Do you get a moderate amount of exercise, eat right, keep from piling on fat and avoid smoking?

Well, congratulations! You’re among the 2.7 percent of Americans who do so, according to a new study.Unfortunately, the other 97.3 percent of American adults fail on healthy lifestyle habits.

This study looked at data on more than 4,700 people who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Survey. The researchers assessed how many people followed four general “principles of healthy living” — a good diet, moderate exercise, not smoking and keeping body fat under control. People who adhere to those four behaviors can help reduce their risk of many health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Unfortunately, less than 3 percent of the adults in the study achieved all four of the healthy living measures, the researchers found. Overall, 71 percent of the adults surveyed did not smoke, 38 percent ate a healthy diet, 10 percent had a normal body fat percentage and 46 percent got sufficient amounts of physical activity. Sixteen percent had three of the healthy lifestyle behaviors, 37 percent had two, 34 percent had one and 11 percent had none.

Among the other findings: women were more likely than men to not smoke and to eat a healthy diet, but they were less likely to have adequate physical activity levels. And when it came to race and ethnicity, Mexican-Americans were more likely to eat a healthy diet than blacks or whites.

The study was conducted by researchers at Oregon State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. Further research is needed to identify ways to get American adults to adopt more healthy lifestyle habits, the experts said.

The study was published recently in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Source: Medline Plus

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

Today’s #HumanofHealthScience is:

Annalise Rosik, Sophomore, Nutrition and Food Science major and graphic design minor

“I became interested in health and wellness in high school because I started to see how the foods I ate throughout the day effected my body, energy, and mood. I chose nutrition because it is an extremely effective form of preventative medicine and a career field I believe combines my love for creativity with my passion for people and their health.

After graduating from CBU, I would love to work in some area of nutritional agriculture or even nutrition education through agriculture. I love seeing people make the connection between their food and the hands that slaved away to provide it. It gives value and a history to the food we take for granted everyday.”

#HumansOfHealthScience

Follow us on Instagram: @cbuhealthscience

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

On Tuesday, March 8^th, we had the privilege of having Mr. Ryan Starling as our second guest speaker for the Distinguished Lecture Series. He has worked for San Bernardino City Fire for eleven years and currently holds the position of Engineer Paramedic. Along with his firefighter duties, he is responsible for conducting new-hire testing, new-hire background investigations, new-hire background investigations, new hire probationary training, department training and certifications, and is currently assigned to station headquarters on the tiller truck. Ryan has received multiple Letters of Accommodation for his actions with the department. Along with being a firefighter, he is also a Tactical Medic on the SWAT team with the San Bernardino City Police Department. He is responsible for the medical safety of his fellow officers in a tactical environment, serving high-risk warrants, and responding to barricaded suspects and hostage situations. Additionally, he is responsible for the medical training of the SWAT team and teaches Active Shooter classes to surrounding agencies with fellow members of his team.

Ryan spoke about his journey leading him up to where he is now. He attended and played baseball at CBU back when it was California Baptist College (CBC). He began his journey as an EMT, and then worked as an ER Tech at Parkview Hospital. He then applied for the fire academy and left CBC and his baseball career. He then continued working as a firefighter up in Northern California and then got married to his wife, Tracey. He then applied to come back to CBC and also applied to paramedic school. Just as he was getting ready to return to CBC, he got accepted to paramedic school and decided to leave CBC once again. After working as paramedic, he got an offer for San Bernardino Fire Department. He then got offered a position as a SWAT Tactical Medic and has been working there for many years now.

This all lead up to December 2^nd, the worst terrorist attack in the country since 9/11.

That morning Ryan and his team were at SWAT training doing active shooter training, ironically. They went through the first scenario, continued on to the second scenario and then they heard the dispatcher’s voice. Ryan and his team were 22 minutes away from the location of the San Bernardino shooting, according to Google Maps. They got there in 9 minutes.

He went on to mention that anyone in law enforcement was paged; they wanted to flood the area as fast as possible. After arriving at the scene in 9 minutes, they went around the building and encountered multiple people outside. Their job was to get inside and trying to find out where the shooter was, alongside gathering all kinds of information.

The day of the shooting, the innocent people that work at the Inland Regional Center were having their Christmas party. It is known that the suspect was in fact in attendance and left the room during the event, leaving a backpack on the table and returned 35 minutes later to commit this horrific attack.

