| Koskie's goal: a normal life
Two weeks ago, he was able to walk through a crowded mall in the Minneapolis area for three or four hours without experiencing the excruciating symptoms he's endured for about a year and half. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But for Corey Koskie, once a very good third baseman for the Twins, Blue Jays, and Brewers, this was a sign that he's on the road to living a normal life and may someday soon resume his baseball career. Koskie has suffered from postconcussion syndrome since he was hurt on July 5, 2006, while backpedaling to catch a popup. Koskie said he never banged his head. He fell on his back and shoulder. But his life would never be the same. All the medical tests indicated Koskie should be OK. Except he wasn't OK. He had constant headaches, severe neck pain, nausea.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2008
Here is my Creators Syndicate column on the political landscape after Iowa and New Hampshire. I try to suggest in the first two sentences that things are very unsettled. "Five elections. Five winners." In both parties, we seem to have pretty firm factions operating. Usually there's a clear-cut difference between primaries and general elections. In seriously contested general elections, about 80 percent of the voters will vote the same way they did last time—about half of them Republican, half of them Democratic, with the proportions varying by constituency. With primaries, in contrast, voters are often all over the lot. They are not weighted down by party identification. They are ready to move anywhere. Yet sometimes they don't. There is a very high correlation in voting behavior between the Clinton/Obama race in 2008 and the Gore/Bradley race in 2000 in New Hampshire.
SC Faithful Still Seeking GOP Candidate
COLUMBIA, S.C. The faithful in South Carolina are still looking for the Republican presidential candidate who is the answer to their prayers. Churchgoers on Sunday at the Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville to those who attended services at the First Baptist Church in Columbia gave high marks to the four GOP candidates who have spent the most time in the state _ Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, would seem like a lock for South Carolina's religious voters. The former Arkansas governor, who talks openly about his faith and its tenets, won the Iowa caucuses based on strong support from evangelicals _ eight of 10 who described themselves as evangelical Christians backed Huckabee, according to an Associated Press entrance poll in Iowa.
MGMA's Dan Stech Joins Denver's Pinnacle Group; Former MGMA Survey ...
Dan Stech has been named Executive Director of Innovation for the Pinnacle Group, a Denver-based healthcare consulting, physician practice management and medical billing company. Stech is a longtime Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) executive and national authority on physician practice benchmarking and best practices analysis. As MGMA's Director of Survey Operations for the past five years, Stech led the association's efforts to improve physician practice performance through data collection and analysis. Under Stech's leadership, the association enhanced its database of practice performance measures, expanded its line of analytical products and firmed up its position as the market leader in physician data resources. Denver, CO (PRWEB) July 11, 2006 -- Dan Stech has been named Executive Director of Innovation for the Pinnacle Group, a Denver-based healthcare consulting, physician practice management and medical billing company.
Simpler better for Eli
ESPN "Monday Night Football" analyst Ron Jaworski said one big reason for Giants quarterback Eli Manning's turnaround has been a back-to-basics approach to the offense by Coach Tom Coughlin and coordinator Kevin Gilbride. "They've really toned down the volume of this offense," said Jaworski, a former Eagles quarterback. "As the season has progressed, they've become more of a power-running team. The offensive line coming off the football. Less formation variation. Less motion. "I believe they are simplifying the reads for Eli. And clearly, he's doing a better job of handling those reads." Jaworski said the Packers played bump-and-run coverage, and "he knew immediately where to go with the football." Before the playoffs, Manning had just 16 interceptionless games in 57 starts.
The 2008 Forecast: Cloudy, With Intermittent Sun
Another new year is upon us and it begins with degrees of apprehension in various quarters. Sales in the residential housing market have slowed to a crawl, credit is tight, and home fuel and gas prices have shot up sharply in the last year, fueling rumbles about a possible national recession.
While that information has been tough to digest, there are other positive notes to consider, such as employment levels remaining steady. And even if the economy dips, the Corridor area enjoys what might be considered blanket protection due to the overwhelming presence of that ultimate corporate headquarters, the federal government - which will soon dump even more jobs into the region when the effects of the much anticipated Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) start shifting.
To gain keener insight, The Business Monthly asked business and government leaders in the Corridor and the state for their thoughts about 2008:
Walt Townshend, president, Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber
In a word, the first half of 2008 will be ...
Thyroid Disease 101: Ten Facts Doctors Forget To Tell Patients
January marks Thyroid Awareness Month. With some experts estimating that as many as 59 million Americans suffer from thyroid conditions -- including Hashimoto's Disease, Graves' disease, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer -- it's crucial for patients and doctors to learn more about these common -- but frequently overlooked -- hormonal health problems.
According to thyroid patient advocate and author Mary Shomon, many doctors simply don't communicate with their patients about thyroid risks, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.
Says Shomon: "It's alarming -- millions of people are suffering from thyroid conditions, but they are not getting properly diagnosed and treated. I don't know whether the problem is a lack of knowledge on the part of doctors, or HMOs and insurance companies trying to curtail costs.
Injuries might boost clot risk
David Beckhams of the world, Mafia snitches who get their kneecaps broken and even folks prone to whacking their legs on inanimate objects have one more thing to worry about: Injuries to the leg may increase the risk of blood clots.In a study of 2,471 patients diagnosed with either deep venous thrombosis (a blood clot in the leg) or pulmonary embolism (a clot that has traveled to the lung), researchers at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands found that11.7 percent had had a minor leg injury in the three months before the diagnosis.This represents a threefold increase in risk relative to the control group, writes senior author Dr. Frits Rosendaal in an e-mail.Those in certain high-risk groups for venous thrombosis, such as people with a family history of the disorder or a genetic predisposition, were especially vulnerable to forming a blood clot in the wake of a leg injury."Indeed, the latter group has a 50-fold increased risk," says Rosendaal, a professor of clinical epidemiology at Leiden University Medical Center.This is intriguing information for physicians who work with leg injuries and vascular surgeons charged with diagnosing DVT."We've all seen patients in our practices who develop a deep vein thrombosis after minor injuries," says Dr.
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