Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 127, Number 4, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 22 January 2004 — Page 4

Page A4

» Advance News * Thursday. January 22, 2004

■health n

by Dr. Song Yu and Dr. Michael Botger

The Quest for SelfImprovement: Making the Most of New Year’s Resolutions

The Maximum Health Story tells us how we can become as healthy as possible. One way to move toward Maximum Health is to improve our habits. We have so many habits, both good and bad. Maximum Health means to move away from the bad habits and move toward good habits. One measure that nearly everyone takes is to make a New Year's resolution. We may resolve to stop smoking, quit alcohol, get more exercise, or reduce fats in the diet. Other people want to reduce weight or otherwise improve their appearance. All these and other good resolutions are a great idea. There jre important points to consider, however, when making and keeping New Year’s resolutions. We all know people who are enthusiastic about a self-improvement goal but fail at accomplishing it. Whenever we see others fail at keeping a commitment it is always disheartening. How can we avoid failing our resolutions? How can we make our New Year’s resolutions a reality? It is very important when you have a good, positive impulse toward selfimprovement that you do things right to maximize your chances at success. Doing things right means to get all the help you can. You must clearly identify the steps necessary to reach your goal and find out how to cany them out successfully. It is always good to get a professional evaluation of your health status before you take on major selfimprovement projects. We all know it is good to exercise more, but only if your doctor confirms that your health will allow it. It is always good to normalize your weight, but only with a balanced diet and a sound exercise program. Many people want to quit smoking or alcohol, but they need medical help to accomplish their goals. One important principle to follow

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with self-improvement resolutions is to accept yourself where you are now. Many people get negative attitudes about themselves because they smoke or they are in bad physical condition. Accept where you are and, rather than focusing on the negative, make positive plans to change for the better. Another important principle is to work on change - but not too much change at once. Ending a tobacco habit, even with medical help, is a formidable task. Focus on quitting smoking. This will put your energy in one place and get the job done. Once smoking is conquered, then work on physical conditioning and the like. By placing all your attention and energy on one goal, you will be more effective than trying three goals and accomplishing nothing. Plan for the long haul instead of the quick fix. Many people will lose weight on an extreme diet that, itself, is very unhealthy. It is far better to follow a reduced balanced diet. This will produce gradual weight loss and is far healthier than whipsawing back and forth between extreme dieting and eating too much. Plus, you can follow a healthy diet indefinitely rather than piling weight right back on after ending the extreme diet. We want to develop better habits of eating, exercise, and the like that will - in the long run - move us toward Maximum Health. Remember - hold fast, stand firm, and persevere! ABOUT THE DOCTORS: Dr. Michael Border arul Dr. Song Yu are Board Certified in Family Practice and Osteopathic htmHpulative Treatment. They work to promote medical care hated on health promotion - for people to enjoy Maximum Health! They can be reached at Northwood Physicians in Nappanee, Indiana (574) 773-4151 or email at north wood@fourway. net.

HOW CAM lIP I MEAN,!

Wearing Pajamas to School

Tanya showed up at my house in ragged jeans with a hole in the knee. When she removed her coat, she had on a thin tee-shirt, even though the wind chill was below zero. "My birthday's coming up at the end of this month,’’ she told me. As I surveyed her beautiful blonde hair, flawless complexion and slim stature, 1 could understand why the neighborhood boys were crazy about her. "You're just a mother at heart with no children of your own," My husband, Brian, later told me when l revealed my plans to take Tanya shopping for her birthday. “How do you know Tanya really wants to go shopping for clothes?” “What 12-year-old girl wouldn't want to go shopping for pretty things?” I countered. Tanya came to our house in a pair of Scooby Doo loungers and a tee-shirt the next afternoon. “Have you been taking a nap?’ I inquired. She laughed and replied, "No. I wore my pajamas to school today. I didn't have anything else to wear.” 1 was surprised they didn’t send her home. Although I somehow knew the school staff understood her situation. She was a little girl who lived in a single-parent household where her mother was unemployed. I decided that evening was the perfect time to tell her the good news. “Next week is your birthday,” 7 said. "Instead of baking you a cake, I've decided I want to take you shopping for clothes. We'll buy four or five pairs of jeans, some sweaters and even a few

Go ahead and eat the beef!

I have had several calls from many of you wanting more information and some of you requested I write my column on mad cow disease. Mad cow disease is technically known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE. I think it is important that you know what the disorder is so you have a better understanding of it and how very safe your food chain is. BSE is a fatal and chronic degenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system of cattle. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, belongs to a family of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies or TSE’s. Encephalopathies are diseases of the brain. Spongiform comes from the fact that the brain takes on the structure of a sponge and transmissible means the disease can be spread. TSE’s are a disease of the central nervous system and slowly can cause its failure. TSE’s occur somewhat randomly, and the cause is unidentified. TSE’s are familial or inherited, which means that they are passed on genetically from parents to offspring. The sources of the TSE’s are from outside the animal. All have long incuba-

Years Ago

120 YEARS AGO; JAN. 17, 1884 •Indiana Congressmen passed laws restraining importation into the U.S. from France and Germany of impure wines and other articles until those countries rescind their import laws concerning American pork. •George Elkins and Conrad Hepler were fined $23.30 for using indecent language on the streets last Friday. Sam Johnson thus far has avoided the officers, but there is an eye out for him. 100 YEARS AGO; JAN. 20, 1904 •Brother Uline delivered a good address at the Indiana Prohibition Alliance held in Indianapolis. Your editor was there to hear it. •Arthur Hartman shipped 26 White Wyandotte chickens to Louisiana. They cost $21.00 Express. 75 YEARS AGO; JAN. 17,1929 •The arrangement has been made with Mr. Feldman for the use of his bam on W. Randolph for the hitching of horses. In cold and disagreeable weather many people driving horses are at at loss as to where to place their animals in the city. Now, for a small sum of money a horse or team can be placed in his bam just west of the South Side Grocery.

