Monthly Archives: November 2014
A registered dietician’s guide to a gluten-free Thanksgiving
Written by Lauren Murphy, SIU School of Medicine
This Turkey Day, give thanks for gluten-free alternatives and a little creative thinking. Just because you have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance doesn’t mean you should have to sacrifice your favorite traditional Thanksgiving meals. SIU School of Medicine’s Sibyl Cox, a registered dietician specializing in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, offers her favorite tips for keeping your tummy content this holiday season:
Tip #1: Pass on the stuffed turkeys. 
Some turkey brines or marinades as well as injections can contain gluten, so making sure the bird is gluten-free is important. Butterball reports its fresh and frozen turkeys are gluten-free. No stuffed turkeys!
Tip #2: Use gluten-free flour to thicken gravy.
To thicken your gravy, use an alternative to wheat flour, such as the gluten-free flours you already use in baking or cornstarch.
Tip #3: Use gluten-free bread and broth to make stuffing.
Replace your gluten-containing bread with your favorite gluten-free bread. Be sure any broth used to make the stuffing is also gluten-free. Or, try a gluten-free cornbread mix like Bob’s Red Mill and make a cornbread stuffing.
Tip #4: Whip up casseroles & vegetable dishes with gluten-free, cream soups.
Your gluten-free cornbread mix can be used to make corn casserole. Del Monte advertises their creamed corn is gluten-free, but always read labels. Gluten-free, cream soups can be used to make green bean casserole. A helpful word of advice: Campbell’s soups are not gluten-free as of this writing. Also, casseroles can be topped with crushed up potato chips for crunch instead of bread crumbs. Opt for an easy veggie dish by roasting your vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then you don’t have to worry about gluten at all!
Tip #5: Opt for frozen, gluten-free crusts for dessert.
Gluten-free flour blends can be used to make a pie, or you can purchase a frozen gluten-free pie crust. Another option is using gluten-free graham crackers for a graham cracker crust or simply go crustless. Pumpkin pie is delicious this way as well.
Tip #6: Avoid cross- contamination.
To avoid confusion, separate and label gluten-free options. Use separate utensils for these foods and explain that a utensil used in gluten-free food cannot be used in another food. That includes things like crackers! Caution your family against dipping gluten-containing crackers in appetizers you’ll be munching on as well.
Tip #7: Make family aware.
Consider hosting Thanksgiving, and let your guests bring flowers, drinks, table settings or other needed items. Or, offer to help whoever is cooking so that they’ll feel more comfortable with making foods gluten-free and you’ll feel more comfortable eating it. Let friends and family know that many foods they may not be aware, including cheeses, soups, soy sauce, gravies, seasoning packets and broths, can contain gluten. Also, take a moment to inform them about cross contamination and ask that if they are going to make a gluten-free food to be sure to do this before making other foods. You may also need to explain that simply removing the crust of a pumpkin pie will not suffice. Offer to bring your favorite gluten-free food so you know you will have something to eat. Lastly, ask the host to be sure the turkey is gluten-free.
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois
10 things you probably don’t know about Alzheimer’s disease
Written by Lauren Murphy, SIU School of Medicine
In honor of National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, here are ten important things you should know about Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
1. AD is the most common form of dementia; it accounts for 60-80% of all dementia cases.
2. Alzheimer’s is #6 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, claiming nearly 500,000 lives each year.
3. More than 5.2 million Americans live with AD. Of those, about 200,000 are under the age of 65.
4. Women are at the epicenter of the disease. In fact, nearly two-thirds of those living with AD are women. Women are also the primary caregivers of patients with AD 2.5 times more often than men.
5. Currently, AD has no cure, but researchers believe you can lower your risk of developing the disease. For starters, AD experts suggest what’s good for your heart is good for your brain. They also recommend staying physically active, following a healthy diet, challenging your brain and enjoying social activity.
6. The strongest evidence links dementia to a lack of education in early life, hypertension in midlife and smoking and diabetes across a lifetime. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and a family history of AD may also affect the chances of developing AD.
