COBB SENIOR WELLNESS CENTER TO OPEN AUG. 29

From staff and wire reports

MARIETTA — The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Cobb Senior Services’ Senior Wellness Center is Aug. 29 at 1:30 p.m. at 1150 Powder Springs St. A tour and reception will follow.

Located in the former Powder Springs Station shopping center in Marietta, the facility is 42,000 square feet and will house the existing Marietta Neighborhood Senior Center and CSS administrative offices.

The grant-supported Meals on Wheels operation that feeds approximately 225 homebound seniors daily will move into a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen operated by a contracted food service vendor. A teaching kitchen will offer fee-based classes on healthy cooking for seniors and special classes for those suffering from illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

An art studio, fitness studio and weight room will offer wellness benefits to senior adults. A non-profit clinic will provide services not reimbursable by Medicare or Medicaid such as general health screenings, vision exams, hearing assessments and foot disease prevention. For more information, visit www.cobbseniors.org.

PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP IN SMYRNA

SMYRNA — Emory-Adventist Hospital at Smyrna offers a new Parkinson’s Disease Support Group from 2 to 4 p.m. last Wednesday of each month. John Able, a music therapist with Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital, will present “Music and Parkinson’s Disease,” an interactive discussion that includes some of the latest research on the use of music to treat PD.

The August class will be Aug. 29 in the hospital cafeteria. The hospital is located at 3949 South Cobb Drive. Call (770) 438-5220 to register or for more information.

CDC ISSUES WARNING ABOUT FAIRS, SWINE FLU

ATLANTA — It’s the season for state and county fairs, and health officials are reminding fairgoers to be careful around pigs because of a new flu spreading from the animals to people.

Officials say 29 human cases of the new strain of swine flu have been confirmed in the last year, including 12 this week. Ten were linked to the Butler County Fair in southwest Ohio, which ended last weekend.

The new flu has a gene from the 2009 pandemic strain that might make it more contagious. But so far, the strain hasn’t spread easily among people, and recent cases have been mild.

Fairgoers should wash their hands and avoid taking food and drinks into barns. Pregnant women, young children, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems should be extra careful.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR MULLING MEDICAID PROGRAM EXPANSION

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder says he’s weighing many factors as he considers whether Michigan should expand its Medicaid program.

The national health care law will let states insure residents with income up to 138 percent of the poverty line, rather than 100 percent, as it does now.

That could mean coverage for 500,000 more Michigan residents. The state's Medicaid program currently covers about 1.9 million people, most of them children, seniors and people with disabilities.

Snyder said expanding coverage could save the state money. But he says he also has to look at how much the state must spend once the federal government drops from paying 100 percent of the cost of those added to the program to 90 percent by 2020.

INDIANA HEALTH DEPARTMENT OPENS CALL CENTER FOR FLU

INDIANAPOLIS — The state Department of Health has opened a call center to answer questions about influenza in the wake of five human flu cases being linked to hogs.

The health department announced this week a case of variant influenza A had been confirmed in southern Indiana’s Jackson County after four cases were previously linked to the LaPorte County Fair in northwestern Indiana. The flu strain can be transmitted between swine and people, and human infections are most likely to occur in people near live infected pigs.

The health department recommends people should wash their hands frequently and should never eat, drink or put anything in their mouth when visiting animal areas.