Geneology International

Tag: Clinic

  • A glimmer of hope at UNC clinic re: long COVID

    A glimmer of hope at UNC clinic re: long COVID

    By Thomas Goldsmith

    Tony Marks in Pinehurst and Brooke Keaton in Charlotte both lived orderly, productive lives two years ago. That was clearly reflected in their steady jobs and close family ties.

    However, their experiences with the long-term effects of infection with the COVID-19 virus have touched and in many cases devastated nearly every other aspect of each of their days.

    Marks and Keaton don’t know each other, but both have worked with John M. Baratta, who practices physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina COVID Recovery Clinic. There, Baratta and his colleagues attempt to explore several paths out of these lingering, disabling after-effects of the pandemic.

    “I haven’t had a day in over a year and a half that I have not hurt, that I have not been tired, that my hands just don’t feel like they have arthritis,” Marks, 55, a software executive, said during a physical therapy session at the clinic. “I just can’t explain how bad I just physically hurt, on a day-to-day basis, and there’s the fatigue, and so I know there’s gotta be something else, right? And that’s why I want to do this so badly.”

    As Marks battles the lingering effects of COVID, he faces unpredictable limits on his working days. Keaton struggles with her symptoms so much that she has lost her job as a preschool teacher.

    However, in the larger picture emerging from the UNC clinic and others, there are signs that help may be on the way for the patients known as COVID “long haulers” — aid in the form of new research, promising treatments, and evolving approaches to therapy.

    New research holds hope

    Approaches monitored at the UNC clinic include new hard science about microclots that may lie at the heart of some of long COVID’s symptoms, a potentially game-changing analysis introduced by South African researcher, Resia Pretorius. 

    Dr. John M. Baratta, founder and co-director of the UNC Health COVID Recovery Clinic. Credit: Thomas Goldsmith

    “Her lab has demonstrated that there are circulating microclots in the blood of many people with long COVID,” Baratta explained during an interview at the Chapel Hill-based clinic. “These clots don’t necessarily block blood vessels causing stroke or heart attack. What these microclots do is trap inflammatory molecules and they prevent the breakdown of some of the inflammation. 

    “So these circulating microclots can cause this persistent inflammatory process. And they’ve actually, in some early clinical research, been trying to anticoagulate patients in an attempt to break down the microclots and some of their early data suggests favorable results.” 

    The theory of microclots’ role in the disease has created excitement as an example of a new direction, even though Pretorius’s findings were based on a relatively small sample of patients and separate research found lower levels of microclotting in the vessels of other long COVID patients. 

    It’s too early to know whether Pretorius’s findings will be replicated on a large scale, Baratta said, but her findings show the kind of progress that will be necessary to advance the treatment of long COVID.

    Known internationally before her research on long COVID, Pretorius gave the keynote speech at a symposium on approaches to long COVID presented by UNC in Greensboro in May.

    How many people have long COVID?

    A U.S. Government Accountability Office estimate found that more than seven million people, and as many as 23 million people nationally have long COVID.

    A recent study of more than 100,000 people in Scotland, regarded as authoritative because it relied on National Health Service data, found that 6 percent of people diagnosed with acute COVID-19 had not recovered at all and 42 percent had only partially recovered.

    How to avoid energy deficits

    Closer to home, therapists at the clinic give advice to patients on rationing their energy by comparing it to a balance on a credit card, a finite amount that must be carefully monitored lest it fall into a steep deficit. UNC clinic staffer Courtney Matrunick, who holds a doctorate in physical therapy, explained the theory about pacing to Marks during a visit to the Chapel Hill clinic. She told him that he will exhaust his energy balance more quickly as a COVID long hauler.

    “Every morning you’re waking up and getting $100. It may not feel like you’re getting $100, but you’re getting this $100,” Matrunick said during a therapy session in a clinic examination room. “But you’re using more. So now you’re in a deficit. Right? So the next morning — and this is just super simplified — you have $100 and you use $150. You’re in a $50 deficit already.

    “Then the next day you wake up and you don’t even have the energy to pay off that bill. But you still have to survive. You still have to eat, you still have to do everything, but you feel like, ‘I can’t get out of bed,’” she said. “And that’s because you literally have used everything.”

    Matrunick said that’s often when a long COVID patient ends up needing to stay in bed for a couple of days to catch up.

