Author - The Durango Herald

Taking 5 or more medications? It may be time to de-prescribe

Dr. Benjamin Franklin mused that, “the best doctor gives the least medicines.” Some 200-plus years later, his words still ring true. Data from the Centers for Disease Control an...

DATE: Jul 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Early diagnosis of diabetes can limit its damage

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic health conditions among adults in the United States. The hallmark of this disease is resistance to insulin. Insulin is ...

DATE: Jun 29, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Taking multiple prescriptions? Time for a checkup

You can probably remember your last checkup, but when was the last time your medications had a checkup? Not quite sure about that? Let me explain. When was the last time you gathe...

DATE: May 25, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Bone health can benefit from simple, healthy habits

How often do you think about your bones? Perhaps, if you are a man or woman of a certain age, your bones get your attention by aching or creaking on a regular basis. Rather, I re...

DATE: Apr 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Therapy can ease anguish of anxiety disorders

It would seem that our ancestors, by virtue of their survival during more dangerous times, passed on to modern humans the predisposition for worry. Taken together, anxiety disord...

DATE: Mar 23, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

For young kids, cold medicines are a no-no

Anyone who has ever parented a small child is familiar with caring for a sick kid, especially this time of year. If you think hungry and tired make for a cranky toddler, then try...

DATE: Feb 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

The overuse of antibiotics is threatening our health

We live in the antibiotic era of medicine. The development of these potent weapons in the arsenal against infectious disease in the early part of the last century transformed the...

DATE: Jan 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Over time, your healthy choices become habits

During a recent holiday visit to an East Coast city, my daughter observed the high percentage of cigarette smokers along the city streets, whose sidewalks were heavily littered with their ci...

DATE: Dec 30, 2015 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Sharing family health history can identify risks

Perhaps you have heard that Thanksgiving Day has been declared a “National Day of Listening” by the StoryCorps project. StoryCorps has recorded hundreds of thousands of Americans ...

DATE: Nov 25, 2015 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Understanding palliative care and hospice

For many reasons, few of us like to reflect on our own mortality or the circumstances that may accompany our death. But the fact of the matter, of course, is that each of us will ...

DATE: Oct 28, 2015 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Head injuries can harm kids’ growing brains

This time of the year, with the seasonal return to collision sports such as football and, later, ice hockey, I am reminded of an important health issue for kids: concussions. If ...

DATE: Sep 23, 2015 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Adverse childhood experiences harm adult health

It is not easy to discuss, but this subject, which is important to the health and well-being of our children – and indeed our society, deserves to be brought from the shadows into the spotli...

DATE: Aug 26, 2015 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch