Traffic Conditions
Broadway is under extensive road works June 2009 through December 2009. Broadway from Pine St. to Alpine is one lane in each direction with some turns prohibited. Alternate routes are recommended during reconstruction. Please allow additional travel time to Boulder Medical Center, Boulder Community Hospital, Mapleton Center for Rehabilitation, Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and Surrounding physician offices. www.bch.org
2009 Flu Information
Prevent the Flu - Get Vaccinated!
Remember, the best way to prevent colds and the flu are to follow these preventive measures: Stay healthy by following a good diet, get plenty of rest, cover your cough, sneeze into a tissue and throw the tissue in the trash, wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly and often, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth and stay home when you are sick.
H1N1 Voluntary Vaccine Recall
There has been a Voluntary recall of some of the pre-filled syringes of the H1N1 Vaccine manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur. This vaccine was for the age group 6 months to 35 months and was found to have decreased slightly over time in the concentration (or strength) of the active ingredient (also called antigen) in this H1N1 vaccine. This does not affect the safety or purity of the Vaccine. This also does not affect your child's ability to develop immunity. The CDC does not recommend re-immunizing your child if they have already had two H1N1 Vaccines. If your child is 6 months- 35 months of age and has had only one vaccine, it is still recommended that they receive the 2nd booster. This is still true for all children less than 10 years old.
Please call the appointment desk to schedule an appointment for your child's booster appointment, and remember that the booster must be given at least 1 month after the initial vaccine.
Additionally, if your child has not received the seasonal flu vaccine, they may still receive that as well. Please call to schedule an appointment.
H1N1 & Seasonal Flu Vaccine
Broadway BMC
Patients of all ages may receive the H1N1 vaccine beginning December 10, 2009. Please contact your primary care provider to schedule your Seasonal or H1N1 flu vaccine.
* Flu mist (preservative free) is available for patients with no underlying chronic health conditions.
How many shots of the new vaccine would someone need? Will it be one or two doses, or something else?
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of one dose of 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine for persons 10 years of age and older. This is slightly different from CDC’s recommendations for seasonal influenza vaccination which states that children younger than 9 who are being vaccinated against influenza for the first time need to receive two doses. Infants younger than 6 months of age are too young to get the 2009 H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines.
FDA has approved two doses for children 6 months through 9 years of age. As with seasonal vaccine, children 6 months through 35 months of age should get two doses of 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine, which contains one-half of the dose used for older children and adults.
Broadway BMC - 303-440-3000
The Broadway office will contact families with children needing a second booster dose of H1N1 vaccine if the vaccine was given at the Broadway location.
If you need a Seasonal or H1N1 vaccination please contact your Primary Care Provider to schedule an appointment.
Avista Pediatrics - call 303-666-2720 for your flu vaccine appointment.
Avista Boulder Medical Center at 80 Health Park Dr. Suite 100 in Louisville will hold Flu Clinics by appointment only for established patients .
Avista Family Practice - call 303-666-2710 for your flu vaccine appointment.
Foothills Pediatric Department at 303-938-4750 and Obstetric Patients call
303-938-4710 to schedule a flu vaccine appointment.
Foothills Pediatric and Obstetric Practices will hold Flu shot clinics for established pediatric patients and obstetric patients by appointment.
- Seasonal Flu and H1N1 Flu vaccine appointments will be scheduled most Wednesdays and Saturdays through January.
- Children 6 mos to 9 years of age will need a booster H1N1 vaccine (second dose). The Foothills office will remind you when this booster is due by letter, e-mail or a phone call.
How do you know if you have the flu?
If you aren't feeling well...
Do you have a fever or chills and a cough or sore throat?
If yes, you may have the flu. Symptoms of flu include fever or chills and cough or sore throat. In addition body aches, headache, tiredness, diarrhea or vomiting The symptoms for the novel H1N1 flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and may include diarrhea and vomiting.
When you visit your BMC doctor because you think you might have the flu, please use a mask that is available at the lobby entrance.
Call your Primary Care Physician if you think you have the flu or any of the following emergency warning signs for more serious illness.
difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
- Sudden dizziness
- Confusion
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Flu-like symptoms improve, but then return with fever and worse cough.
People at higher risk of serious complications from seasonal flu include people age 65 years and older, children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women, people of any age with chromic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), and people who are immunosuppresed (e.g., taking immunosuppressive medications, infected with HIV). People who should get the H1N1 vaccine include healthy people 6 months to 24 years of age, those 25 years to 64 years of age with underlying chronic health conditions and pregnant women.
Avoid contact with others when you are sick.
If you are sick, you may be ill for a week or longer. You should stay home and keep away from others as much as possible, including avoiding travel and not going to work or school, for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other medical necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine).If you leave the house to seek medical care, wear a face mask, if available and tolerable, and cough into your elbow or shoulder and capture a sneeze with a tissue and throw the tissue in the trash.
For more information regarding symptoms and facts please visit these web sites:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/sick.htm
www.bch.org
Pharmaceutical Disposal Guidelines
Proper disposal of unwanted medications is important do not flush out of date or no longer used medications down a drain. Most municipal wastewater treatment plants are not designed to completely remove the chemicals and compounds found in medications, so some are released back into our waterways where they can have an adverse impact on the environment.
