August Awareness

It's that time of year... AUGUST

The month of August is time to think about Back To School and Sports Physicals, but it's also National Immunization Awareness Month. As such, we thought it could be helpful to provide you with the information below.

The following information comes from the CDC’s “Basic and Common Questions” portion under Vaccines and Immunizations. For more information on vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases, and vaccine safety visit:www.cdc.gov/vaccines

Diseases that vaccines prevent can be dangerous, or even deadly. Vaccines greatly reduce the risk of infection by working with the body’s natural defenses to safely develop immunity to disease. The information below helps to explain how the body fights infection and how vaccines work to protect people by producing immunity.

The Immune System— The Body’s Defense Against Infection

To understand how vaccines work, it is helpful to first look at how the body fights illness. When germs, such as bacteria or viruses, invade the body, they attack and multiply. This invasion is called an infection, and the infection is what causes illness. The immune system uses several tools to fight infection. Blood contains red blood cells, for carrying oxygen to tissues and organs, and white or immune cells, for fighting infection. These white cells consist primarily of B-lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes, and macrophages:

• Macrophages are white blood cells that swallow up and digest germs, plus dead or dying cells. The macrophages leave behind parts of the invading germs called antigens. The body identifies antigens as dangerous and stimulates the body to attack them.

• Antibodies attack the antigens left behind by the macrophages. Antibodies are produced by defensive white blood cells called B-lymphocytes.

• T-lymphocytes are another type of defensive white blood cell. They attack cells in the body that have already been infected.

The first time the body encounters a germ, it can take several days to make and use all the germ-fighting tools needed to get over the infection. After the infection, the immune system remembers what it learned about how to protect the body against that disease. The body keeps a few T-lymphocytes, called memory cells that go into action quickly if the body encounters the same germ again. When the familiar antigens are detected, B-lymphocytes produce antibodies to attack them.

How Vaccines Work

Vaccines help develop immunity by imitating an infection. This type of infection, however, does not cause illness, but it does cause the immune system to produce T-lymphocytes and antibodies. Sometimes, after getting a vaccine, the imitation infection can cause minor symptoms, such as fever. Such minor symptoms are normal and should be expected as the body builds immunity.

Once the imitation infection goes away, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes, as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that disease in the future. However, it typically takes a few weeks for the body to produce T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes after vaccination. Therefore, it is possible that a person who was infected with a disease just before or just after vaccination could develop symptoms and get a disease, because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.

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Some people believe that naturally acquired immunity—immunity from having the disease itself—is better than the immunity provided by vaccines. However, natural infections can cause severe complications and be deadly. This is true even for diseases that most people consider mild, like chickenpox. It is impossible to predict who will get serious infections that may lead to hospitalization.

Vaccines, like any medication, can cause side effects. The most common side effects are mild. However, many vaccine-preventable disease symptoms can be serious, or even deadly. Although many of these diseases are rare in this country, they do circulate around the world and can be brought into the U.S., putting unvaccinated children at risk. Even with advances in health care, the diseases that vaccines prevent can still be very serious – and vaccination is the best way to prevent them.

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder) - by Courtney Bowen, MD

Dr. Courtney Bowen

I really want to take this opportunity to say thank you to so many people who have

made it much easier to be the new doctor in town. The physicians and staff at Medical

Associates of the Shoals have made my launch into their practice a pleasure. I’m also

grateful to the staff at Helen Keller Hospital for being generous with information and

assistance. Of course, my new patients have been kind and informative with lots of tips

about living in the Shoals.

I always try to use this platform to write about conditions that I think are greatly

impacting our community, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, or COPD, has

really been on my mind lately. You may know that COPD refers to diseases that cause

air flow blockage and breathing related problems. It includes emphysema, chronic

bronchitis, and in some cases, asthma. In the United States, tobacco smoke is a key

factor in the development and progression of COPD. What’s very concerning is that

more than 50% of adults with low pulmonary function are not aware that they have

COPD.

