Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Your Health
Philip Abrams didn’t want to go to the Emergency Department.
He’d never felt this way before. What at first seemed like a simple headache just kept getting worse. Though he couldn’t see his regular doctor, the covering doctor suspected sinusitis, and started an antibiotic. When things progressed, he was referred to an ENT specialist, who noted an emerging rash on his nose and forehead, and suspected shingles. He got an anti-viral medication and pain meds, but couldn’t sleep because of the increasing pain.
When his eye started to get involved, his wife persuaded him to go to Mount Sinai’s new geriatric emergency department. “It was the last thing I felt like doing. I felt horrible, I hadn’t eaten anything in the past couple of days, and I didn’t want to move…”
But soon after his arrival, things started looking up. “I wasn’t there more than a few minutes before I was whisked out of that space and ushered to another area where my blood pressure was taken… I was promptly seen, and the physician’s assistant gathered info about me, asked if I had eaten, and promptly brought me a turkey sandwich and drink.”
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Tips, Your Health
As an oncologist, I am often confronted with patients with advanced gynecologic malignancies with limited successful options to cure them. The success of treating and curing patients with cancer depends not only on the skills and technologies, it is very much dependent on the patients and the stage of their diseases. Too often, we are not able to detect these malignancies early because we do not know what causes the disease and there are no early detection tests so that by the time a patient is in my office, the disease is at an advanced stage. Cervical cancer, however, is one of the few gynecologic malignancies that we know is caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that can be detected by a simple pap smear. Furthermore, cervical cancer can be prevented with an HPV vaccination.
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Cardiology, Inside, Your Health
When Daquain Jenkins, 29, left The Mount Sinai Hospital last year, he became the first patient in the New York metropolitan area to return home to await a heart transplant with the assistance of a portable artificial heart.
The milestone was remarkable in a number of ways. First, the Total Artificial Heart, manufactured by SynCardia Systems, Inc., in Tucson, Arizona, replaces both failing heart ventricles and four heart valves, eliminating end-stage biventricular failure. It is immediately available to patients, and serves as a bridge while they await a suitable heart donor. In addition, it allows patients to move freely and manage everyday chores while wearing a backpack that stores the 13.5-pound battery-driven device.
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Your Health
If you like video games but need some exercise, try this “game.” You can win and get in shape.
As you walk to and/or from work, pick up the pace because
- for each person you pass, you get one point.
- for each person who passes you, you lose one point.
When a light stops you at the curb,
- you get a point for waiting safely on the sidewalk.
- you do not lose any points for people who pass you to wait on the street.
- you do not lose any points for people who pass you to walk against the light.
- you get a point when you pass those people on the next block, even if you are passing them for a second time.
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Tips, Your Health
Dr. Cindy Feely
In my daily practice at Primary Care Associates, I get asked many questions about the flu and the flu vaccine. Despite improved access to accurate, responsible information in the media and on the web, a number of myths about the flu and the vaccine still exist. So here it is, point-by-point, information for you to make informed choices for your healthcare.
Myth #1: The flu vaccine gives you the flu
Facts: The vaccine, including this year’s version, consists of a dead virus which cannot infect you. What it can do is make your body produce the antibodies necessary to fight that virus if you come in contact with a live version of it. The live virus is included in the Flu Mist – a nasal spray, not an injection – but it is engineered so that it will not make you sick.
Myth #2: If you weren’t vaccinated by November, there’s no point in getting it now
Facts: While we are seeing a large number of cases right now, the flu often doesn’t hit its peak until February or even March. And while it does take two weeks to be fully effective, the vaccine will help lessen the severity if you do get the flu.
Myth #3: There’s no treatment for the flu
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Tips, Your Health
Influenza has officially reached epidemic proportions in several regions of the United States. Approximately 7.3% of deaths (exceeding the 7.2% threshold) are now attributed to pneumonia and the flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mount Sinai is taking a number of actions in order to continue to provide optimal care to all of our patients and to protect our patients and staff from exposure to influenza.
What can you do to protect yourself and others from influenza?
- It’s not too late to get vaccinated. Click here to make an appointment online with one of our primary care doctors or call 212-241-6585
- Dr. Prarthana Beuria recommends being vigilant about washing hands every time you’re out in public and around lots of people, whether in the subway or at the office, and to avoid touching your face with your hands.
- If you have the flu, Dr. Beuria recommends that you “stay home from work until the fever has been gone for 24 hours. If people around you have compromised immune systems, stay away.”
Click here to view the full infographic
Aquí está la influenza gráfica en Español
Who is at risk of getting the flu?
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