Health Archives - Page 53 of 90

Black and Blue, the Kangen craze

Water that truly unlocks health, or the latest cure all snake oil?

Signature Enagic water jugs, the mark of a Kangen user.Photo, Andrew Gobin — Signature Enagic water jugs, the mark of a Kangen user.
*Photo, Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News*

By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News

You may have seen the blue and black Enagic water jugs people are packing around these days. You’ve probably heard about Kangen water, and if you yourself are not a Kangen user, you’ve probably wondered what exactly is so special about this water from all other filtered waters. The answer to which often leaves people with many more questions about how it all works, or why Kangen is a better choice. Here you will get an in-depth look at this latest health fad.

Many Kangen users tout this water as the new miracle in naturopathic health. Easily absorbed by the body, this water is supposed to keep you hydrated, in addition to being an antioxidant.

Tulalip tribal member Caleb Woods, a Kangen user, said, “I feel more energized, and toxins flush out of my body faster. I notice I sweat easier, and my acne has been clearing up.”

The effects Woods noted are typical of any well hydrated person, so what makes Kangen different? The answer is not so simple.

What is Kangen water exactly? In a nutshell, it is basic, or alkaline. The machine that filters and produces the water is actually a medical machine developed by a Japanese manufacturer 40 years ago. According to Kangen rep, Shawn Brown, water from the city tap or well goes into the machine, is filtered, and then restructured using electrolysis; a process of running an electric current through the water. Water molecules, which are naturally polarized, cluster in a naturally hexagonal structure, similar to a honeycomb. The restructuring of water arranges the molecules into micro clusters of five to seven molecules, instead of the typical 15. That process also ionizes the water, which makes it basic by creating a negative hydroxyl molecule (HO^–) and a positive hydrogen ion (H⁺), or cation. Micro clusters of hydroxyl molecules are more easily absorbed in the body.

The separation of ions of Kangen water raises the pH, which is a measure of the power, or concentration, of hydrogen ions in any compound. The pH scale runs 1-14, 7 being neutral. As the concentration of hydrogen ions increases, the pH number decreases. Acids have low pH, and bases have high pH. Water typically measures at 7. According to the Snohomish County Health District, city water measures at 7.5 because of the lye added to the water to prevent rusting pipes, both hazardous to health in and of themselves. Kangen water is very basic when it’s ionized, measuring between 8.5 and 11, though agitating the water will return it to a neutral state. Also, if not consumed immediately, the natural interaction between the cations (H⁺) and hydroxyl (OH^–) molecules will return the Kangen water to natural water (H₂O).

What is the need for alkaline Kangen water?

Brown said, “Cities put a lot of chemicals in the water to kill bacteria, or to make the water healthy. Essentially, that is dead water. Kangen water is not only filtered, but it has free hydrogen ions, which is a natural antioxidant.”

The hydrogen cations are regulators that catalyze chemical reactions in the body’s systems, drawing out free oxygen molecules, or oxidants. In that way, the water is alive, interacting with the body as you drink it. The abundant of cations join with oxidants, neutralizing them. But Kangen water, as a basic solution, disrupts the body’s cells from doing this naturally by inhibiting the mitochondrial processes. The mitochondria of a cell, which govern metabolism in cells and in turn the body, require oxidants in order to metabolize proteins. Hydroxyl molecules join with free radicals making hyperperoxide in the body, allowing the free cations to seek out oxygen and oxidants to join with. That essentially leads to the depletion of oxygen creating a chemical imbalance in the body and a disruption of natural processes at a cellular level. This leads to premature cell death. The body works to regulate itself, and these processes occur naturally without Kangen water.

“The body is naturally alkaline, the blood is alkaline. If the body is acidic, you’re probably sick,” said Brown.

That is true, though not entirely accurate. The ideal pH of blood is between 7.3 and 7.4. So yes, it is alkaline, but only slightly. The body’s many systems help to regulate the pH of the body, each producing acids and bases, specific to each system. While the body is naturally alkaline by design, it is regulated through the secretion of acids produced in the body. Acids, like lactic and stomach acids, are designed to breakdown sugars and proteins, while bases, various hormones, are designed to specifically regulate systems in the body, many of which produce acids. Systems in the body use water to make hydroxyl and hydrogen cations for the purpose of metabolizing compounds and cleaning the body. It is a delicate balance that can have serious health implications when altered.

