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Driving with distractions
It’s likely we all know at least one person who didn’t make it through high school. For me, it was my classmate Scott Safer in Vermont in the late ’70s. He was a…
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Joblessness and your health
For so many, losing a job can mean losing everything: family, finances, health, home and sanity. According to Andrew O’Grady, executive director of Mental Health America of Dutchess County, there are, in the…
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Can Ulster measure up?
With state and federal support in question and Ulster County facing an obesity epidemic, the county health department has its challenges. At a meeting of nearly 100 health professionals entitled “A New Era…
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Think before you swim
Many of us head to our favorite swimming holes, those clear stretches of creek water gliding between sylvan woods that we assume are perfectly safe, certainly cleaner than a brick-littered public beach or…
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Getting some rays
Radiation may have its funny side. Offbeat superheroes use x-ray vision to see ladies naked. Off-balance individuals sport tinfoil hats to protect their brains from mind-control rays. But too much radiation is deadly…
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Lean and green
It’s a good thing when you can do an activity that works toward two worthy goals at once. Eco-fitness is one of these. You can work out while helping save the planet, improving…
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Going gluten-free
That mild-mannered pile of flour on your pasta-making board could be evil. It probably contains the protein known as gluten, the “glue” that gives doughs their texture and elasticity and helps them rise…
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Is a vegetarian lifestyle safe for teens?
Vegetarians have been around for a long time, but in recent years there’s been a trend among younger people, whose bodies are still growing and developing, to give up meat and often other…
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Women’s Health Expo this Saturday
When and where, in one place, can you try reiki, have a one-on-one chat with a cardiologist, learn how a Biggest Loser did it, get a massage, learn P90X, how to make healthy…
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Geezer fit?
Ann Horowitz puts down the dumbbells and says she has been working out in a gym for 20 years — slowly. “It’s something to do, everybody’s into it,” she says. “It makes me…
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A healthier region needs to start in school
Although there have been many educators in my family, I’m not among them. But I do know that the education of a young mind is a multi-faceted thing. More than just reading, writing…
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The true believer
The oldest remedies often turn out to be the best. Take, for example, “Thieves,” a blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils used by grave-robbers during the bubonic plague,…
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Spring allergies
There is a school of thought that the toughest seasonal adjustment for our bodies is from winter into spring. Although the return of warmer air, sunnier skies and the sounds of birds and…
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The hedonism (and healthiness) of hiking
What’s the most enjoyable and exhilarating way to fight depression, cardiovascular disease and a host of other ills? Hiking is an all-season pursuit with many benefits, but perhaps most important is the pure…
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Better health outcomes
Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) is expanding and says it is drawing more patients from other area hospitals, a trend it attributes to its high ratings and comprehensive services. That was among the…
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Keep Your Brain Healthy
In the recently released trade paper edition of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program: Keep Your Brain Healthy for the Rest of Your Life, Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan reiterate the latest prognosis about the…
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Beyond down in the dumps
“That’s the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it’s impossible…
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Yoga for mind and body
Are you stressed out? Is your back in knots? Still your mind and relax your body with a 5,000-year-old practice that about 13.5 million of us do on a regular basis. Yoga is…
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Now I lay me down to sleep
Your perfect pillow should provide a comfy good night’s rest, but what to get? Cuddledown of Maine sells an “heirloom” cream silk pillow filled with eiderdown hand-collected from abandoned nests in Iceland and…
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True rollers
Want to buy a bowling alley? The eight-lane Margaretville Bowl, located 45 miles west of Kingston on Route 28, is on the market for $289,000. Owner Michael Finberg says the 52-year-old business is…
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Arthritis is painfully common
One in five of us has arthritis. What is our most common disability can also be a painful disease — or set of about a hundred conditions — that makes it difficult to…
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What is hip?
How ironic that the task of being the editor of our special section on Health, Sports and Fitness should arrive as the process of collecting necessary materials hits high gear in my preparation…
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How processed foods affect our health
We’re at war with processed foods, blaming them for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. But a processed food by definition just means a food product that has had something done to it,…
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It’s a stretch
“If you put yourself in a position where you have to stretch outside your comfort zone, then you are forced to expand your consciousness.” — Les Brown Actually, a physical stretch of your…
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Wii can help
We all know that exercise is good for us, not just for keeping in shape but for good functioning of all the systems in our bodies, including the brain. When we get older…
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Healthcare insurance expansion
In politics as in nature, it’s good to get close enough to the fire to get warm but not close enough to get burned. In both realms, the ideal distance is often reached…
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Getting that sunny D
My doctor shocked me when he told me after a blood test this summer that my vitamin D levels were low. I didn’t even know that was something that doctors tested for. He…
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Beneficial beverages
When it comes to health habits, what’s bad can turn good. If you’ve resolved this year to give up a beverage with a naughty reputation, you might want to rethink. If you’re having…
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Winter sports safety
After last year’s mild winter, this year so far has looked like the winters I remember as a kid. There has been plenty of snow recently — at least until the last few…
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Fat chance, or run for your life
My kids are at risk. Maybe yours are, too. Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems including osteoarthritis and all kinds of cancers….
