Ed note: Here’s an email notice sent out by co-Executive Directors of End of Life Washington
Today, March 5th, 2024, marks 15 years since Medical Aid in Dying became available in Washington State. Initiative 1000, otherwise known as The Washington Death with Dignity Act, passed on November 4, 2008, and went into effect that following spring. This is a day to celebrate – the first day Washingtonians were able to exercise their right to use Medical Aid in Dying, and a landmark day for bodily autonomy in Washington State.
Earlier this year, we were going through old archives with two founding and foundational members of this organization, Midge Levy and Arline Hinckley. Sifting through old newsletters, we found a piece by Robb Miller, the executive director of End of Life Washington at the time, titled “How We Won I-1000″. The piece, included below, outlines Robb’s perspective on why I-1000 was so successful at the polls. As we enter 2024, we want to reflect on what’s changed during these last 15 years of access to Medical Aid in Dying in Washington and set our sights on what’s to come.
The population of Washington has changed. Our population has grown at twice the rate of the rest of the United States, with over 1.3 million more people residing here than in 2009. Of those new residents, the fastest growing group has been people 65 and older, growing over 62 percent in the last 15 years. As our population grows, I am grateful to be living in a state with some of the best end-of-life care and support in the nation.
Using this law, even with 15 years of progress behind us, remains difficult. People go to great lengths to access these medications and they often receive significant support to do so. For comparison, in 2009, the aid-in-dying medications were dispensed to 63 individuals, compared to 2022 where 452 received medications. Each year we see more requests for support, and we hear the same from our healthcare partners; more people want access and need support accessing this law.
Last year, we updated the Death with Dignity Act, to include more qualified medical providers, improve medication delivery, and shorten the waiting period. The changes are not yet a year old, and we are seeing improved access and opportunities. The waiting period from a person’s initial request to them receiving a prescription has been shortened from 15 days to 7; Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs and Physician Assistants (PAs) are now allowed to participate as prescribing or consulting providers on a person’s request to use medical aid-in-dying; providers are allowed to file their required paperwork electronically instead of by mail; and a person’s life-ending medication can now be picked up by a trusted person instead of the dying patient needing to receive their medication directly from the pharmacist. All these changes have helped people across the state find peace in times of great suffering, while preserving the strong safeguards in the law that prevent abuse.
As access has been improved, barriers to access continue to grow. Since 2009 we have seen a steady increase in hospitals merging with restrictive institutions. These restrictive systems limit access to end-of-life services, and the mergers mean that more providers across the state are barred by their employers from supporting their patients in accessing their full end-of-life rights. Since the law was passed 15 years ago there have been big healthcare mergers between Swedish and Providence (2012) and CHI Franciscan and Virginia Mason (2022). As a result of these mergers, more than 50% of the hospital beds in Washington State are provided by restrictive systems and patients in those beds are not able to access this care without substantial effort and external support.
What remains unchanged is the support and dedication of excellent social workers, physicians, volunteers, nurses, hospice staff, and clergy. People across the state, then and now, are working to improve end-of-life care. We have deep reverence for the helpers who make access to this law possible – thank you.
As we reflect and look ahead this year, there is so much to celebrate. Thank you for being part of this community and for your commitment to end of life options. The right to choose at the end of life has come so far in this state, and yet it feels like we need your commitment to autonomy and care more now than ever. This work isn’t easy; every step forward takes all our effort and collaboration. This truly cannot happen without you. We are so glad you’re here with us and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve together over the next 15 years.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Death with Dignity Act in Washington – 15 Years Later
Tap originated in the United States through the fusion of several ethnic percussive dances, primarily West African sacred and secular step dances (gioube) and Scottish, Irish, and English clog dances, hornpipes, and jigs.
To enjoy this amazing duo, CLICK HERE! (If needed unmute the sound on the clip)
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Gene Kelley and Sugar Ray Robinson Tap Dancing
PEORIA, Ariz. — The matchup of slogan versus nuanced explanation is never a fair fight. The slogan always wins. So if the Seattle Mariners need buzzwords to energize their loyal but letdown fans, they could use these:
“This is our time,” Jerry Dipoto, the president of baseball operations, said in his Arizona office Thursday. “We have players just entering what should be the best seasons of their careers. And we think now our window is open and this is the group that can lead us there.”
