Here is a digest of some of the OurSentinel.com stories we published on this day in the past.
Keegan McCarty: "Everyone has a special meaning"
Going into this baseball season, Keegan McCarty had a long list of personal goals he was set on accomplishing this season.
That dream was interrupted by what appeared to be a temporary postponement to the season, and then weeks later the inevitable cancellation of the entire 2020 season, courtesy of the Coronavirus pandemic.
With Arms Open Wide benefit concert at the Rose Bowl
The Slavic Reference Service at the University of Illinois will be hosting a benefit concert on Saturday at the Rose Bowl Tavern in downtown Urbana.
Starting at 1pm, the concert will feature local bands from a wide range of styles and genres for three and a half hours. Admission is free.
SJO senior spotlights with Josh Sexton, Isaac Walden & Jackson Wooten
Advice from three departing St. Joseph-Ogden seniors in 2020:
Work hard, and to keep plugging away to be successful.
~ Jackson Wooten
Do not underestimate yourself.
~ Josh Sexton
Get all of your homework finished.
~ Isaac Walden
Mediterranean-style diet shown to reduce risk of preeclampsia during pregnancy
Photo: Edgar Castrejon/Unsplash
Following a Mediterranean-style diet during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of developing preeclampsia, and Black women appeared to have the greatest reduction of risk, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.
Most of us have wondered about life beyond the grave. Many today are in search of life before the grave. Given what many people traditionally believe about heaven, eternity and life beyond, it would certainly seem very valuable to think about a life beyond. However, what about life here?
Over 2,000 runners compete in Illinois half marathon
URBANA - LoriKay Paden, from Fletcher, NC, and Urbana's Brenda Hixson stop to pose for a photo while running along McHenry Avenue during the half marathon race at this year's Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon.
Study says depression and anxiety caused by chronic pain may contribute to a poor quality of life and reduce life expectancy.
Photo: Vladislav Muslakov/Unsplash
by Terri Dee Indiana News Service
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - April is National Stress Awareness Month. Stress is the body's way of processing work, personal, and family pressures, or other triggers.
A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found a link between stress and chronic pain, which is defined as pain that persists for three months or more and lasts beyond the normal healing time of an injury or illness.
Former chiropractor Dr. Sean Pastuch is CEO of Active Life, a personal coaching company focusing on chronic pain-management options.
He suggested that biological, psychological and social interventions could be effective forms of treatment.
What is viewed as pleasurable to some may feel painful to others.
"The connection between all of those three things -- the physical, the mental, and the emotional -- is that when we think about pain, no one's defining what the word means," said Pastuch. "So, if we evaluate what the word 'pain' means, then we come to find that in order for there to be pain, there needs to be a negative emotional component to it."
He said that if you feel something, you have to decide if you like the way it feels or not. And what is viewed as pleasurable to some may feel painful to others.
The study also says depression and anxiety caused by chronic pain may contribute to a poor quality of life and reduce life expectancy.
A 2022 Indiana Chronic Care Policy Alliance report shows almost 8% of adults have chronic pain, with arthritis as the leading disorder.
Patsuch said patients face obstacles in finding a physician who can identify their pain, which means fewer or no opportunities to receive treatment.
"The reason why doctors struggle to help people with chronic pain, and why the confidence level among doctors is low," said Pastuch, "is because of all the medical schools, fewer than 15 actually have dedicated curriculum to supporting a patient with chronic pain."
Of the medical schools that offer a pain-management curriculum, he said the majority focus on students in the anesthetics department.
Patsuch suggested that when a patient is with their doctor, to use words other than "it just hurts." They need to be able to describe what hurts and ask, "How do I want to resolve it?"
Ultra-processed foods have been trending lately, with health experts giving them more attention than usual because of their negative effects on people’s health.
Photo: David J. Boozer/Unsplash
by Matt Sheehan OSF Healthcare
Dr. Tiffini Franada
PEORIA - Pondering what cooking options are best for your brain? Here’s some food for thought.
Tiffani Franada, DO, is a neurologist with OSF HealthCare who specializes in Multiple Sclerosis. Part of her passion is working with patients choosing brain-healthy diets and lifestyle, which prevents neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
The MIND diet
"The MIND diet is a combination of the Mediterranean diet, which is healthy fats, olive oils, fish, fruits and vegetables. And the DASH diet, which is a low-sodium diet,” Dr. Franada says. “It's particularly helpful for patients who live with hypertension (high blood pressure). The two of those combined seem to be very effective at preventing the development of Alzheimer's."
Patients on the Mediterranean diet often have lower levels of inflammatory markers in their spinal fluid. Higher levels are suggestive of Alzheimer's. Patients also perform better on cognitive testing, Dr. Franada adds.
Fiber-rich foods
"In regard to carbs, whole grains are probably best, and they have really good fiber in them. As well as things like legumes and beans which have good fiber levels, which make you feel full for longer," Dr. Franada says.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) lists many high-fiber foods here. Lentils, vegetable soups, whole-wheat bread and pasta make the list. As well as fruits and vegetables like apples, apricots, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
Berries and antioxidant production
"Blueberries are great, really berries of all kinds. They really help that antioxidant production," Dr. Franada says. "For vegetables, leafy greens are really helpful. They have a good amount of folic acid, which helps to reduce homocysteine (amino acid) in the brain. Homocysteine promotes inflammation and shrinkage in the brain, and we want to reduce that."
“Fats are not the enemy”
The word “fat” oftentimes has a negative connotation to it. Dr. Franada says there are healthy fats out there that offer benefits to brain health.
"Fats are not the enemy. Healthy fats are good for the brain. Your brain requires them, like fatty fish (salmon), which have good Omega-3s in them. If you don't eat fish, flax seed is a great alternative," Dr. Franada says. "Walnuts also have great, healthy fat in them. As well as olive oil, which has monounsaturated fatty acids which protects against inflammation in the brain."
Lean meats, like chicken and turkey, can be good for brain health because there’s healthy amounts of protein and fiber in them, Dr. Franada says.
Don’t dismiss dark chocolate!
"Dark chocolate is great. Dark chocolate has good amounts of antioxidants. Of course, all things in moderation. But a dark chocolate square once a night, not a bad thing," Dr. Franada says. "Also, caffeine! Believe it or not, a cup of caffeine, like coffee or tea, can help with focus, attention and is helpful for the brain."
Photo: Elena Leya/Unsplash
Dark chocolate benefits brain health by providing antioxidants that protect against oxidative stress and improve cognitive function. Its flavonoids enhance blood flow to the brain, while compounds like phenylethylamine and serotonin precursors help boost mood and reduce stress. Regular consumption in moderation may support memory, focus, and long-term neuroprotection.
Dr. Franada recommends having your caffeinated drink of choice early in the morning, right when you wake up, instead of later in the day. Having it later in the day can give you a lot of energy, which leads to you not sleeping well at night. Sleep is also extremely important for brain health.
Foods to avoid
Ultra-processed foods have been trending lately, with health experts giving them more attention than usual because of their negative effects on people’s health. High sodium, added sugars and excessive amounts of bad fat headline are the reasons why we should avoid them, with these elements being linked to diabetes, obesity and cancer.
Obesity is typically part of a metabolic syndrome, where a person has elevated blood sugars, blood pressure and cholesterol. This puts patients at risk for stroke, sleep apnea, Alzheimer's and many other health issues. Those risk factors can put someone at risk for neurological disease.
"Heavily processed foods are not great for the brain or the heart. Excess sugars, like added sugars, should be avoided as well. If you're going to have sugar, have something with natural sugar in it," Dr. Franada says. "Berries are much preferred to things with added sugars. Also, white bread and processed carbs should be avoided, too."
Effect on white brain matter
"There's some real-world data showing that the Mediterranean diet can prevent white matter changes on the brain, which are little white spots that develop on patients’ brains as they get older. It's also seen in patients with vascular risk factors," Dr. Franada says. "If you follow the Mediterranean diet pretty strictly, you can prevent getting those white spots. They also found people who adhere to that diet have better structural integrity. The left and right sides of the brain talk better to one another."
What about cheat days?
If you exercise five or six days a week and give yourself a “cheat day” where you splurge a bit, evaluate how the food feels in your body. Instead of packing on the calories and going bananas, Dr. Franada recommends reeling it in a bit and focusing on moderation.
"You'll probably start to recognize it doesn't feel so great," Dr. Franada says. "Maybe it's a chocolate dessert at night, or something smaller that you can do to still stay with your healthy diet, just in smaller quantities."
Dr. Franada cautions against super rigid diets that make you "fall off the wagon" after a few weeks. "You have to find something that's sustainable for you," Dr. Franada adds.
ROCKFORD - It’s no great surprise to read that men and women both benefit from working out.
