Category: Wellness

For most, contracting a case of the annual flu bug is a relatively mild, if uncomfortable experience, that clears up itself in about two weeks without medical intervention or antiviral drugs. However, for 3,000 to 49,000 people each year, according to the CDC, the flu becomes a deadly illness. Up to 90 percent of those…

We all know the signs: that stuffy nose and sore throat that quickly become a fever with chills, nausea, fatigue and body aches. You, or someone in your household, has come down with the flu. Influenza, or seasonal flu, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that affects between 5 and 20 percent of the population…

Influenza, or the flu, is a highly contagious respiratory illness — one that comprises hundreds of variations of a virus that are constantly mutating. Simple contamination can lead to incredibly virulent and infectious strains of influenza that can spread quickly throughout a population of poultry or other livestock, or can become infectious in humans and…

Whether you’re looking for an app to help keep you healthy or one to help you survive your sick time, these apps are sure to be your start-to-finish survival guide for flu season this year. FluView This is the official app from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The app allows you to…

It starts innocently enough: a runny nose, body aches and fatigue, and a low fever. But within days, what felt like the onset of a cold or flu bug has developed into something far more sinister — with symptoms that are the stuff of horror flicks, as described by Richard Preston in The Hot Zone…

In 2014, the world was mesmerized, morbidly so, by the outbreak of Ebola that swept through African nations, and, for the first time in history, made its way onto American soil. The awful symptoms that accompany this disease and its high mortality rate — up to 90 percent — had media outlets speculating on the…

Osteoporosis is a condition that many of us associate with women of advanced age. Of the estimated 10 million Americans living with osteoporosis, about 8 million, or nearly 80 percent, are women. There are an additional 40 million living with low bone mass. Approximately one in two women older than 50, according to the National…

Home is where the heart is. It’s also where most of our colds and more than half of our food-borne illnesses are. While most of the things we do are done with the best intentions, many of the habits we have may put us at risk for illness. Using a Sponge When we think about…

With so many “informational” sites on the Internet, it can be difficult to separate good info from the bad stuff that circulates as “truth.” This is especially true when it comes to medical practices that some see as controversial. Like influenza shots, or “flu shots” for short. Many myths abound about influenza and flu shots,…

It’s a fact of life if you’re the parent to young kids — kids mean germs, and eventually, your children are going to get sick. But whether they come down with a common cold or a nasty influenza depends a lot on the preventive care you’ve been practicing all along. Here are the top tips…