    Matrunick cites California physical therapist and academic Todd Davenport as her source for the credit-card analogy. More specialized information is available on this podcast. Davenport recommends carefully tailoring activities and any exercise to avoid making symptoms worse after exertion.

    Oxygen deprivation may cause long-haul symptoms

    Researcher Pretorius asserts that some clinicians have made incorrect diagnoses in cases of long COVID because most tests don’t pick up on the presence of inflammation hidden within the microclots she’s studying.

    “Many people feel that they go to a clinician and they are misdiagnosed,” Pretorius said during a video interview with the PolyBio Research Foundation.  “Many of the typical laboratory blood-type analyses will not pick up any differences in inflammatory markers. And the patient has become very desperate as the condition is ascribed to a psychological issue.”

    In Pretorius’s research, two infusions of the anticoagulant drug succeeded in dissolving the microclots. This allowed treatment of the inflammation that can cause damage to blood vessels and prevent oxygen – known as hypoxia – from reaching cells.

    “And if you look at the (long COVID) symptoms closely, it all comes back to a hypoxia of certain organ systems — whether it’s the muscle not getting enough oxygen, whether it’s liver damage, whether it’s brain fog concentration issues,” Pretorius said. “One can all bring it back to a reason why the symptoms might happen, because of oxygen deprivation to certain areas.”

    ‘Where’s the part where you apologize?’

    Keaton, now 42, had been a go-to teacher, mom to two girls, a wife and someone deeply involved in church with a broad community of family and friends, when she was diagnosed with COVID-19 in December 2020. 

    “I was a fun teacher,” Keaton said. “They knew I played music and I would say, ‘We will dance! We will have a party on the playground!’

    Charlotte resident Brooke Keaton has dealt with long COVID symptoms such as fatigue and memory issues for two years. She’s seen with husband Jared and daughters Bria, 4, and Jaren, 12. Submitted photo.

    “And now I can’t even walk down the steps down to my kitchen without becoming short of breath. Even now having this conversation with you, I feel myself being short of breath.”

    During a phone call from Charlotte, Keaton told of how missed diagnoses caused problems in her now yearslong effort to address her post-acute COVID symptoms. She said she’s heard of similar experiences during online discussions as a part of a group of Black women facing long COVID.

    Keaton described an attempt to steer her on an unproductive path by a doctor who seemed determined to act on a particular diagnosis.

    “I went in explaining to her the fatigue, the memory loss, the brain fog, the issue with the numbness in my hands and my feet, and feeling vibrations,” Keaton said. “And she looked at me and she’s like, ‘I think we need to test you for sleep apnea. Has that ever been a concern?’”

    Researchers have found a high incidence of undiagnosed sleep apnea in African Americans, but Keaton pointed out that her husband could attest to the fact that she didn’t even snore. 

    “And her whole thing was like, ‘I think all of this is because you have sleep apnea,’” Keaton said. So Keaton spent money on testing at home and at the physician’s office, both of which indicated she did not have sleep apnea. 

    “And she just kind of left it there. I’m like, ‘So we determined I don’t have sleep apnea. What can we do about everything else?’” Keaton said. In response, the physician gave her pointers on how to get better sleep at night. 

    “So fast forward: ‘Where’s the part where you apologize to me for making an assumption, you know?’”

    Adding insult to the entire process, Keaton has found her insurance coverage did not cover certain treatments and therapies that were otherwise recommended.

  • New clinic to meet WNC Latinos’ needs

    New clinic to meet WNC Latinos’ needs

    By Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven

    In far western Macon County, U.S. 441 branches off and descends into downtown Franklin. Just before the interchange, a massive single-story beige and gray building sits empty on the east side of the rushing road. But on a sunny Friday morning in July, it wasn’t so. A pair of stray dogs meandered around the property’s three acres, while dozens of visitors carted in coffee, donuts, parfaits and plants. 

    Right now, the property doesn’t look like much: weeds spring up from breaks in the concrete outside, while inside, mysterious stains dot the ragged white carpet, and old security cameras poke out from the ceiling. 

    But soon — after a multi-million dollar renovation — it will be western North Carolina’s first bilingual one-stop-shop community health center, offering the region’s low-income residents everything from dental care to domestic violence support. 

