Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Imagine how just over 100 years ago, nearly one-third of people in the upper Great Lakes and upper Midwest regions walked around with a goiter on their neck. A goiter is a lump on the throat, which could be as big as an orange, a grapefruit or larger. Actually an enlargement of the thyroid gland, a goiter can come from an overactive thyroid gland, an under-active thyroid gland or an autoimmune condition, but in the United States before the 1920s, the reason was almost always deficiency of...
It seems like I've been waiting for months for this. Now it feels so good as I open my front door and feel the heat of the spring sun on my skin. I know that the soil in my garden, too, is feeling that warm touch of sunshine. May, I welcome you into my world. So this week I celebrated May Day with not only my great-grandchildren but also friends. Small containers were filled with treats and, out of tradition, taken to their houses. The original tradition I learned, leaving the treats on a door s...
Spring is finally here in the Northern Plains and summer feels just around the corner. As all we Northerners know, as soon as the temperatures hit even a mild degree on the thermometer, most of us shed the jackets and long pants and our skin is front-and-center. The sunny season is prime season for mosquitoes and ticks, along with the itchy bites and all the unpleasant infections they can carry. Different species of mosquitoes and ticks can transmit different bacteria and viruses and, around...
Remember when pasta was pretty much spaghetti and elbow macaroni? Now we have rigatoni and bow-tie and cavatelli and manicotti and fettuccine and paccheri and ... well you get the idea. One website I found listed 35 types of Italian pasta. There are long pastas and short pastas and stretched pastas and filled pastas and soup pastas. And that's just from Italy. So. Much. To. Know. But for the purposes of this column, let's go back to the basics: Dried or fresh? Do you use cooked or uncooked...
American Indians face some unique challenges when it comes to caring for their health. Culturally, we view health in a holistic manner as a balance of our bodies, minds and spirits that allows for good health. Historically, women would have knowledge of herbs and men would be spiritual healers. Health care was one of the items guaranteed under the treaties. Initially, health care was overseen by the Army and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Then, Indian Health Service was formed in 1955 to oversee health care. Funding for Indian Health Service...
Johnny Nash may have started his song with “I can see clearly now, the rain has gone,” but what about someone with cataracts? They cannot easily see “all the obstacles in their way” and there are not “dark clouds that make you blind” like in the song, but cataracts do cause vision clouding. Cataracts is the name given to the clouding of the lenses in the eyes. These lenses allow light to pass through the eye to the retina, where the signal is sent to the brain so we can perceive the world aroun...
If you have pain on the bottom of your foot at the heel, especially when you take your first steps of the day, you likely have plantar fasciitis. One of the most common causes of foot pain, plantar fasciitis pain can subside with time, but sometimes the pain keeps people from doing what they love, whether that be running, walking or other pleasures of life. I once saw a young woman suffering from plantar fasciitis who got some relief from an injection. A few years later she returned wanting...
I recently asked my Facebook friends and family to tell me some of their favorite foods for Easter dinner. While it's always nice to add new dishes to the menu, there is something about holidays that screams "tradition!" In addition to the traditional ham, deviled eggs, strawberry shortcake, etc., a couple of other dishes were mentioned more than once. Those include Hash Brown Casserole, "Aunt Zina's Chocolate Dessert," (a reference to my Aunt Zina Turner, my mom's older sister), and a tasty...
It has been nine years since my medical school acceptance. I can describe my personal process in two words: arduous and lengthy. Now, this may not be the case for all people who apply to medical school. A few individuals may be able to apply directly out of undergrad and be accepted. I'll speak from my experience which had a few more detours involved. I am the first person in my family to become a physician. This added unique challenges while applying to medical school - I essentially had to bla...
As you plan your Easter gatherings, don't forget to include everyone's favorite holiday dish: the ham centerpiece. According to the National Pork Board, around 70% of Americans serve ham for Easter each year. But there is much more to know about it than "half or whole?" or "bone-in or boneless?" Here are answers to some frequently asked questions: Do I need a whole or a half ham? And how much ham will I need? A whole ham typically weighs more than 10 pounds. That's a large chunk to deal with in...
Before my junior year in high school, I returned from a Boy Scout canoeing trip to discover my sister had been killed in a car crash. I will never forget the sadness of the moment when I walked into the house that was filled with what seemed like half the caring and wonderful town of De Smet to find my mom and dad there grieving. It was near the end of that summer, but the beginning of a long period of mourning for my family and me. There were lessons that came to me after my sister’s death. I...
After 40 years as a doctor interacting with patients, in the last two and a half years the tables turned, and I’ve become the patient. Although most are good, I’ve found some doctors are detached, some are too quick, some would rather be somewhere else, some are even angry; but, when a physician who cares walks into the room, and I’m not exaggerating, the day becomes better, the pain becomes less and hope fills my heart. Scientific knowledge is important, but the ability to convey honest conce...
