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University of Arizona cardiologists making advancements in non-invasive heart procedures

All Storiesasnsadmin04/30/20130

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The University of Arizona and the Sarver Heart Center are working to provide patients of Southern Arizona the latest advancements in life-saving, non-invasive heart procedure techniques, including the transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR program.

The University of Arizona Medical Center is the first in the region to be approved to perform the TAVR procedure, which is ideal for patients who, for health reasons, aren’t eligible for open-heart surgery or are at high risk of death or serious complications from open-heart surgery, according to the UA Department of Surgery website and Dr. Kapil Lotun, MD, who was recruited in August 2011 to start the TAVR program at UA.

TAVR uses a procedure that is not unlike balloon angioplasty and coronary stenting, wherein a TAVR device is compressed and attached to a balloon device that is inserted through the groin. The device is pushed through the aortic valve and the balloon is inflated to expand the replacement valve. The balloon then deflates, leaving the new valve securely in place and allowing blood to flow to the heart.

Lotun said that the TAVR technique is beneficial for high-risk patients because it’s less painful and cuts down the length of hospital stays as well as recovery time compared to the more invasive open-heart surgery.

The saguaro cactus: A cultural icon of the American Southwest

All Storiesasnsadmin04/30/20130

The iconic saguaro cactus has been drawing visitors from all over the world to the Sonoran Desert for centuries. The saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States with mature cacti regularly measuring from 20 to 40 feet up to as tall as 70 feet.

The saguaro’s geographic range is limited to western Sonora and southern Arizona, with small populations extending into California and Sinaloa, according to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Digital Library. It is the second largest cactus in the world, next to the cardon cactus, which grows almost exclusively in western Sonora and Baja California, according to the ASDM Digital Library.

Images of these towering plants have become instantly recognizable symbols of the American Southwest, thanks to written accounts from early settlers, the advent of the automobile and a proliferation of western films over the past several decades of cinematic history.

“They’re very dramatic,” said former Tohono Chul Park horticulturist Russ Buhrow, “especially when you see them in person.”

But before there were cars, movies or white explorers and settlers in this region, the saguaro held an esteemed role in the culture of local Native American tribes, particularly the Tohono O’odham.

Integrative Medicine; Healing Your Body, Mind, and Spirit

All Storiesasnsadmin04/29/20130

Shelves filled with local herbs from the Southern Arizona desert. Photo by Ashley Guttuso

You won’t find white lab coats, prescription pads, or even a pharmacy sign here. Just shelves holding old mason jars filled with Siberian Ginseng, Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Wild Cherry Bark, among an abundance of other herbs.

Tucson Herb Store owner Amanda Brown mixes up oils, herbs, and other native Southern Arizona plants for customers seeking an alternative to traditional, over-the-counter, and prescription medications.

“Some people are skeptical at first,” said Brown after she retold a story about a New Jersey couple that recently visited her shop. Unaccustomed to natural healing methods from Southern Arizona’s local desert plants and flowers, the couple chose a few items to implement into their health care routine, a routine Brown said is a natural approach to health that treats what western medicine sometimes cannot.

“It’s a totally different lifestyle for some people who haven’t used herbal medicine before,” Brown said about the ancient tradition of herbalism, the study and use of medicinal properties of plants.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48 percent of Americans use at least one prescription while 31 percent use two or more prescribed medications monthly. These numbers have continued to rise steadily throughout the past ten years, according to the CDC.

With prescription drug use steadily rising along with costly health care, it’s no wonder more people are turning to alternative medical practices.

Health of Arizona Infographic

All Storiesasnsadmin04/29/20130

Arizona became the 48th state on Feb. 14, 1912, and is home to approximately 6,553,255 Southwest dwellers as of 2012. The Grand Canyon State lags behind the United States in many health indicators, most notably in high rates of childhood obesity and teen birth rates. Click on links and roll over the graphs below to…

EV’s in AZ

All Storiesasnsadmin04/22/20130

April 22 was Earth Day. For some, this conjures fears of global warming, oil shortages and rising gas prices, threats that signal the impeding and almost certain death to gasoline-powered vehicles.

Automotive enthusiasts and consumers alike are shifting their priorities when shopping for cars, as demonstrated by the growing popularity of efficient and smaller models, alternative fuel and electric vehicles.

However, EV’s are not an easy sell. They carry a stigma of being slow with short ranges and limited practicality. To many, the idea of driving an EV has only ever been mildly appealing.

Coupled with arguments that EV’s take too long to charge, it is unlikely that the U.S. will reach the DOE’s goal of 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015.

There is hope for Arizonans, though.

Kari Schlachtenhaufen shows her new Model S to a curious bystander