But women may receive greater benefits from regular exercise than men, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Photo provided
Mary O’Meara OSF Cardiovascular Institute
The study centered on the importance of exercise as a way to avoid dying prematurely. The researchers studied data from 400,000 people and found that women who exercised were 24% less likely to die early from any cause. Men who exercised, however, were 15% less likely to die early.
The study also revealed that the women who exercise had a 36% lower risk of dying from a cardiovascular event, compared to men at 14%. That’s important because women have twice the risk of dying from a heart attack than a man.
Mary O’Meara is a nurse practitioner with OSF HealthCare. She says society still views heart attacks more as a man’s disease. That’s simply not true.
“Usually, a male is feeling this really bad chest pressure, chest pain going in the left arm into the jaw, very pale. Women, very often, will just complain of fatigue, nausea or heartburn. ‘I feel wiped out. I just can't walk across the room. I need to sit down,’” explains O’Meara. “Unfortunately, that can be a sign of a heart attack in a female, and it gets missed quite often.”
While any movement is good, O’Meara stresses the importance of women incorporating strength and/or resistance training, such as lifting weights. Frequency and the amount of weight depend on the person and their situation.
Photo: MovePrivateFitness/Pixabay
“For a long time, women were encouraged to do more aerobics-calisthenics. We were always thought of as the weaker sex, I guess you can say, and we weren't really encouraged to do any weight bearing exercise,” says O’Meara. “A lot of research has come back that states that women should be focusing on weight bearing exercises for several different reasons.”
Strength training can also help women as menopause becomes an issue. According to O’Meara, hormones start changing between the ages of 40 and 50 – a time when women start losing muscle and see an increase in body fat. Strength training can help with that change, along with other health issues.
“We found that weight bearing exercise can reduce our risk of dementia and Alzheimer's, and also reduce our risk of osteoporosis, which is a big one,” says O’Meara.
O’Meara also has a nutrition tip for her patients. Protein, she says, is important for women to prevent muscle loss, especially during menopause. O’Meara recommends 30 milligrams of protein before and 15 milligrams after a workout, to help rebuild muscle that has been naturally broken-down during exercise.
Additionally, O'Meara is a proponent of healthy fats. She encourages patients to incorporate grape seed oils, olive oils, fish oils, flax seed oils, nuts and avocados into their diets. Her philosophy is that good fats battle bad fats, and good fats protect our heart.
O’Meara stresses that it's never too late for women to start exercising. Even a short walk or work around the home, for instance, can go a long way to a healthier future.
“You read many testimonials from people who were couch potatoes and never exercised,” she says. “And then, they go into these exercises and do wonderful things that have really made a difference.”
URBANA - Here’s something new to bring up the next time you visit your health care provider: Should I undergo a CT calcium score screen to take stock of my heart health? It’s not for everybody, but it could mean the difference between a long, healthy life and finding yourself on an operating table.
“The number one killer in the United States is heart disease,” says Ash Al-Dadah, MD, an interventional cardiologist at OSF HealthCare. “We have to do a better job.
“This calcium scoring is a screening where we may say ‘Hey, you need to exercise more’ or ‘Hey, we just found out you have high blood pressure. Let’s control that.’ or ‘Hey, you’re a smoker. Maybe you need to quit that,’” he adds. “We go after the risk factors that precipitate and lead to heart disease. It’s a wake-up call. Getting ahead of things so you’re not coming in with a heart attack and damage to the heart muscle. At that point, it’s too late.”
The screening
Dr. Al-Dadah says the 15-minute or so, non-invasive procedure is similar to other CT [computed tomography] scans. “A fancy X-ray,” he calls it. You lie down, and a doughnut-looking device surrounds you and takes pictures of your heart.
“The arteries in our heart are supposed to be flesh and appear gray [on the imaging]. As we roll the body through the scan, we want to see all gray,” Dr. Al-Dadah explains. “But if there’s hardening and plaque formation in the arteries, it will light up as white. That’s because plaque as it ages forms calcification. There are calcium deposits.”
You could be told you’re at low, medium or high risk. Or, providers may look at the results based on your age compared to the typical amount of plaque found in a person of that age.
Put simply: “It’s one way to measure risk for heart disease,” Dr. Al-Dadah says. “The most common heart disease is blocked arteries, leading to a risk for heart attacks and other issues.”Cardiologists and radiologists have a scoring system based on how much plaque is found.
Next steps
Dr. Al-Dadah says if your screen comes back with red flags, you’ll want to see a cardiologist to discuss next steps. That could mean more tests, especially if you have daily symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath:
A stress test, where you walk and run on a treadmill while providers see how your heart functions.
