June 3, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s show featured H.O.P.E. Heals Inc executive director Ellie Sorensen promoting her annual Walk for Hope event for suicide prevention, Dr. Luke Nordquist responding to the news of President Biden’s prostate cancer, and Dr. Laila Tabatabai informing about osteoporosis.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten KFAB It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week, we welcome back the executive director of an
organization here in Omaha called Hope Heals. Hope Hope Heals,
Ellie Sorenson is back here on Community Matters. Ellie, welcome back,
good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad to
be back.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
My gosh, when we first started talking to you, you
were just a little kid. You're still kind of a
little kid, but you're now a college graduate. This is cool.
Let's talk about your journey these last well, it's the
eighth annual. I know that your story goes back a
little further than that. So tell me about Hope Heels
and then we'll talk about the event coming up here
(01:00):
next weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
So, yeah, like you said, it's been going on a
little bit longer. This will actually be my tenth year
raising awareness for suicide prevention.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So I've been doing it since I was fifteen years old.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I started raising awareness because I myself had struggled with
mental illness and suicidal thoughts, and I decided that I
could either dwell on the bad things that were happening
to me and the feelings that I was just pushing down,
or I could talk about it. And so I guess
I decided that I wanted to host a walk at
(01:33):
my school really for myself, and ended.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Up having over one hundred people show up who also
needed that.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I enjoyed talking to you because it's such an important conversation,
but I also I don't like talking to you, Ellie,
because I always end up asking you about let's revisit
some of the darkest days in your life. But that's
where this organization was born from. So as the phoenix
rises from the ashes, tell me about those ashes back
(02:02):
in I guess now ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
So I was struggling.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It started around when I was thirteen and my parents
were going through a pretty tough divorce. And I know
a lot of people can resonate with that. It's not
I would like to say that it's not as common
as it is, but it is. And I was feeling
really alone, and I just I didn't feel like I
could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
(02:30):
It just felt like I was surrounded by darkness. And
no matter how many people told me they loved me,
it just still felt like I was alone.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And it was really tough.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I did attempt suicide when I was fourteen years old,
and thankfully my brother found me and he was able
to help me. And after that moment, I really had
to think about what I had been through and how
I was feeling, and I decided that I can't be
(03:03):
the only one. I can't be the only person who
feels this darkness and sadness, and.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I wanted to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
I wanted to talk about how I was feeling and
how I know there are other people in my school,
in my community who are feeling that as well. And
that's when I decided that I wanted to start my
walk because I wanted to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Tell me about the first event. The first and it's
called Light in the Darkness is the name of the
organization's event. Here, Light in the Darkness Walk for Hope
from Hope Heels. We're talking with their executive director, Ellie Sorenson.
Here on community matters the eighth annual events coming up
this coming weekend. Let's talk about that first one first
(03:47):
and how it's evolved over these last I don't know
if it's been exactly eight years. I have a feeling
COVID kind of yeah, COVID through through a monkey ranch,
some of those plans there for a few years. But
walk number one to what we're doing next weekend, what
is the same? What's different?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, So going.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Back to the very first walk I was hosting at
Elkhorn South High School because that's where I was.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I was a freshman, and we.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Had raffle prizes, and we had an ice cream truck
and we had glow sticks, and.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
That was about it.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I decided that, you know, I just wanted to bring
people together who wanted to get together. And actually, one
of the main reasons why I decided after that walk
that I was going to keep doing it is because
I had somebody who walked up to me and he said,
one of my friends two weeks ago committed suicide, and
tonight I was either going to come here or I
(04:43):
was going to join him. And he decided to come
to my walk, and I decided at that point in
time that no matter what, if I can help one person,
if I can make sure one person stays, then I'm
doing my job.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It's a wonderful thing that you're doing. But I want
to focus for a few moments here on the person
doing it, Ellie, that's you, because there's often so much
frustration because you can't save everybody, which can bog a
lot of people down. Also, there's the pressure that you
put on yourself to be there for some people that
(05:19):
you haven't even met yet, and that's a lot of pressure,
especially on the person who started this, a fifteen year
old girl who started this a freshman in high school.
So as we talk about that first walk about a
decade ago versus what we're doing here coming up in
just a few days time, I know that the event
(05:39):
has made some leaps and bounds forwards, probably taking a
few steps back here. And then what about you personally?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
You know, I'm glad that you asked that. That kind
of brings up why we didn't have the walk last year.
So last year I was focusing on getting through school,
and I also kind of struggled a.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Bit again with my mental health. I had lost my grandma.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
There had just been a lot going on in my world,
and I decided that if I'm going to be hosting
this walk and I'm going to be somebody who speaks
by what they mean, I need.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
To prioritize my mental health. And that's exactly what I did.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I decided that it was a lot for me to
bear that year, and I put myself first. And so
now that I've done that, I've been able to come
back this year and it's probably going to be the
largest event that we've had.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I'm so glad you did that last year because you
had to overcome I'm sure feelings up, but I'm letting
someone down, Yes, I'm letting people down. And once you
start putting once you start thinking about life as this
journey forward where it's impossible to take any steps back,
you can't take any steps back. You can't take any
(06:50):
steps left or right. You've got to keep moving forward.
That's impossible, it is sometimes you've got to you end
up taking steps back. You stop where you are for
a moment here. As long as the goal is to
keep moving forward, I think you're doing the right things.
And I'm so proud of you for recognizing that that
was an incredibly adult decision for a young woman to
(07:11):
make out.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Thank you. Yeah, it was. It was hard. I'm not
gonna lie I did.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I felt like I was letting people down, not only
myself but my friends, my family, the community. But I
had to stand for what I believe in, and I
had to put myself first. And I'm very thankful that
I did, because, like I said, now I'm able to
come back and I'm able to put all of my
care and all of my effort back into this event.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, one last personal observation about you, and then we'll
talk about the event. I'm sure that your decision last
year to decide to refocus your own personal energies was
also a tremendous thing for other people who have watched you.
Maybe you don't even know that they're watching you. They
just see you making this journey. If it's constantly sunshine
(07:55):
and rainbows, and hey, every day is better than the last.
And I tell you what, life could be any better?
