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COPD-INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER
http://www.COPD-International.com
Dedicated to the philosophy
"You can learn to control this disease instead of letting it control you!"
Monday, February 8, 2010
Volume #9 -- Issue #6
Susie Bowers, Editor -- Web-Editor@COPD-International.com
Copyright © 2009 COPD-International.com All rights reserved.
FREE BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY! Subscription information is at
the end of this newsletter. THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY. This newsletter is published on Mondays.
_______________________________________________________________
> > > > > > > > >
IN THIS ISSUE < < < < < < < < <
_______________________________________________________________
==> Welcome
==> COPD News
==> New Hope
==> Recalls/Warnings
==> Featured Articles - Tips on Coping With COPD
==> Nutrition/Wellness
==> Community Update
==> Link Directory
==> Just for Fun
==> Recipe
==> Closing Thought
==> Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
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>
> > > > > > > > WELCOME < < < < < < < < <
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ABOUT US
We are a group of fellow COPD sufferers, caregivers and others
interested in this disease. Our online community is devoted to
helping one another to live the best life possible with this
debilitating illness through interactive support.
As many of us have found, COPD is a disease of many faces,
contradictions and components. Therefore, our diversified community
is here to share its combined wealth of knowledge and information,
so we may all become well-informed patients and take control of our
disease rather than letting this disease control us.
We welcome your input and participation in our newsletters and will
review for publication any pertinent information you wish to share
with others on COPD and related topics. Also, periodically we will
feature stories and information from guest writers. If you wish to
contribute to the newsletter, please contact us at
Newsletter@COPD-International.com.
Yours in health, Susie in Delaware
Editor's Note: There are several exceptionally long links in
this edition. Please cut and paste the entire address into
your browser if you have trouble opening the page.
________________________________________________________________
> > > > > > > > > COPD NEWS < < < < < < < < <
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YEAR OF THE LUNG WEBINAR
The COPD Learn More Breathe Better? campaign and the U.S. COPD
Coalition invite you to participate in a joint interactive webinar
to hear insights from the American Thoracic Society about its The
Year of the Lung program and activities for 2010
February 9, 2010 - 4:30 ?5:30 p.m. EST
To Participate, use the following:
Dial in Number: (877) 322-9654; Participant Code: 548073
and Webinar login information
https://meetings.webex.com/meetings/j.php?ED=8639017&UID=0&PW=2b93bf96
012d222c24265a55
DRIVE4COPD NATIONAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN
Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim and partnered with NASCAR, the
American Lung Association (ALA) and The COPD Foundation, this new,
multi-year initiative is a national public health campaign that aims
to find the "missing millions" of people who may have COPD and don't
even know it. See what the campaign includes at
http://drive4copd.com.
MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS USE INTERNET FOR HEALTH
More than half of Americans looked up health information on the
Internet last year, U.S. government researchers reported recently.
But only 5 percent used email to communicate with their doctors, the
survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found.
Researcher at the center used a survey of 7,192 adults aged 18 to 64
questioned between January and June 2009. "From January through June
2009, 51 percent of adults aged 18-64 had used the Internet to look
up health information during the past 12 months," the center, part
of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said
in a statement.
"Among adults aged 18-64, women were more likely than men to look up
health information on the Internet (58 percent versus 43 percent)
and were also more likely to use online chat groups to learn about
health topics (4 percent versus 2.5 percent)."
The survey found 6 percent of adults requested a refill of a
prescription on the Internet, and almost 3 percent had made an
appointment with a healthcare provider in the previous 12 months
using the Internet. See Story:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6120HM20100203
NIXING ROUTINE ICU SEDATION IMPROVES OUTCOMES
A protocol of no sedation in the ICU may get patients off the
ventilator and back home sooner, Danish researchers found. Unsedated
patients spent 4.2 fewer days on mechanical ventilators than those
treated under a more conventional protocol for daily interruption of
sedation in a randomized trial led by Dr. Thomas Str? of Odense
University Hospital. Length of stay in the ICU and in the hospital
were significantly shorter as well, the researchers reported in the
Feb. 6 issue of The Lancet. See Article:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/CriticalCare/Intensivists/tb/18199
RESEARCHERS: PHYSICIANS MUST TREAT TRANSPLANT TOURISTS
Patients who travel to foreign countries for organ transplants may
return with more problems than they left with - and physicians in
the United States have a moral responsibility to treat them,
researchers asserted in a transplant journal.