A coronary angiogram, which provides more comprehensive images of your arteries.
Or, a provider could recommend you get another CT calcium screen in a few years.
Plaque in heart
Other treatment options for milder cases: “Even if your cholesterol level is normal, I could still put you on a medication class called statins. Statins reduce plaque thickness. They stabilize the plaque and reduce the risk for heart attack,” Dr. Al-Dadah outlines.
“I could put you on aspirin. Aspirin will dramatically reduce the risk for a heart attack if you have significant plaque,” he adds.
One other outcome of note: Though rare, Dr. Al-Dadah says your CT calcium screen could come back OK, but you could still have a heart issue soon after. No screening is a silver bullet to keep you 100% healthy, in other words. That’s why it’s important to follow your provider’s recommendations and practice healthy habits, like eating a balanced diet, exercising and ditching the cigarettes.
For me?
Who is this screening intended for? Dr. Al-Dadah says it’s often done on people aged 40 to 65 or people with a family history of heart disease. But, anyone can and should ask their provider about it.
“If you’re 75 and have diabetes,” for example, Dr. Al-Dadah says. “You’re going to have a lot of calcification in the arteries. But it does not signify blockages. It’s just hardening of the arteries that comes with age. But if you’re younger and have that calcification, that’s a marker for risk of heart disease and heart attack.”
Sickle cell disease causes normally healthy, round, and flexible blood cells to become 'C' or sickle-shaped and stick to small blood-vessel walls.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the life-shortening blood disease sickle cell anemia affects about 100,000 Americans, mostly people of color.
And many individuals with the illness do not get the important screenings and treatments.
Healthy red blood cells.
Illustration: allinonemovie/Pixabay
Sickle cell disease causes normally healthy, round, and flexible blood cells to become 'C' or sickle-shaped and stick to small blood-vessel walls.
This blockage prevents blood and oxygen flow to the arms, legs, and internal organs. Around 1,700 Hoosiers, mostly women of color, are impacted by the disorder.
Lisa Hoffman, grants and team manager with Innovative Hematology, said she would like to see better public awareness about the inherited disease.
"I would like to think it's not an issue about race, but 87% of the people in Indiana that have sickle cell are Black or African American," said Hoffman. "There are other diseases that affect predominantly white folks, and those diseases seem to get a bit more attention."
Patient education is essential for addressing sickle cell anemia complications. The blockages cause repeated episodes of severe pain, organ damage, infections, or sometimes a stroke.
Innovative Hematology indicates that 52% of sickle cell anemia patients in Indiana are female, and 48% are male.
One barrier to care is insufficient or no insurance coverage, which affects disease management. Another is a lack of medical providers with knowledge of detecting the illness. This can lead to a misdiagnosis or prescribing an ineffective treatment plan.
Hoffman said family members in dual roles as caregivers often do not get needed support. And other factors can present additional burdens for a patient.
"If you're a single mom and you have sickle cell disease and you are having a pain crisis and really should go to the hospital," said Hoffman, "you face a lot of barriers - such as, who's going to watch my child? How am I going to get there?"
The Indiana Statehouse hosted 174 attendees for Sickle Cell Advocacy Day last week, to raise the voices of those in the community who are affected by the painful disorder.
Hoffman said she wants legislators to extend health care services beyond age 21 for individuals with this specific condition.
PONTIAC - People everywhere are conquering their cabin fever and are enjoying the great outdoors after a long, bitter winter. But before you head out for that hike, health care experts remind you to take precautions to avoid tick bites. Read more . . .
I’ve always known my Arab culture is worth celebrating.
I heard it in Syrian tenor Sabah Fakhri’s powerful voice reverberating in my mom’s car on the way to piano lessons and soccer practice during my youth. I smelled it in the za’atar, Aleppo pepper, allspice, and cumin permeating the air in the family kitchen. Read more . . .
CHAMPAIGN - In a show of solidarity against President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, which critics say are harming families and retirement savings, more than a thousand protesters gathered Saturday at West Park near downtown Champaign for the Hands-Off! Mobilization rally. Read more . . .
Photo Galleries
A couple of runners found themselves in the wrong race at this year's Illinois Marathon. Over 60 photos from the race that you should see.
Going into this baseball season, Keegan McCarty had a long list of personal goals he was set on accomplishing this season.
That dream was interrupted by what appeared to be a temporary postponement to the season, and then weeks later the inevitable cancellation of the entire 2020 season, courtesy of the Coronavirus pandemic.
