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Practical Ways to Reduce Your Toddler’s Screen Time

Smart devices and large electronics have a unique way of capturing your little one’s undivided attention. The downside to this situation is how easily they zone in for hours on end. If you’re grasping at straws to get your little ones to do more activities and focus on the moments in front of them, there are various practical ways to reduce your toddler’s screen time. 

Create Tech-Free Spaces 

More than likely, your little one has a designated space at home where they can freely play with their toys and gadgets. If you denote that space as tech-free, you encourage them to play with their toys rather than a device. There may be some initial pushback regarding a lack of tech time, but this is an effective way to reduce overall screen time through enough time and support. 

Consider Open-Ended Activities 

Open-ended activities are an excellent way to encourage a larger block of time dedicated to something developmentally friendly. Things like building blocks designed for your child’s age group are an affordable and creative way to introduce this playing style. They come in all shapes and sizes, so you can find a set of blocks that speaks to your child’s interests. 

Parental Control Features 

Every smart device has the option to control or monitor the activity. This is an excellent solution for those who prefer their children to use their screen time wisely. Setting these boundaries can create a sense of balance around their viewing content, exposure and accessibility. Additionally, this can enable you to teach them healthy use of technology without replacing it altogether. 

Model Healthy Tech Use as a Parent 

Much of what children learn is through watching it happen. Generally, children will emulate their parents’ behaviors and actions, and because of this, it’s vital to establish and model healthy tech use. If they see you on your devices 90 percent of the day, they will think this is acceptable and do it, too. 

Support Hobbies 

When children begin to show interest in one activity, it can quickly turn into a hobby. The challenge of young children picking up a hobby is that they tend to lose patience relatively quickly. 

If you can support these hobbies and interests at a young age, you can foster their curiosity and divert their attention from their other distractions. Most hobbies require a little bit of background work to enjoy fully. So this is a practical way to reduce your toddler’s screen time and help them showcase new talents and interests.  

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Clark County’s COVID-19 Activity Rate More Than Doubles: 1,671 Per 100,000

Vancouver, WA — Clark County Public Health released the latest COVID-19 data that shows an activity rate that has more than doubled from a week ago. Last week, the activity rate was 715 per 100,000. This week the activity rate jumped to 1,671 per 100,000.

Here is this week’s COVID-19 update:

• 6,121 additional cases (confirmed and probable) since last update

• 50,573 confirmed cases to date (+4,455 since last update)

• 7,808 antigen probable cases to date (+1,666 since last update) 

• 6,110 active cases (in isolation period)

Hospitalizations

• 96.8% of hospital beds are occupied

• 98.4% of ICU beds are occupied

• 17.8% of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 cases and persons under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 (awaiting test results)

• 25% of ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 cases and PUIs

• 94 COVID-19 cases and 1 PUI hospitalized

Rates

• COVID-19 activity rate is 1,679.1 cases per 100,000 over 14 days (up from 715.1 last week). 

• COVID-19 new hospital admission rate is 11.8 per 100,000 people over 7 days (up from 7.0 last week)

Deaths

• 623 total deaths to date (573 confirmed, 50 suspect)

• 14 additional confirmed deaths since the last update:

• 2 men in their 30s

• 1 man in his 50s

• 2 men in their 70s

• 2 men 80+ years old

• 3 women in their 60s

• 1 woman in her 70s

• 3 women 80+ years old

• 1 additional suspect death: a woman 80+ years old

More than 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Clark County. And more than 112,000 people have received an additional dose (either a booster or third dose if immunocompromised).

Everyone 5 years and older is eligible to get vaccinated, and those 12 years and older can get a booster dose. If you have questions about the vaccines, please talk to your health care provider.

If you’re ready to get vaccinated or need a booster dose, here’s how you can find a vaccine location near you:

• Search on VaccineLocator.doh.wa.gov

• Search on VaccineFinder.org

• Call 833.VAX.HELP

• Text your zip code to 438829 (GETVAX)

You may learn more on the Clark County health department’s COVID-19 data webpage: https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/covid-19-data 

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Update: Clark County Health Department Records Highest COVID-19 Activity Rate Ever

Vancouver, WA — Clark County Public Health just released their latest COVID-19 update. The last update was issued Thursday, Aug. 26. Clark County has hit its highest COVID-19 activity rate (523 cases per 100,000) since the pandemic broke out in March 2020.

