Darlene Oakley

What is a Nursing Home? According to the National Nursing Home Survey (2004) there were over 16,000 nursing homes in the United States providing care for 1.5 million residents, accounting for ...

Whether recovering from surgery or illness, or just generally decreased ability and mobility due to aging, home care and home health care can provide loved ones with the independence and dignity ...

What is Respite Care? An estimated 44 million caregivers in America provide long-term care to family members. Estimates also predict that the amount of people aged 65 and older will increase by ...

A Caregiver’s Burden Caring for someone 24/7 on top of other family responsibilities and stresses can take an enormous toll on a caregiver. About 20 percent of caregivers experience ...

Families and friends provide about 80 percent of all full-time care for elderly loved ones. In pure numbers, 44 million American families are providing live-in caregiver or home care to a loved ...

Statistics show that approximately 80 percent of long-term care provided in the United States is carried out by 44 million American families. But at some point in a family’s life they may be faced ...

An estimated 44 million American families and/or friends are caregivers for another adult, accounting for 80 percent of long-term care. Add to these statistics the predictions that the number of ...

A New Wave of Long-term Care It is only in the last 25 years that the assisted living concept and assisted living facilities have sprung up to address the needs for people over the age of 65 ...

What is Assisted Living? The Assisted Living Federation of America defines assisted living as “a long-term care option that combines housing, support services and health care, as needed”. ...

Stress: An Introduction Our bodies deal with stress in many different ways. Whenever we are faced with challenges, pressures and demands in life our bodies respond, readying us to take on those ...

Learning to Relax Whatever you’re doing right now -- which is probably reading my article -- I want you to stop and relax. Forget about the children running around behind you, the laundry ...

What is Stress: General Overview Dictionary.com defines stress as “the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain.” In the case of our everyday lives, ...

Why Do I Need Stress Relief? Everyone experiences stress at some point in their life. For most of us, it happens every day. For some of us, barely a moment goes by in our daily lives that we’re ...

What is Calf Strain? The calf is made up of two main muscles: the gastrocnemius muscle, which is the larger outside muscle, and the soleus, which connects to the foot via the Achilles tendon. ...

Facts about STDs According to the CDC, every year 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are diagnosed, making STDs one of the most concerning health challenges for ...

There are 44 endocrine system diseases, or conditions that affect endocrine system function and, thereby, other functions and systems of the body. They are usually named according to the gland ...

Introduction to Endocrine System Function The endocrine system functions with a series of glands and hormones that affects every other system in the body. The endocrine system regulates such ...

What is Chorioretinitis? Chorioretinitis refers to a group of diseases that affect choroid or uvea in the eye. The choroid/uvea is a middle layer of the eye that contains the vast majority of ...

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year’s, long-distance trips increase by 54 percent, and another 23 percent between Christmas and New Year’s alone, compared to the rest of the year. With ...

Turkey, potatoes, gravy, pies, cookies, buffets, sweet treats, parties, dinners and get-togethers ... It seems like from October 31 through to December 31 we enter into the season of eating each ...

What is a Spinal Compression Fracture? A spinal compression fracture is relatively common in elderly adults. These fractures are usually the result of osteoporosis and happen “when the weight ...

What is Barrett’s Esophagus? Barrett’s esophagus develops when the lining of the esophagus changes to resemble the lining of the intestine. The esophagus is the tube that carries food from the ...

What are the Adrenal Glands? Our bodies have two adrenal glands, located atop each of our two kidneys. They are critical to managing hormone levels and the other bodily systems that require ...

Today is the day when my ex and I officially sold our matrimonial home and I moved into the little place I am now. I didn't even think of the anniversary of today until my Secret Sister left ...

So sorry to take so long to approve all of you. I'm new to how the groups work on Empowher and only recently discovered how to approve people. So glad you're able to join us and that I'm not too ...

Glaucoma is actually a group of eye diseases that are caused by the build up of pressure within the eye due to fluid backup. Over time, this backed up fluid can damage the optic nerve resulting in ...

The term “cerebral palsy” (CP) is a blanket term that refers to any occurrence of loss or impairment of motor function. Cerebral palsy affects muscle tone, movement, fine and gross motor skills, ...

It is estimated that 40 million Americans cope with anxiety disorders every year. That’s about 20 percent of the entire population or nearly 1 in 4 people, making anxiety disorders the most common ...

“Anxiety disorders,” says the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, “are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18 ...

It is something commonly referred to as “the change” and can be a frightening concept for some women, usually because menopausal symptoms vary from woman to woman in duration and in intensity. It ...

Basically, LH stands for luteinizing hormone and it is produced by the pituitary gland. In women, the LH is responsible for releasing an egg into the fallopian tube. In men, the LH is responsible ...