"Medical tourism" has been on the rise as demand for organs outpaces
supply and U.S. healthcare costs skyrocket, Thomas D. Schiano, MD,
and Rosamond Rhodes, PhD, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
reported in Liver Transplantation.
Researchers have estimated that 300 medical tourism transplants
occurred between 2004 and 2006, with more than 40 percent of
transplant tourists residing in New York or California, which have
only 18 percent of the total U.S. population. Yet physicians have
had little guidance on delivering care to these patients, and some
transplant centers may turn them away, based on their actions,
Schiano and Rhodes wrote. See More:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/LiverTransplantation/tb/18203
U.S. FDA OKAYS NEW FLU VACCINE FOR PEOPLE 65 AND OLDER
Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group
announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
approved the company's supplemental biologics license application
(sBLA) for licensure of Fluzone High-Dose (Influenza Virus Vaccine).
The new vaccine, for adults 65 years of age and older, will be
available to health-care providers for immunizations administered
this fall in preparation for the upcoming 2010-2011 influenza
season. See Story:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/177661.php
TRANSPLANT RULES HELP SOME, LEAVE OTHERS OUT
New rules for lung allocation have increased the likelihood of
patients receiving a transplant, but a new study showed that one
group did not benefit from reduced mortality - those with idiopathic
pulmonary arterial hypertension (IAPH).
The likelihood of IAPH patients receiving a lung transplant within a
year of being put on the U.S. transplant waiting list increased from
17 percent before the Lung Allocation Score was implemented in 2005
to 37 percent afterward, according to a report in the American
Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The likelihood of IPAH patients receiving a transplant within six
months improved from 10 percent to 29 percent with the introduction
of the scoring system, known as LAS. However, while mortality rates
improved for waiting list patients with other diagnoses - such as
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
and cystic fibrosis - the mortality rate for IAPH patients did not
change significantly. See Article:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/Transplantation/15706
STUDY: HERBALS NOT THE ANSWER FOR ASTHMA
Patients using alternative remedies more likely to misuse prescribed
drugs, suffer flare-ups
Many asthma patients who use herbal remedies experience increased
symptoms and poorer quality of life, a new study shows. Researchers
followed 326 asthma patients for 33 months. Of those patients, 25
percent said they used herbal remedies and used prescribed inhaled
corticosteroids (ICS) less often than other patients.
The patients who used herbal remedies were younger, more likely to
have been hospitalized or intubated for asthma, have concerns about
possible adverse effects of ICS, and have difficulty following a
medication schedule.
"Results indicate patients using herbal remedies are less likely to
take their prescribed medications. These patients report worse
asthma control and poorer quality of life than patients who follow
medication plans. Underuse of prescribed medication is one of the
main factors contributing to poor outcomes in asthma patients,"
study author Dr. Angkana Roy of the pediatrics department at Mount
Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, said in a news release.
See Article:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635645.html
Make browsing in our Library and catching up on general medical news
in our Reading Room part of your daily surfing routine at
http://www.copd-international.com/Library/
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> > > > > > > > > NEW HOPE < < < < < < < < <
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RESEARCH LOOKS AT RESPIRATORY WEAKNESS IN ICU MORBIDITY
A University of Kentucky researcher is investigating respiratory
weakness as a factor in the morbidity of intensive-care patients and
will soon be testing new treatments that could improve long-term
patient outcomes while reducing costs of care. Dr. Gerald Supinski,
professor and vice chair of research for the Department of Internal
Medicine in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, was
awarded a highly competitive, two-year, $480,000/year NIH Challenge
Grant for the project.