    “I’m excited that y’all are seeing it as it is — dirty carpet, weeds in the parking lot — I mean, this is where we start from,” said Marianne Martinez, the executive director of the community health organization Vecinos (meaning “neighbors” in Spanish) which purchased the building, at the organization’s fundraising kick-off event. 

    “In a year and a half when we gather again to break a bottle of champagne over the ship, you can think back to what it looks like today. And we’ll all then take naps on the exam room tables.” 

    Expanding care to all 

    Since 2004 Vecinos has been the “medical home” for many of the region’s Latino farmworkers, providing them with medical care and health education. Their outreach first began using a mobile clinic. Later Western Carolina University donated space on its Cullowhee campus to Vecinos, where the organization operates an outpatient clinic twice a week. 

    At the moment, between the mobile clinic and the WCU office, staff and volunteers at Vecinos provide a total of 16 clinical hours per week to the community. In an average year, they see around 700 patients. In their first year in the new space, which will have seven permanent clinical exam rooms, the organization estimates they’ll serve at least 2,000 people, a reflection of the rapid growth of North Carolina’s Latino community and their unmet health needs.

    The idea to create something like this began in earnest last year. Like other nonprofits, Vecinos creates a new strategic plan every few years and 2021 marked the start of a new planning cycle. 

    “With the pandemic and the emergency work that we started doing with COVID outreach and all of that, our board just kind of really took a step back and looked at what it is that we’re doing, and what did the community continue to need a year into the pandemic,” Martinez explained. 

    Between its mobile clinic and its twice a week outpatient clinic, Vecinos serves about 700 patients a year. With the expanded eligibility and permanent location, they expect that number will rise to at least 2,000. Credit: Vecinos

    For years, Vecinos had been considering expanding its patients’ eligibility criteria from only being open to farmworkers, to being an income-based clinic — meaning, all people who could not afford care, anyone who was uninsured or underinsured, would be able to seek care with the organization.

    Fanny Garcia, a phlebotomist at Vecinos, said the new community health hub (as the organization calls it) will make care much more accessible and comfortable for Spanish speakers in the region. 

    “Blue Ridge [Health] exists, but can’t always meet the needs,” Garcia said. Blue Ridge Health is another clinic for low-income people in the region, but the organization is often stretched to capacity.  Garcia said she’s heard from patients that sometimes there are issues getting translators or a Spanish-speaking provider. 

    If ever there was a time to make this switch, Vecinos’ leadership thought, now would be it. 

    A fully-integrated model

    The board and the organization’s leadership decided to move forward with the vision, but it would mean that they’d need a much bigger and permanent space. 

    Western North Carolina has lower overall proportions of Latinos than the eastern part of the state. Less than 5 percent of residents in far western Graham, Swain, Haywood, Cherokee and Clay counties are Latino, but that’s not the case for Macon and Jackson counties, where about 10 percent and 8 percent of residents, respectively, are Latino. 

    Moreover, nearly 40 percent of Vecinos’ patient population lives in Franklin, so they knew they wanted to find a location there. But they still didn’t like the idea that people would come to them for medical care, and then have to go elsewhere to get the rest of their non-medical health needs — such as support with an immigration case or help filing taxes — met.

    “Every time somebody takes time off to come in to get health care or any other service, they’re not getting paid,” Martinez said. “That’s what we’re trying to reduce is all of those kinds of barriers to health care whether that’s social determinants of health or primary and mental health care.”

    For about as long as the organization has existed, they’ve worked in tandem with other organizations that offer complementary services to the same patient population —  El Centro Comunitario of Macon County, Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic in Cashiers, Asheville-based Pisgah Legal Services which helps with immigration cases and is starting a new program to help people sign up for insurance coverage and file their taxes, and the Waynesville-based 30th Judicial District Domestic Violence-Sexual Assault Alliance, which helps Spanish-speaking survivors with therapy and navigating the criminal justice system. 

    Martinez began thinking: what if all of these operated under one roof? She posed the question to different nonprofit leaders and workers. Soon, people from all five organizations (and more) formed a leadership committee to begin working out the details. 

    There were similar models to this kind of work. In Charlotte, Camino Health Centers provides integrated physical and mental health care alongside a food pantry and health education classes. Behind the Buncombe County Courthouse sits the Family Justice Center, and there’s a similar facility in Alamance County. 