Recent studies have shown that these chemicals can impact our aquatic environments and even make their way back into our drinking water.
For more information visit www.bouldercolorado.gov and search "pharmaceutical" or call PACE Team Leader Bill Hayes at 303-441-1574. To learn more about PACE, visit www.pacepartners.com
For those who cannot attend the drop-off event, there are other ways to properly dispose of medications.
- Pour liquid medications over cat litter or some other absorbent material, and seal it in a plastic bag before placing it in the trash.
- Fill pill containers with household glue, remove all personal information from the container and place it in the trash once the glue has dried.
- Cut trans-dermal patches into small strips, place them in a container and add glue or mix them with coffee grounds or used cat litter.
Menopause Tea & Talk
Dr. Imig will announce a fall 2009 talk.
A Mediterranean-Style Diet for Americans (a.k.a. The Dr. Z Diet).
For an up to date look at what Dr. Zacharias is doing please visit
www.doctorzdiet.com
What is a Mediterranean-style diet?
There is a two part answer to this question. First, the diet emphasizes high intake of foods which have proven, favorable effects on the body. Second, the diet minimizes intake of foods which have proven, adverse effects on the body.
HIGH INTAKE: Vegetables; Nuts and Legumes; Fruits; Whole Grain Carbohydrates; Plant Oils (olive oil, grape seed oil, nut butters); Protein from Nuts and Nut Butters, Beans, Tofu and Fish sources; occasional Dark Chocolate; Moderate daily alcohol.
REDUCED INTAKE: Meat and Dairy Products (white meat poultry and fat free dairy such as skim milk are okay).
AVOIDANCE: Simple and refined sugars, processed foods, high fructose corn syrup containing products, trans fats, large amounts of animal fats such as most red meats ( occasional and moderate amounts aren’t really the problem).
Sounds pretty simple, and it is! A key concept is that your body is an amazingly resilient machine that, if more often than not presented with a preponderance of healthful food, will effectively fight off undesirable diseases and problems.
What has a Mediterranean-style diet been shown to do in large clinical studies?*
1. Prevent Alzheimer’s Dementia -up to 50% reduction.
2. Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke -up to 70% reduction.
3. Prevent Obesity and Help Weight Loss -up to 50% reduction.
4. Prevent Diabetes and Hypertension -up to 70% reduction.
What about Children? A Mediterranean-way of eating has been proven to reduce obesity, prevent asthma and autoimmune disorders, and prevent pre-atherosclerotic changes in major arteries in children.
* All references for these studies are available at www.bouldermedicalcenter.com, follow the links to: Dr. Z Diet.
These numbers are incredibly powerful. I am not aware of any medications that come even close to these levels of reduction for these diseases. This is consistent with the old adage “You are what you eat.”
How do I, with my crazy busy American-way of life, eat a Mediterranean-style diet for my health?
Good question. Let’s try to take the best dietary information we have and formulate some simple ideas as a solid starting foundation. You can always obsess over achieving perfection later, but getting started with a “close-enough diet” is priority one. You can visit my web site for much more information later on.
A. Breakfast- Whole grain cereals with added almonds, walnuts, raisins or other fruit, and skim or soy milk; Oatmeal with the same; Whole grain toast with added almond or peanut butter; Egg whites or egg substitute cooked in olive, grape seed, or canola oil; Whole –grain waffles or pancakes with fresh fruit; Smoothies of blended fruit, fat free yogurt/skim milk/soy milk, plus, if desired, almond or peanut butter—yummy!
B. Lunch- Whole grain bread or whole grain crackers with added almond or peanut butter (carry these with nut butter squeeze packs for quick lunch anywhere, that’s what I do for 50% of my lunches); Whole grain bread with lean turkey and sides of carrots, apples, oranges, raisins, or other fruits and veggies; most all vegetarian dishes or dishes with fish or skinless poultry.
C. Snacks- Sliced apples, carrots, etc. with almond or peanut butter; Fresh or dried fruit, Smoothies (see breakfast), Nut butter packs.
D. Dinner- Rule #1-Do not do anything idiotic. Look at the list of things to avoid and keep your brain on full-power mode when making dinner choices, especially if eating out. Also, you can very easily substitute or add healthful foods from the above list of “High Intake” foods to any recipe or dinner items to keep your intake of healthful foods up.
Final Point:
Healthful eating is great for you, is great tasting, and can be easy to incorporate into your busy life. This Dr. Z Diet, an Americanization of a Mediterranean-way of eating, is outlined in great detail at www.bouldermedicalcenter.com and will be fully discussed in the upcoming handbook: The Dr. Z Diet. Please think of eating for your health to be a long-term strategy of optimizing your exposure to healthful nutrients, of minimizing your exposure to harmful foods, and of doing the best you can (don’t quit just because you have a bad meal or food item every now and then!).
Peace, and healthful tidings,
Eric Zacharias, M.D.
Board-Certified, Internal Medicine; Clinical Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
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