Spending Time with Family

Any time you can spend with your family it’s a good idea. You should enjoy family time, sports, parades, concerts, prayer, etc. Basically, the important thing is to make sure you spend this time together and you do what you can to work together and talk about issues. Communication is very important for family. That’s why when we talk about family issues, we say it’s extremely important to talk about dinner, lunch, eating together, spending the time. Not avoiding each other, but actually welcoming the chance to spend that time together.

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Obstructive Sleep Apnea Can Affect Driving Ability

People with untreated sleep apnea may be less alert behind the wheel and this could make them more vulnerable to the effects of sleep loss and alcohol than healthy drivers.  Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the tissues at the back of the throat temporarily collapse during sleep.  This leads to repeated stops and starts in breathing during the night.  The result of this is poor quality sleep which can, in turn, lead to daytime drowsiness.  It's estimated that traffic accidents related to obstructive sleep apnea cause 1,400 fatalities in the U.S. each year.  In a study of 58 people on a virtual driving course, the drivers with sleep apnea had more trouble staying in their driving lane and were more likely to crash than their healthy counterparts.  The same was true when they took a modest amount of alcohol; just enough to raise the blood alcohol level to 0.05, which is just below the legal limit. 

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Vision Problems and Optical Migraine Headaches

Children can suffer migraine headaches, but they also can suffer what we call optical migraines. An optical migraine is actually a problem with the vision. Much like a migraine headache, it comes along without warning and when it hits, it actually can cause symptoms of a weird sensation or a strange flashing of light. It can be associated with nausea. It can be associated with headache. Optical migraines need to be dealt with. You need to examine and find out what’s going on because there are medicines which can help.

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More Teens Considering Breast Implants

A growing number of teens are considering implants for their breasts, and of course, the silicone gel implants have found their way back. Whether it’s saline or silicone, it’s something a teen should think very carefully about. There are side effects and there are problems that can occur. This is not a procedure that can be done or taken lightly. Since 1992, for instance, the silicone implants were available only as part of research studies. Now they’re readily available. The bottom line is you have to be really careful, and do you really need it?

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The High Cost of Heart Disease Drugs

Covering the full cost of heart disease prevention medications, such as statin cholesterol-lowering drugs and drugs to reduce high blood pressure, could save individuals $2,500 and society $1 billion in medical costs. Researchers used a math model to estimate the savings. About 50% of patients don’t take all their drugs. The cost is part of the reason why, so doctors estimate that giving the drugs free of charge would increase the number of people who take them. That could lower heart attack, stroke, and death.

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Seasonal Affective Disorder Can Be an Issue During the Winter Months

Some months are tougher to deal with than others.  Sometimes when we go through those winter months, we realize that seasonal affective disorder is an issue.  There's the fact that the days are short, sunlight exposure is quite limited, and you also have issues such as holidays and psychological stress that occur during those months.  So, if you're dealing with those issues and then you combine it with some women's health issues such as hormonal variation, it can be very dramatic and very frustrating to deal with.

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Teenagers and Dangers of Huffing

It is called huffing and it has rapidly become one of the most popular methods for teens to get high. Despite the numerous risks, including brain damage, it is estimated that 1.1 million adolescents inhale lethal substances like freon and butane each year. In addition to brain damage, huffing can lead to kidney, lung and bone problems as well as an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. According to the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, there are certain telltale signs, including red or runny eyes, spots or sores around the mouth, chemical body odor, nausea, anxiety and stains on the body or clothing. The latest reports find that teen girls are more likely to abuse inhalants. Obviously, these are important issues. You need to learn as much as you possibly can.

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Invisible Friends Are Normal

They are called “invisible friends.” A lot of parents get upset if their child has an “invisible friend,” wondering when it’s going to go away and when they’re going to forget about it. Here’s the bottom line…there is nothing wrong with having an “invisible friend.” It’s actually a normal phase of development and it shows that imagination is actually working well. If your child has an “invisible friend,” you can encourage it. Let them know that they’re using their imagination, but don’t tell them they can’t do it. You can bring them back to reality to let them know there is a reality.