    Many farmworkers have occupational injuries from the physical stress of their jobs. With their new permanent location, Vecinos hopes to help the community address these issues and any others they may have. Credit: Vecinos

    In these multi-agency settings, there can be staff from the domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, hospital, district attorney’s office, and law enforcement who all cooperate to help survivors of abuse or sexual violence navigate the criminal justice system. 

    What this community of organizations is trying to do would be something similar. 

    Ultimately, they decided that Vecinos would buy the building, and the other four organizations would lease space from them. There would also be additional, unoccupied rooms that other community organizations who work with this population could rent on a flexible basis or use for events. 

    And there would be child care. A lot of times people have to cancel their appointments either because their child care falls through at the last minute, or because the cost of a babysitter is more than they make in a day.

    “With our dental clinic that we partner with, after two or three cancellations they can never come back, ever,” Martinez said. “And so if you have child care that’s been canceled two or three times, you basically have then, again, no dental care. So it’s really important to us to have a space where their children can come and safely play.”

    How are they paying for it?

    Dogwood Health Trust, the organization created with some of the profits from the sale of Mission Hospital to HCA, gave Vecinos a $1.6 million bridge loan to buy the building until they figure out their long-term financing. They will ultimately have to pay this back, and the construction costs are estimated to be $3 million.

    “It is a big project, and it has to be done,” Martinez said. The building isn’t “health care ready.” It will need a new HVAC system, water will need to be run under the floors in the dental clinic, and the exam rooms and offices will need to be locked away from the publicly accessible parts of the building to ensure patient privacy.

    Vecinos’ new clinic sits just outside Franklin, in the heart of Macon county’s mountains.

    Though counties can direct some of their pandemic relief money from the American Rescue Plan to nonprofit organizations to support projects such as these, Macon County has already designated all of its federal funds to go toward raises and bonuses for county employees, so that’s not an option.

    Martinez said they’re pursuing grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with money from foundations or, potentially, private loans. 

    “We have a lot of work to do, and that takes a lot of money,” she said. “But we have a fundraising and capital campaign plan that is solid. We’re not doing this alone.” 

  • QC Kinetix (Fall River) is a Premier Fall River Regenerative Medicine Clinic

    QC Kinetix (Fall River) is a Premier Fall River Regenerative Medicine Clinic

    Slide River, MA – The conventional procedure approaches to persistent problems generally involve invasive methods, medicine, or replacement surgery. Though these methods are the most widespread, regenerative medicine presents an substitute for a affected person desiring to cause their body’s ability to heal/repair alone. At QC Kinetix (Slide River), a staff of expert professional medical suppliers provides natural solutions working with minimally invasive methods for individuals suffering from constant, chronic, or recurring ache.

    The Ache control clinic believes that its techniques give patients with various options for reputable regenerative medication. This is why the crew tailors cure ideas to handle every single patient’s unique needs. For the duration of a patient’s to start with appointment, the clinical service provider examines their clinical heritage, solutions all inquiries, and offers any additional direction. To assist clients make empowered choices about their wellbeing, the group educates them about their situations and the therapies they present.

    Sports activities injuries this kind of as tendon/ligament tears, torn rotator cuff, torn Achilles tendon, shoulder pain, wrist ache, ankle discomfort, finger/toe pain, or lower again pain acquire various months/months to recover even with rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Regardless of whether an individual is a qualified/novice athlete, a weekend warrior, or an avid adventurer, they need to visit QC Kinetix (Drop River) to come across organic treatment plans for agony/personal injury management treatments. Their substitute therapies ordinarily work best as element of a total restoration routine that features actual physical therapy, rest, and bracing. By combining these common sports injuries alternatives with regenerative medication, sufferers get the benefits of equally, ensuing in brief restoration and strengthened joint tissues.

    As a Tumble River knee professional, the clinic has assisted several patients resume strolling, instruction, executing chores, or competing without the need of steroids, arthroscopic medical procedures, knee substitution, or bodily therapy. Lots of of their sufferers discovered the clinic even though hunting for pure discomfort treatment plans for knee cracking/popping/snapping, bone on bone osteoarthritis, serious knee agony, decreased array of motion, torn ACL, or torn meniscus. Their regenerative therapies aid knee joints heal/fix and lessen suffering with minimal-to-no recovery time.

