Violence in a relationship does not only happen during adulthood, but can be present in teenage relationships. “Teen dating violence can come in many forms,” UT Health licensed counselor Jennifer Peoples says. “When most people hear the word violence they think of something physical occurring. However, relationship violence can also consist of emotional abuse, which is very subtle in nature, and sometimes very difficult to identify.” Abuse can start small with name calling, but escalate over time, happening in...
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Focusing on keeping your heart healthy is a good way to make sure you stay healthy overall, as good practices for your heart involve everything from sleep to diet to regular checkups. Since heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, taking care to incorporate good habits will benefit you your whole life.
Start by Giving Up the Bad
A lot of daily activities can affect our hearts, but it can be hard to start new habits even if we know how good they will be for us in the long run. If you do find it difficult to pick up new...
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More than 2.7 million Americans live with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation (AFib). This serious condition can lead to blood clots, causing heart attacks or strokes. Dr. Andrea Cooley, a cardiothoracic surgeon at UT Health Tyler, confronts this condition daily in the hospital and has been performing the most advanced procedures to help those in East Texas.
Dr. Cooley explores below what atrial fibrillation is, how it can be treated and the most advanced technology being used at...
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A big part of staying healthy overall is making sure your heart is taken care of. If your heart is looked after through a commitment to a low sodium, low fat diet and stimulated with enough invigorating exercise, you’ll feel the benefits throughout your entire body. Of course, it’s also important to have your physician check your blood pressure and cholesterol regularly, but what about other tests? To get a complete picture of your heart’s health and your potential risk for heart disease, UT Health has bundled seven tests together in the MyHeart First program.
MyHeart First is...
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As many of us try to fulfill our New Year’s resolution to reach and maintain a healthy weight, we face a food culture that makes it difficult to limit processed foods and choose appropriate portions of healthy foods. This same food obsessed culture is also obsessed with appearance; creating a perfect storm for eating disorders.
Thirty million Americans will experience an eating disorder with anorexia nervosa having the highest mortality rate of any of the mental illnesses. While the disorders do not discriminate on the basis of gender or socioeconomics, among female adolescents,...
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Bob Robinson and his wife, Sherry, moved backed to East Texas and now enjoy spending time at their lake house and with their 6-year-old grandson. However, in 2010, Bob started to feel extremely fatigued and overall less-than stellar, which led him to speak to his primary care physician. The results came back, giving him a life-changing diagnosis.
Bob was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a lifelong disease that affects the way your body handles glucose, a kind of sugar, in your blood. People with type 2 diabetes make insulin, but their cells don't use it as well as they...
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The health of your heart can be affected negatively by several factors, including birth defects, high blood pressure or simply aging. One issue that is caused by both birth defects and aging is aortic stenosis.
Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening. This condition restricts the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta and may also affect the pressure in the left atrium. To correct this issue, surgery is the best option. However, over the past several years, a new, minimally invasive procedure, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), has meant a...
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Last year, at age 68, Steve Skommesa and his wife, Susan, relocated to East Texas. They did all the normal things you do when you move like forward your mail, meet the neighbors and find the closest grocery store, but he also set up an appointment with his new UT Health primary care physician’s assistant, Tony Jameson.
After doing a routine physical, Jameson saw that Steve’s cholesterol level was a bit elevated and suggested a next step. “He asked if I had 150 dollars,” Steve recalls. “Then he said I should take...
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Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects 1.5 million people in the United States. It affects more women than men and it’s commonly seen from ages 30 to 60. This type of arthritis can start with seemingly small symptoms such as tenderness, swelling and/or redness in the joints, but can lead to deforming and shifting of joints.
...
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When the conversation of weight is brought up, it’s not always as straightforward as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18-25 kg/m2. Instead, it’s more important to find a point where a person’s weight isn’t having a negative impact on his or her health. “Studies have shown that a 5-10 percent weight reduction can reduce the chance of developing diabetes by as much as 50 percent,” says Dr. Katherine Root, internal and obesity medicine physician at UT Health East Texas. “With this in mind, a goal of losing 5 percent body weight is a good place to start.”
Dr. James Menard,...
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