Medical Minutes with WISH-TV

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide and stroke is the second. The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association are working to prevent this through their annual Leaders of Impact campaign.

It is a 7-week campaign for hand-selected community leaders to raise money and awareness for cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks and strokes. The money funds research and advocacy to help save lives and improve health equity.

WISH-TV medical expert Dr. Janel Gordon has been nominated for the honor.

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In 2023, around 2 million people were told they have cancer; 610,000 of them died due to it. Now what’s being considered the holy grail of cancer screening could diagnose some cancers earlier than ever and save thousands of lives.

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The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have updated primary guidelines to help people to prevent a first stroke. Every 40 seconds, an American has a stroke, and, every three minutes, an American dies from a stroke. Over 600,000 Americans will have their first stroke this year, a preventable event if underlying risk factors are controlled or eliminated.

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Walking pneumonia rates are higher than the past 7 years, rising since early spring and peaking in August. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that many of the recent ER visits and hospitalization stays for pneumonia have a diagnosis of walking pneumonia, which is uncommon.

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Liver cancer or hepatocellular cancer is the 6th most common cause of cancer and the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In the US, liver cancer is the 6th leading cause of death.

Common risk factors of liver cancer:

•Cirrhosis or liver scarring and it’s underlying risk factors (20% of cases of liver cancer form without cirrhosis present, yet in the presence of or more of the below conditions)

    •Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic       Liver Disease (formerly, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) of which obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol are risk factors

    •Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C (transmitted via body fluids, commonly during sex, childbirth (mother to fetus) or with IV drug use)

    •Alcohol

    •Smoking

    •Aflatoxin (a fungus that may grow on grains and nuts improperly store in hot and humid environments)

Common symptoms of liver cancer:

•None

•Abdominal discomfort

•Abdominal swelling

•Nausea or vomiting

•Gastrointestinal bleeding

•Weight loss

•Loss of appetite

•Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)

•Easy bruising or bleeding

•Persistent itching

•Fatigue

•Fever

Populations at increased risk for liver cancer:

Nationally, the highest rates are seen in Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indian/Alaskan Natives. Rising rates have been noted in the Latinx population.

Globally, rates are actually highest outside the US, in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

Liver cancer prevention:

•Eat whole food, plant-forward nutrition (fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, minimal saturated fat)

•Reduce alcohol intake or abstain https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/about-alcohol-use/index.html

•Get screened for and vaccinated against hepatitis B (infants, children and adults) https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-b/index.html

*Get screened and treated for hepatitis C (no vaccine currently exists and many patients are without symptoms, which often only occur with advanced disease.) https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-c/index.html

•Practice safer sex with regular condom use (including same gender couples)

•Get screened for STDs annually or with every new partner

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The National Institute of Health’s All of Us Research Program is a federally-funded program on a mission to collect health data from one million or more diverse individuals across the U.S. over the course of many years, with the goal of improving precision medicine for us and future generations. The program has partner sites across the nation, as well as a mobile tour, which recently made a stop in Indianapolis.

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Thursday is World Mental Health Day. Observed annually around the world on Oct. 10, World Mental Health Day draws much needed attention to our mental well-being. Historically, across many cultures, mental health has been seen as a taboo topic and discussions surrounding it were and at times still are discouraged.

However, this cannot continue. In the United States, 40 million adults have depression or anxiety. Symptoms must be addressed and treatment should be made available.  

For those who need help, rather urgent or not and do not know where to turn, please call the national help hotline: 988 

Mental health resources

• Be Well Indiana
• Indiana Suicide Prevention
• Indiana Department of Child Services’ Children’s Mental Health Initiative
• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988 or 800-273-8255
• More resources

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Do you find yourself not having time to exercise daily or at all during the workweek? Do you find it easier to dedicate time to exercising on the weekends? If so, you are not alone.

Due to the demands of life, many individuals find it difficult to exercise during the week.

Are the health effects the same whether you workout daily versus one to two days on the weekend?

A recent study by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Hospital, found that the weekend warrior pattern of exercise is associated with lower risk of 264 diseases and is just as effective as more frequent exercise. The study looked at over 89,000 men and women, who wore a wrist activity monitor for one week and were followed for 6.3 years.

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Cold and flu season is not far off, but right now, new parents need to be aware of another respiratory virus called RSV. Almost all children will get it during their first two years, and thousands will have serious complications.Now, a new FDA-approved vaccine can protect your baby, even before the little one is born.

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It’s that time of year again: the dreaded cold and flu season is on the horizon. But lurking in the shadows is a more sinister threat: respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Cases begin to rise in September and is at its worst during the winter. Often dismissed as just another common cold, RSV can be deadly, especially for infants and older people. But do you know the truth about RSV? Ivanhoe separates fact from fiction.

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