    Joint tissues, not like pores and skin, do not self-regenerate effectively, primary to continual arthritis soreness that influences the fingers, knees, shoulders, elbows, hips, small again, or wrists. Though treatment or common surgery can reduce swelling in joints, it doesn’t sluggish down the development of the disorder. Frequently, long-term arthritis sufferers experience improved suffering or lessened range of motion even with comprehensive healthcare treatment. However, the broad subject of regenerative medicine works by using different therapies to repair cartilage, bones, or connective tissues that have grow to be inflamed, irritated or worn down in excess of time.

    Finally, the mission of QC Kinetix (Tumble River) is to improve suffering, minimize inflammation, or repair degenerated tissues by using organic regenerative therapies and innovative health-related engineering. To understand extra about their Drop River workplace, contact (401) 310-0997 to request a session or take a look at the clinic’s internet site. They are located at 222 Milliken Blvd, Slide River, MA, 02721, US.

    Media Make contact with

    Business Name
    QC Kinetix (Drop River)
    Speak to Title
    Scott Hoots
    Cell phone
    (401) 310-0997
    Tackle
    222 Milliken Blvd
    Town
    Fall River
    Point out
    MA
    Postal Code
    02721
    Place
    United States
    Website
    https://qckinetix.com/providence/slide-river-ma

  • Heart matters | 6 steps to a cardio-friendly healthy lifestyle, the Mayo Clinic way

    Heart matters | 6 steps to a cardio-friendly healthy lifestyle, the Mayo Clinic way

    Care for your heart, it's the only one you have.

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    Care for your heart, it’s the only one particular you have.&nbsp | &nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspiStock Images

    Crucial Highlights

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    • Cardiovascular diseases or CVD describe the a number of situations affecting the coronary heart, the blood vessels that nourish the heart (the coronary arteries), and the arteries that distribute blood to the mind, legs, and just about everywhere in-among. 

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    • The coronary heart is the pumping station of the entire body, and every single mobile in your overall body is dependent on this set up. Only if the coronary heart capabilities at peak effectiveness can each and every cell in the body get its offer of oxygen, nutrition and have its wastes cleaned.

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    • Know what you can do to keep a healthful and ticking heart so that CVD hardly ever visits you.

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    In accordance to the Entire world Wellbeing Organisation (WHO), “Cardiovascular ailments (CVDs) (including coronary heart disorder, cerebrovascular ailment, rheumatic heart disease and other conditions) are the primary result in of loss of life globally, having an believed 17.9 million life every single yr.”

    Heart illness might be the No. 1 killer (in particular of women) — but six standard life-style alternatives can enable you reduce it, control it, or even reverse your risk for heart assault and stroke. But we are not just conversing of primordial avoidance of coronary heart condition i.e. care from the stat so you in no way operate the danger of coronary heart ailment. We are also focussing on the actuality that there could be other folks who have presently expert a heart attack, stroke or one more kind of heart sickness.

    That is why we carry you ways vetted by the Mayo Clinic so that precautionary methods can avert a different existence-threatening cardiac celebration, halt the development of heart illness and reduce early demise.

    “Making nutritious way of living modifications can do a whole lot to assistance avoid or gradual the development of coronary heart condition,” says Sharonne N. Hayes, M.D., founder of the Women’s Heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “Depending on your unique requirements, you may need approaches to lessen blood stress and LDL cholesterol, a personalised training prescription, a healthy-consuming strategy, advice about how to stop smoking, and worry management approaches.”

    Six Actions to a Heart-Balanced Life style:

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    1. Upgrade Your Diet: Enable us share a hack with you listed here. To achieve a healthy and balanced meals consumption, fill at minimum two-thirds of your plate with fruits, greens, beans and entire grains, a single-third or significantly less with lean protein — such as skinless poultry, fish or plant proteins, and use very low-body fat or no-excess fat dairy. After in a although cheat food or binge on scarce instances right after a couple of weeks is alright, but or else, you must have a lifelong method of fitting the healthful fats, vitamins, minerals, proteins and other vitamins you will need into your food plan. At the similar time, possibly stay clear of or reduce the intake of added sugars, extremely processed carbs, saturated fats, comprehensive-excess fat dairy, and trans fat in fast foodstuff, snacks and baked goods. The food items we recommend you to avoid are the types that give rise to serious inflammation inside of blood vessels, a initially phase to acquiring cardiovascular sickness. You have to have not give up meat completely even though selecting additional plant-based foodstuff. “Let the vegetables be the stars of your meal and meats be the supporting characters,” claims Dr Sharonne N Hayes (MD) founder of the Women’s Coronary heart Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Consume a whole lot of colors, that’s nature’s way of ensuring you get a wide range of nutritional vitamins.

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    2. Motion and burning calories are every little thing: If you want to lessen the danger of heart ailment and velocity your restoration from a heart attack or stroke – get going and exercising – unless of course the physician has warned you not to. Heart-harming circumstances such as elevated minimal-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, diabetic issues and large blood stress established in once you have embraced a sedentary life-style, sitting down glued to your digital gadgets, regardless of whether for perform or play. “If you really do not like to exercising there are some ways to maximize the prospect that you will get some physical action often,” suggests Dr Warren G Thompson, (MD), a Mayo Clinic specialist in preventive drugs. Guarantee At least 150 minutes a 7 days of moderate-depth cardio work out, these as walking at a brisk rate, or 75 minutes a 7 days of vigorous cardio action. Even as minor as 10 minutes for every working day of training has been shown to decreased your possibility of loss of life more than a 9- to 12-12 months period of time!

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    3. Kick out worry and be free of charge: We reside in an period when strain arrives in various kinds. The human mind has not yet progressed for managing the complexities of modern-day-period lifetime (specifically city life). Women’s coronary heart well being suffers when persistent pressure as do the job-daily life stability is lost and responsibilities pile on. That has left females with the hazard of coronary coronary heart ailment (CHD) lifted by 21 for every cent. Understand meditation, study to get a stand, get family members associates to contribute to family work. Get a lot more actual physical exercise, sleep seven to eight hours nightly, eat a noninflammatory diet regime, meditate or do respiratory workout routines at the time a working day, stay in make contact with with pals and spouse and children and act generously towards others.

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    4. Rest well: Know your physique and mind’s chronotype, are you an early morning lark or a nighttime owl? Broken rest schedules can leave you exposed to an elevated hazard for heart-damaging obesity, diabetic issues and depression, as perfectly as heart assault and stroke. Obstructive Slumber Apnoea or OSA – a condition that causes loud night breathing, halting respiration in the course of snooze and gasping for air – not only does it leave you much too fatigued at daytime to do any meaningful perform, it can also be everyday living-threatening. When folks prevent respiratory in the course of slumber, their blood oxygen levels fall. About time that places pressure on their heart and lungs. Hear to your family members members when they say that you snore and snort or end respiration when you are asleep, or if you experience fatigued each and every morning. Question your doctor for a referral to a rest disorder centre for analysis. Most frequently, body weight reduction, providing up from alcoholic beverages, use of a steady constructive airway strain product or other equipment, like the adaptive servo-air flow procedure, and remedies assistance decrease OSA.

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    5. Stop Smoking cigarettes (even weed is smoking cigarettes): Why would you want to melt away your lungs and things the hundreds of carcinogenic chemical compounds that cigarette tobacco smoke is made up of? Smoking can double or quadruple your hazard of coronary heart condition and stroke — and for ladies, it is specifically dangerous. Women who smoke have a 25 per cent bigger risk of establishing coronary heart condition as opposed to males who smoke. Smoking cannabis or Cannabinoids (the psychoactive section of cannabis) pump up your resting heart level, dilate blood vessels and make the heart pump more difficult, increasing the chance of obtaining a coronary heart assault in the hour right after using tobacco cannabis. Get professional enable from your health care provider and stop using tobacco Nowadays AND NOW.

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    6. Get screened for coronary heart sickness frequently: Avoidance is the very best solution when it arrives to tackling CVD. Fortunately protecting a balanced life style and acquiring a couple of periodic assessments will hold you on observe. The figures you want to continue to keep monitor of are your blood pressure, lipids (full cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides) and blood glucose.
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      What range must your outcomes desirably be in?
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      Blood tension: Much less than 120/80 mmHg 
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      Fasting Glucose Amount: Less than 100 milligrams for every deciliter (mg/dL)  
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      Lipids:
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      HDL: Over 60 mg/dLin women of all ages above 50 mg/dL for men 
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      LDL cholesterol: Below 100mg/dL (if you have coronary artery condition (CAD): beneath 70 mg/dL
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      Triglycerides: Down below 150 mg/dL

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    Bottom LINE:
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    Make all the fascinating life style adjustments, reside the coronary heart-wholesome way, but also keep related to your well being treatment staff. Lifestyle techniques to increase heart overall health — whilst particularly valuable — are occasionally are not adequate and it is far better to have experts guiding you, caring for you.

