Twelve wires, one for each year of his life, flowed from an electrocardiogram machine and were attached to his body as he lay on a gurney 10 days ago in the gym at Lincoln Hall Middle School in Lincolnwood.
In a couple minutes, the procedure was over, the electrodes were removed. "It felt like bandages when they took it off, that's it," said Amir of the non-invasive EKG.
Amir plans to try out for the basketball and volleyball teams at his school, so the test wasn't optional. Last March, District 74 approved a proposal spearheaded by board member and Chicago attorney Paul Langer to require a "complete sports physical," including an EKG, for sports participation.
"It's my understanding that we're the first middle school in the country to be mandating this," said District 74 Supt. Mark Klaisner as he watched students and their parents forming a line at the door even before testing began at 3 p.m. that day.
Although the death of teenage athletes is an anomaly (about 1 in 200,000 annually), Langer said that's one too many when EKG testing is available that can detect about 40 percent of congenital heart problems. But the major cause of sudden death among athletic kids, a condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM for short), can be spotted on the EKG about 90 percent of the time, said Joseph Marek, a DuPage County cardiologist and medical director of the Midwest Heart Foundation's Young Hearts For Life program, which was administering the tests at the school.
Catching other heart conditions
Other heart conditions that often turn up on the EKG, he said, are potentially fatal rhythm problems such as long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome and ARVC, which stands for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
Langer admits that the test isn't perfect but says that sparing even one family from tragedy makes it worth it. "We've stressed it over and over again: It doesn't buy you absolute protection," he said. "In baseball, you know how sometimes the manager will bring in the lefty because he's playing the percentages? We're trying to play the percentages here."
Many parents at the testing liked the odds.
"It's not a guarantee," said Linda Ibrahim, whose soccer-playing son George, 12, was being tested. "But if they could catch 40 percent of the cases, then that would be a great chance for kids to survive."
Denise Fricke, accompanying her daughter Rachel, 13, agreed. "I'm an advocate of it. Anything that prevents a further health problem, I would be fully supportive of."
The test cost $45 per child at the school. Langer said a private EKG could cost $100 to $300. Marek's program, part of the Lombard-based heart foundation, has been doing EKG tests for all students at a number of DuPage County high schools for several years, often for free because of corporate sponsorship. Langer said the speed with which the Lincolnwood program was put together prevented such funding this year, but he hopes to find such backing for the 2008-09 school year.
Testing young athletes for cardiac problems is becoming routine in Europe. Testing every other year, beginning at the age of 12 to 14, is recommended by the International Olympic Committee and the European Society of Cardiologists. Italy, for example, has mandated EKG testing for 25 years and has seen cardiac-related sudden deaths among athletes fall 89 percent.
But an American Medical Association statement in March reaffirmed its position that EKG testing is cost-prohibitive as a national program. In general, it applauds local, volunteer efforts such as the ones in DuPage and Lincolnwood but says they are difficult to sustain and "create uncertain areas of liability."
Langer, a litigation partner at the Chicago firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, says that argument is bogus.
No fear of lawsuits
"I'm not concerned about that and the district isn't either," he said. "In any given test, there's a statistical possibility of false positives or false negatives. My view is I would rather be sued 100 times because they administered the test than to have one child die because we didn't administer the test."
The AMA position also claims that the tests are too expensive, that they would discriminate against minorities in poorer areas and that the resultant medical tests from false positives would be too costly and would cause unnecessary anxiety for the athletes and their families.
Marek said he thinks local initiatives have the best chance of success in the U.S., where grass-roots support for EKG testing is growing.
In Texas, where football is king, some schools offer the testing. Closer to home, state Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) recently introduced legislation to require the EKG testing, but it failed to pass. Flowers said she plans to reintroduce the plan next session unless she can find a state Senate bill to attach it to. She commended the Lincolnwood district and said that Kidcare, a health-care program for low-income families, should help with the cost of statewide testing.
"There should be no reason why any young person that's involved in any kind of contact sports should not have that as part of their physical," she said.
Julie Younan, who brought her son Joey, 12, to Lincoln Hall's gym to be screened, said she thinks Lincolnwood residents have been especially supportive of the district's trailblazing mandate because of a 1st-grade girl who died suddenly after a gym class in April 2006. She knows the girl's family.