While it is a delicate balance, deviation of pH levels, even slightly, are signs of serious illness in the body. To do this intentionally has many health implications. For example, deviations in body chemistry of any degree affect metabolic systems drastically. A shock of pH imbalance due to raising the alkalinity of your body could lead to alkalosis. Mild alkalosis causes muscle spasms and cramps. Severe alkalosis can lead to tetanus or cardiac arrest. Acidosis, in contrast, causes mild nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and apnea.

Why does it matter, you may wonder? First of all, Kangen water will be available at all youth summer programs, and at the summer school. Parents should be aware that this is being served to your children. For people with strict dietary needs, there are serious health risks associated with altering body chemistry. That’s not saying Kangen is bad, or shouldn’t be used, but parents should be aware of what their children are exposed to. If people, including children, are on medications, they need to know how Kangen water affects them. The Kangen website and virtual demonstration specifically warn that users should not take medications with the alkaline Kangen water, and should refrain from drinking Kangen for an additional two hours afterward.

Second, there has been a large push that this is the answer to a healthier membership. There is a community Kangen machine available to the public for an hour, mornings and afternoons, at the Don Hatch Jr. Youth Center. Some members have machines in their homes. Kangen can only be acquired through the use of these machines, not sold in stores anywhere. These machines run between $2500 and $4000, and can be acquired through a regional Kangen representative. While the benefits of Kangen may outweigh the risks, the truth is, you don’t need Kangen water to be healthy. Similar results can be achieved through choosing organic foods and eliminating processed foods as much as possible, and expanding your diet to include foods that have specific benefits for healthy function of the body’s systems.

There is no magic cure all to ailments. While you can’t drink your way to health, it is beneficial to drink filtered water. To date, however, there is no documented medical suggestion that says basic water is healthier than natural water, in fact the opposite. Whatever water you choose to drink, the importance is to stay hydrated.

More info on Kangen water available online at www.kangenkarma.com. See the demonstration at www.kangendemo.com.

Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com
Phone: (360) 716.4188

Grief and Loss Support Group Begins August 12

Critics say proposed rules on fish consumption insufficient

Tribal leaders are skeptical of a proposal by Gov. Jay Inslee to set new water-quality standards.

By Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times, July 21, 2014

Some tribal leaders and environmental groups say a water-pollution cleanup plan proposed by Gov. Jay Inslee this month is unacceptable because while it tightens the standards on some chemicals discharged to state waters, it keeps the status quo for others.

Inslee is drafting a two-part initiative to update state water-quality standards, to more accurately reflect how much fish people eat, and to propose legislation to attack water pollution at its source. The fish-consumption standards have the effect of setting levels for pollutants in water: The more fish people are assumed to eat, the lower the amount of pollution allowed.

Inslee decided that lowering some standards wouldn’t create a big-enough benefit to human health to justify the economic risk for businesses, said Kelly Susewind, water-quality program manager for the state Department of Ecology.

“The realistic gains on the ground didn’t warrant that concern and disincentive to invest in our state,” Susewind said.

That’s because the rules regulate state permits for dischargers, such as industrial manufacturers and wastewater-treatment plants — but that isn’t where most of the pollution is coming from.

Setting tougher standards for some pollutants would also result in levels too low to detect or manage with existing technology — but would create a regulatory expectation that could cloud future business investment, Susewind said.

“The concern is that we set in motion a chain of events where it is inevitable they can’t comply. If they are worried they will cease to invest in 30 years, they are not going to invest today; that is the long-term picture that caused the uncertainty.”

In the case of PCBs — polychlorinated biphenyls, industrial chemicals used as coolants, insulating materials, and lubricants in electric equipment — setting a limit below the existing limit of 170 parts per quadrillion wouldn’t improve people’s health, Susewind said. That’s because most PCBs are entering waterways from other sources, including runoff. “It is not the most effective place, to put the pinch on dischargers,” Susewind said.

The problem is that the Clean Water Act, under which the standards are issued, doesn’t reach beyond so-called point sources: pollution in water discharged from pipes by industries and others regulated by Ecology and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“A lot of our challenge is finding ourselves with only one tool,” said Carol Kraege, who leads toxics reduction at Ecology. “Getting toxics out of our water with just the Clean Water Act is not enough.”

To gain new tools to clean up state waters, Inslee has asked Ecology to put together legislation to expand its authority to ban certain chemicals, to keep them from getting in the water in the first place. The legislation, which is still being drafted, is intended to address so-called non-point sources of pollution.

The governor has said he won’t submit a final water-quality rule to the EPA for approval until after the legislature acts.

Christie True, director of King County Natural Resources and Parks, which runs the county’s wastewater-treatment plants, said she was encouraged by the governor’s approach. “We have to be focused on outcomes,” True said.

“The thing I was really happy about was he said we can’t just rely on regulating the same old sources if we want to improve water quality. I know it is going to be very challenging to take these issues to the Legislature, but that is where we need to head to have a better outcome.”

The debate now under way arose from the state’s need to update the water-quality standards that address health effects for humans from eating fish. The state’s rules today assume a level of consumption so low — 6.5 grams a day, really just a bite — that it is widely understood to be inadequately protective, especially for tribes and others who eat a lot of fish from local waters.

The standard also incorporates an incremental increase in cancer risk in that level of consumption.

Inslee has proposed greatly increasing the fish-consumption standard in the new rule, to 175 grams per day, a little less than a standard dinner serving. But he also upped the cancer risk, from 1 in 1 million under current law, to 1 in 100,000 in the new standard. That was to avoid imposing tighter standards for some pollutants.

That isn’t good enough for tribal leaders who say they want tougher protection now — for all pollutants, not just some. “Holding the line isn’t good enough,” said Dianne Barton, water-quality coordinator for the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission.

Counting on the Legislature to grant new authority to Ecology and money to back it up is also a shaky proposition, some said. “That is a big gamble,” said Chris Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper, a nonprofit environmental group that sued the EPA to force Washington to update its standards. Delay, meanwhile, “is more business as usual,” Wilke said.

Brian Cladoosby, chairman of the Association of Washington Tribes and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, said tribes are going to take their case directly to the feds both at Region 10 EPA and in the EPA administrator’s office in Washington, D.C., and insist no change be made in the cancer risk.

“In our minds, the bar hasn’t moved that much,” Cladoosby said. “It took 100 years to screw up the Salish Sea; hopefully, it won’t take another 100 years to clean it up. But we have to start somewhere.”

Snohomish Health District recognizes World Hepatitis Day

Vaccination, testing and treatment can limit liver damage

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. – Liver damage and liver disease caused by viruses kill more people in the U.S. each year than HIV/AIDS. Hepatitis C is the most common of those viruses that attack the liver. In Snohomish County, 649 people were found to have hepatitis C last year. Hepatitis B affected 263 local people in 2013.

Most people with a liver virus don’t know they have it until the disease has caused serious liver damage. New medications for treating hepatitis C can cure the disease and prevent the need for liver transplants or liver cancer treatment in the future.

Testing for hepatitis C can be as easy as a prick of your finger and 20-minutes for your results. Testing is recommended for everyone born between 1945 and 1965, since baby boomers are five times more likely to have the virus. The cost is covered by health insurance.

People who inject illegal drugs – even just once years ago – are another group at risk for getting viral hepatitis.

The Snohomish Health District works to prevent and limit the spread of viral hepatitis by testing and offering vaccines to people most at risk. A nurse regularly visits the Snohomish County Needle Exchange, jails, treatment centers, and homeless shelters as part of the agency’s public health outreach program.

“A discouraging trend is an increase in hepatitis C among young people who use drugs,” said Nurse Kathy Perkins, of the Hepatitis Outreach Program. “People with hep C die 23 years earlier than average. Doctors need to talk to their patients, assess risks, test for and treat viral hepatitis.”

Vaccines to prevent hepatitis A and B are recommended for people at risk. There is no vaccine against hepatitis C.

The Snohomish Health District will have information about viral hepatitis in its Everett building and at local libraries to recognize World Hepatitis Day on July 28. Learn more at www.worldhepatitisday.org.

Incorporated in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier community through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats.

Wash. To Host First Public Meeting On Inslee’s Fish Consumption Rate Proposal

By Bellamy Pailthorp, KPLU

Washington is slowly moving ahead with a long-delayed plan to update its water quality rules. Tuesday’s will be the first public meeting on Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposal to dramatically increase the fish consumption rate, which determines how clean discharged water must be. But some say the proposal doesn’t go far enough.

The governor’s plan would increase the fish consumption rate to about a meal a day, rather than a meal a month. It would increase the current rate of 6.5 grams per day to 127 grams per day. That’s the same rate recently adopted by Oregon, which has the strictest rate in the country.

