Denise DeWitt

Most adults who are 65 or older will probably need at least three years of long-term care at some point in their lives. About 80 percent of that care is typically provided in the home, often by a ...

Losing independence is a fear many seniors share as they face the prospect of not being able to care for themselves any longer. Some are able to rely on family and friends for help. But many ...

Choosing a nursing home or assisted living facility is an important decision that is often put off until failing health or another concern makes it a priority. Whether you are looking for a home ...

It’s not something most people want to think about, but approximately 70 percent of Americans will need some type of long-term care after age 65. There are many different kinds and levels of care ...

It’s a common idea that if you’re going to lose weight you’re going to need to cut carbs out of your diet. We’ve been trained to think that carbohydrates are evil and have no place in a weight ...

Whether you are happy at your current weight or wishing you were thinner, it’s important to eat well balanced meals that provide all the nutrients your body needs. As women, we have some special ...

Over two-thirds of all adults in the United States are classified as either overweight or obese. That breaks down to 64 percent of all women and 72 percent of all men. People become ...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about one-third of all adults in the United States and around 17 percent of children and teens are obese. If your goal is ...

Eating a vegetarian diet can offer many health benefits including lower cholesterol and blood pressure, reduced risks of heart disease and cancer, and an improved body mass index (BMI). Depending ...

If you have chosen to eat a vegan diet, you have made the decision to eliminate all meat and animal products from your food selections. While this kind of diet can have health benefits including ...

Being vegan means choosing a diet that does not include any meat or animal products. But being vegan extends beyond just food. Many vegans also avoid using any animal products or anything that ...

Being vegetarian means making different choices about the foods you eat. In general, vegetarians eat more foods that come from plants and eat little or no meat or other animal products. ...

Everyone experiences some degree of anxiety. For most people, anxiety is connected to a specific concern or event such as buying a house or speaking in public. But for those who have an anxiety ...

If you’ve ever had a sudden feeling of fear, danger, or doom that made your heart race, choked off your breathing, or made you want to run away without knowing which way to turn, you may have ...

Anxiety is a normal part of everyone’s life. It may be a mild sense of nervousness before taking a test or a strong fear of the unknown walking through a dark parking lot. Anxiety can help ...

Stress comes into our lives from many directions. Some sources of stress (stressors) come and go quickly while others linger and pile on top of each other, leading to chronic stress that can ...

In our fast-paced world, stress is a normal part of life. Some people actually enjoy or thrive on stress and feel let-down if they don’t have a list of things waiting to be accomplished. But ...

We all have stress in our lives. But not all stress is equal when it comes to how our bodies react or how well we are able to handle the feeling. Stress is the way your body responds to changes ...

Approximately 10 million Americans, including 10 percent of all women, have an issue with hypothyroidism. (EndocrineWeb.com) That adds up to a lot of people looking for a quick fix to ease the ...

Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is a chemical messenger used by the brain to control many functions in the body including ...

We all have stress in our lives, and we all have times when that stress can seem overwhelming. Stress can seem to attack us from many directions and what is stressful for one person may not cause ...

Stress is a normal feeling that can happen whenever things in our environment change. The causes of stress (stressors) can be very different from person to person, as can individual reactions to ...

Most of us have wished at some time in our lives that all our stress would go away. What we may not realize is that stress is actually a normal condition. And while most of us consider all ...

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is a condition found in newborn babies when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. You can find more information about the causes of congenital ...

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is a condition that occurs in infants when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is critical to brain growth and development, ...

Hypothyroidism is the condition that results when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone is a chemical messenger used by the brain to regulate metabolism, ...

People who are diagnosed with asthma often end up with multiple prescription medications to help control the disease and prevent attacks. These medications can be very effective if taken as ...

Scabies is a skin condition caused by scabies mites. The main symptom of scabies is an itchy rash, which is caused by an allergic reaction to the proteins on the mites and in their feces. ...

Hypothyroidism is the condition that results when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. This hormone is a chemical messenger used by the brain to regulate functions in the ...

Scabies is a skin condition that is very contagious. Scabies is caused by scabies mites, which are tiny parasites with eight legs. The main symptom of scabies is an itchy rash, which is caused by ...

Approximately 10 million people in the United States have hypothyroidism including an estimated 10 percent of all American women. This condition can have widespread consequences throughout the ...

Just reading the word “scabies” is enough to make your skin itch, which is actually an appropriate reaction. You may be asking, “What are scabies?” But a more correct question is, “What is ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative condition that affects the function of nerves in the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. MS attacks the ...

Asthma and bronchitis are both conditions that can make breathing difficult. There are two basic types of bronchitis -- acute or short-term, and chronic or long-term. When a person has both ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic or long-term condition that causes damage to the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves and acts as the ...

Bronchitis is a breathing condition that is caused by swelling and inflammation in the tubes that carry air to the lungs. These tubes are called bronchi. Swelling in the bronchi typically causes ...

Multiple sclerosis is a condition that results when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own nerve cells. Damage to the nerves can slow electrical signals or prevent them from passing ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells. In MS, the body’s own immune cells mistakenly attack the protective coating around the nerves. When the coating is ...

Bronchitis is caused by inflammation and swelling in the airways inside the lungs, which are called bronchi. Because these airway tubes carry oxygen to the lungs, the swelling associated with ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system which includes the brain, optic nerve, and spinal cord. MS appears to be the result of the body’s own ...

Bronchitis is a common condition that makes breathing difficult. Bronchitis that comes on quickly and resolves quickly is known as acute bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is a long-lasting ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, degenerative condition that affects the central nervous system. It interferes with nerves that carry signals from the brain to other parts of the body and ...

Our bodies take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide every time we breathe. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) makes breathing difficult. Bronchitis can be one type of COPD. What ...

If you are diagnosed with HIV, you may want to immediately begin treatment to eliminate it from your body. Unfortunately, there currently is no cure for HIV. Antiviral drug therapies can be ...

The phrase “cancer awareness” means different things to different people. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with cancer, you have become aware of one aspect of the disease in a very ...

The medical community continues to look for better treatments for HIV and AIDS, but at this time, there is no cure. But there are treatments that can slow the disease and help keep symptoms under ...

People who have cancer often look for options or additions to traditional medicine in their search for the best cancer treatments. Many people explore options in complementary and alternative ...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that from the time AIDS was first diagnosed in the United States in 1981 through the year 2009, over 1,142,000 people were ...

One of many possible side effects of cancer treatment is difficulty eating. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments can both cause nausea and other issues that make it difficult if not impossible ...

Prior to AIDS, Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) was considered to be a slow-growing disease found mainly in elderly Italian and Jewish men. However, for people who are HIV positive or who have AIDS, KS is ...