Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-5-21

26 I HEALTH I
May 5, 2021
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
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West and Mid Rivers News Health and Header 2-3703B.indd 2
3/1/21 4:35 PM
Leadership teams from Mercy and Dierbergs recently held a ribbon-cutting
to celebrate the next step in their St. Louis area collaboration. (Source: Mercy)
health
capsules
By LISA RUSSELL
Mercy completes acquisition
of Dierbergs pharmacies
All 22 of Dierbergs Markets’ traditional
and specialty pharmacies officially became
Mercy Pharmacy locations on April 19.
Officials from both companies marked the
transition with a blessing and ribbon-cutting
ceremony at the Dierbergs Lafayette
Square location in Manchester.
With this expansion, Mercy now offers
34 retail pharmacies in the St. Louis region.
Mercy also has plans to develop a pharmacy
in a new Dierbergs store under construction
in the Shoppes of Hawk Ridge in Lake Saint
Louis, slated to be open late in 2021.
“Adding the Dierbergs Pharmacy locations
to Mercy gives our patients more convenience
for obtaining needed medicines.
With this new collaboration, our Mercy-
GoHealth Urgent Care centers – many
located in the same shopping plazas as
Dierbergs stores – and our rapid expansion
of outpatient sites, we are bringing even
more convenient health care services to
where people live, work and shop throughout
the Metro area,” said Stephen Mackin,
executive vice president, Mercy and president,
Mercy St. Louis Community.
With the agreement completed, Mercy
also has added more than 150 Dierbergs
pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and
other pharmacy associates to its team of
employees.
CF diagnosis may soon
be simplified
The genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF)
currently affects one in every 3,300 births
in the United States. As Cystic Fibrosis
Awareness Month also takes place in May,
a new and far simpler screening method
for CF may soon help to ease some of the
diagnostic burden for babies, families and
physicians alike.
A Northwestern University-led research
team has developed a gentle, easy-to-read
sticker that, when applied to a baby’s skin,
absorbs sweat and then changes color to
provide an accurate diagnosis of CF within
minutes. While measuring chloride levels in
a sweat test has been the diagnostic standard
for decades, the current technology involves
a rigid, bulky and often uncomfortable device
which must be strapped to infants’ wrists for
at least 30 minutes to collect their sweat.
In testing of the stickers at Chicago’s
Lurie Children’s Hospital, researchers
found that they were not only more comfortable
for children, but could also collect
about 33% more sweat than the current
method, helping to ensure that just one test
can provide an accurate result.
Because it is so simple to use, the stickers
may eventually provide the option of
testing children outside of hospitals in the
home, which could help families in rural
areas or in medical settings without special
diagnostic tools.
For families already anxious about a
CF diagnosis, though, doctors involved in
the testing said the sticker technology can
offer several advantages right now over
the collection devices currently in general
use. “Some parents bring their baby
in for testing and are sent home without a
confirmed result because the device was
unable to collect enough sweat,” said study
co-author Dr. Susanna McColley, a pediatric
pulmonologist at Lurie. “They go home,
without knowing if their baby has a serious
disease or not, and their baby cannot yet
start treatment. It can be agonizing.”
The research and study findings were
published in the journal Science Translational
Medicine.
Tanning bed ban for minors
could prevent many cancers
If the U.S. were to impose a ban on the
use of tanning beds by adolescents under
17, thousands of potentially deadly skin
cancers could be prevented and millions of
dollars in healthcare costs saved, according
to a recent review published in the journal
CANCER.
Indoor tanning has been linked to an
increased risk of all types of skin cancer –
including melanoma, which is potentially
fatal if not detected early – with the highest
risk in those who start using tanning
beds at a young age. In fact, melanoma has
become one of the most common cancers
among young adults, especially women.
But despite this increased knowledge,
indoor tanning remains a common practice
among young Americans. Research
shows that 17% of U.S. teens have used
tanning beds, as have 59% of college students.
One-third of those who regularly tan
indoors start doing so before age 18.
A handful of countries, including the
U.K., France, Germany and Spain, have
implemented policies to ban tanning beds
for those under 18, while the U.S. and
Canada have not. Such bans, say this
study’s Canadian authors, have the potential
to save lives and treatment-related
costs – although they do come with their
own price tags related to policy implementation
and enforcement, as well as lost revenue
to the tanning industry.
To consider both the benefits and costs of
a ban, investigators modeled the lifespans
of the 17.1 million Americans who are now
between the ages of 14 and 17. The team’s
simulations compared the outcomes, both
financially and in terms of health consequences,
of instituting a ban versus not
doing so.
Their simulations showed that a ban
would prevent more than 15,000 melanoma
cases and produce an economic savings of
more than $205 million over their lifetimes.
On the calendar
BJC offers a Young Athlete Center
Bridge Program on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
May 11, 13, 18, 20 and 25, from 6:30-
7:30 p.m. at the Children’s Specialty Care
Center, 13001 N. Outer Forty Road, Suite
350 in Town & Country. A maximum of
four children per class is allowed; the fee
is $25 per child. Please register the child
only by visiting classes-events.bjc.org.
• • •
American Red Cross blood drives
will be held on Tuesday, May 18 at Grace
Presbyterian Church, 6308 Hwy. N in St.
Charles; and on Sunday, May 23 from
11 a.m.-4 p.m. at two BJC St. Charles
County locations: Progress West Hospital,
2 Progress Point Parkway in O’Fallon;
and Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
Medical Office Building #1, 6 Jungermann
Circle, Suite 117 in St. Peters. Sign up for
an appointment time and view other area
drives online at redcrossblood.org.
• • •
St. Luke’s Hospital presents Weight
Loss Surgery: Transform Your Life,
Restore Your Health on Thursday, May
20 from 6-7 p.m., live via Webex. During
this online seminar, a St. Luke’s surgeon
will discuss and answer your questions
about the weight loss procedures offered
at MyNewSelf Bariatrics at St. Luke’s
Des Peres Hospital. Register for the free
session online at stlukes-stl.com; for more
information, call (314) 966-9639.