Cases

• 1,602 additional cases (confirmed and probable) since last update

• 29,725 confirmed cases to date (+1,243 since last update)

• 2,730 antigen probable cases to date (+359 since last update) 

• 1,561 active cases (in isolation period)

• 23.3% of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 cases and persons under investigation for COVID-19 (awaiting test results)

• 134 COVID-19 cases and 1 person under investigation for COVID-19 hospitalized

Deaths

• 306 total deaths to date (274 confirmed, 32 suspect)

• 1 new confirmed death since last update: Man in his 50s with underlying conditions

Rates

• COVID-19 activity rate is 523.0 cases per 100,000 over 14 days (up from 397.4 cases per 100,000 last week). 

• COVID-19 new hospital admission rate is 13.6 per 100,000 people over 7 days (up from 9.4 per 100,000 last week)

Learn more on the COVID-19 data webpage: https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/covid-19-data 

You can find more frequent case updates on the state Department of Health data dashboard: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/DataDashboard.

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Clark County COVID-19 Activity Rate Drops to 67.5 Cases Per 100,000

The Clark County Health Department is now issuing weekly COVID-19 reports. The last update was issued Thursday, July 1. Here is the latest data:

  • 138 additional cases (confirmed and probable) since last update
  • 24,540 confirmed cases to date (+111 since last update)
  • 1,564 antigen probable cases to date (+27 since last update) 
  • 155 active cases (in isolation period)
  • 2.6% of hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 cases and persons under investigation for COVID-19 (awaiting test results)

Deaths

  • 288 total deaths to date (254 confirmed, 34 suspect)
  • 1 new confirmed death since last update: a woman 80+ years old with underlying health conditions

Rates

  • COVID-19 activity rate is 67.5 cases per 100,000 over 14 days (down from 95.4 cases per 100,000 last week)
  • COVID-19 new hospital admission rate is 1.8 per 100,000 people over 7 days (down from 2.2 per 100,000 last week)

Learn more at the Clark County COVID-19 data webpage: https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/covid-19-data 

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Dr. Cynthia Bye: Do You Love Sugar? … So Do All Cancers

Vancouver, WA — New research has found an association between early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). EO-CRC is defined as being diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 50. The Nurses’ Health Study 2, a prospective study followed roughly 95,000 female nurses between 1991-2015. The participants who consumed 2 or more SSBs per day in adulthood had a more than doubled risk of EO-CRC when compared with those who consumed less than 1 serving per week. This risk rose by 16% for each additional SSB serving per day. SSBs, which include sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks, and fruit drinks, make up almost 40% of added sugar in diets in the US and 12% of Americans consume 3 or more of these daily. A cola has about 39 grams of sugar, which is approximately 10 tsp of sugar per can. That’s a lot of sugar. 200 years ago, the average American consumed 2 pounds of sugar per year. Today the average American consumes 152 pounds of sugar annually. My goodness, that is 30 five-pound bags of sugar per year.

Consumption of added sugar has become a real problem for the United States. In 2013, the American Heart Association (AHA) published a study attributing 25,000 deaths in the United States to added sugar. In 2019, the AHA published a study that found consuming more than two sweetened drinks per day increased their risk of death by 21%. Excess sugar intake can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, obesity, and diabetes, all of which can contribute to inflammation and cancer. Additionally, tumor cells take up more sugar (glucose) than healthy cells. In a presentation by Dr. Johannes Czernin from UCLA, he states that tumor cells take up 30 times more glucose than healthy cells. This increased glucose uptake is used diagnostically for cancer patients. For Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging, patients must fast for at least 6 hours before their imaging and no carbs/s. for at least 24 hours to starve the cancer cells. Then they are injected with a sugar that has a radioactive tracer tagged onto it.  The PET scan tracks the uptake of sugar/radioactive tracer throughout the body and identifies the areas with the highest consumption. These areas with high consumption of high sugar/tracer, show up as hot spots on imaging indicate the presence of cancer because cancer loves sugar.

