CDC

STD Awareness Month 2016 “Talk. Test. Treat”

“TALK. TEST. TREAT.”

Perfect theme for the CDC’s 2016 STD Awareness Month! We can’t have AWARENESS if no one is talking about these diseases. And because these diseases are mostly SILENT, you can’t have AWARENESS that you have an STD unless you TEST for it.

The Bad News: 

  • Sexually transmitted infections affect over 20 MILLION Americans every year, and young people ages 15-24 make up over HALF of these cases.
  • Chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise for the first time in a decade.
  • Gonorrhea is more difficult to treat because it has become very resistant to antibiotics
  • Curable
… Read more
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Planning International Travel? Check out the CDC!

I am  so excited to be heading to El Salvador today with Austin Smiles, a wonderful organization that gives the gift of a beautiful smile to people born with cleft lips or palates. Check out our blog and Facebook page!

If you are planning to international travel, start your medical planning for the trip well in advance- ideally six months ahead, and check out the CDC Traveler’s Advice page.  Simply select your destination country, and you will see all the current medical recommendations for your travel. Please note that often vaccinations are recommended that may require more than one … Read more

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Cigarettes: The Good News & The Bad News

Let’s start off with the GOOD news – the CDC’s anti-smoking TIPS campaign has turned out to be far more successful than they had dared to hope! Over 1.6 million smokers had a quitting attempt, and at least 200,000 smokers DID QUIT as a direct result of the shocking pictures and stories featured in this unique national program. The Lancet published a wonderful article this week summarizing all the findings: Effect of the First Federally Funded U.S. Antismoking National Media Campaign.

I have always maintained that stories are more powerful than statistics. Sure enough, this campaign is chock-full of stories … Read more

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Flu Vaccine – It’s Not Too Late!

Okay, it’s January, and now EVERYONE you know is getting the flu! Is it too late for you to get vaccinated? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The truth is that now that we’re all scared, it’s tough to find somewhere that has the flu vaccine in stock! Call your doctor or your pharmacy and find out how many they have left, then jump in your car and head over.

This year is another one of those “really bad” flu years. Yes, if you are vaccinated today, you have to wait a couple weeks for your shot to protect you. BUT…the flu season is … Read more

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Flu Season 2012 – Ready or Not!

While we are rushing around in December, take a moment to think about whether or not your family has received the flu vaccine this year. The CDC reports show that unfortunately, we are jumping into the season early this year, especially in TEXAS, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In fact, this is the earliest in the flu season to reach this level in almost a decade (since 2003-2004). The good news is that the viruses identified with testing DO largely match the strains that are included in this year’s vaccine. More good news is that they are susceptible to our … Read more

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WORLD AIDS DAY – Does It Affect YOU?

Today, December 1, 2012, is World AIDS Day. Hopefully you will see some red ribbons around that reflect more than Christmas cheer- they are symbols of AIDS awareness. Many Americans are unaware that HIV disease is still a concern, since it is no longer a common lead story on the nightly news. Ironically, our capitol, Washington D.C., has the highest prevalence of HIV disease within our country.  There are now over 1.1 million Americans living with HIV disease. The good news is that with the tremendous advances with antiviral therapy in the last decade, most people with HIV infection … Read more

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Gardasil: Not for the FAINT…

Continuing my discussion this week about the HPV vaccine Gardasil, I’d like to address side effects. At this point in the United States, there have been over 46 million doses of HPV vaccine administered (the vast majority Gardasil), which implies over 15 million people (since a series includes three shots.) Unfortunately, when you start involving a population this large, within that group there will be uncommon diseases that occur in the general population. For example, a disease that occurs in only one out of 500,000 will have 30 cases in this group. Sorting out which of these rare occurrences are … Read more

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What’s YOUR Blood Pressure?

Today the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) released their report “Vital Signs: Awareness and Treatment of Uncontrolled Hypertension Among Adults- United States, 2003-2010), and what did they find?

  • 30.4% of American Adults have high blood pressure – over 66.9 MILLION of us!!!
  • 14.1 million people HAVE high blood pressure, but do not KNOW it
  • Of those that have high blood pressure, over HALF are NOT CONTROLLED.
  • 5.7 million people KNOW they have HBP but don’t take medicine
  • Of the 35.8 million people who have UNCONTROLLED high blood pressure, the VAST MAJORITY (89.4%) have a usual source
… Read more
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