Since moving to another state, I have been suffering from seasonal allergies. This is nothing new to me, during the winter time, and now I am wondering if I have year-round seasonal allergies (sounds like an oxymoron!), or if there is something else I am missing/not telling my doctor?

In my work as an elder care advocate I am often asked to recommend a physician and frequently hear the challenges families face with finding the right physician for their needs. Until my late twenties I did not have a primary care physician (PCP) who I saw on a regular basis. I religiously kept my well women visits with my Ob-Gyn, but never with a PCP. I was one of those women who never got sick, lived at the gym, and had a youthful metabolism that allowed me to love my skinny black dress and ice cream. Why did I need a primary care physician?

We all know walking is great exercise. It helps the heart and lungs, it builds strong muscle and it's good for our bones!

It's also a good social activity. We can walk with friends, catch up with our lives and if you are like me, walking can lead in just the opposite direction. It can be a time to be alone, with no-one talking, no little fingers tugging at me and no-one asking me what's for dinner! I can smell the air, listen to the geese and feel the breeze. Just me and me.

I can also feel my waist line getter smaller and my legs becoming leaner. And who doesn't want that benefit?

Who's your doctor? Google says you're in Phoenix, as I am. The doctors I see here dismiss my previously diagnosed hypopituitarism, symptoms notwithstanding. I need a doctor, pronto.

I have arthritis associated with lupus, and also rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. So, I'm accustomed to dealing with a variety of aches and pains due to these conditions. I'm currently on contract at a State agency and read a wonderful story in this week's newsletter about the agency's Arthritis Program Coordinator.

12% of all our babies will be born prematurely!

Everyone has always known someone who had a preemie (a baby born prior to 37 weeks in the womb) but at this rate, we all know a lot of someones! The Center for Disease Control studied 7 million babies over a decade, in an effort to understand why so many babies are born prematurely and any adverse affects they may experience.

Let's not forget that in most cases a preemie baby is not anyone's fault and in most instances there is nothing that could be done!

I have so much trouble sleeping. Help!

There is nothing new about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Anyone working on an assembly line or typing 8 hours a day can tell you that.

What's different is that Carpal Tunnel Syndrome used to be connected almost solely with one's work. A typist, an assembler, a seamstress.

I am new to this website, I picked up the website from the az republic "Health trials are catalyst for women's medical site"

Things usually go well in the surgery room. Right? Yes, for the most part. But medical mistakes are all too common, causing thousands of deaths in America every year, as well as even more injuries.

One issue is the problem of medical instruments, debris or other objects being left inside the bodies of patients after surgery has been completed.

Almost 5,000 patients have been injured in the last 5 years from having 'medical litter' left in their bodies. 70 people have died.