Archive for 2015
December Health Pearls: Smoking, Drinking and Coffee
SMOKING: Women who smoked or had been exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke were more likely to have infertility and reached menopause before 50 years old, reported by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). The analysis consisted of more than 93,000 women from 50-79 years old, from 1993-1998. The researchers believe their result showed how…
Read MoreSocial Connectedness: Journey With Others
Last weekend, one of the last weekends of 2015, was very hectic. By Sunday night, I realized how we didn’t have any dinner at home for three days! On Saturday, I attended a close friend’s 25th wedding anniversary in Reston, Virginia, while my husband and son went out with his family to a holiday dinner.…
Read MoreQuit While You’re Ahead
We are aware that addiction to nicotine is one of the most difficult addictions to overcome. Let’s say you’re a smoker and you’d like to quit or someone important to you is in that position. Consider the information included here. It’s not unusual for smokers to make 3 or more attempts to quit before they are…
Read MoreCan We Please Bring Back the Wild Things?
Twenty-five years ago when I started practicing ObGyn, I had to use my creativity to calm down the children who came with their mothers for their office visits. Some of them would have been perfectly cast for the characters in Maurice Sendak’s children’s book “ Where the Wild Things Are.” The wild things were in…
Read MoreThe Fear Factor
It sweeps in quietly & softly at first, or jolts like an electric arc. Its grip tightens and very soon, it’s almost all you can think about. How to loosen its hold, how to escape…Patients describing their fears are intensely descriptive about fear’s overwhelming grip. Families come in describing not only their own familial struggles,…
Read MoreCoffee and Health Protection; Aspirin and Liver Cancer; Antibiotics for UTI; Public Antibiotics Survey
*Coffee Consumption and Health Risks* Coffee drinkers, regular or decaf, may have lower rate of mortality from cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions, stroke, and suicide, reported by Dr. Frank Hu, MD, PhD at Harvard school of Public Health, in a study published online in Circulation on November 16. The study spanned over three decades with 208,501…
Read MoreA Circle of Giving: A Tribute to My Friend Dr. Ann Tonnu
Last weekend, some friends and I attended an introductory lecture about the power of meditation on health and lowering stress. The instructor, a radiologist named Dr. Arnold Raizon, reminded us of the difference between empathy and compassion. When you feel empathic about a person’s circumstance, you are trying to “walk in their shoes.” Compassion, however,…
Read MoreWhat’s New with Flu 2015-16?
What’s New with Flu (2015-2016) Once again it is time to have the discussion about the importance of the annual flu vaccine. As we all know, influenza is a highly contagious viral illness which can land people in the hospital and kills many each year. Add to that, the failure of last year’s vaccine and…
Read MoreBeautiful People: What I Learned from My Medical Missions
Beautiful people You live in the same world as I doBut somehow I never noticedYou before todayI’m ashamed to say Beautiful peopleWe share the same back doorAnd it isn’t rightWe never met beforeBut thenWe may never meet againIf I weren’t afraid you’d laugh at meI would run and take all your handsAnd I’d gather everyone…
Read MoreNovember Health Pearls: Flu, Sex, Exercise
FLU It’s time to get your flu shot if you have not already. In this week’s news, the first case of Influenza, type A H1N1, was documented in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s vaccine is protective against this strain of virus. Peak flu season is between December and February and the CDC recommends that anyone over…
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