'disease' posts

No, that’s not a typo. Flu season is upon us. As summer vacations end, kids go back to school and work picks up again, things can get a little cuckoo. The added stress tied with more contact with people as we head indoors to escape the cooling weather mean that we are more likely to get sick.

Germs like the flu love two things: weaker immune systems (thanks, stress!) and people in close contact with each other.  Schools and offices (two of the most cuckoo places this time of year) are ideal breeding grounds for the flu, which still kills tens of thousands of people every year. The bright side of this is that the flu is preventable!

Here are the top four ways to keep from getting sick this season:

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending “Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes” at Magnuson Park in Seattle and meeting hundreds of people touched by diabetes. Whether they had family members or loved ones with diabetes or had diabetes themself, each person had a clear passion for finding a cure for this condition. That passion was contagious and I was happy to catch it!

Joining doctors and Certified Diabetes Educators from Swedish’s Diabetes Education Center at a booth, I heard about patients’ challenges, from staying at a healthy weight to getting the right nutrition to checking their blood sugar. Facing a chronic disease like diabetes (which affects nearly every aspect of a person’s life) is truly heroic! As a health educator, I understand the risk factors for diabetes and how to treat it, but until you meet someone that deals with the finger pricks, test strips and insulin shots every day, it is difficult to grasp what living with diabetes is truly like.

What it also made me realize is that there is always more to learn about diabetes care and treatment. And many of these lessons can help those without diabetes! Learning how to stay healthy and practicing these skills does not have to be boring either. In fact, the Diabetes Education Center has a series of cooking classes where you can learn how to cook tasty healthy food (and eat it, too!) The interactive classes are usually held every few months with the next one coming up at Swedish/Cherry Hill on Tuesday, November 13th from 6-7:30 p.m. Frankly, I’m a poor cook but classes like these help remind me that being healthy can actually be fun. They are even hosting these classes at Swedish/Issaquah starting in 2013, too! Who’s coming with me?

Even as someone who works at a hospital, I find myself grabbing for that second treat more often than I should and a regular reminder of healthy habits is always welcome. Being at the Step Out walk was one of these reminders and it made me realize how strong those with chronic disease are. For those out there that deal with conditions like this every day, you are amazing.

Thanks for stepping out this weekend and reminding me why it is awesome to work with patients and families like you!

The Swedish team at Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes 2012

Risk is not a four letter word. Well, technically it is. But the point being “risk” does not have to be scary or taboo. Regardless of your age or how healthy you look or feel, we all have “risk factors” and they are as unique as our fingerprints. It’s what we do about our risk factors that matters most.

“Risk” is one way to measure how likely it is that you will experience a heart attack, cancer, stroke, diabetes or any number of things. But what are risk factors, you might wonder?

• Demographics: Age, for instance, can put you at a higher risk for some diseases.

• Behavior: Some habits can increase your risk. Are you a smoker? Smoking ups your risk for just about every nasty disease you’d ever want to avoid.

• History: Your family history (genetics) sometimes plays a role in your risk for disease. Also, if you have a history of high blood pressure, for example, you are at a higher risk for stroke.

• Body changes: Certain changes in our bodies make us more prone to disease. For example, during menopause when the chemicals in women’s bodies change, they are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis (weak bones).

The first step to managing risk is knowing your own risk factors—how your personal demographics, behavior, history and body changes can affect your health. Take a quick, free quiz to figure out your risk for:

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a potentially devastating bacterial infectious condition involving the human respiratory tract. The disease begins with mild upper respiratory symptoms similar to common cold (catarrhal stage) lasting an average of two weeks which progresses to paroxysms of cough (paroxysmal stage) characterized by inspiratory whoop. Subsequently the symptoms wane gradually over a few weeks (convalescent stage) to potentially months. The incubation period is 7-10 days. Fever is usually absent or minimal.

Whooping cough in infants younger than 6 months of age can be atypical with a short catarrhal stage, gagging, gasping or apnea as prominent early manifestations; absence of whoop; and prolonged convalescence. The disease can be severe in young infants particularly if unimmunized or preterm with case fatality rate of approximately 1%. The duration of classic pertussis is 6 to 10 weeks. Complications among infants can include pneumonia (22%), seizures (2%), encephalopathy (0.5%), and even sudden death. The illness in immunized children and adults can be mild and unrecognized. In adults the disease may only present with prolonged cough. Infected people are most contagious during the catarrhal stage and the first two weeks after cough onset.

Factors affecting the spread of whooping cough include...