Feeling Overwhelmed with Health Related News?

Blog contributed by Melissa M. Brown, Psy.D, PinnacleHealth Psychological Associates

As with any serious event that carries uncertainty it can create stress and lead to worry.  Recently, we have been hearing a lot about the Ebola virus and may have developed a heightened awareness because it has affected several U.S. citizens.  While the United States is not currently experiencing an outbreak, it is important to keep yourself informed; however, at a healthy level.  One of the negative consequences of doing so can lead to feeling overwhelmed by information, excessive worry, or displaying symptoms of stress.  Therefore, it is important to be aware of when too much information is not helping but hurting you.  Some symptoms which may indicate that you are reaching a critical point include: not sleeping, sleeping too much, over or under eating, disengaging from previously enjoyed activities, constant worry or fear that you will contract the illness, excessive thoughts about the virus, unnecessary precautions with you or other family members, dizziness, difficulty focusing or concentrating, or anything else that is a deviation from your normal life functions.

There are numerous things to do to protect your mental health while taking the appropriate measures to inform yourself.  First, limit the amount of media information you are viewing about the virus.  If necessary turn off the television or change the channel. Second, educate yourself about the virus through reputable sources of information such as the: CDC, The WHO and your local hospital. These resources use scientific information which has been demonstrated to be the most accurate at the time and will alleviate any concern about things you have heard that may or may not be true.  Third, take the necessary steps to ensure good mental and physical health.  There are a few things you can do that will reduce your stress and anxiety: exercise regularly, eat a well balanced healthy diet, disengage from the media information, and reach out to family members and trusted support systems.  If you find that your symptoms are becoming increasingly bothersome or interfering with your life on any level, it may be time to seek out professional intervention.  A psychologist or other mental health professional can work with you to alleviate your fears and reduce your symptoms of stress.

Finally, it is important to remember that various professionals are available to provide support and, if necessary, intervention.  They have the training and expertise on what to do if you are experiencing any forms of distress.  Allow these individuals and professional organizations to provide you with accurate information.

Information About Ebola

PinnacleHealth
Infectious Disease Specialist,
John Goldman, MD.

While the Ebola virus continues to cause concern, we should be reassured that the risk for the spread of the infection in the U.S. remains low.

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with an infected person's blood or body fluids. Ebola is not transmitted through the air or in water. Patients with Ebola are not infectious until they are symptomatic.

Healthcare providers locally and around the country are taking steps to protect our communities. At PinnacleHealth, we are asking patients to inform us of recent travel. We want to know if you have you lived in, visited, or cared for someone who is ill that traveled to one of the following countries within the last three weeks.

• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Guinea
• Liberia
• Nigeria
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone

By knowing this information, we can properly screen those who may have been exposed and begin treatment if needed. A patient with signs and symptoms of Ebola and recent travel to an area where Ebola transmission has been active will be immediately isolated in Standard, Contact and Droplet Precautions.

Early symptoms of Ebola include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat, each of which can be easily mistaken early on for other ailments like malaria, typhoid fever and meningitis. It generally takes about 5 to 7 days to develop symptoms. However, symptoms might not appear until two to 21 days after one is infected.  Ebola can cause viral hemorrhagic fever, which can affect multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding.

While the medical community is working to develop a vaccine, there aren’t specific medications to treat the infection. We are able to offer supportive measures while the body works to heal on its own.  The following basic interventions, when used early, can significantly improve the chances of survival:

• Providing intravenous fluids (IV)and balancing electrolytes (body salts)
• Maintaining oxygen status and blood pressure
• Treating other infections if they occur

It is our strong recommendation that all non-essential travel to West Africa should be avoided. If you are traveling, use common sense infection prevention. Do your best to avoid sick individuals and use good hygiene practices, such as regular hand-washing and hand sanitizer. The CDC offers the following information about travel and Ebola.

Flu Vaccine

Good Hope Family Physicians

Flu Vaccine—our view

Think about this: the people who at highest risk to die from the flu are the very old, the very young, and people with health problems. The reason they have a harder time with flu is because their immune systems don’t work as well as they should. For that same reason, when we vaccinate them for flu, their immune systems don’t make antibodies well either, so the flu vaccine doesn’t work as well for them as it does for healthy people. In the previous year’s flu season, the flu vaccine only had 10% effectiveness in the over-65 population. 10%!! If we could only choose to vaccinate healthy people or high-risk people, we might actually choose the healthy people, because if they don’t get sick, they don’t pass it to the high risk people. Fortunately, we don’t have to make that choice. So if you are low risk, please think about getting flu vaccine to protect your loved ones or others who are at higher risk.

For this reason, this year’s flu vaccine for those over 65 is a stronger vaccine.

“But you can get the flu from the flu vaccine” is a common response.  No, what is actually happening is that when the immune system is asked to really crank up production of antibodies, you can feel “flu-like symptoms” of body aches, fever, fatigue, etc. When these symptoms occur with flu disease or any other infection, it is your body’s immune response to the infection causing these symptoms, not the germ itself. Who knows, maybe having these symptoms is a good thing as your immune system is clearly responding to the vaccine. And having a few days of some aching is much better than being knocked down for a week with flu disease, or worse yet, dying from flu.

It is important that you know what influenza is. It is NOT vomiting and diarrhea, which is referred to as “stomach flu” but is not influenza at all. Influenza is fever, cough, body aches, fatigue (“like you were hit by a truck”), congestion, etc.

“But I’ve never gotten the flu before” is also a common response. The average healthy person gets flu once every 7 years, and it might be a mild case but doesn’t mean you won’t ever get a bad case. Don’t you wear your seatbelt to protect yourself from something bad which hasn’t happened? And if you feel this way, re-read paragraph #1.

There are so many myths about influenza and vaccines in general, which is really sad, because vaccines today are very safe and save lives. But they are a victim of their success; since we use them widely, we don’t see those illnesses very much and we underestimate how useful and important they still are.

Please ask questions if you have further concerns.

The Providers at Good Hope Family Physicians, PinnacleHealth Medical Group

Baby Safety Month Topic - “Bare is Best”

Blog contributed by Kathleen
Zimmerman, MD, Pediatrician

When you’re getting ready for new baby to come, it is fun to get the room decorated and looking cozy.  But as cute as those matching bumper pads, baby blankets and stuffed animals look, cozy is not always safe.  In fact, new parents should stick to the motto, “Bare is Best”.

The recommendations for safe sleep has changed a lot over the past few decades.  The Back to Sleep program and recommendations have dramatically reduced Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  Unfortunately there have been increasing tragic deaths seen from babies being trapped or suffocated by extra items in the crib.  So in addition to sleeping you baby on his back, also be sure to follow these recommendations:

1. Use a firm sleep surface
2. Use only the mattress that came with the crib or playpen, don’t replace it with something else and don’t place something on top (like a pillow or wedge positioner). You should not be able to fit more than 2 fingers between the mattress and the side
3. IF the mattress needs to have a slight angle at the head (30 degrees or less) for congestion or reflux symptoms, then do it from underneath the mattress, not on top
4. It is safest for the baby to sleep in the same room as the parents for the first 4 months.
5. But DON’t put the baby in your bed to sleep.  Parents’ mattresses are often softer and there are bodies and pillows in the bed that can suffocate the baby.
6. No pillow, blankets or bumper pads in the crib.
7. Use a sleep sack to keep your baby warm, not blankets.  Or a swaddle sack or thin blanket swaddled tightly is safe for babies until they start to roll (typically 4 months of age)
8. Keep cords, blind pulls, or other hanging objects away from the crib or playpen in order to avoid possible strangulation