    Disclaimer: Strategies and solutions stated in the write-up are for normal information and facts goal only and ought to not be construed as experienced professional medical assistance. Normally seek the advice of your doctor or a dietician ahead of starting any fitness programme or making any improvements to your diet plan.

  • Shipyard opens new Naval Branch Health Clinic: Seacoast health news

    Shipyard opens new Naval Branch Health Clinic: Seacoast health news

    Portsmouth Naval Shipyard opens new Naval Branch Health Clinic

    PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD, Maine – Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Naval Branch Health Clinic (NBHC) Portsmouth on Thursday, Jan. 6.

    Surgeon General for the U.S. Navy, Rear Admiral Bruce Gillingham and Chief of Staff, Small Market and Stand-Alone Military Treatment Facility Organization for the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Mr. Eric Stringer served as guest speakers for the event.

    “The completion of this beautiful military treatment facility is a significant milestone in our journey together with the DHA to enhance the healthcare delivery and readiness in the communities we serve,” said Rear Adm. Gillingham. “However, as beautiful as this facility is it’s not about the brick and mortar, but most importantly the people who care for the naval force and their families. It’s their expertise, compassion and mission-dedication that will bring this facility to life and will provide patient-centered medical care to all of its beneficiaries.”

    Shipyard opens new Naval Branch Health Clinic: Seacoast health news

    U.S. Representative Chris Pappas, along with staff representatives from both Maine and New Hampshire congressional delegations, were honored guests at the ceremony.

    “I was honored to join the ribbon cutting at NBHC Portsmouth, a new clinic that will serve Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,” said Congressman Pappas. “This facility will ensure that those working on behalf of our national security and naval readiness will have access to the care and services that they need. I congratulate the shipyard on the opening of this new facility and remain committed to securing all available federal resources to support the shipyard and its workforce as it continues its long tradition of being the best in the nation.”

  • Augusta Health Vaccine Clinic Update: January 24, 2022

    Augusta Health Vaccine Clinic Update: January 24, 2022

    Current Vaccination Dose Count at Augusta Health:

    • Total doses given at Augusta Health Vaccination Clinics: 111,519
    • Community members fully-vaccinated at AH Vaccination Clinics: 46,986
    • Boosters 21,466
    • Children age 5-11 2,962

    Current COVID Situation
    We are experiencing a very high level of COVID-19 activity in our community and at Augusta Health.

    Our Augusta Health testing positivity rate for the week of January 16-22 was 52.3{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c}. Our current inpatient COVID-19 census is 48, with eight deaths over the past week.

    In the 24 hours preceding 9:00 am on Monday, January 24, 95 new positive cases of COVID were diagnosed at Augusta Health testing sites. It was again a busy weekend at the testing sites with 111 positives reported Sunday morning, 192 positives reported Saturday morning and 196 positives reported Friday morning. Today, 89 Augusta Health employees are absent with illness.

    Augusta Health is working to pivot its clinical COVID focus to aggressive outpatient management. In addition to the significant vaccination efforts, Augusta Health is treating infected patients who meet criteria with Monoclonal Antibody infusions (MABS) when supplies are available. MABS infusion follows a positive COVID test and a physician referral.

    Last week, Augusta Health received limited doses of Strovimab, so the number of infusions was also limited. There were 53 patients infused, for a total of 930 patients since the clinic was opened. Less than 5{fe463f59fb70c5c01486843be1d66c13e664ed3ae921464fa884afebcc0ffe6c} of those who receive a MABS infusion need to be admitted to the hospital later. Augusta Health expects to receive 78 doses this week.

    Please vaccinate, wear masks indoors even if vaccinated, wash hands frequently and stay socially distant from others when possible. Vaccination is the most effective way to reduce spread of COVID and to protect yourself from severe COVID that requires hospitalization.

    Vaccination Eligibility
    Augusta Health is vaccinating everyone age 5 and older who lives, works or goes to school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for individuals age 18 and over. Pfizer vaccine is authorized for individuals age 5 and older; a parent or legal guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of those under the age of 18. Booster criteria vary by vaccine, so please be aware of the criteria for the vaccine selected.