Supinski suggests that patients who are exposed to prolonged
mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU) develop
weakness in the skeletal muscles, which control breathing as well as
body movement. He believes that muscle wasting is a significant
factor in both extended ICU stays and the lengthy recovery times
required after a patient has been removed from the ventilator.
Supinski further hypothesizes that physicians tend to significantly
underestimate both the degree of patient weakness and the length of
time that the patients will require mechanical ventilation. If
effective treatments can be developed to slow down the wasting
process, Supinski reasons, reliance on mechanical ventilation can be
reduced and recovery times will improve. See Article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/177704.php
TECH FIRM BEGINS TRIALS FOR RESPIRATORY PANEL TEST
Idaho Technology, Inc. announced that clinical trials of the
FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP) have commenced at three U.S.
Hospital Laboratories. "We believe that the FilmArray RP holds
tremendous potential for hospital clinical laboratories frustrated
with the hassle, long turnaround times, and inferior sensitivity and
specificity of viral culture, DFA and rapid flu tests. The FilmArray
RP is a powerful molecular diagnostic assay designed for
comprehensive detection of common respiratory pathogens and yet is
still incredibly simple and easy to use," said Idaho Technology.
The much anticipated FilmArray RP is a user-friendly multiplex PCR
platform capable of detecting 21 common respiratory viruses and
bacteria. The FilmArray RP includes integrated sample preparation,
requires only 5 minutes of hands-on time, and reports results in
less than an hour. See More:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/177296.php
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> > > > > > > >
> RECALLS / WARNINGS < < < < < < < < <
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RECALLS
The link below leads to the list of active recall cases of the
United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS). See current recalls at
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fsis_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp
U.S. FDA RECALLS
To view current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalls, go
to
http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html
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> > > > > > > > >
FEATURED ARTICLES < < < < < < < < <
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TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE AND COPE WITH COPD
Note: After reading this article, you will have a chance to share
your own experience about what you believe to be the most
frightening aspect of COPD.
Living with COPD can be challenging, as the disease dramatically
impacts your daily life. Often causing severe disability, a
diagnosis of COPD can lead to feelings of hopelessness and
helplessness.
As the disease progresses, any kind of physical activity or social
interaction may prove difficult. Luckily, you can take back your
independence and improve your quality of life by incorporating the
several tips into your daily life. See Tips:
http://copd.about.com/od/livingwithcopd/a/living.htm
LIVING WITH COPD SERIES IN OUR LIBRARY
Bathing and Grooming
Conserving Energy
Gardening and yard work
In the Bedroom
In the Kitchen
Shopping
See Tips:
http://www.copd-international.com/Library/contents.htm
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> > > > > > > >
> NUTRITION/WELLNESS < < < < < < < < <
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EAT FOR A HEALTHY HEART
American Heart Month, which began February 1, is a good time to make
simple changes in your diet to reduce your risk for the nation's
No.1 killer - heart disease. You can make healthy food choices by
using the food label and health claims on foods. To help ward off
heart disease, choose foods with
less fat
less sodium (salt)
less cholesterol
fewer calories
more fiber
Learn more by reading this U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Consumer Update article:
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm199058.htm
MASKS, HAND SANITIZERS HELP HALT FLU SPREAD
Want to be prepared for a flu pandemic? You may want to stock up on
face masks and hand sanitizer, according to a new study.
College students living in residency halls who wore the masks for a
few hours a day and regularly used alcohol-based hand sanitizer cut
their risk of coming down with flu-like illness by up to half, Dr.
Allison E. Aiello of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her
colleagues found. See Article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q68K20100127
A FEW EXTRA POUNDS MAY BENEFIT OLDER PEOPLE
A little excess weight after age 70 could do the body some good,
according to results of a study involving 9,000 older patients.
Overweight participants in the cohort study had the lowest 10-year
mortality. Normal-weight and obese participants ages 70 to 75 had a
similar and slightly higher risk of death, Leon Flicker, PhD, of the
Western Australian Center for Health and Aging in Perth, and
colleagues found.
