You and Your Health and Safety

Sign Up for Juvenile Diabetes Foundation's WALK FOR THE CURE

Help fight diabetes in children! Participate in the 1996 Juvenile Diabetes Foundation WALK FOR THE CURE, to be held Sunday, September 29, at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park.

Paul C. Brucker, MD, TJU president, is JDF WALK chairman for the event, which is held concurrently in 75 cities across the nation. The 1996 JDF WALK is expected to generate $15 million for diabetes research.

Dr. Brucker asks all Jeffersonians to help. "You may serve as a team captain, participate as, or support a 'walker.' Please join the Jefferson team!"

To sign up, or ask questions, call Jean Givey, executive associate to the president, at 5-2244.

Tenth Annual AIDS Walk Set for Sunday, October 20

That's the day Jeffersonians and more than 25,000 people will meet at the Eakins Oval for the tenth annual Philadelphia AIDS Walk. This year walkers will solicit pledges to meet the goal of $1.3 million for AIDS direct care, education and prevention. Jefferson is once again the beneficiary of funding from the AIDS Walk. Funds will be used to expand our HIV case management program in the department of social work.

Even if you are not able to participate the day of the Walk, many activities have been planned at Jefferson to support the fundraising efforts. Bake sales will be held on Friday, August 16 and October 11 and on Wednesday, September 18 in the 11th Street Gibbon lobby. Bakers, we need your help! Please volunteer to donate baked goods.

On "Button Day" Wednesday, September 18, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., a table with AIDS Walk pledge forms and team sign up sheets, buttons to buy and information will be located on the 11th Street side of the Atrium. These materials will also be available at the Health and Fitness Expo on Wednesday, September 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Scott Plaza.

You can pre-register and turn in your pledge money for the walk on Thursday, October 17, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the 11th Street side of the Atrium.

Many Jeffersonians have already signed up to walk in the departmental teams. Put on your walking shoes and help us to make this event a success! If you have not yet signed up and cannot do so on "Button Day," please contact Melissa Rooney at 5-7214.

New State-of-the-Art Hearing Aid Available At Jeff

It can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, but it has more processing power than most desktop computers. T

he first fully digital hearing aid was introduced this spring and is available to patients of Jefferson's department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. This latest advance in audio technology heralds improved sound quality, automatic volume control, greater precision and no extraneous acoustics, says Sat Pal Jassal, MA, CCC-A, a senior audiologist at Jefferson.

"The conventional analog hearing aid makes all sounds louder, whether or not the hearing-impaired person requires it. This is why some hearing aid users are always adjusting the volume control," Mr. Jassal explains. In the new digital aid, the volume automatically adjusts, depending on whether you're having a one-on-one conversation, or you're in a noisy, crowded room. Most background noise and sound distortion are eliminated or reduced, and there are no annoying squeals when the volume self-adjusts.

"Patients seem to like them a lot better," echoes Thomas O. Willcox Jr., MD, assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, who says digital aids are the wave of the future. "Jefferson is one of the few places in the area fitting patients with digital aids and one of the most expert," he adds.

"The mathematical digitized signal operates in 'real time' and is a lot more precise," Mr. Jassal says of the advantages of the new device. While digital aids were available in the1980s, they were bulky and required a belt-worn electronic supplement. The current model eliminates this problem and boasts a longer battery life.

While more expensive than an analog hearing aid, the digital aid is a vastly superior product which can be used by anyone except those with profound hearing loss. In time, says Dr. Willcox, the cost of these aids should go down.

For more information about the digital hearing aid or to make an appointment to be fitted for one, call the Hearing Center at 5-8897, or the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at 5-6760.

Keeping Acne-Prone Skin Clean When the Sun Gets Mean

People who wear an oily epidermis may welcome the drying effects of the summertime sun. However, the natural sheen of oily skin provides no significant protection against the sun's rays and could, in fact, magnify them. "In a way, the sun could be considered a benefit to acne-prone skin, because it acts as a drying agent," remarks Young C. Kauh, MD, clinical professor, vice chairman and clinical director of dermatology. "But sun damage to oily skin still will occur as readily as with any other skin type, accelerating wrinkles and the potential for skin cancer."

Oily skin should be considered sensitive skin that requires special lotions and sunscreens. "The sun protection factor (SPF) of the sunscreen should be based on individual sensitivity, but everyone needs some level of protection," says Dr. Kauh. "Fair skin types or people with red hair, like the Scotch-Irish, should not use less than 15 SPF. African-Americans are also vulnerable to sun damage. Whereas people with light skin may be diagnosed with skin cancer at 50 or 60 years, sun damage to darker skin may not be detected until age 70 ­p; when the damage is irreversible."

Care of summertime skin prone to pimples: