
Blog
Lompoc Valley Medical Center's publishes health news, personal stories and expert advice meant to guide and inspire healthy diets, relationships and lives.

Birth Defects Prevention Month
January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. While not every birth defect is preventable, routine prenatal care can help keep your baby healthy.
Your obstetrician can determine whether your child is at risk of birth defects. He or she can also recommend lifestyle changes that support a healthy pregnancy.

Cervical Health Awareness
January is Cervical Health Awareness Month and an ideal time to schedule your next women's wellness exam. During your exam, your provider can perform valuable cervical cancer screenings, including a Pap smear.

Making Smart Eating Choices at the Holidays
Maybe Aunt Edna’s fattening cranberry dessert is your downfall, or mashed potatoes piled with butter and salt. Maybe you’re in a family where there’s not just a turkey on the table, but also a ham or other main dishes.

Get Educated During National Diabetes Month
The A1C blood test provides information about average levels of blood sugar and can be used to diagnose certain types of diabetes.

Benefits And Risks Of Medical Imaging Tests
Some medical imaging tests can involve exposure to ionizing radiation, and patients should know the risks.

Using Yoga to Rediscover the Healthier You
While the medical field has made substantial investments in developing new, ground-breaking pharmaceuticals designed to support those on a path to health and wellness, in recent years, successful wellness plans have started to incorporate more holistic programs, such as yoga, to offer more self-guided options for wellness. Using the intuitive and meditative techniques of yoga, you can learn to become more proactive and less reactive to the stresses of everyday life with simple relaxation tools.

CDC Gives Vaping-related Illness Its Own Name
For several months, news has spread of a previously undocumented illness that physicians are linking to the use of e-cigarettes or vaping.

Understanding your Mammogram
Every two minutes in the United States, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. It is the most common cancer in women other than skin cancer. The good news is that since about 1990, the chances of surviving breast cancer are continuing to improve, probably due to early detection, increased awareness and improved treatment techniques.

Nutrition While Breastfeeding
Nursing a newborn is a labor of love, one that requires a mother’s body to produce a wholesome, fully nourishing and protective substance called breast milk.

Hernias and Your Options for Repair
A hernia is when something bulges through a space that should not exist. The confusing thing is that there are MANY types of hernias and not all hernias cause problems for patients.

Children and Older Adults Most at Risk for Suffering Traumatic Brain Injuries
Most people hearing the term “TBI,” or Traumatic Brain Injury, may automatically assume the cause is a catastrophic car collision, or perhaps a fall from a ladder.

Learning Strategies to Prevent Teen Suicide
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.

Some People at High Risk for Flu Complication
For many people, coming down with the flu can mean about two weeks of illness, without the need for advanced medical care.

Crispy Taquitos
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.

Keep an Eye on Vision Exams
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.