Page 4 - HealthBeat March 2017

health bits Neurofibromatosis
Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder of the nervous system that mainly affects how nerve cells form and grow. The disorder causes tumors to grow on nerves. You can get neurofibromatosis from your parents, or it can happen because of a mutation (change) in your genes. Once you have the disorder, you can pass it on to your children. Usually, the tumors are benign, but sometimes they can become cancerous.
SOURCE: THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
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Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones that occurs when a person loses too much bone, produces too little bone or both. Though the disease is most often associated with women over 50, anyone can be diagnosed with osteoporosis, which weakens bones and can make them more susceptible to breaks. Exercise is a great way for men and women to build and maintain strong bones in an attempt to prevent the onset of osteoporosis. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, weight-bearing exercises can help build and maintain bone density. But the foundation notes that men and women who have had broken bones as a result of osteoporosis, or those at risk of such breaks, may need to avoid high-impact, weight-bearing exercises, which include dancing, hiking, jogging and jumping rope, among others. For those whose physicians suggest they avoid high-impact weight- bearing exercises, low-impact weight-bearing exercises can help strengthen their bones. Such exercises may involve low-impact aerobics and using cardiovascular machines, such as elliptical trainers, stairstep machines and treadmills. Additional exercises that can benefit men and women looking to prevent or combat osteoporosis can be found at www.nof.org.
— COURTESY OF METRO CREATIVE
Area hospitals achieve accreditation
CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock and CHI St. Vincent North in Sherwood recently became the first and only hospitals in the state to earn accreditation for cardiac catheterization by Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence, an organization dedicated to ensuring adherence to the highest-quality standards for cardiovascular and endovascular care.
“We achieved the accreditation by volunteering for a professional review of our structure, internal processes, patient safety practices and clinical outcomes. It is gratifying that our commitment to quality care for our patients resulted in meeting the standards established by experts in cardiac and endovascular care,” said Dr. Randy Jordan, chief medical officer for the Jack Stephens Heart Institute.
— COURTESY OF CHI ST. VINCENT
88,000
THE NUMBER OF ANNUAL DEATHS FROM ALCOHOL-RELATED CAUSES IN THE UNITED STATES
4
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SOURCE: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM