A collection of articles from our blog.
After being cooped up for months, getting out of the house has been a more welcome diversion than ever before. That’s a good thing — aside from enticing you to be active (which is always a plus), there are numerous benefits to having fun in the sun.
Today, many doctors and health care experts have begun to refer to a stroke as a “brain attack.” That’s because a stroke basically works the same as a heart attack — the blood supply to a vital organ (in this case, the brain) is interrupted, and that organ’s cells begin dying in a matter of minutes.
With the proliferation of official “days,” “weeks” and “months,” World Health Day can easily go virtually unnoticed in most years. But the 2020 version is garnering more of a spotlight, and putting a special focus on workers who often find themselves on the frontline of care — nurses and midwives.
“Make healthier food choices” is sound advice, but it can sometimes be a lot harder than it sounds. With changes to food labels, sometimes-contradictory research news (eggs are bad/no wait, eggs are good), not to mention the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, the fasting diet, MIND diet and countless other approaches that come along every day, just knowing where to start can cause paralysis by analysis.
When you hear the words “American Heart Month” the first thing that likely comes to mind is “heart attack.” But that’s only one part of the story. More than raising awareness of signs of heart attack, this month is all about heart disease, which covers an array of conditions that, combined, are the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women.
Your heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin all rely on one, often-overlooked, butterfly-shaped gland: your thyroid. Located just under your voice box, this little workhorse regulates several body functions and plays a huge role in metabolism — if you need more energy, for example, it pumps out more hormones to deliver it. When you were young, it was also a major driver of your growth and development.
This year, both National Influenza Vaccination Week and National Handwashing Awareness Week are being observed during the first week of December. While that may be a coincidence, it happens to be a happy one. Both a flu shot and good handwashing habits are instrumental in helping to prevent a communicable disease that’s uncommonly dangerous.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 37 million and 43 million Americans contracted the flu last year, leading to upwards of 647,000 hospitalizations and as many as 61,200 deaths. Needless to say, even if you’re able to outlast the flu at home (after a week or so of misery), avoiding the flu should be high on your priority list as we enter the heart of flu season.
Most people are familiar with physical therapy (PT) as a way to help with recovery from injuries, strokes or heart procedures. But the reality is that PT is far more comprehensive than that. From pain management to fall prevention, PT can prevent surgery, boost mobility, and treat, prevent and improve a wide array of health conditions.
From NFL fields to office break rooms, October will once again be filled with pink ribbons, frequent reminders and well-publicized initiatives to raise awareness of breast cancer — and for good reason. After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in American women. Even though death rates have been decreasing since 1989, this disease still has the highest death rate of any cancer for women. It’s estimated that more than 268,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year alone. And nearly 42,000 women will die.
Nearly every day, you’re reminded about the dangers of opioids. You’re reminded of the dangers and prevalence of breast cancer and prostate cancer, and urged to take preventive action. Rarely, however, do you hear about a condition that takes more than double the lives of those three public health threats combined: sepsis. During Sepsis Awareness Month, September 2019, please take time to learn about this devastating condition and the measures you can take to prevent and treat it.