Maybe it’s not quite Kurt Russell, as Herb Brooks in “Miracle,” challenging his young hockey team before the big game against the Soviets: “This is your time – now go out there and take it!” But it’s the best Dipoto can do to share the optimism and urgency that really do exist around the only franchise to never reach the World Series.
The Mariners look good — no, really, it’s true. Their starters are dynamic, durable, prime-age strike throwers. Their balanced, revamped lineup should sustain more rallies and score more runs. And if the members of the American League West keep taking turns as champions — the Houston Astros in 2022, the Texas Rangers in 2023 — this just might be Seattle’s time.
And yet, there’s lingering skepticism about the intentions and motivations of the front office, and Dipoto knows it’s his fault. Last Oct. 3 — two days after the Mariners’ only game in the last three seasons with no hope of making the playoffs — Dipoto refused to promise that his team would win a title.
The goal, he tried to explain, was to win at least 54 percent of the time over the course of a decade. The team, he added, was actually doing the fans a favor by asking for patience instead of pushing all in for a quick fix.
My, oh my.
Teoscar Hernández (left) and Eugenio Suárez combined for 48 home runs in 2023, along with 425 strikeouts. (Joe Nicholson / USA Today)
“I spoke in words that made sense to me — and clearly, I confused people,” Dipoto said on Thursday. “Our goal is not to be mediocre. Our goal is not to go out and win just enough to get over the line. There was more that was expressed in that thought that didn’t fit into a tweet. And unfortunately, the tweet version is the version that was conveyed, and that’s my mistake. I was talking long-form in a short-form world.”
Dipoto continued, and in the spirit of context, here’s what he said: (continued)
Nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure — but only a quarter of those with hypertension have it under control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
High blood pressure “is a smoldering public health crisis,” said Dr. Rishi K. Wadhera, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an author of new research showing that blood pressure screenings have not returned to what they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
“I worry it flies under the radar for many patients,” he added.
Here’s what to know about the issue, and how to get your blood pressure under control.
What is blood pressure? And what’s a normal level?
Blood pressure is the force that blood exerts against artery walls in the heart, said Dr. Jim Liu, a cardiologist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. You’ll always hear your blood pressure given as two numbers: The top number, known as systolic pressure, measures that force when the heart contracts. The bottom number, known as diastolic pressure, gauges the force when the heart muscle relaxes. It’s measured in units known as millimeters of mercury, or mm Hg.
You can have your blood pressure checked during a medical appointment or at a pharmacy, or you can check it yourself with a home monitor. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology define normal blood pressure as below 120/80 mm Hg. The C.D.C. defines high blood pressure as 130/80 mm Hg or higher.
Very high blood pressure can cause symptoms including severe headaches, chest pain and dizziness. For many people, however, blood pressure increases too gradually for them to notice these issues, Dr. Liu said.
Why is high blood pressure harmful?
High blood pressure forces the heart to work harder to pump blood. Over time, the overwhelmed heart can slowly start to falter and struggle to pump blood out to the rest of the body, a condition called heart failure.
The force and friction of high blood pressure can also injure the delicate lining of the arteries, Dr. Liu said. Tears in the artery wall allow LDL cholesterol — also known as the “bad” cholesterol — to latch on and form clumps, or plaques, in these gaps. This can block blood flow and, in some patients, cause a heart attack.
Blockages in arteries that carry blood to the brain can lead to a stroke. Long-term damage to blood vessels in the brain can also lead to a condition called vascular dementia, Dr. Liu said.
What leads to high blood pressure?
All arteries stiffen over time, leading blood pressure to climb steadily as people age. By age 75, an estimated 80 percent of men and 86 percent of women in the United States have high blood pressure.
For some people, lifestyle changes can be as powerful as medication, said Dr. Martha Gulati, the director of preventive cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. She recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day and sleeping seven to nine hours a night, both of which are associated with lower blood pressure. Maintaining or achieving a healthy body weight can also reduce blood pressure, Dr. Gulati said.
Avoiding products that contain nicotine is important. Using nicotine drives up blood pressure, narrows blood vessels and may contribute to the hardening of arteries, according to the American Heart Association.
