To Your Health

With a growing number of believers climbing every year, one of the oldest health practices in the world is becoming more of an everyday way of life. Perceived by some as a pseudo-scientific or as a painful means of healing, acupuncture has often been ill-regarded by traditional Western medicine, but that is beginning to change.

For Barbara Farrell of Ocean View, the Ocean View Police Department’s Senior Check-in Program is one of the best things about living near the beach.

“I’m a widow and I’m here by myself. And just knowing that they’re looking out for me, I’m not afraid to be here. I really can’t say enough about it,” she said about the program.

As I write this, it’s midway through Week 3 of the Coastal Point Health-Tech Challenge. For those who missed our first installment, in which I set up the technology-friendly health challenge and gave an introduction to the Wii Fit “game,” my goal was to improve my general fitness and to work on losing some weight — 22 pounds as an initial goal, and moving on from there.

Well, it’s the end of Week 2 of the Coastal Point Health-Tech Challenge, and I’ve been pleased with my ability to keep up my new exercise regimen using Wii Fit. On the down side, I’ve gained 4 pounds since starting the program two weeks ago. On the up side, even without verification with a body-fat calculation and with my diet unchanged, I’m positive that all of that extra weight (and probably more) is muscle.

In our recent series of health stories on technologically-savvy ways to get (and stay) in shape, I noted the expected release of the Wii Fit game and balance board peripheral this month. Well, May 22 arrived late last week, and with it my very own copy of the game and my very own balance board.

Women are increasingly at the center of their own health care and many argue that they particularly need to be their own advocates about how and where they will give birth. One thing to remember while pregnant and planning the birth of a baby is that the care provider a woman chooses can have a lot to do with her birth experience and ultimately, how she will feel about it.

The Bethany Beach Town Council voted 6-1 on Friday, April 18, to adopt the smoking ban the town has spent the last seven months debating and turning into legislation. With the vote, the town became the first in the state of Delaware to ban smoking on a public beach. Such bans already exist in many California beach towns, as well as on the Great Lakes and in New England.

Delaware's C-section rate in 1995 statewide was 21.48%; in 2005, it was 29.94%. Sussex County's C-section rate in 1995 was 21.58%; in 2005, it was 33%. VBACs statewide in 1995 were 3.52%; no statistics were available for 2005. (source: CDC)

Many people waver before reaching for a bottle of multivitamins from the store shelf. Perhaps worse, others go right for a bottle that very well may not be what they need at all.

In weeks leading up to the start of summer, hundreds of people turn to healthy and active lifestyles, hoping to shed those last few pounds before slipping back into their swimsuits. It’s the athletic regiment and discipline of the beach patrol that should draw the most attention, however.

With the ever-increasing presence of computers and the Internet in the home, the availability of information on every topic a person could dream of is ballooning. And one of the most common search subjects on the vast World Wide Web is health, as the vast majority of U.S. users of the Internet use their computers to seek out information on health-related topics.

Over the past decades, tens of thousands of individuals have struggled with eating disorders and food addictions, many with minimal results. Until recently, many proposed solutions have failed — primarily because they lack one important component: support.

Growing up in New Jersey, near Rutgers University, Kim Furtado always knew she wanted to be a doctor, but it took a little more than insight to figure out her true calling — naturopathic medicine.

What started as a small endeavor under founder Dr Raymond Yow — the first urologist on the Eastern Shore — has grown into a bustling practice in Salisbury and Berlin, Md., with four doctors, one physician’s assistant and one nurse practitioner. And Peninsula Urology Associates recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of their new satellite office in Millville.

Every organ in the body is connected with and controlled by nerves from the spinal cord and brain, so it’s no wonder that keeping the spine in check can involve scores of preventative measures, including visits to a chiropractor.

Diane Clark of Wholesome Habits understands that her store just outside Bethany Beach may be a little intimidating to newcomers, but as many people are finding out, the full-line, health-conscious store provides a variety of products and a multitude of information of the kinds that are giving millions of people worldwide a healthier outlook on life.

While we’ve been talking mostly about “active” fitness technology in our series of stories on health tech, I don’t think many would argue about the value of good sleep in overall health, so this month, I’d like to look a little at some high-tech options that could help you get a little more quality in your Z’s.

There will be an open house this Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Delaware Hospice Center, Independence Commons, 100 Patriots Way in Milford. The center, which is the first free-standing hospice center in Delaware, is scheduled to open to patients in April.

With a cancer diagnosis, one of the first things one might need is emotional support, access to education and, most importantly, hope. The last thing one needs is to think about where to get those and how to pay for them. That’s where The Wellness Community comes in.

I’ve been Betamaxed.

Actually, the realization just hit me that many of you might not remember Betamax, and the battle for technological supremacy it had with VHS during the 1980s. An even scarier thought is the notion that some of you might not even be familiar with the VHS format. So, in a nutshell, I got Betamaxed, and I’m getting old.