Healthwise [Fall 1995]

              Fall 1995
Give your child a shot at
It's unusual for a child today to
contract whooping cough, and cases of
polio and lockjaw are almost unheard
of. But that
doesn't mean that
the childhood
diseases of
yesteryear no
longer exist.
Thanks to
modem
medicine, moms
and dads can now
protect their
children from these dangerous
diseases. Regular medical care for your
child includes shots or immunizations.
a healthy childhood ..
These shots help protect your child
from becoming very sick.
Many states require that children
receive immunizations before
enrolling in day
care or school.
But too often this
means that
parents delay
their child's
immunizations
until the child is
five or six years
old. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimate that as
many as 40 to 50 percent of children
under age two have not completed
the recommended immunization
schedule and are being exposed to
unnecessary health risks.
Five childhood immunizations
are recommended for nine different
diseases. While the following diseases
can be prevented, it's up to YOU, the
parent, to make sure your child is
immunized.
1. DTP vaccine: The DTP
vaccine prevents three childhood
diseases - Diphtheria, Tetanus and
Pertussis.
• Diphtheria is spread through
coughing or sneezing. Early symptoms
(continued inside)
TIME trial works to heal hearts faster
When a person experiences a heart attack, every second
counts. A heart attack, known medically as a myocardial
infarction, occurs when one or more of the coronary
arteries is blocked. The coronary arteries supply
blood to the heart, and when the heart doesn't
receive an adequate supply of the oxygen and
nutrients found in blood, it dies.
"Time is muscle," said Tom Wall, MD, a
cardiologist with LeBauer, Weintraub, Brodie,
Patterson and Associates. "For every hour you
delay opening up the blocked artery, you're
increasing the chance of death by 1 percent."
Heart muscle begins to die approximately one hour
after the first sensation of discomfort. (The discomfort signals that the blood supply to the heart
has been cut off.) However, the national standard is
three hours from the time of diagnosis of a
heart attack to treatment. At Moses Cone
Hospital, it takes between one and two
hours for a physician to diagnose and
treat a heart attack. Although better
than the national standard, Wall still
finds this time frame unacceptable.
(continued inside)
INSIDE
Calendar:
Healthwise
lecture    i
Calling all
primary care
doctors
Hospital isn't
raising price
Quit smoking
without gaining
weight
IT2
l
A Publication for hie Friends of The Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital