Healthnetwork Pulse - July 2008

Headlines:
      Helpiing Family Members with Addiction or Mental Health Issues
      Neurosurgeons in the News
      New Summaries in Health Information Search Library
      Heart Healthy Diets
      Eating to Ease Jet Lag 
      Vitamin D & Heart Health
      Living Beyond Cancer Diagnosis
     GOLD Supporter Experience

When someone breaks their leg or has a heart attack, most of us know to what to do. Yet what if a family member starts to display erratic behavior?  There is much to learn from families who are often lost when someone is diagnosed with mental health issues.  The National Alliance for Mental Illness estimates about one in 17 Americans suffers from a serious mental illness, and mental illness affects one in five families. Unfortunately mental illness is not often on our radar the way cancer or heart problems often are.

To help our members address mental health and addiction issues within their families, Healthnetwork has partnered with Addiction Intervention Resources (AIR), a national addiction and mental health consulting organization.  AIR offers our members and their families the tools needed to address and help individuals with their mental health issues. Click here for more information about this unique service for our members. 

Read about a personal experience with addiction from Bob Poznanovich, who is now the president and CEO of Addiction Intervention Resources (AIR).  In this article he describes his personal battle with cocaine, his road to recovery and why he and fellow recovered addict, Andrew Wainwright, started AIR.

For a free copy of their book, It's Not Okay to be a Cannibal, How to Keep Addiction From Eating Your Family Alive, by Andrew Wainwright and Robert Poznanovich, simply hit reply to this email and ask for the free book.  We have a limited supply so reply early.

 For assistance with a mental health or addiction referral, please call Healthnetwork at 866/968-2467 or email us at help@healthnetworkfoundation.org.

The nation witnessed Senator Edward Kennedy's diagnosis of brain cancer and his subsequent surgery.  The senator's surgeon is a long-time associate of Healthnetwork, Dr. Allan H. Friedman, chief of neurosurgery at Duke University Medical Center, who is known for tackling difficult brain surgeries.  His colleague comments on the latest developments in treating this particular type of cancer.  "I think that what you are going to see in the next five years is substantial improvement in survival," said Dr. Henry S. Friedman, a brain cancer specialist at Duke University. "For the first time the pot seems to be boiling over with a number of different options, while 10 years ago we had nothing."

Dr. Henry Brem, chief of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a Healthnetwork GOLD hospital, also weighs in on treating this type of cancer.  

Incidentally, a new documentary on Hopkins began on June 26th on ABC.  This six-part series will be shown on Thursdays at 10 p.m. Eastern. This show will focus more on young physicians still in training, and on the dramatic work of some special nurses. Recorded in cinema verite fashion, it promises to reveal the wonders, but is likely also to show the not-always-perfect human side of Hopkins and its care givers.

Before you pick up your cell phone you may want to read about what Dr. Keith Black, chairman of the department of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a Healthnetwork GOLD hospital, has to say about a possible tie between cell phone usage and certain types of brain tumors.  He mentions that while the instances of these cancers are rare, the risk may be very low - but who wants to find out 10 years from now that the risk was greater than originally thought. Headsets do not carry the same risk as the cell phone.  But you may want to think twice about your Bluetooth - it could be just as risky as the cell phone.

New topics have been added to the Healthnetwork Health Information Search library of Clinical Summaries.  GOLD Supporters can now receive these new Summaries upon request:

          - Pancreatic Cancer
          - Multiple Sclerosis

          - Multiple Myeloma
          - Psoriasis

          - Stroke

          - Polycythemia Vera

For a complete listing of Summaries that are available, please visit the Health Information Search page of our web site.  New Summaries are always being added by the researchers at Montclair Health Network. 

GOLD supporters: to receive a Clinical Summary, please call Healthnetwork at 866/968-2467 or email us at help@healthnetworkfoundation.org for more details.

Thinking of making a lifestyle choice? Dr. Michael Ozner from the Baptist Hospital of Miami weighs in on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet  which has shown to lead to a healthier lifestyle. New evidence is now suggesting that this diet may lower the risk of heart disease, reduce some types of cancer and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.  

Most doctors would agree a strict vegetarian diet is good for the heart. But the idea that a diet free of animal products and fat can cure the No. 1 killer in America is a point of debate among doctors. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., retired Cleveland Clinic surgeon, has turned his life's work to demonstrating that heart disease doesn't need to exist in the first place. And if it does, it can be reversed. The remedy is a plant-based diet, he says. Esselstyn is part of the Cleveland Clinic's new Wellness Institute.

Speaking of eating.Scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have discovered a "food-related clock" which can supersede a person's "light-based" master clock. Why is this important?  By adapting eating schedules, a traveler might be able to engage his second "feeding" clock and adjust more quickly to the new time zone. "A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock," says Dr. Clifford Saper. "So, in this case, simply avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust -- and avoid some of the uncomfortable feelings of jet lag." 

Spending less time in the sun?  You could be putting yourself at risk for a vitamin D deficiency.  A recent study indicates a link between this vitamin and good health.  A lack of this vitamin could lead to risks of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, some cancers and even heart disease.  Dr. Tanya Edwards, medical director for the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, includes a test for this vitamin in her patient profiles. She has a suggestion for people who are not at risk for skin cancer - boost your levels of this important vitamin by simply spending 15 minutes each day out in the sun. Now if only Mother Nature would cooperate!

Life beyond cancer is so precious to cancer survivors. M. D. Anderson uses the term "cancer survivor" to describe people who have been diagnosed with cancer and the people in their lives who are affected by the diagnosis, including family members, friends and caregivers.  Improving communication and acknowledging stress can enhance the quality of life of all cancer survivors.  For tips from M. D. Anderson on life beyond diagnosis, click here.

"My brother, Richard Lipsey, told me of the outstanding ability of Healthnetwork Foundation to get things accomplished. It turns out that he may have understated your capabilities.  I would not merely see a physician but would be seen the top person in the specific subspecialty of ophthalmology that was best suited for my case."    (read more)

Joe Lipsey, Jr., Brother of Richard Lipsey

Baton Rouge LA

Healthnetwork GOLD Supporter

If you have comments, questions or need medical assistance, please drop us an email or give us a call and we will do everything we can to assist you. And please let us know if you are unable to open any of the links above and we will send you a copy of the referenced material.

We look forward to hearing from you: 440/893-0830 or katie@healthnetworkfoundation.org