Got high blood pressure?
Resources
In the section below, we provide reports, data, and statistics detailing the impact of cardiovascular disease on South Carolina. More resources will be added to this section as they become available, so be sure to check back often.
Downloadable Educational Materials
Blood Pressure/Hypertension
- What Is High Blood Pressure? (pdf)
- What is high blood pressure medicine? (pdf)
- What About African Americans and High Blood Pressure? (pdf)
- How Can I Monitor My Cholestrol, Blood Pressure & Weight? (pdf)
- What Do My Cholesterol Levels Mean? (pdf)
- How Can I Lower High Cholesterol?
Bad Batch Of Cocaine Causes Users Skin To Rot
Cocaine users are turning up in hospitals left and right as the drug is being blamed for carrying a disease that is rotting their flesh.
Like something out of a horror movie, users around the US are looking like zombies as the disease eats away at their skin and muscle tissue leaving dead tissue in its wake. The disease itself comes from an additive to the cocaine, the process of cutting the cocaine with a less expensive substance to spread the yield so that a greater profit can be had.
This chemical additive believed to be the cause is called Levamisole. So far, health warnings have been issued throughout the US but no one knows how many people have been effected.
Feeding Baby – Are There Thanksgiving Foods for Baby to Avoid?
I would be lying if I tried to say that the main course was the best course but lets be honest, its really about the desserts isnt it!
For many of you, this Thanksgiving may be babys first Thanksgiving or the first Thanksgiving when baby is eating solid foods. As exciting as this is, it may mean that you may have to fend off Grandpa and Auntie as they try to innocently offer your little one a spoonful of mashed potatoes dripping with gravy. Or maybe youre dreading that Uncle who will try to sneak a spoonful of bourbon pumpkin cheesecake to your baby.
As adults, we tend to eat a little (or a lotta) of everything that is on the table and on the sideboard server and the dessert table and, you know where I am going with this. Our tummies are better equiped to handle and process all of these foods at once but a babys tummy is not. I have seen full grown adults brought to their knees due to all the food they are during the Thanksgiving meal!
Thanksgiving may not be a good time to let baby have a taste of everything because her/his tummy could have a difficult time trying to digest it all. A small taste of this and a little taste of that may be a recipe for tummy upsets, rashes, poop issues and possibly even vomiting. You will know what you feed your little baby but, you may not see Cousin slip baby some asparagus. You may not know that when Auntie takes baby to visit around the house, she is secretly giving out spoonfuls of ice cream. Our relatives dont have nefarious or evil intentions but you dont want baby to be stuffed full of 8, 9, 14 different foods. There are also some Thanksgiving foods that you may just want to keep baby away from. Here are just a few that come to my mind:
Gravy while homemade gravy made from the pan drippings is indeed divine, it may not be a good choice to cover babys mashed potatoes. The grease, flour (and milk?) could leave baby with tummy troubles and some poop issues too. A drip may be fine but dont let anyone soak babys food with gravy!
Stuffing giving baby a small taste of stuffing is probably not too bad but it depends on what is in the stuffing. If Grandma makes the greatest chestnut stuffing ever (and I mean EVER!), you may want to pass on offering it to baby due to the nuts. Stuffing made with any of the drippings might be another thing to avoid and of course you may want to avoid any stuffing that is made with shellfish (Sorry Auntie, your oyster stuffing rocks my world but not babys world!)
Cranberry Sauce (particularly in the can) freshly prepared cranberry sauce may give babies under 8-10 months old rashes due to the acidity. If you want to give your little one a taste of cranberry sauce, fresh is better than that stuff that slides out of a can. I personally think canned cranberry sauce should be banned from all Thanksgiving tables and just banned period.
Green Bean Casserole a tradition for many families, the ingredients in a green bean casserole, such as cream of mushroom soup and fried onions from a can, may also wreak havoc in a tiny tummy.
Sweet Potato Souffle/Casserole I admit that this is one dish I live for but if made properly, a sweet potato casserole/souffle is filled with sugar, syrup and sometimes eggs and nuts or honey. While my tummy jumps for joy at the richness of it all, babys tummy may just reject it and give it back to you.
Brussel Sprouts gas gas gas; brussel sprouts tend to give adults gas so you might want to skip giving them to a younger baby.
Cheesecake (any kind) cheesecake is very rich and made with a lot of dairy as well as eggs. If your baby has never had any of these ingredients, Thanksgiving is probbaly not the best time to give them a try, especially when they are rolled into a cheesecake.
Pumpkin Pie as with cheesecake, eggs and dairy galore!
Breads you may not want to offer your little one baked goods with eggs, dairy and nuts, especially if baby has never had any of these ingredients due to possible allergic reactions.
Are there Thanksgiving foods that you simply do not want your baby to have?
Kitchen cures
Home remedies may work better to ease cold and flu symptoms with fewer side effects than prescription or over-the-counter medicines. The ingredients for these kitchen cures can be found in your fridge or pantry. Elderberry Syrup for flu and colds Elderberry is a plant that produces berries that can be used to make medicinal syrup. Elderberry syrup is used to treat the flu and colds, and boost the immune system. It seems to reduce symptoms and their duration. To make elderberry syrup, place 1 cup fresh elderberries, removed from the stem, in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, mash the berries with a potato masher. Read full post…
More on childhood bipolar.
A came across a blog written by a psychologist that spoke to me. He was writing about a training he went to on childhood bipolar. When I was working in an inpatient facility for youth I was shocked at how many kids came into my facility with a diagnosis of bipolar, even though they did not meet the diagnostic criteria and clearly had other issues going on. I have previously written on the controversy of bipolar disorder and its diagnosis in childhood.
What got me about the blog was that this psychologist was bringing to light some concerns that many in the field have. First is that the majority of research on this topic is provided by only a few research teams. This certainly can lead people to question the motivation of the researchers.
The best product Ever Created-EMR Software
Have you heard about the new EMR software product for healthcare facilities? Have you heard about how much it can improve the overall workflow of your practice? If not, then here’s a little product information to provide you with a little knowledge. The product is designed to store patient information like prescriptions, scheduled visits, medical history, coding & billing as well as other personal medical information. Some EMR products for the medical industry can store information such as collections and accounts receivable.
All of the EMR software systems are unique which means that you’ll have to identify what you actually need in order to choose the right one for your practice. In Read full post…