Immunization

By Dr. Thomas Polucki Meniere's disease is a disorder that involves the inner ear. It causes episodes of vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, and fullness in the ear. Most of these symptoms are caused by increased pressure of fluid on the ear. This results in damage to the balance system and the hearing nerve. The exact cause of Meniere's is unknown but several factors might play a role in it such as genetic predispositions for some people, head, neck trauma or prolonged exposure to loud noise. Meniere's disease is difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms are also found in other conditions like migraines, anxiety disorders or depression. Therefore, doctors recommend ruling out other possible causes before making any diagnosis about it. We usually see people after they tried all the drugs and even surgery recommended for Meniere's Disease. And every one of them had a history of whiplash that was not addressed by the Meniere's Disease specialists. But on...

Vaccines protect babies and children from potentially life-threatening diseases at a time when they're most vulnerable. In fact, widespread childhood vaccination has reduced or eliminated deadly diseases like polio and smallpox. By following the recommended immunization schedule for your child, you can protect them and those around them from avoidable health risks. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that kids receive vaccines against 16 preventable diseases. Here's an overview of the current recommended immunization schedule for children, from birth to 18 years old. ER Productions Limited / Getty Images How Vaccines Work Vaccines work with the body's natural immune system to produce a protective response to harmful antigens (viruses or bacteria). Vaccines trigger your body to produce antibodies against the disease before you're ever exposed to it. They can also prevent r...

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More than one-quarter of employees who have had significant medical expenses say it's had a major impact on their mental health. (Photo: Shutterstock) Health care affordability is a significant factor in mental health issues and stress among employees, according to a new study by Centivo. The Centivo Healthcare and Financial Sacrifices Survey was conducted in August of 2021 and polled more than 800 workers enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance for at least two years. Among the findings: more than one quarter (27%) of employees who had significant medical expenses said those expenses had a major impact on their mental health, while 16% indicated such expenses had a major impact on their family's well-being. "US employers are rightly concerned about the mental health of their workforce during this time of immense societal changes and disruptions caused by the pandemic," said Wayne Jenkins, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Centivo. "We urge...

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Ballad Health invests $9 million in Southwest Virginia healthcare    Kingsport Times News

This started as a story about what happens after a pandemic ends. I pitched my editor on the idea in early May. Every adult in America could get a vaccine. COVID numbers started to fall. If the Roaring '20s came after the Spanish flu a century ago, did that mean we were on track for another Roaring '20s now? Would "Hot Vax Summer" give way to Decadent Gatsby Party Autumn? I started to dig in. A number of compelling parallels emerged: America 100 years ago had staggering income inequality. A booming stock market. Racial uprisings. Anti-immigrant sentiment. A one-term president plagued by scandals after he left office. Plenty of material for a story. Then the pandemic didn't end. Vaccinations stalled. The Delta variant fueled new waves of infections, hospitalizations and deaths. By September, some states had more hospitalized COVID patients than they did during the winter surge. The economic outlook for this decade has gone from "champagne-soaked...

 Matthew W. Harris, MD, Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Laura Hinman, DO, Board Certified in Family Medicine and Rachal Mittleman, MD, Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics have joined Ascension Medical Group Genesys as new primary care physicians in the Genesee County and Oakland County areas.   Harris , with over 28 years of experience, is seeing patients at 5900 Waldon Rd., Suite D, Clarkston. He earned his medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit and completed his residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. Harris is accepting new patients 18 and older and can be reached by calling (248) 256-6900.   Hinman is seeing patients at 6379 W. Silver Lake Rd., in Linden. She earned her medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in East Lansing and completed her residency in Fam...

For all its application and importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, infection prevention and control remains a widely misunderstood endeavor, with physicians and health system administrators often focused on written standards—rather than the actions, systems and culture that bring them to life. A webinar, "Infection Control: Transmission and Prevention Standards," produced by the AMA and Project Firstline —the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's national training collaborative for infection prevention and control—provided a refresher on the basics of infection prevention and control. Among them: knowing how to translate policies, guidelines and regulations into concrete clinical processes. Some do it better than others Some do it better than others Infection prevention sounds like a straightforward concept—to prevent the spread of disease. But all too often, health professionals think it is driven by policies, guidelines and regula...

Enlarge this image lowball-jack/Getty Images Each week, we answer frequently asked questions about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have a question you'd like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: "Weekly Coronavirus Questions." See an archive of our FAQs here . I hear a lot of talk in the news these days about the omicron variant and the kind of disease it might cause: mild, moderate, severe. Could you explain those terms? As the omicron variant spreads around the globe, everyone wants to know: Will it cause mainly mild disease? Moderate? Severe? Early studies suggest that many people could have asymptomatic or mild cases rather than severe, in part because many more people are now vaccinated or ...