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Adventures in physical fitness, part 2: What I’ve learned so far

Monday, February 4, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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Last week, I wrote in this space about joining a gym and indulging in a free training session at the facility — a venture that ended with me quasi-dry-heaving on the bathroom floor of said gym.

Despite that rather humbling experience, I am determined not to give up on my new commitment to physical fitness. After all, I don’t want to be the person driven to near-cardiac arrest by a few minutes of exercise. Like everyone, I want to be strong. I want to be healthy. I want to do 30 seconds worth of jumping jacks without feeling like I’m going to die.

So, in the interest of improving myself, I’ve headed back to the gym several times since that fateful day last week. In short, my more recent trips have been a bit less stressful, if still rigorous. And I’ve managed to learn a few things about myself and the environment of the American physical fitness complex. Allow me to share some of them with you.

1. Gym locker rooms are no place for shame: I don’t know who exactly coined the phrase “I can’t unsee that,” but I’m pretty sure that individual was standing in a gym locker room when he or she said it. There’s something about crossing the threshold of a gym locker room that causes people to abandon all shame and strip down to various states of undress. I don’t really have a problem with this. I’m not a prude. But it is a little weird, right? I mean, just because everyone in a room is of the same gender, doesn’t mean we all want to see each other in the altogether. I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Thus, neither one of us needs to see the other standing nude on a scale (something I in fact witnessed during my last trip). However, I’m trying to embrace the gym experience, so I decided on my second trip that I would change into my gym clothes out in the open instead of in one of the locker room bathrooms. But, as I attempted to do this, a woman walked in with a 4 or 5-year-old child in tow. It’s one thing to disrobe in front of other adults. But a kid? My resolve withered.

2. It’s easy to spot the people who aren’t 100 percent committed to working out. They’re the people who have the TVs attached to their exercise machines tuned to the Food Network.

3. Gyms are competitive. I don’t just mean that you might have to knock down a fellow exerciser to get access to the last elliptical machine (though that is something that could totally happen). I mean that, no matter your level of physical fitness, you will almost certainly find yourself peering at the computer display on the machine next to you and comparing your workout colleague’s speed, distance, heart rate, etc. to your own.
At least, I do this. I can’t help it. If I see a guy next to me watching “Restaurant Impossible” on his machine’s TV, I need to know that I’m outpacing him. Of course, this can be humbling. I haven’t yet had the experience of realizing that everyone in my immediate area is out-performing me. But it will happen. And when it does, I’ll probably end up being more likely to keep my eyes on my own machine.

4. When you approach a machine, you shouldn’t just drop your water bottle into the machine’s cup-holder, assuming that it has a bottom. It might not, in fact, have a bottom, and your water bottle might clatter to the floor, drawing every eye in the gym to the lumbering lummox who’s making all the racket. I mean, that could happen to someone. I’m not saying it did happen. It just could.

5. You need to choose your machine carefully. When I went in for my training session last week, I was told I might want to try cycling. So, on my last trip to the gym, I did. I don’t know how to put this delicately, but exercise bikes can be kind of painful. Specifically, they can cause one pain in a particular area where one especially does not want to be caused pain because it makes it difficult for one to sit for a prolonged period of time. It’s highly possible that this was my fault and not the fault of the machine. I might have need to adjust the seat before plopping onto it. Rest assured, I will not be plopping onto an exercise bike again in the near future. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll be plopping onto anything again in the near future.

Connecticut selected for initiative to improve birth outcomes

Thursday, January 31, 2013 by:Amanda Cuda
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The National Governors Association (NGA) recently selected Connecticut and three other states to participate in its Learning Network on Improving Birth Outcomes. The network is designed to assist states in developing, implementing and aligning their key policies and initiatives related to improving birth outcomes.

The NGA will hold in-state sessions with the selected states and convene a networking conference for the states to share lessons learned and further their respective planning processes.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health has established a five-member core team with representatives from the governor’s office, the departments of public Health and social services, and the Connecticut March of Dimes to work with the NGA to establish a statewide coalition of state and local agencies to improve birth outcomes, especially within the state’s minority racial and ethnic communities.

Health officials noted that preterm births occur in the black/African-American community at a rate 1.5 times higher than that in the white/Caucasian community, and that this disparity has not significantly changed in the last 10 years.

“Participation in the Learning Network will help Connecticut achieve a recent challenge among State and Territorial Health Officers to reduce preterm births by 8 percent by 2014, as well as our goal to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in early preterm births,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Jewel Mullen in a press release. “Through this unique opportunity with the NGA, we expect to learn effective strategies and best practices for coordinating activities across agencies and accelerate the pace of improving birth outcomes and reducing newborn hospitalization costs.”

