For many with diabetes the focus is usually on what the sugar value is, but for the physician the focus is on control. Controlling your diabetes and optimizing sugar levels is the best way to prevent developing complications from diabetes which can affect every organ system in the body. And although it may be important to check your sugars daily to know what your sugar levels are, this one-time snapshot value may not prevent an adequate representation of your overall diabetes control.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or "PTSD" is a mental health condition that can occur after a person experiences or sees a traumatic event. These events can include wars, crimes, fires, accidents, abuse, and death of loved ones, just to name a few. Medical events such as heart attacks, surgery, or treatment in an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) can also trigger PTSD.
The word PTSD is often used in our vocabulary without fully understanding its true meaning. We often speak light heartedly about how a stressful event will give us or trigger PTSD. It is important that we understand the medical diagnosis of PTSD. Below we will discuss the symptoms of PTSD and look at the medical diagnostic criteria.
Summertime is here!
Sunny skies, school breaks, and swimming pools—summer can be lots of fun for the whole family! While you’re enjoying the summer, don’t forget to stay hydrated and take measures to prevent heat exhaustion.
Now that summer is here, the pool is a popular place to cool off and have some fun! That makes it important to talk about pool safety and drowning awareness.
Most people don’t know that drowning is a major cause of death in children ages 1 to 4, and it is the second-leading cause of death behind motor vehicle crashes. 87% of drowning fatalities occur at home pools or hot tubs in children less than the age of 5. 69% of children who drown were not expected to be in or near water. If a child is missing, check the water first, because time is of the essence in preventing death or disability.
Millions of Americans are affected by hernias every year. Since June is National Hernia Awareness Month, it is time to start the conversation about what hernias are, whether they are dangerous or not, and what you can do to treat them.
A hernia is any protrusion of an organ or tissue through the surrounding muscle or connective tissue (fascia) that usually contain it. There are different kinds of hernias. They can occur in your abdomen and even in your groin. How we classify and describe each type of hernia is dependent on the specific location of the hernia. Some examples of hernias include hiatal hernia, umbilical hernia, incisional hernia, femoral hernia, and inguinal hernia. Sometimes you can tell if you have a hernia and other times, you may be asymptomatic or not be able to tell at all.
If you could only keep one of your five senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, or hearing), which would it be? Most of us would say sight. Seeing a baby’s smile, Conroe’s lush green trees, the words in this newspaper, or the faces of loved ones are treasures we would fight desperately for if our vision were threatened.
Hearing loss is a self-explanatory term which means that an individual will require more sound energy than the normal to be able to hear. Hearing loss is occasionally profound or total, and an individual will not be able to hear any sound or voice no matter how loud the source is. Hearing loss is unfortunately very common and can affect any age, but it is more likely in childhood and above age 65. About 2 to 3 out of every 1000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. One in eight people in the United States (13%) aged 12 years or older has hearing loss in both ears, based on a standard hearing examination.
Have you heard or read that chocolate is good for you? Some studies suggest that dark chocolate is a source of antioxidants and may have an impact on “bad” cholesterol. Still some people should not eat chocolate, for example those who are allergic to chocolate. Of course, if you can eat chocolate, that does not mean that you should go all out and eat lots of chocolate every day. It is loaded with calories and it is SO easy to overeat.
Four months ago, I met a patient, “Linda”, who was no different from most of the people I care for in clinic. Like many Americans, she suffered from a constellation of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. We agreed on making a series of lifestyle changes and starting medication. In a few weeks, she would have another appointment to see how things were going.
The day before her appointment with me, Linda had a splitting headache. It was so bad she felt her arm go numb, and she had some trouble speaking. It did not go away with Tylenol, but after a few hours most of the pain was over hand she could speak. She figured things would get better by the morning, and if not, she could ask me.
Since we have just finished with Autism Awareness Month, I thought it would be appropriate to review Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of developmental conditions that affect a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Though estimates vary, it is thought to affect close to 1 in every 54 children in the United States. It appears that the incidence of Autism is increasing due to multiple factors; one is thought to be due to more awareness of the disorder and better screening methods.
