Minutes - Feb 10

NATAL BYPASS MEETING 01/2010 HELD ONWEDNESDAY 3RD OF FEBRUARY 2010AT ENTABENI HOSPITALat 17:30
PRESENT:Shane Newman (Chairman) Shirley Piek (Treasurer)Shirley Willet (Secretary)As per attendance register - 31 names recorded
1. OPENING AND WELCOMEThe chairman thanked everybody for their attendance & welcomed everybody. He apologized for the change in venue, but the main board room was being used by another party.
2. APOLOGIES: The following people had tendered their apologies:Enid & Fiona Phillips, Devan Mari (Qatar), Gerda Pieterse, Gavin Leach, Dennis Graham, Sissy & Neville Farr, Hilton Diel & Sheldene Stuart
3. TESTIMONIES FROM NEW VISITORSThe chairman invited any new visitors who may have a bypass or stent & who would like to share there experience with the club.· Brian Moore – Brian said that he had undergone inconclusive tests 14 years prior to his bypass, as a result of being short of breath. His neighbor, a cardiologist had invited him to come & see him & discovered 2 “blibs”. Brian underwent a bypass & has cut out his love for butter & is doing well. Thanks sharing with us, Brian.
4. GENERALThe following items were brought to the attention of all present :· Finance & Administrationo Treasurer’s report – § Shirley Piek had advised that the finances were still stable, with approximately R12k banked.§ Subs for 2010 (to remain at R40) to be paid to Shirley asapv Natal Bypass Club banking details – Account Name – Natal Bypass club, Standard Bank of SA, Branch code 042826, Account number 257360549· Impilo drugs – George Barnes gave an update on the situation & he will get back to the club with a revised quote.· Westville Cardiac Hospital Walk – Please support this fun, easy, slow, safe enjoyable walk every last Wednesday of every month at 17:30 - meet at North Beach Promenade (outside Mini Town) & walk to Addington Beach. Contact sister Rita Naidoo at Westville Hospital should you require any further info.· End of the Year luncheon – a very enjoyable time was had by everybody & it was unanimously agreed that the Durban Country Club (DCC) be the venue for this years end of the year function & that Colin Penn be booked again. Shirley Piek to arrange bookings & pay a deposit if necessary. Shane had photos of each of the tables, but due to the change of venue, the photos would be viewed at the next meeting.· Future MeetingsThe following are the dates for the meetings to be held during 2010 :o 7 April 2010o 2 June 2010o 4 August 2010o 6 October 2010o 28 November 2010 (Annual luncheon)Kindly diarize the above dates.Please support your club.· Heart & Stroke FoundationDana from the Heart & Stroke Foundation (based at Entabeni hospital) were doing a survey & requested 4 peoples name. Jim Brown volunteered to do the survey. Shane would forward Jim’s name.
5. GUEST SPEAKERDr MS Salduker (Psychiatrist)The chairman introduced Dr Salduker the resident psychiatrist at Entabeni hospital. The notes hereunder are from the presentation and from questions that were asked by those present.The doctor reminded us of the difference between a psychologist & a psychiatrist, one dealing with the mind (projection of brain – abstract) & the other (psychiatry) dealing with the function of the real thing – the brain.It is common that patients are referred for assessment either prior or post bypass operations. A bypass patient has 2 levels of change in the brain – anxiety, having to deal with this massive operation & the other change being the possibility of depression.Depression – is a clinical observation, dealing with the cognitive memory, temperament change, change in energy level, agitation.Anxiety – deals with worry, fear or phobia – subtle in brain, which is the result of constant worrying & wants to avoid or prevent the danger (of the operation). Stress is often referred to as a disease, but is an associated anxiety, where the brain is telling the body.Anxiety is the “fright, flight syndrome”, where the response can be seen through the entire body – heart starts beating faster, breathing then becomes faster, muscles can become tense & all this can be done in the fraction of a second where the brain is sending signals to the body. All these dramatic & quick changes in the body, draws blood from all the non-essential organs & transfers the blood to the muscles. So if a person has constant anxiety then, the heart pressure is constant & therefore cannot cope.Anxiety also causes such things as irritable bowel syndrome & in some cases GPs treat the patient by prescribing medicines & miss the problem of anxiety. Anxiousness can therefore cause high blood pressure & as the brain controls the body, a panic attack can cause asthma, which at the end of the day is brought about by anxiety. A person becomes anxious when they hear or feel that there is something not right with their heart & can develop a phobia, which is some times the reason that these “heart murmurs, pains, etc” and which do not reveal anything on the ECG, as an anxiety attach does not have to have a reason to attack – it is a rapid automatic response, which increases the heart beat and/or causes sweating, etc.. So a panic attack – can result in a sharp chest painAnxious people develop heart problems – 1 in 3 people have some form of anxiety from mild to paranoia.Sense of doom generates anxiety & a panic attack feels like a heart attack as a result of the adrenal levels increasing & the serotonin levels decreasing.In the USA half of the cardiac patients are being treated for anxiety.Another common problem is people who suffer from constant tension headaches, which affects the spine – we need to learn to relax, as the first organ to suffer is the brain, which can develop brain disorders.We only use +- 18 to 21% of our brain & we start to lose our memory from (Ed - can’t remember) – sorry from the age of 38 – brain cells do not regenerate. Exercise keeps the brain healthy.In a lot of the cases these panic attacks can cost the patient R30k, as the diagnosis is not cardiac.It is therefore important to look after our mental health & not just our diet, exercise & stress, etcThank you Dr Salduker, for a very interesting & enjoyable talk.
NEXT MEETINGo The next meeting would be on Wednesday the 2nd of June 2010 at the Conference suite at the Entabeni Hospital at 17:00 for 17:30.
A copy of these minutes has been placed on the Clubs Blog site at - http://natalbypass.blogspot.com/ to view.Issued by Shane Newman – 084 510 8738 or 031 204 5633 (office hours) or shane.newman@absamail.co.zaChairman – Natal Bypass ClubDate : 17 March 2010