November 7, 2019
How to stay healthy while traveling during the holidays
Washington Postby Natalie B. Compton The secret to staying healthy during the holidays is no secret at all: Wash your hands. It’s the most important thing you can do while traveling, and it’s good form year-round, but particularly important in the winter. “Our hands are the interface between ourselves and the rest of the world,” […]
Tags: Dr. Gina Suh, hand washing, Infectious Diseases, Washington Post
October 24, 2019
Food can help control some chronic health conditions, in some cases eliminating the need for drugs
Washington Postby Jill U. Adams If you have a chronic health condition — and about 60 percent of Americans live with at least one — you can use food to help manage your problem. Yet too many Americans don’t eat with their particular health demands in mind. … “From a clinical perspective, we do recommend […]
Tags: chronic health conditions, DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, Dr. Donald Hensrud, Washington Post
August 16, 2019
Anxiety complicates life for dementia patients — and their caregivers
Washington Postby Mary-Ellen Deily …Ronald Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s disease Research Center, recommends playing a person’s favorite music and using other behavioral approaches to distract them. He also advises against trying to convince a person with dementia that they’re worrying about something that isn’t real. Opt for distraction over confrontation, he said. […]
Tags: alzheimer's disease, anxiety, Dr. Ronald Petersen, Washington Post
July 18, 2019
This show is really ‘Sick.’ If you’re concerned about your health, that’s why you should watch it.
Washington Postby Erin Blakemore In a scene from the series, Roberto Cattaneo of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explains why measles is so contagious. “Sick,” a YouTube show from Seeker, a digital publisher devoted to science, answers that question in gripping, often gross detail. The first season of the series is online now. Reach: Weekday […]
Tags: Dr. Roberto Cattaneo, measles virus, Sick and YouTube, Washington Post
June 7, 2019
A tick gave a toddler a rare and deadly disease. Here’s what his parents want you to know.
Washington Postby Lindsey Bever …Bobbi Pritt, a physician and co-director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, said that although Rocky Mountain spotted fever is considered low-risk, it can be rapidly fatal. In fact, she said, when patients have symptoms consistent with the disease, doctors will typically start treatment without waiting for lab results. […]
Tags: Dr. Bobi Pritt, pathology, tick-borne disease, ticks, Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, Washington Post
January 24, 2019
British doctors may soon write prescriptions for dance, art or music lessons
Washington Post by Tara Bahrampour Arts in medicine was established as a field in the 1990s, and studies have shown that exposure to the arts improves the health of older people with dementia, children with asthma, and patients with hematological malignancies and other ailments. But instituting it as a national program takes it to a […]
Tags: art and health, Dr. Paul Scanlon, Johanna Rian, Mayo Clinic Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine, Washington Post
January 17, 2019
This couple divorced. Then she gave him her kidney.
Washington Post by Cathy Free After 21 years of marriage, Bill Henrichs and Mary Ziegler — once high school sweethearts — concluded that they were no longer a good match. The couple amicably divorced in 1995 and went their separate ways, but they continued to see each other at their kids’ school and sporting events. […]
Tags: Bill Henrichs, Dr. Andrew Bentall, kidney transplant, Mary Ziegler, Washington Post
October 19, 2018
Rising drug prices widen gap between have, have-not patients
Washington Post (Associated Press) by Linda Johnson For Bridgett Snelten, changing her health insurance meant enduring wild blood sugar swings, bouts of vomiting and weight gain. The Sandy, Utah mother of two young girls has diabetes and has had to change health insurance plans three years in a row. Twice, new insurers wouldn’t cover Trulicity, […]
Tags: Associated Press, Dr. Stephen Kopecky, prescription drug prices, Washington Post
October 12, 2018
A toddler couldn’t move his arm. Doctors discovered a polio-like condition.
Washington Post by Lindsey Bever When Orville Young ran up to his mother, Elaine Young, to give her the mail, she noticed he was using his non-dominant hand. Although a seemingly insignificant detail, it made the Minnesota mom stop and think — her then-3-year-old son had developed a cough and a runny nose over the […]
Tags: AFM, Dr. Marc Patterson, polio-like condition, Washington Post
July 20, 2018
They’re out in the woods picking up ticks — on purpose
Washington Post by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred It’s a picture-perfect summer day in the woods of central Minnesota: 71 degrees, humidity around 73 percent, sunshine dappling the trees and glinting off glimpses of the Mississippi River. But as five scientists pull on white painter suits and start duct-taping the cuffs to their hiking boots, no one […]
Tags: Dr. Bobbi Pritt, parasites, ticks, Washington Post