Click on one of the topics below for more information:

Immunization Clinic                                                                                Toe Nail Clinic                        
2nd Wednesday of every month                                                                  At The Vestey Center @ 2:00 p.m.
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. United Methodist Church                                                    2009 - February18, April 15, June 17
                           448 N. Kansas, Superior                                                           August 19, October 21, December 16
                                                                         
Blood Pressure Clinics                                                                                                   
Vestey Center @ Superior - 2nd Tuesday of month at 11 a.m.                                                                             
Do Drop In @ Hardy - 2nd Tuesday of each month 9 a.m.                             South Central Behavioral Services            
Dick's Place @ Lawrence - 3rd Wednesday of each month 8:30 a.m.           Thursdays
Senior Center @ Nelson - 2nd Monday of each month 1 p.m.                        Call (402) 463-5684 for an appointment
Broken Spoke @ Ruskin - Last Tuesday of each month 11:30 a.m.
Edgar Medical Clinic @ Edgar - Last Wednesday of each month 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

Car Seat Inspection
2nd Thursday of each month
Superior Fire Station
4 to 6:30 p.m.

Prepared Childbirth Classes
Contact Superior Family Medical Center for scheduled classes.                 
Register with Megan McMeen, R.N. or Cindy Nelson, R.N. at Superior Family Medical Center 402-879-4781                                                        

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What is Hearth Disease?

Coronary heart disease is the main form of heart disease.  It is a disorder of the blood vessels of the heart that can lead to heart attack.  A heart attack happens when an artery becomes blocked, preventing oxygen and nutrients from getting to the heart.  Often referred to simply as heart disease, it is one of several cardiovascular diseases, which are diseases of the heart and blood vessel system.  Other cardiovascular diseases include stroke, high blood pressure, angina (chest pain), and rheumatic heart disease.  

One reason some women aren't too concerned about heart disease is that they think it can be "cured" with surgery.  This is a myth.  Heart disease is a lifelong condition—once you get it, you'll always have it.  True, procedures such as bypass surgery and angioplasty can help blood and oxygen flow to the heart more easily.  But the arteries remain damaged, which means you are more likely to have a heart attack.  What's more, the condition of your blood vessels will steadily worsen unless you make changes in your daily habits.  Many women die of complications from heart disease, or become permanently disabled.  That's why it is so vital to take action to prevent and control this disease.

Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Heart Disease

Menopausal hormone therapy once seemed the answer for many of the conditions women face as they age. It was thought that hormone therapy could ward off heart disease, osteoporosis, and cancer, while improving women's quality of life.  But beginning in July 2002, findings emerged from clinical trials that showed this was not so.  In fact, long-term use of hormone therapy poses serious risks and may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.  The findings come from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), launched in 1991 to test ways to prevent a number of medical disorders in postmenopausal women.  It consists of a set of clinical studies on hormone therapy, diet modification, and calcium and vitamin D supplements; an observational study; and a community prevention study.

The two hormone therapy clinical studies were both stopped early because of serious risks and the failure to prevent heart disease.  Briefly, the estrogen-plus-progestin therapy increased women's risk for heart attacks, stroke, blood clots, and breast cancer.  It also doubled the risk of dementia and did not protect women against memory loss.  However, the therapy had some benefits:  It reduced the risk for colorectal cancer and bone fractures.  Estrogen-alone therapy increased the risk for stroke and venous thrombosis (blood clot, usually in one of the deep veins of the legs).  It had no effect on heart disease and colorectal cancer, and an uncertain effect on breast cancer.  Estrogen alone gave no protection against memory loss, and there were more cases of dementia in those who took the therapy than those on the placebo, although the increase was not statistically significant.  Estrogen alone reduced the risk for bone fractures.

While questions remain, the findings make possible some advice about using hormone therapy:   Estrogen alone or with progestin should not be used to prevent heart disease.  Talk with your doctor about other ways of preventing heart attack and stroke, including lifestyle changes and medicines such as cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure drugs.

If You Have Heart Disease:  Menopausal hormone therapy was once thought to lower the risk of heart attack and stroke for women with heart disease.  But research now shows that women with heart disease should not take it.  Menopausal hormone therapy can involve the use of estrogen alone or estrogen plus progestin. For women with heart disease, estrogen alone will not prevent heart attacks, and estrogen plus progestin increases the risk for heart attack during the first few years of use.  Estrogen plus progestin also increases the risk for blood clots, stroke, and breast cancer.

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SeniorS' Health

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Walking for Senior Health

Here's another senior health care tip. When walking for senior exercise, it is important that you keep a normal stride. Over-extending our stride length jolts our joints and actually slows us down. You may also put stress on your joints and ligaments by trying to go very quickly or by lengthening your stride too much. Take it easy! Studies show that walking is just as effective as running for aerobic exercise. It may take you a bit longer, but then you just have more opportunities to stop and smell the roses!

Senior Health and Maintaining Balance

For better senior health your lifestyle should be to do all things with a temperance; that is, don't overeat, don't overbuy, etc. To make it short: don't over 'do'! By following this simple rule, you will ensure your health and safety. Don't be afraid of an occassional indulgence, but good habit make healthy people!

Senior Health Care and Nutrition

We all worry about our weight as we get older. In today's world, restaurants serve huge portions, but you don't have to fall prey to these problems! Although 'Diets' aren't always the easy way to maintain a healthy weight for senior health, eating less can be. Use the salad plate for our meals rather than the dinner plate; less surface, less food. Your system will soon adapt to this decrease and 'less' will be plenty! You'll see the excess pounds melt slowly away. Couple this with a walk each day and you will look and feel better!

Children's Health

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Physical Activity Twice Weekly May Help Prevent Teens
From Becoming Overweight Adults 

January 8, 2008 — School-based and extracurricular physical activities in which teens participate at least 2 times per week are effective ways to help prevent them from becoming overweight in adulthood, according to the results of a cohort study reported in the January issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"It is generally accepted that increased physical activity, independent of weight status, has many healthful effects throughout the lifespan, including increased bone mineral density, improved lipid profile, increased cardiovascular endurance, improved glucose metabolism, increased muscle strength, and lower blood pressure," write David Menschik, MD, MPH, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues. "In adolescents, increased physical activity has been linked to lower tobacco and marijuana use, less television watching, higher fruit and vegetable consumption, less depression, closer relationships with parents, and decreased social marginalization. In addition, cross-sectional data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey have established an association between increased physical activity in adolescence and lower weight in certain subgroups."

Using in-home interviews, this cohort study based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health evaluated 3345 adolescents in grades 8 to 12 with body mass index (BMI) data available at baseline and 5 years later. Days per week of school-based and extracurricular physical activity were compared with overweight status, defined as a BMI of 25 kg/m² or more, 5 years after baseline.

Increased participation in certain extracurricular physical activities and in physical education (PE) was associated with decreased risk of being overweight in young adulthood. With extracurricular physical activities, performing certain wheel-related activities, such as rollerblading, roller skating, skateboarding, or bicycling more than 4 times per week was associated with approximately a 48% reduction in the likelihood of being an overweight adult.

Each weekday that adolescents participated in PE was associated with a 5% decrease in the odds of being an overweight adult. Participation in PE during all 5 weekdays was associated with a 28% decrease in the likelihood of being an overweight adult.

"In general, physical activity predicted normal-weight maintenance better than weight loss," the study authors write. "These data underscore the important role that school-based and extracurricular physical activity play in reducing the likelihood of transitioning to overweight as young adults."

Limitations of the study include the possibility that boys who are underweight may be less likely to be physically active than normal-weight students, offsetting the protective effects of exercise on normal- and high–normal-weight individuals; exercise categories grouped by response category rather than by discrete activities, activities more likely to persist with time, or activities associated with similar expenditures of energy; inability to determine whether participation in physical activity was ongoing, because exercise participation was measured only at 1 week in time; and possible misclassifications of overweight resulting from increased muscle mass.

