What is Herd Immunity and How Does it Work?
“Herd immunity”, or community immunity, has become a recent household term renowned by COVID-19, and is often used by healthcare workers to describe how to decrease the number of COVID-19 infections. But what is herd immunity and how can it affect you and your family?
Going Statewide: Explaining the PACT Hartford HealthCare Partnership
Adding certainty in a very uncertain year If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s that there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many practices have been challenged to remain open, while our representatives in government have continued to question the structure and philosophy behind the US healthcare system.
6 Reasons Why Getting a Flu Shot This Season is Particularly Important
Receiving a flu shot each year is the best preventative step you can take to ensure you do not come down with influenza. The CDC recommends that people 6 months and older get a yearly flu vaccine. Flu vaccinations prevent millions of people from developing the flu each year. The CDC states that during the 2018-2019 flu season, the vaccine stopped an estimated 4.4 million influenza illnesses, 2.3 million related medical visits and 58,000 influenza-caused hospitalizations, as well as 3,500 deaths. A case of influenza can be especially severe for the elderly or those with compromised immune systems. Fortunately, you can help avoid this scenario by receiving an annual flu vaccine.
When to See a Gastroenterologist: 6 Reasons to Make an Appointment
Although most people may not enjoy discussing their stomach problems to their friends or family, it is important to be transparent about these issues to your doctor, as you are definitely not alone. In fact, according to the CDC, there are more than 22.4 million visits to the doctor for diseases of the digestive system as the primary diagnosis each year.
7 Foods to Avoid with Kidney Disease and Diabetes
Did you know that diabetes and kidney disease are often connected? In fact, 1 in 3 people in the U.S. living with diabetes is also diagnosed with kidney disease. Diabetes is considered one of the biggest factors for increasing your risk of developing kidney disease. Over time, high blood sugar can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys. As a result, kidneys can become damaged and not perform necessary bodily functions as efficiently. Your kidneys remove wastes and excess fluids from your body; when they become damaged, these wastes can accumulate and eventually harm other organs in your body. This is also known as Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD).
What to Expect at Your Annual Physical Exam with Your Primary Care Provider
It’s an alarming statistic: The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately six in ten adults in the U.S. are living with a chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Discovering the presence of a chronic disease is key to treating it in its early stages when positive outcomes are more favorable, which is why making an annual physical exam is important for delivering preventative health services and detecting problems before they start.