I thought yesterday and then today happened, and wow, look
at this, it's amazing. That's not the reality for most people.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
None.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And if they think, well, I'm trying to follow her,
but I can't because her journey doesn't seem like real
life to me. What you saw, what you showed to
others last year was the reality. And I'm sure that
helped a lot of people. So again, nice work.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Tell me about what we're doing this coming weekend.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Yes, So this Saturday, we will be hosting our eighth
annual Light the Darkness Walk for Hope. It'll be downtown
at Miller's Landing and it starts at seven thirty pm.
Admission is ten dollars and the first hundred people get
free t shirts, which we will also have a tiight
I stand for tie d eyeing the shirts.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That's always important to you why we always like to have.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
The colors of the shirts to one represent you and
yourself and your journey and also suicide prevention. So the
colors are suicide prevention colors for the tidie. They will
be purple and turquoise.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Okay, and that's fashionable as well. That's very cool. All right.
So it's coming up Saturday, this coming Saturday, June seventh,
Miller's Landing, downtown Omaha. That's the Nebraska side of the
Bobcarey Pedestrian Bridge right in that area. Yeah, I'm sure,
a lot of signs directing people where to go, where
to park and all that. What time does everything get underway?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
So seven thirty PM is when we are going to
be opening up the gates, okay, and then nine o'clock
PM is when we will actually start the walk. We'll
walk over the Bobcarey pedestrian Bridge and back, so it'll
be about a mile and a half of a walk.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And it's a beautiful walk as well, especially at night.
And that gets us to the name of the event,
Light the Darkness the Walk for hope. This has to
be done at dusk or in the evening hours. Because
are we gonna have glow sticks?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Oh yes, glow sticks, glow batons, glow glasses, glow everything.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, very cool. So then live music and raffle and
when does all that happen?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, so right at seven thirty when the gates open.
We'll have two bands actually playing this year. So blues
Ed is an organization here in Omaha that works with
students who want to be a part of bands, and
so we have two of their bands that are going
to be performing. We have True Blues and Vertigo, So
both of them will be playing from seven thirty to
ten thirty and then taking a break during the walk.
(10:20):
The raffles will be going until ten o'clock. As soon
as ten o'clock hits, that's when we'll be reading off
raffle prize winners. So make sure you stick through till
the end so that you can get your raffles.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Where can people go for more details about not just
the event, but also your organization, You can go.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
To our website, which is going to be Hope Healsinc.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Dot org Hope Heals i NC, Hope Heels Inc. Dot org.
As I mentioned at the start of the conversation, Hope
is spelled out here in an acronym form HOPE, and
that stands.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
For helping other people every day.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Hope Heels Inc. Dot Org Executive director La Sorenson been
walking this walk now for a very long time. Congratulations
on graduating from college.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
What are you going to do now in your real
world now you're no longer a student?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Well, right now, I've taken a full time job.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I'm working at Cornerstone Staffing as an administrative coordinator and
I'm actually I'm loving it. It is a great place
to work and they are actually sponsoring my walk this year,
which is incredible. So that's kind of where I'm at
right now.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Eventually, I don't know, we'll see down the road.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Okay, Well, the first things first, we got to get
people to Miller's Landing downtown Omaha on the Nebraska side
of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Things kick off this Saturday,
June seventh, seven thirty pm. You guys start walking back
and forth across the bridge about nine. There's live music,
raffle prizes. It's all online at Hope Heelsinc. Dot Org.
(11:50):
Ellie Sorenson, you continue to impress me. Great job with
all of this. Thank you so much for what you're
doing for people in our community, and thanks for telling
us about it on Community Matters of course, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure, and.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Thank you for listening to Community Matters this week. Our
next segment comes from a recent edition of kfab's Morning News,
responding to the recent health situation that we learned about
with President Biden. Here's the host of that program, Gary Sadelemeyer.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
News Broke yesterday. Of course, the former President Biden's prostate
cancer diagnosis doesn't sound good of course, and we are
joining for a few minutes this morning by doctor Luke Nordquist,
founder of Eurology Cancer Center, now ex cancer prominent eurologist
here in the Metro and a good friend, Doctor Luke.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Good morning, Good morning Gary. Good to be honest with
you again.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
Great to have you back here. All I know about
this I've learned from you and one of the things
I've learned, and you were on here once before and
talked about the Gleason score being critical when there's prostate
cancer and we're told that Biden's Gleason score is nine.
That's not good, right.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Well, I'm gonna first correct. Yeah, I'd love to be
a urologist. I'm not smart enough for that, so almost
called a medical on colleges. I'm a cancer doctor, but
I specialized only in prostay cancer. So yeah, we see
about five hundred men a month of my cancer center
from coast to coast and even other countries. But yeah,
talking about prostay cancer. One of the most important things
you need to know is the Gleason score, not named
(13:20):
after the actor Jackie Bit. That's how you can remember it.
It's a number that you get from the biopsy it's
the number from six to ten. There's no halves or
three quarters or five ahs. It's just six, seven, eight
nine or ten. And it tells us the aggressiveness of
the cancer. It's called the grade of the cancer. Every
cancer has a grade that tells us the aggressiveness, but
only prostaate cancer is called the gleas In grade, and
(13:43):
it really tells us how we're going to treat the cancer.
So like a glease in six are often the men
you hear about that they don't worry about prostaate cancer.
It's a good cancer to have, you don't need to
treat it. Those people. Less than one percent of those
with their cancer ever spread, so often we can watch
it in any treatment is just extracite effects. But when
we get up to a Gleason eight, nine or ten,
(14:03):
those are very aggressive. They can take lives. There's still
thirty seven thousand min a year that lose their lives
in the United States from prostate cancer. It's the second
leading cause of death from cancer behind lung cancer, out
of all the hundreds of types of cancer. So that's
pretty serious. But those are mainly from Gleason eight, nines,
and tens.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Yeah, what does the term stage four mean well, stage.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
Four most cancers mean that it's metastasized, it's spread, and
technically you could use that, but with prostate cancer, we
don't tend to use the stage one through four system
as much. We call it either localized where it's contained,
let's try to cure it, or that it was recurrs
with a rising PSA lab test. And then we have
(14:47):
metashatic hormone sensitive and metastatic hormone resistant. And the word
hormone means something here. So the male hormone testosterone is
the fuel for prostate cancer, for cancer, prostate cancers, that's
the gasoline. And if we cure somebody and their PSA
goes to zero, then we don't care what their PSA
level is. But if somebody's going to have this noncurable
(15:09):
cancer in the body the rest of their lives, then
the whole the premise of treating it is to lower
or block the testosterone, what we call hormone therapy, but
it's kind of anti hormone therapy because we're lowering or
blocking testosterone. And even though it's metastatic in his situation,
and I've only read that it's metastatic to the bones.
