THE LAZARUS HOUSE A CENTER FOR WELLNESS
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Mission Statement
Lazarus House provides a low or no cost program of wellness to adults and adolescents suffering from cachexia, or disease related muscle loss. Cachexia is seen in numerous chronic illnesses such as cancer, HIV, stroke, MS, and Spinal Cord Injury/Disease. It is a devastating cycle of muscle loss that robs clients of their energy, sense of well-being, ability to live independently and ultimately quality of life.Lazarus House offers a program of HOPE to a people in need. The Wellness Program is a comprehensive program addressing the mind, body , and spirit thru disease specific exercise, nutrition, and peer support. Lazarus House helps people not only live longer, but live stronger.
About This Cause
The Lazarus House is a 501(c)(3) community-based organization founded in 2001 in response to a growing demand for non-clinical methods for wellness and healing for people living with chronic conditions. Our mission is to offer a multi-disciplinary program that focuses on the body, mind, and spirit of clients through an integrated program of exercise, weight training, nutritional counseling, and mental and spiritual awareness. Our goal is to help our clients live stronger, healthier lives. Addressing a Community Need and the People we Serve: Cachexia (pronounced kah-keck-see-a) is a physical wasting of muscle mass that affects people living with such chronic conditions as cancer, HIV, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Cachexia affects more than 5 million people in the United States. Differentiation between Cachexia and other syndromes of weight loss is important in understanding its effects. For example, Cachexia is not the same as starvation; it can occur in people who are eating enough, but whose bodies cannot absorb the nutrients. A healthy person’s body can adjust to starvation by slowing down its use of nutrients, but in cachectic patients, the body does not make this adjustment. Cachexia is a debilitating condition that causes physical weakness and pain, chronic fatigue, disruptive sleep patterns, respiratory problems, lethargy, and depression, and robs people of their energy, sense of well-being, quality of life, and ability to live independently. Recognizing Cachexia is relatively simple for a clinician – a patient’s clinical history, the presence of substantial weight loss, and physical examination are adequate for an accurate diagnosis. Treatment and prevention is more complex, however, and can involve pharmacologic options, nutritional counseling and supplements, and strength training. Research has identified strength training as the most important non-pharmacologic treatment measure, as muscle growth and maintenance require sufficient physical stimuli. The Lazarus House is the only local nonprofit facility dedicated to combating Cachexia at any stage of illness, providing services with our trademark “home-style” atmosphere to create a safe place that alleviates clients’ anxieties and inhibitions about awkward physical training. Our program is unique in several ways. First, we eschew the typical clinical approach that often is counter productive in encouraging health and well-being. We offer our program in a private, non-threatening, non-clinical environment, an important feature for a population that often does not feel comfortable in a more public setting. Second, we offer a proactive approach, working not only with those who are currently suffering directly from Cachexia, but also addressing muscle wasting before its onset is noticed. Third, our clients exercise and train near one another. Successful programs provide personal service with regular contact, support, and coaching and our clients work out with partners at times staggered to overlap with other workout teams. By being physically close in our program, camaraderie and friendships are almost guaranteed and the house has become an ongoing source of support for many. Finally, the cost of other programs are about three times our low fee and we have no restrictive eligibility requirements. Each client participates in a minimum 12 week program that is custom designed for her/his specific needs. Clients benefit form resistance training to address muscle wasting, cardiopulmonary training to increase endurance, nutritional counseling to encourage optimal muscle development, self-awareness skills to help maintain success over time, and the camaraderie of other clients to bolster moral and motivation. Making a Difference: Individual health benefits to our clients include: 1) attenuation of muscle loss by slowing or stopping Cachexia progress; 2) learning of illness/condition-specific nutritional skills and proactive dietary decisions to optimize program success; 3) learning of a support network to increase motivation and encourage program compliance; 4) demonstrated increases in energy, strength, and function through repetitive neuromuscular re-education and increases in cardiovascular capacity; and 5) re-establishment of life skills for independently maintaining exercise and nutritional decisions that enhance quality of life. References Sharma R, Anker S. First cachexia symposium. Berlin: 1st-2nd December, 2000. Eur J Heart Fail 2000;3:751– 4. Metsios GS, Stavropoulous-Kalinoglou A, Koutedakis Y, Kitas GD. Rheumatoid Cachexia: causes, significance and possible interventions. Hosp Chronicles. 2006;1(1):20-26. Faist A. Small steps through a wellness program can lead to big benefits. Houston Business J. July 10, 2006. Accessed February 2008 online at www.bizjournals.com.