Though most of the Coachella Valley is not in what we consider the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), where brush fires threaten hillside homes, we can still be affected by smoke particles released into the air from those fires. This reminder was recently made very clear with the effects of Canadian wildfires on air quality in… Read more »
Medical News
Dreams to Remember
- By Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos
- July/August 2023
The average person has three to seven dreams per night. Did you know that vivid early morning dreams, the ones you have just before awakening, are the easiest to remember? According to experts, this dream memory happens during the rapid eye movement (REM) stages of sleep, when brain activity increases and is not as deep.… Read more »
Setting Boundaries through Cancer and Beyond
- By Shay Moraga
- July/August 2023
Going through cancer is such a personal and intimate choice for everyone, especially how you share your journey with others. Maybe you choose to keep it close to your heart until you can process and express your feelings, thoughts and even fears. After all, you must still live the day-to-day life of family, friends and… Read more »
The Importance of a Good Cry
- By Amy Austin, PSYD, LMFT
- July/August 2023
I don’t know about you, but I can cry watching a cute TikTok clip. But if people are around, I’ve noticed that I try to keep my emotions in check. Why do I hold back? Why not experience the agony and the ecstasy of shedding tears and having a good old-fashioned ugly-faced cry? With a… Read more »
Work-related Pain and Injuries
- By Luke Gentry, DPT, OCS
- July/August 2023
In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us spend long hours at computers, often sacrificing our well-being for the demands of our jobs. However, neglecting our physical health can have serious consequences, leading to discomfort, pain and injury. Cervicogenic headaches, neck pain, thoracic pain, low back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome are common work-related injuries… Read more »
We Are All Ironmen
- By Students Kaela Martin (10th), Ifra Iyoob (10th), Yejin Jung (10th), Katherine Justo (10th) (ft. Mr. Paiz)
- May/June 2023
On December 4, 2022, 54 volunteers from the illustrious Palm Desert Health Academy, under the leadership of the wonderful Mr. Ron Paiz, participated in the local Indian Wells/La Quinta Ironman Triathlon. The Ironman Triathlon is a 70.3-mile course that includes a 1.2-mile swim in Lake Cahuilla; a 56-mile bike ride through La Quinta, Thermal and… Read more »
Young Survivors: Life After Cancer
- By Shay Moraga
- May/June 2023
You are cancer free! After chemo, radiation and multiple surgeries you are relieved to be done. Your family and friends are happy to celebrate your return to a normal life. But is that always the case? While weekly doctor appointments, checkups and blood draws are behind you, it can take a while to re-adjust from… Read more »
Hospital Staff and Community Benefit from Eisenhower’s Simulation Lab
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- May/June 2023
It is hard to imagine the breadth of scenarios medical staff face each day they come to work. To be confidently trained for as many of those scenarios as possible is the goal of Eisenhower Health’s new simulation lab, the John Stauffer Center for Innovation in Learning. With generous funding from the John Stauffer Charitable… Read more »
Team Approach to Lifestyle Medicine
- By Katie Hill, MD
- May/June 2023
Did you know that 80% of chronic disease is preventable and curable with lifestyle change?1 How stressed or depressed you are, how you eat, how you sleep, how you move and if you smoke or drink alcohol are the lifestyle choices that can cause heart disease, diabetes or hypertension. Sound depressing? The flip side is… Read more »
Oral Cancer Screening
- By Sarah A. Khoshniyati, DDS
- May/June 2023
Just as an annual medical checkup is essential to ensure the body is healthy, a regular oral checkup is crucial to maintaining a healthy mouth and detecting any abnormalities. Regular screenings by your dentist should include an oral cancer screening which aims to discover cancer or precancerous signs early enough to be treated successfully. Oral… Read more »
After 10 years of service as JFK Memorial Hospital’s (JFK) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Gary Honts recently retired. The significant progress he made in his tenure will continue under the new leadership of Karen Faulis, CEO of Hi-Desert Medical Center (HDMC), who has expanded her role to include JFK. Desert Regional Medical Center, JFK and… Read more »
La Quinta High School (LQHS) Medical Health Academy is now giving their students an opportunity to support and encourage one another by becoming LQHS Peer Helpers. The emotional toll from the pandemic has brought to light the importance of self-care and positive coping skills within all age groups. Since then, Stacey Bolanos, a Medical Health… Read more »
Taking a Bite Out of Stress
- By Sarah Koshniyati, DDS
- March/April 2023
Do you find yourself grinding or clenching your teeth during the day or waking up in the morning with jaw pain? These can be signs that you may have bruxism, which is defined as a movement disorder that involves parafunctional habits of grinding or clenching of teeth. There are two different categories of bruxism: diurnal,… Read more »
Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer
- By John Feller, MD
- March/April 2023
Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in men with prostate cancer? Yes, you read that right. With traditional prostate cancer screening, a series of tests looks only for evidence of prostate cancer. Those tests either find cancer or they don’t. This outdated, simplistic approach doesn’t assess other potential health… Read more »
Why Can’t You Just Get Over It?
- By Amy Austin PSYD, LMFT
- March/April 2023
We all have a backstory; experiences that make us who we are today including the good, bad and ugly. However, there are many who keep their innermost secrets of emotional/sexual grief, loss and traumas silent, deeply hidden somewhere in the darkness only to pop up when triggering events occur. Even then, without conscious awareness, past… Read more »
Understanding Myasthenia Gravis
- By Kate Stober
- March/April 2023
Imagine eating dinner with friends and struggling to chew your baked potato, giving a presentation at work when suddenly you start slurring your words or walking up the stairs of your home and finding yourself out of breath. Your legs don’t want to lift the way they should, and when you reach the middle step,… Read more »
Options for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy
- By Roland D. Reinhart, MD
- March/April 2023
Thirty four million Americans, about 10% of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Diabetics are at risk for a number of complications from the disease including neuropathy (nerve damage) which affects approximately 60% of diabetics, nephropathy (kidney damage) affecting 50%, retinopathy (eye damage) impacting 26% and cardiovascular disease which affects 11% of people with diabetes. Blood… Read more »
Life After Cancer
- By Shay Moraga
- March/April 2023
It’s been 2,259 days since my oncologist told me I no longer had cancer. When I stop to think about each day, it still brings tears to my eyes and butterflies to my belly. I have learned so much about who I am as a person, and how I want to show up in the… Read more »
Focus and Finish
- By Susan Murphy, PhD
- March/April 2023
Editor’s note: this article originally appeared in Forbes. My new mantra is “Focus and Finish.” I frequently say these three words out loud to remind myself to focus on getting the job done. As management guru Peter Drucker said, “Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it’s managed, nothing else can be managed.” No matter… Read more »
Diagnosing and Treating Low Back Pain
- By Lauren Del Sarto
- March/April 2023
One of the most common reasons people seek medical attention is due to back pain,1 and much of that pain originates in the lower back. While many suffer with short periods of acute pain, 23% of adults globally suffer from chronic low back pain (LBP) which lasts 12 or more weeks and is the leading… Read more »