Breaking News

Tuesday: Health

Donors help NMU nursing upgrade equipment

MARQUETTE — Through gifts from private donors, Northern Michigan University’s School of Nursing has acquired more advanced equipment that enhances student learning and safety while providing better career preparation for the equipment they will work with after graduation. The $50,000 in purchases include new long-term beds similar to those used in extended care facilities, new medical/surgical beds seen in hospital settings, tables that allow more flexible classroom configurations and IV and urinary catheter models to practice on before dealing with actual patients in a clinical ...

Urology pearls

The 2024 Christmas edition of BMJ (British Medical Journal) was just published. It brings with it the same characteristic light-hearted, joyful, yet still scientific, spirit of the holidays. There were several articles in this year’s BMJ Christmas edition but one in particular caught my imagination unprepared. Ron Dayan from the Department of Neurology at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, and his colleagues, asked an intriguing question: Is artificial intelligence cognitively prepared to replace human doctors? To address this question, it would be helpful to first ...

Health matters

Our more common serious diseases, unlike those of yesteryear, are those of longevity and lifestyle. Consequently, they get a lot of attention, whether it be in the form of research dollars or media headlines. We all know the usual suspects, heart disease, cancer, diabetes. But there are other chronic diseases causing significant illness that don’t get the press coverage. Hyperuricemia should be tops on this list. Like many others at this juncture, you may find yourself unfamiliar with the term. What is it and who the heck gets that? Although far more common than gout attacks, all ...

Artificial turf trend continues in high schools amid safety considerations

LANSING — Artificial turf fields are becoming a hallmark at high schools across the state with the Michigan High School Athletic Association reporting around 100 high schools now playing on them. AstroTurf, one of the largest artificial turf installers in the state, notes that 14 of the 16 ...

Talk with the Doc

Next week, the annual Christmas Holiday will be celebrated throughout the world. It is time when many families and friends will get together as 2024 winds down to the end of the year. It gives us a time to reflect on this past year and look forward to 2025. As we all know, in our great Upper Peninsula, we usually don’t have to be singing the famous Bing Crosby Christmas song, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” A white Christmas in the U.P. this year is almost certainly guaranteed. For those of you who may be traveling by car during this very busy time of year, please be ...

Health matters

Modern medicine has made many advances benefitting our health and wellbeing. Our understanding of disease has progressed tremendously, more so in some fields than others. An examination of life expectancy is evidence of these advances. Prior to the development of antibiotics, before we knew about bacteria and hygiene, many infections were deadly. These days, more people succumb to the chronic diseases of lifestyle as opposed to trauma or infection, as was the case just a few decades ago. The improvements made in operative interventions, aka surgery, has similarly been significant. In ...