February is Heart Month, so I am trying to use this month to focus on topics that might help raise awareness about our heart health. One way to understand your risk for a heart attack or stroke is to learn your “heart age.” This is an easy way for us…
There has been quite a bit of talk recently about how bad sitting is for us. Some people have even said that too much sitting is just as bad as smoking cigarettes. I’m not sure if that is true, but it does seem pretty clear that being more active overall…
We all know that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. You may not be aware that the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. is exposure to radon. Radon gas can become trapped in your home and build up to dangerous levels. In 2005, the…
I’m sure that you have all heard about the coronavirus infection that is rapidly spreading in China. There is still quite a bit that we don’t know about the infection, but I thought it might be helpful to talk about the things that we do know about it. What is…
This is a question that comes up quite often, especially this time of year. The answer depends on several factors, including what type of illness you have and what type of exercise you are doing. Let’s talk today about the role that exercise plays in your immune response to illness…
We have talked about influenza in the past couple of weeks, but this is also the time of year that we see another serious viral infection. RSV can cause severe illness and even death in very young children. Each year in the United States, there are over 57,000 hospitalizations among…
We have talked about influenza in the past couple of weeks, but this is also the time of year that we see another serious viral infection. RSV can cause severe illness and even death in very young children. Each year in the United States, there are over 57,000 hospitalizations among…
Last week we talked about the symptoms and spread of influenza. This week, we will talk about the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of influenza. How is the flu diagnosed? It is impossible to distinguish the flu from other infections based on symptoms alone. Having typical flu symptoms is certainly a…
Several weeks ago, we talked about the importance of getting your flu shot. Well the flu season is now getting started in a big way, so I thought we might talk about how you can tell if you do have the flu, and what you should do if you think…
This time of year, we get many questions about sinus infections. There are so many illnesses going around, and many people are worried that they have a sinus infection. Most people believe that sinus infections require antibiotics to improve. It may surprise you to know that most sinus infections will…