"I think that was the start of why Lincolnwood decided to do the screening," Younan said. "It's a good role model, because once other communities see this, I think that they will slowly follow."
Marek said the AMA report should have focused more on medicine and less on what he calls some flawed economics.
"They made some assumptions that are arguable," he said. "We will never figure out a way to lower the cost if we say, No, we're not going to do it.'"
Meanwhile, Amir, the birthday boy, and his mom, Aida, prepared to head home to a barbecue in his honor.
Related:
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Article - Orange County Register
The state Legislature's Democrats last week approved two plans that Republicans say will be a $5 billion tax on businesses to pay for health insurance for Californians. We agree with the Republicans.
About the same time, a similar plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to force doctors, hospitals and businesses to foot the bill for near universal health care suffered a potentially fatal setback when the Legislature's legal adviser deemed its proposed levy to be a tax, rather than a "fee" as the governor claims. We agree that Mr. Schwarzenegger's plan to force a 4 percent levy on businesses and hospitals and 2 percent on doctors is a tax, not a fee. (A fee is typically what a user pays to contribute to a particular service that he or she benefits from directly, such as a national park admittance fee. Because there's a direct connection between fee, service and user, this is a more palatable kind of tax from a philosophical standpoint.)
The significance of the tax-or-fee question as it pertains to the Legislature is that a tax requires two-thirds approval by the Legislature. A fee can be imposed by simple majority. Without Republican support, two-thirds approval is impossible. Not a single Republican voted last week in favor of the Democrats' Senate or Assembly bills that would require businesses to either spend 7.5 percent of payroll on health coverage, or pay an equivalent amount into a state fund. (The governor's plan never even made it into bill form before last Friday's deadline as apparently no Republicans were willing to carry it.)
It promises to be a long, hot summer of negotiations as Democratic legislators and the governor try to reach agreement on their different approaches to achieve their common desire of guaranteeing health insurance coverage for everyone.
We should be leery any time the government seeks to guarantee anything, and particularly when it's for everyone.
"This massive government health care plan will hurt our state's businesses, drive up health costs, reduce choices for working families and make our budget problems even worse," said Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines. "Imposing a 7.5 percent jobs tax will force California's employers to raise prices on their customers, lay off hard-working employees or close their doors."
Republicans say the Democrat "fees" amount to the "single largest tax increase on businesses in state history."
The California Chamber of Commerce also notes that the proposed mandate that employers must provide insurance, which is common to the Democrats' and the governor's schemes, "threaten jobs and slow economic growth." Again, we agree.
We found parts of an alternative plan by Senate Republicans to be reasonable, such as changing state regulations to allow health plans and insurers more flexibility in co-payments, deductibles and reducing mandates on businesses, rather than increasing them. But those plans went nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Capitol, and Republican amendments to lessen the burdensome Democrat measure were defeated. We should, however, applaud Assemblyman Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, the lone member of his party to join Republicans voting against the Democrat bill.
Without more like Mr. Correa, perhaps the best Californians can hope for is to block Democrats' and the governor's anti-business, anti-taxpayer tactics by denying a two-thirds vote. Nevertheless, a bill may be approved with the sleight of hand of calling its taxes "fees." If so, a court challenge and resulting appeals can be expected. We hope the courts agree that a tax by any other name remains a tax, and invalidate any damage the Legislature may inflict.
Listen to stories like this and more: Audio news & Podcasts
What's your opinion?
Want to comment on what you've just read? Fill in the form below. Your comments will be considered for publication online or as a letter to the editor in The Orange County Register.
Related:
About the same time, a similar plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to force doctors, hospitals and businesses to foot the bill for near universal health care suffered a potentially fatal setback when the Legislature's legal adviser deemed its proposed levy to be a tax, rather than a "fee" as the governor claims. We agree that Mr. Schwarzenegger's plan to force a 4 percent levy on businesses and hospitals and 2 percent on doctors is a tax, not a fee. (A fee is typically what a user pays to contribute to a particular service that he or she benefits from directly, such as a national park admittance fee. Because there's a direct connection between fee, service and user, this is a more palatable kind of tax from a philosophical standpoint.)