7. The global cost of dementia in 2010 (the latest year for which data are available) was estimated at $604 billion. That number is expected to rise to $1 trillion by 2030. These costs include medications, caregivers, lost time at work, hospital stays, nursing home stays and doctor visits.
8. Some of the most commonly seen symptoms at the onset of AD are difficulty learning new information, confusion and mood and behavior changes, such as becoming easily agitated and paranoid. As the disease progresses, some individuals can lose the ability to feed themselves, walk without assistance or carry out simple daily tasks.
9. The disease is not a normal part of aging. Occasional memory problems are normal as one ages, but AD is more than occasional memory loss. If you or a loved one needs help determining if his/her memory loss is normal or if it may be a sign of Alzheimer’s, click here.
10. On average, those with AD live eight years after their symptoms become noticeable. In some cases, however, individuals can survive from 4 to 20 years, depending on their age and other health conditions.
(Sources: Charlene Young, family nurse practitioner at SIU School of Medicine’s Center for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders and the Alzheimer’s Association)
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois
Get Smart About Antibiotics
Written by Brian Bochicchio, SIU School of Medicine
Get Smart About Antibiotics Week is November 17 – 23. You might be wondering, “What’s there to get smart about?” Actually, more than you might realize.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics each year. More than 23,000 of them 
die as a direct result of these infections, while others die from conditions that are complicated by an antibiotic-resistant infection. Fewer than 5,000 people have died from Ebola this year based on the most recent statistics. For perspective, the resistant bacteria kill more than four-times as many people than Ebola.
So, what is antibiotic resistance? A common misconception is that people develop a resistance to an antibiotic, making it less effective at destroying the bacteria. Actually, it’s the other way around. Bacteria and other microbes “learn” through normal biological processes to resist the effects of antibiotic drugs, chemicals or other agents. We humans then share these resistant microbes and create what are referred to as super bugs.
Can the effects of antibiotic resistance be reversed or stopped? No, antibiotic resistance is the result of a natural process. The process can be slowed, effectively extending the usefulness of current antibiotics. The CDC has published recommendations on how everyone can help combat antibiotic resistance.
How can patients prevent the spread of drug-resistant bacteria and infections? Patients can prevent infections and the spread of drug resistant bacteria by following a few simple instructions:
– Schedule the appropriate immunizations.
– Practice safe food preparation.
– Practice proper hand washing.
– Use antibiotics as directed and only when necessary. For example, antibiotics should be used to treat strep throat, but they should not be used to treat a cold or the flu.
– Don’t pressure your doctor into prescribing an unnecessary antibiotic.
What can medical professionals do to slow the spread of antibiotic resistant infections? Health care providers should prescribe antibiotics only when needed, choose the appropriate one and administer them properly in every case. In conjunction with provider efforts, all medical professionals should work together to track resistance patterns and develop new drugs and diagnostic tests to be prepared for when our current antibiotics are no longer effective.
What is being done in central and southern Illinois to increase awareness of this urgent health matter? Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is sponsoring the Downstate Illinois Partnership Against Antibiotic Resistance (DIPAAR). The partnership is comprised of health care providers across central and southern Illinois and covers the majority of Illinois’ 102 counties. The partnership recently launched a new website aimed at preventing further antibiotic resistance and educating patients and providers about the dangers of drug resistant bacteria.
DIPAAR’s primary activities include tracking and reporting resistance patterns in our region. Additionally, it will make recommendations to help safeguard antibiotics and educate the community on safe and appropriate use.
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois
The genetics of infertility
Written by Rebecca Budde, SIU School of Medicine
The pieces that put us together, our DNA, can play a large role in fertility. Women age 35 or older comprise a large sector of those seeking fertility treatments. Their advancing years not only decrease their chances of getting pregnant, but also increase their chances of chromosomal abnormalities resulting in miscarriage or birth defects.
