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Show WfiewraMriml The Park Record O Section A Thursday, February 25, 1993 D Page A16 Policy considerations by Daniel Goleman population will worsen. Robert Kaplan, and (reprinted from Healing and the Mind with epidemiologist at the University of California at Bill Moyers) At Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, Dr. James Strain makes sure that elderly patients admitted for hip fractures are also given a psychiatric evaluation; those who are experiencing depression and other kinds of emotional problems are given the psychotherapy that they need and leave the hospital two days earlier, on the average, than other hip fracture patients who receive only the standard orthopedic treatments. At the University of Iowa and an increasing number of other hospitals, surgical patients are Guet Editorial San Diego, calculates that men, on the average, lose 12 years of wellness to chronic problems such as arthritis and diabetes; women lose 16 years. Consider the economic implications of living longer. In 1991 yearly medical costs in the United States were more than $750 billion, more than 12 percent of our gross national product, and rising. That means that twelve cents of every dollar spent in the U.S. goes to health care about twice as much as Japan spends and more than the amount expended by any other industrialized nation. Nevertheless, the United States ranks lower given anxiety -easing information about what to than most other postindustrial nations on major expect during their recovery period which indices of health, including infant mortality. pains and aches are normal, which signal Something is seriously amiss, and as the trouble, and what to do about them. This simple actualization of longer life expectancy increases our years of disability, the problem is likely to get worse. Small wonder that this is a time marked by dissatisfaction and the questioning of our health-care system. Though many answers are being proposed, from tax vouchers for health insurance to caps on reimbursement for some expensive medical procedures, no clear solution appears to be in sight. Why not, then, pursue the systematic incorporation of methods for mobilizing the mind to heal or to help prevent disease? To the degree that the mind can heal (exactly what that degree is awaits further research), a "mind-body" "mind-body" kind of medicine seems to offer a low-tech, low-tech, lower-cost, ease-access approach to health. Its payoff could well be a heightened sense of well-being, an increased sense of control over life, enhanced health, a more rapid healing from illness, and a lessening of suffering for those who are experiencing chronic disease. Imagine a menu of mind-body health services procedure reduces their stay in the hospital, cuts their use of painkillers by half, and reduces postoperative complications. Dr. Dean Ornish, at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical School, reverses the buildup of plaque that blocks the arteries of a group of patients who have severe heart disease not through some new miracle drug but by using a combination of mutual support, meditation and yoga, stress management, and exercise and a low-fat diet. What do such results suggest for the healthcare health-care system that we want to create in this country? The clear message from these and other studies seems to be that paying attention to patients' psychological distress can contribute an added margin of healing to standard medical care. The margin translates to a lessening of suffering, enhanced physical recovery, and money saved. To be sure, because this area of research is very new, these findings are preliminary and need to be replicated by other that includes support groups for people who researchers to confirm the observation that the have severe, chronic diseases; anesthesiologists mind does play a powerful role in healing, and surgeons who routinely explain to their Nevertheless, the early scientific results point to patients before surgery exactly what is going to benefits to be gained from medical care that happen to them and what developments to focuses on the mind as well as the body. expect in their recovery; preventive programs No one has suggested that emotional distress in our schools, communities and workplaces outweighs biological factors in disease or that that help people develop such self-care psychological help can replace medical care. techniques and strategies as relaxation, stress But more and more medical practitioners management, and how to handle troubling have begun to recognize the practical value of emotions and relationships; and patient expanding the domain of medicine to include advocates who help people get full and current the psyche, of focusing on the mind as well as information about their diseases and the the body. answers they need to obtain from doctors and This is especially true of chronic diseases thus empower them to make fully informed such as diabetes, heart disease, HIV infection, decisions