To Your Health Newsletter

For Andrea Walker, weight loss had been a battle she’d fought for years. She would diet, exercise and shed a few pounds – get frustrated and then quit. “I was basically healthy, but uncomfortable at my weight. I was concerned that I would start having weight-related health issues. As I got older, I found it increasingly difficult to lose weight.”

Living through your teenage years with severe acne was bad enough, but now you have scars that no amount of make-up can cover. You’ve heard there is a new technique available that provides noticeable results, but with less downtime than more invasive procedures. Is this treatment right for you?

It started gradually — your eyesight was a bit blurred and wavy, and then you noticed objects in the central part of your field of vision seemed to disappear. A visit to your ophthalmologist confirmed you had macular degeneration – now the leading cause of vision loss in Americans, 60 years of age and older.

You were visiting your mom and she seemed very confused and disoriented. She claimed the retirement home had moved her to a different apartment and she didn’t know why. Fortunately, you knew the reason for her confusion was not to be ignored because you had seen this out-of-sorts behavior before. Your mom hadn’t been moved to a new apartment, but she probably had another urinary tract infection.

You’ve been living with emphysema for years, and every year it gets a little harder to breathe. Your doctor has told you about a treatment that sounds radical, but has results that are hard to ignore. He is talking about lung volume reduction surgery and would like to see if you are a candidate.

You could tell your little one was not feeling well — she had a low-grade fever, was refusing to eat and had tiny blisters in her mouth and on her hands and feet. Her pediatrician said not to worry; it was likely hand, foot and mouth disease and it just needed to run its course. Here are some facts about this viral infection with a name that sounds worse than it is.

Your teenage son begins his day with an energy drink, sometimes has one for lunch and then another while he is doing his homework after school. He says it helps him concentrate better. You are worried this is too much caffeine for his system – and you are right. The caffeinated boost these drinks give can cause a variety of health problems.

The popular cable TV show, Masters of Sex, brings to life the ground-breaking work that Washington University researchers, William Masters, MD, and Virginia Johnson, did in the field of human sexuality in the 1960s.

Your dad prides himself on being active and independent – always the life of the party. But lately you’ve noticed he is becoming forgetful, showing signs of depression and is losing interest in doing the things he loves. While life’s later years can be active and satisfying, sometimes obstacles arise.

Congratulations to the Washington University physicians who are on the Best Doctors List for 2016. Out of over 1,200 St. Louis area physicians on the Best Doctors Inc. list, one in every three BEST DOCTORS is a Washington University Physician. Chosen by their peers, this list identifies outstanding physicians across a range of medical specialties.