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Issue Home January 14, 2009 Site Home

COLUMNS:
100 Years Ago
From the Desk of the D.A.
The Healthy Geezer
Straight From Starrucca
Veterans’ Corner
What’s Bugging You?
Food For Thought
Earth Talk
Barnes-Kasson Corner


100 Years Ago

FOREST CITY: Along with the announcement of changes on the Jefferson division come rumors that the Erie Flyer will again be placed on the schedule when a new time table is issued. Confirmation of these reports will be good news to all the people living along the division. There is at present time no way for people north of Forest City to go south earlier than the Delaware and Hudson afternoon train. The reinstatement of the morning train would be gladly welcomed here and would be a great boon to the towns north of Forest City.

HERRICK CENTER: O. H. Phillips’ horse, which was injured by falling off the dock while hauling coal from Peckville, is slowly recovering. Mr. Phillips has purchased a new horse.

SHANNON HILL, Auburn Twp.: G. B. Filkins’ gasoline engine was damaged to some extent by water freezing in the cylinder.

BRIDGEWATER TWP.: E. J. Keough, the ice dealer, has been storing ice in his ice house at Lake Mont Rose this week. Burdens’ men have also been engaged in filling their ice house on the shore of the lake. The ice is about 10” in thickness and of good quality.

LITTLE MEADOWS: The annual meeting of the Little Meadows’ Telephone and Telegraph Co., Limited, will be held in the office of the company at Little Meadows, on Monday, Jan. 25, at 10 o’clock a.m., for the election of five directors for the coming year, and the transaction of such other business as may come before the meeting.

BROOKLYN: A “measuring social” will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Kent on Friday evening of this week. Warm sugar will be served and a good time is expected. AND: The squab house belonging to William Taylor, on the Fairchild’s place, was partially destroyed by fire yesterday morning. The house is heated by furnace heat and Mr. Taylor had placed some tobacco around the furnace to dry and as the fire came up the tobacco got on fire, the flames communicating to the building. The fire was discovered by William Cameron and Mr. Evans, who were passing and gave the alarm and assisted Mr. Taylor in putting out the fire, but not until damage to the extent of $300 had been done. The building contained about 3000 young squabs and many of them were overcome by the fumes of tobacco and fell into the fire.

HARFORD: The farmers’ institute held in Grange hall last Friday and Saturday was well attended and every session was brimful of good things. If there were only more men like Rob Seeds, how much happier this old world would be. The Grange cleared over $40 from the sale of dinners.

SUSQUEHANNA: Anxious to get to Binghamton, where he hoped to have some fun, Loren Swingle, aged about 16, stole an engine from the Erie railroad yards early Monday morning and got as far as Great Bend before he was stopped. He boarded pusher engine 2500 about 5 o’clock a.m., which was standing over the ash pit with no crew in attendance. Steam was up in the boiler and the lad at once opened the throttle wide. The engine gaining headway rapidly shot out through the yards, through switches and onto the main track and was soon speeding westward. A switchman who saw the engine take the tracks for Binghamton at once notified the yardmaster’s office and the yardmaster took engine 1319 and started in pursuit of the lad who had taken a “special” for Binghamton. Swingle made no effort to keep up his fire under the boiler and the steam of the stolen locomotive was exhausted at Great Bend and the engine stopped. The yardmaster was close behind and the engine and Swingle were brought back to this place. Swingle was arrested by Erie Officer White. At first he denied having taken the engine from the yards, but finally owned up and said that his only object was to get to Binghamton. He will probably be held by the police authorities pending an inquiry into his mental condition.

SPRINGVILLE: Lional Meserole has purchased the A. O. Dunlap hardware [store] and has hung out his shingle. Glad to see some of our boys can start up in business and remain in his native town.

HALLSTEAD: Michael J. Duffy, for 30 odd years a conductor on the Lackawanna, was struck and instantly killed there Monday afternoon by a passenger train, while trying to prevent a woman from crossing the track in front of the onrushing train. For more than 30 years Mr. Duffy ran fast freight trains between Hallstead and Binghamton and Elmira and was never in a serious accident. Recently he retired from the position of train conductor and later was assigned to look after the safety of passengers at Hallstead station. The train was standing at Hallstead when an aged woman, Mrs. Conklin, came on the platform. The train came whirling into the station. Mrs. Conklin started to walk from the platform toward the end of the standing train to cross the track on which came the “flyer” No. 6. Seeing the woman’s danger, Mr. Duffy started to bring her back, but he gave her a push and cleared the track a step quicker than the train. The engine struck Mr. Duffy. He was thrown against a loading platform and bounded back under the train. His legs were severed and the body so mangled that he probably died instantly. A watch carried in this vest pocket was picked up still going. His revolver was twisted out of shape. He was a cousin of Mrs. John Birney, of Montrose.

THE FIRST HOMESTEADER DEAD: Many will remember Daniel Freeman, who attended the welcome given Hon. Galusha A. Grow in Montrose, upon his retirement from Congress. The following clipping from the Kearney (Neb.) Hub regarding Mr. Freeman’s death is interesting: “Daniel Freeman, the first man in the United States to file upon and prove up a homestead, is dead at his home in Beatrice, Neb., aged 82. Nebraska has never had a more unique character than Freeman, and although he has never held office, he has made his personality felt in every part of the State. He believed the Bible was intended for people who believed in it, and that others should not have it forced upon them. This led him to bring suit to force the Bible out of the public schools. The case went through the various branches of the State court and Freeman was finally successful in the supreme tribunal of the State. Freeman was a soldier in the Civil War, and it was during that period that he filed on the first homestead. His filing was made at one minute past midnight on the first day of January, 1863. He was at Brownsville on a secret mission and it was at that point that the first land entries were made. Freeman still retained the patent papers issued to him 46 years ago. They show that it is patent No. 1, entry No. 1, proof of residence No. 1, entered in volume 1, page 1, of the United States land office, and is signed by President Grant. Freeman still owned the land at the time of his death. He is survived by a widow and several children.”

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From the Desk of the D.A.
By District Attorney Jason J. Legg

On December 15, 2008, the City Council in Binghamton, New York, passed a new law that prohibited discrimination based on weight or height in employment, housing, education and public accommodation. The law has limited impact as it relates solely to the City of Binghamton itself, but it is demonstrative of expanding governmental social engineering in people’s lives in the name of assuring equal treatment. Admittedly, equality is part of the founding American ideals, sharing an honored place with liberty, freedom and justice. Yet, government’s blind pursuit of absolute equality has placed a bounty on liberty and freedom, and they have become endangered species.

Let me stop at this point and note that I am not advocating any particular form of discrimination – I am simply pointing out the obvious. When we accept the use of governmental coercion (laws) to force compliance, the price is a loss of freedom and liberty to be let alone and do as we please. Whenever the government tells you that you cannot do a certain thing, this obviously results in a loss of liberty and freedom. Setting aside whether government has the authority to do such a thing, the other question is whether the cost of the societal ill being corrected outweighs the individual loss of liberty and freedom caused by the governmental mandate.

The frank reality is that we all discriminate in our daily lives – we select different types of foods, cars, spouses, friends, clothing, homes, books, websites, and every other variety of things based upon our personal tastes. In fact, capitalism is based on the premise of discriminatory behavior in the marketplace with the better products prevailing. Without much thought, we understand and accept this as consumers – we enjoy our freedom to choose and liberty to be discriminatory buyers. Yet, government has increasingly determined that it is not only wise, but necessary, to tell employers that any form of discrimination in the hiring process is not only improper, but unlawful. Would you want to face the prospect of a lawsuit every time you made a purchasing decision, to demonstrate that your selection was not based on an impermissible discriminatory motive? You would be enraged by such a suggestion. Yet, this is exactly what employers face every time they purchase labor for their business – and we have accepted the loss of freedom and liberty that is attendant to the governmental social engineering that seeks absolute equality.

There is one forum that has been immune from this governmental interference – professional sports. This is the place where discrimination is the operating procedure for success – where the harsh and brutal reality is that talent and physical attributes determine employment. Height and weight become necessary components in evaluating talent and potential. Professional sports are the epitome of the capitalist jungle – the true survival of the fittest. And Americans love it for that very reason.

In the end, we also love the story of the little guy, the folks like Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger who overcome their physical shortcomings through hard work and dedication in pursuit of their dream. We understand that adversity builds character. We understand that life is not fair and that success requires hard work. We understand that people will discriminate against us for many reasons – that we will be knocked down, and we either get up or give up. At least, previous generations learned these lessons the hard way through experience, failure, disappointment, and discrimination. With increasingly pervasive government regulations, there seems to be a growing sense of entitlement to absolute equality regardless of our individual circumstances. Would Rudy have persevered if he had known that he could have forced his way onto the Notre Dame football team through a lawsuit contending that he was being discriminated against based upon his height and weight? The increased regulation not only threatens our liberty and freedom, but I fear it presents a clear and present danger to the American soul itself.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.

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The Healthy Geezer
By Fred Cicetti

Q. Is pain a necessary part of aging?

It is very difficult to avoid physical pain as you get older. However, as many people age, they complain less about pain. This phenomenon may be caused by a decreased sensitivity to pain. However, some believe that seniors don’t moan as much as juniors because they tend to be stoics.

People have a variety of inborn pain thresholds. I have two granddaughters who are so different in their ability to handle pain that it is almost comical. I’ve seen one of them tumble off a bike, skin her knee and climb back in the saddle without a whimper. The other little girl will cry inconsolably over the smallest splinter.

The ability to withstand pain depends upon emotion, too. Athletes have played with broken bones because they were so pumped up by the action around them that they didn’t know they’d been injured. Later, in the locker room, the pain kicked in.

Pain may be acute or chronic. Acute pain comes on suddenly and subsides after a short time. Chronic pain persists. Many seniors suffer from chronic pain, which has a variety of causes.

Pain affects as much as 65 percent of independent older adults and up to 80 percent of seniors in long-term care facilities. The following are some of the causes.

About 80 percent of older adults suffer from osteoarthritis, inflammation of the joints.

You get osteoarthritis when cartilage – the cushioning tissue within the joints – wears down. This produces stiffness and pain. You can get osteoarthritis in any joint, but it usually strikes those that support weight.

People with diabetes, a condition that affects almost 20 percent of Americans over the age of 60, often have circulatory problems that produce pain.

Gallstones, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, peptic ulcer disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm and gastroenteritis generate abdominal pain.

Spinal problems such as herniated disks, spinal narrowing and arthritis are the causes of back and neck pain, which is very common in older adults.

The chances of getting cancer increase as you age. Pain is a common symptom of all types of cancer.

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by chronic pain in the muscles and soft tissues surrounding joints. Patients over 60 frequently cite fatigue, swelling, headaches, anxiety and depression as their most severe fibromyalgia symptoms.

Headache is a common difficulty for seniors. Headaches unrelated to underlying diseases are classified in three different types: cluster, tension and migraine. Tension headaches are, by far, the most common type, affecting up to 90 percent of women and 70 percent of men.

Researchers believe more than 20 million people suffer from peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathic pain usually stems from nerve damage, which can be caused by diabetes and disorders of the kidney, liver and thyroid.

Pain in the face, mouth and teeth can be brought on by periodontal diseases, tooth loss, and medication side effects.

Chronic pelvic pain affects up to about 10 percent of women and can be related to a number of different conditions, including infection, uterine fibroids, kidney stones, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is an extremely painful condition that develops after an illness or injury.

When older people suffer from chronic pain, there are many complications. Pain can make them lose sleep, diminish their ability to function, lead them to be more dependent on others, dampen their appetite, isolate and depress them, and reduce physical activity, which can make them get out of shape and be more likely to suffer a fall.

If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.

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Straight From Starrucca
By Danielle Williams

No Straight From Starrucca This Week

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Veterans’ Corner

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What’s Bugging You?
By Stuart W. Slocum

Cockroaches: purveyors of filth

Cockroach infestation in the home or workplace can adversely impact human health in several ways. Not only do they contaminate food with their waste, but they also transmit pathogens and cause allergies. Some people have such a strong aversion to cockroaches that they develop extreme psychological stress to the point of irrationality. Although uncommon, there is documentation of cockroach bites on the hands, feet and faces of sleeping adults. There are also accounts of bites around the mouths of infants in heavily infested homes and hospitals. High populations of cockroaches can also create a distinctive, unpleasant odor that is nauseating to some. Ingestion of food contaminated by cockroach excrement can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Thirty-two species of bacteria, including those of the Bacillus, Escherichia and Salmonella genera, have been identified in association with cockroaches. In addition, various fungi, protozoans, viruses and parasitic worms have also been identified in association with the insects. However, there is no definitive proof that the cockroaches are transmitters (vectors) of all of these pathogens.

Recent research has determined that allergens produced by cockroaches are one of the leading causes of indoor allergies. It is estimated that nearly one half of all asthmatics are allergic to cockroaches. Allergic symptoms caused by cockroaches include sneezing, runny nose, eye irritation and skin rashes. Severe reactions can include difficulty in breathing or even anaphylactic shock. Any cockroach-related debris such as cast skins, contaminated food, or excrement can also produce allergic reactions. Further detriment can result, since allergic reactions to one insect species can create a broad-spectrum cross-reactivity to other arthropods. Such induced reaction could cause allergic symptoms to shrimp, lobster, crab, or crayfish, as well as sowbugs and dust mites.

The prevention and control of cockroach populations have various approaches. Since bags, cardboard boxes and even luggage are favorite hiding places for cockroaches, they should be carefully examined before being brought into the home, especially if coming from a known area of infestation. Close inspection should be made for the elongate egg capsules (oothecae) as well as for the nymphs and adults. If the presence of cockroaches is suspected, sticky traps can be effectively used to check for their presence. These traps should be placed on the floor, tight to the wall, behind a refrigerator, sink, stove or other appliance.

The maintenance of good sanitation is very important in limiting the presence of cockroaches. While this will not totally exclude their presence, it will greatly facilitate the control of their population. It is important that uncovered food not be left out over night. All food should be stored in the refrigerator or in a tight container. Dirty dishes should likewise be washed, and all counter tops cleaned. Garbage containers should be kept tightly closed at all times. Floors need to be swept or vacuumed to remove any food particles or other organic debris. Leaky pipes or faucets should be repaired, since water is a primary attractant for the cockroaches. Areas with excessive condensation also need to be ventilated to remove moisture.

The elimination of viable hiding locations is also critical in the prevention of large cockroach populations. As previously mentioned, cardboard boxes are especially attractive to cockroaches. When storing items, leaving gaps of open space between the boxes eliminates the attractive crevices that cockroaches so desire. Cracks and crevices in walls, ceilings and floors should be calked or otherwise sealed. In multi-unit buildings, such as apartment houses, common ductwork for plumbing and electrical conduits should be blocked with steel wool, insulation or foam. This will limit the cockroach “byways” between units.

Although bad housekeeping and unsanitary conditions can greatly contribute to cockroach infestations, the presence of a few cockroaches is almost inevitable and does not necessarily reflect the lack of good household sanitation. At certain times of the year, invasions from outdoor locations or nearby facilities can occur. Also, the common utility ducts, shared trash rooms and sewage lines found in apartment complexes create unavoidable avenues of cockroach invasion.

Frequent vacuuming is one physical means of cockroach removal and control. This can remove both the insects and their egg cases. If the vacuum employs a HEPA filter system, the allergy-causing cockroach debris can also be captured. It is important to promptly dispose of all dust and debris from the vacuum. While sticky traps can catch and detect the presence of cockroaches, they generally cannot capture enough individuals to effectively reduce a population.

To safely eliminate cockroaches in small appliances like toasters or clocks, infested items can be sealed in a plastic bag and frozen for 4 or 5 days. The items should be thoroughly cleaned before reintroduction into the house.

If implementation of sanitation and physical controls are insufficient, some chemical means must be employed. The determination of population concentration using a sticky trap (such as Roach Motel) is important to determine the best location for application of the insecticide. Insecticides are available as baits, dusts and sprays. Baits, usually available in child-proof containers, can be safely placed in specific areas of high cockroach concentration, thus avoiding a more widespread application. Common bait ingredients include hydramethylnon (Amdro, Cyclon), abamectin (Abba, Vertimec) and fipronil (Frontline, Icon). Although effective, baits are not immediate in eliminating the population. Applications of boric acid dust, sold under such brand names as Roach Powder, can be placed behind or under appliances to supplement control. It should be placed in areas inaccessible to children and pets.

Aerosol and liquid insecticides containing cypermethrin (Ammo, Cymbush), cyfluthrin (Tempo, Baythroid), permethrin (Atroban, Ambush) or deltamethrin (Butofin, Crackdown) are also effective in controlling cockroach populations. These should be applied per label instructions. While avoiding food, dishes and countertops, these sprays should be applied in specific locations of cockroach activity, including cracks, crevices, along drains, plumbing, wiring and behind sinks and appliances.

Foggers and bombs are ineffective in reaching the hiding cockroaches. They also increase the pesticide exposure for human and pet occupants. Treatments in multi-unit buildings are particularly troublesome and are best left to the services of a professional pest management service.

Unlike many insects, cockroaches really have no redeeming qualities and will always be greatly despised by people. However, considering that they have occupied the earth for several hundred million years longer than us, we have no choice but to tolerate them and their despicable habits.

Questions, comments and suggestions regarding this article, identifications or any other insect-related matters are welcome. Please email them to bugman95@gmail.com.

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Food For Thought
By Lauretta L. Clowes DC

No Food For Thought This Week

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that some baby bottles contain chemicals that can cause health problems for babies? If so, how can I find alternatives that are safer?

Amy Gorman, Berkeley, CA

No links connecting specific human illnesses to chemicals oozing out of baby bottles have been proven definitively. Nonetheless, many parents are heeding the call of scientists to switch to products with less risk. A 2008 report by American and Canadian environmental researchers entitled “Baby’s Toxic Bottle” found that plastic polycarbonate baby bottles leach dangerous levels of Bisphenol-A (BPA), a synthetic chemical that mimics natural hormones and can send bodily processes into disarray, when heated.

All six of the leading brands of baby bottles tested – Avent, Disney/The First Years, Dr. Brown’s, Evenflo, Gerber and Playtex – leaked what researchers considered dangerous amounts of BPA. The report calls on major retailers selling these bottles – including Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, CVS, Target, Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart – to switch to safer products.

According to the report, BPA is a “developmental, neural and reproductive toxicant that mimics estrogen and can interfere with healthy growth and body function.” Researchers cite numerous animal studies demonstrating that the chemical can damage reproductive, neurological and immune systems during critical stages of development. It has also been linked to breast cancer and to the early onset of puberty.

So what’s a concerned parent to do? Glass bottles are a tried-and-true chemical-free solution, and they are widely available, though very breakable. To the rescue are several companies making BPA-free plastic bottles (out of either PES/polyamide or polypropylene instead of polycarbonate). Some of the leaders are BornFree, thinkbaby, Green to Grow, Nuby, Momo Baby, Mother’s Milkmate and Medela’s. These brands are available at natural food stores, directly from manufacturers, or from online vendors.

Most of the major brands selling BPA-containing bottles are now also offering or planning to offer BPA-free versions of their products. Consumers should read labels and packaging carefully to make sure that any product they are considering buying says unequivocally that it does not contain the chemical.

Unfortunately, switching to a BPA-free bottle is no guarantee the chemical won’t make its way into your baby’s bloodstream anyway. BPA is one of the 50 most-produced chemicals in the world. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), it is used in everything from plastic water jugs labeled #7 to plastic take-out containers, baby bottles and canned food liners. It is so omnipresent that the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has found that 95 percent of Americans have the chemical in their urine.

Also, nursing mothers – especially those who haven’t discarded their old BPA-containing Nalgene water bottles – may be passing the chemical along through their breast milk. And if that weren’t enough, BPA is also used in the lining of many metal liquid baby formula cans. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) has posted email links to the consumer affairs offices of the major formula manufacturers so concerned parents can ask them to remove BPA from their product offerings and packaging.

CONTACTS: Baby’s Toxic Bottle Report, www.chej.org/documents/BabysToxicBottleFinal.pdf; NRDC, www.nrdc.org; CDC, www.cdc.gov; EWG, www.ewg.org.

Dear EarthTalk: How much “old growth” forest is left in the United States and is it all protected from logging at this point?         

