GetallofyourhealthandmedicalnewsontheWebat triblive.

com/news/healthnews

HealthNOW

THE LATEST HEALTH

AND MEDICAL NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISECTION D

INSIDE DISH D2 TV D4 PUZZLES D5 COMICS D6

In a Heartbeat
HOWTOCHOOSE
FROMAFAST-FOOD
MENUFORKIDS

PATRICK KASTNER

MEDICAL

MARIJUANA:
WHATS NEXT

Educating doctors
among 1st priorities
by

bEN SCHMITT

Medical marijuana is officially legal in Pennsylvania,

and many doctors along with
residents are perplexed as to
what comes next.
Im wondering how this
is going to be implemented,
said Dr. Antoine Douaihy,
medical director of addiction medicine services at
Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic of UPMC. Its
kind of bizarre. If a patient
comes and asks me about
a prescription for medical
marijuana, I wouldnt know

where to start. How much

can you prescribe? How are
we as physicians going to
apply this new law? Who is
going to educate the physicians?
A lot of those answers
fall to one person: Dr. Loren
Robinson, deputy secretary
for health promotion and
disease prevention at the
Pennsylvania Department
of Health.
She acknowledged some
solutions could be two years
away, anticipating it might
MARIJUANA D3

Lawrestrictsformsofuse,
butallowsmanyconditions
by

WES VENTEICHER

Pennsylvanias new
medical marijuana law lets
patients use the drug to treat
a broader set of conditions
including post-traumatic
stress disorder and autism
than many other states
with medical marijuana
programs, while at the same
time restricting the drugs
use more tightly than some
other states.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed
legislation Sunday making Pennsylvania the 24th
state, plus Washington,

D.C., to legalize the drug for

medical use. The law allows
use of marijuana pills, oils,
tinctures, liquids and other
forms to treat 17 conditions
but forbids smoking it,
which only two other states
with medical programs have
done.
Advocates have praised
the laws broad scope, while
other groups are more cautious, noting the limited
amount of high-quality
evidence to support many of
the approved uses.

As restaurant
chains prepare
to meet federal
menu-labeling
requirements,
some are reducing calorie counts
for kids menu items.
But a group of researchers
found that while calorie counts
may be going down, levels of fat,
saturated fat and sodium are
not. Their findings were published in the Journal of Nutrition
Education and Behavior.
Elizabeth Meinert, clinical
dietitian at Childrens Hospital of
Pittsburgh of UPMC, takes our
questions:
Is it more OK for children
to eat fast food than adults?
As the study shows, there are
steps being taken to improve
food choices at restaurants.
However, the study also shows
that meals can meet calorie
recommendations but fail to
meet fat, saturated fat and
sodium recommendations. Being mindful about the individual
food choices and being mindful
about choosing restaurants that
provide more healthy options is
important.
Fast food doesnt have to
mean unhealthy food. Having a
home-cooked meal just isnt realistic for some families because
of cost or inconvenience. Fast
food can fit into many families
lifestyles but in healthier ways,
such as avoiding sugary drinks,
large portion sizes and sides that
are high in fat.
How much is too much?
Pay attention to the portion
size and overall balance of the
meal. All children (and adults)
should make half of their meals
fruits or vegetables. Luckily, fast
food and full-service restaurants
are making those choices more
readily available.
When ordering fast food for
my children, how should I
evaluate menu items nutritional content (how important are calories vs. fat,
sodium, etc.)?
Total calories might not
always tell us where the calories
come from. Avoiding fat, especially saturated fat, and sodium
are important. Fresh fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy are
lacking in our kids diets they
are nutrient-dense but low in
fats, added sugars and sodium.
When possible, look for individual food items that have less than
5 grams of fat and less than
10 grams of
sugar. Apple
slices or a
fruit cup have
less sodium
than french
fries, and
low-fat
milk is more
nutrientdense than
juice or
soda.

LAWS D3

Love of the game keeps NFL free agent Josh Cribbs dying to play football

CLEVELAND
ts not easy to get a room full of
journalists to collectively gasp in
agony: Weve seen a lot, heard a
lot and been through a lot.
Josh Cribbs found a way by sharing his football stories.
During an April 8 discussion
at the national conference of the
Association of Health Care Journalists, the former NFL wide receiver
and return specialist spoke in raw
and uncut fashion about the head
injuries he endured.
I love the sport so much; I would
die for it, he told us. Ive been dying for it.
First gasp.
He spoke about seeing triple, not
double, after being hit hard by an
opposing player. After one in-game

BEN SCHMITT
collision, he regained consciousness
and couldnt remember which opposing team he was playing against.
Second gasp.
NFL players get paid millions to
play, so we will go to great lengths
to pretend as though we dont have a
concussion, he said.
The faking part came easily.
Cribbs, who played for the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and
Indianapolis Colts, detailed how

he frequently deceived the leagues

concussion protocol system in order
to stay on the field.
When Cribbs took his concussion baseline tests, he purposely
spoke slowly knowing hed want to
replicate that pace of speech during
injury.
I know the tests like the back of
my hand, he said.
When team doctors checked him
after a hit, theyd give him a list of
words to repeat while checking his
coordination and asking him about
days of the week and months of the
year. In the interim, Cribbs repeated
the words in his mind until doctors
asked him to say them.
I would always get three out of
five of those words, which were
enough for me to enter back into the

game.
You may remember a 2010 hit
from Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker
James Harrison that knocked
Cribbs out cold.
Theres a price to pay for his hefty
paychecks.
Cribbs recently had a brain scan.
He said a doctor told him he had a
healthy brain for a person in his
50s. Hes 32.
Third gasp.
These hits that were taking,
there is a link, he said. Not everyone will have the same severity, but
there is a link.
In March, an NFL official for the
first time publicly linked football
to the debilitating brain disease
chronic traumatic encephalopathy,
better known as CTE.

The NFL is a business, Cribbs

said. CTE scares the business.
The movie Concussion, based
on the work of a Pittsburgh forensic
pathologist who discovered a link
between football and CTE, horrified
Cribbs.
If there was a CTE test, Id probably test positive, he said. Cribbs,
who is a free agent, began playing
football at 7 years old. If the right
team calls, he said he might still suit
up and play next season.
Hes married with two children
and said his family wants him to
retire.
Why would he play again?
Knowing the cost, thats how
much I love the game.
Last gasp.

Comparion Medical Analytics, 2015 National Quality Rating Database, Transplant Program Excellence.

AHN.ORG/TRANSPLANT

adno=6284944_v4

Regions #1 Heart, Kidney and

Liver Transplant Programs.