March 22, 2005

National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week
March 20-26 is National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW). NIPAW is designed to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalant involvement. Inhalants are as popular among middle school students as marijuana. Learn more at National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC). (NIPC En Español)

The CBS news video clip, "'Huffing' Can Kill Your Child: Dangerous Household Highs" provides an excellent overview of the public health threat of inhalant abuse.

"Children Act Fast...So Do Poisons!"

Celebrate National Poison Prevention week March 20-26. Each year, more than two million poisoning exposures are called into poison centers across America – the vast majority of them affecting children. In 2004 alone, the Illinois Poison Center (IPC) handled more than 96,000 calls. Of those calls, 52 percent involved poisoning exposures in children under 6 years of age. The toll-free Poison Center phone number is 1 (800) 222-1222. Tenga el número del Illinois Poison Center, 1 (800) 222-1222, en o cerca de todos sus teléfonos.

Información en Español
http://www.mchc.org

How to Prevent Poisonings in Your Home
http://www.nsc.org

March 13, 2005

Brain Awareness Week
Brain Awareness Week, March 14-20, is an international effort organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives to advance public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. Scientists are working hard to discover answers to critically important questions about depression, addiction, chronic pain, Alzheimer's and other brain-related diseases and disorders. Learn about new hope for prevention, diagnosis and treatment by visiting the Brain Awareness Week homepage at www.dana.org/brainweek/

March 5, 2005

National Sleep Awareness Week
National Sleep Awareness Week is March 28th through April 3rd. For people wanting to learn more about Sleep Apnea, they may "Have Dinner With a Doc" (Dr. David Bruce, that is) on Thursday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. in CGH Ryberg Auditorium. They may call Dr. Bruce's office at (815) 625-4790 for more information or CGH Medical Center at (815) 625-0400, ext. 4501 to reserve a seat.

Related material:
-- "High Blood Pressure and Sleep Apnea: What's the Connection?"
By Dr. David Bruce
Choose: HTML (32 KB)  OR  PDF (568 KB)
-- Sleep Awareness Week info at www.sleepfoundation.org
-- Visit SRFC's Sleep Medicine Department

The Gastroenterology Dept. has added a flyer about Metabolic Testing available at SRFC. Visit their homepage to choose a .pdf or HTML version of the flyer.

March 1, 2005

National Health Observances for March
Find out more about the following organizations, which have March designated as their "awareness" month:

• National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
• National Nutrition Month® March 2005
• March is Red Cross Month
• MS Education and Awareness Month 2005

The American Red Cross has an interesting page about the history of "Red Cross Month".

For more March "awareness" websites, visit U.S. Dept. of HHS

Gastroenterology Dept. in the spotlight
Each month we will feature a department section on this website. Gastroenterology is our first featured department. The Gastroenterology section has over 45 pages of interesting and useful information relating to G.I. conditions and diseases. Learn about the High Fiber Diet (includes a dietary fiber chart), digestive problems and corrective procedures. Visit Gastroenterology today!