By: Kathy Hubbard. In 2011 as part of a national campaign, staff members from the Sandpoint Police Department, Idaho Conservation League and Bonner General Health Foundation got together to develop and promote a program on how to safely dispose unwanted or expired drugs. With eyes on crime, health, and the environment, we established a Drug Take Back Program based on the Drug Enforcement Agency’s national program.
By: Caroline Lobsinger. Getting healthy, regardless of age, boils down to the same things: nutrition, good hydration and physical activity. Dr. Tessa Reinke, the primary care medical director at Bonner General Health in Sandpoint, said becoming and staying healthy for those 55 and over — or any age — is achievable for everyone.
By: Kathy Hubbard “I wake up every single morning stiff, with a lot of pain all over my body, and it takes me at minimum two hours before I can really accomplish anything,” a person posted on Fibromyalgia Forums. Another member of the forum likened the symptoms to wearing a “concrete overcoat.” And, another person wrote, “Sometimes when I’m having a bad flare up, I feel physically sick (nauseous, weak legs and arms, dropping things, struggle gripping things, hot and cold with sweats, really restless legs, sore or scratchy throat, tension in shoulders and headaches with a stuffy feeling,”
By: Kathy Hubbard. Three weeks ago, this newspaper’s front page headline read, “Pertussis cases increase in region.” And it’s not only in our region. Throughout the country the numbers of people contracting pertussis, aka whooping cough, have skyrocketed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 14,569 cases of pertussis so far this year. Compare that to the 3,475 cases in 2023.
By: Kathy Hubbard. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has changed their recommendations about when a woman should start having mammograms. They now say that all women should get screened every other year starting at age 40 and continue until they’re 75.
The American Cancer Society’s website, however, still says that women could choose to have mammograms between the ages of 40 and 44 but should have them every year from ages 45 to 54. Then, at age 55 they could switch to mammograms every two years if they preferred and continue as long as they’re in good health.
By: Kathy Hubbard. It’s heartening to know that there are several ongoing research studies of new treatments for childhood cancers. If we can’t irradicate the disease, at least we can make remission more commonplace.
By: Kathy Hubbard. A primary care provider is your main health care provider in non-emergency situations. Your PCP’s role is to provide preventive care and teach healthy lifestyle choices; identify and treat common medical conditions; assess the urgency of your medical problems and direct you to the best place for that care; and make referrals to medical or surgical specialists when necessary.
By: Kathy Hubbard. Over ten times as many babies were born with congenital syphilis (CS) in 2022 than in 2012. Think about that for a minute. Then know that nine out of ten of those cases could have been prevented. An article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on December 14 of last year goes on to say that two in five women who gave birth to babies with CS didn’t seek any prenatal care.
By: Kathy Hubbard. The first thing women need to know about uterine fibroids is what they’re not. They are not cancer and almost never turn into cancer. They’re very common and most often cause little to no discomfort. But when they do, they can be very uncomfortable.
By: Kathy Hubbard. We’ve talked about psoriasis before, but since August is that condition’s awareness month, I decided to look up what’s new. You’ll remember that psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system becomes overactive, causing skin cells to multiply too quickly.
By: Kathy Hubbard. Kawasaki disease causes swelling in the walls of small to medium-sized blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body. The mystery is why does it happen and why does it tend to occur seasonally?
By: Kathy Hubbard. Close to a quarter of a million U.S. children ages 12 to 19 live with a common chronic disease that has been stigmatized for years. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics this disease is associated with serious short and long-term health concerns when left untreated, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease as well as reduced quality of life. This disease is obesity.
Bonner General Health is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital and healthcare network of outpatient clinics and services serving Sandpoint and the surrounding region.
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