Science, Health, Tech

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated March as National Kidney Month.

Over 26 million Americans have kidney disease and most don’t know it since there are no symptoms.

Additionally, 1 in 3 Americans is at risk for kidney disease and one in nine American adults today is living with some level of kidney disease.

Cancer research advocates gathered on Tuesday in Washington to urge legislators to invest more in cancer research.

The American Cancer Society Action Network and Stand Up To Cancer teamed up to launch the “One Degree” campaign, based on the idea that all of us are connected to someone who has had cancer, to increase funding for cancer research. They demand that Congress put $6 billion dollars into medical research at the National Institute of Health over two years, including $1 billion dollars for the National Cancer Institute.

Adolescence is a time of critical development, when mental and physical needs grow more complicated and challenging. If help dealing with them can’t be found at home, the school environment can have a powerful impact on teenagers needing assistance to cope.  

That’s the idea behind building school-based health centers. When Middletown High School became the first Delaware school to open a health center in 1985, it was staffed with a clinical social worker, nurse practitioner and registered dietician. At the time, there were only 50 other school-based health centers in the country.

In 2012, following a wave of suicide attempts by young people that swept across Kent and Sussex Counties, Gov. Jack Markell took steps to bolster the mental health services available to teens and adolescents.

His administration helped increase tenfold the number of behavior health consultants placed in public middle schools, vastly improved intervention training and worked to address the shortage of qualified professionals. But faced with limited funds and resources, the Markell administration looked to outside organizations to play a role.

DNREC’s Emergency Response Team is continuing to oversee the cleanup Monday of a cargo-ship oil spill last week at the Port of Wilmington.

Environmental contractors under DNREC and U.S. Coast Guard supervision will conduct cleanup operations along 1,500 feet of shoreline in New Castle. The spill also affected smaller areas of the Delaware River north and south of Battery Park.

Delawareans who missed the deadline to sign up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act Marketplace may still have a chance to avoid a penalty.

The state Department of Health and Social Services says residents who missed the February deadline to avoid a penalty have from March 15 to April 30 to sign up for health coverage.

The state Division of Public Health reported a confirmed case of Vancomycin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus, or VRSA, in New Castle County Thursday.

DPH says the 67-year old patient had extensive underlying conditions and is currently being treated on an outpatient basis. The patient is expected recover.

VRSA is extremely rare, and no human-to-human transmission has ever been documented in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which confirmed the VRSA case, say it is only the 14th recorded case of the infection in the country.

The FDA recommends that we limit our sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams a day. But the average American consumes a daily amount of 3,400 milligrams.

Physicians have long warned us that too much salt can be a lot of trouble when it comes to high blood pressure. But researchers at Christiana Care Health System and University of Delaware say that after reviewing over a hundred studies, the adverse effects of salt can also be seen in our organs.

Whether you’re someone who enjoys sunbathing down at Cape Henlopen, fishing in the Inland Bays or even walking your dog along the Christina River, chances are that you might care about the state of Delaware’s waterways.

Brenna Goggin, advocacy manager at the Delaware Nature Society, said that this is the idea behind a new clean water campaign that they’re launching with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and the Center for the Inland Bays. These local groups are looking to engage with recreationists and educate them about water quality.

Rushed to the emergency room, the infant had been vomiting greenish-colored material, which could indicate a possible bowel obstruction. “That’s a surgical emergency,” said Dr. Nicholas Slamon, a specialist in pediatric critical care at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington.

The emergency room swiftly requested a transport to the children’s hospital, part of the Nemours Health System. A specially trained nurse was dispatched to accompany the child.

Linwood Worthington’s parents always made sure he received regular dental care while he was growing up.  But when he became an adult, he discovered that the dental insurance that came with his job didn’t go very far. Moreover, when he became unemployed after relocating to Delaware in 2005, he learned that his Medicaid benefits excluded dental altogether.  His teeth suffered.  But then a friend told him about Hope Medical Clinic in Dover which offers free non-emergency treatment and consultations to low-income adults.