"Establishing a temporal and positive relationship between adolescent physical activity and lower adult weight status is especially important given current trends in adolescent exercise patterns away from the Healthy People 2010 exercise goals for the nation's youth," the study authors conclude. "In the current climate of decreasing adolescent physical activity in and out of school, it is important for policy makers to have firm evidence that justifies increasing time and bolstering resources for quality exercise programs and sports. In view of an obesity epidemic costing the United States an estimated $117 billion annually, policy makers now have evidence that a relatively low-cost strategy may offer a long-lasting solution."

The William H. Gates Sr. Endowment, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, supported this study in part. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

ZUCCHINI LASAGNA

1/2 lb lasagna noodles, cooked in unsalted water
3/4 c mozzarella cheese, part-skim, grated
1 1/2 c cottage cheese*, fat free
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 c zucchini, raw, sliced
2 1/2 c tomato sauce, no salt added
2 tsp basil, dried
2 tsp oregano, dried
1/4 c onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp black pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray 9 x 13 inch baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
2.  In small bowl, combine 1/8 cup mozzarella and 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese.  Set aside.
3.  In medium bowl, combine remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese with all of the cottage cheese.  Mix well and set
     aside.
4.  Combine tomato sauce with remaining ingredients.  Spread thin layer of tomato sauce in bottom of baking dish.  Add third
     of noodles in single layer.  Spread half of cottage cheese mixture on top.  Add layer of zucchini.
5.  Repeat layering.
6.  Add thin coating of sauce.  Top with noodles, sauce, and reserved cheese mixture.  Cover with aluminum foil.
7.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Cool for 10 to 25 minutes.  Cut into 6 portions.

Yield: 6 servings.  Serving size:  1 piece

 Each serving provides:

*Use unsalted cottage cheese to reduce the sodium content to 196 mg per serving.

Stir-Fried Beef And Vegetables

2 Tbsp dry red wine
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp ginger root, peeled, grated
1 lb boneless round steak, fat-trimmed and cut across grain into 1 1/2 inch strips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, each cut into 8 wedges
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, rinsed, trimmed, and sliced
2 stalks celery, bias-cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 small green peppers cut into thin lengthwise strips
1 c water chestnuts, drained, sliced
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c water

1.  Prepare marinade by mixing together wine, soy sauce, sugar, and ginger.
2.  Marinate meat in mixture while preparing vegetables.
3.  Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large skillet or wok.  Stir-fry onions and mushrooms for 3 minutes over medium high heat.
4.  Add celery and cook for 1 minute.  Add remaining vegetables and cook for 2 minutes or until green pepper is tender but
     crisp.  Transfer vegetables to warm bowl.
5.  Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil to skillet.  Stir-fry meat in oil for about 2 minutes, or until meat loses its pink color.
6.  Blend cornstarch and water.  Stir into meat.  Cook and stir until thickened.
7.  Return vegetables to skillet.  Stir gently and serve.

Yield: 6 servings.  Serving size: 6 oz.

 Each serving provides:

SWEET POTATO CUSTARD

1 c sweet potato, cooked, mashed
1/2 c banana (about 2 small), mashed
1 c evaporated skim milk
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks (or 1/3 cup egg substitute), beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c raisins
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
nonstick cooking spray, as needed

1.  In medium bowl, stir together sweet potato and banana.  Add milk, blending well.
2.  Add brown sugar, egg yolks, and salt, mixing thoroughly.
3.  Spray 1-quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray.  Transfer sweet potato mixture to casserole dish.
4.  Combine raisins, sugar, and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over top of sweet potato mixture.
5.  Bake in preheated 325° F oven for 40-45 minutes, or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Yield: 6 servings.  Serving size:  1/2 cup

 Each serving provides:

*If using egg substitute, cholesterol will be lower.