I don't know if that's just a couple spots what
(15:30):
we would call oligo metastatic, because if it's oligo metastatic
that means just one or two spots in the bones,
you might still go for cure. Well, if it's truly
metastatic within multiple spots, then it's noncurable but very treatable.
And I have many many men over ten years, at
least in eight nines and tens with metastatic disease that
(15:50):
are on different therapies, hormones, et cetera to control the
cancer for many years.
Speaker 6 (15:56):
I don't want to get you drag you into the
political angle of this at all, but I'm just area,
is what you'd think for a president of the United
States at the age of what was you then at
the last exam was eighty one? How likely is it
that he would not have been screened for prostate cancer
at least gotten a PSA number.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
Well, I would say with an executive level, for somebody
at that level would be having a yearly PSA blood test.
It's such a simple part of the channel. I've been
around a number of kind of VIP peoples in New
York City. It's Sloan Kettering, and you'd often hear that
they were diagnosed with prostate cancer and actually they'd been
(16:39):
diagnosed and treated for the past eight to ten years,
and maybe it's towards the end and they just wanted
to come out to the public that they kept a
private for the first number of years for whatever reason.
It would be very unlikely for somebody diagnosed with a
profta cancer, even at lease of nine or ten, to
have it already metastatic. So to already have a metastatic
it means it's probably been in that body, probably somewhere
(17:00):
at least three years, probably even closer to five to
six years, and that it's already been in the body
with the PSA rising and likely detectable. So you know,
I'll just leave it at that. No, I do think
that it's probably been known for some time. It'll be
my instinct knowing what I know, doing this for twenty
one years.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Yeah, and boy, you wonder, I wonder if there's been
treatment over those years. And I agree with you, it
seems very likely that they've known for a while.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
All they sure didn't share it with us, No, of
course not.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Oh yeah, that's that's a shame, but that has nothing
to do with it now because he's out of office.
Speaker 7 (17:34):
Right and to be honest, I don't know how much
it'd be with the cognition decline. Also, some people obviously say, well,
maybe it's spread to his brain. Different cancers spread the
different parts of the body. Standard prostay cancer. If I
see five thousand visits a year, all of them except
for about fifty will be standard what we call admiral carcinoma,
the prosta, which only spreads to bones and to linsnos.
(17:57):
It won't spread to the long liver brain like that. Now,
occasionally I use the example if a dog gets rabies,
it's still the same dog, but it's also got a
bad situation. Is what's called a neuroendocrine prostate cancer. That's
those extra fifty i'll see a year, which is like
rabies on prostate cancer. It can spread to the brain.
That is a very poor prognosis and people only typically
live a few months or maybe a year with that version.
(18:20):
But I don't think that's what he has.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
Well, the first thing I ever learned from you was
when we're just we just shoot the breeze about cancer,
is that whatever kind of cancer you have wherever it spreads,
it's still that kind of cancer. So exactly, you know,
if it's on the bone, it's still prostate cancer.
Speaker 7 (18:37):
Yeah, exactly, it's like a dandylion in seed blowing into
another part of the yard. It's still a dandylon, right,
So that's true of all cancers. You're exactly right. And
when we have to work with when we're treating cancers,
because I see, well they're going to consider surgery radiational options. Well,
I doubt that we have surgery, We have radiation, we
have medicines. Those are three main tools to treat almost
every cancer. Surgery and radiation. For when it's all contained,
(18:59):
all the cows in the bar and it's all in
one spot. Once it metastasizes, it's like weeds in your yard.
You're not going to go dig all of those up
in IED's a medicine which goes everywhere, which could be
a pill, a shot, and immune therapy, these new theraynostics.
I would be highly surprised if you're not talking about
this new way of treating cancer called theeryonostics. In the future.
Bill Gates has gotten into this type of therapy, is
(19:21):
starting a company and we're very involved in my center.
We've now done just our twenty third first in the
world with theraonostic. These are starting to even give the
ability to cure advanced cancers in the future, so that's
very exciting.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Excellent doctor nord Quest always got to the chat. Thank
you for the time.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Yeah, thanks Gerry.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We have time for one more segment on this week's
edition of Community Matters, and to lead this one is
our iHeartRadio friend Manny Munos for more on a very
serious topic, osteoporosis.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Do you know what it is? Is it even preventable?
Let's discuss that and the fact that may is Osteoporosis
Awareness and Prevention Month as we bring in doctor Leyla Tabatambay.
She's a member of it's a board of the Bone
Health and Osteoporosis Foundation. Doctor Tomatambaye, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Thank you so much, Manny, thank you for having me.
Speaker 8 (20:07):
So what exactly is osteoporosis.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone fragility, so it's characterized
by weak and brittle bones and both bone density so
the amount of bone is low and bone quality or
the architecture of the bone is poor, so combined that
(20:31):
leads to an increased risk of broken bones, which we
call fractures.
Speaker 8 (20:36):
Is this natural in aging or is it something that's acquired.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
That's an excellent question. We don't consider it natural in
the sense that it is a disease process. It is
something that confers an increased risk for broken bones and
even increased mortality. So it's very very important to diagnose
and treat it and also to try to prevent it.
(21:02):
With that said, many older individuals will be diagnosed with
osteoporosis in their lifetime, and as a matter of fact,
over ten million people aged fifty and older in the
United States have osteoporosis, and the prevalence is extremely high
in adults age sixty five and older. It's close to
(21:23):
twenty percent.
Speaker 8 (21:24):
More women or men than get osteoporosis.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Great question. Absolutely more women than men. So about one
in two women over the age of fifty will have
a broken bone related to osteoporosis in her lifetime, but
that statistics drops to one in four men, so you know,
men are much less likely to have it. The key
difference there is that women lose their estrogen at the
(21:53):
time of menopause, so that is a key factor in
their declining bone density, and by and large maintain a
level of testosterone throughout their life. Of course, it does
naturally go down at certain points and with aging, but
testosterone protects their bone throughout their lifetime.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
So menopause and manopause do have an effect on right.
Are there ways to prevent getting osteoporosis?
Speaker 5 (22:22):
That's an excellent question. So I do believe there are
many ways that we can protect our bones, and it
starts out with early recognition of healthy dietary behaviors and exercise.
So making sure you have enough calcium in your diet.
A lot of young children and young people don't drink
(22:44):
milk anymore. They're avoiding dairy, so it is important that
each individual person gets enough calcium in their diet, and
there's a lot of plant based ways to do so
as well. But milk, cheese, yogurt, any dairy food, almond milk,
oat milk, soy milk are some plant based alternatives. But
(23:05):
the goal is about one thousand milligram of calcium per day,
and that is ideally obtained through food. Now, of course,
there are many many supplements on the market. You know
many fancy expensive ones and expensive ones we try to
avoid those because there may be a risk of calcification
of other organs like the blood vessels or kidneys with
(23:30):
high dose calcium supplements. So for now, if we can
get that from our food, we are much much better off.
Vitamin D is also very important, so patients who are
at risk for US trooporosis should have vitamin D levels
measured and their doctor can guide them on how to
supplement with vitamin D three to have an optimal level.
(23:53):
So calcium and vitamin D are two very important building blocks.
And then exercise manny, so we all know that exercise
is critical for so many things, are part for cancer reduction, etc.
For ostroporosis is actually critical. So there was a large
research trial called the Lift More Trial, so it's really
(24:15):
kind of a great name for it, LAFTMR, And this
was an clinical trial conducted that examined exercise in women
and the effects that it had on their bone density,
and really the findings suggested that a high intensity resistance
(24:35):
training program, so essentially a weightlifting program is better for
preserving bone density and preventing loss of bone density than
a low intensity workout. So something like walking per se. Now,
we of course still encourage everything, right, We just want
everyone to be active, whatever that looks like. But weightlifting
(24:57):
three times a week for women is something that I
recommend routinely, and it's going to look different for an
eighty five year old patient versus a forty five year
old patent. So we just want people to get out
there and work with a trainer to get an idea
of what's safe for them.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
It's got a few more minutes here with doctor Leyla Tabatabaye.
She is a member of the board of the Bone
Health and Osteoporosis Foundation. Are there are there tests that
could tell a doctor if somebody is developing osteoporosis?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Absolutely absolutely. The bone density Test, or DEXA as it's called,
and that's abbreviated DXA. That is a routinely available medical
test that can be done at any radiology facility. And
I highly recommend that patients who are concerned about this,
(25:50):
and that's really every woman who's approaching menopause, I believe,
should be screened with a DEXA scan, particularly higher risk
groups such as white and Asian women. Also those who
are thin, have a low body weight or have a
family history of ostroporosis. So the guidelines currently from the USPSTF,
(26:16):
which is the United States Prevention Task Force, suggests that
patients shouldn't get screened until they're sixty five. But that
is concerning to a lot of US experts because many
of our patients with osteopenia or osteoporosis have already broken
a bone by the time they're sixty five, or they're
(26:37):
at high risk to do so. So if we can
screen them earlier, early prevention is always key, right with
all of our chronic conditions, So I highly recommend that
patients advocate for themselves. And the DEXA uses X ray technology,
so it's very very low risk, low radiation. It's a
test that can be done right at their low radiology
(27:01):
facility and very important for assessing their risk.
Speaker 8 (27:05):
I'm surprised that it's not recommended until the age of
sixty five or older. If it's associated with menopause, you
would think, you know, definitely by the mid or late forties,
it would be a required.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Test, absolutely, Manny. And you know, honestly, a lot of
our guidelines in the United States and around the world
are made based on cost, and you know what's most efficient,
and you know it may be appropriate for certain individuals
to wait till that age, but I certainly think that,
(27:39):
you know, many women should be screened at that earlier
age of the perimenopause time as we like to call it,
which is the mid to late forties. And then even
men who have risk factors such as a history of
smoking or heavier alcohol intake, or if they have a
family history of ostuporosis. Certainly men should not feel that
(28:01):
they're immune from osteoporosis, and we encourage them to get
screened if appropriate. As well.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
If I spoke to you again, doctor Tabatambay, in five years,
in ten years, how would the discussion about prevention or
diagnosis or even treatment of osteoporosis be different.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
That's such a wonderful question, Manny. First of all, I
hope that I will still be around in this wonderful
hospital that I work in with my patients whom I
really love to see and to help, and as an endochronologist,
what I hope to see in five or ten years
is that we're looking at osteoporosis as a treatable condition
(28:45):
and even a preventable condition for many many women and
men in this country. We do have excellent medications now
on the market which are safe and FDA approved that
can actually build bone and help to re verse osteoporosis.
And again, these medications may not be appropriate for every patient,
(29:06):
but in patients that can take them and benefit from them,
this is actually changing the face of the disease. So
that's a really exciting forefront that we've come up to,
and it's a really exciting time, you know, in the
osteoporosis space. So my hope is that more patients have
(29:26):
excellent information that they can rely on and also access
to these wonderful medications and specialists who can help them.
So that's really our goal for the future of osteoporosis.
Speaker 8 (29:37):
It all starts with having that conversation with your doctor.
Doctor Leila Tabata bay A Board certified undercinologist, Board member
of the Bone and Health Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation.
Wonderful conversation. Thanks so much for the time and for
the information.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Thank you, manny, take care.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
This has been community matters. Thank you so much for listening,
and enjoy the rest of your night.
This is Community Matters, a weekly public affairs program to
inform and entertain you with some of the great people, organizations,
and events in and around Omaha. Now here's the host
of the program from news radio eleven ten KFAB It's
Scott for Heats.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Thank you so much for being a part of our program.