The findings add to evidence suggesting that being overweight in
older age is not such a bad thing and might even be beneficial. See
Article:
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Geriatrics/GeneralGeriatrics/tb/18183
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>
> > > > > > > > COMMUNITY UPDATE < < < < < < < < <
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WELCOME NEW SUBSCRIBERS!
We welcome all our new subscribers and invite you to join our
e-mail lists and check out our chat rooms, where you can talk freely
about COPD in an atmosphere of fellowship. The link to the chat
schedules can be found on our Home Page or just drop in anytime
you have a need to talk. For new subscribers, archives of back
issues of the newsletter can be accessed at
http://www.copd-international.com/Library/newsletters/archives.htm
KEEPING IN TOUCH (KIT) WITH OUR COPD FRIENDS
Over the years, we have had many of our active COPD friends simply
disappear suddenly. As COPD patients, we would begin to worry about
them, not knowing if they were ill, in the hospital, or worse.
Others who live alone have found themselves in the unfortunate
situation of winding up in the hospital due to an emergency, with no
means to contact their friends and support lists. For many, COPD
also tends to make hermits of them, with diminishing contact with
others. All three of these situations have been addressed in the
new "Keep In Touch" program at COPD International. For more
information, or to join, go to:
http://www.copd-international.com/Keep_in_Touch/
NEW! DEDICATION TO THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US
Some we have known by name, others only by nickname and still
others have remained totally unknown, preferring to read, learn and
seek comfort in the knowledge that they were not alone.
In honor all COPD patients everywhere, both known and unknown,
who have gone on before us, we have dedicated a new section of the
Web site. See Memorials:
http://www.COPD-International.com/remembering
MESSAGE BOARD ON SURGICAL OPTIONS FOR COPD
Thanks to the generous contribution of time and experience by some
of our regulars here at COPD International, we were able to open a
new message board for the exchange of information and support on
surgical options for COPD. This new board will cover subjects such
as LVRS, transplants and valve procedures, etc. For a complete
listing of all our message boards (forums), please go to
http://www.copd-international.com/messageboards.htm
COPD NEWS/INFORMATION FEATURE
"COPD Info" brings you the latest news, articles and
information from a wide variety of resources on a very timely basis.
http://www.copd-international.com/COPDInfo/
For those of you with news readers, there is also an RSS link.
LOVING THOUGHTS
To express your loving thoughts, get-well wishes and prayers for
our fellow community members, who are very ill or hospitalized,
please go to
http://www.copd-international.com/Loving_Thoughts/
HOSTED CHAT SCHEDULE
We currently have a total of 42 Hosted Chats. There is a mix of
open chats plus specialty chats as listed below. The full chat
schedule is at:
http://www.copd-international.com/Chat-schedule.htm
NEWCOMERS CHAT
-- Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. - Hosted
by Deb and Lyn.
New Time
-- Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. -
Hosted by Jackie and Rachel.
Officially titled "Newcomers Chat," you do not have to
be new to
COPD to join us! It is for the newly
diagnosed, new computer users or those that are
unfamiliar and want to learn more about how chat rooms
work.
These chats will be slow paced to give all time
to keep
up.
These
chats are held in the Special COPD Topic Room at
http://www.copd-international.com/COPD/chat.htm If you
are a
mIRC or Web TV user, the room is #copd
TWO COPD FOCUSED CHATS
These chats are a change from our "open" chat style to a
more
structured "COPD focused" type of chat that is geared
exclusively to discussions surrounding our COPD diagnosis
and
its related life issues.
-- Mondays at 3 p.m. hosted by Lyn
and James
-- Fridays at 10:30 a.m. hosted by
Deb and Naomi
ON-TOPIC CHATS
-- Caregivers: (NEW TIMES)
Hosts Kitty, Gal, Jackie and
Lyn
(Note: Only caregivers in these
chats please.)
http://www.copd-international.com/caregivers/chat.htm
-- Monday
through Friday at 9:30 to 10:30pm --
-- Quit Smoking Now (QSN): Daily
at 7:30 p.m.
with Hosts James, Gal, and
Jackie
http://www.copd-international.com/quit_smoking/chat.htm.
