HEALTHY LIVING – School Security: Exploring Any and All Options to Ensure Safety
January 1, 2013
Alia Knight
News Writer/News Assistant
Healthy Living
The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, incited an outpouring of shock and grief across the country. Mass shootings like this have become too common in the United States. President Barack Obama pointed out that Sandy Hook was the fourth such shooting in the four years he has been president. As with previous mass shootings, Sandy Hook has breathed new life into the debate about gun control in America. But this time, [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – Low fat holiday treats that beat the sweets
December 1, 2012
By Alia Knight
Writer/News Assistant
Healthy Living
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The arrival of the holiday season seems like the perfect excuse to indulge in sugary snacks and fatty foods. After all, who has not plucked a candy cane from the Christmas tree to stir some hot chocolate? Would Christmas be complete without a slice of pumpkin pie or frosted sugar cookies?
The fact is that all of these foods can ultimately have a significantly detrimental effect on one’s health and waistline, [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – The Meningitis Outbreak: Tragically Avoidable
November 1, 2012
By Alia Knight
News Writer/News Assistant
Healthy Living
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In a fungal meningitis outbreak that Dr. Michael Carome, deputy director of the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, has called “completely avoidable,” 372 infections have been documented across nineteen states. Twenty-five of those people infected died as a result. These cases have been attributed to contaminated steroid injections given for treatment of chronic pain. Despite a recall order and an indefinite cessation of production by the New England Compounding [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – Necrotizing Fasciitis: The Flesh-eating Disease Growing in the U.S.
Photo Courtesy WGCL-TV
October 1, 2012
By Hanna Mangold
News Writer/News Assistant
Healthy Living
The phrase “flesh-eating bacteria” has been thrown around a lot in the news recently as a result of Aimee Copeland’s high-profile survival story, but what does it mean for you, and how can its devastating consequences be avoided or prevented?
To begin, flesh-eating bacteria is the somewhat sensationalized term often associated with a quick-spreading infection known as necrotizing fasciitis. This serious and potentially fatal infection is the result [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – The ABCs of GMOs: What’s in your food?
September 1, 2012
By Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Health and Wellness Writer
Healthy Living
According to the Non-GMO Project, genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) are animals or plants created through the gene-splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This experimental and controversial technology combines DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding. Most commercial GMOs have been created to survive the direct application of an herbicide and/or [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – How to Protect Your Children From Sexual Predators
August 1, 2012
By Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Health and Wellness Writer
Healthy Living
Over the past several years, the media has highlighted many scandalously high-profile child molestation cases. Priests with laundry list-like indictments in long-term abuse cases have sent shockwaves around the world, leaving many families holding their beloved children even closer and more protected than ever. The Jerry Sandusky case and the questionable levels of secrecy at Penn State have caused people all over the country to doubt the safety of their [...]
HEALTHY LIVING – Fun, healthy, active things for kids to do this summer
July 1, 2012
By Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Healthy and Wellness Writer
Healthy Living
With many area schools completing the school year in June, parents and caregivers are wondering what to do with their children during the summer. For many kids who have working parents, heading to day camps, daycare and sports camps for most or part of the day is the norm. However, many more children spend a good portion of their summer days inside, playing video games and watching television, which are [...]
Baby Boomer Sharon Burch: Running for Ms. Senior DC taught me ‘not to give up’ on dreams
June 1, 2012
By Ashley Weber
News Writer
Healthy Living
Getting older is inevitable, but the process does not always carry with it a loss of vitality. For many of the baby boomer generation, remaining young and enjoying life can involve trying a new career path, starting a business, or something as simple as taking up a hobby. That was the case for Sharon Burch, a contestant in this year’s Ms. Senior DC Pageant.
Life does not always turn out as planned, as Burch can [...]
Autism Speaks: A worldwide epidemic with few answers for parents
May 1, 2012
By Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Healthy and Wellness Writer
Healthy Living
Some of the most current research shared through the Autism Speaks organization declares autism as a national emergency. Studies further revealed that 1 in 88 children is diagnosed as sufferers of this troubling disorder in the United States. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of multifaceted disorders of brain development. They are characterized in various degrees by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal [...]
Going Organic: To be or not to be?
April 1, 2012
By Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Health and Wellness writer
Healthy Living
These days we are reminded of how far we have come in terms of technology, research, politics and even the ability to eat anything we want no matter the season. We are wrought with countless options for most things in our lives; yet the health of most Americans has diminished to the point where we are expected to outlive many children growing up this very moment. One of [...]
Fibromyalgia: Pain Misdiagnosed and Growing in Numbers
March 1, 2012
Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Health and Wellness Writer
Healthy Living
There are approximately 5 to 6 million people in the United States known to suffer from fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is a debilitating rheumatic disorder, which causes sufferers chronic musculoskeletal pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissue. It is particularly prevalent in the areas of the lower back, the neck, shoulders, back of the head, upper chest and or thighs. Some doctors, such as Dr. Podell [...]
Don’t let the bed bugs bite, a worldwide epidemic
February 1, 2012
Tracey L. Chavous, CHHC
Health and Wellness Staff Writer
Healthy Living
The old saying, “Goodnight, don’t let the bed bugs bite” is not as funny as it once sounded. Today, sleepers across the globe are focusing in on the wingless insects as an expensive threat to their proverbial “sleeping like a baby” scenarios. Bed bugs are kn
own scientifically as Cimex lectularius (Cimicidae) and feed exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Hence, these bugs find comfort in taking residence in our [...]