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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Dead, infected birds are usually a harbinger of the West Nile virus season.
I've had a couple of people call me with frustrations over the state's dead bird hot line, 877-WNV-BIRD (877-968-2473).
One woman last week told me an operator of the hot line said the state wasn't picking up birds yet. Another person said the operator said they didn't want the bird, and the homeowner should dispose of it himself.
I brought these concerns to the state Department of Public Health, which runs the hot...
Why is it I always seem to get hungry when I'm surrounded by unhealthy food?
Particularly, this seems to happen when I'm in a convenience store trying to pay for gas or stick to just buying a gallon of milk.
I recently went on a tour of a local 7-Eleven with dietitian Avtar Nijjer-Sidhu, community health capacity building specialist with the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Project.
She pointed out some things to avoid, healthier options and ways to make unhealthy food...
Along with an autistic kid, raccoon parasites and a teenage stalker, Central Valley's own valley fever made an appearance on a re-run of "House" tonight.
To give you some background, House comes to tell a very randy 17-year-old they can't be together. Here's the scene, courtesy of HouseMD-Guide.com:
Ali starts to cry. "What about us?"
"We'll always have Fresno." House refers to the calendar she sent him and the trip where her father and her seem to have...
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce and The Californian today to talk budget cuts.
(Read "Governor in town to talk about budget crisis" on Bakersfield.com.)
In his interview with The Californian, the governor slipped in a few comments about health care reform, an issue that seems to have been put on the back burner as the state scrambles to balance the books.
The governor's health care proposal died at the end of January when it failed to pass...
Even with health insurance, prescription medicine can cost the arm and leg it was bought to heal.
I recently finished a story on getting the most for your money when it comes to medicine. Read "Pricey prescriptions: There are ways to cut costs" on Bakersfield.com.
The story includes ways to lower the prescription tab in the doctor's office, in the pharmacy, on the Internet and with the help of outside organizations and the government.
Do you have any tips? Any resources to add to...
Natural talent — good.
Steroids — bad.
That seems to be the way it goes with sports nowadays. But some bioethicists are questioning if this should be the case.
In a story in Science Progress by Arthur Caplan, John Harris, a British bioethicist, argues for steroids.
Can Harris’s positive view of enhancement be used to as an antidote to the wave of anti-steroid mania tearing through the sports and editorial pages? In Harris’s sports world, the genetically engineered,...
Remember David Culberson, who held the reigns of Kern Medical Center for a short time?
Well, he is on to another county hospital, San Joaquin General Hospital, trying his hand at turning that one around too.
Culberson came to KMC in September 2006 with consulting firm The Camden Group after former CEO Peter Bryan stepped down.
He filled in until current CEO Paul Hensler took over the post permanently.
Here's the story about Culberson's new post from The Stockton Record:
Culberson, 49,...
A quarter of teen girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This is equivalent to roughly 60,000 teens in Kern County.
From the Associated Press:
Some doctors said the numbers might be a reflection of both abstinence-only sex education and teens' own sense of invulnerabilty. Because some sexually transmitted infections can cause infertility and cancer, U.S. health officials called for better screening,...
Even if we don't personally pay for low-income people and illegal immigrants to get health care, we will be paying for it in the long run and in other ways.
That's how Dr. Patricia Riba, a pediatrician with the Community Care Health Center in Huntington Beach, feels.
Religion/general assignment reporter Louis Medina and I went to Los Angeles recently for a Latinos and health care workshop, which Riba spoke at. It was put on by the California Chicano News Media Association.
"Even if...
Maybe it's not so bad if your teen daughter has a boyfriend after all.
Child Trends, a research center that focuses on children and youth, has found that sexually active teens who are in a "romantic" relationship with their partner and who see their partner socially are more likely to use contraception than teens in more casual relationships, according to a story from The Washington Post.
This may be because they feel more comfortable talking about contraception with a partner...
Many people take for granted that health screenings are a good thing.
It's the G.I. Joe mentality: "Knowledge is power, and learning is half the battle."
But unfortunately, not much is said about the downsides of too much testing.
The Association of Health Care Journalists listserv has been on fire recently debating how to write about health screenings.
Too many stories push a pro-screening bias with no mention of the medical evidence against screening, many have said.
...
Just in time for the end of cold season, users of Airborne, the herbal supplement that promises to bust colds, can get money under a recent settlement.
The company will refund money to consumers who bought the product as part of a $23.3 million class action settlement agreement, according to The Center for Science in the Public Interest, which was involved in the lawsuit.
I've dropped my fair share of Airborne tablets into glasses of water. I've always felt slightly better after drinking...
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