CRESTVIEW — Rock Steady Boxing is changing the way people fight the battle of living with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative movement disorder that can cause deterioration of motor skills, balance, speech and sensory function.

The non-contact, boxing-inspired fitness program was created in 2006 by Scott Newman. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, Newman began boxing with a friend and realized it was helping to slow down his symptoms. Newman spoke with his doctors, who looked into the effects and found that boxing was, in fact, helping with the disease.

Shaun Knight, who coaches the Rock Steady Boxing Northwest Florida class, said the program gives people living with the disease another tool to deal with it.

“The disease takes away so much of your motor skills, balance and coordination,” Knight said. “Non-contact boxing helps those individuals gain some of that back. Boxing is giving these individuals a chance to fight back and gain their sense of self.”

Knight, who is an athletic trainer, said he was skeptical of the idea at first, but things changed when he went to the program's training in Miami.

“Boxers came in on all levels of Parkinson’s and they came in with good energy. The vibes were strong and everyone was excited.” Knight said. “They did everything we did at 100 percent, even passed that. At that point I was all in. I was excited to bring it back to the area.”

Knight teaches the class in Crestview in the Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers building, located at 728 North Ferdon Blvd.

The program includes an intense warmup and boxing drills. The boxing drills include activities such as bobbing and weaving, reflex bag, ground and pound, and focus mitts.

“We incorporate the balance training as far as moving side to side, forward and back, throwing punches at the same time,” Knight said. “It gives the boxers a new focus. The brain is focusing on the boxing combination, not more or less on the disease.”

Knight said the program often has good results, but isn’t necessarily an alternative to medicine or other options.

“People should give it an opportunity,” Knight said. “It’s just another tool. When people get diagnosed, they might think that’s it. This is just something else that’s available and it’s in the area. The question I always say is ‘Why not?’”

Knight said the program is not just physically significant, but also mentally and emotionally significant.

“You can see the comradery. People come in and they’re holding each other accountable,” Knight said. “They start looking past the disease. They start looking at ‘I’ve got a second family here and we’re all in this fight together.”

For more information on the program, visit www.rocksteadyboxing.org

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: A new focus

CRESTVIEW — Walmart will have a free wellness event, which offers attendees health screenings and consultations with their neighborhood pharmacist.

The event is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Walmart Supercenter, 3351 S. Ferdon Blvd., Crestview.

Services and information available include:

•free blood pressure, blood glucose and BMI screenings.

•free consultations with pharmacists to help answer important health questions.

•low-cost immunizations administered by health professionals (most insurance plans accepted).

•free vision screenings in select locations.

•nutrition information.

•opioid awareness materials. 

The wellness event also includes a drug takeback event. Local law enforcement personnel will accept  area residents' unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the store parking lot.

Since 2014, Walmart has conducted more than 3 million free screenings during the wellness events.

To find otherDrug Enforcement Administration Drug Take Back locations near you, visit https://takebackday.dea.gov/

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Walmart to host wellness screening, drug takeback

CRESTVIEW — A neighborhood has banded together on a county level to assist a local family raising funds for a service dog.

Amanda and Travis Denis have four children between them: Mick, 17; Eli, 5; Amelia, 3; and Oliver, 2.

Eli was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

As he grows, his mom said, his behaviors are changing. He has issues with elopement meaning he will run away from them in overstimulating situations.

"A dog would help him to stay with us and learn better coping skills instead of running. The dog would help him with (anxiety) in public places, keep him calm by laying on him and providing him deep pressure when he gets very upset.

"The service dog will also help him communicate … it would be a communication starter in a way. He has a hard time talking to people he doesn't know. He has a hard time verbalizing his thoughts and his feelings. If the dog can be a conversational starter, that might help him to be able to verbalize a little bit better," she said.

The Denises have been holding one yard sale a month to raise the $10,000-plus required for Ohana K9 Lifeline to purchase and train the dog. There's also a Gofundme page (https://bit.ly/2SUme6T). The Denises estimate it will take about a year to secure the funds.

Their neighbors have also joined in. They are hosting a multi-family yard sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 18 and 7 a.m. to noon Jan. 19 on Grand Prix Drive.

"Several families have signed up to do this, and also, many people in the community have been donating items for the last two or three weeks — furniture, clothing, household items. There's also going to be a bake sale going on," Amanda said.

