CORONARY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PROJECT 2008 - DR BRAD PERSONIUS
The fourth Grants Pass Coronary Health Improvement Project has been another success. The CHIP program this year had 65 participants that met 2 hours per night, 4 nights a week for a month for instruction in a high-fiber, low-fat, low-cholesterol, plant-based diet, as well as support in sustained physical activity, increased water intake, and managing stress. Many of the program participants came an hour early each evening to participate in the group exercise sessions with walking around the 9th Street Seventh Day Adventist Church or participating in the chair aerobics program on tape. I am very pleased with the outcomes.
This group had a variety of healthcare issues with the majority being overweight or obese with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and about one-quarter of the group having diabetes. 62% of the group were women with the average age being 62 years old. The youngest was 24, and the oldest was 83 years old.
At the conclusion of the program, 64% of the participants had improved their exercise participation despite the fact that nearly half the group was already exercising at a moderate or vigorous level when the program began. Weight loss averaged 4 pounds for those with less serious weight problems and went up to 9 pounds on the average for those who were more severely obese. Our winner for the weight loss prize was greater than 15 pounds for the men and 17 pounds for the ladies. For those with hypertension, systolic blood pressure decreased by 9 points for mild hypertension and 23 points for those with moderate hypertension. Cholesterol decreased 6% on the average for those with a minor cholesterol problem and about 20% for those with more serious cholesterol elevations. LDL cholesterol levels decreased between 5 and 23%, again for those in the mildly elevated range versus those with increasing levels of risk who got more significant benefit. For those with elevated blood sugar, prediabetes, and diabetes, the blood glucose improved 6 to 17% across the risk spectrum. Triglycerides levels, of course, had the most dynamic change with improvements ranging between 15 and 36% across the risk categories.
As encouraging as the lab reports were at the study conclusion, even more encouraging was the improved function, breathing capacity, and energy the group participants gained so quickly. This year’s group was a particularly enthusiastic and fun-loving crowd.
I would like to thank the very long list of volunteers who contributed countless hours to preparation and support of the course from beginning to end including the members of the publicity teams, the community orientation teams, the beginning and ending health screening teams, the food purchasing and cooking preparation teams, and the many men and women who served as food presenters, table hosts, greeters, or record keepers. Specifically, I would like to thank Drs. Haddad, Ermshar, Wiggers, Powell, and Bryner for their guest presentations. I would also like to thank Dr. Miven Donato and Dr. Edsen Donato for their excellent presentations. Henry Martin’s health education talks have been repeatedly praised. Finally, I remain amazed at the leadership Robin Martin and Marcella Lynch have provided and especially our program director, Rosie Tresenriter.
The group statistics are being sent out to each of the medical offices in Grants Pass so that physicians who have had their patients participate in the program will be able to see the overall results compared to the results the participants bring for themselves. Each of these offices are being encouraged to refer their patients to the waiting list for the program by calling Rosie Tresenriter @ 471-1325 or Marcella Lynch @ 846-0654. The next CHIP program is anticipated to be offered in February through March 2009.
I very much appreciate the support of the Grants Pass Seventh Day Adventist Church for providing the facility for this life-changing project.
-Dr. Personius
