By Mark Klabo 

Back pain is a very common problem and a frequent complaint in emergency rooms and doctor’s offices in America and the world.  It is the fifth most common reason for physician visits and 5 out of 10 patients experience back pain at least once every year.
Nine out of ten patients will experience back pain at least once in their life.  The causes of back pain are very broad, so expect your healthcare provider to ask lots of questions to determine the cause of the pain.
The low back is the area associated with the most complaints of back pain.  The spine is connected to a vast network of muscles, nerves, tendons, and ligaments that sense pain when there is an injury to the back.  The pain can be caused by something as simple as a pulled muscle to something as serious as a fractured vertebra from a car accident.  It is important to recall possible causes of the pain and relay them to your provider.
Acute (or new onset) back pain is often seen in individuals who are performing some sort of physical activity that puts stress on the back muscles.  A muscle can be injured which in turn causes some misalignment of the spine, resulting in severe pain.  Often patients come to the ER in pain so severe that they can barely stand or walk.  
Occasionally patients with acute back pain complain of pain in the foot, buttocks, or legs as well.  This can be a sign of impingement on a nerve by some structure in the spine, such as a disc.  
A disc is a small cushion-like structure that protects the spine and acts as a shock absorber between the vertebrae.  These discs can rupture and impinge on a nerve, causing the pain in the leg, foot or buttock.  This pain is called radiculopathy.
For patients without radiculopathy, treatment is usually quite conservative.  The pain is often dealt with using over-the-counter pain medications such as ibuprophen or naproxen and activity modification so that further injury does not occur.  Patients may also be given a short course of stronger prescription pain medications or muscle relaxers as well.  Physical therapy is often prescribed as well and has been shown to shorten the length of the injury and improve quality of life sooner.
For patients with radiculopathy or in patients who are not responding to conservative therapy, a special test called an MRI is performed to determine the cause of the pain.  X-rays are not typically taken in cases of back pain unless there is a known injury such as a fall or car accident.  MRIs can see tissues that x-rays can’t so they are more helpful at seeing injuries to discs, muscles and ligaments.
In cases when the MRI shows that there is a ruptured disc, surgery can be performed to remove the disc.  This is only performed with a patient who fails conservative therapy.
Back pain can also be seen in some serious and life-threatening conditions as well.  Seek medical attention immediately if you have a back ache associated with loss of bowel or bladder function, numbness in the genitalia, pain associated with a fever, or inability to walk or stand as these are signs of more serious causes of back pain.
YOUR HEALTH is coordinated by Mercy Hospital.

By Larissa Musgrave 

Whether you are living with cancer or trying to prevent cancer, consider coming to the Nutrition, Cancer, and You class sponsored by Mercy Hospital which is coming up Tuesday, Oct. 27.  It  will discuss what the American Institute for Cancer Research recommends and more:
* Be as lean as possible without becoming underweight.
* Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
* Avoid sugary drinks.  Limit consumption of energy-dense foods (particularly processed foods high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat).
* Eat more and eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.
* Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork, and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
* If consumed at all, limit alcoholic drinks to 2 for men and 1 for women a day.
* Limit consumption of salty foods and foods processed with salt (sodium).
* Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer.
* It is best for mothers to breastfeed exclusively for up to 6 months and then add other liquids and foods.
* After treatment, cancer survivors should follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.
* Always remember, do not smoke or chew tobacco.
Additional cancer information including a newsletter can be found at  www.aicr.org – the website for the American Institute for Cancer Research.
It is important to eat healthy to prevent cancer as well as eating healthy after cancer has been diagnosed. Both topics will be discussed at the Nutrition, Cancer and You class on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Valley City Public Schools Administration building.  To register, call Mercy Hospital at 845-6456.
For more information on nutrition, exercise, and cancer please contact a dietitian at Mercy Hospital, 845-6456. To find out what you can do to support the fight against cancer in North Dakota, contact the ND Cancer Coalition at 701-328-2306.