Ryan remembers hearing screams, multiple cries, food on the table, water falling from the ceiling because the fire alarms had been pulled, the smell of gunpowder and small trails of blood coming in to the room along with the water. He continued through the room, trying to find the threat. The SWAT team continued upstairs and Ryan stayed down stairs to begin triaging and treatment for over 40 patients by himself. He continued on by going through treating and triaging patients. His job is to do the greatest good for the greatest amount of people.

That day they treated and transported 26 patients. The goal is to get a critical patient to a surgeon in under an hour, and they were able to get all critical patients to a surgeon within 57 minutes. Getting patients to a trauma center within an hour is critical; after an hour, the survival rate goes down to 50%.

What Ryan truly emphasized and repeated is that the county workers were the true heroes that day. There had been a course taught in what to do in case of an active shooter at that same location a year prior, and the workers had remembered their training and saved many lives that day.

On December 2^nd, we lost 14 innocent lives due to this horrifying terrorist attack that happened in our own backyard.

Ryan is a firm believer that God was present in the whole situation. In fact, when they advised the nearest level 1 trauma centers about bringing in critical patients, they found out that Loma Linda Medical Center and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center had all their surgical rooms cleared that day and that never happens. Although the media never played the footage of Ryan saying God was with them that day, he truly believed that. After he realized the media was not going to play anything with the word ‘God’ involved, he continued by saying it was divine intervention.

After treating the patients on the scene, Ryan was also part of the team that was on the BearCat (an armed vehicle) that was called to rescue an officer that was down. That happened during the shootout with the suspect and several law enforcement officials. Ryan and the team did not have to rescue the officer after all, because he self rescued and continued in the shootout with the suspect. The suspects eventually passed from their wounds from the shootout. They were a husband and wife and had this completely planned out; they were ready to go to war and were extremely trained and prepared. As for many of us, Ryan too agrees that this was one of the most horrific days he’s had to encounter in his career, thus far. He really believes that multiple lives were saved that day thanks to the many law enforcement officials and county employees remembering their training and putting that into motion.

In case of an active shooter in your premises, run out of the premises as fast as you can. If you cannot run, hide and pray, lock all the doors and do not open the door for anyone. If you cannot hide, then fight. Fight with all that you have, throw things, distract the shooter. This can delay the active shooter and prevent many lives from being taken.

In closing, Ryan left the students with some words of wisdom:

“Never make rash decisions, always sleep on things, listen to people, look people in the eyes. Remember that please and thank you’s go a long way. In everything that you do let the Lord be a light through you. Always lead by example and let the Lord’s light shine through you. People will notice the difference. Even if you have a horrible boss, remember that you are a servant of God and do everything to the best of your ability. You have the ability to impact and save lives so continue to push hard and improve yourself in education and the field that you are in.”

What a truly impactful and inspiring lecture. Thank you Mr. Ryan Starling for your service and for your willingness to come speak to our students about what happened on December 2^nd. We would also like to express our thanks to all the law enforcement individuals that partook in protecting our safety that day and everyday.

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

Did you know that your optometrist can save your life? Some diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure can be detected by an optometrist during a comprehensive eye exam.

This March we are joining in bringing awareness and reminding everyone about how important it is to schedule regular comprehensive eye examinations. These examinations may detect eye health problems, vision difficulties, and general health issues.

Eye examinations are not just important for adults, but also for children. There are several different ways to check a child’s vision that are used depending on the child’s age. Starting at birth, a baby’s eyes should be examined for possible signs of congenital eye problems.

While only 4 out of 100 children have amblyopia, also known as a lazy eye, the only way for it to be caught early is with a thorough eye examination. Early detection of amblyopia can help prevent permanent vision loss. In honor of Save Your Vision Month, please schedule yours and your children’s eye exams today.

Today’s ‪#‎HumanofHealthScience‬ is:

Jadah Stance, Senior, Nutrition and Food Science major

“I chose to to pursue a profession in Nutrition because I wanted to be on the prevention side of healthcare. My grandmother passed away from kidney failure caused by her diagnosis of diabetes and through that experience I knew I wanted to come alongside individuals and help them take steps toward avoiding the same fate my grandmother faced.

