Healthcare
Tipping The Scale
Like every dieter, the Kansas City region has made its share of resolutions. We would, collectively, move more and consume less. We would cut down on barbecue and stock up on vegetables. Most significantly, we would halt the alarming increase in obesity among our children. We formed commissions and task forces. Our leaders issued challenges…
Children’s Mercy Hospital Plans Nine-Story Research Tower on Hospital Hill
By Kevin Collison Children’s Mercy Hospital is planning a nine-story research tower at its Hospital Hill campus, continuing a boom of healthcare-related construction in that area. The City Planning Commission is scheduled to review the plan for the 400,000 square-foot building at when it meets Wednesday morning. The building is proposed for a 10-acre site…
Pickleball For All: The Cross-Generational Power Of Play
It’s a bright fall morning in Santa Cruz County, Calif., and the tennis area at Brommer Street Park is overrun with dozens of people. But they aren’t here for tennis. Instead, cadences of pick-pock sounds fill the air as doubles players — many in their 50s and older — whack yellow Wiffle-like balls back and…
How Messing With Our Body Clocks Can Raise Alarms With Health
Research that helped discover the clocks running in every cell in our bodies earned three scientists a Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday. “With exquisite precision, our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day,” the Nobel Prize committee wrote of the work of Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and…
Beans Add Healthy Fiber And Protein To Gluten-Free Pastas
Pastas made from starches like rice are a boon for those with celiac disease and wheat allergies. The downside: Many spike blood-sugar levels. What to do? Look toward bean-based options.
Feeding the Mind
Education and nutrition go hand in hand. If a child is hungry or malnourished, it’s a good bet they can’t concentrate on their studies. That premise underpins the federal school-lunch and school-breakfast programs, which provide free- or reduced-price meals to millions of at-risk students each year. So, class breaks are a challenge for families that…
Death Linked To Bourbon Virus Raises Questions About Tick-Borne Diseases
Tammy Wilson loved the outdoors and was happy to spend her days working at Meramec State Park in the central part of Missouri. Her family often stopped by to see her, most recently at the end of May “My mom had two seed ticks on her hip – I believe it was her right hip,”…
Scientists Aim For Better, Cheaper Tests For Alzheimer’s
The goal is to find accurate, painless tests that can help doctors diagnose Alzheimer’s early and track the progression of the illness and any response to treatment. A few tests seem promising.
Female Athletes Are Closing The Gender Gap When It Comes To Concussions
Gina “Danger” Mazany is a professional mixed martial arts athlete, and she’s helping researchers learn more about head injuries and the female brain.
Hospital Chaplains Deliver Spiritual Care
Right from birth, this baby was sick, in trouble. “Her mother immediately asked for prayer and was very optimistic,” Kathie Knehans, then a chaplain at Children’s Mercy Hospital told me. So Knehans prayed with the family. And even when no family members were present, Knehans, now retired, visited the child and prayed. When the still-hospitalized…