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The Community Lifestyle/Business Profile Journal of CenLA
Posted May 2013
Leprosy evokes Biblical images of nose-less, limbless, deformed outcasts living in squalor. The fact is that leprosy—or Hansen’s disease as it is officially called—has never really gone away, but has morphed into something often mild and very treatable right here in Louisiana. Hansen’s disease is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a slow-growing bacteria this is [...]
Continue ReadingPosted May 2013
Contacts are available in a wide variety of bifocal/multifocal prescriptions. For people over 40 and some under this age, a bifocal or multi-focal lens is needed to help the person see both far and near at the same time. Changes in the focusing system of the eyes requires a different prescription for varying distances as [...]
Continue ReadingPosted April 2013
The Rapides Regional Trauma Center is looking to make an impact. The Center, which is one of two trauma centers in Louisiana verified by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma, already makes an impact in treating patients. Now, it is looking to make an impact by preventing area high school students from becoming [...]
Continue ReadingPosted April 2013
Every parent dreads the call from a neighbor, friend, school official or police officer telling them their child has committed some outrageous, high-risk act. Whether it be substance abuse, driving while distracted or drunk, truancy, or pregnancy, all such behaviors seems incomprehensible to the adult mind. Yet, they occur every day by the thousands. In [...]
Continue ReadingPosted April 2013
Many individuals suffer from seasonal allergies that can cause the sinus cavity to be inflamed and congested. The surface of the eye can also be affected by allergic conjunctivitis. The conjunctiva is the lining of the inside of the eye lids as well as the covering of the sclera (white portion of the eye). If [...]
Continue ReadingPosted March 2013
United Health Foundation recently published its 2012 America’s Health Rankings. All of the states are ranked according to a collection of “health determinants” (or factors) and “health outcomes.” Determinants include many aspects of behavior, community characteristics, policy and clinical care that determine health outcomes (such as diabetes, infant mortality, cardiovascular deaths, cancer deaths and premature [...]
Continue ReadingPosted March 2013
Colon cancer affects more than 140,000 Americans each year and is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States. Improvements in screening and treatment are helping to lower this number, but there are still far too many patients that put off screening and needlessly delay their treatment. If everyone 50 or [...]
Continue ReadingPosted March 2013
One of the viruses that cause herpetic eye disease is the varicella-zoster strain. This is the same virus that causes chicken pox in the young, and shingles in older individuals. This is not the virus that causes genital herpes; shingles is not a sexually transmitted disease. The varicella-zoster virus lies dormant (inactive) in the nervous [...]
Continue ReadingPosted February 2013
As we “baby boomers” and our parents get older and grayer (or older and balder as the case may be), the challenge of finding quality options for senior care gets tougher and tougher. We are blessed in Cenla with a strong and vibrant array of hospitals and clinics, long-term care facilities, homecare and hospice agencies, [...]
Continue ReadingPosted February 2013
There are two types of diabetes—type 1 and type 2. Both types can have short-term and long-term effects on our eyes and our ability to see properly. The most serious effect resulting from diabetes is a condition called diabetic retinopathy (disease of the retina). Poor control of blood sugar levels can result in damage to [...]
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