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Flu shot or not?
The flu has arrived. Although last winter’s flu season was a relatively mild one, this year may be worse. The big swine flu scare of 2009, with its media-fueled fear frenzy that made…
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Crucial mutations
A simple blood test could change the outcome of a future cancer patient’s life. In the 1990s, a test was developed to identify those that had genetic mutations known as BRCA 1 and…
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Treating breast cancer
Treating breast cancer is never a simple fix. There are as many methods and strategies as there are people sick with the disease. Other than a dear friend of mine who had a…
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Keep it clean
Wash your hands, damn it! But we don’t. Fewer of us in this country are washing our hands regularly even though it’s well established — and not only by our mothers and teachers…
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The beauty of bees
Honey has been used for many millennia to delight the palette. The oldest sweetener known to man, it has also been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. Packed with antibacterial properties, enzymes and…
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I have lived the digital life
Right now someone is thinking about you and checking your Facebook wall. The notification pings on your smartphone, which vibrates in your pocket. You’ll set down this article to check your phone. Your…
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Measles alert
A case of measles was confirmed last week in a student at the Mountain Laurel Waldorf School in New Paltz. Dutchess County’s health department immediately advised anyone who has visited this school since…
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To sleep, perchance to dream
Shakespeare had it right. But his poetic rumination from Midsummer Night’s Dream doesn’t necessarily apply to contemporary America. That collective “we” known as the American public just isn’t getting enough sleep. Forget about…
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Hospital collaboration
Beset by competitive pressures on all sides, some community hospitals are considering desperate measures. Used to struggling fiercely for local market share with each other and increasingly beset by other problems, hospital systems…
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Change agents
Fifteen people sat at a large conference table in a windowless room of a large office building in Fishkill later last Wednesday afternoon. The conferees, mainly doctors, health administrators and researchers, constituted the…
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Time for a bike ride
The Williams and Gruner families have known each other a long time, according to Anita Williams Peck. Al Gruner, father of the Al Gruner who’s now a retired dentist and chairman of the…
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A modest revolution
“I was very excited that we are actually moving things forward,” said Saugerties physician Eugene Heslin in describing his reaction to the announcement his practice had been included in a pioneering federally sponsored…
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You can go home again
Clutching one of those composition books that were ubiquitous when I was a kid, Ed Ullmann came to my house in Mount Tremper on a recent Friday afternoon. Ed has been a neighbor…
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Real addiction
The most abused and most deadly addictive drugs in America don’t come in glassine envelope or a bit of tinfoil discretely passed hand to hand in a bar. Instead, they come in…
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They’re partners now
When bad news is afoot, political figures and healthcare administrators alike carefully reserve their right to be outraged. “Do not go gentle into that good night,” famously advised the poet Dylan Thomas. But…
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Hire a coach?
Many people who know they should eat better, exercise more, and enjoy themselves more just can’t seem to make it happen. It’s not easy to break lifelong, unhealthy habits fostered by a culture…
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Chasing it
Baby needs a new pair of shoes. That ought to be the campaign slogan for the current push to legalize casino gambling in New York State. There will be a hard-fought, big-money campaign…
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Healthy living, small-town style
Staying fit doesn’t have to be a chore. It doesn’t require an expensive gym membership, nor take a huge investment of time. Every small step taken leads to better health overall. Saugertesians are…
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Benedictine survives
[HAHV CEO David] Lundquist said the organization plans to retain as many quality patient services as possible but will reduce the total number of licensed beds operated from the 300 currently shared between…
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Good food is self-love
We all know that Americans’ poor eating habits are responsible for the obesity pandemic. Many people still don’t know what good food is or believe that eating well just isn’t possible. Fighting those…
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Happy trails to you
A 3.5-mile trail walk was created in 1991 from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s home and library in Hyde Park south via River Road to the Vanderbilt Mansion by a partnership among the National Park…
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A full plate of ‘clinical integration’
As it struggles with complex survival issues, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, the Kingston-based integrated health-care system, is trying to strengthen its relationships with Ulster County’s physicians. According to its chief strategy officer,…
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![Photo by Tibor Végh (Tenerife 2010 124.JPG) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://www.healthyhv.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/At_the_beach_-_male_abdominal_obesity.jpg)
Weight, weight, don’t tell me
We eat too much and don’t move enough. It’s making us sick. But losing weight in a culture saturated with fatty, sugary foods isn’t easy. In fact, the chemistry of our own bodies…
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Safety for cyclists
Kingston biking buffs battle oblivious motorists for a place on the streets It’s not easy being a bicyclist in Kingston. To hear cyclists tell it, drivers behave as though they were the…
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Spring trimming
Why is it so much easier to lose weight in the spring? And what’s the best way to keep the momentum going? I admit it, I pack on some pounds over the winter….
