Blog

If you want to prevent suicide, it's important to understand depression. While most of us feel sad or low, sometimes, feelings of depression are longer lasting and often more severe for those experiencing it.

For many people, coming down with the flu can mean about two weeks of illness, without the need for advanced medical care.

This healthy option for a popular meal or snack makes four servings. Take fresh pico de gallo (also called salsa Fresca), combine with cooked chicken, vegetables and cheese to make this healthy baked, not fried, meal.

August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month and reminds parents to schedule an eye exam and vision screening as children ready for back to school time.

Most of you have probably seen the television commercial where a woman falls and says, “I have fallen and can’t get up!” That ad illustrates that we often think we do not need help until we actually really need help.

Early next month, residents of Lompoc can learn the basic skills to keep people with potentially life-threatening injuries alive until professional help arrives. The Lompoc Hospital District Foundation has asked me to present FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) training called “Stop the Bleed.” The lecture and training will be given from 6 to 8 pm September 4, but reservations are required by August 31. The class will be held in the Ocean’s Seven Café at Lompoc Valley Medical Center.

In their counseling sessions, parents often have questions for me, or other counselors, regarding social media and how it’s affecting their children.

Cholesterol can be confusing. You may hear your primary care physician talk to you about your “cholesterol numbers,” but what do they really mean? And do you know that the foods you eat can change your levels? The Centers for Disease Control wants to make sure you know the difference between myth and facts when it concerns cholesterol. It’s important to commit to getting your cholesterol checked annually, so you can learn more about your risks of heart disease and stroke.

Skin cancer is a malignant tumor from cells of the skin. More than 2 million Americans are diagnosed with it every year, making it one of the most common forms of cancer diagnosed in the U.S.

As the 6-month mark approaches, many moms have questions about how to balance starting solid foods while maintaining their breastfeeding relationship. It’s important to note that although your baby’s intake is going to start expanding to a variety of table foods, your breast milk remains a very important component of their diet during the first year and beyond.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, and people are at higher risk if they are African American, Latino, Native American, or Asian American/Pacific Islanders. 

Being overweight and the reason for it is not as simple as we once thought, it is a lifelong challenge many people face. Weight loss surgery, or Bariatric Surgery, can give someone the tools needed to begin to change their life for the better. A person with severe obesity is at a significantly higher risk of early death, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Weight loss surgery may be the answer a person needs to change their quality of life. 

As people say, “The eyes are the window to our soul.” However, what happens when that window looks a little aged or tired appearing?

Your physician just told you that you have pre-diabetes, and you’re wondering how – or even if – you can reverse that diagnosis.First of all, you need to understand the pre-diabetes. That term means your blood glucose (sugar) is higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. But if it is left untreated, it will develop into Type 2 Diabetes.

Tourette syndrome is a medical condition that may be widely recognized, but there remain many misbeliefs about it. Tourette syndrome is a condition that affects the brain and nerves, causing people to make repeated movements and sounds, also known as motor and vocal tics, that they cannot control.