs from $70 to $100, Hyatt said.

You don’t even have to live in Clay County to take advantage of the physicals: “Anybody can come,” Hyatt said. “Just show up.”

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If you’re a college student, you’d better watch those keggers. There’s a small, non-published study out you may want to hear about. Seems that too much drinking — even in college students — may lead to an increased risk of heart disease.

In a small study of about 25 college students, an undergraduate researcher at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., found significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein in heavy drinkers. C-reactive protein is a marker for inflammation that may be linked to heart disease.

The study, presented at a recent American Heart Association meeting, found a C-reactive protein level of 0.85 milligram in non-drinkers, 0.58 mg in moderate drinkers, and 1.25 mg in heavy drinkers. On average, C-reactive protein levels are 0.9 mg.

Moderate drinkers were identified as those who had two to three drinks once or twice a week. Heavy drinkers had three or more drinks at least three days a week or five or more drinks in one sitting at least twice a week. Those listed as non-drinkers had no more than one drink on no more than one day a week.

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Yes, you know you should get a colonoscopy to check for colon cancer. Yes, you know that getting regular checks are your best way to prevent colon cancer. Yes, you kind of keep putting it off because you just don’t like to think about how it’s done.

The June 1 issue of “Cancer” says some centers are using CT scans to screen for polyps in the colon that could develop into cancer. The virtual colonoscopy is not only non-invasive, a mathematical model comparing CT scans to more traditional methods of detection found it to be safer and more cost-effective while being nearly as effective in preventing cancer.

In the model, no screening resulted in 2,940 cases of cancer. Flexible sigmoidoscopy resulted in a reduction of 31.4 percent of that number; standard colonoscopy reduced the number by 40.4 percent; and virtual colonoscopy by 37.8 percent if the size limit was ignored.

“The best screening test for a given individual may well be the test they are both willing and able to undergo,” said the authors, who are from the University of Wisconsin. They added that virtual colonoscopy should be considered as “an additional effective option to increase overall compliance” in having the test done.