Smart Health; 101

This. Special Presentation was produced in high definition by W. edu Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota that they can foundation through its generous endowment fund it w edu has provided funding for this program. This program is also brought to you in part through a generous gift from the cowls Charitable Trust. Next on smart health. A doctor with a plan to save lives gets a taste of his own medicine taking off the pounds by way of the operating room a view of weight loss surgery may not have seen before. From the battlefield to the yoga mat. Wounded warriors reconnect with their bodies. And. Different diagnosis for the annual physical. Do you really need that routine exam. Smart starts right now. What are you looking for when it comes to your health. Is it weight loss. A

strong healthy heart. More energy. Or a better sense of balance in your life. Hello and welcome to smart health. I'm Angie Mirecki. It's a new year and many of us are focused on our health. So you've come to the right place in the next half hour you'll see the stories of people improving their health a new and sometimes very old ways. One thing they share following an unusual path to achieve their goals. First you may have heard the old expression. Physician heal thyself. Well in a sense the person you're about to meet did precisely that. An emergency room doctor helped come up with an innovative new program designed to save the lives of people who have heart attacks. No one could have predicted what would happen next. A source we are all finished to be a good emergency room doctor you need a calming bedside manner and just the right touch. Mommy's coming right back.

These gentle hands at Sarasota memorial belong to Dr. Nicholas Jomar stroke. Keeping pace with the demanding work of an E.R. requires good health and plenty of energy. Dr. Angel Ostrow also known as Dr. Nick has plenty of both between running and cycling tennis and lifting weights. The doctor figured he couldn't get much healthier. Goes into my left arm. But then the unthinkable happened. Dr Nick had a heart attack. He was just 42 years old. He was feeling very strong and feeling really good and then this again came back really kind of as a as a lightning bolt almost it was very very shocking. Home alone and disabled by intense chest pain. He finally managed to dial 9 1 while the emergency calls set into motion a program at Sarasota memorial that Dr. Nick himself ironically helped to establish.

Dash stands for direct angioplasty saves hearts and is our program to provide quick interpersonal services to patients having heart attacks. Thought is that when you're having a heart attack your heart muscle is actually being injured and that injury precedes a long time course. We're going to interrupt that time of course restore normal blood flow to the heart muscle. We can abort the heart attack and in some cases have minimal almost nerve damage. Blood flow is restored and heart muscle saved through coronary angioplasty or a balloon like stent the procedure which takes place in a catheterization lab is common practice in today's medicine. Cardiologist Dr. Steven Kulp says the critical time for getting a patient into the cath lab is within 60 to 90 minutes after a heart attack. Hopefully medical care has already started. In reality it's exactly when that patient understands that they need to pick up the phone and call 911 and get into the system that anybody can do an EKG and an alert is that

this particular kind of heart attack that would respond to this stent therapy. The system is mobilized even before the patient hits the door. After a brief stop in his own emergency room the doctor turned patient was moved straight to the cath lab that I knew that if something horrific was ongoing physically for me at that time that I was getting into the best hands possible. It's strange having one of your own emergency room doctors being the one didn't trigger trigger the dash call so to speak but he came in appropriately. We found out immediately what was going on brought him up here to the cath lab was the actual blockage that caused his heart attack is up here. And once the catheter was in place and Dye's released real time X-rays revealed Dr. Angela Castro's condition was even worse than expected. He had a blood vessel that needed to be opened. All right but it was in a location where a stent or angioplasty would not work.

With every second counting. Dr Nick was rushed straight into bypass surgery. They were asking me who I would like to perform the surgery. That was another. Big shock. It was a pretty intense feeling. Very humbling very scary. Dr. Nick has fully recovered from his bypass surgery two years ago. He's returned to his active lifestyle and is back in the E.R. as busy as ever. I need surgery. But this veteran doctor is also certain his own unplanned visit to the hospital has made him a better physician. I'd like to think that when I'm talking to people about chest pain and shortness of breath and other vague things at work around that I've just got a heightened sense of awareness now because I know that it can be a little subtle. You just have to go by your gut feel. Doctors call says he's happy to see his old friend down in the emergency

room doing so well helping to develop the program actually made it easier to get him up here. So that worked out well. For the doctor who not only heals others but also played a role in saving himself. Life is good. I feel lucky to be alive. Very lucky to be alive. Program similar to Sarasota memorials dash alert are becoming the standard of care at leading hospitals in the Tampa Bay area. They may go by different names but all have a common goal. Reducing the amount of time it takes to open a blocked artery and to restore normal blood flow to the heart. Well we all want to do what we can to prevent heart attacks or cancer or other illnesses. Doctors tell us a yearly physical is one way to keep tabs on our health. We're finding some of those exams have gone high tech fancy executive style physicals have come into vogue complete with full body scans and a

dizzying array of elaborate and expensive tests. But do we really need routine exams. Some recent research suggests those body scans and even some of the most basic tests in a routine physical may not be all that necessary. Maybe it's time the annual physical gets a checkup. For Fritz Eichelberger getting a regular physical is a no brainer. Perfect style now at about 114 over 75. Great. I always get a physical every year to make sure things are going well. Is just the thing you wanted it. It was during one of those checkups that his family doctor convinced him to change his life. Now he's lost more than 60 pounds. I'll show you. This weighs about five pounds. I've lost over 12 of these in the last nine months. Fritz took control of his eating amped up his exercise program and began to

focus more on his overall health all with guidance from Dr. Lisa coach. Your cholesterol looks really really good. Oh I'm thrilled with Fred and I'm happy for him because he's feeling so much better. The greatest thing you can hope to get from a doctor is honesty someone who is someone who's willing to listen to look at you look at the results and share their wisdom share what they know. But will doctors soon be sharing less the traditional physical exam is being well re-examined. The research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests that some of the tests common in routine physical exams like complete blood cell counts and your analysis have not been shown to improve patient outcomes and may not be necessary. And the Federal Agency for Healthcare and research quality also reports there is little evidence many common tests like testicular pelvic and rectal exams make much of a

difference for people with no symptoms. So do we even need that annual checkup. Definitely I think everybody should still be it for routine physicals doctor coach says the traditional checkup is still important for detecting conditions and diseases before they cause major damage. High blood pressure and high blood sugar for example may present no symptoms but if they're not caught early can lead to a heart attack and stroke. But Dr. coach says the physical exam should not be one size fits all. We've been taught sort of to treat patients all the same. And that needs to change. Finding a doctor who's tuned into your personal and family history is critical to getting the exam that's right for you. There are standard screening tests that are important besides the blood pressure check. They include mammograms and pap tests for women prostate exams for men and regular cholesterol screenings. But what can you afford to do without. For starters you may want to pass on the full body scans looking for whole

body CAT scans to try to find that one person who may have an early tumor tends to cause a lot of false positives where the patient gets very nervous may undergo unnecessary testing just to find a negative result. And as for the treadmill stress tests you may want to walk away. Routine treadmill exercise stress testing is not much more accurate than a flip of a coin. There are newer screenings that may be worth asking your doctor about something called an advanced Lippard profile may actually keep you from being prescribed medicine you don't need. Some patients who their total cholesterol may seem quite high today they may not need medication. Once you do that panel you may look and find that it's all the type of LDL that are less likely to cause plaque. Another test called the fasting insulin test can help check for inflammation in the body. Inflammation in general is probably the root of almost all disease.

Your physician can talk to you about which new tests are important for you and which ones you can skip. Of course to do that you have to show up and get to know you doctor. You just saw the story of a man who was inspired to lose weight by his family doctor. But for many weight loss isn't that easy. They struggle through a lifetime of unsuccessful dieting and expanding their outlines. One option becoming increasingly popular in the fight against obesity is a form of laparoscopic surgery called banding. But what are we learning about lap band surgery that we didn't know just a few years ago. Clearly when it comes to weight loss there is no such thing as a simple solution. Janice GEORGIADIS has made a decision she's certain will change your life. She's going to have surgery to lose weight. I really want to make a change and do something to have a better. Future than what I've had in the past. It wasn't an easy decision for most of her life.