One neighbor and her husband made several trips to Fort Walton picking up furniture and other yard sale donations. Another, Moe, owner of Moe's Custom Graphics, is selling T-shirts on the company's Facebook and Instagram pages.

"I really want to thank the community of Okaloosa County for coming together and donating. From what I've been told through my neighbors, it's going to be amazing," Amanda said.

Visit https://bit.ly/2ssCIHV for more about the yard sale.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Upcoming yard sale will help purchase autism service dog

GAINESVILLE — With the help of a grant from the Florida Blue Foundation, two University of Florida colleges will collaborate on a novel project to improve health care for vulnerable populations while providing valuable learning opportunities for students.

The three-year, $286,000 Advance Innovation and Promote Solutions in the Health Care System grant will allow the UF College of Nursing’s community primary care practice, Archer Family Health Care to work with the UF College of Dentistry’s on-campus clinic. Both settings care for underserved populations, who are often the most affected by a disjointed health care delivery system.

This innovative collaboration is the first of its kind in Florida. It will be led by Denise Schentrup, D.N.P., APRN, a College of Nursing clinical associate professor and associate dean for clinical affairs, and Cesar Migliorati, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., a College of Dentistry professor and associate dean of clinical affairs and quality.

The project will provide point-of-care service, a two-directional referral source and communication between both nursing and dentistry sites to solve two specific problems facing both clinics. At the student dental clinic, care is delayed for a significant portion of patients at the time of procedure due to incomplete health assessments and evaluation. Patients are redirected to their primary care provider, if they have one, to obtain a clearance to be treated. Meanwhile, about 60 percent of Archer Family Health Care’s patient population have limited access to timely dental evaluation and treatment.

To solve these problems, an advanced registered nurse practitioner will be embedded in the student dental clinic to provide immediate medical assessment, treatment and referral to primary care for dental patients, as needed. Health assessments completed immediately by the nurse practitioner would allow for dental care to continue without delay. If the nurse practitioner determines a more in-depth medical consult is necessary or if patients have an untreated chronic disease, the nurse practitioner can initiate a referral to a medical facility, such as Archer Family Health Care.

On the Archer Family Health Care side, a licensed clinical social worker will be hired to connect patients to the College of Dentistry for dental treatment.

“Underprivileged populations face many difficulties in accessing medical and dental care, which prevents these individuals from achieving total body and oral health,” Migliorati said. “With this partnership, dental students will work under professional supervision with a nurse practitioner to demonstrate a new model of medical and dental care and decrease complications for patients.”

In addition to the benefits to patients, students will be introduced to a unique interprofessional model of practice while learning how to manage medically compromised patients and how to communicate effectively with fellow health care professionals about their patient’s problems.

“This grant will create a partnership that will bridge the gap for health care services,” Schentrup said. “It will also serve as a stepping stone for future projects between nursing and dentistry and give students the opportunity to have interprofessional clinical practice experience. Student exposure to and adoption of innovative models of care are paramount to making changes in health care delivery.”

Florida Blue Foundation Vice President Susan Towler said this collaboration aligns perfectly with Florida Blue’s mission.

“This partnership between the UF colleges of Nursing and Dentistry to better treat underserved populations is an excellent example of the kind of work the Florida Blue Foundation supports,” Towler said. “This speaks right to Florida Blue’s mission to help people and communities achieve better health.”

About Florida Blue Foundation

Florida Blue Foundation enables healthy communities by making grants, building coalitions and rewarding best practices. More than 3 million people in Florida have received direct health services as a result of grants made to nonprofit organizations since our founding in 2001. Florida Blue Foundation is a trade name of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation Inc., an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Visit www.FloridaBlueFoundation.com for more information about the foundation.

Anna Suggs Hoffman is the director of communications for the UF College of Nursing.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Grant fuels University of Florida nursing, dental colleges’ project for underserved patients

GAINESVILLE — The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded researchers at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy a two-year, $3.5 million grant to bolster research on Mitragyna speciosia, or kratom, and its potential to treat opioid misuse and physical dependence.

UFCP researchers have studied kratom, which comes from the leaves of a tropical tree from Southeast Asia, as a potential therapy to wean addicts off heroin or prescription opioids. It activates the same opioid receptors and appears to satisfy the craving, while possibly lessening the risk of respiratory depression.

Next they will seek to identify the pharmacology of its 40 alkaloids, test the effects of these individual alkaloids on the brain’s receptors and continue to develop treatment strategies to help addicts quit opioids.