“Well, yes, but it’s important to remember that that’s just one part of this equation,” said Chris Wilke with Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, one of four groups that sued the federal government last year to force it to make the state comply with the Clean Water Act.

Wilke says the plaintiffs are glad to see a more realistic fish consumption rate. But at the same time, he points out that Inslee’s proposal also lowers the bar on the allowable risk for cancer by a factor of 10, from one in a million to one in 100,000.

“It appears the state has kind of engineered the standards to come out where they want them to be or where might be acceptable to business interests,” Wilke said.

The state Department of Ecology says the Governor felt the compromise is necessary, because businesses have warned tightening the standard too much would prompt them to move jobs elsewhere.

And instead of just cleaning up the aftermath, Inslee is pushing for additional policies to discourage use of the chemicals in the first place, to “shift people away from using these kinds of things that are so problematic for the permit holders,” said Carol Kraege, who leads the state Department of Ecology’s toxics reduction efforts.

But the plaintiffs who brought suit for cleaner water say such policies might not make it through the Legislature. And they say a similar compromise was recently put forward in Idaho and rejected by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Be aware of lake risks while enjoying summer swimming

Don’t drink the water, Snohomish Health District advises

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. – Swimming or playing in water that is contaminated or high in bacteria or natural toxins can affect your health. Swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans are all potential sources of water-related illness. Recreational water illnesses typically affect a person’s stomach and intestines, causing diarrhea and vomiting. Water quality can also affect your skin or respiratory system.

The recent outbreak of illness at Horseshoe Lake in Kitsap County was caused by norovirus found in the water at the swimming beach. The lake is closed until testing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm that the virus is no longer present.

While Snohomish Health District has investigated a handful of illness reports related to local lakes, no common cause or illness has been identified. “We’ve seen nothing to indicate an outbreak of water-related illness here,” said Health Officer Dr. Gary Goldbaum.

The Health District is working with the Snohomish County Parks Department and city beach programs to ensure that required public health warnings (PDF) are present at beaches, including this language:

“The swimming waters at this beach are not treated to control spread of disease. Swimming

beach water, if swallowed, can sometimes cause illness because of bacteria, viruses or parasites in the water. All beach users should follow bathing beach recommendations to prevent

contamination of the water and should avoid swallowing of any beach water.”

Recreational water illnesses such as norovirus, cryptosporidium, giardia, shigella, and E. colihave the potential to infect a person who accidentally swallows or has contact with contaminated water. In most instances, the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting will improve one to two days after you get sick. Some people get dehydrated or have other side effects, and need to see a doctor.

“Lake water is not the same as drinking water,” Dr. Goldbaum reminds children and parents.

If you think you got sick from a public water or food source – such as a swimming beach, campground, or restaurant – contact the Snohomish Health District at 425.339.5278.

We will ask you questions about what you ate and where you’ve been over the past several days to try to narrow down the many possible causes of illness.

For more tips on keeping safe while swimming, see the Hot Topic page of our website.

Native American health insurance enrollment surges in South Dakota, but some remain skeptical

In this July 10, 2014 photo, Denise Mesteth poses outside the powwow grounds in Pine Ridge, S.D. Mesteth is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, born and raised on the Pine Ridge reservation. She has signed up for health insurance through the federal marketplace. (AP Photo/Nora Hertel)

By NORA HERTEL Associated Press

PINE RIDGE, South Dakota — Denise Mesteth signed up for new health insurance through the federal Affordable Care Act, despite concerns that it may not be worth the money for her and other Native Americans who otherwise rely on free government coverage.

Mesteth, who has a heart murmur and requires medication and regular blood work, said she’s cautiously optimistic that the federal insurance will be superior to what she has now. Many other American Indians have been more reluctant to enroll, choosing instead to continue relying on the Indian Health Service for their coverage and taking advantage of a clause in the federal health reform law that allows them to be exempt from the insurance mandate if they meet certain requirements.

“If it’s better services, then I’m OK,” Masteth said of ACA. “But it better be better.”

Mesteth and other American Indians in South Dakota account for 2.5 percent of the people in the state who have signed up for insurance under the federal health care law, according to the latest signup numbers. The state, with nearly 9 percent of its overall population Native American, ranks third for the percentage of enrollees who are American Indian among U.S. states using the federal marketplace.