The initiative is part of the Alliance for Information on Maternal and Child Health Services (AIM). AIM is sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of Health Resources and Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Connecticut’s participation in this initiative builds on recent previous activities conducted within DPH, including selection to participate in an Action Learning Collaborative on the effects of racism on birth outcomes, as well as a training program called the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health on the topic of maternal and infant health.

Full coverage for more women’s prevention service to go into effect

Wednesday, August 1, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda
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The controversial part of the Affordable Care Act that will give 47 million women greater access to a variety of health services — including contraception — will go into effect today for many women.

The new rules in the health care law requiring coverage of eight new prevention services take effect at the next renewal date – on or after today — for most health insurance plans. The new prevention-related services are:

  • Well-woman visits.

    • Gestational diabetes screening that helps protect pregnant women from one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases.

  • Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling.

    • FDA-approved contraceptive methods, and contraceptive education and counseling.

  • Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling.

    • HPV DNA testing, for women 30 or older.

  • Sexually transmitted infections counseling for sexually-active women.

    • HIV screening and counseling for sexually-active women.

    Previously some insurance companies did not cover these preventive services for women at all under their health plans, while some women had to pay deductibles or co-pays for the care they needed to stay healthy.
    According to a new report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 47 million women are in health plans that must cover these new preventive services at no charge.

    “President Obama is moving our country forward by giving women control over their health care,” Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a press release put out by the department. “This law puts women and their doctors, not insurance companies or the government, in charge of health care decisions.”

    Group health plans and issuers that have maintained grandfathered status are not required to cover these services. In addition, certain nonprofit religious organizations, such as churches and schools, are not required to cover these services. The Obama administration will continue to work with all employers to give them the flexibility and resources they need to implement the health care law in a way that protects women’s health while making common-sense accommodations for values like religious liberty.

    To learn more about the health care services you may be eligible for at no extra charge under the Affordable Care Act, go to http://www.healthcare.gov/prevention.

    For information about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report on the number of adult and adolescent women eligible for the preventive services at no charge after Aug. 1, 2012, see http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2012/womensPreventiveServicesACA/ib.shtml.

    Trumbull business donates fetal monitors to AmeriCares

    Monday, May 21, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda
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    Trumbull-based CooperSurgical, Inc. recently donated a series of Tria Fetal Dopplers to the Stamford-based philanthropic agency AmeriCares. These devices will be used to assess fetal viability for expectant mothers in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The hand-held dopplers detect a fetal heart rate as early as eight weeks after conception, allowing physicians to confirm a viable fetus and on occasion detect a potentially life-threatening issue prior to birth when the condition may be treatable.

    Five of the devices will be delivered to Afshar Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, which treats 4,000 pregnant women each year. The hospital provides obstetric and newborn care, among other services. Afghanistan has the one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, and the majority of Afghan women give birth at home without professional medical care and the benefit of modern medical technology. The other two monitors will be delivered to the Dhaka Hospital in Bangladesh, which also has high infant and maternal mortality rates.

    “Many young lives will be saved as a direct result of CooperSurgical’s donation,” said AmeriCares Medical Director Dr. Frank Bia in a press release issued Monday. “These devices are relatively easy to use and very effective in detecting fetal distress before delivery, when there is still time for lifesaving interventions.”

    Yale study: Cell phone use during pregnancy might affect unborn children

    Thursday, March 15, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda
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    A study out of Yale University, published today in Scientific Reports, sees a potential link between cell phone use in pregnant moms and hyperactivity in their children. The full release from Yale is below:

    Exposure to radiation from cell phones during pregnancy affects the brain development of offspring, potentially leading to hyperactivity, Yale School of Medicine researchers have determined.

    The results, based on studies in mice, are published in the March 15 issue of Scientific Reports, a Nature publication.

    “This is the first experimental evidence that fetal exposure to radiofrequency radiation from cellular telephones does in fact affect adult behavior,” said senior author Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor and chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences.

    Taylor and co-authors exposed pregnant mice to radiation from a muted and silenced cell phone positioned above the cage and placed on an active phone call for the duration of the trial. A control group of mice was kept under the same conditions but with the phone deactivated.

    The team measured the brain electrical activity of adult mice that were exposed to radiation as fetuses, and conducted a battery of psychological and behavioral tests. They found that the mice that were exposed to radiation tended to be more hyperactive and had increased anxiety and reduced memory capacity. Taylor attributed the behavioral changes to an effect during pregnancy on the development of neurons in the prefrontal cortex region of the brain.

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a developmental disorder associated with neuropathology localized primarily to the same brain region, and is characterized by inattention and hyperactivity.