By Jodi Rae Ingstad 

What I’m about to finally share with you is awful.
I’ll bet the birdhouse you will pass judgment or form harsh opinions. I’d do the same. I can forewarn you that the end to what I’m about to tell you was worth the scrutiny, the crime and the loss.
About seven years ago, life was really so bad that I can barely remember how I survived.  My brother Jay and I came up with daily plans on how to handle all the situations being thrown at us.
Jay is two years younger than I. He was the middle child and I could have sworn the word “jovial” was defined after him. If jovial defined him then mischievousness possessed him.  He wasn’t any saint though we were raised in church. There is one familiar trait we were injected with at creation. We care.  
Our family cared for the people most others didn’t feel mattered. Jay was especially blessed with the ability to accept and encourage others. He did it with his humor to begin with.     After he began earning his own living, he did it with his generosity. Other people blessed with the gift of sensitivity will be able to understand that Jay’s heart was just too big for his chest.
Jay, just like my mom, and just like my dad, began drowning his hurt for others with alcohol. Things escalated when our mother passed away a traumatic death. Jay was eternally a mama’s boy. I could see the flip in his spirit just after she died. He pained that he couldn’t do more to save her. His money and his humor could not make it all better this time. Here’s where Satan put his hand on Jay’s life.
Intuitively, I sensed it before I accepted it. Jay’s kind blue eyes had turned literally dark. I can’t even name the color they became because I don’t know if that ugly hue exists on the color wheel. He had a wild look behind the windows to his soul. It wasn’t fun wild, it was disturbing, isolating, evil wild.
I noticed he was jittery and deliberate. His once calm face became a contortion of lip biting and nose twitching. At one point I thought he had fleas because he kept scratching himself.  In my head, at first, I just thought the stress of the life that bestowed itself upon us had finally taken its toll.
In December it all came to a head. Jay had a seven and a half hour stand-off at the bar in Oriska that he owned. Jay was high on Satan. Satan lives in a street drug called methamphetamine. It came to pass that Jay was using most every illegal drug under the sun.  He developed a psychosis.
 A lot has happened in seven years. Crime, shame, self-destruction, self-mutilating and an escalation in crimes. Jay has been in and out of prison because Satan would not loosen his grip.
Satan is no match for a praying sister like me. I have been relentless in my powerful, unceasing prayers. I couldn’t dismiss the brother I had grown up with to the gates of hell.   
This past Saturday, I received a seven page letter written after seven years of no contact with the brother I love.  
If you doubt that God listens, I implore you to doubt no more.
Jesus has evicted Satan from Jay’s soul. I am not letting my guard down. Satan has a vindictive personality. My brother is back purer and better than the one I grew up with. He got honest with himself. Evicting Satan left room for Jay’s emotions to return. Love put a stopper in the fire dam of hell that had punctured Jay’s heart.
Meth kills. Become a tattletale so we can evict Satan before he attacks your family member. I got my brother back. Welcome back brother! I’ve always loved you and hated your addiction!

By Steve Browne 

I’m sitting at home writing this, with a temperature of 101 and diffuse aches throughout my body. I’m cold, in spite of layers of thermal underwear. My head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton wool and my throat feels like it’s been swabbed with sandpaper. And though I’m not coughing much, when I do it feels like two guys with baseball bats have laid into both sides of my lower ribs simultaneously.
In other words, I have the flu.
What’s worse, I have no excuse for it. A few weeks ago I covered the drive-through flu innoculation our City-County Health personnel put on at the Barnes County Highway Department barn. How difficult would it have been to pay the fee and get the jab myself?
Well, maybe I didn’t want to spend the money, and maybe I’m kind of chicken about shots.
Apparently lots of people are. At the flu shot clinic, City-County Health Director Theresa Will said while the event went very well as a preparedness exercise, turnout was disappointing.
I guess the joke’s on me. I had to spend the money and get blood drawn anyway.
Not that that did any good. My doctor said everything was normal in my bloodwork, which simply ruled out a number of other things I didn’t have and confirmed what I knew already. It’s flu.
So I said, “Bed rest, plenty of fluids.”
“That’s right,” he replied, “everything your grandmother would have told you. And don’t take anti-fever medication unless it gets above 102. Fever fights infection.”
That’s one of the reasons my father, a retired physician, says medical services are overused in America.
“Things that used to be treated with a mother’s kiss are taken to the emergency room these days,” is how he put it.
So now I’ve paid the co-pay to confirm what I already knew, and done my bit to raise the insurance premiums of my co-workers next time around.
In the meantime, I can’t hug my kids (and I could use a hug right now), I can’t kiss my wife (and she’s going to kill me if she gets sick while the play at Valley City State University she’s in is running), and while nausea is one of the symptoms thankfully absent, nothing really tastes good, either.
So do yourself, your family and your co-workers a favor, and take the jab!

Browne is a reporter and columnist for the Times-Record. His column appears Fridays.