The significance of the tax-or-fee question as it pertains to the Legislature is that a tax requires two-thirds approval by the Legislature. A fee can be imposed by simple majority. Without Republican support, two-thirds approval is impossible. Not a single Republican voted last week in favor of the Democrats' Senate or Assembly bills that would require businesses to either spend 7.5 percent of payroll on health coverage, or pay an equivalent amount into a state fund. (The governor's plan never even made it into bill form before last Friday's deadline as apparently no Republicans were willing to carry it.)
It promises to be a long, hot summer of negotiations as Democratic legislators and the governor try to reach agreement on their different approaches to achieve their common desire of guaranteeing health insurance coverage for everyone.
We should be leery any time the government seeks to guarantee anything, and particularly when it's for everyone.
"This massive government health care plan will hurt our state's businesses, drive up health costs, reduce choices for working families and make our budget problems even worse," said Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines. "Imposing a 7.5 percent jobs tax will force California's employers to raise prices on their customers, lay off hard-working employees or close their doors."
Republicans say the Democrat "fees" amount to the "single largest tax increase on businesses in state history."
The California Chamber of Commerce also notes that the proposed mandate that employers must provide insurance, which is common to the Democrats' and the governor's schemes, "threaten jobs and slow economic growth." Again, we agree.
We found parts of an alternative plan by Senate Republicans to be reasonable, such as changing state regulations to allow health plans and insurers more flexibility in co-payments, deductibles and reducing mandates on businesses, rather than increasing them. But those plans went nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Capitol, and Republican amendments to lessen the burdensome Democrat measure were defeated. We should, however, applaud Assemblyman Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, the lone member of his party to join Republicans voting against the Democrat bill.
Without more like Mr. Correa, perhaps the best Californians can hope for is to block Democrats' and the governor's anti-business, anti-taxpayer tactics by denying a two-thirds vote. Nevertheless, a bill may be approved with the sleight of hand of calling its taxes "fees." If so, a court challenge and resulting appeals can be expected. We hope the courts agree that a tax by any other name remains a tax, and invalidate any damage the Legislature may inflict.
Listen to stories like this and more: Audio news & Podcasts
What's your opinion?
Want to comment on what you've just read? Fill in the form below. Your comments will be considered for publication online or as a letter to the editor in The Orange County Register.
Related:
- Republican debate highlights
- NJ-39:Note to Gerry Cardinale: Senators in Glass Houses
- Is Hillary Clinton a "Corporate Democrat"?
- [16:15] (BillFrugg) "Democrats make sure we are always safe, just
Monday, October 22, 2007
Lyme Disease
May is Lyme disease awareness month. And while many people know that bites from a Deer tick can transmit Lyme disease to humans, most are unaware of two similar diseases spread by deer ticks. Craig Hedberg, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota, says the three diseases exhibit similar symptoms.
• Listen to Hedberg on Public Health Moment
My sister Tracie and I both have chronic lyme disease. We are also the one's who wrote the proclamation for awareness of this horrific disease. I went 10 years misdiagnosed and now have lesions in my brain, liver and on my spinal cord. We are both working hard on starting our advocacy/website in order to help others. We are called Minnesota Lyme Fighters Advocacy and our website is www.lymefighters.com, which is still under construction. We are both on disability, but, utilize our time educating the public and providing information to learn more. We are very passionate about this mission and would like any help or info on new research, tests, treatments and the list goes on. Any help that you could provide to us would be priceless.
My phone #952-217-5946 and my sister lives in Brainerd and can be contacted at #218-534-2992
Thank you, so much, for acknowledging a disease that has debilitated our lives.
Hello :) I also have Lyme Disease & have been disabled for quite some time. Ironically, I am trying to create a website called lymefighters as well. Now that I see it's taken, I'll just try again :)
The reason I'm writing is because I was wondering how to get a website sponsored or syndicated, so I can avoid any monthly fees. (It's hard enough just getting disability payment, I'm sure you know)So basically if you aren't paying for your site, email me ONLY if you have time.
