Costco Connection - September 2010

ALTERNATIV

By JT Flores, M.D.

PICTURE THIS: You have been on medication for years, or you have had a surgical implant and now need replacement or revision for one or more reasons. You wonder about options, such as medicines and medical devices not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

You have questions: “What experimental medi-
cines are available to me?”; “How can I obtain a
cutting-edge heart valve (or knee joint or vertebra)
to improve my health and quality of life?”; “How do
I become a patient in a research protocol?”; “What
are the risks, benefits, side effects, costs?”
Answers to these concerns may be challenging
to find because information on clinical research and
development (R&D) is not published primarily for the
everyday consumer. But with deliberate effort, you
can uncover resources for basic information.

Ask your doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner for specific information. Chances are high that your practitioner is familiar with the latest clinical research. If not, ask for a referral to an office, clinic, center or a company conducting

clinical R&D relevant to your condition.

Use the Internet and keywords in relation to your condition. For example, if your condition is spinal stenosis, include the words “spinal stenosis” and additional words or phrases as you search, such as:

• Companies conducting clinical research. Company websites provide a link to their research medicines and medical devices as well as separate links for patients and for healthcare professionals.

• Treatment and management. Information often includes the standard of practice as well as emerging technology.

• Medicines, medical devices. Names of established and experimental medicines and medical devices often have their own websites that include points of contact for potential research patients.

• Centers of excellence. Centers of excellence showcase their clinical, surgical, research, health education and other professional services, often with photographs and names of key professionals to contact.

• Public interest groups. National, regional and local societies often list a summary of the latest research in their respective therapeutic areas, including contact names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of clinical research sites for you to access directly.

• Internet forums and clinic- or hospital-based seminars. Chats among kindred spirits inevitably lead to a network that could include research patients willing to speak with you. C

E THERAPIES
health for your

MEDIA BAKERY

Exploring your options

JT Flores, M.D., (jasmintflores@yahoo.
com) is a Stanford-trained primary
care associate with a doctorate from
University of California Berkeley’s
School of Public Health.

STAYING IN TOUCH with pop culture, joining the latest trends, such as MP3 players and text messaging, and a dinner date with actress Betty White are keys to living a long life, according to people who should know: centenarians.

Being socially active, eating a healthy diet, exercising and getting enough sleep also won’t hurt.

“If I could leave any message, never stop learning. Period. That’s it,” said Maurice Eisman, a centenarian who lives in Maryland.

Eisman was one of 100 centenarians questioned in a poll about the secrets of longevity. Laughter and prayer were also important, along with staying connected to family and friends and keeping up with current events and gadgets.

Eight percent of centenarians said they had sent text or instant messages, compared to 1 percent last year. And 12 percent are using iPods, 4 percent more than three years ago, according to the GfK Roper survey for Evercare.

Nearly 100,000 centenarians are living in the United States, and the number is expected to climb to more than 601,000 by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“I think everybody should have something to say in what’s going on in their life and not just take everything for granted,” said Marie Keeler, 101, from Minnesota.

MEDIA BAKERY

White, the octogenarian star of a popular Super Bowl commercial, was the top choice as a dinner date for most of the centenarians. She wrested the spot from comedian Bill Cosby, who was the winner for the past two years.

Many centenarians said they kept up with popular culture by listening to music or videos through computers, and 11 percent said they had watched a video on You Tube.

Forty percent walked or hiked every day, and 1 percent used Nintendo’s Wii Fit. Three-quarters ate a healthy diet daily, and nearly a third opted for organic foods. C

Information courtesy Reuters News Service.

Be on top with pop

THE LEUKEMIA & Lymphoma Society reports that more than 900,000 people in the U.S. currently have some form of blood cancer, and more than 53,000 will die from one this year.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that improved therapies and stem cell transplantation have dramatically increased survival rates for most blood cancers.

Leukemia and lymphoma are two forms of blood cancer. In both diseases, white blood cells, normally the infection fighters, fail to function properly and start to grow at an abnormal rate.

Leukemia starts in the bone marrow, where blood cells are made, and the cancer cells spread to the blood that circulates through the body in the arteries and veins.

Lymphoma starts in the lymphatic system, which drains waste-collecting lymph from body tissue. Lymphoma may develop in many parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow and blood.

Sometimes there are no warning signs or symptoms of leukemia or lymphoma, or the signs and symptoms will be similar to other more common and less severe illnesses.

The best advice for any person troubled by symptoms such as night sweats, swollen lymph nodes, unexplained weight loss, tiredness or shortness of breath is to see a healthcare provider.