Not only is the cancer being fed with the sugar, but the sugar also increases insulin, and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).  As the name suggests, growth factors make cancer grow. Insulin also increases inflammation. At the end of the day, it all comes down to inflammation. We tell our patients that inflammation is the cause of all disease and it is a common thread we see in our cancer patients. Short-term inflammation can be beneficial for things like wound healing or your body fighting off an infection like influenza. But chronic inflammation is the villain here. Symptoms of inflammation can be vague like joint pain, allergies, fatigue, or poor digestion. These symptoms are like your car’s check engine light and they’re telling you that something isn’t right. When your check engine light is on, you take your car to the mechanic so they can diagnose the problem. The same should be true for your body; you should be working with a Naturopathic physician who can connect the dots to determine why your body’s check engine light is on.

Dr. Cynthia Bye, ND, FABNO, is a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO), the only FABNO located in southwest Washington, she did a residency at Cancer Treatment Centers of American, and she has been working in cancer care for 20 years. There are less than 150 Naturopathic doctors in the United States and Canada that have been board certified as FABNO. She works with you to figure out why your check engine light is on.  Through a full review of the system, head to toe she connects the dots as to why it’s on. She works with you to teach you how to take care of yourself. To create lasting lifestyle changes and turn off the “check engine light”.

Each person and each cancer are different, and Dr. Bye utilizes individualized therapies based on your needs. The goal is to work with cancer patients to identify causative factors that cause inflammation. Many things cause inflammation. Dr. Bye supports cancer patients as they go through their treatments with well-researched protocols to reduce side effects without interfering with the treatment, tie up circulating tumor cells to reduce the risk of metastasis, and help cancer patients recover from their treatments. Once treatment is finished, she works with patients to help them recover from radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery using protocols to decrease recurrence risk if they no longer have evidence of disease. For patients with residual disease after treatment, we support their recovery, improve their quality of life, and work to slow down the cancer process. 

Even though signs of chronic inflammation are like a check engine light, your body is not like a car. If your car breaks down, you buy a new one….. You only get one body, and it is the vehicle through which you experience your life. When your “light” comes on, being proactive by changing your lifestyle, and taking charge of your health is the best investment you can make. An easy way to start is by taking the sugar out of your life.  Dr. Bye, works with cancer patients, family members of cancer patients, and individuals looking to reduce their risk of cancer.

To learn more, visit www.cynthiabye.com

Hur J, Otegbeye E, Joh H, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverage intake in adulthood and adolescence and risk of early-onset colorectal cancer among women. Gut. Published Online First: 06 May 2021. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2020-323450

Malik, V. S., Li, Y., Pan, A., De Koning, L., Schernhammer, E., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B. (2019). Long-Term consumption of Sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages and risk of mortality in us adults. Circulation,139(18), 2113-2125. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.118.037401

PET/CT Cancer Imaging: Cancers Eat a lot of Sugar [Video file]. (2013, August 1). Retrieved from https://www.simmsmanncenter.ucla.edu/center_events/petct-cancer-imaging-cancers-eat-a-lot-of-sugar/

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Health Department Answers Questions About Why People Seek COVID-19 Tests

Vancouver, WA — As more people are testing positive for COVID-19 in Clark County — and as the activity rate climbed to 147.6 cases per 100,000 — the Clark County Public Health examined the data to find out why people are seeking testing.

“The vast majority of people who test positive are getting tested because they have symptoms of COVID-19 or because they know someone who tested positive or had symptoms of COVID-19,” the health department said.

Anyone who experiences COVID-19 symptoms should seek testing right away, they advise. If you’re in close contact with someone who tests positive, please stay home for 14 days to ensure you don’t infect others if you also get sick. 

