uotes for Life: Enthusiasm is contagious; You could start an epidemic. --Unknown From the Director's Desk:

"An Overview of OMR and Incident Management" Presented by Janice Drukalski April 23, 2004, from 10:00am to 12:00pm Northwest Health Connections, 227 Liberty Street, Warren. Please call 814-728-9400 to register.

We are pleased to inform you that we are working with Cameron, Elk, and McKean Counties again to sponsor our second annual event, called "Hats Off To Health". It will again be held at Wildcat Park in Ludlow this year on June 18. We will be sending more information in the near future. We hope you and the individuals you care for can join us for a day filled with activities and fun.

We welcome your suggestions as we continue plan the event. There will be several changes this year, so be sure to read the flyers when they arrive. We look forward to your participation in "Hats Off To Health" and sharing the day with others in learning health-related topics, enjoying activities, and seeing others from the nine county area that we serve as HCQU.

Joanne Cook
HCQU DIrector

The Importance of Reducing Sodium
By Brenda Brien

Washington: Americans eat more than twice the salt they should, but don't get enough potassium, creating an imbalance that fuels high blood pressure. This new nutrition report, released Wednesday by the Institute of Medicine, sets the nation's recommended intake levels of key nutrients. Heart specialists praised the new salt recommendations while food manufacturers deemed it unrealistic.

Three-quarters of Americans' salt intake comes from sodium hidden common processed and restaurant foods, such as frozen dinners and spaghetti sauce. While factors such as weight and exercise play a role, salt and blood pressure go hand-in-hand. Some 50 million Americans have high blood pressure - putting them at risk for heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease, and another 40 million are pre-hypertensive. Food labels today set daily sodium consumption at 2400 milligrams, the equivalent of a heaping teaspoon of salt. The new recommendation is 1500 milligrams per day for most people. Yet women today eat, on average, twice that amount; men, even more. The Institute of Medicine also recommends:

• 2300 milligrams of sodium as a maximal upper limit for the average adult's good health, but stresses that eating more than 1500 is not recommended for anyone. In fact, because blood pressure rises with age, it says people over 50 should strive to eat just 1300 milligrams per day, and those over 70 should have no more than 1200 milligrams.
• that Americans should eat more potassium - 4700 milligrams per day - roughly double our current consumption. Potassium lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of kidney stones and bone loss. Bananas, spinach, cantaloupe, oranges, lima beans, mushrooms, dried beans, broccoli, and lentils are a few of the foods high in potassium.

The Food and Drug Administration plans to update numerous nutrient levels on food labels, based in part on the Institute of Medicine's advice.