National Blood Donor Month is acknowledged in January each year. President Richard M. Nixon formed the American Red Cross in 1970. January is a time to take notice that blood and platelet donations decrease throughout the previous year making it in short supply for the coming year. Millions of Americans are involved in vehicle accidents, are cancer patients, or organ recipients and rely on donated blood to help save their life. The amount of blood needed to save someone will depend on many factors, such as the extent of injuries, the area that has lost blood, and the plan of...

National Handwashing Awareness Week is observed the first full week of December.  It’s safe to say that our personal hygiene starts and ends with our hands.  Although our parents taught us to always wash our hands before meals, germs don’t care about the time of day.  The bottom line is that washing your hands prevents the spread of illnesses.  It helps to teach your child to wash their hands early on so that they’re in the habit of doing so as they grow up. Washing their hands will improve their immunity and keep them healthy. Thus, it’s extremely important to...

n 2005, the CDC established National Influenza Vaccination Week to emphasize the importance of getting a flu vaccine during the holidays and beyond.  Flu activity typically increases in October and peaks between the months of December and February.  However, flu activity has been known to occur as late as May.  Consequently, the first week of December is the ideal time for getting the vaccine and having ongoing protection. There were over 49 million influenza cases during a recent flu season, more cases than the populations of Florida and Texas combined.  Of all those cases, nearly 1 million individuals were hospitalized...

Of all of the diseases that medicine has yet to find a cure for, Alzheimer’s is considered one of the cruelest on record in that the individual suffering with the disease literally vanishes to the point that they no longer exist.  The month of November is designated as National Alzheimer’s Disease Month to remind us that over 5 million Americans now suffer with this incurable disease. Furthermore, it is the 6th leading cause of death in the US today and the number of cases has more than doubled since 1983 when then President Ronald Reagan declared November as National Alzheimer’s...

The leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women in the US is lung cancer.  As with any type of cancer, the key to surviving the disease is early detection.  Different individuals often manifest different symptoms.  However, most individuals who have lung cancer don’t exhibit any symptoms until the disease is advanced.  The bottom line is that nearly 220,000 people in the US will be told that they have the disease while over 140,000 will die from it. Two Types of Lung Cancer to be Aware of Doctors have divided lung cancer into two primary forms based on the...

National Respiratory Care Week provides important information regarding breathing issues.  While this week highlights the efforts to reduce disabling breathing conditions, it’s also devoted to helping raise public awareness about what can be done to reduce these debilitating lung conditions. Why is this Week so important? National Respiratory Care Week is important for a couple of reasons.  First and most important, it acknowledges and promotes hard-working respiratory therapists on a global scale.  Second, it provides an opportunity to generate more awareness of this outstanding profession.  Unfortunately, these healthcare specialists don’t always get the credit and kudos they deserve.  However, National...