Tag archives for: prevention,

Schooling adults on the best ways to lose weight and stay healthy
By UHS News Team
Feb. 23, 2018
Categories: Diabetes / Heart Health / News / Research
For more than 20 years, a bilingual school health program known as Bienestar, the brainchild of Dr. Roberto Trevino, has been teaching elementary and middle school students throughout San Antonio and South Texas the skills to stay healthy and avoid the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes. University Health System provided some early funding and support for the work. On Valentine’s Day, Dr. Trevino — director of the Social & Health Research Center in San Antonio — held a news conference at University Health System’s Texas Diabetes Institute to discuss a newly published study that took elements of his Bienestar program …Read More >
Tags: diabetes, Exercise, nutrition, obesity, prevention

Burn hazards are everywhere. Here’s how to keep your kids out of the emergency room
By UHS News Team
Feb. 9, 2018
Categories: Children's Health / Emergency care / News / trauma
University Health System’s pediatric burn program treats more than 300 kids a year from throughout South Texas with painful burns. And during National Burn Awareness Week, our injury prevention team is offering a few tips in the hope of lowering those numbers. The biggest burn hazard for kids in our community? Year after year, it’s hot, sticky microwave noodles and soup. “Across the age spectrum, we see the majority of burns and scalds from hot soups and noodle bowls. It is important that if your kids enjoy eating noodle bowls, you are letting them cool before serving,” said Mandy Fultz, coordinator …Read More >
Tags: burns, kitchen safety, prevention

An awkward conversation
By UHS News Team
June 21, 2017
Categories: Children's Health / Emergency care / News / trauma
Would you be willing to have an awkward conversation with another parent if it might save a life? That’s the premise of the ASK Campaign (Asking Saves Kids), which encourages parents to ask the parents of their children’s friends about access to guns in the home. One out of three homes with children has a gun, and close to 1.7 million children live in a home with a loaded, unlocked gun, by one estimate. The results can be tragic. Thousands of children nationwide are injured and killed by guns each year as a result. “We really want to educate parents …Read More >
Tags: guns, prevention, safety, shooting

A summer camp to keep diabetes at bay
By UHS News Team
June 12, 2017
Categories: Children's Health / Diabetes / News
Diabetes is a major health problem in South Texas, one that tends to run in families. Just as alarming is the large army of children in our community on the path of developing this devastating disease. Camp PowerUp isn’t the only program developed to prevent these kids from developing diabetes, but it might be the most fun. The weeklong summer day camp for high-risk kids started in San Antonio three years ago and has expanded to cities across the country. The kids play games and learn about diabetes, healthy eating and the importance of physical activity to stay healthy. And …Read More >
Tags: camp, diabetes, prevention

With mosquitoes buzzing again, it’s time to reach for the repellent
By UHS News Team
May 8, 2017
Categories: Children's Health / Infections / News / Pregnancy
You may have noticed the buzz. Mosquito season is back in full swing, and with it the concerns about the threat of Zika infection. Bexar County has recorded one confirmed case of Zika in 2017, adding to the 20 cases it reported last year. All the cases so far are thought to be travel-related, with patients infected in places where the infection is circulating. Unfortunately, one of those places is the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which joined Florida last year as the two U.S. regions with local Zika transmission. Last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued new …Read More >
Tags: mosquitoes, pregnancy, prevention

Good things from a community garden
By UHS News Team
March 25, 2016
Categories: Diabetes / News / Wellness
University Health System’s Texas Diabetes Institute celebrated the opening of its new community garden this week by hosting a health fair for National Diabetes Alert Day. The fair offered free glucose screenings, cooking demonstrations and other community resources centered around the garden, the result of a partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank. While TDI has achieved much in serving the community with diabetes treatment, research and prevention, said Theresa De La Haya, senior vice president of community health and service line programs at University Health System, it’s only the beginning. “We still have a big task ahead of us,” …Read More >
Tags: garden, nutrition, prevention

Taking the first step in beating back cancer
By UHS News Team
March 11, 2016
Categories: Cancer / News
Judy Regalado was recovering from colon cancer when her husband Joe started feeling bad. “I was helping a Little League team and I would get really tired, and also I started getting diarrhea often,” Joe Regalado Jr. said. Judy knew how serious this could be. But Joe didn’t want to go to the doctor. He put it off until Judy forced his hand by picking up the phone herself and putting it in his hand. “I dialed and said, ‘Well then, you hang up on them, or you make the appointment.’” While it is recommended that both men and women …Read More >
Tags: colon cancer, colonoscopy, prevention

When a parked car becomes deadly
By UHS News Team
July 21, 2015
Categories: Children's Health / Emergency care / News / trauma
As the summer temperatures rise, so does the risk of danger to children left in hot cars. On Friday, a 2-year-old girl in the Dallas area became the 10th child to die from heatstroke in a vehicle this year in the United States. Awareness is critical in preventing these tragedies — and they are ALL preventable. A new law passed by the Texas Legislature requires hospitals and others who provide prenatal care or deliver babies to inform parents about the dangers of leaving children unattended in hot vehicles. Life-threatening conditions inside a car or truck can develop quickly. In just …Read More >
Tags: car safety, heatstroke, prevention

Paying proper attention to a familiar disease threat

By Dr. Jason Bowling
Assistant professor of medicine, UT Health Science Center; staff epidemiologist at University Hospital
Categories: Blog / Children's Health / Diabetes / Flu / Infections / Pregnancy
It’s been a busy year for scary, emerging infectious diseases around the world, from Ebola virus disease to MERS, to the hard-to-pronounce chikungunya virus. Maybe because they’re new, they’ve gotten a lot of attention in the media and around the water cooler. But as we’re entering the start of this year’s flu season, it’s worth putting these disease threats in perspective. Influenza is also very serious. It kills some 15,000 Americans each year. It puts hundreds of thousands more in the hospital, and infects many millions. The elderly, young children, pregnant women and those with certain chronic illnesses are at …Read More >
Tags: Flu, influenza, prevention, vaccine

When recreation becomes deadly

By Dr. Lillian Liao
Assistant professor of surgery at UT Health Science Center, medical director of pediatric trauma and burns at University Hospital
Categories: Blog / Children's Health / Emergency care
The popularity of all-terrain vehicles, golf carts and other recreational vehicles is on the rise across the country. So is the number of riders — many of them children — who suffer serious injuries and even death. Crashes involving these types of vehicles bring more than 100,000 children and adults to the emergency room each year. A quarter of them are children under the age of 16. And the number of injuries has been rising since the year 2000. In 2008, the most recent year that complete statistics are available, 109 children across the country younger than age 16 died …Read More >