Some research suggests that following a low-sodium diet could reduce blood pressure by two to eight mm Hg for some patients, and that adopting the DASH diet — which emphasizes fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products — could reduce blood pressure by eight to 14 points. Abstaining from alcohol or limiting consumption to no more than one glass per day for women and two glasses for men could reduce blood pressure by two to four points.
People who can’t lower their blood pressure to normal levels through lifestyle changes will need medication, Dr. Gulati said. Water pills, or diuretics, help remove sodium and water from the body, bringing down blood pressure. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) both relax blood vessels, though they work in different ways. Calcium channel blockers help relax the muscle cells of blood vessels, and some slow your heart rate. People who can’t lower their blood pressure with these drugs may need additional medications. Doctors take a patient’s age, health and risk factors into consideration before deciding what medication to prescribe.
“Blood pressure is the most modifiable risk factor for heart disease and stroke,” Dr. Gulati said. “With lifestyle changes and medications, our patients can take control of it — and their heart health.”
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Why High Blood Pressure Matters to Your Health
“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.“ – Henry Van Dyke, Fisherman’s Luck
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on When will it come?
Americans with Covid or other respiratory infections need not isolate for five days before returning to work or school, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday, a striking sign of changing attitudes toward the coronavirus.
People with respiratory illnesses may resume daily activities if they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medications and if their symptoms are improving, agency officials said.
Acknowledging that people can be contagious even without symptoms, the C.D.C. urged those who end isolation to limit close contact with others, wear well-fitted masks, improve indoor air quality and practice good hygiene, like washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes, for five days.
Renowned for its exquisite Cantonese dishes and a distinguished 95-item dim sum menu, Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant is poised to bring its culinary expertise to Bellevue, Washington. Marking its first venture into the United States, this Vancouver-based restaurant aims to replicate its Canadian success by catering to the diverse palate of Bellevue’s food enthusiasts. With anticipation building, the restaurant’s opening at the end of April is subject to final clearance from city and health department officials.
Strategic Expansion into the U.S. Market
After serving dim sum aficionados in Richmond, B.C., and Vancouver for over three decades, Sun Sui Wah’s expansion reflects a broader trend of Chinese culinary establishments venturing into new territories. Bellevue, with its vibrant food scene, presents an ideal launching pad for the restaurant’s U.S. journey. This move is not just about geographical expansion but also about testing the waters for further growth in the American market, with Seattle earmarked as a potential future location. The decision to expand south of the border comes after meticulous planning and market analysis, demonstrating Sun Sui Wah’s commitment to extending its culinary legacy.
Offering Authentic Cantonese Delights
At the heart of Sun Sui Wah’s popularity is its commitment to authenticity and quality. The upcoming two-story restaurant in Bellevue Marketplace shopping center promises to offer a culinary experience reminiscent of its Canadian counterparts. Diners can look forward to indulging in an array of Cantonese cuisine staples, including har gow (shrimp dumplings), siu mai (pork and shrimp dumplings), and the much-loved roasted squab. With a menu boasting 95 dim sum items, the restaurant aims to cater to both traditional tastes and those looking to explore new culinary horizons.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Sun Sui Wah Seafood to Debut in Bellevue, Expanding Cantonese Cuisine to U.S. Shores
Are you tired of the tendency of the media to only report the ugly, sensational and violent news? If you want a break and find some good news, click on this site to relax your soul: https://informationisbeautiful.net/beautifulnews/
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Time for some good news? Information can be beautiful!
Americans ages 65 and older should receive an additional dose of the latest Covid vaccine this spring, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.
The spring shot would be a second dose of the most recent iteration of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Novavax vaccines introduced in the fall. People who are immunocompromised are already eligible for additional doses of the vaccine.
At a meeting of the agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier on Wednesday, federal researchers presented preliminary data showing that the latest vaccines have an effectiveness of about 40 to 50 percent against symptomatic infection or hospitalization, although estimates against currently circulating variants were based on small numbers.
In October and November, adults who received a fall dose accounted for 4 percent of Covid-related hospitalizations. Those who got a booster in the fall of 2022, but not the updated vaccine this fall, accounted for 25 percent.
