Section Health & Wellness

I Can See Clearly Now

Regular eye exams can catch serious issues early on, helping you avoid permanent vision damage.

NO-BRAINER

Endoscopic brain surgery is a quick procedure with less risk and a quicker recovery, and it’s finally available here in Lafayette.

AN APP FOR THAT

Acadiana moms can now download a smartphone application designed just for them.

HEALTHCARE HOMECOMING

Women’s & Children’s Hospital welcomes back Acadiana’s only board-certified pediatric surgeons and neurologist.

Holding the Front Line

With a massive shortage around the corner, LGMC’s Nurse Residency Program aims to keep first-year nurses from fleeing.

The Power of Food

There is a big difference between a food allergy and food sensitivity, but there is an easy way to tell what’s ailing you.

The Legacy

Dr. Harold Chastant is still making house calls at 93.

HOT IN FITNESS

There is a lot of newness on the local workout horizon, so much so that what’s old is new again.

A Stent in Time

Drug-eluting stents are tiny mesh tubes that physicians use to prop open clogged arteries in order for blood to flow freely to the heart. The stents are usually composed of three parts: a metal structure, a drug coating that helps the body accept the stent after it has been implanted and a polymer that helps deliver the drug to the body.

‘Telehealth for Tots’ Tackles Truancy

The St. Martin Parish School Board has just launched its first telemedicine clinic, called Telehealth for Tots, to provide easier medical access for students at rural locations via telecommunications.

First, Let Me Get a Nose Job

"There can be no bad pictures” just may be the mantra of a social-media influenced generation that’s perfected the selfie. The results: an increase in plastic surgery across the board from bigger booties to bigger lips. Doctors like local ENT/ plastic surgeon Jeffrey Joseph see a direct connection between some patients and social media pressures.

Slow Fade

You can prevent Type 2 — and you can also manage the disease if it’s already creeped up on you.

Breast Health

New screening recommendations could hamper early detection efforts, one local doc says.

HEALTH BRIEFS

The alliance is composed of hospitals nationwide that are committed to advancing women's heart health via a partnership that seeks to ensure that women with heart disease in every community have access to information, education and patient support services.

EDWARD LAFLEUR, MD VIP

A new membership program gives patients and doctors a more personalized approach to treatment.

OPEN ARMS

At Women’s & Children’s Hospital, getting newborns into their mothers’ arms quickly is priority No. 1.

PACE LAFAYETTE

Program for Allinclusive Care for the Elderly, or PACE, caters to low-income seniors living in the community to provide a central location for delivery of their health care in a more social, adult day-care atmosphere.

It’s All In Your Head

There is new hope for traumatic brain injury sufferers, thanks in part to a local man who refused to give up.

Wrap It Up

Tummy tightening can happen in no time.

Shaping Up

A new hand-held ultrasound device is killing fat cells and slimming trouble areas.

Pump Up the Volume

Doctors have long been nipping and tucking patients toward the fountain of youth. And often missing is the one big factor that keeps us all looking young — volume.

Hair Gain

A new minimally invasive hair transplant system called NeoGraft allows patients to regrow hair with very little downtime.

Your Best Shot

In the battle to immunize children, experts are noting that the very adults preaching vaccinations may not be getting them at all.

Helmet safety

There's no doubt the life of Grace Turner, 14, of Lafayette is not what she or her parents envisioned. In August of 2014 she was in a go kart accident that should have killed her. Today, she's alive

What’s Up, Doc

From new cancer centers to clinical trials, 2014 was a year of medical advancement throughout Acadiana. We’ve rounded up some of the year’s biggest moments in health care that run the gamut from the tiniest patient to those in congestive heart failure.

Making MAKOplasty

A new surgical procedure allows docs to do an operation virtually — on the computer of a robot — before the patient even comes into the OR.

Pillow Talk

A new device — much like a “cardiac fitbit chip”— transmits critical health info to your doc while you sleep.

The Cost of Art

Bonin finding a way through the issue wasn’t a question. She knew there had to be a balance to keep her art and protect her health. She called on fellow artist and friend Joshua Murrell. The Grammy winner (for his work on Terrance Simien’s award-winning album) himself makes instruments that often use dangerous materials to coat the finished product.

The good fight

Stage 4 vet takes on cancer and reminds us all what it really means to get involved.  Rachel Wickman isn‘t the woman who would get breast cancer, but she did. And once she did, she was told she would...

Don‘t Stop Believing

Race for local woman rocks the ‘80s. Allison Walters doesn‘t look like the face of ovarian cancer. In April the 37-year-old headed to the emergency room after feeling off for a month and having...

Root of the Matter

Dental implants that stay put Dental implants aren‘t what they used to be. What some in the industry consider the single largest development in dentistry since first arriving in the 1970s at an office...

A change in image

The new tool for breast cancer detection Early detection is more than half the battle in breast cancer cases. Finding cancer in the earliest stages makes a difference, for most women, in whether they...

Happy Feet

A new tool to beat runner‘s pain A sock can actually change your life. Plantar fasciitis can be brutal for a runner - severe pain some compare with a broken foot that sends many to the doctor for...

Health Out of the Box

Healing the whole person Dr. Elizabeth McLain has some revolutionary ideas about health. The family and internal medicine doc with Lafayette General‘s physician group - Lafayette General...

It‘s About Time

State pushes to improve outcomes for premature babies Louisiana is making a renewed effort to help our smallest citizens - babies born between 34 and 36 weeks - after garnering an "F" from...

Hitting Pause

More Americans than ever are trying to stop the aging clock. In 2013, Americans spent more than $12 billion on cosmetic procedures, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery....

HERE COMES THE SUN

The young face of skin cancer Lindsey Rue is only 24 years old, but she knows the difference a week can make. The difference a month can make. She knows the power of one simple choice. Of listening to...

Spanx? No thanks

Could shapewear be hazardous to your circulation and digestive health? We all want the perfect body but also like to eat - a lot. Because of the latter, many of us often find ourselves reaching for...

Up in Smoke

CVS stops tobacco sales In February CVS announced that within months it will no longer sell tobacco products. And smokers everywhere likely headed down the road to another drug store. And yet, the...

Worth the Wait

New standards curb elective induction We are a culture of planners. We have apps to plan every second of our vacation and we have calendars on every device. Childbirth doesn‘t fit into the carefully...

The Sweet Spot

Could carbs - read sugar - be among the biggest culprits in heart disease? The inflammatory response is a life-saving feature our bodies are equipped with to help fight intruders, like bacteria, by...

Ring the Bell

Amid new concerns, more measures are in place to protect student athletes from the devastating effects of concussions. Josh Williford won‘t play football again. Concussions, this LSU guard knows, can...

Finding the Balance

Holistic health services in Acadiana offer natural alternatives to relieve countless ailments with little to no side effects. Holistic health services in Acadiana offer natural alternatives to relieve...

Veggie Veggie, Fruit Fruit

These are more than just accessories for Carmen Miranda; these foods help recharge for health. These are more than just accessories for Carmen Miranda; these foods help recharge for health. By Kari...


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