McDonald Commentary: Providence Provides Practical Tips for Healthy Living

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After my son gave me a Fitbit for my birthday in July 2017, I realized just how little I moved and how erratically I slept.

The program, synced to my smartphone, motivated me to change.

That’s one reason I attended a Healthy Do List event at Centralia College’s TransAlta Commons Thursday night, cosponsored by the college and Centralia Rotary and attended by 150 people.

I left with a better understanding of how I can help prevent diseases through screenings, vaccinations, exercise, healthy eating and improved communication skills as outlined by Dr. Cobie Whitten, a psycho-oncology consultant.

Dr. James Raymond of the Providence Regional Cancer System noted that people no longer have to travel long distances for radiation treatment. 

“We have a state-of-the-art center right here in town,” he noted. “If you’re all taking care of yourself, you won’t ever have to come visit us.”

Dr. Rein Lambrecht and Dr. Miguel Lee, who practice with Providence Medical Group Chehalis Family Medicine, spoke about Patient Centered Medical Homes, where primary care providers working with medical residents are joined in a center with pharmacists, social workers, counselors, triage nurses, medical assistants and patient representatives.

Dr. Lee described it as “the medical equivalent of a one-stop shop.”

They spoke about guidelines followed in determining which health screenings to order, such as blood tests, mammograms, pap smears and colonoscopies.

“We need to screen you because a lot of diseases don’t actually have symptoms until it’s really too late,” Lambrecht said. “For example, if you have high blood pressure, you might not feel it until you actually have a stroke or heart attack or you die. We want to see you way before this happens.”

Doctors today discuss options with patients rather than telling them what to do, Lee said.

“Now what we do is called shared decision-making,” Lambrecht said.

The prevalence of pap smears and the new vaccine for HPV (human papillomavirus) have decreased significantly the rate of deaths from cervical cancer, Lee said.

Screening for prostate cancer is much less certain.

“If you’re confused, join the club,” Lee said. “So is everybody else, including the medical community. The reason is not that we don’t understand the guidelines; it’s because they change every time we look at them.”

Lambrecht spoke of the need for vaccinations against tetanus, whooping cough, pneumonia, shingles and the flu.

“Last year it is estimated 80,000 people in this country died from the flu, and that’s preliminary,” Lee said. That’s the largest number of flu deaths since the winter of 1976-77.

Somebody asked if it’s better to wait until later to receive the vaccination, but Lee suggested people get it as soon as it’s available. “Even if it fades a little bit you still have immunity,” he said.

“It’s important to have the vaccine before we start seeing flu cases,” Lambrecht said.

Shingrix, a new shingles vaccine that appeared a year ago, is more than 90 percent effective at preventing shingles in all age groups. The CDC recommends that people 50 and older have the new vaccine to prevent the painful and blistering disease. People who obtained the old vaccine, Zostavax, should have the new one, Lambrecht said, because it’s much more effective.



Shingrix requires two doses, and Lambrecht said it’s normal to feel sick after the first shot.

“One in 6 people feel like they might have the flu with muscle aches, fever, things like that,” Lambrecht said. “That’s not an abnormal response.”

The pneumonia vaccine is recommended for those ages 65 and older or for younger people with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or respiratory illnesses.

Dr. Erica Joseph, a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist with the Providence Regional Cancer System, spoke about how to prevent cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases through good nutrition, drinking green tea, and exercising.

Joseph noted that nutrition recommendations “are pretty easy to describe, a little harder to put into action.” She recommended eating a primarily plant-based diet with a variety of colors in the vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Avoid packaged processed foods with additives, sugar, and preservatives. Minimize processed meats as research shows eating a four-ounce serving of bacon, sausage, salami, and other processed meats can increase the risk of breast cancer and colon cancer.

Instead, select eggs, fish, poultry, or a plant-based protein.

“In a perfect world, I would have people eating a cup of berries every day,” Joseph said. She noted they benefit the cardiovascular system, stimulate the immune system and help prevent cancer.

“I think if there were one thing individuals could do to prevent cancer is to drink green tea,” she said. “And my colleague, he argues that exercise is the best thing we can do.”

She said the American Institution of Cancer Research recommends 115 minutes a week of moderate physical activity such as swimming, bike riding, walking, or gardening. An alternative is to do 75 minutes of more rigorous activity. It can be either broken up or done all at once.

She also noted that people should drink half their body weight in ounces of clean, filtered water. Most people know they should quit smoking cigarettes. “It’s more a matter of figuring out how to quit,” she said.

While our culture has normalized the drinking of alcohol, Joseph said, “unfortunately the World Health Organization tells us that no amount of alcohol is safe.”

“Really, less alcohol is better,” she said. “For women ideally less than two to three alcoholic beverages a week, and for men ideally less than three or four a week.”

Sleep is crucial as many of Joseph’s patients suffer from insomnia.

“One of the big things I talk with patients about is avoiding screen time before bed,” she said. “They’re very stimulating to our brains. They stimulate our retina, break down our normal melatonin production.”

She said avoid using electronic devices an hour before going to bed. Create a bedtime routine — drink warm tea or soak in a bathtub.

“We’re basically like really big toddlers,” Joseph said. “We need to do the same thing every night. That’s how our body establishes a healthy rhythm.”

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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at chaptersoflife1999@gmail.com.