For more information on all our chat rooms, please contact Deb,
chat coordinator, at chat@copd-international.com.
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> > > >
> > > > > > LINK DIRECTORY < < < < < < < < < < <
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SPECIAL-INTEREST PROGRAMS
-- General Information on Clinical Trials
http://www.COPD-International.com/Library/clinical_trials.htm
-- Continually Updated List of COPD Clinical Trials
http://www.COPD-International.com/Library/trials.htm
-- Quit Smoking Support
http://www.COPD-International.com/quit_smoking/
-- Exercise Forum
http://www.COPD-International.com/exercise/
-- Caregivers Support
http://www.copd-international.com/caregivers/
-- COPD Advocate Bill Horden Library
http://www.copd-international.com/COPDAdvocate/
-- COPD Library
http://www.COPD-International.com/Library/
-- Welcome Wagon
http://www.COPD-International.com/welcome/
-- To Volunteer
http://www.copd-international.com/volunteer.htm
Don't forget to checkout all our support programs listed on our
Home Page at
www.COPD-International.com.
_______________________________________________________________
> > > > > > > > > JUST FOR FUN < < < < < < < < <
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VALENTINE'S DAY QUIZ
Valentine's Day is almost here. Time to choose your Valentine, and
time to brush up on your Valentines Day trivia. This Valentines Quiz
is a fun way to get in the Valentine spirit. See Quiz:
http://www.readersdigest.ca/cms/cmsquiz/37/0/q.html
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> > > > > > > > > RECIPE < < < < < < < < <
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OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN CHIMICHANGAS
Restaurant versions of chimichangas are typically deep-fried, but
in this recipe, they're baked.
Prep Time: 20 min.
Bake Time: 25 min.
Ingredients
2/3 cup Pace Picante Sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves, crushed
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
4 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
2 green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 tbsp. butter, melted
fresh cilantro leaves
Directions:
Stir the picante sauce, cumin, oregano, chicken, cheese
and
onions in a medium bowl.
Place about 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture in the center
of each
tortilla. Fold the opposite sides over the filling. Roll
up from
the bottom and place seam-side down on a baking sheet.
Brush
with butter.
Bake at 400 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until they're
golden
brown. Serve with additional picante sauce. Garnish with
cilantro.
Tip : For 1 1/2 cups chopped chicken, in a 2-quart
saucepan over
medium heat, in 4 cups boiling water, cook 3/4 pound
boneless
chicken breasts or thighs, cubed, for 5 minutes or until
the
chicken is cooked through. Drain and chop the chicken.
Serves 6.
(Campbell's Kitchen)
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> > > > > > >
> CLOSING THOUGHT < < < < < < < <
_______________________________________________________________
"The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself in spite of
being unacceptable."
- Paul
Tillich -
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> > > > > > > >
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Recommend the COPD-International Newsletter to a friend!
Thank You For Your Readership
-----------------
Notes
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Newsletters are archived in the COPD-International online Library.
However, links to outside sources cannot be guaranteed after
publication date.
"COPD-International Newsletter" is an opt-in ezine available by
subscription only. You must have sent an e-mail request or visited
our Web site to request this subscription. We neither use nor
endorse the use of "spam." This newsletter is never sent to anyone
who has not requested it and we NEVER share your e-mail address with
third-parties.
© 2009 COPD-International.com, except where otherwise indicated. All
rights reserved worldwide. Reprint only with permission from
copyright holder(s). All trademarks are property of their respective
owners. All content provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.
All Disclaimers Apply: The information and guidance provided in this
newsletter should never be interpreted as a diagnosis, treatment
plan or any other form of professional service.
All information provided should be judged as individual "opinions"
and discussed with a qualified health care professional before any
remedy, treatment or therapy is started.
Links in this newsletter to other Internet sites are not
endorsements of any products or services associated with such sites.
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