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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?...
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I feel like this week has been all about strokes.
I toured HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital on Wednesday for a story I'm doing about a local choir director who has come back from a stroke. And last night, I had the honor of writing about the Hinojosa family.
Gilberto Hinojosa, 54, suffered a...
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Listening to your parents talk to you about sex probably ranks high on the lifetime ick-o-meter.
I can remember my mom launching into it while I was sitting with her and a bunch of her friends in our kitchen. She said, "You're becoming a young woman now." I said, "Oh no,"......
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A new report ranks Kern fourth for its teen birth rate.
Sad, yes, but not necessarily a big surprise is the gist of the comments I've heard. (Read "Kern fourth in teenage pregnancy" on the front page of today's Californian.)
Besides breaking the rates out by county, the Public Health...
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A Fresno broker is using West Nile virus and green pools to sell homes.
Talk about spin.
From the Blogging Broker blog:
Help beautify Fresno by purchasing a home with a green pool through Lazarus Realty. I will *pay for the cost of draining, cleaning and refilling the pool. When complete you...
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A local man is selling tacos tomorrow to benefit the family of a Bakersfield teen battling a severe case of valley fever.
Eugene Alonzo, owner of L.A. Tacos, will be selling his special-recipe tacos from noon to 6 p.m. at Sports Authority at 4821 Ming Ave.
All proceeds will go the family of...
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I've heard from several people that Bakersfield is not a friendly town toward cyclists.
Take Arin Resnicke, for instance. This avid Bakersfield cyclist has not only been hit by a pizza delivery driver but has had objects thrown at him, insults shouted at him and a group of guys hit him with...
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Researchers at the University of Washington are looking for people who have tested positive for West Nile virus.
And considering Kern County had the most cases of any county in the country last year, this area seems to be a good place to look.
Below is an e-mail I got about the study. If you...
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A large coalition of California medical organizations is suing the state over the planned 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal.
Locally, this cut will mean Kern Medical Center will lose $4 million per year in Safety Net Care Pool Funds and $1 million per year in outpatient Medi-Cal funds, KMC CEO Paul...
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Using common sense never hurt anybody.
Here are some tips from Canadian Living on how to avoid West Nile virus:
Fill any holes in the ground around your property with dirt. When it rains, mosquitoes breed in these damp, wet spaces.
Turn over any unused flowerpots in your garden. They...
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I get loads of press releases for the latest supplement, latest treatment, latest surgery, latest fad, etc.
And I got this one a couple of weeks ago:
Enter Heidi Roizen. A former Silicon Valley software company CEO and venture capitalist with a love for boardroom snacking, Heidi was tired of...
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't given up on passing a health plan that covers all Californians.
According to the Associated Press, his staff is working to fix the previous plan.
"Now we'll try again," Schwarzenegger said. "We will continue on, keeping the stakeholders...
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Today The Californian held its health fair for employees.
And like most health fairs, this one included several free tests. You have the crack-out-the-calipers body fat test. The slip-this-up-your-arm blood pressure test.
And the it's-just-a-little-prick cholesterol and blood sugar tests.
I...
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A Massachusetts bill aims to add weight and height to the list of characteristics people cannot use to discriminate with.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Currently, people can seek protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but they must prove their obesity is a disability and, in some...
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I admit my pinkish purple bicycle has gotten a bit dusty sitting on my porch for the last few months.
Yes, I know...pink.
I don't fancy myself as a pink-kind-of-girl, but, hey, I got the bike for free from Bike Bakersfield. And the hardy Schwinn got me around the bike path several times last...
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In reporting the story yesterday about Kern being No. 3 for its concentration of fast food and convenience stores, I came across a couple of buzz words.
Fast food jungle. Food desert.
Considering we live in neither a jungle nor desert — well, most of us anyway — I came up with my...
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For once, we're not among the worst.
A new study has found that women's life expectancy declined significantly in 180 U.S. counties from 1983 to 1999.
And, happily, Kern County isn't among those.
Most of the counties are in the deep South and Appalachia, according to the study, which was done...
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Testing done by a Chicago newspaper found trace amounts of the bug repellent DEET in the city's drinking water.
"In this age of West Nile virus, Lyme disease and other insect-borne health threats, millions of Americans have made slathering and spritzing themselves with the powerful...
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Read about Carlos Ortiz Jr's
donation of life - a wonderful story!
