Caring for children and family can often be more than a full time job. It pays to be organized. But are you as organized about your own healthcare needs. The number one killer of women today is heart disease and few women know their risks. Do you know the signs of a heart attack in men or women? Symptoms vary but having baseline EKG at your well visit will help pick up on abnormalities early-and maybe save your life. Only 30% of women survive their first heart attack. Often there…

Mom says,” Please pick up something on the way to school for lunch. I have to run to work. Bye!” Child says, “OK.”  As he does. Most days, it is something quick and processed. No fruit, no vegetables — and potato chips do not count as a vegetable! He’s picking whatever is convenient. Does this scenario sound familiar?

As we increase our need for quick food, that quick food is costing more and providing less and less to your body. The rate of obesity in 12-19 year olds in 2000 was…

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Whether be-ribboned with silk or cut out of red construction paper, you can’t help notice the prevalence of hearts this month. Just like all shades of pink have been used to brand breast cancer awareness, “Go Red!” is the mantra of February, American Heart Month.

And with good reason. Heart disease is the number-one cause of death of women 20 and older. In fact, 82 million Americans have at least one or more types of cardiovascular disease. There are certainly many reasons to maintain a healthy heart and many…

Obesity has become a major health care issue in our nation.

Countless journals have published articles about the impact of obesity on our children. A recent maternity-focused study looked at new ways of lowering the number of children who become obese. Pregnant women were given nutritional instruction prior to delivery of their babies. Compared to the control group, in which no instruction was provided, the babies were noted to have close to a 30% decline in obesity rates. This may not seem like much, but in our pediatric population, the incidents of heart disease and diabetes…

Obesity is a condition that is on the rise in all parts of the world. An estimated 5 million teens are obese (>35 body mass Index BMI) in the US (2004). Because of obesity, many people are experiencing some significant health issues. Obesity is in many (not all) teenagers is a food-addiction illness.

Food addiction is difficult to treat but can be an underlying reason for the weight problem. Drug addiction programs with intensive therapy and supervision have proven to be effective models in obesity treatment.  A cycle of poor self…

Prior to the June 22 episode of “Deadliest Catch,” I had, if you’ll pardon the pun, never caught an episode. When I heard in February that the captain of one of the crab boats had a stroke and subsequently died a couple of weeks later, I wondered how and if it would be handled on the show. I was drawn to the episode, the first in a four-episode-arc that promises to show the struggles of Captain Harris’ family, for one simple reason — as Clark Bunting, the president and general…

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Heart Health month is coming to a close, but knowing the risks and symptoms of heart disease is something to be aware of all year round. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States today. The more risk factors a person has, the greater the chance of developing heart disease. Your age and family history cannot be changed, yet your cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, weight and smoking history can all be controlled. The symptoms of heart disease, however, is something many people do not…

photo by Suat Eman

I spoke to a patient recently who asked “…so are you going to red this Friday?” This may sound like an unusual question, but we were talking about heart disease and its effects on her and her husband. Although her husband had his high cholesterol and high blood pressure under control, she on the other hand, had not been aware of her heart disease until her heart attack. It was a wake-up call that heart disease does not always have symptoms to warn you of a problem. She told me,…