Logan Sport Funeral.com

Royal Oak, Michigan (PRWEB) November 16, 2011

Beaumont Health System research featured at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando

A Beaumont Health System program launched in 2007 to screen high school students for sudden cardiac death risk has proven to be a low-cost, effective, accessible and sustainable method of identifying heart conditions.

Kim Bonzheim, director, Cardiology Services at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich., will present research results of Beaumonts Healthy Heart Check student screening program on Nov. 14 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

Using physician volunteers and paid technical staff, we have developed a rapid, low-cost, scalable model to effectively screen large numbers of high school students for sudden cardiac death risk and other heart conditions, says Bonzheim.

Mass screening of students prior to sports participation has been controversial in the medical community due to cost effectiveness and the high number of stop sports findings based on false positive electrocardiograms. An ECG is a test that checks for problems with the hearts electrical activity.

But the Beaumont research found that adding a quick look echocardiogram to the screening helped to reduce by 90 percent the number of students falsely told to stop sports based on ECG screening alone. An echocardiogram is a noninvasive procedure that uses ultrasound waves to assess the heart’s function and structures.

Beaumonts physician volunteer screening model also reduced the cost of mass student screening to just $ 7.84 per student, including staffing and supplies. The student heart screenings are offered free of charge several times a year at community locations, such as schools or recreational centers.

Our research shows that cardiovascular screening can be effectively performed at a low cost in order to prevent catastrophic, exertion-related sudden cardiac death in student athletes, says Bonzheim.

Study data included 5,861 students screened at 23 free screening events held at 12 community locations. Abnormal ECGs were found in 740 students (13 percent) of whom 467 were referred on for an echocardiogram. Of these, 418 (90 percent) had normal echo results.

Normal ECGs were found in 5,121 students (87 percent) of whom 701 were referred for an echocardiogram, 659 of whom had normal echo results (94 percent).

Of the total number of students screened (5,861), 40 students (0.7 percent) were advised to stop exercise; 527 students (9 percent) were advised to continue playing sports with physician follow-up; and 5,204 students were found to be at low risk for sudden cardiac death.

Of those told to stop sports, one student was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the single most common cause of death in U.S. athletes. Nearly 4,000 of these deaths are in young people, and one in 200,000 high school athletes will die suddenly, most without any prior symptoms. Male athletes are 10 times more likely to die suddenly as a result of HCM.

Other students screened by Beaumont were diagnosed with conditions such as weak and enlarged heart muscles, abnormal heart valves and abnormal heart rhythms.

The Beaumont heart screening model includes a cardiac risk questionnaire, blood pressure check, a physical exam by a cardiologist and a 12-lead ECG. If a medical problem is suspected, a quick look echocardiogram is performed to look for signs of structural heart disease.

Beaumont has successfully franchised the screening model to other Michigan hospitals located in Chelsea, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and Flint with a free-of-charge franchise kit.

Since the programs inception in 2007 until now, a total of 7,543 students have been screened through the Beaumont program. Media sponsors, including WXYZ-TV-7, the Detroit ABC affiliate, and CBS radio station 97.1 The Ticket, have helped to promote the screenings. Of the 7,543 students screened to date, 45 were told to stop exercise immediately and follow up with a cardiologist, and 724 were advised that they could continue exercise, but should follow up with their physician.

Start up Website eerily resembles the Facebook of Death

(PRWEB) October 13, 2011

Facebook and Google Buzz, there’s a new kid in town. Not to worry however, this particular forum of social networking is specific to our dearly departed.

Glen Miller, President of ENotice, creators of http://www.deathnoticedirectory.com stated, “Facebook and Twitter have created a transparency in how people communicate and share their thoughts, interests and activities. We thought, why not duplicate that same transparency upon your passing. Memorialize, honour and share your loved one’s life in a dignified manner while accepting Memories and photos from visitors to your loved one’s Profile.”

Upon descent into the afterlife your life Profile can be created, edited, updated and can even receive posts from family and friends. The deathnoticedirectory.com has created a dignified website that is dedicated to as the site motto states, “Remembering Lives Lived”.

Miller adds, “One of our good friends recently lost a family member and posted an RIP message on her Facebook wall. Above her RIP message was a previous post made by her expressing what area of the house she enjoyed making love. The next subsequent post was an illustration of her Farmville score. I said to my wife, there has to be a more dignified way for people to share the loss of a family member.”

The result is http://www.deathnoticedirectory.com. Miller and his company are currently knocking on Funeral Home doors to adopt his website as the conventional mode of delivering Funeral Announcements. In an industry that is slow to change Miller concedes that this will be challenging.

Miller states, “The younger generation of Funeral Directors are certainly more adept at utilizing new technologies to the benefit of their business. The daughters and sons who are assuming control of the family business have grown up with Facebook and email, so we do have the younger generation’s inclination for all things internet working for us.”

The people at Enotice have a compelling story. The cost of a Profile on the Death Notice Directory is a fraction of the cost of a submission to a national publication with no time limitation. It also enables the family to assume control of the Profile continually with the ability to edit or update it at any time. They can create a 10,000 character biography, upload up to 32 photo memories and 4 videos, submit accept and approve condolence messages and even begin the construction of up to 10 predeceased family members Profiles in the Family Past element of the Profile.

From a corporate perspective, the Group Memorial element of the website is also a unique twist on how we remember the dead.

Miller laments, “We were talking to a gal we know who works in HR. We asked her if she or her company has ever considered creating a Wall of Remembrance dedicated to past employees that have passed away. She responded that no, that discussion had never came up. A wise man once said that a society should be judged on how they honour their dead. Yet, corporations, sporting teams, charitable organizations or any group working towards a common cause seldom properly honour the people that laid the foundation of its current success.”

The Group Memorial element of the website allows groups to create an account that enables them to celebrate the contributions of past members on a dedicated page detailing their years of service and accomplishments. The organization can update this page whenever a member passes away and post to their Facebook page as a notification to their Facebook Fans. Although death is not necessarily a part of life we wish to discuss or think about, it is a fact of life. Enabling individuals to express their love for predeceased individual’s while creating a dignified continuing tribute can only help us heal and move forward while, “Remembering Lives Lived”.

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