In a new research article released on Tuesday in an issue of the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, researchers looked at women’s cardiovascular health. This article mainly focused on research promoting the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women.

The American Heart Association has reported that some findings within the issue were:

• Despite having less severe coronary artery disease than men the same age, women under age 50, were at greater risk for recurrent vessel blockage and adverse events after having percutaneous coronary intervention, a procedure to open narrowed or blocked blood vessels.  For five years, researchers followed 10,963 patients (3.6 percent women under age 50). While procedural success rates were similar by sex, the cumulative rate of major adverse events was higher in young women at one- and five year follow-ups. “Because of their many years of remaining life expectancy that are threatened by early onset CAD, young women with CAD are a population that warrants special attention,” the authors wrote in their conclusion.
• Among adults with acute coronary syndrome or stable angina and obstructive buildup of plaques in the heart, women, as compared to men, were at significantly higher risk of adverse events (i.e. death and readmission for angina, heart attack, stroke and heart failure), regardless of ethnicity. A key finding of the study was that hospital readmission for angina was the most common adverse event, accounting for 45percent of all observed events. This finding was observed among all sex-ethnic groups, except among the Chinese women whose adverse outcome was driven by higher death rates.  The study, conducted in British Columbia, Canada, involved 49,556 patients (25.6 percent women) of which 65.9 percent had acute coronary syndrome. The study suggests a need for more targeted cardiac care and research for women across different ethnicities.
•  Women were less likely than men to receive optimal care at hospital discharge when admitted for coronary artery disease, and more likely to die within three years, according to a study of 49,358 patients ages 65 and older across 366 U.S. hospitals. Study data were collected through the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines Coronary Artery Disease registry over six years. African-Americans, compared with whites, were also more likely to die from coronary artery disease, though this disparity could not be accounted for by differences in the quality of care. Researchers concluded that about 69 percent of the sex disparity in deaths could potentially be reduced or greatly eliminated by providing optimal and equitable quality of care to women.
• Women with anxiety and no history of coronary artery disease, had higher rates of reduced blood flow compared to women without anxiety. A Canadian study assessed the connection between mood, anxiety and myocardial ischemia (reduced blood flow to the heart) in women and men with and without coronary artery disease. The research indicates that anxiety symptoms, many of which overlap with those of coronary artery disease, might mask heart disease symptoms among women – but not men – and contribute to referral and diagnostic delays for women.
• Compared to young men, young women may be slightly less likely to return to work a year after a heart attack.  The study included 1,680 heart attack patients ages 18 to 55 (57 percent women) who were working full time before having a heart attack. Statistically, however the differences between men and women were not significant after adjusting for several health factors. In this study, women were less likely to be married and were more likely to have professional or clerical jobs than men – which are associated with lower likelihood of returning to work. Participants were part of the VIRGO study (Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes of Young Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients).
•  An analysis of 69,505 middle-aged U.S. women in the Nurses’ Health Study II showed a strong association between a lifestyle-based risk prediction model and the development of cardiovascular disease risk factors, including diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. The Healthy Heart Score estimates the 20-year risk of cardiovascular disease based on nine lifestyle factors. A higher score reflects a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Women with higher predicted risk of heart disease based on the Healthy Heart Score had significantly greater risk of each risk factor individually. The study calls for additional research to evaluate the use of the tool as a strategy for preventing the development of heart risk factors.
• Women who gave birth four times or more had the highest odds of developing metabolic syndrome risk factors such as abdominal obesity, elevated fasting glucose and low good cholesterol – all of which raise the risk of heart disease. The analysis was performed among 7,467 women ages 18 to 74 in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.  The study stresses the importance of considering the number of births as a risk factor for developing metabolic and cardiovascular disorders among Hispanic/Latina women.
• Women had a 53 percent higher risk of developing peripheral artery disease before age 70 compared to men, in a study examining how PAD in chronic kidney disease differs based on gender and age. The prospective study involved 3,174 participants with chronic kidney disease from the multi-center Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort. Researchers recommend future studies to better understand the impact of earlier detection of the disease in women and the biological and clinical basis for the sex-based differences covered in this study.

Heart disease continues being the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, so get checked out often and make sure to continue living a healthy lifestyle to prevent development of heart risk factors.

Source: American Heart Association 

On Tuesday, February 16th, Dr. Nena Sanders, Vice Provost for the College of Health Sciences at Samford University, kicked-off the spring semester Distinguished Lecture Series by touching on the importance of interprofessional education (IPE) in the healthcare field. She began by having the students think about what going on a dream vacation entails; where are we going? what do you need to pack? how are we going to get there? are we there yet? “You have to know where you’re going in order to get there, so why are we going?” she said.

In order to increase patient outcomes, quality and safety, to decrease costs, to improve the shortage of health care providers, to create changes in financial issues and reimbursement, to integrate health care delivery models, and to increase utilization of non-physician providers, interprofessional education is vital.

The IPE journey began when the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) published the report Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality in 2003. This was truly where the idea of IPE was born and when professionals noticed how impactful this could be. Interprofessional education leads to collaborative practice which leads to improved health outcomes.The IPEC reports 4 competency domains: value and ethics, roles and responsibilities, interprofessional teamwork and team-based care, and interprofessional communication practices.

There are three stages of competency development. The first one is exposure, which is the introductory step. The second one is immersion, this is the development and growth stage. The third one is competence, this step is the ‘entry-to-practice’ stage.

As we kept learning about what it will take to reach this IPE journey, Dr. Sanders asked a good question: “What should we pack?”

The first thing is administrative vision and support, followed by IPE training and professional development. Another important thing is faculty buy-in and faculty workgroups charged with developing the vision and mission, core curriculum, and expected student and faculty competencies. Lastly, common IPE framework, a curriculum reflecting integrated healthcare disciplines, and facilities that foster a collaborative environment.

IPE is when students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes. IPE is a necessary step in preparing a collaborative “practice-ready” health workforce that is better prepared to respond to local health needs. Collaborative practice occurs when multiple health workers from different professional backgrounds provide comprehensive services by working with patients, their families, caretakers and communities to deliver the highest quality of care across settings. This also allows health workers to engage any individual whose skills can help achieve local health goals.

“How are we going to achieve this? You. You’re going to learn differently, you’re going to practice differently and you’re going to have a different sense of accountability about caring for those individuals. For the first time in healthcare, we can redefine outcomes for patients, and make their lives better,” she said.

What a great and inspiring lecture to kick-off the spring semester. Thank you, Dr. Sanders!

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

Did you know that approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday, after Christmas?

Well now you know… but what is the real story behind romantic holiday?

After much research on the web, there isn’t one truly ‘certain’ story behind Valentine’s Day. Many talk about how the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine, all of whom were martyred. One legend notes that Valentine was a priest who served during the 3^rd century in Rome. At that time, the emperor, Claudius II decided that the better soldier were those that were single, therefore he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing that this was wrong, continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secrecy, but when the emperor found out about his actions, he was imprisoned and ordered to be put to death. Apparently, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent his first “valentine” after he fell in love with a young girl who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, he wrote his very last letter to her and signed it “From your Valentine”, an expression which we still use today. Although, most of the legends are ambiguous, most of them display Valentine as a sympathetic, heroic and romantic figure. It is because of this reputation that Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

This brings me to talk about the unconditional love that we have been given, even though we didn’t deserve it. I am talking about God’s everlasting love for us. God loved us so much that He sent His one and only son to die on the cross for us, so that we may be saved from our sins. Do you know how much love that is? I know that we have heard this many times but have you truly experienced that love from our Savior? If you know about it, but don’t know Him, I encourage spending time in His Word and spending daily time with Him in the morning. I pray that you will come to know his everlasting love and grace, and that His blessing would pour upon you. As this Valentine’s Day approaches, let it not be just about chocolate, candy, roses, and notes, but also about sharing God’s love with those around you and learning more about Him.

As you go throughout your day, reflect on this verse and feel God’s love:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

On January 22-23^rd, California Baptist University’s College of Health Science and the School of Nursing co-hosted the Global Missions Health Conference. The purpose of this conference was to gather students and faculty and to explore a life of medical missions.

We began the afternoon with Dr. Oaks, Dean of the School of Nursing, welcoming the attendees and setting the tone for the evening with an inspiring quote.

“As long as you’re here and breathing, be willing to make a difference.”