Sometimes younger patients experience miscarriages and seek out genetic testing for answers. They may learn that they carry or have a family history of certain genetic conditions that they could pass on to their children. Genetic screening of the mother, father and/or tissue from miscarriages can sometimes help determine the cause.
In addition to offering genetic testing to patients, SIU School of Medicine’s Fertility and IVF Center now offers pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to help put future parents’ minds at ease while helping them have a successful pregnancy. SIU also has genetic counselors available to help patients make the best decisions for their family.
PGD tests embryos for specific genetic differences. “If we know a couple is at high risk to have a child with a chromosome abnormality, we can use PGD to find embryos that have healthy chromosomes and implant those,” SIU genetic counselor Heather Glessner says. “If both members of a couple are carriers of a recessive disease, they have a 25 percent chance of each baby having the condition. Again, we can use PGD to test the embryos and determine which ones are unaffected.”
Glessner is a certified genetic counselor offering counseling for prenatal and reproductive risks and also counseling for personal or family history of known genetic conditions. She is one of three genetic counselors at the School — the only board-certified genetic counselors in the region.
After the embryologist safely takes a sample from the embryo, it is sent to a lab for analysis. While awaiting the results, the embryos are frozen. Results indicate which embryos carry the mutation and which ones do not and are therefore more likely to produce a successful pregnancy and healthy birth.
Sometimes, however, all the embryos are affected. “Though it’s difficult for the patients, it can bring closure and allow them to move on to the next step,” SIU OB-GYN Dr. Loret de Mola says. In these cases, Glessner helps the couple weigh their options of continuing with in vitro fertilization with PGD, finding a sperm or egg donor or adopting.
Learn more about SIU’s Fertility and IFV Center in the aspects article Fertility Frontiers.
Visit SIU’s Fertility and IVF Center’s website at http://www.siumed.edu/fertility/
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois
We salute our veterans
Today we celebrate the commitment of our veterans in serving our country and protecting our freedoms. In honor of Veterans Day, here are some interesting facts about those who have served:
– Veterans Day is held November 11 each year, the same day that major combat in WWI ended in 1918. It is a state and federal holiday.
– Other countries celebrate Remembrance Day and Armistice Day.
– 764,203 veterans live in Illinois, a high percentage of the population.
– Many former U.S. Presidents were/are US Veterans: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
– Some famous veterans include Eileen Collins (first female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle), Buzz Aldrin (pilot of the first manned lunar landing and second man to walk on the moon), Arnold Palmer (professional golfer), Steve McQueen (actor), Clark Gable (actor) and Elvis Presley.
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.
Happy feet: tips for proper diabetic foot care
written by Rebecca Budde, SIU School of Medicine
Approximately half of the 29 million Americans with diabetes have a condition called diabetic neuropathy, nerve damage caused by high blood sugar. Symptoms range from tingling and numbness in the extremities to digestive issues and shooting pain. If the condition isn’t treated, patients may develop more severe conditions such as bladder and kidney infections, sexual dysfunction and ulcers on the feet.
Although proper management of diabetes can lessen the complications, progress can be slow. For those with nerve problems in the feet, ulcers can lead to infections and possibly amputation. In 2010, about 73,000 non-traumatic lower-limb amputations were performed in adults aged 20 years or older with diagnosed diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Self-care of the feet is and important part of reducing the chances of long-term damage or amputation. Here are 10 tips for taking care of your feet.
1. Inspect your feet daily for cracks, calluses and wounds but do not trim corns or calluses.
2. Wash your feet gently.
3. Moisturize your feet with alcohol-free moisturizer, avoiding skin between the toes.
4. Cut nails carefully and straight.
5. Always wear clean, dry socks that fit properly.
6. Keep the insides of your shoes clean and dry.
7. Keep your feet warm and dry – avoid extreme temperatures.
8. Never walk barefoot.
9. Wear proper diabetic footwear and break in new shoes slowly.
10. Be sure to have a physician examine your feet regularly.
Copyright © SIU School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois
Alzheimer’s disease by the numbers
November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Caregivers Month. The statistics are shocking. Learn more below. 