Category: 52 Weeks to Health

How Can You Prevent Rabies in Animals? There are several things you can do to protect your pet from rabies. First, visit your veterinarian with your pet on a regular basis and keep rabies vaccinations up-to-date for all cats, ferrets, and dogs. Second, maintain control of your pets by keeping cats and ferrets indoors and keeping dogs under direct supervision. Third, spay or neuter your pets to help reduce the number of unwanted pets that may not be properly cared for or vaccinated regularly. Finally, call animal control to remove all stray animals from your neighborhood since these animals may […]

Our Children – Keep Them at a Healthy Weight One in 3 children in the United States are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity puts kids at risk for health problems that were once seen only in adults, like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. The good news is that childhood obesity can be prevented. In honor of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, the Lake Cumberland District Health Department encourages your family to make healthy changes together. Get active outside: Walk around the neighborhood, go on a bike ride, or play basketball at the park. Limit screen time: […]

Holiday or Buffet Food Safety A popular way to celebrate holidays or any party occasion is to invite friends and family to a buffet. However, this type of food service where foods are left out for long periods leave the door open for uninvited guests — bacteria that cause foodborne illness. Festive times for giving and sharing should not include sharing foodborne illness. Here are some tips from the USDA’s Meat and Poultry Hotline to help you have a SAFE holiday party. Safe Food Handling Always wash your hands before and after handling food. Keep your kitchen, dishes and utensils […]

SUICIDE PREVENTION: Know the Warning Signs of Suicide According to the American Association of Suicidology website, how do you remember the Warning Signs of Suicide? Here’s an easy way to remember: IS PATH WARM? I Ideation, S Substance Abuse P Purposelessness, A Anxiety, T Trapped, H Hopelessness W Withdrawal, A Anger, R Recklessness, M Mood Changes A person in acute risk for suicidal behavior most often will show warning signs of acute risk such as: threatening to hurt or kill him or herself, or talking of wanting to hurt or kill him/herself; and or, looking for ways to kill him/herself […]

The Benefits of Breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman’s breast. Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby’s life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants. During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours. The duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast. Older children feed less often. Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible. Breastfeeding […]

National Immunization Month Immunizations are public health’s great success story with the disappearance of many infectious diseases. Shots may hurt a little, but the diseases they can prevent are a lot worse – some are even life-threatening. Immunization shots, or vaccinations, are essential. They protect against infections like measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A and B, polio, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Immunizations are also important for adults, especially those against pneumonia, influenza and shingles. Your immune system helps your body fight germs by producing antibodies to combat them. Once it does, the immune system “remembers” the germ and can fight it again. Vaccines […]

Healthy Eating on the Run: A Month of Tips You probably eat out a lot—most Americans do. People are looking for fast, easy and good-tasting foods to fit a busy lifestyle. Whether it’s carry-out, food court, office cafeteria or sit-down restaurant, there are smart choices everywhere. Here are 30 tips to help you eat healthy when eating out. Think ahead and plan where you will eat. Consider what meal options are available. Look for restaurants or carry-out with a wide range of menu items. Take time to look over the menu and make careful selections. Some restaurant menus may have […]

Getting preventive care is one of the most important steps you can take to manage your health. That’s because when a condition is diagnosed early, it is usually easier to treat. And regular checkups can help you and your doctor identify lifestyle changes you can make to avoid certain conditions. Use the following link to see what preventive screenings are recommended for your age and gender: Preventive Screenings and Immunizations. While this is not a comprehensive list, these screenings are among the most important. Also listed are needed immunizations. The primary benefit of immunizations are to prevent disease. Immunization is […]

Taking Steps Toward Personal Wellness Often the hardest part of getting started on the journey toward a healthier lifestyle is taking that first step.  A good “first step” can be by simply completing a Health Risk Assessment (HRA).  A HRA is a questionnaire with questions that help determine your current health and your health risks.  There are questions regarding your and your family history of illnesses and medical conditions which can identify health risks for you.  There are questions about your health habits and lifestyle, which can identify areas that you may need to work on to improve. The Lake […]

World Hepatitis Day World Hepatitis Day is recognized annually on July 28th, the birthday of Dr. Baruch Blumberg (1925-2011), who discovered the hepatitis B virus in 1967 and two years later developed the first hepatitis B vaccine. Worldwide, viral hepatitis is among the top 10 infectious disease killers with more than one million people dying each year. These deaths are primarily from cirrhosis or liver cancer caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In fact, chronic hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis C cause approximately 80% of the world’s liver cancer. Many of those who are chronically infected are unaware of their […]