Related:
• Listen to Hedberg on Public Health Moment
My sister Tracie and I both have chronic lyme disease. We are also the one's who wrote the proclamation for awareness of this horrific disease. I went 10 years misdiagnosed and now have lesions in my brain, liver and on my spinal cord. We are both working hard on starting our advocacy/website in order to help others. We are called Minnesota Lyme Fighters Advocacy and our website is www.lymefighters.com, which is still under construction. We are both on disability, but, utilize our time educating the public and providing information to learn more. We are very passionate about this mission and would like any help or info on new research, tests, treatments and the list goes on. Any help that you could provide to us would be priceless.
My phone #952-217-5946 and my sister lives in Brainerd and can be contacted at #218-534-2992
Thank you, so much, for acknowledging a disease that has debilitated our lives.
Hello :) I also have Lyme Disease & have been disabled for quite some time. Ironically, I am trying to create a website called lymefighters as well. Now that I see it's taken, I'll just try again :)
The reason I'm writing is because I was wondering how to get a website sponsored or syndicated, so I can avoid any monthly fees. (It's hard enough just getting disability payment, I'm sure you know)So basically if you aren't paying for your site, email me ONLY if you have time.
Related:
- From 1 July 2007, the Better Super changes will give the
- Online version of the popular print magazine.
- Click here to get all the information you need
- All the countries have joined together to obtain all the
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Bogus Weight Loss Claims
Federal Trade Commission has a web site that address Bogus Weight Loss Claims. They red flag a number of product making false claims. Here are some of their current listings:
No fat blocker can block enough fat or calories to cause lots of weight loss. Even legitimate fat blockers must be used with a reduced-calorie diet to work.
- "Lose up to two pounds daily…Apple Pectin is an energized enzyme that can ingest up to 900 times its own weight in fat. That's why it's a fantastic FAT BLOCKER."
- "Brindall berries cause very rapid and substantial weight loss by reducing fat absorption by 76%."
- "Super Fat-Fighting Formula guarantees rapid weight loss. Shortly after ingesting small amounts of the component, it dissolves into a gel that absorbs and surrounds excess fat and calories, preventing them from forming body fat."
- "This product blocks fat before your body absorbs it; the pounds will melt away effortlessly."
- "The Super Fat-Fighting Formula inhibits fats, sugars and starches from being absorbed in the intestines and turning into excess weight, so that you can lose pounds and inches easily."
- "Mulletwood is an 'all-natural ingredient' designed to attract and absorb excess calories and transport them out of your system. Watch the weight come off your body."
Meaningful weight loss requires consuming fewer calories and/or increasing exercise. Ads that promise substantial weight loss without diet or exercise are false. A claim is false if it states or implies that users can lose lots of weight fast without changing their lifestyles, even if the ad doesn't mention specific amounts of weight loss or time periods.
- The four measurements used in weight loss ads are pounds, dress size, inches and body fat, any one of which can be used to convey the message of substantial weight loss.
- "Today, there exists a safe, all-natural, bio-active weight loss compound so powerful, so effective, so relentless in its awesome attack on bulging, fatty deposits that it has virtually eliminated the need to diet." [Next to, before and after pictures with quote, "I lost 36 pounds in 5 weeks."]
- "I lost 30 pounds in 30 days even though I ate all my favorite foods."
- "Lose up to 2 pounds daily without diet or exercise."
- "I lost 15 pounds in 30 days without having to change my eating habits or lifestyle in any way. See results fast without back-breaking exercise."
- "Go from a size 12 to a size 6; lose inches QUICKLY, and do absolutely nothing but take this pill."
Without permanent lifestyle changes (eating less food and/or doing more exercise), weight loss does not last once product use stops.
- "Take it off! And keep it off!"
- "Thousands of dieters are already using it and losing weight faster than they have before…and keeping the weight off."
- "For 15 years, Mary yo-yo dieted without success. Fed up and desperate, she discovered a new miracle product to lose weight easily and permanently."
- "The amazing 'Fat-Sponge in a Pill' that lets you eat more, weigh less and finally…yes, finally…slim down for good for the rest of your life."
- "Tired of yo-yo diets without success? This miracle product lets you lose the weight easily and permanently."
- "It can help you quickly lose the weight, and keep it from returning."
- "People who use this product say that even when they stop using the product, their weight does not jump up again."
Losing more than three pounds per week over multiple weeks can result in gallstones and other health complications, so the safety claim is false. If the claim also is that NO dieting is required, the claim is false for that reason too.
- "Lose 30-40-50 pounds. Yes! You can lose three pounds per week, naturally and without side effects."
- "Neptune's Potion is safe and effective," with customer testimonials claiming more than 12 pounds of weight loss per month.
Related:
Block the absorption of fat or calories, and lose substantial weight.
No fat blocker can block enough fat or calories to cause lots of weight loss. Even legitimate fat blockers must be used with a reduced-calorie diet to work.
Variations
- "Lose up to two pounds daily…Apple Pectin is an energized enzyme that can ingest up to 900 times its own weight in fat. That's why it's a fantastic FAT BLOCKER."
- "Brindall berries cause very rapid and substantial weight loss by reducing fat absorption by 76%."
- "Super Fat-Fighting Formula guarantees rapid weight loss. Shortly after ingesting small amounts of the component, it dissolves into a gel that absorbs and surrounds excess fat and calories, preventing them from forming body fat."
- "This product blocks fat before your body absorbs it; the pounds will melt away effortlessly."
- "The Super Fat-Fighting Formula inhibits fats, sugars and starches from being absorbed in the intestines and turning into excess weight, so that you can lose pounds and inches easily."
- "Mulletwood is an 'all-natural ingredient' designed to attract and absorb excess calories and transport them out of your system. Watch the weight come off your body."
Lose two pounds or more per week (for a month or more) without dieting or exercise.
Meaningful weight loss requires consuming fewer calories and/or increasing exercise. Ads that promise substantial weight loss without diet or exercise are false. A claim is false if it states or implies that users can lose lots of weight fast without changing their lifestyles, even if the ad doesn't mention specific amounts of weight loss or time periods.
Variations
- The four measurements used in weight loss ads are pounds, dress size, inches and body fat, any one of which can be used to convey the message of substantial weight loss.
- "Today, there exists a safe, all-natural, bio-active weight loss compound so powerful, so effective, so relentless in its awesome attack on bulging, fatty deposits that it has virtually eliminated the need to diet." [Next to, before and after pictures with quote, "I lost 36 pounds in 5 weeks."]
- "I lost 30 pounds in 30 days even though I ate all my favorite foods."
- "Lose up to 2 pounds daily without diet or exercise."
- "I lost 15 pounds in 30 days without having to change my eating habits or lifestyle in any way. See results fast without back-breaking exercise."
- "Go from a size 12 to a size 6; lose inches QUICKLY, and do absolutely nothing but take this pill."
Weight loss will be permanent (even when the user stops using the product).
Without permanent lifestyle changes (eating less food and/or doing more exercise), weight loss does not last once product use stops.
Variations
- "Take it off! And keep it off!"
- "Thousands of dieters are already using it and losing weight faster than they have before…and keeping the weight off."
- "For 15 years, Mary yo-yo dieted without success. Fed up and desperate, she discovered a new miracle product to lose weight easily and permanently."
- "The amazing 'Fat-Sponge in a Pill' that lets you eat more, weigh less and finally…yes, finally…slim down for good for the rest of your life."
- "Tired of yo-yo diets without success? This miracle product lets you lose the weight easily and permanently."
- "It can help you quickly lose the weight, and keep it from returning."
- "People who use this product say that even when they stop using the product, their weight does not jump up again."
Consumers can safely lose more than three pounds per week for a period of more than four weeks.
Reality Check
Losing more than three pounds per week over multiple weeks can result in gallstones and other health complications, so the safety claim is false. If the claim also is that NO dieting is required, the claim is false for that reason too.
Variations
- "Lose 30-40-50 pounds. Yes! You can lose three pounds per week, naturally and without side effects."
- "Neptune's Potion is safe and effective," with customer testimonials claiming more than 12 pounds of weight loss per month.
Related:
- Health And Fitness
- To Lose Weight & Burn Up Fat… Shakes or Whole Foods?
- Official site featuring a complete catalog.
- Fat
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