It is All a Matter of Detection
I recently heard a very scary story from my friend. Her father had called her at work saying he was not feeling well, and that an alarm was loudly blaring in the background. She made out the mechanical sounding words, “Carbon monoxide” by the alarm system. Immediately she told her father to open the windows…
January Health Pearls: Zika Virus, Analgesics and Heart Failure, Antifungal and Miscarriage, USPSTF Breast Cancer Guidelines…
CDC Warning of Zika Virus Infection to Pregnant Women Traveling to Latin America or Caribbean Countries Last Friday, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned pregnant women to postpone trips to 13 Latin American or Caribbean countries such as the United States Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, where Zika virus, transmitted by mosquito bites,has…
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…
Quit 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…
Coffee 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…
What’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…
November 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…
What To Expect With Dementia
Dementia is so common that most people know someone who has been affected by it. Many of us fear that it’s affecting us as well. Every time we forget where we’ve put our keys or walk into a room and forget why we headed there, we need to assure ourselves that it’s normal. Have you…
October 2015 Health Pearls
Regular Exercise During Pregnancy is Recommended by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) For several years now, ACOG has recommended that pregnant women exercise frequently to improve their mood, energy, strength and endurance, to reduce back and pelvic discomfort, and to prevent or control gestational diabetes. ACOG recently reaffirmed its recommendation of thirty…
Fall Allergies
For Fall allergy sufferers, the late summer and early fall bring weed pollen allergies. In the DC area, Ragweed is one of the main pollens in the air. But there are other (less well known, but equally important) weeds that can affect allergy sufferers in the fall. In addition to weed pollens, we see a…