Tag: Penn Medicine
-
Health Matters: Help Your Baby Sleep Safely
By Bernadette Flynn-Kelton, BSN, RNC With a baby in the house, you cannot help but think about sleep, whether you are focused on getting your baby down for a nap or longing for a time when your baby — and the rest of the household — sleeps through the night. As important as sleep is,…
-
Health Matters: Treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Can Reduce Risk for Serious Health Consequences
By Shyama S. Mathews, MD Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common condition, affecting one in 10 women of childbearing age. Left untreated, PCOS can cause infertility as well as a range of other serious conditions that may have lifelong consequences. However, the condition can usually be managed with medications that reduce symptoms and lower…
-
Health Matters: Feeling Dizzy? It May Be a Problem with Your Vestibular System
By Paula Hoffman, PT, DPT Merry go rounds can be fun for some people. But feeling dizzy and unsteady all the time? Not so much. In fact, dizziness — often caused by a disorder that affects your vestibular system — can be scary and debilitating. Fortunately, however, you don’t have to live with constant dizziness.…
-
Health Matters: Physical Therapy Hits the Right Notes with Musicians
By Hemangi Shastri, DPT, CHT, CEAS II Musicians are athletes, and just like baseball pitchers or tennis players, musicians can experience repetitive motion injuries that can make playing painful. Several studies show that a high percentage of musicians will experience a repetitive motion injury. In some cases, taking a rest from playing will solve the…
-
Health Matters: Screening Mammograms Can Detect Breast Cancer Early, When It’s Most Treatable
By Ashley M. Newman, MD Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women, and it is also one of the most detectable due in large part to screening mammograms. Mammograms can detect breast cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages, even when it is too small to be felt by…
-
Health Matters: Know When to Seek Medical Care for Respiratory Symptoms in Children
By Alicia Brennan, MD Pediatricians across the United States are reporting an unusual uptick in respiratory viruses among children and advising parents to be on the lookout for troublesome symptoms and know when to seek medical care. Many illnesses are connected to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and enteroviruses, two common viruses that, while often mild,…
-
Health Matters: How to Talk to Children When the News is Scary
By Chirayu Parikh, DO With an uptick in reports of violence in communities across the United States and real-time accounts of foreign wars and natural disasters delivered on television and online, it is more and more difficult for parents and caregivers to shield their children from news and images associated with tragic events. While parents…
-
Health Matters: A Minimally Invasive Approach to Treating Obesity
By Monica Saumoy, MD Millions of people across the United States struggle with obesity. This common and serious disease increases the risk for a variety of other health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and infertility, and it can negatively impact body image and self-esteem. Treating obesity, however, has been shown to decrease the…
-
Health Matters: ‘Tis the Season…For Allergies, That Is
By Julie A Caucino, DO Seasonal allergies are nothing to sneeze at, especially for the millions of people in the United States who suffer through the spring and fall with watery eyes, a runny nose, and itchy throat. And allergies are likely to get worse — or at least last longer — as research shows…
