About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 14, 2008)
PAGE 14, JULY 14, 2008, THE ISLANDER (News to Q-CeCv The Best is Yet to Be By Clark Gillespie M.D., Professor Emeritus, the University of Arkansas Flat feet and hypertension Our beloved government is a great collector of facts and figures (as well as cash) and of storing them with great precision and detail (but not the cash). These statistical collections of theirs, of course, also include every conceivable medical figure and number. Trouble is it is often hard to for us regulars to retrieve the information that we need. Just for example, sup pose I wanted to write to you about flat feet and its senior medical problems, and I wanted to highlight the story with the number of us Americans so- afflicted. Well, that information is available but you have to piece it together over time from its splintering amongst vari ous age groups, ethnic groups, and sex groups, as well as severity groups, weight groups, complication groups and on and on. Then you must taken the given per thousand figures for each group, and translate those numbers to real flat-footers, have a drink, go to bed, and start the story again tomor row morning. Excuse my dilly-dallying over a matter that has little to do with this column’s concerns, but I was frustrated just looking for a figure that comprised the total numbers of us who were liv ing with high blood pressure -hyper tension. All I can say to you from my search is that for the last year of record (2004), some 44,000,000 clinic and 1,500,000 ER patient visits revealed hyperten sion to be the primary diagnosis. We are all aware that this blood pressure disorder is a very large source of our American illness and disability - and these figures simply sustain that fact. Also just note that this hypertension is responsible for 50% of our heart attack events and 75% of our stroke events! Enough said. Enough said about those figures, that is. What is not yet said, though, is the fact that hypertension is a silent but totally reversible medical problem and that only about one third of us plagued with it get or take the appro priate treatment to achieve that goal. A study in the Journal of the Ameri can Medical Association of June 25th, 2008 and written by Daniel W. Jones, M.D., along with Eric D. Peterson, M.D., MPH, reports upon this sad situation and states that we will not even meet the modest 2010 goals of the Healthy People Initiative which years ago asked for a 50% treatment target by that year. Searching for clues to explain this immense failure, the authors have reported certain cause related to phy sician inertia for not, as they report, increasing treatment measures when the pressure goals are still unmet. We patients, however, must carry the greatest failure load since we often decline to seek or to continue care, we practice massive medication neglect, and lifestyle abuse - all practices that rank high in management collapse against this silent killer. In order to reduce such exorbitant waste of life, talent and therapy, these doctors here report on their double programs in attempting to increase success in hypertension management and control. The first program offered patients with uncontrolled hypertension, free home blood pressure monitoring equip ment plus access to a secure website. Using this web site the participating patients would have access to informa tion and question-answers from clini cians also involved in the program. The second study involved a similar group of equally hypertensive patients. They, too, would be given pressure monitors and a secure website - plus the personal services of a clinical phar macist. Of course, both groups had been started on proper medication and care. At the end of a full year of observation the first group had slightly improved in care continuation - up to 36 % - a figure Scooter Mobility Center Your Local Medical Equipment Dealer Hit the Road with Pride® Silver Star™ Lifts! Requires little to no vehicle alterations! Fits Most Vehicles! Ask about the $1,000 Mobility Rebate! 2 Brunswick Locations • 650 Scranton Rd. Ste A 912-262-5858 •2500 Starling St. Ste 105 (in the SGHS Medical Mall) 912-342-1004 SALES • SERVICES • RENTALS scootermobilitybwk@earthlink.net We bill Medicare and most major insurances. Authorized Provider Pride• Mobility Products Corp. Factory Trained Service Technicians on Staff VISA/MasterCard which represented a 5% improvement over routine clinic management. Sig nificantly better, however, the second group had a continuation rate of 56% . This whole study, although inter nally valid and statistically sound and meaningful, is not itself applicable for wide, non-study use in general practice. As just a single and simple potential limitation, not everyone with hypertension has internet access nor capability. On the other hand, it becomes clear in the second study that unstructured access to live and personal medical internet resources is a powerful source of continued treatment strength and support. Indeed, some major health organizations are finding this internet approach to be the next big advance in medical care delivery. The American Heart Association, for instance, is developing a Blood Pressure Management Center which will allow patients to automatically upload personal blood pressure data from their home along with other per sonal health information relevant to this problem. Thus, help and support becomes equally downloadable - but still, all of this medical care and help is dependant, of course, on computer access and a little bit of internet know how. We are concurrently still searching for any other viable source to help us control this abysmal destroyer. Our search, incidentally, involves a diligent look for just a little bit of personal responsibility. All in all, we surely will be finding in our search, new tools that will involve patient and physician in integrated clinical settings, will be more effective, cost-sparing, and, most importantly, will save lives. “I Glynn Family Medicine Center welcomes new physicians to team The Glynn Family Medicine Center welcomes family medicine physicians John Blumer, MD, and Chester Mes- sick Jr., MD, to the team. Both physi cians will begin seeing patients on July 16. Blumer, a native of Louisville, Ga., completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Georgia, and received his medical degree from the Mercer University School of Medi cine in Macon. After completing his residency in Charleston, SC, at Trident Family Medicine, Blumer returned to Louisville to practice at Jef ferson Hospital before accepting the offer to join Glynn Family Medicine Center. “At age six, my twin brother had open heart surgery and that is what started my interest in medicine,” Blumer said. “And growing up in a small town and always seeing a family doctor, my idea of becoming a doctor was to become a family physi cian—that is what I wanted to be.” Blumer is currently a member of the American Academy of Family Physi cians and the American Medical Asso ciation and has been published in sev eral medical journals. He and his wife Valerie were attract ed to the Golden Isles right away. Blumer, an avid fisherman and out- doorsman, participated in the South Carolina Department of natural Resources Master Angler Program as well as other conservation efforts. His wife will teach science at Glynn Acad emy beginning in August. They have two children, Jack, 4, and Amelia, 6. Messick completed his undergradu ate degree in chemistry/biology from West Chester University in West Ches ter, Pa. He gained medical experience through stints as a medical specialist in the U.S. Army, including a registered radiologic technologist, a cardio-pul- monary marketing specialist, and a pharmaceutical representative. “I have always had an interest in medicine, but during college decided to forgo medical school to spend time rais ing a family,” said Messick, a native of Salem, N.J. “My reversal of that plan came at age 46 when I watched my 16- year-old daughter driving the family car and knew that task was nearing completion. At that moment I knew I ‘was going’ to medical school." Messick completed his medical degree at Texas Tech University School of Medicine in Lubbock and his residency at St. Vincent’s Medi cal Center in Jacksonville, FI. His decision to move to South east Georgia was easy, he said. “The people I have met at Southeast Georgia Health System are commit ted to improving the health care of the community. I witnessed that in their friendliness to myself and my wife, Kathy; their investment in a newly ren ovated practice, and their pride in the hospital staff and facilities,” he said. Kathy is a sonographer and Jack sonville native. Moving to the area with the couple is Messick’s stepdaughter Lauren, 8. His daughter Ashley is a consultant in San Francisco and his daughter Katherine is an attorney for Fullbright & Jaworski in Houston. Glynn Family Medicine Center is a member of Cooperative Healthcare Services, Inc., which is a strategic affili ate of Southeast Georgia Health Sys tem. Beginning July 16, patients will be seen in the new location at 3222 Shrine Road, Suite A, near the South east Georgia Health System Brunswick Campus. The Center’s horns will be Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information or to make an appoint ment, call (912) 264-6303. For more information about the Health System and CHSI services, visit www.sghs. org. □ John Blumer, MD Chester Messick Jr., MD
