The Southern Health Magazine

For a Good Cause
2009 Relay For Life Schedule, Southern Illinois

Classes, seminars and events
Coping with Stress, Murphysboro

Laughter remains good medicine
Examining the effect of "mirthful laughter" on individuals with diabetes, researchers have found that it works as a preventive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, raising good cholesterol and lowering inflammation. This, in turn, might lower the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome, they theorize.

Charred meat may increase risk of pancreatic cancer
Meat cooked at high temperatures to the point of burning and charring may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.

Did you know?
Flip-flops and baseball caps raise your skin cancer risk. While they may be cheap, convenient and trendy in the dog days of summer, they leave the tips of the ears and the tops of the feet dangerously exposed to sun damage.

Southern Illinois Health News

Taylor named â€˜heroâ€™ in long-term care
ENERGY - Judy Taylor, an employee from Helia Healthcare of Energy, was honored recently by the Health Care Council of Illinois as a 'hero' in long-term care.

Hess attends traumatology seminars
CARBONDALE - Dr. Ryan Hess, director of Hess Health Center in Carbondale, recently attended whiplash and brain traumatology seminars through San Diego Institute of Spine Research.

Family Hospice names board member
BELLEVILLE - Cindy Sorgea has been named to Family Hospice of Belleville Board of Directors.

Senior Health

How seniors keep cool
Senior citizens are at an especially high risk of experiencing heat stress and heat-related injuries throughout the summer.

Fracture heralds an increased mortality risk in older adults
Women and men age 60 years or older who have a low-trauma osteoporotic fracture have an increased risk of death for the following 5-10 years, compared to the general population. Those who experience another fracture increase their risk of death further for an additional 5 years.

Her Health

Did you know?
Caucasian women have the highest incidence for breast cancer, while African-American women have the highest mortality rates from breast, colorectal and lung cancer. Hispanic women have higher incident and death rates of cervical cancer than other non-Hispanic women.

Sun during pregnancy may give offspring stronger bones
Women who get some sun during the last trimester of pregnancy might have children with stronger bones, concludes a new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Kid Health

Kids as young as 12 engaging in risky sexual activity
That’s the conclusion University of Texas School of Public Health researchers have come to in their recent study that appears in the Journal of School Health.

His Health

Cereal and milk is the new sports supplement
A bowl of whole-grain cereal is as good as a sports drink for recovery after exercise. Research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition has shown the readily available and relatively inexpensive breakfast food is as effective as popular, carbohydrate-based sports drinks.

Donâ€™t give up on prostate cancer screening just yet
What’s a guy to do?

Pet Health

Warm weather increases dog bite risk for kids
With more kids outside during the warmer months and pets more irritable because of the weather, researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo report that young children appear to be at particular risk of dog-bite injuries to the head and neck.