Health category, Page 128
Health Happenings
Blood drives • Central Blood Bank: — 1-6 p.m. Wednesday, Champion Christian School, 1076 King’s Way, Donegal — 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, 150 Finoli Drive Appointments: 866-366-6711 or centralblood bank.org Classes/programs • Highmark PALS Group meets every first Monday of the month at 10 a.m. in McKenna Center...
Rise Again fundraiser to help parents of children with spinal cord injuries
In church with their son Alex, Eric and Amy Brown helped him stand while he held onto the pew in front. They braced his knees. The song “We Shall Rise Again” played. “Alex now is very accustomed to standing at church with some help and also kneels,” says Amy Brown...
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau plans regional ‘wellness tour’
For the first time, Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau will offer an organized wellness tour this spring, highlighting regional stops during a day-long public outing. On May 19, the bureau will host “Journey of Self: A Wellness Tour of Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands.” Those aboard the tour bus will visit Nemacolin Woodlands...
4 tips to care for our kidneys
Call them the great filters. Every day, 120 to 150 quarts of blood are strained through our two fist-sized kidneys. During this process, these little organs produce 1 to 2 quarts of urine to rid the body of waste and excess fluid. And our kidneys do a lot more than...
Introduce peanut products as early as 4 months to prevent allergies, report says
Pediatricians now recommend introducing peanut-based foods to infants before their first birthday to prevent peanut allergies, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. “The big news is to introduce peanuts early,” said Dr. Frank Greer, co-author of the study, which summarizes the latest research on food allergies...
Program aims to raise diabetes awareness
In the United States, about one in every 11 people has diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in adults, and a leading cause of heart disease and strokes, making March 26 — the American Diabetes Association’s Alert...
Lifestyle changes can benefit health of those with diabetes, experts sayVideo
Diabetes affects about 30 million people in the U.S., making it a diagnosis about 9 percent of the country’s population will receive in their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. March 26 is American Diabetes Association Alert Day. Planned as a one-day “wake-up call” focusing on...
Bingo and bongs: More seniors seek pot for age-related aches
LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. — The group of white-haired folks — some pushing walkers, others using canes — arrive right on time at the gates of Laguna Woods Village, an upscale retirement community in the picturesque hills that frame this Southern California suburb a few miles from Disneyland. There they board...
FDA takes up decades-long debate over breast implant safety
WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are taking another look at the safety of breast implants, the latest review in a decades-long debate. At a two-day meeting that starts Monday, a panel of experts for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hear from researchers, plastic surgeons and implant makers, as...
Tyson recalls chicken strips due to metal fears
WASHINGTON — Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is recalling more than 69,000 pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strips because they may be contaminated with pieces of metal. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday the products were produced on Nov. 30, 2018, and have a best if used by date of Nov. 30,...
Family and friends remember young mother’s death to childbirth complications
Jamie Cordial Hall was picking up a few things for her 5-week-old son Cody’s baptism the morning of May 15, 2018, when she began to hemorrhage. Hall — a healthy, vibrant, 38-year-old middle-class mother of two from Greensburg — was the last woman friends and family would have thought to...
Western Pa. dialysis patients receive packages during awareness campaignVideo
Hundreds of dialysis patients in Western Pennsylvania received special care packages from the National Kidney Foundation as part of the Drive for Dialysis project to generate awareness about kidney disease. Among the items they collected March 14 — World Kidney Day — was a water bottle with measurements to help...
Anti-vaxxers attacked Western Pa. pediatricians. Study shows how they fought back.
When Dr. Todd Wolynn published a YouTube video on his Kids Plus Pediatrics Facebook page touting the HPV vaccine as a cancer prevention tool, he had no idea he was opening the floodgates to a world of anti-vaccine internet warriors. Wolynn, a pediatrician and the CEO of the practice with...
Medicines for opioid addiction vastly underused, experts say
WASHINGTON — Medicines proven to treat opioid addiction remain vastly underused in the United States, the nation’s top medical advisers said Wednesday. Only a fraction of the estimated 2 million people addicted to opioids are getting the medications, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and...
Where are the happiest people? In Finland
HELSINKI — Finland has topped an index of the happiest nations for the second consecutive year, with researchers saying the small Nordic country of 5.5 million has succeeded in generating a happiness recipe for a balanced life not simply dependent on economic and material wealth. The World Happiness Report, produced...
God, country and chickenpox: How outbreak entangled school in vaccine showdown
Bill Kunkel used to vaccinate his kids, before he read where some vaccines come from. He is skeptical of the pharmaceutical industry’s motives and came across anti-vaxxer theories online, though they aren’t supported by science. But his main objection is about abortion. Decades ago, cells were taken from legally aborted...
Dr. Don L. Fisher, pioneering cardiologist at Allegheny General Hospital, dead at 100
Jeff Fisher’s memories of his father, Dr. Don L. Fisher, are intertwined with the place where his father spent most days for 66 years — Allegheny General Hospital. “He was at work quite a bit,” Jeff Fisher, 65, of Peachtree City, Ga., said of his father. “Actually, he included us...
Personal trainer learns to help others through helping himself
Sometimes you just have to take things into your own hands. Stuart Urch of Greensburg learned that lesson while dealing with lingering injuries from playing high school football — and it’s led him into a career as a personal trainer. The 24-year-old is offering private and group training sessions at...
Quinn on Nutrition: Canola oil gets undeserved bad rap
In response to a recent column in which I suggested canola oil as one good choice for popping corn “since it is low in saturated fat and has a high enough smoke point not to burn at higher temperatures,” a reader from Capitola writes: “The circle of people I associate...
Seniors make ‘Kick Butts’ gifts to help educate their young pen palsVideo
Seated at tables off the lobby area of South Greengate Commons, a Westmoreland County Housing Authority property for seniors, residents use markers, scissors and poster board to create “table tent” messages. “I love you, don’t smoke,” reads one. A resident peels off a “Kick Butts Day” sticker to add to...
Tips for dealing with dandruff
Dandruff is a common chronic scalp condition marked by flaking of the skin on your scalp. It isn’t contagious or serious, but it can be embarrassing and sometimes difficult to treat. The good news is that dandruff usually can be controlled. Mild cases of dandruff may need nothing more than...
When you get your flu shot matters
Every year, there is controversy involving the flu vaccine. How effective is it? Should you get it? But a new study aims to address another question: When is the best time to get the shot? An analysis from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that tens of thousands...
Health Happenings
Blood drives • Central Blood Bank will host a blood drive 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday in Harmon House Care Center, 601 S. Church St., Mt. Pleasant. Appointments: 866-366-6711 or centralbloodbank.org. Screenings • Level Green Lions are sponsoring a health awareness screening 7-10 a.m. Saturday in their Community Building, 123 Murrysville...
Medicare’s confusing coverage rules can trip up patients in costly ways
When Beverly Dunn called her new primary care doctor’s office last November to schedule an annual checkup, she assumed her Medicare coverage would pick up most of the tab. The appointment seemed like a routine physical, and she was pleased that the doctor spent a lot of time with her....
Rousing theories on why yawning is so contagious
Have you ever found yourself starting to yawn just because you saw someone else do it? It’s not your imagination: Yawns really are contagious! In fact, humans can feel the urge to yawn after seeing, hearing or even just thinking about someone else doing it. Scientists have been trying for...