This week, we welcome back the executive director of an
organization here in Omaha called Hope Heals. Hope Hope Heals,
Ellie Sorenson is back here on Community Matters. Ellie, welcome back,
good to see you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad to
be back.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
My gosh, when we first started talking to you, you
were just a little kid. You're still kind of a
little kid, but you're now a college graduate. This is cool.
Let's talk about your journey these last well, it's the
eighth annual. I know that your story goes back a
little further than that. So tell me about Hope Heels
and then we'll talk about the event coming up here
(01:00):
next weekend.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Awesome.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
So, yeah, like you said, it's been going on a
little bit longer. This will actually be my tenth year
raising awareness for suicide prevention.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
So I've been doing it since I was fifteen years old.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
I started raising awareness because I myself had struggled with
mental illness and suicidal thoughts, and I decided that I
could either dwell on the bad things that were happening
to me and the feelings that I was just pushing down,
or I could talk about it. And so I guess
I decided that I wanted to host a walk at
(01:33):
my school really for myself, and ended.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Up having over one hundred people show up who also
needed that.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I enjoyed talking to you because it's such an important conversation,
but I also I don't like talking to you, Ellie,
because I always end up asking you about let's revisit
some of the darkest days in your life. But that's
where this organization was born from. So as the phoenix
rises from the ashes, tell me about those ashes back
(02:02):
in I guess now ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
So I was struggling.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It started around when I was thirteen and my parents
were going through a pretty tough divorce. And I know
a lot of people can resonate with that. It's not
I would like to say that it's not as common
as it is, but it is. And I was feeling
really alone, and I just I didn't feel like I
could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
(02:30):
It just felt like I was surrounded by darkness. And
no matter how many people told me they loved me,
it just still felt like I was alone.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And it was really tough.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
I did attempt suicide when I was fourteen years old,
and thankfully my brother found me and he was able
to help me. And after that moment, I really had
to think about what I had been through and how
I was feeling, and I decided that I can't be
(03:03):
the only one. I can't be the only person who
feels this darkness and sadness, and.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
I wanted to talk about it.
Speaker 4 (03:11):
I wanted to talk about how I was feeling and
how I know there are other people in my school,
in my community who are feeling that as well. And
that's when I decided that I wanted to start my
walk because I wanted to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Tell me about the first event. The first and it's
called Light in the Darkness is the name of the
organization's event. Here, Light in the Darkness Walk for Hope
from Hope Heels. We're talking with their executive director, Ellie Sorenson.
Here on community matters the eighth annual events coming up
this coming weekend. Let's talk about that first one first
(03:47):
and how it's evolved over these last I don't know
if it's been exactly eight years. I have a feeling
COVID kind of yeah, COVID through through a monkey ranch,
some of those plans there for a few years. But
walk number one to what we're doing next weekend, what
is the same? What's different?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, So going.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Back to the very first walk I was hosting at
Elkhorn South High School because that's where I was.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I was a freshman, and we.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Had raffle prizes, and we had an ice cream truck
and we had glow sticks, and.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
That was about it.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I decided that, you know, I just wanted to bring
people together who wanted to get together. And actually, one
of the main reasons why I decided after that walk
that I was going to keep doing it is because
I had somebody who walked up to me and he said,
one of my friends two weeks ago committed suicide, and
tonight I was either going to come here or I
(04:43):
was going to join him. And he decided to come
to my walk, and I decided at that point in
time that no matter what, if I can help one person,
if I can make sure one person stays, then I'm
doing my job.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
It's a wonderful thing that you're doing. But I want
to focus for a few moments here on the person
doing it, Ellie, that's you, because there's often so much
frustration because you can't save everybody, which can bog a
lot of people down. Also, there's the pressure that you
put on yourself to be there for some people that
(05:19):
you haven't even met yet, and that's a lot of pressure,
especially on the person who started this, a fifteen year
old girl who started this a freshman in high school.
So as we talk about that first walk about a
decade ago versus what we're doing here coming up in
just a few days time, I know that the event
(05:39):
has made some leaps and bounds forwards, probably taking a
few steps back here. And then what about you personally?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
You know, I'm glad that you asked that. That kind
of brings up why we didn't have the walk last year.
So last year I was focusing on getting through school,
and I also kind of struggled a.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Bit again with my mental health. I had lost my grandma.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
There had just been a lot going on in my world,
and I decided that if I'm going to be hosting
this walk and I'm going to be somebody who speaks
by what they mean, I need.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
To prioritize my mental health. And that's exactly what I did.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I decided that it was a lot for me to
bear that year, and I put myself first. And so
now that I've done that, I've been able to come
back this year and it's probably going to be the
largest event that we've had.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I'm so glad you did that last year because you
had to overcome I'm sure feelings up, but I'm letting
someone down, Yes, I'm letting people down. And once you
start putting once you start thinking about life as this
journey forward where it's impossible to take any steps back,
you can't take any steps back. You can't take any
(06:50):
steps left or right. You've got to keep moving forward.
That's impossible, it is sometimes you've got to you end
up taking steps back. You stop where you are for
a moment here. As long as the goal is to
keep moving forward, I think you're doing the right things.
And I'm so proud of you for recognizing that that
was an incredibly adult decision for a young woman to
(07:11):
make out.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Thank you. Yeah, it was. It was hard. I'm not
gonna lie I did.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
I felt like I was letting people down, not only
myself but my friends, my family, the community. But I
had to stand for what I believe in, and I
had to put myself first. And I'm very thankful that
I did, because, like I said, now I'm able to
come back and I'm able to put all of my
care and all of my effort back into this event.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Well, one last personal observation about you, and then we'll
talk about the event. I'm sure that your decision last
year to decide to refocus your own personal energies was
also a tremendous thing for other people who have watched you.
Maybe you don't even know that they're watching you. They
just see you making this journey. If it's constantly sunshine
(07:55):
and rainbows, and hey, every day is better than the last.
And I tell you what, life could be any better?
