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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
HEALTH
Safe Kids of Houston County seeks la prevent accidental injuries in children
Special to the Journal
The accidental injury
death rate of children age 14
and under has declined by 45
percent in the United States
since 1987, yet accidental
injury remains the nation’s
leading killer of children,
according to a new national
report released by Safe Kids
USA.
The report revealed that
31 percent of households
with children age 14 and
under do not consistently
ensure their children ride in
the back seat of a car all
the time; 24 percent do not
consistently supervise their
children around the water
all the time; and 18 percent
do not always ensure their
children under 10 years of
age are with an adult when
crossing the street.
“The drop in children’s
accidental deaths gives us
thousands of reasons to cel
ebrate - one for every single
child that was saved from
a serious or fatal injury,”
says Patsy Zoumberis, RN,
Health Educator for Houston
Got strong bones?
Special to the Journal
Affecting millions of
Americans - 80 percent of
whom are women - osteo
porosis is the condition that
causes bones to shrink and
become brittle and susceptible
to fracture. Researchers esti
mate that osteoporosis is the
culprit behind the more than
1.5 million fractures annually.
Osteoporosis is often called
a “silent disease” because
symptoms of fragility may
not appear until something
such as a fracture points to
its existence. If caught in its
early stages, however, lifestyle
changes including diet and
exercise as well as medication
may slow down or stop the
bone loss well before damage
occurs. Houston Healthcare’s
Pavilion Diagnostic Center,
located in the Houston Mall,
offers the DEXA bone density
screening - a fast, painless
and completely non-invasive
procedure that detects chang
es in bone density as small as
one percent.
“ Our bone density screening
takes as little as 15 minutes
to perform,” explains Kendra
Brown, BSRT(R), manager
of the Pavilion Diagnostic
Center. “No pre-screening
preparation is required by the
patient. They just simply he
back on the- table while the
machine scans their body.”
A bone mineral densi
ty screening, or bone den
sity screening, is the most
accurate way to assess early
osteoporosis. According to
experts such as the American
College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, the dual ener
gy X-ray absorptiometry, or
DEXA, machine remains the
“gold standard” for bone den
sity testing because of its high
precision, minimal radiation
exposure and rapid scanning
time. The DEXA measures
bone mass at the hip, spine
and wrist - areas where
fractures are most common.
Smaller, portable machines
can measure bone mass in
peripheral body parts such as
the finger, wrist or heel but
can not determine the risk
for osteoporosis as accurately
as those that measure hip or
spine bone mass. The results
using a portable machine,
however, can signal the need
for further testing.
“Men can develop osteopo
rosis, particularly after age
65, but they generally have
a lower risk of developing
the disease than women,”
explains Dr. Javed Fazed, an
internist on the medical staff
of Houston Medical Center
who specializes in geriatric
medicine.
Some physicians recom
mend a baseline bone den
sity test for premenopausal
women in their 40s. But
most. experts recommend
postmenopausal women dis
cuss with their physician the
possibility of a bone density
Healthcare’s Community
Education and Services
Department and Coordinator
of Houston County’s Safe
Kids Coalition. “But we’re
still losing too many children
in this country due to inju
ries which is why Safe Kids
of Houston County supports
the national efforts to make
child injury prevention a pri
ority.”
According to the national
report:
• Only 58 percent of par
ents with children age 14 and
under report their child being
involved in a serious accident
or getting seriously injured
as a major concern —a seven
percentage-point drop since
1987.
• There is little change
from 1987 to 2007 in the
amount done by parents to
ensure their child’s safety -
due to varying reasons such
as parents feeling the chance
of their child being seriousjy
injured is slim, especially
fathers, to 20 percent of low
income families (households
with income levels under
$25,000) saying many safety
screening, especially if they:
• Are 65 years of age or
older because as a person
ages, the weaker their bones
become.
• Have had a bone fracture
since menopause or have a
history of bone fractures as
an adult.
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PRESENTING OUR ADVANCED SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS
At Houston Healthcare, you’ll find new advances in surgical care performed by experienced surgeons who specialize in
general, vascular, ENT, urology, gynecology and orthopedic surgery. Backed by the staff and resources of a full-service
healthcare system, we offer surgery and recovery services that make your comfort and well-being a priority. In fact, we’ve
earned exceptional patient satisfaction ratings for post-op comfort and care, along with national recognition for patient safety.
When you need expertise and quality care from someone you trust, the answer is within reach.
Health Grade
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devices such as fire extin
guishers and bike helmets
are too expensive.
• Yet when parents do take
action, they are not always
taking the right steps every
time their child is at risk of
injury.
The four leading causes of
death from accidental inju
ries to children age 14 and
under are suffocation; motor
vehicle occupant injuries;
drowning; and pedestrian
incidents.
Below are 10 steps Safe
Kids of Houston County rec
ommends to parents that
could have a major impact
on their children’s safety:
1. Properly secure children
under age 13 in a back seat
every time they ride in a car.
2. Keep children in the right
type of car or booster seat
until adult lap and shoulder
belts fit them correctly.
3. Make sure children wear
a helmet and other protective
gear every time they bike,
skate, skateboard or ride a
scooter.
4. Teach children to cross
streets at corners and to
• Are Caucasian or Asian.
Women of African-American
descent tend to have a higher
peak bone mass than women
of other ethnicities.
• Smoke because many
studies suggest some connec
tion between tobacco use and
bone loss.
• Have a history of alco
holism since alcohol use has
been linked to a disruption
in the way the body uses and
stores calcium, which is an
Houston Medical Center 1 Perry Hospital I The Surgery Center
look left, right and left again
before crossing. Make sure
children younger than 10
years of age always cross the
street with an adult.
5. Always actively super
vise children when they are
playing in or near water.
6. Always make sure chil
dren wear life jackets when
rising on boats or playing in
or near open bodies of water.
7. Install smoke alarms
and carbon monoxide detec
tors on every level of homes
and outside of every sleeping
area. Change the batteries
once a year, and test them
monthly.
8. Do not place blankets,
pillows or other soft items
in a baby’s crib. Keep small
items such as toy parts, coins,
buttons and beads away from
children under age three.
9. Keep poisonous items
such as medicines and clean
ers locked away and out of
reach of children.
10. Do not let children play
on stairs, furniture, balco
nies, roofs, or in driveways,
streets, or parking lots.
In celebration of National
important mineral to bone
health.
• Have a medical history
associated with an increased
risk of osteoporosis such as
endometriosis, hemophilia,
lymphoma, leukemia, eating
and nutritional disorders,
rheumatoid arthritis or mul
tiple sclerosis.
• Take lithium or heparin.
To schedule a bone density
screening at the pavilion cen
ter, call 478-322-5175.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008 ♦
"Something to feel good_about^_
Safe Kids Week, April 26
through May 4, members
of Safe Kids of Houston
County will be at Eagle
Springs Elementary School
on Friday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m.
Balvaunuca donation
* ft
jfs
Contributed
Marla Sellers, president of the Balvaunuca Club
of Perry, recently presented a donation from the
proceeds of their Mistletoe Market to Beth Jones,
Director of Houston Healthcare’s Community
Education and Services, in support of the Teen
Health Forum. The Forum, scheduled for May 8 at
the AgriCenter in Perry, is an annual event where
more than 2,000 eighth grade students in Houston
County’s public and private schools are brought
together to learn about the importance and conse
quences of making right and wrong life choices.
with games and activities on
safety for the children in the
after school program.
For more information on
how to keep children safe,
call 923-9771.
4 1
Houston Healthcare
7A
59037