Kathy Hubbard
January 4, 2012
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What happens if you can’t make health care decisions for yourself?
The simple answer to what happens when you can’t make healthcare decisions for yourself is that someone else will make them for you. But that leads to the second question: how do you know they’ll do what you want them to? The answer to that is, don’t leave it up to chance.
PMS or PMDD? Here's how to tell
Premenstrual syndrome. Just about every female gets it. Some experts say as many as 90 percent of menstruating women. Personally, I’ve never heard a joke about PMS that made me laugh, and I’ll bet every woman will join me bristling at being accused of “just being hormonal.”
Chronic fatigue syndrome can be exhausting
“I went from a young, vivacious professional with a bustling, busy social life, who ran three miles per day, took trips, learned hobbies, made friends, and felt on top of the world, to someone who is still technically ‘young,’ but barely has enough energy to get out of bed, has to sit for breaks whilst making her morning coffee, and can barely do more than go to work three times per week and do the laundry.”
Why your baby shouldn’t take a baby aspirin
My aspirin bottle label says in fairly large lettering, “Not packaged for households with small children.” I can’t tell you why I just noticed that, but I’ve often read that children shouldn’t take aspirin. However, I never asked why.
Malnutrition feeds the discussion about nutrition
The Cleveland Clinic describes malnutrition as “an imbalance between the nutrients your body needs to function and the nutrients it gets. It can mean undernutrition or overnutrition. You can be malnourished from an overall lack of calories, or you might have a protein, vitamin, or mineral deficiency. You might also have more excess calories than your body knows what to do with.”
Healthy bones and joints matter
The human body has more than 200 bones, with more than 200 joints connecting them. Unless we suffer an injury or develop a disorder, we don’t pay much attention to them – even though they allow us to walk, dance, swim, jump, climb and brush our teeth.
How physical therapy may improve your physical function
In 460 BC, the father of medicine, Hippocrates, introduced the idea of manual manipulation for pain relief. That was the beginning of physical therapy, but it took until 1887 for Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare to officially register physical therapists.
What you need to know about domestic violence
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in four women and one in ten men have been victims of sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime. In addition, over 43 million women and roughly 38 million men experience psychological aggression, of which 11 million women and five million men say they first experienced domestic abuse before they were 18.
Opening the dialogue about STDs
Today, thanks to antibiotics, people rarely die from syphilis or any of the twenty-odd other varieties of sexually transmitted diseases. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in a fact sheet that STDs continue to threaten millions of Americans.
Stop, look, listen, school’s about to start
I often see people walking down the street, not paying any attention to where they’re going or what they might run into or run into them. I’m not picking on kids, I see a lot of adults doing it, but a recent encounter reminded me that school is about to start. Today is a good day to talk to your children about keeping safe.
Don't let summer heat exhaust you
Remember, when you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated. So always take along a bottle of water when you're out getting exercise. Avoid alcohol and caffeine. That means no coffee, no beer, no tea, no caffeinated soft drinks, no Coke and rum, and no chocolate milk!
Is stress harming your health?
Stress is like a rubber band
Area seeing uptick in RSV infections
It’s bad enough that cold, flu, and COVID viruses are making the rounds right now, but there has also been an uptick in respiratory syncytial virus infections as well
Glaucoma research looks promising for improved treatment
Glaucoma is a disease that damages your eye’s optic nerve
World Hepatitis Day gives reason to bring awareness
The day creates an opportunity to educate people.
American health crisis: men live sicker and die younger
On average, American men live sicker and die younger than American women
Eenie, meenie, miney, mo, which provider do I pick?
Last week’s article on the importance of annual physicals sparked a little feedback from those of you who have all kinds of good intentions, but don’t have a healthcare provider. So the question of the day is, how do I choose one?