Category: Health and Wellness - Part 12

Opinion: Active lifestyle key to good health, weight control

By James O. Hill Every day we get inundated with information about what to eat, but unfortunately, that information is often confusing and conflicting. Eat a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat. No wait. Eat a diet low in carbohydrate and high in fat. I dont blame the public for being confused. What is the best diet? You may be surprised to know that the best diet for you depends on whether you are an athlete or a couch potato. Being physically active keeps your metabolism working optimally and affects the way your body uses food for fuel….

Ill-equipped college students flood counseling centers

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Six students in crisis flooded the counseling center on the first day of school this fall at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Last year, the number of UCCS students who needed emergency or crisis counseling tripled over the year before. And the director of the campus counseling center says the number of students seeking care has been steadily rising along with the student population in recent years. In Boulder at CU, the number of students seeking counseling has been steadily climbing for eight years and last year the schools psychological and counseling services center treated…

Colorado dodges whooping cough deaths, but declares epidemic

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon An unusual summer spike of whooping cough cases in Colorado has prompted health experts here to declare an epidemic and call for both children and adults to get immunized. A strong anti-vaccine movement in Colorado has meant that the state has lagged behind the rest of the country on many immunizations. Only about 85 percent of children and adults who should be protected from whooping cough are fully vaccinated. So far this year, Colorado health officials have tracked 715 cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis. That compares to an average of just 158 cases…

Opinion: Being a woman gets easier today

By Ashley Mayo With all of the politics surrounding the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, its easy to lose sight of the ways the law is fundamentally improving health care in Colorado and across America. In our state alone, 291,000 children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage, 50,000 young adults have gained insurance by staying on their parents plans, and over 200,000 residents will receive rebate checks from insurers who failed to meet the 80/20 rule. On Aug. 1, Obamacare brings yet another historic reform: insurance companies must cover preventive services for women without…

Opinion: Future of health care includes return to traditional medical values

By Polly Anderson Critics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act call it too radical, too expensive and a threat to high quality medicine. But in truth, federal health reform emphasizes a return to the caring, personalized, evidence-based medicine that is well established at Colorados community health centers. While some are still debating the merits of expanding Colorados Medicaid program to a larger percentage of the poor, Colorado community health centers are not waiting to move forward. A growing pool of evidence tells us that our model is the future, and were preparing for a groundswell in patients, be…

âHotspottingâ health revolution comes to Aurora

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon AURORA The Colorado community devastated by a mass killing will now become one of only four sites selected for the most promising revolution in health care: hotspotting. The movement began with a different senseless shooting in 2001 in Camden, N.J., a city that tops the country for both crime and poverty. Its a place filled with urban ruins, where a tree is shooting up through a once-stately Carnegie library, where budget cuts recently forced the layoffs of half the police department and where gunshots frequently pierce the night sky. We also end up with all the…

Opinion: Any alcohol during pregnancy is a risk

By Chris Lindley Most pregnant women across the United States listen to and rely on sound medical advice from their doctors and other health experts when determining how to protect the health of their unborn babies. Dont drink during pregnancy is a message based on evidence that resonates with most expectant mothers and contributes to the health of future generations. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment would like to reinforce that message with a critique of a recent study that suggests moderate drinking during pregnancy is not harmful to young children. On June 20, a Danish research article…

Latinos could benefit most from health law

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Latinos, who are uninsured at disproportionately high rates in Colorado, could gain the most as health reform takes hold. Thats what happened in Massachusetts, which in 2006 became the first state in the nation to require health coverage for all individuals and to implement a health insurance exchange. Massachusetts health reform law became a model for the Affordable Care Act, which the U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld. A lot of Latinos have low-paying jobs and they dont qualify for Medicaid, said Maria Gonzalez, spokeswoman of Health Care for All Massachusetts, a consumer advocacy group that…

Opinion: Living outside the Affordable Care Act tent

By Jim Garcia As the executive director and one of the founders of Clinica Tepeyac, a community health clinic that sees more than its share of uninsured patients, I applaud the Supreme Courts ruling to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Presidents health care reform law that increases access to care for millions of Americans. Since we opened our doors at Clinica Tepeyac nearly 20 years ago, we committed ourselves to caring for all patients who cross our threshold, the vast majority of whom have no access to health insurance and who are desperately in need of…

Outreach campaign targets men with depression

By Mark Wolf Most maladies are unencumbered by shame and stigma. Yet for many men to acknowledge they are uncomfortable with the way theyre feeling maybe down, irritable, unmotivated, fatigued, feeling as if life might not be worth living, and, yes, maybe there are some issues down there requires a leap most men seem hesitant to take. Men are stubborn. We dont want to talk about our feelings. We are very leery and afraid of being labeled sissies, afraid of looking weak, and a lot of those things apply when youre talking about mental health, said Matt Vogl, deputy director…