    “We have shown that behavioral problems in mice that resemble ADHD are caused by cell phone exposure in the womb,” said Taylor. “The rise in behavioral disorders in human children may be in part due to fetal cellular telephone irradiation exposure.”

    Taylor said that further testing is needed in humans to better understand the mechanisms behind these findings and to establish safe exposure limits during pregnancy. Nevertheless, he said, limiting exposure of the fetus seems warranted.

    First author Tamir Aldad added that rodent pregnancies last only 19 days and offspring are born with a less-developed brain than human babies, so further experiments are needed in humans or non-human primates to determine if the potential risks of exposure to radiation during pregnancy are similar.

    “Cell phones were used in this study to mimic potential human exposure but future research will instead use standard electromagnetic field generators to more precisely define the level of exposure,” said Aldad.

    Other Yale authors on the study include Geliang Gan and Xiao-Bing Gao.

    The study was funded by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, and Environment and Human Health, Inc.

    Hospital kudos round-up, week of Feb. 20

    Monday, February 20, 2012 by:Amanda Cuda
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    OK, I have a big backlog of hospital news I’m dying to get out there. So, behold, the latest edition of hospital kudos round-up.

    St. Vincent’s gets grant money

    The St. Vincent’s Foundation received one of the first grant awards from Pink Aid, a grant-based organization that helps fund compassionate services to the uninsured and under-insured women in our community. The foundation supports the various arms of St. Vincent’s Health Services, including St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport.

    The grant of $105,000 will be used to provide free mammograms to women who have barriers to care, as well as provide education and support services to cancer patients through the St. Vincent’s  Swim Across the Sound program.

    Standing in front of the St. Vincent’s Mobile Mammography Coach are (from left to right): Renee Mandis, Co-Chair of Pink Aid; Lyla Steenbergen, Director of Major Gifts, St. Vincent’s Medical Center Foundation; Michael Bisciglia, Vice President, St. Vincent’s Medical Center Foundation; Andrew Mitchell-Namdar, Founder of Pink Aid and is from Mitchells of Westport; Amy Katz and Amy Gross, Co-Chairs of Pink Aid

    ‘Bridge to Recovery’ receives SAMHSA award

    Connecticut Counseling Centers Inc.  announces that its Bridge to Recovery program will receive the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Science and Service Award at the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence Conference Award Banquet in Las Vegas on April 24.  The Bridge to Recovery Program has been chosen to receive the award out of thirty-eight applicants.  The program received funding from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Norwalk United Way.

    The Bridge to Recovery program is a treatment initiative designed to increase medication assisted treatment retention and produce positive treatment outcomes. The initiative provides enhanced services to patients receiving treatment for narcotic dependence from Connecticut Counseling Centers’ Norwalk Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program. The program trains patients as peer mentors who demonstrate a desire to help others achieve their own recovery. The mentors meet with patients who are having difficulty maintaining sobriety, missing counseling sessions, and are at risk of dropping out of treatment.

    Connecticut Counseling Centers, Inc. is a state-licensed, nationally accredited, not for profit Behavioral Healthcare Corporation that offers counseling, psychiatry, education and medication assisted treatment.  Connecticut Counseling Centers’ has facilities in Norwalk, Waterbury and Danbury which serves approximately 1,700 patients annually from 67 Connecticut cities and towns.

    For more information about the Bridge to Recovery program contact Robert C. Lambert, MA, LADC at 203-838-6508 ext. 238, or rlambert@ctcounseling.org

    You can also contact at Kurt Kemmling, CMA at 209-RECOVER, or ccnama@gmail.com

    Stamford Hospital to participate in study

    The Bravewell Collaborative today released Integrative Medicine in America: How Integrative Medicine Is Being Practiced in Clinical Centers Across the United States, a study of the patient populations and health conditions most commonly treated with integrative strategies.

    Twenty-nine integrative medicine centers, including, Stamford Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness, were surveyed by The Bravewell Collaborative. All participating centers were affiliated with hospitals, health systems and/or medical and nursing schools. Patient services include adult care (100 percent of those surveyed), geriatric care (97 percent), adolescent care (86 percent), OB-GYN care (72 percent), pediatric care (62 percent) and end-of-life care (66 percent). Findings from the report, which evaluated trends in prevention and wellness, patient outcomes, emerging norms of care and reimbursement, suggest that the practice of integrative medicine offers promise for increasing the effectiveness of care and improving people’s health.

    In the survey, 75 percent of centers reported success using integrative practices to treat chronic pain and more than half reported positive results for gastrointestinal conditions, depression and anxiety, cancer and chronic stress.

