Texas Health Matters is a weekly column that focuses on consumer issues related to health and human services. These columns, available in English and Spanish, help Texans with everything from selecting quality child care to the importance of living wills. The columns are available to reprint in your publication free of charge. You may sign up to receive e-mail updates when new columns are posted by using the link above to enter your e-mail address.
Week 54, Dec. 29, 2008 – Jan. 4, 2009:Texercise: A Stay-Healthy Plan You Can Stick to for Life
Google the words “failed New Year’s resolutions” and you’ll get roughly 900,000 hits — about twice as many as for “successful” ones. The mortality rate seems especially high for resolutions about dieting and weight loss.
Week 55, Jan. 5 – 11, 2009:In the Long Run, It’s Best to Train Smart for Marathons
It’s not just your imagination; participation in marathons and other ultra-long distance running events has gone mainstream.
Once considered a sport for sun-blasted wraiths with the bodies of storks and pulse rates of sloths, it’s becoming a common “next step” for after-work joggers seeking a new challenge and folks who like to make running a social event.
Week 56, Jan. 12 – 18, 2009:‘Bone Up’ in Advance to Help Prevent Osteoporosis
It’s safe to assume that the average woman in her 40s or 50s has a lot happening in her life that seems more immediately important than bone density and rigidity.
While it may sound reasonable for a woman to think less about her daily calcium intake than her career, children, marital quality time, finances and friendships, the reality is that bone health has a powerful, direct influence on every other aspect of life.
Week 57, Jan. 19 – 25, 2009:Life’s in the Balance in the Minutes After an EMS Call
The astonishing speed and efficiency of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) response is one of the everyday miracles of modern life. Each year, thousands saved by the routine ability to deliver well-trained and –equipped medical team to most doorsteps in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.
Week 58, Jan. 26 – Feb. 4, 2009:Early Diagnosis Is Best Strategy Against Alzheimer’s Disease
Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Cheech and Chong kept young Baby Boomers in stitches with their comedy routines about herbally-induced memory loss. Four decades down the line, Boomers still laugh about forgetting things — but with a growing edge of unease.
That’s because, behind many jokes about “senior moments,” lurks fear of Alzheimer’s Disease. But how worried should people in their early 60s really be when they lock their keys in the car or lose a thought in mid-sentence?