By Dr. Linda Walden As the current U.S. measles outbreak nears 1,000 cases, it seems impossible to deny the power of vaccines in preventing disease. All it took to create America’s biggest measles spike in 25 years was a handful of communities where a high percentage of parents decided not to have children vaccinated. Yet…
Georgia improved two spots, moving up to No. 41 among states in United Health Foundation’s report card on seniors’ health. States in the Southeast continue to languish in the bottom quartile of the rankings, released last week. Mississippi was ranked 50th among the states. It was topped by Tennessee (No. 43), Alabama (No. 44), Arkansas…
Metro Atlanta shows mixed results on air pollution in the American Lung Association’s latest report, released Wednesday. The area had fewer days of bad ozone pollution – the main factor in smog – but still ranked 25th among cities for the worst ozone, according to the Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air report. Ozone exists…
Camilla White’s days as a part-time caregiver for her mother began at 4 a.m. They ended at 10 or 11 at night. “It just depended on Mom,’’ White says. White was living in Huntsville, Ala., at the time. Her mother, Lillian Barber, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, so White regularly commuted to Carrollton in…
Carotenoids are plant pigments. They make tomatoes red and give carrots their distinctive orange hue. You see them when leaves change colors in the fall. But carotenoids are not just decorative. Among the roughly 600 carotenoids in nature, two in particular, lutein and zeaxanthin, have been found to improve the function of the human brain,…
The battles over hospital regulation and financial disclosure appeared to be finished last week at the Georgia Legislature. But on Tuesday, as the 2019 General Assembly session was wrapping up, these prickly issues proved they weren’t dead after all. An attempt to allow a sports medicine and training center in Alpharetta failed to clear the…
Cases of Legionnaires’ disease have quadrupled in Georgia over the past 10 years, public health statistics show. That increase mirrors a national trend, with U.S. cases up fivefold since 2000. About 80 percent of Georgia outbreaks have occurred in health care facilities, according to Cherie Drenzek, state epidemiologist. Legionella bacteria live in water, and are…
A lift chair has made a big difference for Henry Cato, 78, of Franklin, who has neuropathy in his legs. The chair is a kind of recliner, but it includes a mechanism that pushes the chair up from its base and slowly moves the sitting person into a standing position. Henry does not have to struggle to get…
Raghubir Singh and her husband love their Henry County home, and they want to stay there. Their medical problems, though, may force them to leave. Raghubir is 75, has serious shoulder problems and had surgery recently. And that’s not the worst of it. “My husband is a pretty sick man,’’ she says. Surinder Singh, 82,…
Pneumococcal disease can lead to pneumonia, infection of the blood, middle-ear infection, sinus infection and even meningitis — potentially causing hearing loss, blindness, seizures and death. It infects about 1 million Americans annually. This week, a CDC committee will review the agency’s position on vaccination for this disease. The panel should endorse keeping the current CDC…