Still, a second dose this spring would not be cost-effective for adults 18 to 64 years old, who are at lower risk of severe illness and hospitalization than older adults, according to modeling presented at the meeting.
Older adults and those with weakened immune systems because of illnesses or medications would benefit the most from a spring dose, the advisers concluded.
“I was impressed with data supporting the need for an additional dose of vaccine for those 65 years and older,” Dr. Camille Kotton, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of the scientific advisory panel, said in an interview.
“Given the risk of severe, even life-threatening, disease, I would encourage those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised to take the opportunity for another dose,” she added.
Adults ages 65 and older accounted for two-thirds of all hospitalizations related to Covid between October 2023 and January 2024, and those ages 75 and older accounted for nearly half. Adults in this age group were also the most likely to have opted for the fall shot.
More than 43 percent of Americans aged 75 and older got the fall shot, compared with fewer than 10 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 years. Vaccination rates were lowest among Native Americans and Alaska Natives, and among those who lived in rural areas. Fewer than 13 percent of pregnant women opted for the vaccine.
Nearly half of those who did not plan to get the vaccine said they were concerned about unknown serious side effects, according to data from the National Immunization Survey in January.
Other reasons for the low uptake may be the lack of vaccine availability in the first few weeks following the C.D.C.’s recommendation, and confusion over insurance coverage for the shots.
The agency’s advisers met in September to discuss whether to recommend the shots, and for whom, but that allowed little time for vaccine manufacturing and distribution before the fall peak of infections, said Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos, an infectious disease physician and C.D.C. researcher.
Dr. Panagiotakopoulos presented a revised plan for a decision on next fall’s Covid shot, with the C.D.C. advisers meeting in June to make recommendations regarding who should get the vaccine. A meeting of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration, which must precede the C.D.C. guidance, is already scheduled for May 16.
At the meeting on Wednesday, C.D.C. advisers wrestled with whether to suggest that older adults “may” opt to get a spring Covid vaccine in consultation with their health care providers, or to recommend more emphatically that they “should” do so.
Some panelists said the softer recommendation would be more palatable to Americans, and less likely to contribute to vaccine fatigue. Others argued that stronger language would make it clearer to those at high risk from the virus that a vaccine would afford them protection through the spring.
The advisers ultimately voted to recommend that Americans ages 65 and older “should” receive a spring shot. Dr. Cohen, the C.D.C. director, accepted the recommendation later in the day.
“I hope that clarity of the need for a second dose may encourage vaccination and protection in both those who have not yet had a first vaccine and those who would benefit by a second vaccine,” Dr. Kotton said.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Older Americans Should Get Another Covid Shot This Spring, C.D.C. Says
In an Alabama Supreme Court decision that has rattled reproductive medicine across the country, a majority of the justices said the law was clear that frozen embryos should be considered children: “Unborn children are ‘children.’”
But the court’s chief justice, Tom Parker, drew on more than the Constitution and legal precedent to explain his determination.
“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” he wrote in a concurring opinion that invoked the Book of Genesis and the prophet Jeremiah and quoted at length from the writings of 16th- and 17th-century theologians.
“Even before birth,” he added, “all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”
The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos should be considered children.READ DOCUMENT 131 PAGES
Just as the case, which centers on wrongful-death claims for frozen embryos that were destroyed in a mishap at a fertility clinic, has reverberated beyond Alabama, so has Justice Parker’s opinion.
His theological digressions showed why he has long been revered by conservative legal groups and anti-abortion activists, and also why he has inspired apprehension among critics who regard him as guided more by religious doctrine than the law. (continued)
An advisory panel to the CDC is expected to vote on whether to recommend a spring booster during a Feb. 28 meeting, a source close to the panel told NBC News. The panel is expected to focus on the safety of high-risk Americans, including people 65 and older and anyone with a weakened immune system.
“The discussion will be aimed at the people who are most accepting of public health recommendations,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., told NBC News. “The committee, in its rigorous fashion since the question has come up, will be considering a second dose for people at high risk or for people who wish to get it.”
A spring booster would be the same shot approved last fall, which targets the XBB.1.5 subvariant. Luckily, that booster formulation also works well against the JN.1 subvariant, the leading cause of most COVID infections in the United States at the moment.
