Reusser has a heart for his home town

Written by Katie Morford Tuesday, 09 August 2011 15:51

Cardiologist Layne Reusser: “It’s fun to give something back to the community. These outreach clinics have been an integral part of our group’s practice.” One of Hillsboro’s own has gone on to establish his own cardiology practice in Wichita, but he still finds time to come home and lend a helping hand.

Cardiology physician Layne Reusser makes the trek once a month to consult with patients in the Hillsboro and Marion area.

“It’s fun to give something back to the community,” Reusser said. “These outreach clinics have been an integral part of our group’s practice.

“Almost everybody in our group does outreach clinics.”

The monthly trips have also given him the chance to visit his family in the area.

“In the early years, it wasn’t quite so busy, so I could spend some time out on the farm,” he said. “Now it’s gotten busier, and Mom has moved into town, but I...

Read more: Reusser has a heart for his home town

With advancing age comes fewer fevers

Written by Fred Cicetti Tuesday, 09 August 2011 15:49

Q I remember having lots of fevers as a kid, but, now that I’m older, I don’t get them like I used to. What gives?

AThe immune system doesn’t function as efficiently in older adults as it does in younger people. The body’s fever response to infection is not always automatic in elderly people. More than 20 percent of adults over age 65 who have serious bacterial infections do not have fevers.

This brings us to germs, which are defined as microbes that cause disease. Infectious diseases caused by microbes are the leading cause of death.

Microbes are microscopic organisms that are everywhere. Some microbes cause disease. Others are essential for health. Most microbes belong to one of four major groups: bacteria, viruses, fungi or...

Read more: With advancing age comes fewer fevers

Know the warning signs of teen eating disorders

Written by Joyce Kyle Tuesday, 09 August 2011 15:48

Eating disorders tend to affect more girls than boys during adolescence. This is an emotional disorder that requires the intervention of a health-care professional before it becomes a life-threatening issue.

Some warning signs of anorexia are:

1. Losing 25 percent of normal body weight without being on a diet.

2. Having a distorted body image.

3. Dieting constantly even though she is thin.

4. Fear of weight gain.

5. Menstrual periods have stopped (this is known as amenorrhea).

6. Preoccupation with food, calories and eating.

7. Exercising excessively.

8. Binging and purging.

The warning signs of bulimia would include the following:

1. Eating uncontrollably (binges), often in secret.

2. Purging by vomiting, abusing laxatives...

Read more: Know the warning signs of teen eating disorders

All in the family: Project brings together past, present

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 26 July 2011 18:26

The Wiebe family—(from left, Josh, John, Ellynne, Matthew—pose in front of the house they refurbished over three years. The house was commissioned by Jon’s great-grandfather, John Frantz, in 1911. The house has been in the family off and on ever since. Don Ratzlaff / Free Press It started with an impulse purchase and took three years to accomplish, but a Hillsboro family has brought new life to a house that is historically significant for both the family and the town.

And it happened just in time to mark the house’s 100th birthday.

The two-story Victorian-style house at 313 S. Birch, unique for the five-sided turret on the southeast corner of the structure, was on the auction block and headed for possible demolition in 2008 when Jon and Ellynne Wiebe decided to buy it.

The structure’s exterior was in disrepair and fading fast, but the couple could not pass up the house Jon’s great-grandfather had commissioned in 1911.

“I got caught up in the romance at the auction,” Jon admitted with a smile...

Read more: All in the family: Project brings together past, present