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Knowledge At Your Fingertips iky ti|x>n a lime, keeping up with the latest health news meant spending time on tedious |vn and -pu|vt rexeareh. Not anymore. Thanks to a partnership between Houston Healthcare Complex and IJWM.A/ TV. health information now is only a mouse eliek avvax. \s pail ol its community education mission. Houston Healthcare Complex oilers free health tips on the local CHS affiliate's web site at www I WVMAZ.com. Once there, click on "Health lips' for current information, updated once each week for an interactive bonus, visitors to the site may e mail 13WM \/ with their questions, comments and topic suggestions. The television station's web site also prov ides a link to the I louston I lealtheare ( omplex home pace, located at www.hhe.ort;. Health questions are forwarded to Houston Healthcare ( omplex. which will respond to the inquiries, said Mary Jane kinnas. the health organization's marketing director. I he internet partnership is only one of several new ways Houston Healthcare Complex is providing health information resources to the community, kinnas said < )(her projects include: • Medical Minute, broadcast on fox 24. lealures two minute segments with a Houston Healthcare Complex physician or health care professional discussing a current health topic. Medical Minute airs during the station s newscasts at 7 tun.. 5:30 pan. and 10 pan • New partnerships with Tin town ('n<i. a new weekly newspapei in Perry, and Peach State Cable Med l ips, a weekly column appearing in the city newspaper, focuses on a health topic ol interest to the community, and corresponds vv tilt three minute health segments shown on the cable station's public access channel The shot! television segments, also called Med lips, an Monday. Wednexdav. I riilav. Saturday and Sunday at 11 a m., 3 p in. and 7p in on Channel 10. • Participation in "Houston Today." a new 30 minute show front Cox Cable Middle (icorgia Inc focusing on Houston County. I he show, which begins airing in August, will examine area businesses, tourism, education, government. Robins An f orce Base and health care "fducating the community is an important part ol our mission, and we are pleased to partner w ith otu physicians and local media organizations to help spread the word about health care, preventive medicine and wellness." kinnas said s a former college professor. I)r. Sandra Brenner. PhD , RI). routinely taught her students about the potential problems of mixing certain foods and medicines. Now a registered clinical dietitian at Houston Healthcare (Omplex, she shares that know ledge w ith patients on a daily basis and soon she'll present this v ital information to the community at large, as well "It's standard training in dietetic education, as in any allied health field And there are quite a number ol lood and medicine interactions, said Dr. Brenner, who will lead a free community lecture on the topic Thursday. August IV. at 7 p.m. at the Health Connections Center in Houston Mall Basically, food and drug interactions are of two types: Various tor ids can interact with particular medicines that change the drug's effectiveness or absorption rale m the hotly Conversely, certain medicines may interfere with different types ol foods, altering the body's utilization of nutrients and/or absorption in the body, she said. Her presentation on food and medicine interactions will cover common prescription and over-the-counter medications from aspirin to Coumadin, a frequently prescribed blood thinner. "Most ol the scicntilk diiig/iiuirienl interactions I HnjMSj don't get into in the presentation." she sank "I'll encourage them to cat right because that's what I do. I'll explain why some drugs are taken on an empty stomach and with food, for example, if patients take a lot of aspirin on an empty stomach there can lx- some gastritis." Tips... Food and Medicine May lot Mix... W J .^5 Prostate Cancer... inaguie a disease so devastating that it can attack undetected - until it's nearlv too late I hat san apt description ot prostate cancer, known as a "silent killer" of men because its earliest stages produce no svmptoms Regulai screening can detect the presence ol prostate cancel at its earliest, most treatable stages \nd during Seplemhei designated Prostate ( anccr \wareness Month Houston Healthcare ( omplex is ottering low cost, cancer detecting blood tests that can save men's lives I lie blood lest, called the Prostate Spec l lic \nligeii (PSAi. is available at special fees Ironi September 20 24 at I louston Medical ( enter and Pen v I lospital \ doctor s order is required loi the blood test to be given, said I .Mint- Cochran. KN a nurse educatoi with I duC are. a service ol Houston Healthcare ('omplex. "I arly detection is what the PSA test is lot It's an carlv warning svstem. said Dr. John \i-cchio. a urologist on the medical stall at Houston Medical ( enter "I levaled levels on the lest do not mean that a patient has cancer I lie PS \ can be elevated with inflammation ol the prostate, and other tilings can change Ihe value a bit But an elevated level can be an indication ot prostate activ itv " Prostate cancel is more easily treatable in the early stages before n spreads to other areas ol the body Dr Vecchto said ireatment options include radical prostatectomy and radiation. "(>ii younger people, those under age 70 in good health, a radical prostatectomy is considered." lie said. "Pot men who have undergone coronarv arterv hvpass sitrgerv or have other health problems, we consider radiation treatment “ In recent years, a "breaking therapy" that calls for implanting "radioactive seeds' directlv into the prostate has become a common treatment option file procedure, pcrlormed by a radiation oncologist and a urologist, is available at Houston Medical Center. "It's a way to deliver radiation to a more confined area." Dr. Vecchto sank "There are lewci stile effects affecting the rectum and bladder because all the radiation is delivered directlv ' I he prostate is a walnut-sized gland that surrounds the urethra, the tube that comes out of the bladder. Dr. \ecchio said. In a man's reproductive vears. the prostate produces fluid nccessarv for viable, healthy sperm. " \fter that, the prostate kind ol becomes a liability." the doctor said Risk I actors lor dev eloping prostate cancel include hav mg a tamilv historv ol the disease \ccordmg to recent research, a low tat diet mav also plav an important role in slowing the disease's progression. Cochran said Mthough early prostate cancer produces no symptoms, latei stages may cause blood in the urine, dilliculty urinating, bone pain, weight loss and anemia, she said I lie \nicric.in ( ancci Societv recommends that men ages 40 and over undergo PS \ blood testing and a digital rectal exam every vcai. I>i Vecchto said. for more information about prostate cancer and the low cost prostate cancel screenings, call I lealth Source at l >2 ' l >” I kite lecture also will cover newer drugs such as Pepcid, a heart burn lighting medication that can change pH levels in the stomach, thereby creating potential nutrient problems. Mthough there are few drugs that routinely call for dietary changes while a patient undergoes hospital treatment, there are some that require stringent controls, for example, patients taking Coumadin should avoid green leafy products because they contain Vitamin k. a necessary blood clotting factor. "Coumadin is an anti Vitamin k drug, so i! patients eat too much \ itainin k. the directly reduce the effectiveness of the drug." I)r. Brenner said. "Hasicallv. vv liat we do is regulate how much Vitamin k is eaten and stabilize the intake. " Certain antibiotics can create nutritional problems, but those usuallv are short term difficulties, she said. Therefore, her presentation will locus on long-term drug therapies and their potential nutritional effects. "Most problems don't occur, but are possibilities." she said. Patients can protect themselves by carefully studying the printed information that pharmacists provide with prescriptions. Warnings are posted on the bottle | lor drugs that can cause severe reactions, and patients should discuss those with their pharmacist of physician at the time n is prescribed, she said. “Pharmacists have wonderful new computer programs that give T valuable information." Dr. Brenner said. "The problem is people don't read them the way they should. That really is the Ix'st information, and the fastest way to become informed."