U U

A-

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What's
Up
Doc?

Here are some facts from our
doctor's corner related to alcohol
use in America that may
surprise you.
- In 1983, alcoholism and alcohol abuse
cost the nation an estimated $116.7 bil-
lion in health care, lost work time and
insurance.
e In 1985, there were approximately 7.3
million male and 3.3 million female al-
coholics in the United States.
" Alcohol-related highway deaths are the
No. 1 killer of 16- to 24-year-olds. More
than half of the 43,800 highway deaths
in 1985 were alcohol-related. In 1985,
more than 55 percent of auto fatalities
in Washtenaw County were alcohol-
related.

" In 1984, 92.6 percent of high school
seniors said they had tried alcohol; 39
percent said they participated in binge
drinking (more than five drinks in a
row); 5 percent said they drank alco-
hol on a daily basis.
" The average age kids begin to drink is
13 (a truly unlucky number).
" Non-auto accidents involving alcohol
claim more than 25,000 lives each
year. Up to 40 percent of industrial ac-
cident deaths are alcohol-related; up
to 68 percent of drowning deaths, 70
percent of all falls and half of all fire
deaths are tied to alcohol use.
" More than 3,000 babies are born an-
nually with severe birth defects associ-
ated with maternal drinking during
pregnancy. w-
McAuley
Referral
Line
If you need a family doctor, a spe-
cialist or information on any of the
Health Centers programs and ser-
vices, call weekdays between 8 a.m.
and 5pm
572-5500

T un UHealth Building on the Health Centers
n pHuron River Drive campus. There will
also be a one-mile walk for those who
For crave the exercise but not the competi-
tion. The health fair takes place on the
same day inside Reichert Health Build-
T U n .. ing and includes health care displays
and screenings.
Spring is just around the corner and Applications for the race will be avail-
that means it's time for Catherine able in the next issue of Capsules in late
McAuley Health Center's Third Annual April or you can check your local sport-
Spring Tune-Up Run and Health Fair. ing goods stores beginning in March.
Saturday, May 16 is the big day. There For more information on the run and
will be an eight-kilometer (five-mile) health fair, please check off the appro-
race that starts and finishes at Reichert priate box on the return mail card. e-

a community
health newsletter
Vol. 5, No.1
Winter 1987
Help Yourself to Health
Y ou're not feeling well. or we don't take
You go to the doctor. * *four medications
Your doctor prescribes a 0 " properly, we're set-
medication to make you feel /ting ourselves up for
better. Now, the $64,000 ques- those never-ending
tion: How many times have colds. Good intentions
you stopped taking the o earen't enough. We have to
medication about three- ° v.take an active role if we
quarters of the way want to be healthy
through the bottle be- According to Dr. Carman,
cause you started feeling one of the most common
better? And how many occurances he sees are pa-
times have you then tients who stop taking their
gotten sick soon after? medications and don't
Just about everyone inform their physician.
has had one of those ill- "If patients stop taking
nesses that doesn't seem their medications they
to go away. But, in many should let their doctor
cases, it's our own fault. know right away," Dr. Car-
It's very convenient for us - man says. "Sometimes pa-
to look to physicians for -. tients stop taking medica-
the cure when we- tions because of its side
the patients-should - - effects-which doesn't
play a larger role in our own - _ ____ mean the patient is wrong-
health. If we're to live long and healthy can do is maintain good health habits," but they should let their
lives we need to be more responsible says Jack Carman, MD, chief of the medi- doctor know and perhaps something
for our own health. cal staff at Catherine McAuley Health else can be prescribed."
Center. "They should exercise regularly, Always know what medications
Helping your doctor eat correctly, avoid smoking and they you're taking and their dosage. And
make you well shouldn't drink alcohol in excess. carry them with you at all times-in a
Perhaps we don't take our prescrip- "Much of the disease I see is directly wallet or purse-in case of an
tions the way we were told, perhaps we related to poor health habits. Prevention emergency.
don't exercise regularly, perhaps we is more important than treatment." Regular visits to your doctor are very
don't go in for regular check-ups or per- important also. Of course, the definition
" haps we just didn't understand what the Intention is not health of regular depends on your age and
doctor said in the first place. There are a prevention general well-being, but check-ups help
lot of reasons why we get sick and why The road to hell is paved with good physicians recognize a small problem
we don't get well as quickly as we'd like. intentions. So is the road to heart attacks before it becomes a major one.


Cdherire
ArAule III
..y
HealthCener

Sponsored by the
Religious Ssters of Mercy
founded in 1831
by Catherine McAuley

5301 East Huron River Drive
P.O or. n g
Ann Arbor. Michigan 48106


POSTAL CUSTOMER

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copy with a friend.

But getting over an illness and not
getting the illness in the first place are
things we can control just as much-if
not more -than physicians. We also
need to learn more about how to help
our doctor make us well.
"The most important thing people

and strokes and ... Of the 10 leading
causes of death in the United States,
eight are related to lifestyle. When we
don't exercise regularly and we smoke
cigarettes, we're increasing our chances
for lung cancer and heart disease. When
we don't make regular visits to the doctor

Be a smart patient
Has your doctor ever given you a di-
agnosis that you didn't understand but
you were too embarrassed to ask what
that diagnosis means? That should never
happen! Don't be afraid or embarrassed
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