| By Barbara Wexler, MPH | Cardiovascular disease (CVD) describes conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. A primary cause is atherosclerosis, which occurs when plaque accumulates in arterial walls, narrowing them and impeding blood flow. This can lead to serious events like heart attacks or strokes. But the term CVD also includes other … Read more
| By Barbara Wexler, MPH | Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most valuable gifts you can give yourself. It’s about more than just looking good in your favorite jeans; it’s about feeling good, improving your overall health, and enhancing your quality of life. Many people start the New Year with … Read more
| By Barbara Wexler, MPH | Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder, a type of depression that usually occurs during specific seasons, most often beginning in late fall or winter as the days get shorter and there’s less daylight. It sometimes coincides with the time change from daylight saving time to standard time, … Read more
| By Gale Staff | Community colleges offer essential pathways for students of all backgrounds to achieve their educational goals, whether they hope to earn a certificate or their associate’s degree, or transfer to a four-year school. Of all community college students, 80% intend to transfer to a university. According to The Chronicle of Higher … Read more
| By Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, RN | Autumn has arrived, and most of us recently adjusted our clocks to fall backward one hour, ending daylight saving time for 2024 and giving us the chance to recoup that hour of sleep we lost by springing forward last March. If you felt a disruption to your internal … Read more
| By Gale Staff | One of the key issues facing community colleges is not just getting students in the classroom—but helping them to succeed once they’re there. Nearly half of students drop out within a year, and only 40% complete a degree or certificate within six years. According to a 2023 study from New … Read more
| By Barbara Wexler, MPH | Epilepsy is a chronic (long-term) neurological disorder where people have repeated seizures because of unusual or abnormal electrical activity in the brain. These seizures can show up in many different ways, from nearly imperceptible moments of zoning out to intense shaking and severe convulsions. There are many different potential … Read more
| By Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, RN | Just in time for the kids to go back to school and for pumpkin-spice everything to appear in local markets, circulating viral diseases are already causing absences in many classrooms across the United States. The latest variants of SARS-CoV-2 are responsible for increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, and … Read more
| By Barbara Wexler, MPH | As the school year gets underway, kids are back in classrooms, participating in extracurricular activities, making new friends, and all too often witnessing or enduring bullying. There are steps parents, educators, and students can take to prevent and combat bullying. Successfully preventing bullying requires the concerted efforts of parents, … Read more
| Barbara Wexler, MPH | Children who are well above a healthy weight for their age, sex, and height are overweight or obese. When body mass index (BMI), which compares a child’s weight to their height, is at or above the 95th percentile for children and teens of the same age and sex, they are … Read more