Re: Thomashow appointed the the Michigan Board of Medicine "whoopie"

Cool!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <kumbay@aol.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 7:51 PM
Subject: Thomashow appointed the the Michigan Board of Medicine "whoopie"
To: paulturke@gmail.com



Paul

I forgot to tell you in my hour of financial ruin, I was appointed to the Michigan Board of Medicine.  Its crazy.  I got off the fitness board (monday meetings) and a year later I got a call about being on another board.  I told them it would have to meet on wed/thur.  Six months ago I got another call letting me know that I was being appointed on the Medicine Board.   Nothing, until 2 weeks ago when I was asked my opinion on the physicians proposed tax....  Then I was told it didnt really matter what my position was.....  Today I got notice.  

I didnt realize that it is "the Board of Medicine".  The one that takes away licenses and makes big ass decisions.  

At the least it will be good for the web site.

Suzanne

Get Up & Go!

Last week, First Lady Michele Obama picked a new project: she's started a national initiative to fight childhood obesity. The goals are the usual two: 1) better diet, and 2) more exercise.  "Let's Move" will be backed up with up to $1B in federal funding, and a national task force to deal with the problem.  Among other things, it will pay for new sports clinics, new community playgrounds and bike paths, new public service announcements, and a new website (see the "letsmove" link, below).

 

If that sounds exorbitant, it may not be.  The medical costs related to obesity in this country are estimated at around $150B a year, roughly half of that covered by Medicare or Medicaid.  More than 1 in 10 children in the U.S. is now "obese," and the rates are going up (see the "Play Time" blog, below).  The First Lady's initiative is a preemptive strike.

 

It's one every parent should take.  Spring is just around the corner: it's time to start eating more local fruits and vegetables, and to get out and play--or work.  Tell your son or daughter to go fly a kite, ride a bike, mow the lawn or take out the trash.  They'll be so glad you did.

 

http://www.letsmove.gov/

 

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/short/hlthaff.28.5.w822

Get Up & Go!

Last week, First Lady Michele Obama picked a new project: she's started a national initiative to fight childhood obesity. The goals are the usual two: 1) better diet, and 2) more exercise.  "Let's Move" will be backed up with up to $1B in federal funding, and a national task force to deal with the problem.  Among other things, it will pay for new sports clinics, new community playgrounds and bike paths, new public service announcements, and a new website (see the "letsmove" link, below).

 

If that sounds exorbitant, it may not be.  The medical costs related to obesity in this country are estimated at around $150B a year, roughly half of that covered by Medicare or Medicaid.  More than 1 in 10 children in the U.S. is now "obese," and the rates are going up (see the "Play Time" blog, below).  The First Lady's initiative is a preemptive strike.

 

It's one every parent should take.  Spring is just around the corner: it's time to start eating more local fruits and vegetables, and to get out and play--or work.  Tell your son or daughter to go fly a kite, ride a bike, mow the lawn or take out the trash.  They'll be so glad you did.

 

http://www.letsmove.gov/

 

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/short/hlthaff.28.5.w822

Flu Shot Update

Turke & Thomashow's offices in Ann Arbor and Chelsea are ready for the flu: we have both the swine flu and seasonal flu vaccines available now.  The  H1N1, or "swine" flu, hit our area hard this fall; but the usual, "seasonal," flu has yet to come through.  It's important to know that the viruses that cause these influenzas are different.  Having had an H1N1 flu shot, or having had the H1N1 flu, will not offer protection against the seasonal flu.  Call our offices to make appointments.  Our nurses are ready and willing to get our patients immunized.
 
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/what-is-flu

We've Got the Swine Flu Vaccine!

Thanks to the dogged and determined efforts of our staff, we've just got our first shipment of H1N1 vaccine in our Ann Arbor and Chelsea offices.  The first batch is small, but we are in line for more as it becomes available.  Call when you can, and we'll set up an appointment.

 

As we're all painfully aware, the swine flu arrived in Michigan before the vaccine did.  Schools across the state—from Flint to Grand Rapids—have closed this week; and we're seeing more and more patients with flu symptoms.

 

It's a good idea to get the vaccine if you haven't already gotten sick with the swine flu. Roughly two-thirds of the US population is predicted to get infected this year with the H1N1 virus.  The vaccine provides protection as early as two weeks after administration.  It's also important to get the seasonal flu vaccine.  Children are at risk for both forms of the flu this year.  Adults are usually hardest hit with the seasonal flu but are also at risk for the H1N1 flu; and so far, over half of all hospitalized swine flu sufferers have been under the age of 25.  Swine flu will be with us all winter, and into the spring.  It's important to get children vaccinated as soon as we can.

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/flu_illnesses_including_h1n1_c.html

 

http://news.aol.com/article/h1n1-flu-spreading-fast-across-the/730687

Here Comes the Swine Flu

School starts tomorrow.  Kids all over the state, who haven't seen each other since last spring, will be together on playgrounds and in classrooms this week.  And the H1N1 virus is ready to spread.  Students in colleges all over the country have been coming down with the swine flu in the past month—from 26 cases reported at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh after the first few days of class, to at least 2000 reported cases in Pullman at Washington State last week.  Parents should be ready to keep this virus from spreading.  Again, that means:

·      Arming your children with hand sanitizers, and encouraging them to wash their hands often

·      Equipping your children with tissues, and encouraging them to cover their noses and mouths whenever they cough

·      Encouraging your children to come home from school as soon as they feel don't feel well

·      Using prescription antivirals as soon as flu symptoms—fever, aches, cough, sore throat and runny nose—appear

·      Getting your children vaccinated as soon as possible: the vaccine should be available in our offices sometime this fall

Effects of this flu are apparently no more severe than effects of other flus have been; but, because H1N1 is a new virus, it's more likely to spread.  And children—whose immune systems are less likely to have been exposed to a similar flu virus—are most likely to come down with symptoms.  Let's do all we can to keep them healthy!

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/swine-flu/ds01144

http://www.healthmap.org/swineflu/

Here Comes the Swine Flu Vaccine

Last week, the Center for Disease Control's ACIP—or Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—met to decide who should receive the new swine flu vaccinewhen it becomes available this fall, probably sometime in September or October.  The CDC isn't expecting a shortage of the new H1N1 vaccine; but because availability and demand are unpredictable, they've come up with a priority list.  From high priority to low, they recommended the vaccine be given to:

 

• Pregnant women
• Household contacts and caregivers for children under 6 months of age
• Healthcare and emergency services personnel
• Children 6 months through 18 years of age
• Young adults 19 through 25 years of age
• Adults 26 through 64 years of age who have health complications associated with high influenza risk
• Other adults 26 through 64
• Adults 65 and over

The swine flu vaccine won't replace the flu vaccine already in use—they're meant to be used together.  And for people who do come down with flu symptoms, or are in contact with a sick person, prescription anti-virals—like Tamiflu and Relenza—should be readily available.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/acip.htm