about their own health care, intractable pain, and many kinds of cancer, for Nowhere in the debate about national health which a scalpel and pills can go only so far in care has there yet emerged a strong voice that fighting a long and drawn-out malady in which advocates adding such features of mind-body the quality of patients' lives diminishes. care into the mix. But it could come about in That point speaks to us all. Even if we are in another way, through demand. Many people good health now, the odds are that some have already begun to seek out alternative medical disability from chronic disease will be health care, including some form of mind-body a station in life that most of us will traverse medicine. before we die. As medical science has extended Twenty years ago it was a rare hospital that life, we have struck a Faustian bargain: While offered homelike birthing centers; almost all people live linger, they face more years of hospital births took place in impersonal sickness toward the end of their lives. obstetrics units. In 1900 life expectancy at birth in the United But the consumer demand for a warm and States was 47 years; in 1988 it was about 75 friendly setting for births led so many hospitals years, 71 for men and 78 for women. But as to comply that today most cities have several more people live into their eighties and birthing centers. nineties, when they will be frail and vulnerable The same could be possible for mind-body to chronic disease, the overall health of our medicine if we ask for it. Government Directory Federal Government State Government President Bill Clinton (D) The White House Washington, DC 20500 (202)456-1111 Sen. Robert Bennett (R) SD505 Dirksen Office Bldg. Washington, DC 2051 0-4401 625-5676 (Ogden office) Sen. Orrln G. Hatch (R) 135 Russell Senate Ofc.Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 625-5672 (Ogden office) Rep. Jim Hansen (R) 2421 Raybum House OfcBldg. Washington, DC 20515 625-5677 (Ogden office) Rep. Bill Orton (D) 1122Longworth Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 379-2500 (Provo office) Gov. MikeLeavltt(R) State Capitol Salt Lake City, UT84114 538-1000 (SLC) Lt. Gov. Olene Walker (R) State Capitol Salt Lake City, RT84114 538-1040 (SLC) Atty. Jan Graham (D) State Capitol Salt Lake City, UT84114 538-1015 (SLC) Sen. LyleW. Hlllyard(R) 175 East First North Logan, UT 84321 752-2610 State Rep. David Ure 661 South Lambert Lane Kamas, UT 84036 783-4650 Local Government Mayor Brad Olch and City Council 445 Marsac, Park City, UT 84060 645-5007 Sally Elliott 649-5712 Ruth Gezelius 649-4669 Roger Harlan 649-2624 Leslie Miller 649-8137 Bob Richer 649-1132 Park City School Board David Chaplin (Pres.) -Old Town, Deer Valley Patty Casale (VicePres.) -ParkWest Silver Springs, Jeremy Ranch Nikki Lowry-Park Meadows Don Johnson-Silver Summit, Prospector ; Gene Lambert-Summit Park, Pinebrook Write: co School District Office P.O.Box 680310 Park City, UT 84068 Summit County Commission: P.O. Box 1 28, Coalville, UT 8401 7 Gene Moser, Sheldon Richins and Ron Perry Park City Planning Commission Ron Whaley 649-9203 Chuck Klingenstein 649-0220 Dean Berrett 649-6169 Alison Child 649-9391 Bruce Erickson 649-0500 Chris Erickson 649-2447 Fred Jones 649-2085 &6ooii torir u&SSsi II lift " jl THE &0LF COURSE IN BROWNS VM Jfll Jj . GANYSN.HoBoutTENNIS ML 11 CO COURTS?.' im sna BE J J NEEb NEARLY AS MUCH vOATEP.' Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down 6, THUMBS UP to the local Ski Patrollers who kept their cool and aided stranded skiers during last Saturday's blizzard. THUMBS DOWN to UDOT for not keeping up with the snow removal on U.S. 40. We know it's been snowing a lot, but this road needs equal attention. THUMBS UP to Park City and Deer Valley resorts for extending their season. Happy skiing! Quote of the Week "It was not a great day." -Deer Valley Director of Marketing Bob O'Neill, in reference to Saturday, Feb. 20, when high winds combined with a broken chair lift forced the resort to shut down early. STAFF PUILHHER- ffl .Andy Bernhard Staff Writer ...Ron Ceorg, Amber McKee, Sena Taylor, Andrea Mather, Alex Weill Contiiiuting Writers.. -Tom Clyde OfficI Manager .....-.....-.M...-Anan Davh Classified Manager. advertising director! Advertising Sales... Graphic Artiit .w.w........... Photographer ft Darkroom. Production DlSTRIRUTtON Cartoonist -.. -..Susan Claanen .Pamela Haimworth .Tom LeeM, Tracy Callagher, Bonny Royce M.-.ennlfer Otto .David Bertinelll .MMM.Kat Ja MJaywn Frampton I .P. Mm The Park Record (USPS 0037-8730) 0037-8730) is published weekly by diversified Suburban Newspapers, 1670 Bonanza Dr., Park City, UT. Second Class Postage in Park City, UT. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Park Record, Box 3688, Park City, UT 84060. Entered as second class matter, May 23, 1977 at the post office in Park City, UT 84060, under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are $18 inside Summit County, $35 outside Summit County, UT. Phone (801) 649-9014. Published every Thursday. 'J i |