Local elementary schools raise funds for Juvenile Diabetes

Three local elementary schools have raised a total of more than $38,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Greater Fort Worth-Arlington chapterÂ’s Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes.

Bear Creek Elementary set a fund-raising goal of $8,000 and surpassed it, collecting $8,159.10 as of March 18. Their walk was held on March 13.

Colleyville Elementary SchoolÂ’s walk was on March 14, and as of March 18 they had raised $21,964.20, and their final goal is to collect $25,000. More donations are expected to come in to help them meet their hoped-for total.

It was the first year for Stuard Elementary School in Aledo to participate in the Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes, but they raised $8,721.88 as of March 18. The walk was held Feb. 15.

The Kids Walk to Cure Diabetes is to benefit research into type I diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes. Each school is given back 10 percent of the money they raise. On Oct. 25, the local chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will host its Walk to Cure Diabetes, and the money raised by schools will go toward the chapterÂ’s goal of collecting $1 million.

UNTHSC hosts speaker series

The UNT Health Science Center will have another installment of its Distinguished Speaker Series starting at 5:15 p.m. on March 31. Dr. Christine Goertz Choate, executive director of the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research at the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, will be speaking about translational research and manual therapies.

Choate has served as a scientific adviser for the American Chiropractic Association and as a consultant, health sciences administrator and program official for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.

The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Luibel Hall on the campus of the Health Science Center.

TWU holds health fair

Texas WomanÂ’s University will be hosting its seventh annual Well Wednesday Community Health Fair on April 2, sponsored by the TWU Student Health Services and Texas Oncology. Health screenings will be available free or at a reduced cost, and vendors will be available to provide health information to event guests.

Blood pressure checks, spinal and posture checks, and neck and back massages will be provided free. Blood profiles and lipid panels for men and for women will be offered; the blood profiles will be $58 each, and the lipid panels will cost $32. Payment by cash, check or credit card will be accepted, and itÂ’s recommended that a person fast for eight to 10 hours before the screening. To schedule a screening, call 1-800-685-5572.

Vendors will include the Denton County Health Department, Family Resource Center of North Texas, Denton Regional Medical Center and TWU Counseling and Family Development, among others.

The health fair will be free and open to the public and is scheduled from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Pioneer Hall on Bell Avenue. For more information, contact the TWU Health Educator Priyanka Lalwani at 940-898-3833 or healtheducation@twu.edu.

CyberKnife Center honored

The Harris Methodist Fort Worth CyberKnife Center was recently named seventh among the top 10 extracranial, or treatment sites besides the brain, facilities in the world by Accuray, the company which produces CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System.

CyberKnife surgery is performed without any traditional incisions or anesthesia and is an outpatient procedure for patients who may benefit from an alternative treatment to surgery, traditional radiology or chemotherapy.

The Harris Methodist Fort Worth CyberKnife Center treated 143 extracranial tumors in 2007 and is the only hospital in Texas to be honored by Accuray. It was recognized along with hospitals in China, Korea, Spain and six other American hospitals. The treatment was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat tumors in the head and at the base of the skull in 1999 and for anywhere in the body in 2001.

Granger honored

Congresswoman Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, was honored by the C3 Colorectal Cancer Coalition for her efforts to fight colorectal cancer, including introducing legislation to increase funding for cancer screenings.

March marks National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and the disease is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States.

In 2007, Grander introduced H.R. 1738, which would increase funding for colorectal cancer screenings and establish a national screening program for individuals older than 50 or who are at high risk. The bill, which has more than 100 co-sponsors, would also create a public awareness and education campaign on the cancer.

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