A blog about Health & Wellness, News, and Kern County.
Real Name: Emily Hagedorn Member Since: April 08, 2006 Last Signed In: July 17, 2008 Profile Views: 9430 Blog Views: 44226 Trespassing or protecting public health? Tax hikes vs. funds for health care, education Protect yourself against 'seasonal amnesia' Is there anything good about mosquitoes? West Nile problems all over the country First Californian diagnosed with West Nile in 2008 'Access to vital health care is at stake for all Californians' A yard of shoes Do you have 'spring fever'? (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Skin cancer: To screen or not to screen August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 Here's some sites I find useful and interesting: Some fun blogs I like, some health and some random: Got a blog or link to add to this list? Please let me know at ehagedorn@bakersfield.com. 
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Mosquito abatement employees go onto private property without permission from time to time.
This has been done locally to treat abandon pools teeming with mosquitoes (see the photo).
A Pennsylvania businessman, though, considers this trespassing.
From the York Daily Record:
James Yelton, president of Authentic Wood Floors on Seven Valleys Road, said last week he didn't want the two officials to take the tests because there was dangerous equipment on the property.
"There's just too...
Would you be in favor of tax increases if it meant more money for schools and health care?
A Democrat-controlled Assembly committee approved a new state budget last night based on a $9.7 billion tax increase, the first state budget proposal based on a major tax increase since 1991.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, it would give schools $2.3 billion more than a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to freeze school funding and restore $1.5 billion in cuts to health and welfare...
It seems like every summer people freak out about the heat like they've never felt it before, like it's not an eventuality.
Guess what, people. Bakersfield is hot. It's kind of our thing.
This seasonal amnesia happens back East during the first snow of winter. Motorists forget that snow is slippery. People talk like they'll never dig themselves out. Meteorologists' arm movements demonstrating the oncoming fronts of pressure get even more erratic.
But lo and behold, the months pass. The...
Do mosquitoes serve any purpose besides endlessly annoying us and infecting us with malaria, Dengue fever and West Nile virus?
A reader posted that question in my last blog post, and because it's such a good one, I looked into it some more.
As reader CatherineBaker wrote, "They say bacteria has its charms. Ditto with ants and worms and a hundred other gross things. But HOW are mosquitoes good for the environment or ecosystems or the food chain or whatever?"
I put her question to...
The weather of this past week may cause West Nile virus problems from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.
First, let's start locally.
The hotter it gets the faster mosquitoes breed and the faster the virus replicates.
It reached 110 degrees Saturday, according to Weather.com. And while we may be in the middle of a drought, Bakersfield has plenty of man-made water sources — abandoned swimming pools — for mosquitoes to breed in.
We may be without rain, but the Midwest...
Kern isn't No. 1, and in this case, that's a good thing.
The state Department of Public Health just announced the first human case of West Nile virus in the state this year — in Tulare County.
“The first human West Nile virus infection of 2008 underscores the importance of taking precautions to protect from mosquito bites,” said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, in the news release. “Californians should use insect repellent and...
Here's another letter to the editor forwarded to me on the budget cuts to Medi-Cal.
This one is signed by the CEOs of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Kern Medical Center, San Joaquin Community Hospital and Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield.
What do you think? Does this spur you to action?
This letter is particularly interesting because it gives their opinions on what will happen to everyone — Medi-Cal patient or not — because of these cuts.
(Read the post, "Mercy president:...
Location:
910 Grace St.,
Bakersfield, CA
I just got this press release. Do you have "spring fever"?
Hi Emily,
Ah, spring, when a young man’s fancy turns to love… or just more sex.
The notion of “Spring Fever” is readily associated with cold weather hermits pouring outside to once again lift their faces to the sun, but LifeStyles Condoms knows that “Spring Fever” may very well mean that these people are quickly bolting back inside to the bedroom.
“Spring fever...
Mercy Hospitals is hosting an upcoming free skin cancer screening.