Principal investigators Lance McMahon, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the college’s department of pharmacodynamics, and Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., a professor of medicinal chemistry in the college, say the grant will renew and reinvigorate their research.

Estimates show between 2 million and 4 million people in the United States use kratom, although the substance is poorly understood.

Many government agencies have a vested interest in the grant, including the NIDA, the National Institutes of Health, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration. McMahon, McCurdy and their team have monthly meetings with the NIDA program officers to discuss progress of the UG3/UH3 grant.

“Chris McCurdy was a pioneer in the area of kratom research 10 years ago,” McMahon said. “This NIDA grant shows interest in the potential of kratom-based medicines, as well as concerns over the potential misuse of kratom-related substances.”

With new funding made possible by this and other grants, the size of the research team and infrastructure to study kratom have expanded. Quantities of samples that once took two to three months to generate can now be available in just one week.

The next stage of kratom research involves identifying the pharmacology of its chemicals. Bonnie Avery, Ph.D. identifies kratom’s alkaloids through chromatographic methods, to determine where they go in the body and how they are broken down into metabolites.

After that, McMahon and Jay McLaughlin, Ph.D. run in vivo pharmacodynamics tests to determine the effects of individual alkaloids on receptor targets in the brain.

The scientific team will continue developing treatment strategies to wean addicts off opioids, similar to the way the classically accepted drugs, buprenorphine and methadone, are currently prescribed. Although less dangerous than heroine and other prescription opioids, they are narcotics with the potential to be abused, which is why researchers are interested in safer alternatives.

The last main research objective is for McCurdy to change a natural substance in kratom to reduce symptoms of opioid withdrawal.

Other members of the research team include research scientist Francisco Leon, Ph.D., and research assistant professors Jenny Wilkerson, Ph.D., and Takato Hiranita, Ph.D.

Donovan Baltich is a communications specialist at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: University of Florida gets kratom research grant

CRESTVIEW — This was going to be a notice that a local family who requested help getting food and bills paid after an Oct. 31 car accident. However, things went from bad to worse Dec. 20 when the family's home caught fire.

Before the fire, the Troutmans — Kenneth and Ivy, and their daughters, Victoria and Deserea — had enough food to get them through January, and are still working toward transportation and figuring out how they're going to pay their bills with no income stream.

The family's request for help a few weeks ago resulted in a donation of enough food to get them through January.

"We had about four people contact us. We got the food perfectly down," Ivy said Dec. 20.

She said one donor even cleared out her whole freezer for the family.

Later that evening, about 5 p.m. Dec. 20, the family's home caught fire.

"We lost everything except us and most of our pets," Ivy said. "The other, Dese's cat, left, ran out, and we can't find her."

Fortunately, the Troutmans were not injured. They were able to retrieve the diabetic medicine one of their daughters requires and some of their animals: two cats and the dog.

The fire started upstairs in Victoria's room. Ivy, who was cooking dinner at the time, and Victoria, who was in the living room, were downstairs. Kenneth had been cleared to be upstairs.

Deserea, who had gone upstairs, saw smoke coming from Victoria's room and came back down yelling, "Fire, fire!" and yelling for her dad.

"I was doing dinner and I turned off everything, and I went running upstairs to get my husband down, because he'd got the physical therapy people to say he could go up there and go to his own room.

"So I'm trying to get to him but I couldn't get to him because I couldn't even see my fingers in front of my face. And some neighbors across the street said, 'Is there anybody in the house?' and I said, 'Yeah, my husband.'"

So according to Ivy, these neighbors braved smoke and fire and were able to retrieve Kenneth Troutman.

By 8 p.m. the Crestview Fire Department had put out the fire.

Afterward, Red Cross members arrived from Niceville and gave the family a gift card to secure a motel room for a few days. They told the Troutmans United Way might be able to offer more help.

The Troutmans have no home insurance and have not been in contact with UW yet.

"I just don't know how much we can handle. We're just trying to get through the one incident, and wow, we get bombarded with this one. So, we have to find a whole new place to live," Ivy said. 

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Situation worsens for Crestview family in need

CRESTVIEW — Emerald Coast Zoo and Gracie Simmons, owner of Grateful Hearts Yoga, are now offering yoga classes in the zoo with one unique addition — goats.

Goat yoga became a national hit a few years ago. Simmons said she loved the trend and wanted to bring goats into her studio in North Crestview.