John Foye, via e-mail

As crazy as it sounds, no one really knows how much old growth is left in America’s forested regions, mainly because various agencies and scientists have different ideas about how to define the term. Generally speaking, “old growth” refers to forests containing trees often hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years old. But even when there is agreement on a specific definition, differences in the methods used to inventory remaining stands of old growth forest can produce major discrepancies. Or so complains the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry (NCSSF) in its recent report, “Beyond Old Growth: Older Forests in a Changing World.”

In 1991, for example, the U.S. Forest Service and the nonprofit Wilderness Society each released its own inventory of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest and northern California. They both used the Forest Service’s definition based on the number, age and density of large trees per acre, the characteristics of the forest canopy, the number of dead standing trees and fallen logs and other criteria. However, because each agency used different remote sensing techniques to glean data, the Forest Service came up with 4.3 million acres of old-growth and the Wilderness Society found only two million acres.

The NCSSF also studied the data, and they concluded that 3.5 million acres (or six percent) of the region’s 56.8 million acres of forest qualified as old growth – that is, largely trees over 30 inches in diameter with complex forest canopies. By broadening the definition to include older forest with medium-diameter trees and both simple and complex canopies, NCSSF said their figure would go up substantially.

In other parts of the country, less than one percent of Northeast forest is old growth, though mature forests that will become old growth in a few decades are more abundant. The Southeast has even less acreage – a 1993 inventory found about 425 old growth sites across the region, equaling only a half a percent of total forest area. The Southwest has only a few scattered pockets of old-growth (mostly Ponderosa Pine), but for the most part is not known for its age-old trees. Old-growth is even scarcer in the Great Lakes.

It is hard to say whether the remaining pockets of scattered old-growth in areas besides the Pacific Northwest will remain protected, but environmentalists are working hard to save what they can in northern California, Oregon and Washington. The outgoing Bush administration recently announced plans to increase logging across Oregon’s remaining old-growth reserves by some 700 percent, in effect overturning the landmark Northwest Forest Plan of 1994 that set aside most of the region’s remaining old growth as habitat for the endangered spotted owl.

Protecting remaining old-growth is important for many reasons. “These areas provide some of the cleanest drinking water in the world, critical salmon and wildlife habitat, world-class recreational opportunities and critical carbon storage in our fight against global warming,” says Jonathan Jelen of the nonprofit Oregon Wild, adding that as much as 20 percent of the emissions related to global warming can be attributed to deforestation and poor forest management. “A growing body of evidence is showing the critical role that forests – and old-growth forests in particular – can play in mitigating climate change.”

CONTACTS: NCSSF, http://ncseonline.org/NCSSF/; Oregon Wild, www.oregonwild.org

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/ or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

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Barnes-Kasson Corner
By Cara Sepcoski

Thyroid Awareness Week January 11 – 17

Barnes-Kasson Hospital is observing National Thyroid Awareness Week, January 11 through 17.

The thyroid gland is the small, butterfly-shaped gland that is located at the base of your neck, which is just below your Adam’s apple. The thyroid gland helps control the body’s metabolism as well as many of its organs, such as the brain, liver, kidneys, heart and skin.

The thyroid produces a thyroid hormone. In order to keep the thyroid producing this necessary hormone, it needs something to fuel it. This fuel is iodine. Iodine is an important ingredient that is found in iodized seafood, table salt, bread and milk. The thyroid uses iodine to make two kinds of thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine, or T3 and thyroxine, or T4.

Dysfunction of the thyroid gland occurs when the thyroid produces either too much thyroid hormone, or to little. Too much of this hormone will cause the body’s systems to speed up, which is called hyperthyroidism. Too little of the thyroid hormone causes the body’s systems to slow down, which is called hypothyroidism.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is the most common thyroid disease in the United States. This inherited disease affects nearly 14 million Americans. Hypothyroidism occurs if the thyroid cannot produce enough thyroid hormone for the body’s needs.

Another disease of the thyroid is thyroid cancer. Although this cancer is not one of the most common types of cancer, it is one of the fastest growing in America. The good news is though, that this is one of the most curable forms of cancer. As with most cancers and diseases, finding about it in the early stages adds more of a chance to survival.

Preventive measures for thyroid disease is to maintain a healthy diet to ensure proper iodine levels, and to keep up with annual doctor appointments.

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