- News & Press ReleasesGeneral Page Tier 3BlogIn honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center is hosting its annual Pink Ribbon Rally Saturday, October 5 on our Lanham campus. The event aims to spotlight the importance of breast cancer awareness and the crucial role of early detection through mammograms. The Pink Ribbon Rally will feature no cost mammograms and clinical breast screenings, as well as life-saving information about the signs, symptoms, and early detection of breast cancer. “Breast cancer impacts lives profoundly, especially in Prince George’s County,” said Deneen Richmond, president of Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center. “By moving the event to Saturday, we hope to make it more accessible for residents and neighbors to join us. Meeting breast cancer survivors and hearing their inspiring stories always moves me, and I take comfort in knowing that we’re raising awareness and offering hope to the many women in our community fighting breast cancer.”Prince George’s County has one of the highest mortality rates of Breast Cancer in Maryland. To address this critical issue, Luminis Health is currently in the third year of a $1.3M state grant to provide breast cancer screenings to women in Prince George’s County. Thanks to this funding, the health system has administered more than 2,300 no cost breast cancer screenings, significantly advancing our efforts to combat breast cancer in the community. “This event empowers women to get a mammogram because it saves lives,” said Dr. Regina Hampton, breast cancer surgeon at Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center. “With one in eight women in the United States facing a breast cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and breast cancer being a leading cause of death among women in Prince George’s County, I encourage every woman to start getting mammograms at age of 40, or earlier if they have a family history.”In addition to mammograms, the Pink Ribbon Rally will offer resources and guidance from local organizations, support groups, and healthcare professionals. There will also be inspirational stories from breast cancer survivors, bra fittings, live music, food, and games.Event DetailsDate: Saturday, October 5, 2024Time: 11 am to 3 pmAddress: 8118 Good Luck Road, LanhamAdmission: Free and open to the public0
- PediatricsGeneral Page Tier 3BlogAnother school year is here, and parents may ask, “Does my child need immunizations this year?” Immunizations are important because they keep our children safe, protecting them from certain infections and their complications by limiting the spread of illness. Kids usually receive immunizations when they see their pediatrician for an annual back-to-school wellness check-up. It’s a great time for your doctor to check your child’s progress and development and detect any potential problems. A child receives their very first vaccination at birth, an initial dose to protect against hepatitis B. For a complete guide on what ages children should receive vaccines, the CDC’s 2022 update of the “Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for Ages 18 Years or Younger,” is an excellent resource. Keep in mind that teenagers need immunizations, too. Each state decides which vaccines are required for your child’s enrollment and attendance at a childcare facility or school in that state. Polio Returns to the United States In July, the CDC reported a case of polio in an unvaccinated person in Rockland County, New York—the first case in nearly a decade in the United States—and the virus has been detected in that county’s wastewater. Polio is very contagious and can cause paralysis and even death. The CDC recommends children get four doses of polio vaccine, starting at two months. Keep track of your children’s vaccine record since the school where your child enrolls may require proof of vaccination. You can do this through your pediatrician’s office. Most electronic health records (EHRs) feature a patient portal to easily access or download this information. At Luminis Health, that portal is called MyChart. COVID-19 Is Here to Stay The recent appearance of polio in the U.S. has not reduced the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination for children. More than 1 million Americans have died from the virus, and almost 93 million cases have been reported. “We know that COVID-19 is here to stay,” a CDC epidemiologist said at a mid-August news briefing. The CDC recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone six months or older, and boosters for everyone years and older, if eligible. COVID-19 vaccinations for children are safe. The known risks of COVID-19 and possible severe complications outweigh the potential risks of having a rare, harmful reaction to the vaccination. “The vaccines meet the Food and Drug Administration’s rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality,” says the CDC. They also undergo the most intense safety monitoring efforts in our country’s history. Children 6 months to 4 years need a three-dose primary series—initial doses—of Pfizer-BioNTech, or two doses of Moderna. For kids 5 – 17 years, it’s two doses of both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The CDC says moderately or severely immunocompromised children ages five through 17 years will need a third dose to complete their primary series, then boosters if they’re eligible. Children and teens with a weakened immune system should get one booster for ages five through 11 years and two boosters for ages 12 years and older. Remember that the COVID-19 vaccine can cause short-term side effects such as headache, low fever, or flu-like symptoms.0
