Health - The Durango Herald

What can you do if your doctor always keeps you waiting?

Q: My doctor was seriously late for my appointment, which caused me to miss some work and basically penalized me financially. Can I demand at least a partial refund? A: Just this ...

DATE: Feb 8, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

2nd man has gene editing; therapy has no safety flags so far

A second patient has been treated in a historic gene editing study in California, and no major side effects or safety issues have emerged from the first man’s treatment nearly three months a...

DATE: Feb 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Carbohydrates: The good, the bad and the ugly

Today’s topic was a reader’s request. The reader asked, “What carbohydrates are healthy, and should we be avoiding fructose in our diet?” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a ...

DATE: Feb 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Overtraining is a real danger, even if you’re not an elite athlete. Know the signs.

Everyone knows that exercise in general makes you happier, stronger and more energetic. We hear it ad nauseam, especially this time of year. But what if fitness did the very oppos...

DATE: Feb 6, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Doctors warn of heart risk from some breast cancer therapies

Save your life but harm your heart? Health experts are sounding a warning as potential side effects of a growing number of breast cancer treatments come to light. In its first sta...

DATE: Feb 5, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Cancer from cellphones? New studies say no need to hang up

WASHINGTON – Two government studies that bombarded rats and mice with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumors, but federal regulators and some scientists say don’t worry –...

DATE: Feb 4, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Stem-cell treatments aim to regenerate injured joints

Durango doctor administers new therapy to heal damaged tissue

DATE: Feb 3, 2018 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Groundhog Day report: Flu’s worsening shadow blanketing U.S.

NEW YORK – It looks like Groundhog Day for the nation’s flu report, too: It’s gotten worse and there are weeks of suffering ahead. The government’s report out Friday showed the fl...

DATE: Feb 2, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Push to better track living kidney donors’ long-term health

WASHINGTON – The big unknown when someone donates a kidney: The long-term health consequences. Now the U.S. is taking a step toward finally tracking how living donors fare over decades – jus...

DATE: Feb 1, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Middle age is not too late to increase cardiac fitness, studies show

Late January can be a difficult time for anyone who began a new exercise routine on New Year’s Day. Research has shown that nearly half of all resolutions have faded by the end of January, a...

DATE: Jan 31, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

No time for the gym? At-home workouts offer cheap option

Between bomb cyclones and deep freezes, it’s hard to find the motivation to leave your toasty home for a sweat session. Or maybe you’re just too cash-strapped after the holidays to fork over...

DATE: Jan 30, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Stem cells may help heal diabetic foot wounds

Durango podiatrist enrolls patients in clinical trial

DATE: Jan 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s