CONDITIONS
|
Occupational Medicine Stories and Local Doctors
| CURRENT STORIES |
YOUR LOCAL DOCTOR |
Sleep Is Food for Your Body
Just as important as food, water and exercise for the health of your body is sleep. In fact, without sleep, animals in the laboratory die in a matter of weeks.
In humans, lack of sleep works havoc on biological systems. It not only causes the relatively minor symptoms of drowsiness, irritability and concentration difficulty, but it appears to also cause hormonal changes that result in increased appetite, weight gain, obesity and greater risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. It also contributes to motor vehicle and on-the-job accidents. (Read more about Sleep Is Food for Your Body)
Related Links:
|
Seven Tips for Men's Health and Safety
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have some useful men's health tips for the summer months.
Practice Water Safety - In 2004, men accounted for 78% of accidental drowning deaths. Learn how to swim, and never swim alone. Also, don't mix alcohol and boating.
Protect your skin - Skin cancer effects men as well as women, so most should consider wearing sunscreen with a SPF factor of 15 or more. (Read more about Seven Tips for Men's Health and Safety)
Related Links:
|
Children of Smokers Are Less Healthy Than They Seem
Children with smoking parents may not be as healthy as they appear.
A study presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference shows that although children of smokers may not exhibit respiratory problems, they may still be suffering from damage to their airways. Some researchers claim that children of smokers are more likely to have respiratory problems such as puffing, wheezing, and cases of pneumonia. However it is unclear if there is impairment in children who have no respiratory complaints or diagnosed problems. (Read more about Children of Smokers Are Less Healthy Than They Seem)
Related Links:
|
healthwrap_video games
New research out of the University of Rochester shows video games that contain high levels of action can actually improve your vision.
People who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters on a standard eye chart. (Read more about healthwrap_video games)
Related Links:
|
E. Coli Prevention | Nutrition
This is a dirty problem we have on our hands.
According to the center for science in the public interest, in the U.S. alone, there are 76 million--that’s right, million-- illnesses due to food borne pathogens each year, and five thousands deaths.
That means roughly one in four of us get sick from our food each year.
Less than heart-healthy foods are what we come to expect from many fast food chains. But life-threatening bacteria… No. (Read more about E. Coli Prevention | Nutrition)
Related Links:
|
ACL Injuries with NFL Players | Orthopedics
If you're at all a sports fan, or an athlete yourself, you've probably heard of the anterior cruciate ligament.
It's commonly injured.
Now a new study shows what happens to NFL players who are sidelined by their acl's, and it's not good news for players or fans and the owners.
Now, a ligament is a strong piece of connective tissue that connects bone to bone across a joint. The anterior cruciate ligament crosses with the posterior cruciate ligament in the center of the knee.
They control the backward and forward motion of the knee. The ACL in particular restrains excessive forward motion of the knee as well as the inward twisting or rotation of the knee.
In fact, the ACL is frequently injured in severe twisting injuries of the knee or with a sudden stop.
This new research in the American Journal of Sports Medicine looking specifically at ACL injuries in NFL players found those who suffer one of these injuries will likely never be the same player again.
Essentially, total yards and touchdowns were markedly diminished when they returned after surgery. (Read more about ACL Injuries with NFL Players | Orthopedics)
Related Links:
|
AAP Statement on: Children and Advertising
Are kids being bombarded with way too many ads on tv, the internet, and through every type of media outlet? Are these ads leading to numerous health concerns: from obesity, to promiscuity, to violence?
Tiny eyes and ears are taking in countless ads daily, and the American Academy of Pediatrics is drawing a dramatic line in the sand.
Dr. Victor Strasburger, lead author of the AAP Position Statement “Children, Adolescents, and Advertising” says, “"So I think speaking personally of a parent of two teenagers for me it’'s time to take the “cha-ching” out of childhood ah we’'ve really commercialized childhood and adolescence as much as we possibly can. Unfortunately on a list of the 50 things that you as a parent want to argue with your kid about today, the media are number 54.’"
So, if parents won'’t parent, the AAP wants government to intervene. (Read more about AAP Statement on: Children and Advertising)
Related Links:
|
Summer Travel and Children
With four children, 8 year old Tania, 6 year old Susie, 4 year old Ashley and 2 year old Michael, packing for the annual family vacation is a major production for mom, Antoinette. “I take towels, bathing suits, their wet shoes, medications like Motrin, Tylenol, band aids, of course we take a camera, we take, sun block, “off” for the bugs, we take a beach umbrella, a stroller if possible, wipes, so, basically, I mean everything,” says Antoinette Defalco.
Vacationing with four children, Antoinette considers herself somewhat of a pro when it comes to packing up the troops for some summer fun away from home. “The most common thing that can happen from my experience with four children is Benadryl, because they can get hives or they can be allergic to the chemicals in the pool,” says Antoinette.
According to medical experts, many parents are not as mindful as Antoinette. “Most travelers in general are unprepared for illness on vacation and with children the smaller they are, the more of a risk any illness can be. The most common travel related health problem is auto accidents so the most important piece of advice to give parents traveling with young children is bring that car seat along, make sure to use seat belts,” says Dr. Edward Chapnick of Maimonides Medical Center. (Read more about Summer Travel and Children)
Related Links:
|
Fallen Arches
The condition of flat feet or fallen arches often has a childhood origin. However, flat feet in children are more likely a pad of fat under the foot rather that real fallen arches. (Read more about Fallen Arches)
Related Links:
|
PRE- HYPERTENSION TREATMENT
There is important new research out tonight that may be the start of a different approach in medicine: to treat high blood pressure before it even gets high.
The fact is about 69 percent of people who have a first heart attack, 77 percent of those who have a first stroke, and 74 percent of patients with heart failure have blood pressure higher than 140/90 mm hg.
So why not catch blood pressure early, before it does its damage? (Read more about PRE- HYPERTENSION TREATMENT)
Related Links:
|
|
|