The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board, which provides support and health care advocacy to tribes, received $264,000 to help Native Americans in South Dakota navigate the new insurance marketplace.

Tinka Duran, program coordinator for the board, said people are primarily concerned about the costs of enrolling. Insurance is a new concept to most because health care has always been free, she said.

“There’s a learning curve for figuring out co-pays and deductibles,” she said.

During a U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing in May, tribal leaders chastised IHS as a bloated bureaucracy unable to fulfill its core duty of providing health care for more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives. IHS acting director Yvette Roubideaux said changes were underway but that more money will be needed than the $4.4 billion the agency receives each year.

She noted that federal health care spending on Native Americans lags far behind spending on other groups such as federal employees, who receive almost twice as much on a per-capita basis. Meanwhile, American Indians suffer from higher rates of substance abuse, assault, diabetes and a slew of other ailments compared to most of the population.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives are exempt from the health insurance mandate if they meet certain requirements. ACA also permanently reauthorized the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and authorized new programs for IHS, which also is starting to get funds from the Veterans Affairs Department to help native veterans.

When American Indians do obtain insurance, it means fewer people are tapping the IHS budget, said Raho Ortiz, director of the IHS Division of Business Office Enhancement.

“If more of our patients have health insurance or are enrolled in Medicaid, this means that more resources are available locally for all of our patients,” Ortiz said in an emailed statement. “This, in turn, allows scarce resources to be stretched further.”

Those who sign up for federal health care can still use IHS facilities but have the option of seeking health care elsewhere, Ortiz said.

State Democratic Sen. Jim Bradford is among the skeptics. The Oglala Sioux member lives on the Pine Ridge reservation, home to two of the poorest counties in the nation.

The U.S. government provides health care to Native Americans as part of its trust responsibility to tribes that gave up their land when the country was being formed. Bradford and others object to the shift in health care providers on the principle that IHS is obligated by treaty to supply that care.

Harriett Jennesse, a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe who lives in Rapid City, said she already has seen the benefits of the new health insurance and doesn’t mind paying a little out of pocket.

Jennesse said she put off treatment for a painful bone chip in her elbow after IHS denied a doctor’s referral to a specialist on grounds that it wasn’t an urgent enough need. She’s now seeing a specialist for dislocation in her other elbow and will also try to get the bone chip fixed when the other arm heals.

When is it more than old age?

The truth about dementia

Photo: Alzeheimer disease, you and I.http://alzheimer-gcmrs.blogspot.com/2012/06/musica-arte-e-alzheimer.html — Photo: Alzeheimer disease, you and I.
http://alzheimer-gcmrs.blogspot.com/2012/06/musica-arte-e-alzheimer.html

By Andrew Gobin

I will forever remember the night 12 years ago when my family was plunged into the world of dementia. It was late one night when my father, sister, and I arrived at Providence Colby Campus hospital in Everett. My grandma had just had back surgery and was out for recovery. At 12 years old, I was fairly familiar with the hospital hallways, not at all afraid or uneasy about visiting people in the hospital, having been there many times to see family friends and relatives. I thought this was just another routine visit. Even so, I was not prepared for what I was about to see.

My Uncle Joe had arrived shortly before we did. Grandma was upset and confused. She did not know me or my sister, she barely knew her sons. She had been given Vicodin for the pain as part of routine recovery. Grandma didn’t have a drug tolerance, never taking anything much stronger than Tylenol. Anyone who has experienced the effects of Vicodin can tell you, it messes with the mind in inexplicable ways. As grandma’s pain management drugs were changed, trying to bring her out of her delusion, the hard reality was that grandma had changed overnight, permanently.

After a few years trying many different care options, including a detox and psychiatric analysis, we were told that grandma suffered from dementia. And so began my family’s journey through territory none of us knew anything about, having to learn how to navigate the tumultuous seas of grandma’s mind.

Many families in the Tulalip community face dementia in one form or another. The condition affects people in different ways, often leaving the families caring for their grandparents and parents, feeling left with nowhere to turn for advice and support. On Thursday, August 19, Tulalip Behavioral Health, along with the Tulalip Karen I. Fryberg Health Clinic and Tulalip Family Services, will be hosting an event for people to come and hear what medical professionals have to say about dementia, what assistance programs are available at Tulalip, and to share their stories and concerns in a quest to better understand the condition. I know for me, I had many questions, and still do today.