This event made me think of a recent post, "Health screenings aren't always recommended." It's not that I think screenings aren't helpful, but people need to be aware of the pros and cons of screening.
Yes, there are cons.
Among them, the chance of false positives, which could lead to spending money on unnecessary follow-ups along with subjecting yourself to unnecessary care that carries its own risks.
The U.S....
Gay marriage is on a lot of people's minds today.
And, at least for the wedding party, it will improve their minds' health, according to some psychiatrists.
For Gay Marriage Day '08, I dug this story out of Psychiatric Times:
Numerous studies exploring the relationship between mental health and marriage in the general population have suggested that on average, married individuals have better mental health, more emotional support, less psychological distress, and lower rates of psychiatric...
It seems like if you wait long enough a study will come out finding something healthy in your junk-food-of-choice.
Case in point: Drinking up to six cups a day of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee won't shorten your life span, a new study shows. In fact, coffee might even help the heart, especially for women.
Score one for Starbucks.
From the Washington Post:
In the study, the Spanish team looked at the relationships between coffee drinking and the risks of dying from heart disease,...
A year ago today, news was breaking of Kern's first human case of West Nile virus of the year -- the first human case in the state.
Today, I'm working on a story about our first infected mosquito pool.
Positive mosquitoes often precede positive humans. Fingers crossed, maybe this year won't be quite as bad?
Still, that doesn't mean you should stop taking precautions. Chances are someone is going to get sick.
The trap has been found in the in 93314 ZIP code, which is west of Heath Road and...
I've spent several hours this week weeding through inspections and complaints against local hospitals and nursing homes.
(Read "State investigating Kern Valley nursing home again," which ran Wednesday in The Californian.)
That is why this recent story from the Riverside Press-Enterprise piqued my interest.
The majority of complaints lodged against California medical facilities -- hospitals, medical clinics and others regulated by the state Department of Public Health -- are...
Right now I'm lying on my couch, looking like a chipmunk, watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
I had no idea getting my wisdom teeth removed would be so boring.
(And for the record, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is the only thing on besides "The Princess Diaries 2." I've watched most of my movies so many times that at the moment none of them seem appealing.)
I think my sudden period of painlessness and boredom could be due to the vicodin kicking in.
What was it...
Location:
5901 Truxtun Ave.,
Bakersfield, CA
Location:
1115 Truxtun Ave.,
Bakersfield, CA
Will Kern County be ground zero for West Nile virus again this year? Are we doing anything to prepare? Find out for yourself. County directors from Public Health Services, Environmental Health Services and the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District, among others, will talk about their West Nile plans and answer residents’ questions at a town hall meeting tomorrow. Kern County had the most cases of the mosquito-borne virus — 140 — of any county in the country last year....
Several health care bills are working their ways through the Assembly and Senate — many incorporating ideas originally introduced in the governor's health care proposal and other older bills.
According to California Healthline and the L.A. Times, some aim to curb the insurance industry by:
requiring insurers to spend at least 85 percent of premium income on patient care
permitting insurers to rescind coverage only after getting approval from state regulators;
...
Russell Judd, president of Mercy Hospitals, submitted a letter to the editor about the state's cuts to Medi-Cal.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
For more info about the cuts, read "Calif. sued over Medi-Cal rate cuts" and "Is health reform dead?"
Budget Cuts Put Hospitals and Lives at Risk
California's community hospitals provide vital health care services and emergency care to millions of people around the clock. But new budget cuts will negatively impact...
Kids with perfect attendance freak me out.
I'm not talking about the kids with one stellar year but rather the ones who don't miss a day of school their entire school career.
Californian columnist Robert Price talked to one of these kids recently. (Read "13 years without missing school? Somebody take his temperature," which ran over the weekend.)
Don't get me wrong; I'm proud of these kids. Waking up and wanting to go to school when you're well can be hard enough.
But in this...
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