What is Amblyopia? According to the National Eye Institute, the brain and the eye work together to produce vision. Light enters the eye and is changed into nerve signals that travel along the optic nerve to the brain. Amblyopia is the medical term used when the vision in one of the eyes is reduced because the eye and the brain are not working together properly. The eye itself looks normal, but it is not being used normally because the brain is favoring the other eye. This condition is also sometimes called lazy eye. Amblyopia occurs in 2-3 out of 100 children. Amblyopia, is not treated, can effect a functional blindness in one eye.
The Illinois Department of Health and Human Services has a Web Page that describes Amblyopia thourghly and has suggestion on how to have your child tested.
The Illinois Pediatric Vision Amblyopia Awareness Initiative educates parents about Amblyopia. For more information about amblyopia call our hotline 1-866-ALL-KIDS (TTY: 1-877-204-1012).
The Illinois State Board of Education’s Early Learning Project website also has information at http://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/amblyopia.htm.
For more information on Amblyopia
Posted in Diseases & Conditions | Tagged Amblyopia, Amblyopia Illinois | 1 Comment »
September is National Cholesterol Education Month (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute). This observance serves is a reminder to get your blood cholesterol checked and to learn how to to lower and control your cholesterol levels. It is estimated that approximately one million Americans with suffer a cardiac event this year. High cholesterol is one of the major risk factors in heart disease. The more you know about cholesterol in general and your cholesterol levels in particular, the less likely it is you will become one of those statistics.
Where do you start to learn about cholesterol? Start with MedlinePlus. Their cholesterol page located at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html provides links to the major cholesterol sites. From this page you can get to an interactive tutorial Managing Cholesterol from the Patient Education Institute, a list of national clinical trials for the treatment of high cholesterol (Hypercholesterolemia), and to services and providers who treat hypercholesterolemia using the National Library of Medicine’s Go Local project. To find services and providers in Illinois, find the Go Local drop down menu, choose Illinois, and click on GO. This brings you to the Health-E Illinois website where you can search using your zip code. If you cannot afford a cholesterol screening, there are places throughout Illinois that offer free screening. Check with your local county health department (see Health-E Illinois page http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/local/illinois/list_location.cfm?areaid=32&service_id=111&service_type=term&invokedby=services) or local hospital. Here is a sampling of places in Illinois that offer free screens:
Posted in Diseases & Conditions, Preventative Health | Tagged Cholesterol Education, Cholesterol Screening Illinois, National Cholesterol Education Month | Leave a Comment »
The first episode of the 9th season of The Biggest Loser premiered last night. After watching the show, I am sure many of us said to ourselves, “I have to start eating healthy.” You also may be asking “Where can I find good, reliable recipes for healthy foods?” There are thousands of health and diet cookbooks on the market. How can you make a good choice of which ones to get? Consider looking at the cookbooks from major, reputable associations, government agencies, and organizations. These entities are usually non-profit and unbiased. Their publications, including cookbooks, tend to be affordability priced. Here is a brief list of these types of cookbooks.
American Heart Association
- Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook. ISBN 0812926846
- Healthy Family Meals ISBN 0307450593
American Diabetes Association
- The New Family Cookbook for People with Diabetes. ISBN 1416536078
- The Complete Quick & Hearty Diabetic Cookbook. ISBN 1580402852
American Cancer Society
- The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook. ISBN 094423593X
- The Cancer Lifeline Cookbook. ISBN 1570614113
ObesityAction Coalition
American Dietetics Association
- Cooking Health across America. ISBN 0471474304
National Heart Lung & Blood Insitute. National Institutes of Health
This is just a small sampling of the association, government and society cookbooks that are out there. Be sure to check national or local organizations in the condition or disease areas you are interested in, to see if they publish any cookbooks. Many websites of health organizations mount free recipes on there websites.
Remember, you do not have to buy these books. Check with your local public library. They many have these books in their collection and, if they do not, they can order the books from other libraries.
Posted in Consumer Health, Health, Preventative Health | Tagged Diabetes cookbooks, Healthy Cookbooks, Healthy Eating, Heart Disease cookbooks, Obesity cookbooks | 1 Comment »
We are also holding a Consumer Information of the Internet class called Beyond an Apple classes at our Library here at Loyola’s Medical Center.
- October 7, 2009 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
- October 10, 2009 10 am – Noon
To register for these classes, contact Jan at 708-216-9192 or jbehnke@lumc.edu. Directions to our Library can be found at http://library.luhs.org/hslibrary/about_us/directions.htm.
It’s not always easy finding authoritative health information for the general public on the Internet especially for patients and their families. This program will focus on assisting the lay person who have questions on health and medical problems. Areas to be discussed include finding knowledge about symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments for diseases and medical conditions. Databases such as MedlinePlus and Pubmed, government websites (Center for Disease Control and the FDA), and new resources such as Health-E Illinois—A Go Local Project will be examined. Detailed instruction will be given on how Health-E Illinois works in conjunction with MedlinePlus, making it easy for you to search local area healthcare services and providers for medical help. The class also covers criteria for the evaluation of health & wellness sites.
The Health-E Illinois outreach staff is happy to come to your institution or groups and present Beyond an Apple a Day. This class can be tailored to meet the needs of your group. Classes run 1-2 hours depending on your needs. If you would like more information or you would like to sign up for a class, please contact Jan at 708-216-9192 or jbehnke@lumc.edu.
To register for these classes, contact Jan at 708-216-9192 or jbehnke@lumc.edu. Directions to our Library can be found at http://library.luhs.org/hslibrary/about_us/directions.htm.
Posted in Health-E Illinois | Tagged consumer health information illinois, interent health information, learnign about medline plus | Leave a Comment »
The National Library of Medicine’s Consumer Health Website, MedlinePlus has added a new feature called HealthDay TV. HealthDay TV “offers viewers a daily video recap of the latest consumer health research.” To watch HealthDay TV, go to MedlinePlus at http://medlineplus.gov and click on the NEWS tab.
Posted in Consumer Health | Tagged HealthDay TV | Leave a Comment »