The Years Ago segments have been researched and posted by Margaret England-Neff and by Kylie Carter. They appear just as thev did in archived issues, typos and all. Opinion Page Policy

The Opinion page of the Advance News is intended to serve as a public forum to address issues of concern to Nappanee and Wakarusa residents from various viewpoints. Readers are welcome to express their views by submitting letters or guest commentaries regarding community topics. To be considered for publication, letters to the editor must he signed and include a

Opinion

be in a hurry to get home. However, In my own excitement, I dismissed her nonverbal communication as unimportant. Tanya is such a little doll, 1 pictured a score of possibilities with her new wardrobe. 1 envisioned her making the cheerleading squad, getting on the honor

roll, making new friends by the bus load. The possibilities were endless. The day 1 had waited for finally arrived. I was as excited as a girl going to the prom when 1 pulled into Tanya's driveway. But when 1 honked my car hom, no one was home. A few months later I saw Tanya again. The meeting was purely by accident. I spotted her in the drug store wearing a pair of ragged jeans, surveying q bot*fleofchehjppctjtiifii ’’’ ’Tanya, rve sure missed you," 1 remarked. "I was afraid you'd be mad at me because I didn't go shopping with you for my birthday."

Variant Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease. In 1996, following outbreaks of BSE among British cattle, scientists found a possible link between BSE and a new variant of CJD (vCJD). While it is not certain how BSE may be spread to humans, evidence indicates that humans may acquire vCJD after consuming BSE contaminated cattle products.

more tee-shirts. You'll be fixed for an entire season. And then when you outgrow those clothes, we'll go shopping again." Tanya was rather quiet that evening. I thought it was simply the inner thrill of shopping that accounted for her silence. When 1 finally pinned her down to a day and time for our shopping trip, she seemed to

lion periods lasting from months to years. There is no cure for TSE and it is always fatal. BSE is believed to be causal by a protein called a prion and affects the central nervous system of cattle. It was transmitted among cattle in Britain by the practice of feeding rendered protein, such as meat and bone meal, to cattle and sheep as a nutritional supplement. This practice has been banned in the

United States since October 1997. The prions are highly stable, they resist freezing, drying and heating at normal cooking temperatures. Scientists believe BSE infected meat can cause a rare fatal illness in people. The disease is called New-

K. 5 i , .*» *"■*■ J' ■■ jj yf j^tM

The Last Word Laurie Lechlitnw Columnist

Extension Education Mary Lianhart-Crosi Elkhart County

50 YEARS AGO; JAN. 14,1954 •The Bulldogs ripped Plymouth 80-44 in the Tournament but came up against sth rated Elkhart and nothing could stop the tall Blue Blazers who won 66-52. Fields led Nappanee with 14 pts, but Ball of Elkhart had 26. Fog was so bad that one of the refs was on the road 3-1/2 hours and arrived late and Dan Geyer was presed into service till he got there, 20 YEARS AGO; JAN. 18, 1984 •A local woman and her child escaped serious injury when their buggy was struck by a train on Wednesday. Jan. 11 at 10:23 a.m. at a crossing just south of Bowers Restaurant on U.S. 6. Marietta Schmucker, Nappanee. was transported by Nappanee EMS to South Bend Osteopathic Hospital where she was treated for minor head injuries. She was driving her buggy southbound on the driveway crossing the tracks and apparently did not see a westbound train which struck her buggy. A passenger in the buggy, Roseanna Schmucker, was thrown from the buggy and was treated for minor facial injuries. 10 YEARS AGO; JAN. 19,1994 •Nappanee’s Rotary club recognized former Emergency Medical Services Director Mike Stull, and his 15 years of service to the EMS, at last Wednesday's meeting.

phone number in order to verify the author. The Advance News reserves the right u> edit all letters and commentaries lor brevity, clarity and grammar. The views expressed on the Opinion page do not necessarily reflect those of the Advance News.

“I was a little disappointed." I confided. "Why did you stand me up? 1 know it was all right with your mother. When 1 talked to her. she was thrilled about our shopping trip.” With a radiant smile on her pretty face, Tanya answered, ”1 kinda like wearing pajamas to school" Suddenly I got the message. 1 was trying to create

across the chest. “Did you wear that outfit to schtxil today?’ I questioned her. With a coy giggle, she shook her head yes. By this time 1 had learned my lesson well. And although I wanted so badly to change the message she was sending to the world that she was “easy pickin’s,” that wasn't a possibility. Instead, I changed the subject. “Would you like some hot chocolate?'! u , ' l “Sure,” she answered. The little girt Was quickly ’ growing into a woman. However, from my vantage point, Tanya had a long way Hugo before becoming a lady.

It is because of the ongoing scientific work of the United States Department of Agriculture that we have a very safe food supply. If a cow has BSE, jt is in the brain and spinal cord. USDA has had an active surveillance program for BSE in place since May, 1990. This program is why that one case has been caught and documented that the cow came from Canada.

beef is lower in fat and lower in calorics than ever before. This is a result of breeding and feeding techniques combined with closer trimming of meat. Beef offers a great lasting package of nutrients for its relatively low calorie cost and should be a part of your healthy eating plan using the !'<xxi guide pyramid.

a pretty little doll of my own making. Tanya simply wanted to be herself: tee-shirts, ragged jeans, cheap perfume, pajamas and all. Recently she stopped at our house wearing a pair of loungers and a tee-shirt with a suggestive saying

Our beef supply is very safe and there is no reason you should not he consuming American raised beef. Beef is an excellent source of protein, iron, zinc. B-2, B-12, and niacin. Today’s