Janet never had a weight problem but in recent years some health setbacks led to rapid weight gain and crippling depression as the pounds came on her energy and self-esteem plummeted. You can't really interact with people the way you want to. And you always feel like you're putting on a smile and you're trying to make things better but they're really not and fine. And it's just a daily struggle. Janice Nelle hopes an aggressive approach to weight control will help her rediscover that person she's lost. She chose something called lap band surgery. It's a laparoscopic procedure where a band is placed around the upper portion of the stomach restricting the intake of food. The band can be tightened by injecting fluid through a cord attached to the abdominal wall. Once it fills up here you get the feeling ok I'm full stop eating Janis's doctor surgeon Lee gross barge should know not only has he performed about two

thousand lap band procedures he's also had the surgery himself. He's lost more than 100 pounds. It has truly given me my life back. It's allowed me to do things that otherwise I could never do. On this morning Janice is hoping for a similar sunny outcome. It's her surgery day. You have it pump full of it. It's like I've made that decision and here I am I'm ready. Her daughter Gabi is nervous but behind her mom 100 percent. She is beautiful inside and that's all that matters to me in life. My dad so I told I not care about what other people think. But I understand where she's coming from. So I think this is a good thing for her. You know. You go to lovers. It'll take us about 25 minutes in the operating room. So there's a total of five incisions on the way up and essentially is put in after we get into the abdomen with scope's. It. The lights go down and a tiny laparoscopic camera helps guide the surgical team on this fantastic voyage through the abdominal

cavity. This is the patient's spleen. And that thing is beating up there on the other side of the chest. That's the heart. Lung. Band has become a popular choice partly because it's less invasive than gastric bypass surgery. It is safer. It is adjustable and it is reversible. But surgeons have also learned more about the risks and complications of Lap-Band since it was approved by the FDA in 2001. They include possible infection nausea and vomiting blockage in the upper stomach and blood clots. In about one percent of patients the band erodes into the stomach and they have to be removed. A more common occurrence is band slippage after surgery slippage of a band is not the band slapping but actually the stomach below the level of the band slipping up through the band and getting trapped above the level of the band that can be an emergency. It usually is not. But it can be an emergency.

These are among the risks Janice had to weigh before she made this serious decision within a few minutes. Doctors have navigated their way around her stomach and are securing the band into place and lights on and we're done. Doctors now suture the port to the abdominal wall beneath the skin. The procedure is a success. This one great couldn't ask from a technical perspective for this to have gone any easier. Janis's wheeled into recovery and on her way to a new thinner way of life. One month after surgery we check in on Janice she tells us she was surprised by some pretty intense pain right after surgery. The first three days were all rough. But after that every day with a better day and you're like that behind me. But getting past the surgery is only the beginning. Now Janice must commit to a radical lifestyle change when it comes to eating. She won't take in more than a few ounces of food at a meal. What you see here is her entire meal plan

for the day. She begins with a cup of herbal tea. An hour later maybe half of this small container of soup. Two to three hours later. This would be. Lunch for dinner some sips of a protein shake and a few bites of pureed sweet potatoes. The chocolate brownie she loves as well as heavy breads and meats are off the menu for now maybe forever. I just now I have to do this. For me to fail and be where I want to be and have the future that I want to have. Janice has lost more than 40 pounds so far but she's focusing less on what she's lost than what she's hoping to gain. One step at a time. I feel like there's really a piece there now in my heart that I'm moving forward and that my life has got to be better than it has been. And it's going to be worth it. It's important to note some people don't lose weight after lap band surgery or

they lose weight and then gain it back over time even with the band in place. Reputable surgeons have patients undergo psychological evaluations before surgery to try and minimize that possibility. Support groups are also a big part of the formula for success from the battle of the Bulge to a much more serious one the very real battle taking place in Iraq. Advances in medical treatment on the battlefield are creating a new breed of soldiers veterans who in the past would likely have died today are coming home alive but with life altering injuries that requires a new and more intense approach to rehab. One that now includes less conventional methods than in wars past. Watch as an unlikely duo in Tampa joins forces to convince tough sometimes skeptical soldiers the ancient practice of yoga can help in their recovery. This unlikely pair a sassy petite blonde a yoga

instructor and a tough six foot two retired admiral and former Navy SEAL. Have come together to show the benefits of yoga to wounded war veterans. It's a tool to connecting to their body maybe in ways that they didn't think they were going to be able to have any Oakland first introduced Admiral Tom Stefans to yoga. More than a decade ago when he walked into her studio on a whim after injuring his bicep he was hooked. One of the generals that I worked for had heard that I was doing yoga and he turned to me and he said. Yoga. That's the same reaction most of the injured soldiers have when they're first asked to try yoga. But any and Admiral Tom are pretty convincing team guys on this day three veterans with traumatic brain injuries and partial paralysis. Arrive at Annys yoga studio as your yoga practice there on a weekly excursion as part of the James Haley veterans hospital Heroes Program which helps soldiers transition from hospital

