Medical/Health Care
For the love of your heart: Doctors share meanings behind their cardiovascular-health messages
Heart disease holds the top spot for killing the most people in this country, and its grip remains rock solid. Every minute, it takes an American life, and it accounts for more than a quarter of Colorado’s deaths each year. Below, with the help of Dr. Eugene Sherman, a cardiologist with The...
Looking ahead: Rose trials improve breast-cancer treatment for patients today and tomorrow
Visions of her mother’s severe radiation burns from breast-cancer treatment stuck with Eddy Duckels through the years. So did tales of her grandmother’s lost battle with the disease, despite a mastectomy. So when doctors told her that she, too, was dealt that unlucky breast-cancer card, Duckels...
No time for a mammogram? Think again, doctor says
HealthONE patients who make excuses for avoiding a mammogram should cross “lack of time” off their lists, as the system offers a number of screening sites across the metro area that aim for high efficiency.
IN THE DTC, A ONE-OF-A-KIND RADIATION TREATMENT CENTER
Ellen Muench had a bucket list for post-retirement in 2013, but the former flight attendant had to postpone it while she underwent treatment for breast cancer. Her diagnosis wasn’t enough of a blow, though; it came within two days of her husband, David’s, diagnosis of prostate cancer.
A boost of O2: HealthONE adds more hyperbaric chambers to help heal wounds, save limbs
What Dr. Paul Thombs does every day isn’t always pretty. And what he has his patients do generally doesn’t amount to much fun. But when the hyperbaric medicine specialist’s head hits the pillow each night, he can sleep soundly, knowing that he provides a unique way of saving life and limb.
Shaking the salt habit: Scaling back on sodium can stave off disease
Salt has been used to preserve food and enhance taste for centuries. It’s also essential for balancing bodily fluids. But too much can lead to serious health conditions, like heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.
Swedish ‘Lou Gehrig’s’ patient becomes first recipient of breathing technology
A surgical team at Swedish Medical Center recently implanted a cutting-edge, pacemaker-like device that expands breathing capacity into a “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” patient, potentially improving and extending his life. It was the first such procedure on a Lou Gehrig’s patient in Colorado.
Advanced Spine Surgery gets Coloradans Back on Path
Catherine Vrba had been an athletic person all her life, especially devoted to long distance running. But after two car accidents, she started to experience back pain that increased in frequency and severity over several years. Everyday activities such as looking after the house, driving her...
Thyroid disorders: neck gland can wreak havoc
Most people brush the signs off as normal aging: gaining weight; losing energy; repeatedly searching the house for the keys. But in many cases, particularly in women past age 50, a small, butterfly-shaped gland that polices metabolism causes the chaos.