Family Services psychiatrist Dr. Grosskopf will discuss what exactly dementia is and how it is different from normal aging, in addition to general symptoms, how dementia is treated, and how patients and their families can cope.

For grandma, the change came literally overnight. She went to the hospital as her same old self, and woke up an entirely different person. It’s hard to comprehend how such a drastic permanent change can happen so quickly. We had to adjust suddenly, learning how to care for grandma, how to interact with her and live in her world. I was not me, at least not in her world. I was my father or my brother, or sometimes no one at all. But every once in a while, I was myself.

Rosemary Hill, mental health therapist at Family Services, has some insight on this, as dementia has touched people in her life.

“I’m not comfortable lying to them,” she began, “but trying to understand the world and the time that they are living in, sometimes playing along or deflecting is best. My husband has dementia. He never really has been able to grieve the loss of his son. He asks where he is. Or he will say he knows something is wrong with his son, but he doesn’t quite know what it is. How many times can you really tell someone their son died?”

The same was true for grandma. My Auntie Cherie was developmentally challenged, and lived with my grandparents for much of her life. She passed away the year after grandma’s dementia developed. Grandma would ask about her, where she was, who was watching her, and we had to respond as if she was in her room watching TV, or out on a drive with one of her brothers.

Hill will present on how she helps patients to manage their lives. Symptoms are so different and individual. There are those, like grandma, who change at the flip of a switch. For some, the diagnosis seems to have no effect until a rapid decline near the end, and yet others see a steady regression. Hill helps people to learn how to care for all of these, regardless of a diagnosis. With grandma, we cared for her for a while before she was diagnosed with dementia, and there were times when she was so upset she would fight everyday tasks.

Hill said, “How do you care for someone refusing to eat, bath, or clothe themselves? These are the behaviors I help people manage.”

Sometimes, it’s not about the loss of function at all, it’s about feeling insulted or embarrassed. Grandma refused to eat, unless we were all eating. And, she would refuse to eat if what was on her plate was different than everyone else, or if her food was all pre-cut into bites. But she could still feed herself, often stealing food from my plate when she thought I wasn’t looking.

There is a point where people do need help. As the condition progresses and people lose memory, they also lose their ability function normally. It seems that too often dementia goes undiagnosed, untreated, and denied or ignored out of embarrassment. Alison Brunner, who manages the caregiver program, explains many people’s attitude towards admitting that they need help. Admitting they can no longer live alone and need someone available for 24-hour assistance is a loss of independence.

“People don’t want to talk about it. They don’t want to admit that their memory is slipping. The Tulalip people are a strong people, a proud people,” she said.

Even today, now four years after grandma’s passing, it is still difficult to write about. My grandma was General Manager of the Tulalip Tribes, asked to return from retirement twice to help keep the tribal government operations on track. Growing up, I knew her to be a strong woman, sharp, and high-functioning. She cared for my aunt, my grandfather, and anyone that needed help. To lose her to dementia so quickly was devastating, and though we lived through it, I don’t remember ever really talking about it.

The seminar that will be on August 19 at the Tulalip Administration building is intended to inform, but also to share in experiences and gather support and strength. There is so much to understand about dementia, but even a simple understanding can bring reassurance with such an uncertain and inconsistent disorder. I know for my family, working to understand dementia seemed to make caring for her easier. Hopefully, families that attend the seminar will have the same realization.

Andrew Gobin is a staff reporter with the Tulalip News See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department.
Email: agobin@tulalipnews.com
Phone: (360) 716.4188

Abuse and Neglect: The Toxic Lives of Drug Endangered Children

Lorraine Jessepe, Indian Country Today

An 8-month-old baby drowns in the bathtub while his father gets high smoking marijuana with friends. A baby girl is barricaded inside her playpen, ignored while her parents party with friends. A grade school boy wanders the early morning streets alone in his Halloween costume, not knowing how to get to his school party because his mother is at home, passed out on drugs.

In her 20 years of experience in law enforcement, Lori Moriarty has seen heartrending stories of children like these caught in the cycle of substance abuse—the root cause of child abuse and neglect.

Moriarty spoke to a gathering of about 150 tribal officials, law enforcement officers, educators, attorneys and victims’ advocates on developing a successful collaborative response to drug endangered children at the 2014 Indian Country Conference, July 16-17 at Prairie Band Casino and Resort in Mayetta, Kansas. “I’m going to tell you today,” Moriarty said, “children plus drugs equals risk.”