I thought yesterday and then today happened, and wow, look
at this, it's amazing. That's not the reality for most people.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
None.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And if they think, well, I'm trying to follow her,
but I can't because her journey doesn't seem like real
life to me. What you saw, what you showed to
others last year was the reality. And I'm sure that
helped a lot of people. So again, nice work.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Tell me about what we're doing this coming weekend.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Yes, So this Saturday, we will be hosting our eighth
annual Light the Darkness Walk for Hope. It'll be downtown
at Miller's Landing and it starts at seven thirty pm.
Admission is ten dollars and the first hundred people get
free t shirts, which we will also have a tiight
I stand for tie d eyeing the shirts.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That's always important to you why we always like to have.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
The colors of the shirts to one represent you and
yourself and your journey and also suicide prevention. So the
colors are suicide prevention colors for the tidie. They will
be purple and turquoise.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Okay, and that's fashionable as well. That's very cool. All right.
So it's coming up Saturday, this coming Saturday, June seventh,
Miller's Landing, downtown Omaha. That's the Nebraska side of the
Bobcarey Pedestrian Bridge right in that area. Yeah, I'm sure,
a lot of signs directing people where to go, where
to park and all that. What time does everything get underway?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
So seven thirty PM is when we are going to
be opening up the gates, okay, and then nine o'clock
PM is when we will actually start the walk. We'll
walk over the Bobcarey pedestrian Bridge and back, so it'll
be about a mile and a half of a walk.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
And it's a beautiful walk as well, especially at night.
And that gets us to the name of the event,
Light the Darkness the Walk for hope. This has to
be done at dusk or in the evening hours. Because
are we gonna have glow sticks?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
Oh yes, glow sticks, glow batons, glow glasses, glow everything.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Okay, very cool. So then live music and raffle and
when does all that happen?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, so right at seven thirty when the gates open.
We'll have two bands actually playing this year. So blues
Ed is an organization here in Omaha that works with
students who want to be a part of bands, and
so we have two of their bands that are going
to be performing. We have True Blues and Vertigo, So
both of them will be playing from seven thirty to
ten thirty and then taking a break during the walk.
(10:20):
The raffles will be going until ten o'clock. As soon
as ten o'clock hits, that's when we'll be reading off
raffle prize winners. So make sure you stick through till
the end so that you can get your raffles.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Where can people go for more details about not just
the event, but also your organization, You can go.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
To our website, which is going to be Hope Healsinc.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Dot org Hope Heals i NC, Hope Heels Inc. Dot org.
As I mentioned at the start of the conversation, Hope
is spelled out here in an acronym form HOPE, and
that stands.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
For helping other people every day.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Hope Heels Inc. Dot Org Executive director La Sorenson been
walking this walk now for a very long time. Congratulations
on graduating from college.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
What are you going to do now in your real
world now you're no longer a student?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Well, right now, I've taken a full time job.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
I'm working at Cornerstone Staffing as an administrative coordinator and
I'm actually I'm loving it. It is a great place
to work and they are actually sponsoring my walk this year,
which is incredible. So that's kind of where I'm at
right now.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Eventually, I don't know, we'll see down the road.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Okay, Well, the first things first, we got to get
people to Miller's Landing downtown Omaha on the Nebraska side
of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Things kick off this Saturday,
June seventh, seven thirty pm. You guys start walking back
and forth across the bridge about nine. There's live music,
raffle prizes. It's all online at Hope Heelsinc. Dot Org.
(11:50):
Ellie Sorenson, you continue to impress me. Great job with
all of this. Thank you so much for what you're
doing for people in our community, and thanks for telling
us about it on Community Matters of course, thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure, and.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Thank you for listening to Community Matters this week. Our
next segment comes from a recent edition of kfab's Morning News,
responding to the recent health situation that we learned about
with President Biden. Here's the host of that program, Gary Sadelemeyer.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
News Broke yesterday. Of course, the former President Biden's prostate
cancer diagnosis doesn't sound good of course, and we are
joining for a few minutes this morning by doctor Luke Nordquist,
founder of Eurology Cancer Center, now ex cancer prominent eurologist
here in the Metro and a good friend, Doctor Luke.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
Good morning, Good morning Gary. Good to be honest with
you again.
Speaker 6 (12:39):
Great to have you back here. All I know about
this I've learned from you and one of the things
I've learned, and you were on here once before and
talked about the Gleason score being critical when there's prostate
cancer and we're told that Biden's Gleason score is nine.
That's not good, right.
Speaker 7 (12:58):
Well, I'm gonna first correct. Yeah, I'd love to be
a urologist. I'm not smart enough for that, so almost
called a medical on colleges. I'm a cancer doctor, but
I specialized only in prostay cancer. So yeah, we see
about five hundred men a month of my cancer center
from coast to coast and even other countries. But yeah,
talking about prostay cancer. One of the most important things
you need to know is the Gleason score, not named
(13:20):
after the actor Jackie Bit. That's how you can remember it.
It's a number that you get from the biopsy it's
the number from six to ten. There's no halves or
three quarters or five ahs. It's just six, seven, eight
nine or ten. And it tells us the aggressiveness of
the cancer. It's called the grade of the cancer. Every
cancer has a grade that tells us the aggressiveness, but
only prostaate cancer is called the gleas In grade, and
(13:43):
it really tells us how we're going to treat the cancer.
So like a glease in six are often the men
you hear about that they don't worry about prostaate cancer.
It's a good cancer to have, you don't need to
treat it. Those people. Less than one percent of those
with their cancer ever spread, so often we can watch
it in any treatment is just extracite effects. But when
we get up to a Gleason eight, nine or ten,
(14:03):
those are very aggressive. They can take lives. There's still
thirty seven thousand min a year that lose their lives
in the United States from prostate cancer. It's the second
leading cause of death from cancer behind lung cancer, out
of all the hundreds of types of cancer. So that's
pretty serious. But those are mainly from Gleason eight, nines,
and tens.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Yeah, what does the term stage four mean well, stage.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
Four most cancers mean that it's metastasized, it's spread, and
technically you could use that, but with prostate cancer, we
don't tend to use the stage one through four system
as much. We call it either localized where it's contained,
let's try to cure it, or that it was recurrs
with a rising PSA lab test. And then we have
(14:47):
metashatic hormone sensitive and metastatic hormone resistant. And the word
hormone means something here. So the male hormone testosterone is
the fuel for prostate cancer, for cancer, prostate cancers, that's
the gasoline. And if we cure somebody and their PSA
goes to zero, then we don't care what their PSA
level is. But if somebody's going to have this noncurable
(15:09):
cancer in the body the rest of their lives, then
the whole the premise of treating it is to lower
or block the testosterone, what we call hormone therapy, but
it's kind of anti hormone therapy because we're lowering or
blocking testosterone. And even though it's metastatic in his situation,
and I've only read that it's metastatic to the bones.