Confront the tough truth that each of us will eventually die? In my years as an internist caring for young and old alike, some people understand this early and some people never get it. In denying death, we intensify our fear of it. Usually, however, it is sometime during their 50s that people first look into the eyes of death. Put it off as we may, the hard certainty is that we are all aging and one day an end will come. Shakespeare described advanced age in his play "As You Like It," Act II,...
It's February and to no one's surprise, I have a severe case of spring fever. It didn't help that the Cuming County 4-H Extension assistant presented on the topic of basil at our recent garden club meeting. I can hardly wait to watch basil seeds sprout in my new seed-starting system and then to smell the fragrant leaves of the plant. There are so many ways to use basil. The herb isn't just for adding flavor. It can be used as medicine, an aromatic, spicing up food and yes, even for it's...
Many people find themselves being told, “Your blood pressure is pretty high today.” You might be at the dentist’s office for a filling, in the emergency room getting stitches after an avocado mishap, or maybe you’re at your annual physical appointment. If you’ve never had high blood pressure, you might be surprised at this news Sometimes my own patients will call my office after such an event, “Doc, should I be on blood pressure medication?” When we get these calls our typical answer is: ma...
If I asked you to name a chronic disease, you would probably think of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer or dementia. The odds are, one of the most common chronic diseases would never cross your mind. Worldwide, this condition affects more than 3 billion people and causes significant physical and emotional suffering. Annually, it costs the American economy upwards of $45 billion in productivity. Our children miss nearly 35 million hours of school. Our emergency rooms field...
Most people know that getting enough sleep is important for their health, but many do not realize that there are specific health benefits that come from getting a good night’s sleep. Getting enough sleep can improve your mood, help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of chronic health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Sleep can even help boost your immune system and improve memory. Despite knowing that sleep is important, according to the CDC, one in three adults do not g...
Recently I received a mailing from my clinic reminding me it is time to schedule my annual preventative care physical. Apparently, doctors need to go to the doctor, too, even when they feel fine. As a primary care physician, one of my passions is preventative care. Preventative care is focused on catching problems before they even start to cause symptoms, catching issues early when they are easier to treat. Whether you want to call it your annual physical, your yearly checkup or an annual...
Frequently, my patients will come to a visit and bring up a major concern: "Doc, I think I might have dementia; my memory seems to be slipping." They might give examples of having difficulty finding words, forgetting people's names or just feeling like their thinking is slower. Many of them know a family member who had dementia and they are worried. My first response is to hear their concerns; of course, if a patient is showing early signs of dementia, we want to assess that and do our best to g...
As I look out my kitchen window, I’m not only day dreaming in color for spring and summer, I’m also enjoying the fluffy capping of white as the recent snow covers the landscape. What a fun site as birds are fluttering around the bird feeders and winging their way to the bird bath. Mother Nature gave us this beautiful winter setting, although I know it also makes for a lot of extra work for farmers and road crews. My visions and dreams of color have been spurred by the seed catalogs that hav...
When I was a young physician, we talked with almost religious zeal about the "Golden Hour." Early on, this principally focused on the idea that within the first hour after an injury, a patient needed to receive definitive treatment in order to maximize the chances of survival and recovery. We usually interpreted this to mean that the patient needed to be in the hands of the trauma surgeon before this hour was up. We took ATLS classes so we could make sure that the patient in our emergency room g...
I know I've mentioned this in previous columns, but popcorn is one of my favorite snack foods. I bet it's one of yours as well. And our love of popcorn is just one of the reasons there is a lot to celebrate in the New Year including National Popcorn Day (Jan. 19) and the Chinese New Year (Jan, 22). It's hard to believe a snack food that tastes so good can actually be good for you, but it's true. Popcorn is a whole grain that is 100% unprocessed with no additional additives, hidden ingredients... Full story
Writing about grief is like writing about life-huge! Where does one start? It is like describing love: basically impossible. The comedian and late-night host Stephen Colbert lost his father and two older brothers in a tragic accident when he was young, and said, about grief, "It is a gift to exist, and with that gift comes suffering. If I am grateful for life, I must be grateful for all of it. I hope that grief stays with me because it is all the unexpressed love I didn't get to tell you." So...
There are lots of dishes out there that are considered comfort foods (meatloaf, mac and cheese, chicken and noodles), but in my opinion, roasts - both beef and pork - have to be included on that list. Roasting is cooking meat or vegetables in the oven (or over a flame, technically) in an uncovered pot with no liquid, according to food writer Daniel Neman. The meat or vegetables are cooked entirely and evenly by the dry heat of the air around them. I have more experience with beef roasts than I... Full story
At my house, classic TV is a given. My 93-year-old father-in-law enjoys watching reruns of westerns, Perry Mason, Andy Griffith and Gomer Pyle. With these old favorites come commercials targeting an aging population: Medicare Advantage plans, reverse mortgages, and miracle solutions for neuropathy, with free consultations for the first 250 people who call. Every time we see one of these neuropathy advertisements, my father-in-law looks at me hopefully. His neuropathic foot pain has been...
