Health and Medicine

Prenatal Care: Important for Both of You

If you have just discovered that you are pregnant or are thinking that you would like to become pregnant one day, you have a lot to consider. One of the things which you definitely should not ignore during pregnancy is your health. Prenatal care is everything you do to take care of your health and your unborn child’s health while you are pregnant. This should start with a doctor’s visit once you know you are pregnant or think you might be.

Wise Consumer Health Month

February was Wise Consumer Health Month - but being wise about your health is a daily exercise. This national health observance, created by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, encourages people to take an active role in their health. The Institute's goal is to see people become wise about their health and take steps to prevent disease for themselves and their families.

Staying Healthy After Cancer

Mary Washington Hospital's Regional Cancer Center will be presenting a free public symposium on this subject on October 29, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. The program will include discussion on healthy eating, bone health, the use of vitamins and the value of exercise.  For more information, call 540/741-7765.

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library has books addressing issues that face cancer survivors and their families. Check out our booklist, Resources for Cancer Survivors for books to help patients and their families.

Sid Fleischman: Tall Tales and Magical Fun

His dad was "an airy optimist with nimble skills." His mom was a crackerjack card player. Both came from old Europe with the great wave of Jewish immigrants in the early part of the 20th century, and both were jim-dandy storytellers.

Sid helped his parents at their neighborhood store in San Diego, California. This was during the Great Depression when no one had much money, but he found that for just a dime he could hang out all day at the traveling vaudeville show. There he met his first magician, a lady sharpshooter, and other amazing performers whose memories would one day be conjured for the Wild West boy-and-his-dog story, Jim Ugly.

The Flu Bug Bites Back

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the social scene, the bad news hits. That shot in your arm wasn't such a shot in the arm. In recent years, the doctors who designed the vaccine had to make a decision as to which strain to fight, Panama flu or Fujian flu. From their data, it looked like Panama would continue to grow strong and the beginnings of the Fujian strain would peter out.

Good Nutrition For a Healthier You

That wascally wabbit was a smart guy. Carrots, along with other orange and green fruits and vegetables, are good for the eyes! They're packed with vitamin A. People who don't get enough of this vitamin can develop severe vision problems, but a rabbit or a person who gets plenty of vitamin A will know that she's doing all she can to make her vision healthy.

Muddling Through Midlife

Good health, enough wealth, long life, happy families—the stuff that dreams are made of. But most Americans' lives fall short in one or more of these areas, and often it's the midlife years (40s to 50s) where things start to go haywire. If you're one of the many, many people who feel that just when they got the hang of the game, the rules completely changed, read on.

 

Work, Retirement, and Financial Planning

What's different about money management at midlife?

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month

By Lydia O'Neil

Spina bifida is a neural tube birth defect that occurs in the developing embryo at such an early stage of development that the mother usually does not realize she is pregnant yet. Spina bifida happens when the spinal column does not develop correctly and the covering of the spinal cord and often the spinal cord itself protrudes into a membranous sac on the back.

The Mediterranean Diet - Che Cos'e'?

Nutrition and weight loss, two hot topics you can't avoid. Pick up any magazine or newspaper, listen to any news show, talk to any doctor, friend, or co-worker and the topic is bound to come up. Oddly, for all our interest in nutrition and weight loss, Americans have never been heavier. Fad diets abound but don't seem to work. How about a new diet—a new diet that's been around for centuries? A diet that lets you eat normal food, is tasty, filling and can help lower cholesterol and blood pressure? Sound too good to be true? Well, the Mediterranean Diet is all of these things.

April Is National Autism Awareness Month

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that its symptoms range from mild to severe and vary by individual. An autistic child might appear to be largely oblivious to his surroundings, violently overwhelmed by physical sensations, or he might seem outwardly to be simply socially awkward.