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| March 19, 2012- In This Issue |
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Home
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Commissioner's Special Advisor |
Cobb School Blazes Trail |
Chatham Goes Smoke-Free |
DFCS Workers Walking |
The Obesity Epidemic |
Be The Match |
Sentate: PH Leadership |
PHBRIEFS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
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PHNEWS
Commissioner Welcomes Special Advisor for HIV, STDs, Viral
Hepatitis, and TB
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Melanie Thompson, M.D. (center), pictured with J. Patrick O'Neal, M.D., Dir., Div. of Health Protection (left), and Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D.(right), will be consulting with the Department of Public Health as the Special Advisor for HIV, STDs, Viral Hepatitis, and TB.
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I am pleased to announce that, as of this week,
Melanie Thompson, M.D., will be consulting with
the Department of Public Health as my Special
Advisor for HIV, STDs, Viral Hepatitis, and TB.
As many of you know, Dr. Thompson has worked
collaboratively with several of our divisions
since 1989 through the AIDS Research Consortium
of Atlanta (ARCA). She is a leader in HIV
research and clinical care who currently chairs
the International AIDS Society-USA
Antiretroviral Guidelines Panel and the
International Association of Physicians in AIDS
Care Guidelines Panel on Entry Into and
Retention in Care and Antiretroviral Adherence.
She previously chaired the National Institutes
of Health's Office of AIDS Research,
Therapeutics Research Working Group, on which
she still serves. In the early 1990's she was a
founding member of the State of Georgia's Task
Force on AIDS. Throughout her other activities,
she has always maintained an active role in
providing medical care for persons with HIV,
STDs, and hepatitis.
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Sope Creek students, parents and faculty take care
of their school's produce. Photo courtesy of Natalie
Rogers
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Natalie Rogers knows health and exercise. She is a retired
professional ballerina, a former pre-med student at UGA and
currently a fitness instructor who values healthy living.
A few years ago, Rogers was distressed by the lack of physical
activity and the poor nutritional quality of cafeteria food that
her now 10-year-old daughter experienced at Sope Creek
Elementary School in Cobb County.
But Rogers said everything has changed for the better in the
last few years.
"We got a new principal, Martha Whalen, and she just totally
gets it," said Rogers, who became Sope Creek's PTA Health and
Nutrition Committee co-chair in 2007. "She totally gets the
connection between the brain and the body."
Sope Creek now combines an exercise program and good nutrition
with solid academic performance that has been recognized on a
state level.
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Chatham County Goes Smoke-Free
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Young members of the Coastal Health
District Flash Mob Dance Crew get ready
to perform at a February 22 event
celebrating the city of Savannah's
one-year anniversary of being
smoke-free.
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Chatham County, Georgia, will be a healthier
place to live, work, and play thanks to a
Smoke-¬free Ordinance passed by the Chatham
County Commission on February 24.
By a vote of 7-1, the Commission adopted the
most comprehensive smoke-free ordinance in the
state of Georgia.
Effective March 25, 2012, the ordinance applies
to any business that allows the public inside or
has at least one non-¬family member employee.
All bars, restaurants, outdoor serving areas and
private clubs will now be smoke¬-free.
Electronic smoking devices known as "e-cigs" are
also prohibited in all businesses and public
places.
The Chatham ordinance is even stronger than the
smoke-¬free air ordinance that was implemented
by the city of Savannah in 2011. The county
ordinance tightens up ambiguities in the city
ordinance by prohibiting Hookah bars and
lounges.
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DFCS Workers Walking the Stairs for Health's Sake: How My
Walks Caught On
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DFCS workers started a Get Fit Club and they
walk the stairs to improve fitness during
their work day at 2 Peachtree Street. From
bottom to top of stairs: Dorethea Durden,
Valerie Parker, Roxanne Dearro, and Tacia
Bazile.
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As a full-time employee of the Georgia Department of
Human Services, Division of Family and Children Services
(DFCS), mother, and student, my days and nights are
extremely busy. Often times, hectic lifestyles and
stress go hand in hand along with a variation of other
health ailments. Due to my packed schedule, I was
bothered that I did not have time to work out to achieve
my fitness goals. To my astonishment, I was wrong.
In DFCS, the stairs were literally staring at me
each day on the 18th floor as I walked toward the
elevator. I realized one day that I had the time and
just needed to incorporate exercise into my work
schedule. That's how I began to walk the stairs and
invited other DFCS workers to join me for the Get
Fit Club.
I work on the 18th floor at 2 Peachtree Street in
Atlanta, which is the starting point, and walk to
the 28th floor, and then back down to the 18th. This
amount of walking certainly gets the heart rate up
and the blood pumping. With each step, you increase
the muscle movement and toning in your legs and
hamstring. Going up the stairs is a way to raise the
heart rate and walking down will gradually bring it
back down to a resting rate.
I began to invite more of my colleagues, and to my
surprise they were eager to join me with similar
goals. Now we try to walk the stairs together, but
find ourselves still taking the challenge alone if
our schedule doesn't permit us to walk together as a
team.
It's great to do it alone or in a group! In a group
you may experience the encouragement to push a
little further when you don't want to. At about the
5th flight, you can feel your muscles stretching and
your heart pounding. Occasionally, you can hear
someone encouraging the team to "keep moving" or "we
can do this" as we walk toward our fitness goals.
When taking the stairs alone you can have a moment
to yourself to clear your thoughts and decompress.
Every other week, we add two more flights of
stairs. We're currently walking from floors 18th to
32nd, two times a day.
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The Obesity Epidemic: Looking Beyond the Obvious
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Lawton Davis, M.D., director of South
Central Health District, shares research on
obesogens, compounds that interrupt the
body's system that controls your weight,
with employees at 2 Peachtree during a
recent lunch and learn.
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Is it possible that chemicals we're exposed to everyday
could be a big part of the national obesity epidemic?
Lawton Davis, M.D., director of South Central Health
District, joined employees at 2 Peachtree to talk about
obesogens-compounds found in everyday objects like some
cans, water bottles, nonstick pans and shower curtains.
The effect of these chemicals on cells is significant
enough to interrupt the body's system that controls your
weight-increasing fat cells and decreasing the calories
you burn.
Dr. Davis described the growing obesity and overweight
trend in the U.S. Both have risen dramatically in the
nation over the past 30 years. Dr. Davis described the
traditional focus on combating obesity as "just eat less
and exercise more." But then he posed a great question.
"What about all those children and adolescents who are
getting fat and developing diabetes and hypertension?
Are they simply the victims of an overfed and
under-exercised culture?"
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Be the Match: SNS Planner Donates Bone Marrow to Save a
Child's Life
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Gerald Gifford, Strategic National Stockpile
Planner for Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale
County Health Departments donated bone
marrow that helped save a young child's
life.
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Seven years ago after donating blood, Gerald Gifford,
Strategic National Stockpile Planner for Gwinnett,
Newton, and Rockdale County Health Departments, signed
up to be a bone marrow donor by sending in a cheek swab
to the National Marrow Donor Program. As the years
passed, he didn't give the process much thought... At
least not until November 11, 2011 when his phone rang,
"We think you're a bone marrow match for a one year old
child. Are you still available?" Gifford's emotions
ran the gamut from "How painful is this going to be?" to
"Let's do this!"
With his "yes", began a series of blood tests to see how
closely his genetics matched the child's medical
profile. As the match was confirmed, the level of
testing became more complex, culminating with a
full-day, and complete physical at Emory's Winship
Cancer Institute.
While Gifford was being checked, the recipient's doctors
were working on getting the child strong enough to go
through the procedure. After being delayed once, the
procedure took place on February 13, 2012.
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Georgia Senate Recognizes Public Health Leadership
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Beverly Townsend, M.D. (left),
Director of West Central Health
District and Kathryn K. Cheek, M.D. (right), Georgia Board of Public
Health
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The Georgia Senate recently recognized two
Public Health leaders for their sacrifices,
foresights, accomplishments and
contributions on behalf of the health of
Georgia through two Senate resolutions.
Beverly Townsend, M.D., M.P.A.,
F.A.A.F.P., director of West Central
Health District was recognized for the
vital role she plays in leadership and
her commitment to the citizens of
Georgia. "She has diligently and
conscientiously devoted innumerable
hours of her time, talents and energy
toward the betterment of her community
and state," stated the resolution.
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Home
|
Commissioner's Special Advisor |
Cobb School Blazes Trail |
Chatham Goes Smoke-Free |
DFCS Workers Walking |
The Obesity Epidemic |
Be The Match |
Sentate: PH Leadership |
PHBRIEFS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
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PHNEWS
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