Our Healthcare Blog

How Does Your State Stack Up When it Comes to COPD? By Jennifer Nelson Did you know the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers fact sheets on COPD for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico? Each fact sheet includes a table listing the reported prevalence of COPD among adults in the […]

COPD Isn’t Holding These Two Cyclists Back By Marygrace Taylor Being diagnosed with COPD doesn’t mean you have to spend your life on the sidelines. Just ask cyclist Mark Junge. He’s lived with COPD for more than a decade—but hasn’t let it stop him from conquering the world on two wheels.  After being told in […]

In Search of Sleep: Experts Recommend Lifestyle Changes Over Sleeping Pills By Linda Childers If you have problems falling or staying asleep, you’re not alone. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, each night millions of people in the United States spend the night tossing and turning. While it may be tempting to reach […]

Seeing is Believing: Study Shows a Higher Use of CPAP in Patients Who See Their Sleep Apnea By Reyna Gobel A new study reveals that patients who see a videotape of their sleep apnea may lead them to use their CPAP machines more. The question everyone wants to know is, What makes videotaping in a sleep lab […]

Can Poor Sleep Predict Disease? By Jennifer Nelson Chronic sleep deprivation is one of the most serious health complaints these days. Now, research suggests that chronic sleep deprivation may be a precursor to a number of other diseases as well. Here’s what we know about the sleep/disease link: Parkinson’s disease People who have a REM […]

Answering the Alarm Clock? You Could Be Experiencing Sleep Drunkenness By Jennifer Nelson Ever pick up the alarm clock to answer a phone call in the middle of the night? Or get up out of bed and think you’re heading to work in the wee hours of the morning? If you have, you may suffer […]

Non-Smoker? You Could Still Be At Risk for COPD By Reyna Gobel Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a progressive disease that makes breathing difficult, occurs most often in smokers over age 45. However, according the National institutes of Health (NIH), as many as one in six individuals with COPD have never smoked cigarettes. While presently there is […]

Don’t Forget! Simple Tricks to Remember Your Asthma Meds By Marygrace Taylor For the elderly, asthma complications can quickly become serious: According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the majority of asthma-related deaths in the United States occur in adults over age 65. And when it comes to taking asthma medications, there’s room for improvement. A […]

Spotting the Top 5 Symptoms of COPD By Marygrace Taylor The average adult takes up to 20 breaths per minute—or more than 20,000 per day. But for the 12 million Americans who suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the simple act of inhaling and exhaling can feel like a lot more work. What is COPD? COPD […]

Changing the Culture of Sleep Deprivation at Work By Jennifer Nelson The sleep habits of Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer were ridiculed on Twitter when she missed a meeting with ad execs because she overslept. While humorous on the one hand, the incident actually proves that lack of sleep affects every level of today’s workforce. It’s […]

New Mom? Help Put Baby on the Right Sleep Track By MaryGrace Taylor They say the first six weeks with an infant are the toughest: You’re just starting to get the hang of round-the-clock feedings and diaper changes. At the same time, your little bundle doesn’t know yet that daytime is for being awake and […]

Easier Traveling With Your CPAP By Reyna Gobel Positive airway pressure (PAP) sleep therapy machine users have unique issues when it comes to packing and traveling. Specifically, they must deal with two problems: securing their PAP and accessories securely in their luggage and then unpacking and repacking their PAP when going through airport security checkpoints […]

What Does a COPD Flare-up Look Like? By Jennifer Nelson Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) flare-ups are a leading cause of hospitalization in the United States. Yet, education around COPD flare-ups is still relatively scarce. But that may be changing thanks to a COPD Foundation-conducted two-part national survey of more than 1,000 patients and 200 pulmonologists to […]

Mattress Makeover: Sleep Like You’re Still on Vacation By Jennifer Nelson Ever stay in a luxury hotel and sink into a dream bed for the best slumber of your life? Wish you could take that part of your vacation back home? You’re not alone: About 70 percent of people in an industry survey said they believe a […]

Behavior Therapy for Insomnia By Jennifer Nelson Forget sleeping pills and OTC products designed to help you sleep. What if a visit to a therapist could have you sleeping better in a few sessions? The best-kept secret in sleep medicine may be a pill-free treatment for insomnia called cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Sessions consist […]

Strategies for Women Who Want to Quit Smoking By Reyna Gobel For women, quitting smoking is less about chemical dependence and more about a strategy to relieve to stress and environmental triggers. Thus, nicotine patches generally don’t work as well for women, who often must turn to additional strategies to quit. Try some of these strategies […]

Study: Sleep Deprivation Can Cause False Memories By Jennifer Nelson Not getting enough shut-eye? You probably wouldn’t make a great eyewitness. According to research published in Psychological Science, sleep deprivation may increase the likelihood of forming false memories. In a study held at the University of California, Irvine, sleep-deprived people viewed photographs of a crime being […]

How Can COPD Caregivers Help? By Jennifer Nelson Caregivers for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) face challenges helping their loved ones to better health and quality of life. According to the American Association of Retired Persons, an estimated 25.5 million Americans struggle to balance working with caring for a relative age 50 or older. […]

Think About It: Sleep Can Help Boost Memory By Jennifer Nelson Need your 40 winks? If you want to learn anything, apparently you do. A new study provides important physical evidence that sleep helps cement and strengthen new memories. The study, published in the journal Science, shows sleep after learning causes very specific structural changes in […]