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Rail trails on the run
Several communities in Ulster County have turned old railbeds into multi-use linear public parks. Residents walk, bike, jog, horseback ride, ski and travel sans vehicle from place to place. Ulster County is blessed…
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Lose weight, feel great?
Experts on intuitive eating, strengthening the brain, exercise for kids, and other health topics will be presenting at the twelfth annual Women’s Health and Fitness Expo this Saturday, May 19, from 8:30 a.m….
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A stealthy death by a sugary dagger
Perhaps you’ve heard. We’re killing ourselves with sweetness. According to a highly publicized report from the University of California-Davis, Dr. Robert Lustig has been right all along. Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the…
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Pet med ethics
Just because you can do something medically, should you? Particularly when the patient is an animal? We’re a household of aging cats. Except for the feisty shelter kitten we brought home last year,…
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Fracking: At our peril
Hydraulic fracturing, which involves injecting millions of gallons of chemical-laden water at high pressure into a well drilled both vertically and horizontally into a rock formation deep within the earth to extract natural…
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A shot in the arm
Bringing our little bundles of joy to the pediatrician to get needles stuck in them that contain elements of a deadly virus might seem an odd concept. But most of us do it,…
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Audacious goal
Last Friday was La Mar Hasbrouck’s last day of work in Ulster County. He had been serving as the county government’s combined health director and commissioner of mental health. His departure from the…
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Authority is leadership
The TV spot for a bank showed a 30-something mother with her pre-teen daughter and friends. Instead of talking to each other, they were — what else? — both texting. The daughter was…
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Focus on what you have
As a student in high school at Onteora several years ago, Nicole Chartrand participated in several sports and took classes in anatomy and physiology, English, history, and health. She also spent part of each…
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Race you to the top
Me, competitive? Don’t be ridiculous. Now get out of my way.” There’s a reason I’ve avoided joining a gym for all these years. I managed to put it completely out of my mind…
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No time to lose
Door-to-balloon time (D2B) makes the difference between death and survival from a heart attack. There are two kinds of heart attacks: one in which an artery to the heart is partially blocked, and…
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Prescription addiction
A recent edition of the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) described a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control, in a splendidly titled tome called the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly…
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It’s hard to be glum on a sunny day
Do you notice there’s spring in your step? Do people smile at you more? Are you enjoying an inexplicable sense of optimism? Thank the weather. March is not typically when our region enjoys…
Driving with distractions
It’s likely we all know at least one person who didn’t make it through high school. For me, it was my classmate Scott Safer in Vermont in the late ’70s. He was a…
How to improve
Making Ulster County the healthiest county in New York State has got to be County Executive Mike Hein’s most well-publicized goal in the area of public health. But Hein, who first set the…
Joblessness and your health
For so many, losing a job can mean losing everything: family, finances, health, home and sanity. According to Andrew O’Grady, executive director of Mental Health America of Dutchess County, there are, in the…
Can Ulster measure up?
With state and federal support in question and Ulster County facing an obesity epidemic, the county health department has its challenges. At a meeting of nearly 100 health professionals entitled “A New Era…
Think before you swim
Many of us head to our favorite swimming holes, those clear stretches of creek water gliding between sylvan woods that we assume are perfectly safe, certainly cleaner than a brick-littered public beach or…
Getting some rays
Radiation may have its funny side. Offbeat superheroes use x-ray vision to see ladies naked. Off-balance individuals sport tinfoil hats to protect their brains from mind-control rays. But too much radiation is deadly…
Lean and green
It’s a good thing when you can do an activity that works toward two worthy goals at once. Eco-fitness is one of these. You can work out while helping save the planet, improving…
Going gluten-free
That mild-mannered pile of flour on your pasta-making board could be evil. It probably contains the protein known as gluten, the “glue” that gives doughs their texture and elasticity and helps them rise…
Home is where the health is
You’ve heard it for years. You may have even said it yourself: If you’re faced with a major medical issue, head south to New York City or north to Albany for treatment, the…
Is a vegetarian lifestyle safe for teens?
Vegetarians have been around for a long time, but in recent years there’s been a trend among younger people, whose bodies are still growing and developing, to give up meat and often other…