Simmons said a zookeeper asked her to do a weekly class at the zoo.

“Whenever she invited me, I was like ‘No, we have to do goat yoga’,” Simmons said.

Her dream became a reality after speaking with Rick and Sara de Ritters, owners of Emerald Coast Zoo.

They found a shaded spot surrounded by beautiful, tall bamboo that Simmons said creates a “natural canopy.”

Simmons enjoys practicing yoga in a natural setting.

“Nature and grounding is a big part of yoga,” Simmons said.

Having lived on a farm, Simmons said animals are useful in therapeutic healing.

“That’s a big part of what we do yoga for is to feel better,” Simmons said. “Doing yoga with animals is a bonus to me.”

Simmons said some opt to practice their balance by having the goat stand on their back while others enjoy simply feeding or petting them.

Although it may be difficult to concentrate at times, Simmons said you always feel happiness when you leave.

“You can’t be unhappy when a goat runs around jumping on you,” she said.

Goat yoga takes place every third Saturday of the month at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The class costs $30 or $20 for Grateful Heart Yoga members. Spots are limited for the class so call Emerald Coast Zoo at 850-682-3949 to secure a mat.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: You goat to try this yoga

CRESTVIEW — A local veterans motorcycle organization dedicated a bike night to raising donations for the homeless in Crestview.

The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association (CVMA) chapter FL 20-11 , also called "Snake Eyes," hosted "Operation Cold Front" at Johnny O'Quigley's on Nov. 29.

Robynn Johnson, a member of the organization, became inspired to help the homeless community after reading a Northwest Florida Daily News article about the passing of a man who was homeless.

"Sprite" Mike Mario Wilson, 55, died in December of 2017. According to the article, Wilson froze to death during one of the coldest nights of the year.

Johnson said she was formerly a nurse at the Okaloosa County Jail, and had come to know Wilson fairly well. She referred to him as a "frequent flier."

"I just felt like, especially in our county, people should not be dying on the streets cold," Johnson said. "…To me, that's just ridiculous."

After reading the article, Johnson said she went to her boyfriend Craig Baker, who was the CVMA chapter's commander at the time.

Baker created "Operation Cold Front," an event where the chapter accepts cold weather donations that are given to the local homeless shelter.

The first event was held in Milton. They had about 40 people show up to fill the van.

"When we got to the shelter, we kind of overwhelmed them because there was so much," Johnson said.

Johnson said many of the veterans brought their government-issued sleeping bags and other cold weather gear from their time in service.

"Anything you could think of that could keep someone warm was donated," Johnson said.

The donations from this year's event were taken to the Crestview Area Shelter for the Homeless.

Johnson said the chapter hopes to continue this event in the coming years.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'People should not be dying on the streets cold'

CRESTVIEW — With the recent rains in the area, people may be having mosquito problems. However, northwest Florida has options to keep those tiny bloodsuckers at bay.

Scott Bitterman of Okaloosa County Mosquito Control said while there has been an increase in mosquitos since October, it's par for the course.

The county is doing "no more spraying than usual," Bitterman said.

"We always respond to calls and we spray outside as we normally would. One thing we really anticipate — with the cooler temperatures, we think that's really going to slow down the mosquito activity."

Sara Bess, a technician at Mosquito Joe in Niceville, said there are some small things people can do to deter mosquito breeding on their property.

1. Once a storm clears, go outside and dump everything that can hold as much as a bottle cap full of water. "They will breed in four to five days in just a small amount of water," Bess said.

2. Check things such as flower pots, tires, portable basketball goals, and kids' toys. "Kids' toys  are really overlooked for that — maybe the toy kitchen that's outside or the wagon — because water can get inside the actual structure of it. And if you shake it and you hear water, you should drill a hole and dump it out because the mosquito doesn't need a large space to squeeze in and start breeding," she said.

3. If there is a mosquito issue coming from high up, one source may be the house gutters. 

4. "And If you've done all of (the above) and it's not making a difference, it might be a neighboring property," Bess said. Neighbors may work together to help fix the issue.

"And then of course, we can help as well. And for really large areas, the county will help," Bess said.

She said Okaloosa County Mosquito Control can provide gambusia, a species of fish referred to as a "mosquito fish," to help cut down on mosquitos over large affected areas.

You may also visit http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/pw/environmental/mosquito-control/home-check-up for more tips.

A previous version of this article spelled Sara Bess's name incorrectly.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Deter mosquitos with these steps