The U.S. healthcare industry has always been subject to change. It's not easy to keep a rising population of about 300 million people healthy. Then you have to consider that as our society changes, our illnesses and need for treatment change, too. The industry has to reflect the changes in our society or we face dire health consequences on a larger scale. One such emergent issue that the healthcare industry must adapt to ...
St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and those celebrations bring green beer and pub crawls. This St. Patrick’s Day, the team of physicians at your local AFC Urgent Care wants to raise your awareness of binge drinking and the harmful effects that it may have on your health. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, binge drinking is defined as a pattern of drinking that brings the blood ...
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, incidences of the mumps have decreased 99 percent since the era before widespread vaccinations. But tell that to the 10 states that have seen outbreaks of the mumps in the past month. So far, there have been 69 reported cases of the mumps this year. It seems to have started in Iowa, but it quickly spread to places like Colorado, Indiana and Massachusetts. The mumps virus ...
It’s the middle of February, which means our New Year’s resolutions are either new habits or fond memories. We at AFC Urgent Care are hoping that one of your resolutions was to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and to help you stay on track, we have compiled a list of things to look out for when you’re evaluating your health. As February is American Heart Month, we’ll go over what could indicate ...
Most medical experts recommend that people have a primary care doctor who knows them well. When a person has an ongoing relationship with a primary care doctor, they get a better quality of care. Unfortunately, too many people use the emergency room for medical care instead. This is one of the most expensive places to get medical treatment for anything. In 2009, the average cost of multiple emergency department trips was about $1,318, and ...
Mosquitoes have always been a source of annoyance and big, itchy, red bites. Usually we only need to worry about them in the summer, but the Zika virus outbreak is causing people to sweat throughout the world. So, what exactly is Zika? We’re here to help you learn everything you need to know about Zika virus. Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus has been known to ...
Mosquitoes have always been a source of annoyance. Usually we only need to worry about them in the summer, but the Zika virus outbreak is causing people to sweat throughout the world. So, what exactly is Zika? We’re here to help you learn everything you need to know about Zika virus. Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. The virus has been known to circulate Africa, the Americas, Asia ...
The United States is one of the most diverse nations in the world. As different as we may seem, our health issues can be very similar. Health care trends tend to be pretty consistent across large swaths of the population, so it’s important to pay attention when one becomes widespread. Your local AFC/Doctors Express can advise you on which conditions should concern you and how to take action to prevent them. The No ...
Here is the second part of our series on flu season! We hope you took our advice from last week and got your flu shot! We’re going to get a bit more into the nitty-gritty about how the flu spreads and what makes the flu vaccine work. So hang on, we’re diving right in! The influenza virus is a respiratory virus, and it spreads primarily through contact with respiratory droplets. However, these droplets ...
