Health care is a collaborative effort: Medical professionals and their patients must work together to achieve good outcomes. But there are outside factors that can frustrate these efforts. One such factor is a lack of decent housing for many patients. There are a surprising number of Georgians who leave their doctors’ appointments — or check out…
Rampant opioid addiction — with a high number of overdoses as a result — continues to be a public health crisis for Georgia and the entire nation. Dr. Douglas M. Blackmon and Dr. David Paine, two Atlanta ophthalmologists and professors, write in a new Commentary for Georgia Health News that excessive prescription of opioids for…
By Gerdeen Dyer Herman Cain, the Atlanta-based business executive, broadcaster and former presidential candidate, has died a month after it was revealed that he had been hospitalized with COVID-19. His organization announced his passing on its website Thursday. “Herman Cain ― our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us ― has…
There’s no question that the COVID-19 emergency is getting on people’s nerves. They’re worried and often scared, uncertain of what will come next. Bernard In a new GHN Commentary, Jack Bernard and Dr. Doug Skelton remind us that the psychological pressure we feel is understandable. Big disruptions in life cause stress, and you can’t just shrug off…
First, here’s the reminder: When you go to bed Saturday night, set your clock back one hour. At 2 a.m. Sunday, Georgia will make its annual autumn switch from Daylight Saving Time (DST) to Standard Time. Most of the nation will be doing the same. The “extra” hour means a bit more sleep for many…
More than most tragedies, suicide should be preventable. But thwarting it can prove terribly difficult as the causes and warning signs often go unrecognized. In fact, the rate of suicides has gone up recently, and though the increase in Georgia is not as great as the one nationwide, it is cause for alarm. September is…
Late last year, when Maggie Katie Brown Kidd of Clayton County celebrated her 114th birthday, news reports described her as the oldest living Georgian, the oldest living African-American and the 10th-oldest person in the world. She’s been moving up since then. A recent check of online resources about supercentenarians — people 110 and older —…
Former President Jimmy Carter, a Georgian, is in the news for a health milestone: As of Thursday, he has lived longer than any other president in our history — 94 years and 172 days. He surpasses another former president, George H.W. Bush. who died this past November at 94 years and 171 days. Having successfully battled cancer…
Some health stories from Georgia are not particularly big or particularly new. But that doesn’t mean they’re not interesting. Here are a few things we think are worth noting, with illustrations to help you remember them. The founder with a big heart: James Oglethorpe’s concern for public health was one reason he founded the colony of…
In the past few years, most states have expanded their Medicaid rolls under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Georgia’s executive and legislative leaders have stood adamantly against doing so, saying it would be too costly. Lately, some states have worked out arrangements with the federal government to enact less conventional forms of…