Penn Elm Medical Group
488 E. Valley Parkway
Suite 411
Escondido, CA 92025
(760) 745-2000

NEWSLETTER:
JUNE 2005

News You Can Use
Soft Drinks and Sleeping Agents Tied to Nighttime Heartburn
Drinking carbonated soft drinks or using benzodiazepines (sleeping and anxiety agents, such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium, and Klonopin, or their generics) before bedtime increases the risk of nighttime heartburn according to a recent large study. These relationships were found in an analysis by an Arizona team of participants in the Sleep Heart Health Study. A total of 15,314 participants completed questions about heartburn during sleep, and 3,806 of these (24.9%) reported having nighttime heartburn. In addition to the usual heartburn trigger suspects -- such as high blood pressure, obesity, and snoring -- carbonated soft drinks and benzodiazepines were also discovered to be clinical predictors of heartburn when lying down. See Study

Drug to Stall Premature Ejaculation Improves Sex Lives
Researchers reported that a drug called dapoxetine designed to stall premature ejaculation appeared to do so, at least for twice as many patients as a placebo agent. In studies conducted with 2,614 men and their heterosexual partners, the time to ejaculation was significantly increased. Before the trial only 2% to 3% of the men felt they had control over ejaculation. After the trial about 25% of men taking placebo said they controlled ejaculation. See Study

Laughter Can be a Cause of Asthma Attacks
Unfortunately, laughter isn't the best medicine for asthmatics. More than half of all asthmatics suffer from laughter-induced attacks, a team from New York University reported at the recent meeting of the American Thoracic Society. And it doesn't take a belly laugh to trigger an attack, said Stuart Garay, M.D. Even a mild chuckle can be enough to trigger coughing and chest tightness. The NYU investigators presented an analysis of the asthma triggers of 235 patients who were part of a 494-patient prospective disease management program in Dr. Garay's practice. See Study

Important Announcements
Job Opportunities at Penn Elm
As Penn Elm continues to expand, we continue to need qualified doctors, medical assistants, receptionists, billing, and medical records personnel. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for a position at Penn Elm, please notify our Operations Manager, Judy Shaw, at 760-745-2000.

What’s New at Penn Elm?
Electronic Medical Record Update
After spending three busy months rolling out the new electronic medical record, Penn Elm staff and doctors are relieved to be finally getting the hang of the new system. Work is continuing on improving office efficiencies, but already patients have commented on how great it is that their doctor can send a prescription to their pharmacy during their office visit, so it's waiting for them when they get to the pharmacy. They are also looking forward to having records available for any Penn Elm doctor to access 24 hours a day in case a need arises after hours. We encourage you to notify our staff of any problems you encounter in our new system, and are open to any suggestions for improvement.

The Escondido Street Faire was a great success. Thanks to our staff who put together an outstanding booth. We enjoyed seeing our regular patients, as well as meeting new residents who were in the process of looking for a new medical group. We hope you had a chance to stop by and say hello!

Staff Changes
We have a wonderful staff, but life-changes hit us too, and we're losing two of our best this summer... Dr. Prabakhar's nurse, Sandy, was just married and will be moving to Texas soon. Blanca, one of our our outstanding receptionists, will be moving to El Centro in July. And Ruby, in our Medical Records Department, just graduated from San Diego State and will be pursing a job in law enforcement.

Welcome aboard to Gloria and Emma in Medical Records, Cecelia in Nursing, and Vicki in Reception & Billing. And congratulations to Cindi, in Reception, who just graduated from Palomar College. Cindi attended school while working full-time... Great job!

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