Learn more about what to do if you test positive or are a close contact of someone who tests positive at the health department website: https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/novel-coronavirus

Tuesday’s COVID-19 update

  • 61 new confirmed cases (20,459 to date)
  • 10 new antigen probable cases (854 to date)
  • no new deaths
  • 252 total deaths to date (224 confirmed, 28 suspect)
  • 537 active cases (confirmed and probable cases in isolation period)
  • Clark County COVID-19 activity rate is 147.6 cases per 100,000 (up from 139.8 cases per 100,000 last week)
  • 23 COVID-19 patients hospitalized
  • 4 people hospitalized awaiting COVID-19 test results

Confirmed cases are people with a positive molecular (PCR) test for COVID-19. Antigen probable cases are people with a positive antigen test and no molecular test.

COVID-19
www.cloverpodiatry.com

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Health: Clover Podiatry Opens Its Doors In Downtown Camas

Camas, WA — Clover Podiatry, owned and operated by Dr. Tek Fish, a foot and ankle surgeon, recently opened it doors in downtown Camas. 

A foot and ankle surgeon, as well as a foot and general physician, Dr. Fish treats any issues and ailments from the knee down, which includes skin, muscles, bones, and tendons. 

“We’re happy to be here,” said Dr. Fish. “Clover Podiatry treats ingrown toenails, warts, heel pain, plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, and diabetic foot care.”

He said heel pain is the same as plantar fasciitis — it’s an overuse injury of the heel, usually from tight calf muscles. 

“It happens when you puts too much stress on the tissue on the bottom of your foot,” he said. “It comes from being on your feet too much and not having the right support. Orthotics and stretching are some of the best ways to prevent it. Shockwave therapy is one way to treat it.” 

His clinic also treat ailments that require surgery, such as ankle fractures, bunions, hammer toes, wound care, and trauma. Hammer toes is an imbalance in your foot muscles and results in your toes curling up. People with diabetes get it, too, and it’s corrected through surgery. 

“It’s a fairly simple surgery,” he said “Almost all surgeries I perform are at PeaceHealth.”

He also treats sports injuries like turf toe or ankle sprains, fractures, and shin splints, “which we try to manage with conservative care.”

Most of the time Clover Podiatry doesn’t require referrals. The clinic accepts most insurances: Medicare, Medicaid, Premera Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Regence, United Health Care, Lifewise, Molina Healthcare, etc.

Dr. Fish also encourages patients to wear medical grade orthotics, which are pre-fabricated and available at his practice for 1/3 of the price. 

The move back to the Pacific Northwest in July with is wife Kimberly Fish, a Physician’s Assistant, and his toddler daughter, Devri, was a homecoming for Fish, who grew up in Hockinson.

“We moved back to the Pacific Northwest in July, bought the building on September 1 and spent a couple months renovating it. I grew up in Hockinson, went to Heritage High School, attended BYU (competed on their track team and studied landscape management), then I went to podiatry school at Kent State U, College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated in 2017.”

Dr. Fish stayed in Cleveland for three years of surgical training, and then decided plant roots once again in the Pacific Northwest.

“We plan to be active in the community, and we’re just really happy to be here,” he said.

He also has his own blog, which you can read at his website: www.cloverpodiatry.com

Fish
Clover Podiatry offers high quality orthotics at 1/3 the price.
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COVID-19: Clark County Activity Rate Falls to 137 Cases Per 100,000

Vancouver, WA — According to Clark County Public Health, COVID-19 activity rates plummeted from 209 cases per 100,000 to 137 cases per 100,000 this past week.

Here’s the latest COVID-19 update:

  • 24 new cases
  • 8,135 cases to date
  • No new deaths
  • 221 total deaths to date (199 confirmed, 22 suspect)
  • 245 active cases (in isolation period)
  • 34 COVID-19 patients hospitalized
  • 1 person hospitalized awaiting COVID-19 test results

Learn more on the Clark County Public Health COVID-19 data webpage: https://clark.wa.gov/public-health/covid-19-data

COVID-19
www.lilyatelier.com

Vaccination Update

The Washington State Department of Health received its shipment of Pfizer vaccine for the Clark County Fairgrounds vaccination site. That means the fairgrounds will be open this week to fulfill its second-dose appointments.

Anyone who received their first dose at the fairgrounds site should have received an email from Safeway after receiving their first dose. That follow-up email contains a link to schedule an appointment for the second dose. 

