Author – The Durango Herald

New year brings peak season risk for influenza

January often represents peak season for colds and influenza. Colder temperatures and reduced humidity levels drive most people indoors and promote the easy spread of these viral illnesses. ...

DATE: Jan 18, 2014 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

How to recognize the symptoms of depression

Depression is one of the most common mental-health disorders in the world, and its prevalence is rising. In the U.S., the likelihood of suffering a major episode of depression approaches 1 i...

DATE: Jan 4, 2014 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Even friends won’t tell you about bad breath

Welder’s burns, arc burns, flash burns and snow blindness result from direct exposure of the eye’s cornea to ultraviolet light. There is a tendency for those with welder’s burns ...

DATE: Dec 29, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

New guidelines get specific about cholesterol control

Christmas Eve is but a day away. You’ve just spent the weekend baking dozens of Christmas cookies. Your shopping is complete. The standing rib roast is on the refrigerator shelf. You’ve just...

DATE: Dec 22, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Listen here, be safe to ensure holiday cheer

’Twas the night before Christmas and in front of the house, The Safety Geek played holiday tunes by Alison Krause. He had turned down the volume really quite low to protect his hearing while...

DATE: Dec 15, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Early recognition of stroke can limit damage to brain

In recent years, a statistical analysis of data on stroke occurrence has suggested increased risk of stroke during the holidays. Stroke generally comes in two major varieties; hem...

DATE: Dec 1, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

We remain free to choose our own poison

It might seem unusual for ambulance crews to check the refrigerator of a residence to which they are responding. They look for a medical power of attorney, which may dictate what...

DATE: Nov 24, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Not every ‘magic bullet’ leads to a cure

Some years ago I had the opportunity to assist the efforts of other health-care providers serving the needs of the people of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. One morning, I was...

DATE: Nov 17, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Prevent arthritis by taking care to protect joints

Perhaps because I’m getting older myself, I’ve been thinking a lot about arthritis lately. In dealing with older patients, I find that one of their greatest fears is a loss of function or ev...

DATE: Nov 3, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

This treatment is not pretty, but it appears to work

Last week, Dr. Matt Clark’s column acknowledged the immense numbers of gut bacteria, characterized in new terminology as the “microbiome.” The microbiome – the trillions of micro...

DATE: Oct 27, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Microbiome may hold keys to good health

The relationship between humans and microbes is being redefined and the human microbiome may be on the cutting edge of the future of modern medical science. What is the human micr...

DATE: Oct 20, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Healthy choices made daily yield a healthy future

Some folks suffer the misfortune of unexpected, unpredictable and unpreventable illness. For the rest of us, which is the majority, a healthy life is built upon a series of simple decisions ...

DATE: Oct 6, 2013 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch