The night before Jonas Read became a kidney donor, his mother was almost frantic. Dressed in his hospital gown, he mocked her concern: ``Oh, no, you can't go driving around. What if you get in a car accident? No, you can't do this because you're gonna die. No, you can't do that because you're gonna die. Everything was gonna kill me!''
Christopher Dodd tends to a typical patient, Luis Orozco, 52, who had half of his left leg amputated after a cut toe turned into a gangrene infection.
Sarah Palin was a hockey mom, small-town mayor and rising young Republican star in Alaska in 2003 when she ran afoul of her party's establishment as a whistleblower and was cast into the political wilderness.
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NUTRITION
''No, sorry, I'm sensitive to chicken,'' the woman said as she passed by some samples at the Aventura Whole Foods. ''Sensitive?'' I asked. ``You mean you're allergic to chicken?''
NATURAL REMEDIES
Dinah Veeris recalls laughing as a girl when her mother and aunt tried to cure her of minor ailments using herbs and traditional medicines.
Eating healthfully can improve your overall heart health, says the American Medical Association. Do your dietary choices reflect good habits? Here's a quiz from the AMA to find out.
QUICK STUDY
THE QUESTION Sweet drinks appear to pose diabetes risks for black women. People looking for an alternative sometimes choose a fruit drink instead. Is that a wise choice?
FITNESS
It was probably no surprise to the Limas household in Chicago that daughter Arlene grew up to be a fighter. Being raised in a house with four brothers, she said, was like living in a carnival funhouse: You never knew what would spring from around the next corner. The ability to duck or punch or roll was part of the lifestyle.
AGING WELL
Loraine Graveney, 42 Administrative assistant Coral Springs Tipping the scales: I'm just a regular working woman with two college-aged children who decided to take my health and weight into my own hands. In 2006 I noticed I had slowly gained weight. I had stopped going to the gym, then my husband got sick and the stress was more than I ever verbalized. My weight crept up to 206. I tried to get my life back on track last October, but in January I was at 203 pounds.
ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION
The night before Jonas Read became a kidney donor, his mother was almost frantic. Dressed in his hospital gown, he mocked her concern: ``Oh, no, you can't go driving around. What if you get in a car accident? No, you can't do this because you're gonna die. No, you can't do that because you're gonna die. Everything was gonna kill me!''
1 Definition: This condition -- abnormally large, firm breasts on males -- is relatively common and could be mistaken for excess chest fat. It affects newborns, boys going through puberty and older men. Gynecomastia is not considered serious unless it's a sign of a tumor, liver disease or hypogonadism.
1 Explanation: This rare genetic recessive disorder causes rapid premature aging and begins in adolescence or early adulthood. Also known as Progeria of Adulthood, it affects tissue throughout the body and sufferers often look as if they are 20 or 30 years older.
1 What is it: This common disorder occurs when throat muscles relax and cause breathing to repeatedly stop or become very shallow. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and occur up to 30 times an hour. After a pause, normal breathing may resume with a loud snort or choking sound. Sufferers often snore loudly. A University of Wisconsin study published this month shows that over an 18-year period, people with severe, untreated sleep apnea died at a rate more than three times that...
1 What is it? Also known as FOP, it's a rare, genetic disease in which muscle tissue and connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments are gradually replaced by bone. It generally starts with the neck and shoulders and proceeds down the body into the limbs.
Former Medicare official Ruben Jose King-Shaw Jr. to lead All-Med Services Ruben Jose King-Shaw Jr., a former Medicare official and former secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, will become chief executive of All-Med Services of Florida.
All-Med Services of Florida announced that Ruben Jose King-Shaw Jr., a former Medicare official and former secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, will become its chief executive.
PHARMACEUTICALS
When most patients go to the pharmacy to fill a new prescription, they don't think twice about turning over the note from their doctor. After all, how much could the scrawled writing on that tiny slip be worth?
In two unexpected developments, the number of people without health insurance has dropped for the first time in seven years. The reason: More people are getting government coverage, despite the Bush administration trying to curtail certain government programs.
RECALLS
Noven Pharmaceuticals has recalled two more lots containing several hundred thousand Daytrana patches, which are used to treat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
HOSPITALS
Continuing to expand the information available about hospitals, Medicare's health information website has added details about the mortality rates for pneumonia and the care of children.
EMPHYSEMA
English singer Amy Winehouse is no stranger to tabloid headlines -- routinely grabbing attention for alleged drug use, brushes with the law, bizarre onstage behavior and curious fashion choices.
Christian Michael Tellez, 7, thinks ''king of the mountain,'' but the 40-foot rock-climbing wall at the Miami Children's Museum responds ''yo-yo.'' For every step up he takes, he slips back a notch or two.
HEALTH
The pain chased Dalouse Cesard from childhood in Haiti into her adolescence after she moved to the United States. She wondered why she was the one to endure debilitating agony that kept her out of school, put her in the hospital and forced her to sit while her friends played.
ROLE MODEL
Fifty teens from local Miami high schools got the chance to spend some off-court time with Serena Williams, the defending women's singles Sony Ericcson champ. Nike invited the girls to meet with Williams and chat about the advantages and challenges of being a female athlete. Williams lauded the efforts of ``pioneers like Billy Jean King, not to mention all the other great women athletes who really led the way in starting title IX which was really, really important so the female athlete like...
A study finds end-of-life costs in S. Florida are among the highest in the nation
Audio | Interview with Dr. Silvina Levis