- Cancer Care, Women's HealthGeneral Page Tier 3BlogOver the past 15 years, rates of new breast cancer have remained stable. However, breast cancer deaths have steadily declined, driven by improvements in many aspects of breast cancer care. The good news is that better treatment doesn’t necessarily mean treatment that is more aggressive. In fact, during the same time period many breast cancer treatments have scaled back, and specialists are working hard to find even more ways to treat less while delivering better results. Here are just a few ways breast cancer treatment has scaled back over the past decade: Fewer lymph nodes removed. Most women with breast cancer need surgery to check the lymph nodes in the underarm for cancer cells. Usually, the surgeons will remove the first lymph nodes in a larger ‘web’ of lymph nodes under the arm. In the past, if any of the first lymph nodes had cancer, surgeons would remove all of the remaining lymph nodes as well. Unfortunately, the more lymph nodes that are removed, the higher the risk of side effects, such as swelling of the arm from backed up fluid. A few years ago, researchers proved that many women with cancer in the first lymph nodes do not need the remaining lymph nodes removed. As a result, surgeons are performing far fewer extensive lymph node surgeries, which has led to fewer complications for women with breast cancer. Less radiation. In the past, women who had a lumpectomy needed six or seven weeks of radiation afterward to treat the rest of the breast. More recently, however, many women have options for less radiation treatment, sometimes taking as little as one week. Targeted medical therapy. Medications particularly targeted at a more aggressive form of breast cancer, known as HER2 positive cancer, have dramatically improved survival. At the same time, women who receive these targeted treatments do not need as many chemotherapy drugs, so they experience fewer serious side effects. These and other improvements in breast cancer treatment are possible because of scientific research studies. Locally, specialists at the Rebecca Fortney Breast Center at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) are also engaged in research to find ways to provide better care, while at the same time decreasing the side effects of treatment. Here are some of the exciting ways that research studies are moving breast cancer treatment forward today: Exploring the possibility of doing no surgery for some breast cancers that have shown excellent response to chemotherapy. Some women with breast cancer benefit from receiving chemotherapy before surgery. Sometimes, chemotherapy can shrink a tumor so that the patient requires less surgery. On occasion, the final microscopic analysis of the breast tissue removed after chemotherapy will even show that no cancer cells are detectable. If doctors could accurately predict which tumors would have no remaining cancer after chemotherapy, some breast cancers that show excellent response to chemotherapy might not need surgery at all. These women might be treated with chemotherapy and radiation alone. Although the approach of not having surgery would not be safe today, research studies are underway to determine if and when an approach of no surgery might be appropriate. Ultrasound to do less extensive lymph node surgery. Ultrasound, or sonogram, is a technique used to diagnose breast cancer in the lymph nodes before surgery. AAMC breast surgeons are studying information from ultrasound exams to tailor a patient’s treatment. Ultrasound may help to identify which patients with cancer in their lymph nodes should go to surgery, and which patients should start with chemotherapy prior to operation. For some patients, receiving chemotherapy prior to surgery may clear cancer from the lymph nodes, allowing the surgeon to remove fewer lymph nodes at the time of surgery. AAMC breast surgeons recently published research in the Annals of Surgical Oncology journal in this area in order to help specialists across the country improve their patient care. With rapid changes in the field of breast cancer care, medical decisions are complex. Talk to your doctor about which treatment option is best for you. We’ve seen amazing advances in breast cancer care in just a short time. I wonder what the next 15 years will bring? Author Rubie Sue Jackson, MD, is a breast surgeon at Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC). To learn more about the Rebecca Fortney Breast Center at AAMC, visit askAAMC.org/Breast. Originally published Oct. 2, 2017. Last updated Oct. 21, 2019.0
- General Page Tier 3BlogBy now, you’ve probably heard about GMOs (genetically modified organisms). But with all the talk about these harmful organisms in our food, how can you separate fact from fiction? Let’s start at the beginning. All food begins as an organism, a plant or animal with many traits. Since the dawn of agriculture, farmers have modified these traits using methods like selective breeding, cross pollination and hybridization to improve their crops. But GMOs go beyond these methods. To make a genetically modified organism, scientists select a desired trait from one living thing, copy that trait and place it in to another living thing. This process would not occur naturally. The most common GMO crops are soybeans, corn, cotton and sugar beets. Most GMO crops eventually end up on the dinner table as ingredients in the foods we eat, including everything from cereal to dessert. GMO crops are processed to become oil, sugar, starch, syrup, fiber and protein ingredients, as well as vitamins in foods and dietary supplements. Most meats, poultry, eggs, dairy products and farmed seafood contain GMOs because field corn and soybeans are used as feed for livestock. Beyond grains, most of the yeast and enzymes used to make everything from bread to cheese come from GMOs. Is non-GMO the same as organic? No. Non-GMO crops are still treated with herbicides and pesticides. Therefore, they are not organic. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t set any standards to regulate the use of the non-GMO label. On the other hand, certified organic products cannot include GMOs. This means farmers aren’t allowed to grow produce from GMO seeds, their animals can’t eat GMO feed and food producers can’t use any GMO ingredients. What does the organic certification mean? When you see the USDA organic seal on a food or beverage product, you’ll know it’s organic. This certification bans chemical fertilizers, synthetic substances, irradiation, sewage sludge and GMOs in the production of these products. Antibiotics and synthetic hormones are also banned in organic meat and poultry. How can you eat less GMO foods? In short, eat less processed foods. Replace processed snacks with foods that are naturally non-GMO. These include fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes, dried beans, nuts and seeds. Consider buying only organic. Choose foods that are verified non-GMO by a third party, like The Non-GMO Project. Avoid dining out, as most restaurants don’t use non-GMO ingredients. Want to make a simple switch? The most important foods to buy non-GMO are meat, eggs, yogurt and milk. These foods are all affected by animal feed, which is often genetically modified. Are GMO foods harmful? To date, there is no solid research that shows people have been harmed by GMO foods. However, just because there’s no evidence of harm does not mean GMO foods have been proven safe. Most research hasn’t existed long enough to determine the effects of GMO foods throughout a person’s lifetime. Non-GMO and organic products are a good place to start, but if you really want a healthier diet eat more foods that don’t need a label. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the hallmark of a healthy, nutritious diet. Sources: New England Journal of Medicine: GMOs, Herbicides, and Public Health Consumer Reports: GMO foods: What You Need to Know Tufts University: Questioning GMOs To learn more about nutrition services at Anne Arundel Medical Center, visit AskAAMC.org/nutrition. Authors By Ann Caldwell and Maureen Shackelford, nutritionists and registered dietitians at Anne Arundel Medical Center. To reach them call 443-481-5555.0
- Physical TherapyGeneral Page Tier 3BlogWhen it comes to keeping your body healthy, the first things you may think about are your diet and exercise habits. While those are two vital parts that contribute to your wellbeing, many other factors are often overlooked, including your posture. Good posture is tough to define, but it often includes the correct alignment of bones and joints while sitting, standing and lying down. This ensures your muscles are being used properly. Bad posture can affect your overall health and lead to chronic pain. Poor movement patterns generate both physical and mental stress, like indigestion, neck and back discomfort, headaches, an increased risk of heart disease, and fatigue. It’s important to pay attention to how you move and position your body. The benefits of practicing good posture are undeniable. It engages your core, increases energy, relieves pain and improves your appearance. Because of this, there are many items out on the market claiming they can help you improve your posture. We decided to put one new gadget to the test. The Upright Go is a Bluetooth device you attach to your back. It’s designed to improve and track posture by vibrating to alert you when you slouch. Shannon Robinson, physical therapist with Luminis Health Physical Therapy, tried it out for a day to see what she thought. To first get started with Upright Go, you download the free app and sync the device to your phone. You then attach a small, white device to your upper back via an adhesive sticker. When in ‘Training Mode,’ the device will vibrate on your back to alert you when you slouch. Their website recommends training daily in order to form a better posture habit. After each daily training session, you can switch to ‘Tracking Mode’ to continue monitoring your posture throughout the day. “I could feel myself having to use all back muscles to sit up tall with my shoulder blades pinched and eventually my muscles would feel fatigued, telling me that they were really working,” Shannon says. “Using the app, you can see all your posture statistics, goals, and how you have improved over time.” Shannon felt the device worked well with activities that require an erect trunk posture such as sitting, standing and walking. However, “it was very sensitive and required me to actively pinch my shoulder blades and retract my neck to an uncomfortably extreme position,” she describes. “I found the device to be inappropriate to wear with activities that require a lot of movement such as bending forward to treat patients.” The device may work for those who have desk jobs, Shannon says, and it does tend to be useful to track your progress. The vibration is also adjustable. “But, overall, I wouldn’t recommend it.” The best way to improve posture, instead, is good, old-fashioned physical therapy focused on postural strengthening. Exercise and stretching can improve your posture because it helps increase your circulation and range of motion. “They are the most effective and realistic ways to improve back support. Lumbar cushions are a good tactile cue, but exercise is best.” Whether you’re someone who works a physically demanding job or sits at a desk, the Luminis Health Physical Therapy team can help you train your spine and offer tips to prevent and alleviate poor posture. We offer convenient, outpatient locations throughout Anne Arundel County, and into Prince George’s County. Our specialists can treat you near your home or work. Visit LuminisHealth.org/Physical-Therapy or call 443-481-1140 to learn more.0
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