    Integrative medicine is an approach that puts the patient at the center of care and addresses the full range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect health. Employing a personalized strategy that considers the patient’s unique conditions, needs and circumstances, integrative medicine uses the most appropriate interventions from an array of scientific disciplines to heal illness and disease and help people regain and maintain optimal health.

    St. Raphael’s celebrates birth center anniversary

    A bevy of moms, babies and VIPs celebrated the first birthday of the Dr. Romeo A. and Lena B. Vidone Birth Center at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven on Friday, Feb. 10.  Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Jewel Mullen, M.D., attended the event, which also marked the Vidone Center’s designation as Baby-Friendly™ for promotion of breast feeding.

    The World Health Organization and UNICEF started the Baby-Friendly initiative to recognize hospitals that educate and enable parents to make informed choices about how they feed and care for their babies.

    Saint Raphael’s also celebrated a $75,000 grant to create a special resource and support center to help new mothers with breastfeeding after they are discharged from the hospital. The center, called the Breastfeeding Advances Baby’s first Year (BABY) Program, opens Feb. 14 with funding from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA). David Wasch, CHEFA’s manager of Government Programs, presented the grant check to Dr. Annmarie Golioto, medical director of the Newborn ICU and Newborn Services at the Hospital of Saint Raphael.

    How pregnant women and new parents can prepare for an emergency

    Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by:Amanda Cuda
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    As residents of Connecticut keep watch for Hurricane Irene — slated to affect the state this weekend — the March of Dimes urges pregnant women and parents of new babies to be prepared for future emergencies or the need to evacuate from their homes.

    The March of Dimes chapters and its web site (www.marchofdimes.com) are good sources of information for pregnant women. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) also offers important information about preparing for a hurricane.

    While pregnant women should follow the general hurricane preparedness recommendations, they and new mothers also should take special precautions for themselves and their children.

    March of Dimes Emergency Preparedness Tips for Pregnant Women and New Parents

    1) Pregnant women should know the signs labor and if they experience any of these symptoms should NOT wait for them to just go away.  They should seek immediate medical care. Preterm labor is any labor before 37 weeks gestation. The signs of labor are:

    • Contractions (the abdomen tightens like a fist) every 10 minutes or more often
    • Change in vaginal discharge (leaking fluid or bleeding from the vagina)
    • Pelvic pressure—the feeling that the baby is pushing down
    • Low, dull backache
    • Cramps that feel like a period
    • Abdominal cramps with or without diarrhea

    2) Pregnant women should pack prenatal vitamins, or perhaps an extra supply of over-the-counter vitamins, along with extra maternity clothes.

    3) Fill prescription medications in advance.

    4) Have bottled water and non-perishable food supplies on hand. Try to stock food that is high in protein and low in fat.

    5) New parents who may need to stay in a shelter should consider bringing a safe place for their baby to sleep, such as a portable crib, as well as extra diapers and other basic medical supplies.

    6) New parents also should take special steps to ensure they have food for their infants.  The stress of a hurricane may affect lactating women’s milk supply, although breastfeeding can be calming for both mother and baby.

    7) In the rare instance it becomes impossible to continue to breastfeed, mothers may consider weaning their baby. If they choose to switch to formula, parents should use pre-prepared formula because there may be concerns about the quality of the water supply. Do not use water treated with iodine or chlorine tablets to prepare powdered formula.

    8 ) Pregnant women should do their best to eat regularly and nutritiously and remain hydrated. They also should do their best to get enough rest.

    Shop for a cause at Macy’s

    Friday, August 19, 2011 by:Amanda Cuda
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    The March of Dimes is the exclusive national beneficiary of Macy’s annual Shop for a Cause program this year.  Shop for a Cause will be held Aug. 27, just in time for back-to-school shopping.  This unique program provides customers two good reasons to shop at all Macy’s stores in Connecticut – to save money and babies.  In Connecticut, this special offer fall within tax-free week (Aug. 21-27).

    For $5, customers can purchase a savings pass that offers 25 percent off most regular, sale and clearance purchases at the store or online all day.  (Some exclusions apply.)  Macy’s will donate 100 percent of the $5 cost of the savings pass to the March of Dimes to help give more babies a healthy start in life.

    Connecticut Macy’s locations include: Danbury, Enfield, Farmington, Manchester, Meriden, Milford, Stamford, Trumbull, Waterbury and Waterford.

    The $5 savings passes can be purchased online directly from the March of Dimes at marchofdimes.com/shopforacause beginning today.  Also beginning today, customers  can purchase the pass at any Macy’s store or online at Macys.com.

    This is the 6th annual Macy’s Shop for a Cause charity shopping event that has raised more than $38 million for charities across the country since 2006. However, this is the first year that the March of Dimes is the sole national beneficiary of the program.

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