Today, Moriarty serves as vice-president of the National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children in Westminster, Colorado, an organization working to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect by empowering practitioners to identify and respond to children living in dangerous drug environments.

The NADEC defines drug endangered children as children who are at risk of suffering physical or emotional harm as a result of illegal drug use, possession, manufacturing, cultivation or distribution. They may also be children whose caretaker’s substance misuse interferes with the caretaker’s ability to parent and provide a safe and nurturing environment.

In Indian country, American Indian/Alaskan Native children experience child abuse and neglect at much higher rates than their non-Native peers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Why are we not looking for the kids?”

Moriarty said one of the biggest challenges of substance abuse and drug endangered children has been competing goals between law enforcement and child welfare advocates. While the goal for child welfare advocates may be family reunification, law enforcement’s primary focus has been arrests and seizures. “Why are we not looking for the kids?”

After a parent is arrested, children are placed in foster care, which can also prove traumatic for the child. “I want us to have a common vision,” Moriarty said. “Where do we come together?”

Moriarty pointed to FBI statistics that indicated an illegal drug arrest is made in the U.S. every 21 seconds. In 2011 alone, 1.5 million drug arrests were made. For Moriarty, the big question is this: How many children were associated with the arrestees?

In 2005, for example, Moriarty said the North Metro Drug Task Force in Adams County, Colorado made 88 arrests. Of those 88 arrests, 137 kids were associated with the arrestees.

According to a 2005 study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 9.2 million children live in homes where parents or other adults in the home engage in substance abuse. Substance abuse in the home is a huge stressor in a child’s life, Moriarty said. “It’s called toxic stress.”

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University defines toxic stress in kids as frequent, prolonged adversity, such as exposure to violence and substance abuse, without adequate adult support. This can have long-term negative consequences in children’s lives.

Drug endangered children are at risk to develop emotional, behavioral and cognitive issues such as problems with language development, poor memory and the inability to learn from mistakes. They also have a higher risk of becoming substance abusers themselves.

Moriarty said children who suffer child abuse and neglect are 59 percent more likely to be arrested as juveniles, 28 percent more likely to be arrested as adults, and 30 percent more likely to commit violent crimes.

A Collaborative Mindset

Early intervention and developing a collaborative mindset increases the likelihood of breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect. Moriarty told conference attendees that a collaborative mindset involves the exchange of information between law enforcement, child protective services, judicial, emergency and medical providers to make each other stronger. “Let’s not have that next generation wanting to use,” she said. “We have to start sharing information,”

On that note, Daniel Goombi (Kiowa-Apache), Tribal Victim Services advocate for the Prairie Band Potawatomi, said good communication and knowing the cultural dynamics of small, Native communities is crucial. “Everything we do is about relationships,” Goombi said. “You have to know the people you’re working with.”

Although social change may take decades, Moriarty said the goal in Indian country should be 100 percent healthy, happy and safe children. “These kids are resilient. Don’t ever forget that. We can make a difference in their lives.”

Tulalip Great Strides raises $44K for cystic fibrosis

More than 300 walkers complete a 5K course through Tulalip to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation July 12.— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner — More than 300 walkers complete a 5K course through Tulalip to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation July 12.
— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner

By Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe

TULALIP — More than 300 walkers turned out to help raise $44,000 and counting for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation during the Tulalip Great Strides Walk July 12.

Anna Lester, development manager for the Washington and Alaska chapter of CFF, explained that the top three teams in the Tulalip walk’s sixth year generated nearly $20,000.

“Those are some amazing numbers,” said Lester, who recalled the Tulalip walk’s totals growing from $10,000 to $24,000 in its first and second years, before generating $30,000 and $40,000 in its third and fourth years. “We took in close to the same amount this year that we did last year, which is still amazing.”

Lester credited the day’s warm, sunny weather with inspiring more walkers to step outside, and expressed her appreciation to the Tulalip Tribes for their support over the years.

“The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the largest funding source for a cure for CF,” Lester said. “Just about every new drug in the fight against cystic fibrosis has been made possible, at in part, by CFF fundraisers like Great Strides.”

Lester touted Seattle Children’s Hospital as among the top researchers of cystic fibrosis, and identified research and treatment as the primary recipients of Great Strides, whose goal for 2014 is to raise $43 million through 600 walks nationwide.