According to the CDC, compared to adults without COPD, adults with COPD are more

likely to experience any of the following:

• Activity limitations, such as difficulty walking or climbing stairs

• Inability to work

• The need for special equipment, such as portable oxygen tanks

• Inability to engage in social activities

• Confusion or memory loss

• More emergency room visits, or overnight hospital stays

• Other chronic diseases such as arthritis, congestive heart failure, diabetes, and stroke

• Depression or other mental or emotional conditions

How can COPD be prevented? First and foremost, quit smoking and avoid inhaling

tobacco smoke! Treatment of COPD requires a careful and thorough evaluation by a

physician. A subsequent plan of treatment should be developed based on the findings

of the evaluation.

If you think you or someone you love might be suffering from COPD, check with your

physician right away. If you aren’t currently under the care of a physician, please call

our office and schedule a time to come in. We will run a few simple tests to determine

what’s going on and the level of care you may need. My goal is to help you to achieve

the best quality of life possible.

To schedule an appointment, just call our new patient line at 256-383-4447 ext. 124,

visit www.medshoals.com and click on New Patients, or email us at

talktous@medshoals.com. We’ll get you scheduled as quickly as possible.

Sarcoma Awareness

While most people focus on barbecues and beach trips to celebrate the month of July, Medical Associates of the Shoals is encouraging people to, please, also take some time to focus on the message behind the yellow ribbon.

July is SARCOMA AWARENESS MONTH – and, although it affects more than 50,000 Americans, along with their families and friends who love them, sarcoma is still often considered to be the “forgotten cancer.”

Sarcomas are a rare group of cancers in which malignant cells form in the bones or soft tissues of the body. Sarcomas grow in connective tissue – cells that connect or support other kinds of tissue in your body.

Webster’s defines “Sarcoma” as a malignant tumor arising in tissue (such as connective tissue, bone, cartilage, or striated muscle) of the mesodermal origin. As the name then suggests, “soft tissue sarcomas” would affect the soft tissues such as fat, muscle, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, and deep skin tissues. “Osteosarcomas” develop in bone; “liposarcomas” form in fat; “rhabdomyosarcomas” form in muscle – but there are actually over 50 sub-types of sarcomas.

Bone and joint cancer is most frequently diagnosed among teenagers, while soft tissue cancers typically affect those 55 years or older. More than 13,000 cases of soft tissue sarcoma and 3,400 cases of bone sarcomas are expected to be diagnosed in the US during 2018, according to the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER).

While approximately two thirds of sarcomas are located in the extremities (arms or legs), it is important to recognize that they can affect lives no matter what age and at any location on the body.

Because they are rare and take multiple forms in multiple locations, sarcomas are difficult to detect, often misdiagnosed, and complex to treat. (As with other forms of cancer, treatment can include surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy.)

People with soft tissue sarcomas often have no symptoms, and there may be no signs until a lump grows to a large enough size to be felt. However, even this may often go unnoticed.

The main symptoms for sarcomas include:

LUMP – talk with your medical professional about any lumps larger than 2 inches, those which grow larger, or painful lumps, regardless of their location.

PAIN – in the general area, which may occur, depending on where the tumor is located and if it’s pressed upon by nearby nerves.

INFLAMMATION – which eventually affects the area with swelling as the tumor grows.

LOCATION SPECIFIC SYMPTOMS – impairments or inability to move limbs properly (if on the arms or legs for example), depending on the location. Specific symptoms can reflect the specific type of sarcoma. For example, tumors in the gastrointestinal system can bleed, producing symptoms like blood in the stool, or a stool that has a black, tarry appearance.

OTHER SYMPTOMS – may include weight loss, fatigue, and/or anemia (a condition in which you don’t have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to the body’s tissues, potentially leaving you feeling tired and weak).

If you are concerned about any changes you experience, please talk with your physician. Keep in mind that sarcomas require a medical diagnosis. Most lumps are not sarcomas. Most common soft-tissue lumps are lipomas, which are made of fat cells and are not cancer. (Lipomas have often been there for many years and rarely change in size.)

Just remember that body changes are simply signals of a “potential problem” that may need medical care. Share your concerns with your physician. Talk with them about any symptoms you experience.

We invite you to help us spread information and awareness of SARCOMA. If more people knew what sarcoma was, perhaps they would get that lump checked out earlier. Earlier diagnosis increases the chances of successful treatment – and THAT is something worth celebrating EVERY month of the year!