Health

What are my chances of becoming pregnant?

Dear Dr Mitchell, I am 35 years old and have been trying to get pregnant without success for the past three years. I was recently diagnosed as having a bicornuate uterus. What are my chances of getting pregnant and what is the success of carrying the baby to term? I have read up on this condition o ... Read More

Dizzy, nauseous couch potato needs help
Dear Donovan, I finally decided to quit being a couch potato and get fit. This took a lot of mental ... Read More

So you're... Mentally unprepared for your diet
YOU are no longer comfortable in your own skin; your clothes are beginning to get tight and you prob ... Read More

PALMER-HAMILTON... there may be one or two who may attempt suicide Threats of suicide
CHILDREN who are victims of trafficking often respond by threatening to commit suicide, with a few a ... Read More

Hot days, increased risk of kidney stones

Dr Belinda Morrison | Sunday, July 20, 2014    

Drink lots of water, especially at this time.

MOST of us would agree that the past few weeks have been unbearably hot. But what are the medical/urological implications of these high temperatures that we have been experiencing? One major implication is an increased risk of kidney stones. US data suggest that kidney stones affect 10 per cent of the population. Emerging studies suggest that this may increase by 10 per cent in the next 50 years, secondary to the effects of global warming and increased health-care expenditure by 25 per cent (Fa ... Read More

Chikungunya

Sunday, July 20, 2014    

The best way to prevent chikungunya infection is to avoid mosquito bites.

DR Kevin Harvey, the chief medical officer, last Thursday confirmed that Jamaica now has its first imported case of the chikungunya virus. A report from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) had confirmed that a sample sent last Tuesday was positive for the virus. The case is of an individual who travelled from an affected country and fell ill. What is chikungunya? Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne disease that is transmitted to people predominantly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Sympto ... Read More

It may not be arthritis

With Dr Chris Davis | Sunday, July 20, 2014    

It may not be arthritis

"YOU are just getting old. You have arthritis. You must learn to accept it and live with it." This is a bold-faced lie. Do not believe it, or it will manifest. Doctors are eager to assume that an older person with pain in their spine and joints has arthritis. This is probably the most misdiagnosed or misnomered condition prevalent in society today, worldwide. The definition of arthritis is "a disease causing painful inflammation and stifness of the joints". The medical dictionary states acut ... Read More

Game on!

BY ANIKA RICHARDS Sunday Observer staff reporter richardsai@jamaicaobserver.com | Sunday, July 20, 2014    

Trevor and Jodi keep up with each other.

THE challenges have been issued. The participants in the Jamaica Observer/Gymkhana Fitness Challenge have been given four weeks to achieve specific goals, earning points as they go along. Last Monday, the eight personal trainers sat down and came up with different challenges, based on the weaknesses of each challenger, and a consensus was reached. One week is already down, so there are another three to go before the challengers will have to demonstrate that they can rise to the task. Gisel wi ... Read More

Insurance boss 'juicing' his way to health

Sunday, July 20, 2014    

President of Scotia Insurance Hugh Reid (right) adds a handful of callaloo to prepare as culinary entrepreneur Ben Tsedek looks on.

AFTER two different consultations and assurance that a lump that appeared on his body was nothing serious, President of Scotia Insurance Hugh Reid intuitively had the lump removed. However, after general procedures that followed his surgery, tests showed that the lump was in fact cancerous. This was a year and a half ago. In cases such as Reid's, many people are often left bewildered, not only because they have been diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness but also because of the financial b ... Read More

PHOTO: Child victims

Sunday, July 20, 2014    

Child victims Read More

CPR, then what?

Professor Ernest Madu | Sunday, July 20, 2014    

CPR supervisor at the Heart Foundation of Jamaica Alonzo Mothersill demonstrates how to apply the automatic external defibrillator’s pads to administer the electrical shock.

FROM June 15-21, in recognition of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) week, several articles appeared in the press aimed at educating the population about CPR and encouraging its widespread use to save lives. This is commendable and every effort should be made to inform and equip citizens to take action in the event of a cardiac arrest. This assumes greater relevance in the context that nearly 90 per cent of cardiac arrests occurr at home, making it obvious that the chances of survival for a c ... Read More

Health facilities to generate energy from sewerage system

BY GARFIELD ANGUS | Sunday, July 20, 2014    

Chief executive officer of the Percy Junor Hospital, Manchester, Earl McLaughlin (right) has the attention of (from left): Member of Parliament for North East Manchester, Audley Shaw; Minister of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining, Phillip Paulwell, and Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson as he points out features of the artist’s impression of the hospital, at the recent launch of a $389-million project to generate energy from sewerage systems at six health facilities using technology developed by scientists at the Scientific Research Council (SRC).

IN another 19 months, six health facilities across the island will be able to generate energy from the upgrading of their sewerage system through anaerobic technology developed by the Scientific Research Council (SRC), and funded with a $389-million grant from the National Health Fund (NHF). The anaerobic technology, which is patented by the SRC, protects the environment because of its low carbon process that contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emission and prevents the uncontrolled ... Read More

It is chikungunya!

Friday, July 18, 2014    

HARVEY… ministry will continue with its heightened surveillance

CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Kevin Harvey yesterday confirmed that Jamaica now has its first imported case of the chikungunya virus. A report from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) yesterday confirmed that the sample sent Tuesday is indeed positive for the virus, he said. The case is of an individual who travelled from an affected country and fell ill. "The ministry will continue with its heightened surveillance and will be taking steps to reduce the vector through its vector control pr ... Read More

New equipment for Cornwall Regional Hospital

Thursday, July 17, 2014    

Nicholas Feanny, Sandals Resorts International project manager and Director of the We Care initiative (left), hands over a defibrillator to Dr Dena Kirnon, Head of the Cornwall Regional Hospital's Accident and Emergency Unit (second right) and Gillian Ledgister, acting matron (right), at the hospital recently. Sharing in the moment is Dr Jennifer Dixon, sister of the late Dr Barrington Dixon, who was shot and killed nearly two years go.

MONTEGO BAY, St James — The American-based Grodzin Foundation through The American Friends of Jamaica along with the We Care for Cornwall Regional recently donated a much needed defibrillator valued at over US$7,200 to the Accident and Emergency Ward of the Cornwall Regional Hospital. The donation was made in honour of the late Dr Barrington Dixon, a prominent obstetrician/gynaecologist and former senior medical officer at the hospital. Dixon, widely regarded as an affable humanitarian d ... Read More



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