    Children Age 5-11 years old:
    To ensure patient safety and in awareness of the different dosage for the 5-11 year old age group, there are separate clinics for ages 5-11 only at the on-campus location. Again, a parent or legal guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of those under the age of 18.
    Please make appointments at vaccinate.augustahealth.com

    Booster Eligibility Information:
    Anyone over the age of 12 can receive third-dose COVID-19 booster shots. Children age 5-11 who are immunocompromised or immune suppressed can also receive a booster.

    When can you get the booster?

    • At least 5 months after you completed your Pfizer or Moderna series
      • Either the Pfizer or Moderna series, you can get a 3rd dose in 28 days
    • At least 2 months after Johnson & Johnson vaccination

    Which booster can you get?

    • If you are age 18 or older, you can get any booster shot you prefer.

    • If you are age 12 or older, you can get a Pfizer booster.

    PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT FOR YOUR VACCINE/BOOSTER at vaccinate.augustahealth.com.

    For patient safety concerns, vaccines will be offered on specific days. Please be sure make an appointment for a clinic that is offering the vaccine you want. If you are registering for a booster, and are switching vaccine, make an appointment for the type of booster you want. For example, if you originally received a Pfizer vaccine, but would like a Moderna booster, make an appointment in a Moderna clinic.

    If you have questions about eligibility, please call Augusta Health’s Vaccination Call Center at (540) 332-5122.

    Please bring your COVID Vaccination Record Card to the booster appointment.

    Vaccinations in Primary Care Offices
    Vaccinations for COVID-19 continue in all Augusta Medical Group primary care offices. Patients who prefer to receive a vaccination from their personal physician should contact their doctor’s office to be scheduled into the next available vaccination appointment block.

    Community-Based Clinics
    This week, Augusta Health’s Community Vaccination Team will be providing vaccines at Liberty Pint on Tuesday and Bridgewater College on Friday from 10 am – 1 pm. To date, more than 10,000 vaccines have been administered at clinics within vulnerable communities by the Augusta Health Task Force.

    Community organizations that would like to partner with Augusta Health for a Vaccination Clinic can contact VaccinationTaskForce [at] augustahealth.com for more information on the requirements.

    Large on-campus Vaccination Clinics
    Please make an appointment for on-campus clinics.
    Go to vaccinate.augustahealth.com to view the links and schedule an appointment. Information about new clinics, the links and the criteria for each link, are posted as available. On-campus clinics this week are:

    • Tuesday, January 25: Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Clinics from 3 pm to 7 pm for those age 18 and older.
      For first dose, second dose and booster dose available to those age 18 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.
    • Thursday, January 27: Pfizer Clinic FOR AGES 5-11 ONLY from 3 pm to 7 pm.
      This clinic is for those ages 5-11 only. A parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of the child under the age of 18. The link is open at vaccinate.augustahealth.com
    • Friday, January 28: Pfizer Clinic from 9 am to 1 pm for those age 12 and older.
      For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. A parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of a child under the age of 18. Please verify criteria before registration.
    • Tuesday, February 1: Pfizer Clinic from 3 pm to 6 pm for those age 12 and older.
      For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. A parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of a child under the age of 18. Please verify criteria before registration.
    • Thursday, February 3: Pfizer Clinic from 9 am to 12 noon for those age 12 and older.
      For first dose and second dose available to those age 12 and older, booster dose available to those age 16 and older. A parent or guardian must be present to consent to vaccination of a child under the age of 18. Please verify criteria before registration.
    • Friday, February 4: Moderna and Johnson & Johnson Clinics from 9 am to 12 noon for those age 18 and older.
      For first dose, second dose and booster dose available to those age 18 and older. Please verify criteria before registration.

    The links are open at vaccinate.augustahealth.com

    Vaccination Call Center
    Not everyone has access to the internet. Others just have questions. For assistance, call Augusta Health’s Vaccination Call Center at (540) 332-5122. The Call Center is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 4:30 pm to answer questions and help to schedule vaccination appointments.

    Homebound patients are being vaccinated through a pilot program with Central Shenandoah EMS. Contact the Vaccination Call Center for more information.

    We appreciate our continued partnership with CSHD as we work together to provide vaccines to all in the community who need them.