Page 6 – Here for Life

Statins and other cholesterol medications work best when partnered with healthy lifestyle choices

November 21, 2018

Concerned about your cholesterol levels? It’s important not to rely on a medication-only approach. Your daily physical activity and diet choices play an important role in reducing your risk for heart disease and stroke. With the holidays coming, why not start implementing some new goals for cardiac health in 2019 – and beyond?

The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on cholesterol management released updates on clinical practice guidelines for the reduction of heart disease and stroke (cardiovascular disease). The guidelines remind us that heart-healthy lifestyles including regular exercise, maintenance of healthy weight, balanced diet and smoking cessation remain the cornerstone of cardiovascular disease risk reduction. All cholesterol-reducing medications work best when used in concert with a healthy lifestyle. (more…)

Celebrating ten years of breast cancer survivors

October 30, 2018

On Saturday, October 6th, almost 200 Hennepin Healthcare breast cancer patients, their friends and families and volunteers from the Comprehensive Cancer Center came together for the 10th annual Breast Cancer Survivors Celebration. Every year our clinic staff recognize women and men for their strength and commitment to fight and heal from breast cancer. We held the event in our new Clinic & Specialty Center‘s Stillman Education Room and spilled out into the atrium. Children and guests decorated pumpkins and won prizes at the fish pond. Patients and family visited information tables from our community supporters, including the African American Breast Cancer Alliance, Firefly Sisterhood, Livestrong, the American Cancer Society and Open Arms of Minnesota, just to name a few. Lunch was served and we had a raffle – all patients won a gift! This year’s celebration has been our biggest yet and we can’t wait for next year. (more…)

Getting from here to there: updates and resources for child passenger safety

October 23, 2018

Did you know 4 out of 5 car seats are installed or used incorrectly? Keeping up with the changes and recommendations for child passenger safety can be a challenge. Here are a few current recommendations and resources for keeping your child safe when traveling around Minnesota.

Rear-facing versus forward-facing positioning

This fall the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their recommendations to promote keeping children in the rear-facing position for as long as possible. As infants and young children are at increased risk for head and spinal cord injury due to their relatively large head and developing musculoskeletal system, a rear-facing position reduces this risk by providing more head and back support in the event of a crash.²Therefore, instead of an age limit, the AAP now recommends children be rear-facing until they meet the highest rear-facing weight or height limit allowed by the manufacturer of their car seat.¹ (more…)

Free Hernia Information Session and Screening

September 27, 2018

The return to function and quality of life starts here

Abdominal wall hernias occurs when a part of an internal organ (typically the small intestine) breaks through a tear or weak point in the abdominal wall.

Hernias can happen to anyone, and significantly impact your activity level and quality of life. They can also lead to complications that are life-threatening. So, it’s important to seek treatment.

Hernias will not resolve on their own and can only be repaired with surgery. Fortunately, many hernias can now be repaired with robotic assisted minimally invasive procedures. This technique reduces recovery time, pain and potential complications

Signs and Symptoms

A lump or bulge that is apparent when standing and can sometimes disappear when lying down. For males, they can sometimes experience a swollen and/or painful scrotum.
Pain or discomfort during physical exertion, straining or lifting.
Weakness or pressure in the groin.

Free Screening Event – Saturday, October 13 from 9:00 – 11:00 am

We invite you, a colleague or family member who may have a hernia, to attend a free information session with our surgery team.

Schedule:

9:00 – 9:30 am Presentation for Jon Krook, MD and Ashley Marek, MD

9:30 – 10:00 am Demonstrations of the da Vinci Robotic Surgery System

9:30 – 11:00 am Optional hernia screening discussion with Dr. Krook or Dr. Marek

Location:

Clinic & Specialty Center

715 South 8^th Street

Minneapolis, MN 55404

Learn more, and register here

Parking

Free parking is available in the Clinic & Specialty Center’s underground garage off of Park Avenue between 8^th and 9^th Streets. Take the elevator to the first floor for our event.

A new perspective on standard care – CDC issues guidelines on mild pediatric brain injuries

September 26, 2018

There is nothing ‘mild’ about a mild traumatic brain injury, especially when we’re talking about kids. This is something we at Hennepin Healthcare have known for years. And we also know that the number of children getting mild traumatic brain injuries, more commonly referred to as concussions, are on the rise. (more…)

How can I help prevent suicide?

August 22, 2018

Suicide is a significant public health issue that impacts individuals, families, and communities everywhere. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 45,000 deaths by suicide in the US in 2016, making suicide the 10^th leading cause of death that year. Many more individuals considered or attempted suicide in the same year: 10 million American adults seriously considered suicide and over one million attempted suicide.

(more…)

New MRI in the Clinic & Specialty Center is just what the doctor ordered

August 20, 2018

Something magical happens when medical equipment provides both an enhanced experience for the patient and advanced diagnostics for the clinician. The new state-of-the-art Philips 3.0Tesla MRI, located on the first floor of the Clinic & Specialty Center, provides a perfect example of how this technology comes together to serve both purposes.

The MRI includes the Philips Ambient Experience – an immersive audio and visual feature in which patients select a “themed setting” that provide a calm and peaceful experience during the MRI study.

The Philips system is also equipped with Compressed Sense technology that offers superior images quality and much shorter scan time.

We asked Dr. David Hilden to participate in a full-body MRI scan and give us his first-hand perspective of having an MRI performed and the advantages of the Ambient Experience and Compressed Sense technology. See the video below.

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