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Caffeine and Breast Tenderness

It’s a question people ask. Can caffeine cause breast tenderness? The answer is absolutely. Caffeine can cause breast tenderness, and the reason it does is it actually has chemicals in it that irritate the breasts and at specific times of the month, right before the period, in particular, it can be even worse. In addition to that, caffeine can make fibrocystic breast disease a little worse. That’s where there are cysts that can actually build up. These are tender. They can be painful and they can be issues that you have to deal with and fight with.

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Evaluating Ankle Swelling

Ankle swelling is often a sign that we don't necessarily have the blood supply from our feet being taken properly to the rest of the body.  It’s very important that with ankle swelling, it's a warning that the liver has to be checked, the heart has to be checked, and the vein supply.  All of these things contribute and it's essential that we don't ignore that and we do whatever we can to evaluate it and try to get the best understanding about what's going on. 

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Using Pain Killers Appropriately

Painkillers are very effective to deal with pain…that’s why they’re called painkillers. But one of the problems with pain killers is people can have a dependence on them, and with that dependence, they can run into issues. One thing that’s essential is that if a doctor gives a patient a pain killer, the patient should know it is a short-term solution, not the end-all. If it’s an end-all solution, people ultimately become so addicted to them they have no other answer but to use them. That is not where doctors want to be in the management of pain. What doctors want to do is use them as an ally, not a crutch.

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Using Pain Killers Appropriately

Study of Father’s Age and Autism

Autism is a particularly tough condition to treat, because we need to learn so much more about what causes it, and why it happens. A report in the Archives of General Psychology suggests genetics could play a major role. Men who become fathers in their forties or older are much more likely to have autistic children than younger dads. The study is a large one, looking at 130,000 Israeli Jews born in the 1980’s. Those fathered by older men were almost six times more likely to have autism or related disorders than those fathered by men younger than 30. Mother’s age seem to have less of an influence. Now, there are some concerns with the study; results need to be tested in a broader population. That’s because we need to see if similar findings would occur in other ethnic groups.

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Rotator Cuff Tears

The rotator cuff is something you've probably heard of.  People talk about rotator cuff tears and certainly it can be the end of an athlete’s career.  The rotator cuff is really a group of four muscles.  These four muscles are actually putting together extra stability for the shoulder.  When they go out, or one of them is torn or a couple of them, it can really affect the stability and the way the shoulder works and keeping it enclosed in an area.  Rotator cuff tears can be particularly frustrating and difficult to deal with and they can be a career ender for athletes.

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What is the Role of Benadryl?

Just what is the role of Benadryl when it comes to allergies? Benadryl has a lot of advantages. The drug is very good to be used to reduce the problems associated with allergy; the itching, the runny eyes, the redness, all of those things. But, one of the problems of Benadryl is that it can lead to drowsiness and the higher the dose you take of Benadryl, the greater the problem. That is the limiting factor. Also, Benadryl can be converted with calamine lotion. That combination, actually called Caladryl, can be effective in dealing with poison ivy.

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Deciding on Back Surgery

Most people will have back problems at some point in their lifetime, but how do you decide if you need surgery. Obviously, surgery can help in some cases, but in others it might be more problematic than it’s worth. Here’s what many physician think. Patients at severe risk of long-term neurologic injury benefit from surgery, but if the risk of nerve damage is small or even moderate, back surgeries are often put off or totally avoided. Everyone is not the same. There are certain exceptions to the rule. The people who have severe pain or disability need to be looked at very closely. If you’re considering back surgery, it makes sense to seek a second opinion, perhaps even a third opinion.

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Learning Delays in Children Need to Be Recognized

When a child has a learning delay, it certainly can raise a lot of red flags, and many parents try to ignore the delay.  They don't want to admit their child has a so-called problem.  The bottom line is this.  If a child has a learning delay, you want to get to it.  You want to be able to make a difference.  The earlier a learning delay is recognized, and the earlier treatment is begun, the better.  As parents, we need to be more proactive.  

