Happy Thursday everyone 🙂

We’re continuing to welcome the new year with new members, guest speakers, and big things happening in our businesses. Julie started our commercial time today by letting us know that her Tobias Weiss Design business is unique because she gives clients the files at the end of a graphic design project. Amy {Carefree Massage} reminded all of us that touch is very important to the general well-being of people, especially therapeutic touch like massage. Is one of your New Year’s Resolutions to exercise more? If so, you’ll want to ease back in to physical activity or you might end up in Cory’s office at Heresco Chiropractic. She shared that they regularly see a spike in exercise related injuries in the first couple months of the new year. Joni is switching gears a bit with Essentially Healed and emphasizing on professional business coaching for women. She’s going to use her essential oils and energy work as part of the overall wellness of her clients. New member Christine from Red Stem informed us that she uses both conventional and organic {what she call just good gardening} methods when designing or caring for your outside space. Now’s a good time to start planning those garden beds! Dian {River Crossing Art Therapy} shared a book “Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time” that focuses on 52 little things {one thing each week} that we can do to improve our lives. Yay! Maureen and Chris from Valley Eye Care had some news for patients with Diabetes. Firstly that Diabetes/obesity is the leading cause of a particular type of blindness, and most of the appointments made with VEC are considered medical under insurance plans, not vision {for patients with Diabetes}. Another new member, and interior designer, Susan is ready to plan and design rooms big and small 🙂 Karen just got back from the national convention for the Girls on the Run program. She’s looking for coaches and team sponsors so if you would like to volunteer for this amazing program get in touch with her stat! Anne {Remax} didn’t have much to share business-wise today. She has been working hard to pull together her daughter’s wedding. I call it “wedding planning brain”. Shelley {Alta’s Antiques and Collectibles} is always available to bring her bling to you for a home or office vintage jewelry party – 20% off for PEERS members. One of the many services offered by Peg at Pathfinder travel is making the most of your reward miles. Schedule a sit down with her and …oh the places you’ll go! Amanda {Amanda Photographic} will be at the LaSells Stewart Center tonight to photograph the Huaxia Orchestra from Henan Museum of China and the Shaolin Temple Kung Fu Team. This event if FREE… doors are at 6:45pm with the show starting at 7:30pm, but you better get there early. Peg Obrist from our local Citizens bank reminded us that there are many benefits to using a community bank. Citizens is an active member in the community, and, like the rest of us, pays taxes that stay here in Corvallis/Oregon. Ilene is taking appointments for filing your taxes at A&S Accounting. While you can’t file until the end of January, you can get your paperwork prepared and ready to go with Ilene and her team. Bonnie from Rice’s Gift and Pharmacy brought in purse organizers to show us. They come in three sizes and can easily be moved with all the contents when you want to switch bags. Nadine {Gluten Free RN/RN On-Call} also just returned from traveling to a conference. One of three conferences being held in Canada on Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease, Nadine plans to return to the Great White North to speak at the remaining locations. And Tara from the State Farm Office of Jeff Mills shared that the beginning of the year is a great time to review and update your insurance policies.

Dr. Laster was our guest speaker today. He is represented in this group along with Dr. Bugni and Jensen by their wives Janelle Bugni and Mary Jensen. Dr. Laster recently-ish moved to Oregon from Texas and couldn’t be happier with the decision… and we’re glad to have him in our community. Today he talked about two topics: 1. Laser Therapy and 2. Obstructive Sleep Apnea. First the lasers {because lasers are cool}. The practice of Drs. Bugni, Laster, and Jensen can use the Biolase Epic 10 Diode Laser for a number of dental issues including healing persistent gum disease, reducing bacteria and tooth sensitivity, and help with the progressive elimination of cold sores and apnthous ulcers. It can also be used for pain relief in the joints and temples. Laser surgery has no scalpels, blood, or stitches which leads to a faster recovery time. Hooray for lasers! Second Dr. Laster talked about Obstructive Sleep Apnea {OSA} which is a stopping of airflow at the nose or mouth for at least 10 seconds while you’re sleeping. This lack of airflow causes a loss of oxygen in the blood and cause serious, sometimes fatal, issues if it goes untreated. OSA is cause by the epiglottis falling back and blocking the airflow, interrupting your body’s chemistry cycle. ~85% of OSA patients have airway blockage happening behind their tongues – which we learned today are a lot bigger than they look on the outside – and that this only gets worse with age as our tissue and soft palate get softer. There are two peaks for OSA, first from ages 0-4 and again from 55-59. Children are likely to have their tonsils taken out while adults, if OSA is left untreated, tend to die from related complications including 65%-80% of stroke victims. In the past people with OSA were stuck with using a continuous positive airway pressure {CPAP} machine that forces air into your mouth and nose through a mask while you sleep.

Many people still use the CPAP, but it comes with its drawbacks – it can be difficult to travel with, it’s bulky, etc. For those with mild-moderate OSA Dr. Laster can fit them with a Mandibular Advancement Device {MAD}. They kind of look like mouth guards or bite plates, but they are precision instruments that hold the lower jaw forward moving the soft tissue away from the airway. Amazing! Dr. Laster also gave us some info on sleep hygiene, you can find it here.

Until next week…