I don't know if that's just a couple spots what
(15:30):
we would call oligo metastatic, because if it's oligo metastatic
that means just one or two spots in the bones,
you might still go for cure. Well, if it's truly
metastatic within multiple spots, then it's noncurable but very treatable.
And I have many many men over ten years, at
least in eight nines and tens with metastatic disease that
(15:50):
are on different therapies, hormones, et cetera to control the
cancer for many years.
Speaker 6 (15:56):
I don't want to get you drag you into the
political angle of this at all, but I'm just area,
is what you'd think for a president of the United
States at the age of what was you then at
the last exam was eighty one? How likely is it
that he would not have been screened for prostate cancer
at least gotten a PSA number.
Speaker 7 (16:17):
Well, I would say with an executive level, for somebody
at that level would be having a yearly PSA blood test.
It's such a simple part of the channel. I've been
around a number of kind of VIP peoples in New
York City. It's Sloan Kettering, and you'd often hear that
they were diagnosed with prostate cancer and actually they'd been
(16:39):
diagnosed and treated for the past eight to ten years,
and maybe it's towards the end and they just wanted
to come out to the public that they kept a
private for the first number of years for whatever reason.
It would be very unlikely for somebody diagnosed with a
profta cancer, even at lease of nine or ten, to
have it already metastatic. So to already have a metastatic
it means it's probably been in that body, probably somewhere
(17:00):
at least three years, probably even closer to five to
six years, and that it's already been in the body
with the PSA rising and likely detectable. So you know,
I'll just leave it at that. No, I do think
that it's probably been known for some time. It'll be
my instinct knowing what I know, doing this for twenty
one years.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Yeah, and boy, you wonder, I wonder if there's been
treatment over those years. And I agree with you, it
seems very likely that they've known for a while.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
All they sure didn't share it with us, No, of
course not.
Speaker 6 (17:29):
Oh yeah, that's that's a shame, but that has nothing
to do with it now because he's out of office.
Speaker 7 (17:34):
Right and to be honest, I don't know how much
it'd be with the cognition decline. Also, some people obviously say, well,
maybe it's spread to his brain. Different cancers spread the
different parts of the body. Standard prostay cancer. If I
see five thousand visits a year, all of them except
for about fifty will be standard what we call admiral carcinoma,
the prosta, which only spreads to bones and to linsnos.
(17:57):
It won't spread to the long liver brain like that. Now,
occasionally I use the example if a dog gets rabies,
it's still the same dog, but it's also got a
bad situation. Is what's called a neuroendocrine prostate cancer. That's
those extra fifty i'll see a year, which is like
rabies on prostate cancer. It can spread to the brain.
That is a very poor prognosis and people only typically
live a few months or maybe a year with that version.
(18:20):
But I don't think that's what he has.
Speaker 6 (18:22):
Well, the first thing I ever learned from you was
when we're just we just shoot the breeze about cancer,
is that whatever kind of cancer you have wherever it spreads,
it's still that kind of cancer. So exactly, you know,
if it's on the bone, it's still prostate cancer.
Speaker 7 (18:37):
Yeah, exactly, it's like a dandylion in seed blowing into
another part of the yard. It's still a dandylon, right,
So that's true of all cancers. You're exactly right. And
when we have to work with when we're treating cancers,
because I see, well they're going to consider surgery radiational options. Well,
I doubt that we have surgery, We have radiation, we
have medicines. Those are three main tools to treat almost
every cancer. Surgery and radiation. For when it's all contained,
(18:59):
all the cows in the bar and it's all in
one spot. Once it metastasizes, it's like weeds in your yard.
You're not going to go dig all of those up
in IED's a medicine which goes everywhere, which could be
a pill, a shot, and immune therapy, these new theraynostics.
I would be highly surprised if you're not talking about
this new way of treating cancer called theeryonostics. In the future.
Bill Gates has gotten into this type of therapy, is
(19:21):
starting a company and we're very involved in my center.
We've now done just our twenty third first in the
world with theraonostic. These are starting to even give the
ability to cure advanced cancers in the future, so that's
very exciting.
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Excellent doctor nord Quest always got to the chat. Thank
you for the time.
Speaker 7 (19:35):
Yeah, thanks Gerry.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
We have time for one more segment on this week's
edition of Community Matters, and to lead this one is
our iHeartRadio friend Manny Munos for more on a very
serious topic, osteoporosis.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Do you know what it is? Is it even preventable?
Let's discuss that and the fact that may is Osteoporosis
Awareness and Prevention Month as we bring in doctor Leyla Tabatambay.
She's a member of it's a board of the Bone
Health and Osteoporosis Foundation. Doctor Tomatambaye, I appreciate the time.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Thank you so much, Manny, thank you for having me.
Speaker 8 (20:07):
So what exactly is osteoporosis.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Osteoporosis is a disease of bone fragility, so it's characterized
by weak and brittle bones and both bone density so
the amount of bone is low and bone quality or
the architecture of the bone is poor, so combined that
(20:31):
leads to an increased risk of broken bones, which we
call fractures.
Speaker 8 (20:36):
Is this natural in aging or is it something that's acquired.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
That's an excellent question. We don't consider it natural in
the sense that it is a disease process. It is
something that confers an increased risk for broken bones and
even increased mortality. So it's very very important to diagnose
and treat it and also to try to prevent it.
(21:02):
With that said, many older individuals will be diagnosed with
osteoporosis in their lifetime, and as a matter of fact,
over ten million people aged fifty and older in the
United States have osteoporosis, and the prevalence is extremely high
in adults age sixty five and older. It's close to
(21:23):
twenty percent.
