"Doctor I think I have a spider bite!"
To your health care provider, that means MRSA until proven otherwise. Many people who believe they were bitten by spiders actually have Staphylococcus abscesses. MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus, is a strain of bacteria on the march.
Getting a baseline tan before you go on vacation does not offer the sun protection you may think. In fact it probably will lead to a false sense of security and lead to longer exposure time. A baseline tan grants the average Caucasian skin a built-in SPF of about 2-4. You may not sunburn as rapidly but the sun’s “aging rays” are still wrecking havoc on your skin. Bottom line: It is an aesthetic decision; don’t try to justify it medically.
The fight against aging is nothing unique to our time.
Ponce de Leon landed in the New World and embarked upon a fruitless quest to find the Fountain of Youth. The first Chinese emperor employed alchemists to concoct mercury elixirs to grant him immortality.
We paint them. Polish them. Trim and manicure them. Bite them. Run them down chalkboards. Our hands are intimate parts of our being and the nails are their crowning symbols. They broadcast our health, diseases, and personalities.
If you are over 60, chances are that your doctor has immunized you with the shingles vaccine or counseled you to get it. At least that is what the folks at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta hope will happen. But even the best laid medical plans go awry in our world of managed care, cost shifting, and vaccine phobia.
Are you a flusher? A blusher? Tired of that chronic redness on your face or your adult acne? You may very well have a treatable condition called rosacea.
Rosacea, or the “Curse of the Celts” as it is historically known, tends to plague those of northern European heritage unequally higher than other backgrounds. It is a dirt-common disease that is just beginning to be understood by modern medicine.
