Lions Assisted Medical Project, Wise, VA, July 2013.

35 Lions from District 24-A participated in the Lions Assisted Medical Project on July 18th through 20th in Wise Virginia.  The details of the event are massive, involving 1396 volunteers 3738 meals served to volunteers, and 2292 residents from Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

Wise, Virginia sits nestled deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains not far from the borders.

Lions 1st  Vice District Governor, Jim Ryan serving meals to volunteers at the Lions Assisted Medical Project in July 2013

Every July, this small town plays host to a sea of humanity when the Remote Area Medical project arrives at the local Fairgrounds.  The Lions of Virginia answered the call to for the 14^th year to serve on the 18^th through the 20^th of July.  This year’s event brought together 1396 volunteers, including over 125 Lions members.  Together, they provided essential medical services to close to 2292 residents from the surrounding area.  Lions from the Lions Assisted Medical Project(L.A.M.P) worked registration, provided vision and hearing screenings, handed out prescription eyeglasses, handed out school supplies, served 3738 meals to the volunteers, and escorted patients from one area of care to the next. 

The Lions Assisted Medical Project is a Lions of Virginia project term coined in 2005 for all medical projects in which Lions Club members are involved.  After our involvement in the Remote Area Medical Expeditions that have taken place over the last 14 years, L.A.M.P. has branched out the services beyond Remote Area Medical, meriting a unique moniker. 

Remote Area Medical began offering medical and health services in 1985 and has been expanding its operations with the help of eager veterinary and medical volunteers for years.  The mission of Remote Area Medical “dedicated to serving mankind by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world.” (ramusa.org/about/mission.htm)  Thanks to the Assistance of the Lions of Virginia and the L.A.M.P., the Expedition at Wise, VA has been able to grow quite large offering care to over two thousand local residents annually from Virginia and the surrounding states of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina. 

Two days into the event, Michael Ryan, Governor of District 24-A had this to say. “Vision Screening at the Lions Assisted Medical Project (L.A.M.P.)at the Rural Area Medicine (R.A.M.) Wise County event, the Lions have screened over [hundreds of] patients for Sight and Hearing Disorders, referring most for Eye Exams and Glasses, and we still have a half day to go. Besides eye and hearing care, the people of SW Virginia, Eastern Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky, get their annual medical and dental care. It is an eye opening experience!”  and “We have Lions doing Pediavision, working in registration, dispensing Rx Glasses, helping in the Dental area, handing out school supplies, and running patients from one area to the next. They all are doing a great job!”

Officially, the total number of eye exams and screenings administered by Lions was 814 with 699 eyeglasses made and issued.  The diligent Lions serving the 3738 meals to the volunteers worked over 800 hours preparing meals and servers spent another 300 hours serving.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

Many of my patients are truly surprised by their diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.  Unless your blood glucose levels are very high you will not have symptoms, which is why about one-third of individuals with diabetes are undiagnosed.
The most common symptoms of diabetes are: frequent urination, extreme thirst, and blurred vision. But before those symptoms occur individuals may notice that they don't have much energy, they are tired all of the time, especially after a heavy meal.  Are you falling asleep in the chair immediately after eating lunch or dinner?  Have you noticed that cuts or sores take a long time to heal?  These are other symptoms of diabetes than many individuals totally ignore, they think because they are getting older they don't have much energy and cuts do take longer to heal.
Diabetes is a subtle disease, our bodies try very hard to keep our blood glucose levels at normal levels but eventually the demand for more and more insulin is overwhelms our pancreases  and suddenly blood glucose levels begin to rise.
Today we actually are actively trying to identify individuals who have pre-diabetes, with the hope that if we can have these individuals make a few simple lifestyle changes we can actually prevent them from developing diabetes.  Diabetes is diagnosed by a either a fasting blood glucose level or a hemoglobin A1C test that determines an average blood glucose over the past three months.  A fasting blood glucose level should be less than 100 mg/dl, pre-diabetes diagnosis is 100-125 mg/dl, and a diabetes diagnosis is 126 mg/dl and above.  If your doctor does an A1C test (this test measures the sugar-coating on your red blood cells, these cells live for 3 months so it provides a 3 month average).  A normal A1C level is below 5.7 the diagnosis of pre-diabetes  is made at 5.7-6.4 % and diabetes at 6.5%.
If you are overweight, have a family history of diabetes, have high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, are of American Indian, African-American, Hispanic, or Pacific Islander descent you should be screened yearly.
We can prevent diabetes by losing 5-7% of our body weight, we don't have to lose a lot to make a difference and to walk for 30 minutes 5 days a week.
So I encourage you to begin a physical activity program today. You do not have to become an athlete, just start moving - march in place, sit in the chair and march while watching tv commercials, dance, garden, do water aerobics.  Find something you enjoy.  Physical activity will not only prevent diabetes, it will  reduce your risk of heart disease, it will prevent depression, it will improve your energy levels, and it will make you feel better.
Keep Healthy,
Kathy Gold

Hearing Aids may become More Affordable Thanks to New Devices

According to NPR Morning Edition, the Company Sound World Solutions has developed an off-the-shelf Hearing Aid solution that is easy-to-use and program, and vastly less expensive that traditional Hearing Aids.  Using standard Bluetooth technology, the new hearing aids can be easily programmed using any paired Smart Phone device.  Programming allows you to optimize the volume and clarity of the device for your use.
This is great news for the more than 300 million people worldwide that suffer from some form of hearing loss.  At $300 versus up to $4000, estimates are that this new CS10 device is quickly going to be a cost-sensitive solution for patients that have minimal health care coverage for hearing aids and for anyone that has an aversion to multiple visits to the doctors to have a costly traditional hearing aid adjusted and programmed correctly.  Learn more about this wonderful device at http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/07/02/197639536/to-make-hearing-aids-affordable-firm-turns-on-bluetooth

Are you at risk for type 2 diabetes?

I hope over the next few months to provide a better understanding about diabetes and how it may be prevented.
So are you at risk of developing type 2 diabetes?

• Are you over 40?  
• Are you overweight or obese (here is a link to a BMI calculator so you can determine if you are at risk - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm )
• Do you have family history of diabetes?  
• Are you from a high risk ethnic group - African American, Pacific Islander, American Indian, Hispanic-American, or Asian-American?
•  Do you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol?  
• Did you deliver a baby over 9 pounds or have gestational diabetes?  

In a very large research study done in the early 2000's, it was found that 60% of individuals who had risk factors for diabetes who lost 5-7%  of their body weight and walked for 30 minutes 5 days a week reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by almost 60%.  I think this is a message that is important to get out to the public - physical activity, simple walking can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  How many of you are walking or doing some form of physical activity every day?  We are always so busy and although we always seem to find time to eat we don't seem to make as much of an effort to engage in some form of physical activity.
So I challenge you to begin a walking program, or engage in some form of physical activity.  Water walking, water aerobics are great activities for this time of the year.  Enjoy the pleasant weather and walk early in the day or in the evening. Make an appointment to engage in some form of physical activity at least 5 days a week if you want to lose weight and 3 days a week if you want to maintain your weight.  Take advantage of the bike trail or neighborhood parks and pools.

Stay Healthy,

Lion Kathy Gold

Blog Will Add Health-Related Tips

Attention Readers.  The Reston Lions Club will soon benefit from posts by the Director of Outreach and Education for the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation.  Kathy Gold's contributions will include articles on leading a healthy lifestyle, as well as tips for Prevention of health problems.