Speaker 8 (21:24):
More women or men than get osteoporosis.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Great question. Absolutely more women than men. So about one
in two women over the age of fifty will have
a broken bone related to osteoporosis in her lifetime, but
that statistics drops to one in four men, so you know,
men are much less likely to have it. The key
difference there is that women lose their estrogen at the
(21:53):
time of menopause, so that is a key factor in
their declining bone density, and by and large maintain a
level of testosterone throughout their life. Of course, it does
naturally go down at certain points and with aging, but
testosterone protects their bone throughout their lifetime.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
So menopause and manopause do have an effect on right.
Are there ways to prevent getting osteoporosis?
Speaker 5 (22:22):
That's an excellent question. So I do believe there are
many ways that we can protect our bones, and it
starts out with early recognition of healthy dietary behaviors and exercise.
So making sure you have enough calcium in your diet.
A lot of young children and young people don't drink
(22:44):
milk anymore. They're avoiding dairy, so it is important that
each individual person gets enough calcium in their diet, and
there's a lot of plant based ways to do so
as well. But milk, cheese, yogurt, any dairy food, almond milk,
oat milk, soy milk are some plant based alternatives. But
(23:05):
the goal is about one thousand milligram of calcium per day,
and that is ideally obtained through food. Now, of course,
there are many many supplements on the market. You know
many fancy expensive ones and expensive ones we try to
avoid those because there may be a risk of calcification
of other organs like the blood vessels or kidneys with
(23:30):
high dose calcium supplements. So for now, if we can
get that from our food, we are much much better off.
Vitamin D is also very important, so patients who are
at risk for US trooporosis should have vitamin D levels
measured and their doctor can guide them on how to
supplement with vitamin D three to have an optimal level.
(23:53):
So calcium and vitamin D are two very important building blocks.
And then exercise manny, so we all know that exercise
is critical for so many things, are part for cancer reduction, etc.
For ostroporosis is actually critical. So there was a large
research trial called the Lift More Trial, so it's really
(24:15):
kind of a great name for it, LAFTMR, And this
was an clinical trial conducted that examined exercise in women
and the effects that it had on their bone density,
and really the findings suggested that a high intensity resistance
(24:35):
training program, so essentially a weightlifting program is better for
preserving bone density and preventing loss of bone density than
a low intensity workout. So something like walking per se. Now,
we of course still encourage everything, right, We just want
everyone to be active, whatever that looks like. But weightlifting
(24:57):
three times a week for women is something that I
recommend routinely, and it's going to look different for an
eighty five year old patient versus a forty five year
old patent. So we just want people to get out
there and work with a trainer to get an idea
of what's safe for them.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
It's got a few more minutes here with doctor Leyla Tabatabaye.
She is a member of the board of the Bone
Health and Osteoporosis Foundation. Are there are there tests that
could tell a doctor if somebody is developing osteoporosis?
Speaker 5 (25:30):
Absolutely absolutely. The bone density Test, or DEXA as it's called,
and that's abbreviated DXA. That is a routinely available medical
test that can be done at any radiology facility. And
I highly recommend that patients who are concerned about this,
(25:50):
and that's really every woman who's approaching menopause, I believe,
should be screened with a DEXA scan, particularly higher risk
groups such as white and Asian women. Also those who
are thin, have a low body weight or have a
family history of ostroporosis. So the guidelines currently from the USPSTF,
(26:16):
which is the United States Prevention Task Force, suggests that
patients shouldn't get screened until they're sixty five. But that
is concerning to a lot of US experts because many
of our patients with osteopenia or osteoporosis have already broken
a bone by the time they're sixty five, or they're
(26:37):
at high risk to do so. So if we can
screen them earlier, early prevention is always key, right with
all of our chronic conditions, So I highly recommend that
patients advocate for themselves. And the DEXA uses X ray technology,
so it's very very low risk, low radiation. It's a
test that can be done right at their low radiology
(27:01):
facility and very important for assessing their risk.
Speaker 8 (27:05):
I'm surprised that it's not recommended until the age of
sixty five or older. If it's associated with menopause, you
would think, you know, definitely by the mid or late forties,
it would be a required.
Speaker 5 (27:17):
Test, absolutely, Manny. And you know, honestly, a lot of
our guidelines in the United States and around the world
are made based on cost, and you know what's most efficient,
and you know it may be appropriate for certain individuals
to wait till that age, but I certainly think that,
(27:39):
you know, many women should be screened at that earlier
age of the perimenopause time as we like to call it,
which is the mid to late forties. And then even
men who have risk factors such as a history of
smoking or heavier alcohol intake, or if they have a
family history of ostuporosis. Certainly men should not feel that
(28:01):
they're immune from osteoporosis, and we encourage them to get
screened if appropriate. As well.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
If I spoke to you again, doctor Tabatambay, in five years,
in ten years, how would the discussion about prevention or
diagnosis or even treatment of osteoporosis be different.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
That's such a wonderful question, Manny. First of all, I
hope that I will still be around in this wonderful
hospital that I work in with my patients whom I
really love to see and to help, and as an endochronologist,
what I hope to see in five or ten years
is that we're looking at osteoporosis as a treatable condition
(28:45):
and even a preventable condition for many many women and
men in this country. We do have excellent medications now
on the market which are safe and FDA approved that
can actually build bone and help to re verse osteoporosis.
And again, these medications may not be appropriate for every patient,
(29:06):
but in patients that can take them and benefit from them,
this is actually changing the face of the disease. So
that's a really exciting forefront that we've come up to,
and it's a really exciting time, you know, in the
osteoporosis space. So my hope is that more patients have
(29:26):
excellent information that they can rely on and also access
to these wonderful medications and specialists who can help them.
So that's really our goal for the future of osteoporosis.
Speaker 8 (29:37):
It all starts with having that conversation with your doctor.
Doctor Leila Tabata bay A Board certified undercinologist, Board member
of the Bone and Health Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation.
Wonderful conversation. Thanks so much for the time and for
the information.
Speaker 5 (29:53):
Thank you, manny, take care.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
This has been community matters. Thank you so much for listening,
and enjoy the rest of your night.
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