When Katy Coffy, a 28-year old nurse in Salt Lake City, woke up at 4:30 a.m. in August of 2008 with severe chest pains, she knew she was having a heart attack. She woke her fiancé and said, “Oh, no! I think I have my dad’s heart.” Coffy had known she was at risk for heart disease; when she was just six months old, her father had undergone triple bypass surgery for blocked arteries. Familiar [...] Read More »

Today’s the 26th annual National Girl and Women in Sports Day, and The National Association for Girls and Women in Sport have a message: high school girls still receive 1.3 million fewer participation opportunities than do boys, and evidence suggests that the money spent on girls’ sports programs lags significantly behind the money spent on boys’ programs. Forty years have passed [...] Read More »

In 2010, there were over 13 million cosmetic procedures performed in the United States. As the number of cosmetic procedures has risen in the past few decades, so has the number of horror stories about people who don’t choose a qualified plastic surgeon and pay the price, sometimes with their life. An extreme case is that of a 20-year-old British woman named Claudia Aderotimi who, in February of [...] Read More »

Emergency Medicine Physicians (EMP), one of the country’s largest physician- owned and led emergency medicine groups, is bringing the mobile technology of iTriage® to its hospital clients. The partnership will enable consumers to conveniently access critical medical information and locate the closest EMP-staffed emergency departments and hospitals.   EMP Chief Executive Officer Dominic J. [...] Read More »

Last year Health Affairs contributors analyzed data from a 2010 HealthStyles survey, and found that 26% of parents surveyed thought that “The ingredients in vaccines are unsafe.” While child immunization rates remain high, there is a growing concern among many health professionals that parents aren’t taking vaccinations seriously. A report issued by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor found [...] Read More »

While some people view the pursuit of health goals as an individual process, many people’s success depends on the support of their loved ones. In order to help a family member, friend or significant other lose weight, Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at California State University in Los Angeles, offers the following tips: Get on Board: Words of [...] Read More »

97% of people living with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small intestine, don’t even know they have it according to the The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). Celiac disease affects an estimated 3 million Americans and, if left untreated, can have serious long-term consequences including anemia, infertility, osteoporosis, weight loss, hair loss, [...] Read More »

In October of 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that stated that American antidepressant use had increased by 400% from 1988 to 2008. The report found that one in twelve Americans over the age of twelve is taking antidepressants to treat depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. Many saw the meteoric increase of antidepressant use as a sign of a weak economy, [...] Read More »

In October of 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) suggested that children as young as four should be screened for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a mental condition characterized by “difficulty staying focused and paying attention,” and “difficulty controlling behavior and hyperactivity,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The new AAP guidelines [...] Read More »

When you sprain an ankle or find a suspicious rash on your arm, where do you go, an emergency department or an urgent care? More and more people are opting for urgent cares, where treatment for non-life threatening illness is often cheaper, faster and more convenient than the medical care provided by an emergency department. At an urgent care, you can get evaluated and treated for sprains, fractures, [...] Read More »