Health

Be good to your body

Each of us only gets one body in this life, so we need to value it and treat it well. With each passing day comes an opportunity to be good to our bodies. People tend to value and work hard to maintain material things. There should be even more emphasis on valuing our...

COVID-19 travel tips

Travellers boarding international flights from Jamaica to the US, Canada, and the UK, must now show proof of a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter. Different countries have different requirements on what type of testing is permitted, and what the quarantine...

Explainer: Why men can't buy the morning after pill

Thirty-seven-year-old Kenny thought he was being a good husband by offering to run to the pharmacy for his wife. She needed emergency contraceptives, often referred to as the morning after pill. He went to several pharmacies but none would allow him to make the purchase.

Bridging dental gaps

If you have one or more missing teeth, you are not alone. Finding the right replacement is the key to a confident smile, and one of the most popular options is dental bridges. Bridges are solely used to replace missing teeth. They have two crowns – one on either end – and a...

New year, new diet

EVERY year, more than 50 per cent of people make new year's resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, work out, save money, get a promotion, get a raise, and more. And yet, virtually every study shows that around 80 per cent of new year's resolutions will get abandoned toward the end of...

How healthy are you?

Many of us equate feeling good with being healthy, lulling ourselves into a false sense of security. After all, we often hear of people who have never complained of being sick yet they die suddenly. This is often the case with many whose lives end with a heart attack without the...

Meet your prostate gland

Approximately 30 per cent of the practice of a urologist is dedicated to treating diseases of the prostate gland. This organ attracts a lot of attention because of cancer cases and related public education campaigns. However, many people are unaware of the location and...

'Help! I'm having a heart attack'

It is all too familiar for many of us in Jamaica: we know or have heard of someone with chest pain who was later diagnosed with a heart attack. The thought of a heart attack (myocardial infarction) can be quite scary, especially if fatal. We will discuss the condition today by providing...

8 tips for effective health & fitness goals

It's a new year and as we painstakingly add our health and fitness goals to our list of new year's resolutions, we shudder at the thought of failing to follow through on this one goal yet again. One in three resolution-makers hopes to achieve a health-related goal, whether it is to...

Dental choices for a new year

Dental health is an important part of your overall wellness, and the new year is a great time to create resolutions for improving your health. Many people have dental health resolutions that range from improving tooth brushing habits to completing delayed dental...

Banish body odour

Not only is it unpleasant to interact with people who have strong body odour, it is considered offensive to point it out to strangers and can be awkward for one friend to tell another.

Mental fitness tips for 2021

The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought mental well-being into sharper focus with individuals and organisations forced to encourage mental resilience as an important component of overcoming the challenges faced. Here are a few tips that may help us achieve and maintain mental...

How COVID-19 took over the world in 2020

Almost no place has been spared — and no one.

COVID-19-killing UV-LED light coming, say Israeli researchers

Researchers at Tel Aviv University claim to have shown that the coronavirus can be killed efficiently, quickly, and cheaply using ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (UV-LEDs). They believe that the UV-LED technology will soon be available for private and commercial use.

Get your heart ready for 2021

With all the COVID-19 safety protocols that became a way of life for many of us in 2020, and the discovery of effective vaccines, we hope the novel coronavirus will be eradicated soon. Meanwhile, from the eyes of a cardiovascular surgeon, it seems that cardiovascular disease remains a...