Should You Buy OTC Hearing Aids?
Approximately one out of every eight Americans ages 12 and older has some form of hearing loss. That number increases to 25 percent of those between the ages of 65 and 74, and to 50 percent from age 75 onward. Hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars, which is why our primary care doctors in Delray Beach were pleased that last July President Biden signed an executive order encouraging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids without a prescription. The FDA complied, and this month OTC hearing aids became available at Walmart, CVS,
Because It’s Flu Season, It’s Also Flu Shot Season
Over the last two flu seasons, we saw almost no influenza in the U.S., largely due to the masking and social distancing the pandemic imposed on the world’s population. But since many of these protocols have unfortunately disappeared, our primary care doctors in Delray Beach want you to know that the flu virus is back, and—it appears—even earlier and stronger. “Now that people are out and about without masks, traveling extensively, and once again having vacations, going to restaurants and religious services, and back to school and to the office, there are more opportunities for the [flu] virus to circulate,” William Schaffner,
Dodging Hurricane Dangers—What You Need to Know
Technically, the Atlantic hurricane season concludes at the end of November, but given the effects of global warming, our primary care doctors in Delray Beach know that the old rules may be unreliable. So after seeing the heartbreaking images from Fort Myers and surrounding areas earlier this month, we think it’s not too late to review some hurricane safety tips that could save your life if another storm approaches our coast. Water is the Main Killer While the most impressive videos from landfalling hurricanes are often shots of the damage wind can do, water kills more people in a hurricane than wind. “I don’t
The Pandemic Isn’t ‘Over’ Yet—Caution Still Makes Sense
With all due respect to our president, our primary care doctors in Delray Beach want our patients to know that the pandemic is not “over.” It might be more correct to say we are out of the emergency phase we experienced during the first two years. This is because hospital emergency rooms are no longer overflowing with cases; we now have effective vaccines that can reduce symptoms and save lives, and we have effective treatments that can keep people out of the hospital. However . . . We’re still seeing too many cases of COVID-19 that could have been prevented, while daily deaths
Is Tea the Magic Elixir for Health?
Is tea the second-most popular beverage in the world (after water) because it’s the cheapest? Or because it’s available in so many varieties? Or because tea drinkers instinctively know the many health benefits it provides? Our primary care doctors in Delray Beach think it’s probably a combination of all these factors. But of course, we’re mainly concerned with your health, so we want to bring you up to date on the latest research on this soothing beverage. Longer life? The newest study, published last month in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that drinking two or more cups of black tea daily
What to Know About the New COVID-19 Omicron Boosters
Our primary care doctors in Delray Beach understand that many people are a bit confused about the new COVID-19 booster shots, which include coverage for the omicron subvariants. So we want to answer some of your questions here. Q. How is the new vaccine different? A. The COVID-19 vaccines that have been in use since they were first rolled out in 2021 were all designed to target the original (ancestral) coronavirus strain. Vaccine makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna developed new “bivalent” versions of their mRNA vaccines to specifically target both the original strain as well as the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. “This virus
How to Protect Yourself from Food-borne Illnesses
If you think you can stay safe from an E. coli outbreak simply by avoiding Wendy’s hamburger chain, our primary care doctors in Delray Beach think you need more information. For one thing, it’s not just Wendy’s that has had trouble with contaminated lettuce. For another, it’s not just lettuce that causes E. coli outbreaks, along with other foodborne illnesses. And many of those infections can prove deadly. Widespread contamination Wendy’s restaurants were found to be the source of an E. coli outbreak last month that infected at least 97 people in six states and caused 43 of them to be hospitalized. But the
Polio Is Back—Do You Need Another Vaccination?
The first case of polio in the U.S. in nearly 10 years detected in a New York City suburb this summer has raised alarms among public health officials. Ever since the news broke, our primary care doctors in Delray Beach have been receiving calls from some of our patients, worried that they may be at risk. Those who remember the horrific outbreaks in the 1940s-50s have good reason to be concerned: pictures of people—many of them children—confined to iron lungs to help them breathe; memories of parents crawling along the floor because they were paralyzed; young children in leg braces struggling
This Is Your Brain on COVID-19
In yet another indication many people’s idea that COVID-19 is “no worse than the common cold” is incorrect, a new study published last month in the journal Lancet Psychiatry looked at the longer-term effects of the virus on the brain. It found that those who got COVID-19 had a higher risk of developing such brain disorders as dementia and brain fog up to two years after recovery from the initial infection, compared with those who had other respiratory illnesses. Our primary care doctors in Delray Beach wanted to share this information with you, because we’ve been hearing from so many people lately
Regaining Confidence After a Fall
When you’re a kid and you fall off your bicycle, you’ll probably suffer nothing worse than skinned knees and palms. When you’re older and playing rough-and-tumble sports, you expect to fall. No big deal. But when you’re a senior and you fall accidentally, the stakes are much higher. Not only are our bones more fragile when we’re older, but falls can ultimately prove deadly with age. Even if there are no injuries, however, the residual fear after a fall can linger for weeks or longer. And our primary care doctors in Delray Beach want to assure you that this phenomenon can happen at