Health Pearls

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OOH baby it’s cold outside

What better time to talk about frostbite prevention than during a week of record low temperatures across the country? Frostbite is the formation of tiny crystals inside the body which damage the cells and the blood vessels. Tiny blood clots form, so when the tissue is thawed, there is not enough blood flow, resulting in…

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Pre-Diabetes and How to Make a U-turn on the Road to Diabetes

Recent news in the prevention of diabetes is that weight training and yoga help decrease the risk of diabetes in women who have already been diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Although it does not appear to be as effective as cardio exercise, such as biking, jogging or swimming in that regard,it’s good to know it provides additional benefit. This…

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I’ve got the flu!

Many of our common illnesses are viral. What’s the difference between the common cold and “the flu”? First, “the flu” is not one disease. You can get “flu-like” illnesses anytime, but the REAL flu is influenza virus, the very same one you get a “flu shot” for every fall. The influenza vaccine components are determined…

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Hot Flashes and Some Remedies

Over the years, my patients have gotten older and almost half of my practice now is comprised of women over forty which explains why I often fall behind my schedule by the middle of the morning or afternoon.   Being 40-50 is a fairly tough decade of life, when the “women’s hormones” start changing.  An…

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Influenza season is upon us – focus on pediatrics cold and flu with some general tips

With cold and flu season upon us, it’s a good time to remind ourselves of what we can do to keep our little ones healthy and treat the symptoms when they arise despite our best efforts. A central theme to pediatric care is prevention, which is why we advocate so strongly for immunizing the entire…

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December Health Pearls: The last one of 2013!

December Health News    Vaccine for Prevention of Mild and Moderate-to-Severe Influenza in Children, New England Journal of Medicine, 2013; 369(26):  2481-91. Children who received a quadrivalent (targeted against 4 specific strains) flu vaccine versus Hepatitis A vaccine (control group) had a 59% less likelihood of contracting influenza.  The study included 5168 children in 8 countries.  The difference…

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e-cigarettes: what you should know

Over the past few months, I’ve seen articles on e-cigarettes frequently in the popular press and in medical journals – so I thought you might like the scoop on this misnamed device. It sounds like a virtual cigarette you might find on the internet, but it’s not. It’s very real, and although it has one…

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Urinary Incontinence – more common than you think

At the 2012 London Olympics, almost half of the athletes competing were women. As women’s participation in sports continues to increase, the importance of understanding common women’s health issues in the sports environment becomes more important for all clinicians. Urinary incontinence is an unspoken problem of the female athlete, and of women in general. Here’s…

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November Health Pearls on Nuts, Knees and Vitamin D

#1 We have already seen that a Mediterranean style diet, rich in nuts, is healthy. This month, researchers from Harvard reviewed nut consumption in over 110,000 health professionals from 1980 through 2010. Eating any nuts reduced the risk of dying by 7%. The more they ate, the better, so those with daily nut consumption reduced…

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It’s all in your head — sports related concussions

In the last few years, increased attention has been paid to sports related concussions and their effects. In October 2013, the Institute of Medicine issued a summary of recommendations addressing sports related concussions in youth. After reviewing recent research on the topic, they concluded that there is a lack of data on how common sports…

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