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Treating Diabetes Is Essential

Diabetes is a serious health problem and there is no doubt that diabetes can lead to heart problems and other issues, including kidney problems and nerve damage down the road.  We are finding more and more that early treatment of diabetes is the best way to go.  In other words, we want to control that blood sugar early.  We do not want it to linger.  The way you can do that is by monitoring the sugar and also by taking medications if necessary.  Exercise and diet can also be helpful.  The best way to deal with diabetes is to essentially attack it initially.    

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Genetics, Brain Chemicals, and Obesity

There is no doubt there is a genetic link for certain people with obesity. The latest study looking at such a connection was conducted at the University Buffalo. What they found is people who genetically had a lower level of the brain chemical dopamine might be driven to eat more food. People who have fewer of the dopamine receptors need to take in more of a rewarding substance, such as food or drugs, to get an effect than other people with less. Now, the report does not mean if you have the genetic makeup that you are doomed to be obese, but it is clear there is a relationship. Naturally, much of this work is done because scientists are looking for ways to help offset obesity.

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Ups and Downs of Bipolar Disorder

It is called bipolar illness and the bipolar means up and down.  That's clearly what happens.  When people are bipolar, they can go from severe depression to incredible exuberance and exhilaration.  It is the movement back and forth that can cause problems and perhaps be extremely dangerous.  When people are really up, they feel like they're all powerful, but when they go down, they can be totally depressed.  One of the problems is if you have someone who is depressed and they rapidly gain energy, sometimes they act on it and they can cause harm to themselves.   

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The Cold Virus Manipulates Genes

Infections with the common cold virus can cause widespread havoc among one's genes.  That's what researchers say.  They administered either the human rhinovirus or a placebo to healthy volunteers.  Next, they took scrapings from the participants' noses at the 8 hour and 48 hour marks.  Gene analysis on the cell scrapings showed little difference at 8 hours, but after 48 hours more than 6,500 genes showed increased or decreased activity in people who had been infected with the common cold.  

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Eating Cereal and the Sex of a Baby

Researchers in statistics and obstetrics gynecology are challenging a report from last year claiming that babies born to mothers who eat breakfast cereal are more likely to be male.  The new study says that due to the large number of food items in the original study included for analysis, women reported on their consumption of 132 items, the findings were likely to include a number of false positives just by chance alone.  Basically, the new research says the cereal finding was a fluke and nothing more.

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Lyme Disease Is Occurring More Commonly

Lyme disease is occurring more and more commonly mainly because it is being spread more and more through the tick and Borellia Burgdorferi.  The thing about the tick that's associated with Lyme is that the deer tick is being carried into many communities because deer are so much more common than they were in the past.  The thing that I suggest with Lyme disease though is that if it's diagnosed, it be treated early.  A lot of doctors like to hold back on antibiotics.  Certainly, in most cases, you don't want to use them unnecessarily.  But when it comes to Lyme disease, the effects can be devastating if you don't get to it early.  

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Anger Management Counseling

Do women need anger management counseling?  Do men need anger management counseling?  It's a question that really is not one of either sex.  When we talk about anger management, we are talking about people who are in stressful situations and they react in a way in which they lash out.  This type of counseling is often very effective because it allows people to take a look inward and see where they are having problems and to build from there.  Anger management counseling is just another way to evaluate this and get the help you need.  

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What Causes Bladder Infections?

Cystitis is an infection in your bladder that is caused by bacteria. If you have a bladder infection, you may feel pain when you urinate or you could have an increased desire to urinate more often.  It can happen in men and women, but it's quite common in women of reproductive age.  It is normal to have bacteria that live in the urethra, which is where the urine comes out, but sometimes these bacteria can get into your bladder.  People who are most likely to have bladder infections are those who hold their urine for a long time, have sex often, or are pregnant.  There are many effective medications for bladder infections.  We can get urine cultures at the office to find out what bacteria we need to treat and the medicine usually only has to be given for three to five days.  And, yes, if you were wondering, cranberry juice has been shown to be helpful.

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