(click picture below to read now)
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A representative from the county Public Health Services Department recently went to a San Diego meeting of the minds of valley fever experts.
As relayed to me by interim Public Health Officer Dr. Claudia Jonah, these are the main points to come out of the meeting:
1. Skin test screening
The...
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Paige Atkison's fundraiser at The Ice House last weekend was a success, her mother says.They raised $5,275 to go toward Operation Smile, which cares for children with cleft lips and palates in the Third World. (Read "A good time and a good cause at the salon Saturday" that ran in last...
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Monday March 31st was the last day I smoked a cigarette!!! It's been a tough week. But I made it through without physically hurting anyone... so far.. lol!!!
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Kern stands alone.
The county’s above average number of meningococcal infections aren’t being seen in other counties, state health officials told me today.
Twenty-one Kern County residents have suffered meningococcal infections since Dec. 10, local officials announced Wednesday....
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Almost every health official and expert I've talked to has said roughly the same thing about drug-resistant staph infections: They're a big problem.
One expert even called it an "epidemic."
The state recently made these infections, known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus...
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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....
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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,...
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It's that time of year again, Spring is right around the corner, you managed to survive the winter, and all those Holiday meals and treats. Now you're thinking about all those cute Spring and Summer fashions, and hoping that they'll look as good on you as you'd like them to....
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I am writing in regard to the cost of Chemotherapy and it's worth to me. My husband passed away of Metastatic Colon Cancer in June 2006. I have not heard of the drugs listed in the article of th paper today but my husband in one way was fairly lucky. He...
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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...
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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...
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The annual Great Strides walk to cure Cystic Fibrosis is coming to Bakersfield on April 12, 2008 at The Park at Riverwalk located at Stockdale Hwy and Buena Vista Rd. I don't have a whole ton of info, but here's what I do know. The walk starts at 9:00 am (I think registration...
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Actually, the Consumer Products Safety Commission's reports are not truly fair and balanced; they are simply reports one may use to make a decision as to certain purchases or whether to retain such purchases. They just report the facts, ma'am.
As a subscriber to the...
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Conserve this and that and that and that!
Well this had to come to OUT sooner or later... vent, vent, vent...
The powers that be, telling us to conserve water use, and all the while the City runs water all over the streets! Every time they water plants or grass in the center...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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For World Water Day, March 22, The United States Fund for The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has initiated the Tap Project, a campaign that asks patrons of participating restaurants to donate as little as $1 as payment for the water they receive for free. $1 will allow UNICEF...
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Walls of Sound are Fallin'
words and music by Dr BLT copyright 2008
walls of sound are fallin' on Chester Ave.
Fat Tracks
2 sounds born right here
from old
and from the nu
Walls are fallin'
on the Avenue
Walls of sound are...
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New Standard Opposed by Staff
Bush appointee, Steven Johnson, has again ignored the recommendations of his staff and scientists. He sided with industry as he reluctantly lowered the 8 hour ozone standard by 9 parts per billion in the face of huge calls by scientists and health...
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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...
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Diabetes is a condition that has unfortunately been passed down through families, said one Southern California pediatrician.
Dr. Patricia Riba, a pediatrician with the Community Care Health Center in Huntington Beach, spoke at a recent Latino and health care workshop put on by the California...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Did you eat some of the recalled beef?
The state Department of Public Health released the list of retailers that received beef from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., the Chino slaughterhouse at the center of the biggest beef recall in U.S. history. (The complete list is attached to this...
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Want to know how much the presidential candidates' health plans cost? And what the plans mean to the federal government, states, employers and you?
I just came across a site that may help you out. It's ReformPlans.com, run by the World Health Care Congress. The site has a grid of the plans,...
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With every milestone, Baby Boomers have redefined what age means.
And it's no wonder. There are only 78 million of them.
I'm focusing more of my efforts on writing health stories tailored to Baby Boomers, that generation of people 43 to 62 years old. This started Sunday with the story...
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James Michael Brady was a man that any one would have been lucky enough to meet. He had a beautiful wife and twins, boy and girl, who were 21 years of age. Just when life seemed so great, the news of a brain tumor struck him and his family. I wasn't family, but to this day I feel as if I was. He...
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A federal advisory panel voted today to recommend flu shots for all school-aged kids.
This change, which is being called the largest expansion of flu vaccine coverage in U.S. history, broadens the scope from children under 5, people over 50 and people with chronic conditions, according to the...
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