Child looking at computer

Online Learning: The New Educational Medium?

In 2020, not only has technology proven to be a vital resource in business, educational and governmental environments, it continues to serve as another potential replacement to jobs that were once firmly secured by a warm human brain. It was once thought that teachers could never be replaced. From the relationships they develop with their… Read more »

Your Health Matters - with Janet Zappala

Defining Our Response to Stress in Defining Times

st, we learn how much we’re able to handle – mentally, emotionally and physically. The coronavirus pandemic has caused nearly insurmountable amounts of stress for almost every human being on the planet. Knowing that, alone, is stressful, but it’s what we do in times like these that will define us forever.  Normally, when we experience… Read more »

Desert Healthcare District Foundation

Healthcare District Launches COVID-19 Resource Center

The Desert Healthcare District (DHCD) has launched an online resource for local residents offering information on programs and services available during the coronavirus crisis. From food distribution and rental assistance to testing sites and small business loans, the webpage is available in both English and Spanish, and is being translated into Purépecha, the indigenous language… Read more »

Novel Therapy for Early Stage Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States. It accounts for approximately one out of every five malignancies in men and one out of nine malignancies in women. The average age at diagnosis is 70 years old. Over the past decade, the overall incidence of lung cancer has decreased due to… Read more »

HARC Releases 2019 Community Health Data

This past March, Health Assessment and Research for Communities (HARC), which has been tracking our community’s health for the past 14 years, released their latest data on the well-being and quality of life for Coachella Valley residents.  While the global pandemic is certain to change these 2019 statistics, the information obtained on hundreds of topics… Read more »

Out of the Darkness, Into the Light

This year, an incredible young man came into my life. While I have yet to meet him personally, I can confidently say he is an extremely accomplished and compassionate human being. Peter Li is a spokesperson, author and inspirational speaker. He has written and produced an award-winning movie, attended the Emmys and published a book.… Read more »

Insomnia

The Insomnia Complaint

“I have difficulty falling asleep,” “I wake up frequently and cannot easily go back to sleep” and “I wake up too early in the morning” are by far the most common sleep disturbance complaints we hear in sleep medicine. When accompanied by daytime consequences of fatigue, tiredness, lassitude and foggy thinking, the diagnosis is insomnia. … Read more »

person holding blue ribbon

Greater Accuracy for Prostate Cancer Detection

The days of poke and hope are over! For decades, prostate biopsies have been performed in a random, systematic fashion. An ultrasound probe is inserted into the patient’s rectum and an image of the shape of the prostate gland is obtained. Random, systematic cores are taken out at the apex level (bottom), the mid-gland level… Read more »

Bring Back the Physical Exam

From the very start of medical school, the importance of a thorough physical exam is ingrained in students. Every year, and in every specialty, students are tested on how to perform a thorough exam. As such a basic and fundamental aspect of medicine, why does it so often get overlooked?  Some of the reasons include… Read more »

Are Your Eyes Feeling Your Stress?

Our eyes are truly the windows to our souls. They also give important clues and are general indicators of our overall wellness. With many of us feeling stress at this time, it is important to note that even our eyes can be affected.  During stressful times, you may notice familiar symptoms with increasing frequency, or… Read more »

Keeping Up with Your Oral Health?

With COVID-19 playing a major role in all our lives today, many of us have started to look more closely at our bodies, our immune systems and what we can do to keep ourselves healthier.  It may surprise you to learn that your mouth plays a major role in the strength of your immune system,… Read more »

Medicine and breast cancer concept, Woman with pink cancer ribbon

Breast Health Pandemic Survival Guide

The world is now abuzz with news about coronavirus (COVID-19), the viral disease that has taken us all by storm. The global response has been extreme with most things cancelled or postponed and the disruption to everyday life is unprecedented.  Whether or not the current global response is an appropriate action or an overreaction is… Read more »

The Science of Wellness

The Science of Wellness

Wellness is finally getting the respect it deserves. Practices, products and places that balance our beings are in higher demand than ever before with millennials and boomers leading the way. The rise in chronic disease has more and more of us striving to stay, or get, well and the industries which benefit are listening –… Read more »

30 Years of Comprehensive Cancer Care

This year, Desert Regional’s Comprehensive Cancer Center celebrates 30 years of serving our community. In 2011, we interviewed the center’s management team for a story on integrative cancer care – the use of both medical and natural therapies – and wanted to see how things have evolved. We followed up with the manager of Oncology… Read more »

Gender-based Testing for Alzheimer’s

A new study published recently in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that using sex-specific scores on memory tests may change who gets diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by 20 percent, with possibly more women and fewer men being diagnosed. “Women may be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease,… Read more »

mentoring the future

One Vital at a Time

Capturing vital signs is a critical skill learned and practiced at the Palm Desert High School Health Academy to prepare students for their future careers. Health professionals must understand what vital signs are, what the monitoring procedures include and how to perform each in a proper manner. Vital signs allow physicians and nurses to check… Read more »

Options for Treating Thyroid Eye Disease

The popular TED conferences feature inspiring talks about technology, entertainment or design. This “TED Talk,” however, is focused on thyroid eye disease (TED) and expands upon my January/February article about how the small thyroid gland affects the entire body, including our precious eyes.  If someone with thyroid dysfunction is experiencing symptoms of eyelid swelling, eye… Read more »

Benefits of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

What’s something both fishermen and sports medicine have in common? Believe it or not, they both utilize ultrasound to get the job done. While submarines and boats have been employing the use of ultrasound throughout the 20th century to locate fish and animals in the water, its use in medicine only became popularized in the… Read more »

The Psychology of Lower Back Pain

Low back pain is the most common type of pain experienced by people in the United States. It contributes significantly toward growing health care costs and over utilization of the medical system through invasive surgeries and prescription pain medication. Patients with low back pain that is acute and chronic are routinely referred for extensive diagnostic… Read more »