Health

61 percent don't know if they are a danger to their babies

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:21:14 +0000

It might be embarrassing, but expecting mothers: it is ok to tell friends and family to be vaccinated before they see your baby.

Pertussis, or Whooping Cough as it is more commonly known, is at the highest level of outbreak in the past 50 years. Ann Arbor specifically, reports a high level of the disease in their schools.

So, why does this put your newborn in danger?

Don't be a slouch: You'll hurt yourself

Rina Miller — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:02:00 +0000

Remember how your mother told you to "sit up straight?"

Well, she wasn't picking on you. She was right.

Medical experts say poor posture can be hazardous to your health -- and to business.

Two-thirds of people who work at desk jobs suffer from neck, shoulder and back pain, says Lisa DeStefano, who chairs Michigan State University's Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.

That pain leads to about $3 billion loss in worker productivity every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"We need to line our head and trunk up over our pelvis," DeStefano advises. "It will help decrease the amount of strain on our neck and shoulder muscles."

Agritherapy plants the seeds of healing

Rina Miller — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:00:00 +0000

There’s a new kind of healing happening at a Michigan hospital. The prescription includes seeds, soil, sun, and water.

It’s a hot, humid day, but there’s a nice breeze blowing through a hoop house at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor Hospital. That’s a greenhouse that can be used almost all year long.

It’s like walking into an oasis.

There’s a waterfall that flows into a small pond where a few koi live.

When you can't afford to go to the emergency room: Michigan families and Medicaid

Kate Wells — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 19:13:20 +0000

For a lot of uninsured families in Michigan, this is a big week.

Lawmakers in Lansing are sloooowly moving ahead with expanding the state’s Medicaid program.

That would give another 470,000 Michiganders coverage.

So who exactly are we talking about here?

The morning I meet Jen and Todd Nagle, we have no clue the day will end with Todd being rushed to the doctor for chest pains.

New bill makes supporting Lou Gehrig's disease research as easy as checking a box

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:11:19 +0000

Michigan taxpayers may soon be able to support Alzheimer’s and ALS research with just a flick of a pen.

Last week, the Michigan House passed a bill that would create a checkoff form supporting unpaid caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, as well research and care for patients with ALS — amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

By checking a box on their income tax form, Michigan residents could choose to give to the ALS of Michigan Fund, with money heading to research, patient services, and ALS clinics around the state.

The bill is expected to pass today in the state Senate.

But the provision supporting ALS research might raise some eyebrows, especially in light of Michigan’s contentious history with stem cell research.

Eight overdose from heroin in Washtenaw County

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:02:26 +0000

Eight people have overdosed from heroin over the past two days in Washtenaw County, according to the health department and the sheriff's office. One person died in Saline, and seven others were hospitalized.

Sergeant Geoff Fox of the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office says heroin use in Michigan is increasing.

Michigan residents could lose insurance

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 17:18:16 +0000

Up to half a million Michigan residents could lose their health insurance if the legislature fails to expand Medicaid.

Low-income Michiganders covered by local health plans could lose their coverage in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. The law was written with the assumption states would accept federal funds to expand Medicaid.

Dentists to treat hundreds of poor Michiganders at a 2 day event beginning today

Steve Carmody — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 04:28:00 +0000

Up to two thousand people will receive free dental care during a two day event in Saginaw.

Today and tomorrow, more than 300 dentists and volunteers will be treating poor Michiganders in need of dental care at Saginaw Valley State University’s Ryder Center.

Patients will receive fillings, extractions, cleanings and other procedures during the two day event.

Insurance companies apply to provide Affordable Care Act coverage to Michiganders

Steve Carmody — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:40:31 +0000

More than a dozen insurance companies want to be part of a health care exchange that provides coverage to Michiganders under the new federal health care law.

Confused by the Affordable Care Act? 3 things every Michigander should know about healthcare

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:22:16 +0000

It’s coming.

In just six months, the Affordable Care Act will be going into full-effect. While many changes are already in place, 2014’s the big year for the law — it’s the year when all citizens are required to get insured.

Michigan's West Nile Virus season off to an early start

Steve Carmody — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 10:21:00 +0000

Michigan’s West Nile Virus season is getting off to an earlier than normal start.

State health officials report a wild turkey in Gratiot County tested positive for the mosquito-borne illness last month.

Angela Minicuci is with the Michigan Department of Community Health. She says the first signs of West Nile don’t usually appear in Michigan until the end of June or the beginning of July.

What's happening with Medicaid in Michigan

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 30 May 2013 17:22:07 +0000

The Michigan Legislature is getting closer to approving a state spending plan.

On Wednesday, the state Senate passed a education funding bill. And after lawmakers come back from the Mackinac Policy Conference, a broader budget is slated to pass next week.

But so far, debate on proposed appropriations have been mostly divided on party lines.

One issue on the partisan divide: Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

The federal healthcare law called for broadening health insurance coverage to low-income adults — including some 400,000 in Michigan.

Out of 30 Republican governors, only six supported the expansion. Gov. Rick Snyder was one of them.

"Expansion will create more access to primary care providers, reduce the burden on hospitals and small businesses, and save precious tax dollars,” Snyder said in a press release in February. "This makes sense for the physical and fiscal health of Michigan."

But federal funding for the expansion of Medicaid has been left out of the Republican-supported budget, running counter to Snyder’s recommendation.

Improving refugee mental health in Michigan

Stateside Staff — Tue, 28 May 2013 18:25:47 +0000

Last year, some 8,100 refugees and asylum seekers fled their home countries and came to Michigan hoping to start a new life.

Many of these people might have wanted to stay at home, but war and organized violence made it impossible, and the United States opened its doors to them.

The World Health Organization estimates a full 50 percent of these refugees are suffering from mental illness.

The doctors and therapists who work with these refugees believe that number is too low.

What is life like for these wartime refugees and asylum seekers in Michigan? And what's being done to ease their transition into their new life and help treat these people as they suffer from psychiatric disabilities?

Hussam Abdulkhalleq is the program supervisor at the ACCESS Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center in Dearborn, the largest Arab-American human services non-profit in the nation.

He joined us today in the studio.

Listen to the full interview above.

U-M looks at better treatments for prostate cancer

Rina Miller — Mon, 27 May 2013 16:11:00 +0000

A new study at the University of Michigan is looking at why hormone-based treatments stop working for some men with advanced prostate cancer.

About 50 percent of men with prostate cancer have what's called a gene fusion that may cause some treatments to stop working, says Dr.Maha Hussain, a U-M professor of medicine and urology who is a co-leader for the prostate cancer program.

"We found out that potentially the fusions, if they occur in a patient, may likely be more responsive to newer forms of hormone treatment."

U-M, St. Joe collaborate on senior care

Rina Miller — Mon, 27 May 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The University of Michigan Health System and St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor are working together to improve care for patients age 70 or older.

The Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit is housed on the tenth floor of St. Joe's East Tower.

It's one of the few in the country that will follow a model of care intended to help older patients recover from illness or injury.