The conference kicked off with worship and Jeff Lewis speaking on God’s heart for the nations. He spoke on some mission myths such as “I’m not called to full time ministry” and “the nations will be discipled through the vocational missionary” He talked about how God has already called everyone who has recognized him as savior to serve. He also mentioned that while we are here, we are preparing ourselves physically, spiritually and intellectually, as disciples of the nations who have been called to be ambassadors of the nation.

Jeff also talked about how our intentions to serve should not be man centered, but God centered. It’s not the goals and dreams that we have for ourselves that set the agenda, what sets the agenda is the call. If you’re truly mobilized for Christ, the calls of Christ should dictate your life. He ended his talk by saying our hearts; beat as His heart, our mission should be His mission.

After this the attendees broke out into small groups and began their discussion session. These discussions were lead by some of our faculty and staff. The groups would debrief the talk they just heard and think more deeply about how it can be applicable to their lives. Following the discussion sessions, there was worship and then a bonfire with a full s’mores bar and hot cocoa bar. The attendees were also able to visit the exhibitor’s tables and interact with each other in a time of fellowship.

Day 2 of the conference was a fun filled day. The conference started out with worship and then a talk by Jerri. Jerri is a nurse who has served overseas for about 15 years. She gave her personal testimony as to how God brought her to be where He wanted her to be. This truly was an inspiring and heartfelt talk. The main point of Jerri’s story is that it is never too late, you are never to old, and it doesn’t matter where God is taking you, make sure you are obedient and follow Him and He will take care of the rest. Do not spend your time worrying; insteadspend your time praising him.

The second keynote speaker was Dr. Rebekah Naylor, who spoke on the joy of obedience. She began by stating that joy is the result from knowing God. The word joy is used in the bible over 150 times. She went on to say that the source of Christian joy is union with Jesus Christ. The whole of our nature is and should be center on Jesus. The joy that she was referring to is independent of circumstances, and that sometimes the bad circumstances increase our joy. She said that in times of testing or temptation, that is when we should fully surrender ourselves to God. We need to be totally sure about submission to God. In Nehemiah, it states that the joy of the Lord is our strength. When you have this joy, you can endure the things that are difficult in you life. Then she went on to talk about how obedience comes into the picture. Being obedient brings tremendous joy. We see many characters in the bible who were overfilled with the joy of the Lord by being obedient. She told a story about a woman with tuberculosis, whom she helped heal physically and spiritually and how, that brought her so much joy. She wrapped up her talk with one quote “obey and discover the joy.”

Brian Zuniga was the last keynote speaker and his talk was titled “A call to action”. He began by asking us to reflect on our lives and where we currently are at the moment. He said that we should see where Jesus is moving and move accordingly, but keep in mind that flying across the ocean does not change your life. We must learn to change our lives and the lives of other lost people around us. He related spirituality with health by telling the attendees they should use “spiritual triage”, which is addressing the biggest need first. He also went on to say that you should give your life to a task and not a time. Once again, you see that you can serve anytime, anywhere, any place. He wrapped up his talk by leading the attendees into a time of reflection and worship.

The conference concluded with students and staff writing their next steps of commitment onto the back of a commitment card and placing them on a map to wherever they feel they are being called to serve. This was truly a wonderful conference and a very eye-opening and heart-opening weekend. We hope that you will join us next year at the Global Missions Health Conference – West Coast.

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science

Is your future in healthcare? Do you feel called to medical missions? If so, come join us for a student event dedicated to exploring a life engaged in medical missions. Our goal for this gathering is to explore a lifelong calling of medical missions whether that is domestic or international, short-term or long-term. However that calling on your life might look, our purpose is to help you build a plan for submitting your life to the amazing journey of health care missions.

CBU’s College of Health Science and School of Nursing will be co-hosting this event. This conference will be filled with information from various keynote speakers who have had experiences in missions. There will be time for reflection, discussions, and worship. This conference is more than a regular conference; it will fill you with knowledge as well as fulfill you spiritually through fellowship and time for reflection and prayer.

This conference will take place on California Baptist University’s campus in Riverside, California on January 22-23, 2016.

For more information and registration, please visit: www.medicalmissions.com/conferences

Maria Perez, Health Science Pre-Med

Student Blogger

College of Health Science