Appointments are best. But anyone who was unable to get a second dose appointment scheduled or didn’t receive the confirmation email, can take their vaccination card and ID to the fairgrounds and receive their second dose without an appointment.

The fairgrounds site is open 9 am to 5 pm Tuesday to Friday and 9 am to 3 pm Saturday.

First-dose appointments are not available at the fairgrounds this week.

COVID-19
Vaccines.
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Customers Visiting Stellar Hair Design May Be At Risk of Contracting COVID-19

Clark County Public Health issued a statement over the weekend that people who visited a Camas salon recently may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should quarantine at home:

Anyone who visited Stellar Hair Design in Camas between 10 am and 7 pm Jan. 19-23 or Jan. 26 may be at risk of contracting COVID-19. Skamania County Community Health and Clark County Public Health have been unable to identify and notify individuals who may have been exposed. It’s unclear how many people may have been exposed.

Individuals who visited the salon during those times should quarantine for 14 days from their most recent visit to the salon during that timeframe.

Health officials recommend anyone exposed to COVID-19 quarantine at home for 14 days and monitor themselves for symptoms. People who do not live or work in a high-priority setting – such as long-term care facilities, health care facilities, food processing facilities or jails – may shorten their quarantine in the following circumstances:

• If a person who is in quarantine has no symptoms, quarantine can end after Day 10.
• If a person who is in quarantine receives a negative COVID-19 test and has no symptoms, quarantine can end after Day 7. The person must be tested on or after Day 5, and quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than Day 8. Even if a negative test is received before Day 8, the quarantine period should still be a full seven days.

Anyone who has been in quarantine should continue to monitor their symptoms through Day 14. If they develop symptoms, they should isolate themselves immediately to avoid infecting others and seek testing for COVID-19.

COVID-19
Ready for take out or delivery. www.champpizza.com
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How Trauma Impacts Your Health — by Dr. Cynthia Bye

As practitioners of naturopathic oncology, we know that the vast majority of cancer diagnoses occur within 5 years of a major trauma. These include the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, to name a few. However, even early childhood trauma can have negative health outcomes many years after the fact. ACEs, or “Adverse Childhood Experiences” are recognized by the CDC as contributing to conditions like heart disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer. When I did my residency at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, all patients had the option of seeing a Psychoneuroimmunologist (PNI). Big word, but basically their job was to ferret out the traumas that impacted the patient’s psychology that impacted the nervous system which ultimately impacted the immune system. 

The underlying issue is “toxic stress.”  This is a prolonged period of stress in which the body is responding physiologically without ever being given a chance to recover. This leads to immune suppression, increased blood sugar, and changes in brain chemistry that predispose people toward anxiety and depression. As many know, toxic stress can lead to stress eating and poor nutritional choices. Ironically, sugar and carbs can increase serotonin transiently which makes you feel better short term until the blood sugar drops and that is another stressor. Stress also tends to reduce our exercise and can lead many times to substance use like alcohol, marijuana, and other recreational drugs. The consequence of these stress behaviors results in increased blood sugar, insulin, obesity, insomnia. All of which increases inflammation and reduce immune function and thus increasing the probability of major disease such as cancer.

As naturopathic physicians who specialize in oncology, we take a detailed look at all aspects of every patient’s health. This includes mental and emotional health. Everyone experiences stressors in their lives. Some people have more trauma than others. What matters is how each person copes with these major stressors. Naturopathic medicine emphasizes lifestyle and nutritional medicine as a first-line approach to health and healing. For example, studies show the simple act of meditating for 15 minutes daily can make an enormous difference in brain function and levels of stress hormones in the body. Making sure to eat whole foods instead of processed “frankenfoods” gives the body what it needs to heal and remain healthy. We also have other tools to address toxic stress such as botanical medicine, targeted supplementation, and homeopathy. When appropriate we will refer our patients for additional counseling. 

If you have experienced a major trauma and are struggling with your health, call our office today to make an appointment.  We take a whole-person, patient-centered approach to health and healing.  No stone will be left unturned.  

Yours in health,

Cynthia Bye, ND, FABNO

Board certified in Naturopathic Medicine

360-695-8800

www.cynthiabye.com

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