to home. I was Bamban licking my face. Twenty five year old Lee Jones an Army staff sergeant burned over 50 percent of his body went to Iraq. And I got blown up. Oh. I was on fire. Three died. I happened to be alive. I love your smile. Twenty two year old Brandon Barnes joined the Marines right out of high school. He was in Iraq for five months when he was shot in the head during a battle in Fallujah November. 9th. 2:45. P.M.. I was shocked. That's Brandon's alive day which soldiers call the day they defied death. Died five times on the way to bed.

I am lucky to be alive. I was in a coma for. Four weeks and 26 year old Dave Schussler a Navy petty officer who overdosed on a prescription drug after returning from Iraq. It gave me all time temper Sanchez. They saved my life. Thanks for coming out today. Now these young men are learning a new way to deal with their disability. Annie and another yoga instructor Bobby Cass will guide them. We're going to practice the initial breathwork which is called OJP. It means victory BRAF. All it is is breathing in through the nose and out through the nose. In my little way this is my way of sharing things and trying to bring them to a space of comfort. Yoga helps bring increased circulation flexibility physical strength and relaxation. Try to find a balance in the whole brain relaxing relaxing. Totally relaxing.

No the stretches are not always easy but they are powerful tools for rehab. Oh you can see the transition as the class goes on. I've watched the faces and the shoulders they all come in. They've kind of got tough dude thing. After a while and the breath kicks in and they can I go oh I can relax I can relax my belly a little bit like nobody's judging me. Is not a test. No I'm not trying to prove myself. I'm just trying to. Prove myself to myself. And he says it's important to note yoga is not a substitute for the intense physical therapy that takes place at the hospital. The wounded vet yoga class is an important supplement to the core rehab that takes place here at the James Haley veterans hospital. Several million dollars in new funding has made it possible for Haley to buy the latest state of the art technology to help these vets going through rehab.

Machines like the local match. A quarter million dollar robot like machine that helps soldiers with spinal cord injuries simulate walking on a treadmill. I have to learn to bring my leg power step through. And this reverse stationary bike used lying down where the arms propel the legs. I'm just shooting straight through my arms to my legs and my hands. I don't really have a function in my head in my fingers. Basically you're developing patterns of movement in the brain as you do that and the brain then starts to learn. And as you continue to do that repetitively it becomes automatic. Haley's chief of rehab medicine Dr. Steven Scott says these advances in technology offer new hope to vets feel to be up and walking. Great. Food was great. I was told I wouldn't walk here.

It was visiting soldiers going through rehab just like these that Admiral Stephens first got the idea of using yoga to help out in war vets. He called Annie in for backup. I was walking through the halls of the rehabilitation wards and come on come do yoga. Hey you look strong but you're right I'm doing yoga and they're looking at me like is the pain. And here we're honored. And so the idea was born this unexpected they're coming together with purpose convincing the military. Yoga could help as you rest here keep focusing on the sensation of your breath as it passes through your nose as they wind down the yoga class. The mood is noticeably less tense. So much so that yes Lee fell asleep. For him to snore for him to get to that place to just be gelatinous that he's so comfortable it's huge.

And we. Get the laughter too. That's important. So they're enjoying themselves in that they're literally relaxing everything. Their guard has come down. The thing goes for says Hesba. I'll disagree. It was great. It was tough. But. It was worth it. It's a triumph of the human body and the human spirit. Getting them out of their chair out of their prosthetic out of their braces out of their slings getting them back comfortable into their body the way that it is and showing them your whole totally whole. And as for those skeptics she's heard oh so many times you should try oh I'm going to try the try and we'll talk to you when you're done. The smile says it all. Annie and Admiral Tom started the wounded vet yoga

program at Walter Reed with the help of funding from enable America a national nonprofit based here in Tampa. The program is now expanding to include soldiers at Haylie and possibly other veterans hospitals nationwide. An innovative approach with a centuries old tradition our wounded warriors finding peace and balance with yoga for smart health. I'm Angie Mirecki. Thanks so much for watching. The McCann foundation through its generous endowment fund it w edu has provided funding for this program. This program is also brought to you in part through a generous gift from the cowls charitable trust.