Nationwide Public Health Alert

Life-Threatening Risk Posed by Cocaine Laced with Veterinary Anti-Parasite Drug

SAMHSA is alerting medical professionals, substance abuse treatment centers, and other public health authorities about the risk that substantial levels of cocaine may be adulterated with levamisole—a veterinary anti-parasitic drug.
There have been approximately 20 confirmed or probable cases of agranulocytosis (a serious, sometimes fatal blood disorder), including two deaths, associated with cocaine adulterated with levamisole. The number of reported cases is expected to increase as information about cocaine adulterated with levamisole is disseminated.

http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/090921vet5101.aspx

Northern Arizona Walk 2009
Welcome to the first Northern Arizona NAMI Walk!

Location:
Buffalo ParkFlagstaff, AZ
Date:
October 10, 2009
Distance:
2.3 MI
Check-in:
9:30 am
Start Time:
11:00 am

For more information about this event, please contact:
Carrie Beaver carrieb101@gmail.comPhone: 928-773-7906
Family Team Chair: Rachel Peterson rachel.peterson@narbha.org
Honorary Chair: Sara Presler
Honorary Chair: Rob Adams
Business Chair: Rob Adams

To find out more about NAMI and their supporters: http://www.nami.org/

MBRACE Life Suicide Prevention Summit next week

The Fifth Annual MBRACE Life Summit for Suicide Prevention is September 25 and 26 at the Lodge at Cliff Castle in Camp Verde, Ariz. The Summit targets Native American youth and counselors, teachers, health care providers or other community members who work with Native American youth to raise awareness and fight stigma of suicide.

Presenter topics include:

• Combining Traditional Ceremonies with Conventional Treatment
• Working to Reduce Alcohol Availability to Minors
• Suicide Safety Planning
• Recovery: Embracing the 12-Step Philosophy of Healing
• Two Spirit Presentation
• Gang Activity as a Contributing Factor for Adolescent Suicide
• Healing Herbs
  

Sweat lodges, a prayer tree and other ceremonies also will be observed.

For more information visit http://mbracelife.org,
or contact Rachel Peterson at rachel.peterson@narbha.0rg.

The Summit is a project of the Native American Suicide Prevention and Awareness Coalition (NASPAC) and the Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority (NARBHA).

About Recovery Month

What is Recovery Month?
Recovery Month is an annual observance that takes place during the month of September.
The Recovery Month observance highlights the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment, lauds the contributions of treatment providers and promotes the message that recovery from substance abuse in all its forms is possible. The observance also encourages citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective substance abuse treatment for those in need. Each year a new theme, or emphasis, is selected for the observance.
Recovery Month provides a platform to celebrate people in recovery and those who serve them. Each September, thousands of treatment programs around the country celebrate their successes and share them with their neighbors, friends, and colleagues in an effort to educate the public about treatment, how it works, for whom, and why. Substance abuse treatment providers have made significant accomplishments, having transformed the lives of untold thousands of Americans. These successes often go unnoticed by the broader population; therefore, Recovery Month provides a vehicle to celebrate these successes.
Recovery Month also serves to educate the public on substance abuse as a national health crisis, that addiction is a treatable disease, and that recovery is possible. Recovery Month highlights the benefits of treatment for not only the affected individual, but for their family, friends, workplace, and society as a whole. Educating the public reduces the stigma associated with addiction and treatment. Accurate knowledge of the disease helps people to understand the importance of supporting treatment programs, those who work within the treatment field, and those in need of treatment.

http://www.recoverymonth.gov/

Dental Hygiene Care

The NAU Dental Hygiene Clinic is now open and accepting appointments!

NAU Dental Hygiene Clinic provides comprehensive dental hygiene and preventive dental services to the public. Fees for services are reasonable and depend on the individual needs and services provided.

The clinic also sees AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) patients and senior citizens. Services provided by the clinic include, but are not limited to:

• Blood pressure screening
• Oral cancer screening
• Dental examination
• Periodontal Assessment (evaluation for gum disease)
• Education related to oral health
• Radiographs (X-rays)
• Dental Hygiene Therapy
• Conservative Periodontal Therapy
• Fluoride application
• Sealants (coating to prevent decay on the chewing surfaces of teeth)

Clinic hours: Appointments can be made by calling 523-3500.

Clinic Hours:

Monday 1-4 & 5-8
Tuesday 1-4 & 5-8
Wednesday 9-12 & 5-8
Thursday 9-12


NAU parking permits are required and are available from the clinic receptionist.
The clinic is located on south campus in Building 66, room 216.

Why Our Health Matters

NOW AVAILABLE!
A landmark book that illuminates how we have let health care in America become overpriced, ineffective and ultimately disastrous - and what we can all do to fix it.
Almost everyone who has been treated by - or works within - the American health care system at least suspects that it is deeply dysfunctional and on the verge of collapse. Although politicians have weighed in on all sides, in these pages bestselling author Andrew Weil, M.D., identifies the root of the problem. He shows precisely how American medicine, manipulated by profiteering drug companies and abandoned by government overseers, has lost its way. He then presents a solution that will not only make health care affordable, but will also dramatically improve the rapidly deteriorating health of the nation's citizens.

For more information please click here:

http://www.whyourhealthmatters.com/

A Conversation About Health Care Reform

A Conversation About Health Care Reform

Sponsored by
The Interdisciplinary Health Policy Institute
North Country Health Care
The Department of Politics & International Affairs

Panelists
· Eric Henley, MD, MPH, Medical Director—Central Region, North Country Health Care
· Douglas Paget, MD, Senior Associate, Medical Affairs Division, W.L. Gore Inc.
· Kimberly VanPelt, MA, Associate Director, Research & Policy, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives
· Jacqueline Vaughn, PhD, Professor of Politics & International Affairs, NAU

Free and Open to the Public
Bring Your Questions to this Open Forum
NAU Cline Library Assembly Hall
4:30-6:00, Wednesday, September 30