Life Saver

Charlotte's Claire Blocker, president and founder of the HeartBright Foundation, is featured on the National Institute of Health's website supporting the use of electronic health records -- or EHRs, as the medical community likes to call them.

Blocker, who has survived a stroke, a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery, says:
"I am quite sure that I would not have had the opportunity to have lived this long if the valuable information EHRs provide to my physicians on a daily basis was not so readily available. It has been 13 years since my bypass surgery, and at 65, I feel happier, healthier, and far more balanced than I have ever been."

Blocker takes more than 60 pills a day (22 different medications). When her medicines are changed, the prescribing physician updates that information by sending the electronic medical record to her entire team of doctors, so they're all working from the latest information.

"This is exactly how EHRs saved my life in the ER," Blocker writes on the website. "My medication had given me grand mal seizures and my husband, who is my caregiver, was out of town. If the doctors did not have access to my EHR, they would have not known what caused the seizure and how to treat me."

Here's a link to her story:
http://www.healthit.gov/patients-families/claire-blocker

Shop smart at the grocery store

A healthy diet starts in the grocery store, but knowing what to choose when you get there can be challenging.

The N.C. Division of Public Health and the N.C. Cooperative Extension has created "Aisle by Aisle: Choosing Foods Wisely" – a series of 12 free online videos with tips to help people navigate the grocery store aisles.


Each video is about two minutes long and offers tips on how to read nutrition labels and understand ingredient lists. They include tip sheets that can be downloaded to carry in a purse, pocket or coupon book for ready reference.


Find them at: http://www.myeatsmartmovemore.com/.

“Most people know they should eat a healthy diet to prevent disease and promote good health, but there is still a gap between what we know and what we do,” said Dr. Ruth Petersen, chief of the Chronic Disease and Injury Section in the Division of Public Health.

Dr. Carolyn Dunn, a nutrition specialist with N.C. Cooperative Extension, said the videos can “help shoppers reach the goal of cooking and eating more meals at home – an important strategy for managing weight and controlling sodium, fat and sugar.”