What happens to all those unused medications?  Well, most unfortunately end up flushed down the toilet (out of sight out of mind) or thrown in the trash (ditto). Ultimately, the drugs end up in the ground water or ocean, only to be taken up yet again as we drink water, [...]

With New Years just around the corner, it's time to make the annual New Year Resolution list. Sure, for most of us it is truly an exercise in futility: We have grand aspirations but then reality sets in and we're lucky if we knock off the first two. Since this [...]

As far as snoring is concerned, the perpetrator is blissfully unaware and whoever sleeps nearby suffers. Yet snoring raises risks for significant disease, so in reality the one who snores suffers as well. As we breathe, air moves in and out of our mouths, trachea and lungs. Normally this flow [...]

Ear wax helps keep the ear canal moist and clean, but for some it becomes thick and hard. At times it can completely clog the ear canal. What happens with impacted (medicalese for clogged) ear wax is that the transmission of sounds is impaired, so it is more difficult to [...]

Cold season is here and yet again you can look forward to the next cold which will basically make you miserable for several days or worse yet might land you in the hospital. What can you do to help prevent becoming of victim of viruses? First off, get that yearly [...]

Your teenager, quite confident that he is immune to any injury, tries an airborne 360 at the skateboard. He makes it about 180, lands and then falls on his outstretched wrist. He then arrives home, with an obviously deformed wrist. You take him to the local emergency room where the [...]

No one likes to find out that that narly looking toenail which has been festering for months is actually a fungus. Toe fungus is more common than you think and like most medical conditions, has a long difficult to pronounce and spell name-onchomycosis. The nail looks as if someone had [...]

So what exactly is a sport? I don't think anyone would argue that say football, basketball or baseball are sports. But what about cheerleading? And even more importantly, why should anyone care? Well, it runs out that at least for the Illinois delegation at this year's annual American Medical Association [...]

Texting or talking on the cellphone while driving has been shown without a doubt to be a major risk for car accidents and some awful injuries. Still, what about doing the same while walking? A bigger question might be, why in God's name do you have to stay connected every [...]

No doubt that CT scans are awesome in terms of accurately diagnosing a variety of conditions. Since they are so good at finding out what is wrong, they are often ordered. You might ask, heck, if this tests are so good at figuring out what is going on, why not [...]