Experts said a spring booster shot makes sense.
“Waiting till the fall, I think, is a mistake,” Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told NBC News. “We have clear evidence that either vaccine or previous infection probably gives four to six months of relative protection against serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths, but wanes substantially after that.”
Still, even vulnerable groups like transplant patients, who tend to follow their doctors’ advice, are feeling vaccine fatigue, Dr. William Werbel, associate director of epidemiology and quantitative sciences with the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center in Baltimore, told NBC News.
“Some people have had seven, eight vaccines,” Werbel said. “Transplant recipients would be more receptive and much more likely to follow recommendations, particularly if recommended by the transplant center, but the ceiling is kind of lowered because of this societal fatigue and societal disenchantment with COVID.”
Experts generally recommend that even high-risk patients wait at least two months after a COVID vaccination or COVID infection before getting another shot.
For a glorious decade or two, the drink was lauded as good for the heart. What happened?
Ed Note: Tom Lehrer sang, “Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air” but he didn’t sing about wine. Now the bottom line is in: have a glass now and then but don’t expect your heart to like it.
In a 1991 segment of “60 Minutes,” the CBS correspondent Morley Safer asked how it could be that the French enjoyed high-fat foods like pâté, butter and triple crème Brie, yet had lower rates of heart disease than people in the United States.
“The answer to the riddle, the explanation of the paradox, may lie in this inviting glass,” Mr. Safer said, raising a glass of red wine to viewers.
Doctors believed, Mr. Safer said, that wine had “a flushing effect” that prevented blood clot-forming cells from clinging to artery walls. This, according to a French researcher who was featured in the segment, could reduce the risk of a blockage and, therefore, the risk of a heart attack.
At the time, several studies had supported this idea, said Tim Stockwell, an epidemiologist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. And researchers were finding that the Mediterranean diet, which has traditionally encouraged a glass or two of red wine with meals, was a heart-healthy way of eating, he added.
But it wasn’t until the “60 Minutes” segment that the idea of red wine as a virtuous health drink went “viral,” he said.
It would take decades for the glow of wine’s health halo to fade.
How our understanding of alcohol and health has evolved
The possibility that a glass or two of red wine could benefit the heart was “a lovely idea” that researchers “embraced,” Dr. Stockwell said. It fit in with the larger body of evidence in the 1990s that linked alcohol to good health.
In one 1997 study that tracked 490,000 adults in the United States for nine years, for example, researchers found that those who reported having at least one alcoholic drink per day were 30 to 40 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who didn’t drink. They were also about 20 percent less likely to die from any cause.
By the year 2000, hundreds of studies had reached similar conclusions, Dr. Stockwell said. “I thought the science was in,” he said.
But some researchers had been pointing out problems with these kinds of studies since the 1980s, and questioning if the alcohol was responsible for the benefits they saw.
Perhaps moderate drinkers were healthier than non-drinkers, they said, because they were more likely to be educated, wealthy and physically active, and more likely to have health insurance and eat more vegetables. Or maybe, these researchers added, it was because many of the “non-drinkers” in the studies were actually ex-drinkers who had quit because they had developed health issues.
Kaye Middleton Fillmore, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, was among those urging more scrutiny of the research. “It is incumbent on the scientific community to assess this evidence carefully,” she wrote in an editorial published in 2000.
In 2001, Dr. Fillmore persuaded Dr. Stockwell and other scientists to help her sift through the previous studies and reanalyze them in ways that could account for some of these biases.
“I’ll work with you on this,” Dr. Stockwell remembered telling Dr. Fillmore, who died in 2013. But “I was really skeptical of the whole thing,” he said.
As it turned out, the team found a surprising result: In their new analysis, the previously observed benefits of moderate drinking had vanished. Their findings, published in 2006, made headlines for contradicting the prevailing wisdom: “Study Puts a Cork in Belief That a Little Wine Helps the Heart,” The Los Angeles Times reported. (continued)
Teoscar Hernández (left) and Eugenio Suárez combined for 48 home runs in 2023, along with 425 strikeouts. (Joe Nicholson / USA Today)
Reload document 
Open in new tab 
