When you visit Hancock Regional Hospital or a surgery center, your health care team wants to make sure your experience is a good one for you and your family. In addition to ensuring you’re satisfied with your visit; your safety is of utmost concern. This is where you play an important role as a key member of your care team.

During and after your visit, there are a number of things you can do to help ensure your safety, while preventing mistakes and injuries from occurring. You should:

· Inform your doctors and nurses – completely and truthfully – about:

o Your overall health and medical history.

o Implanted medical devices you have.

o All medications or supplements you take.

o Allergies you have to medications, foods, or materials like latex.

o Allergic reactions you or family members have had to anesthesia.

o Tobacco or nicotine product use.

o Alcohol and/or recreational drug use.

If you ask most people, they will tell you that a heart attack is a sudden, severe and extremely painful event, in which the person grabs his or her chest and falls over. In reality, many heart attacks begin as a mild pain or discomfort. Plus, symptoms can come and go.

Most people don’t realize heart attack warning signs can be different for women when compared to men. Women’s symptoms are not as predictable as men’s.

Common symptoms of heart attack in men:

• Chest pain or discomfort located in the center of the chest – causing a sensation of heaviness, tightness, fullness, pressure, squeezing, aching, burning or numbness that lasts for more than a few minutes, or comes and goes.
• Pain or discomfort in other areas – one or both arms, shoulders, back, neck, jaw, or teeth.
• Stomach discomfort that m... Read More »

Do you smoke? Are you overweight or obese? Are you physically inactive? Do you have diabetes, abnormally high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure or a family history of heart disease? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you are at risk for coronary artery disease (CAD).

Even if you have no symptoms for CAD, a cardiac computed tomography (CT) scan can help your doctor determine if you have a build-up of calcified plaque on the walls of your coronary arteries. These arteries supply your heart with blood and oxygen. Calcium, which is a sign of CAD, can build up in your arteries along with fat and o... Read More »

Stroke is the No. 4 cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. Therefore, it’s important to learn the warning signs of stroke, so you can save your, or a loved one’s, life by getting immediate treatment.

A stroke occurs when a blood clot or a ruptured artery or blood vessel severely reduces or blocks blood flow to a part of your brain. The lack of oxygen and glucose to the brain leads to the death of the affected brain cells. This brain damage causes speech, movement and memory impairments.

The symptoms of stroke can vary depending upon if it’s caused by a blood clot or bleeding, the location of the brain damage, and how bad it is. Symptoms can occur suddenly and without warning, or intermittently for the fi... Read More »

Did you gain weight over the holidays? Were you already overweight to begin with? If so, you’re not alone, about 68 percent of Americans are overweight or obese.

In order to successfully lose weight, you must make long-term changes to your diet and lifestyle habits. But how do you do that?

· Follow a low-fat, low-carbohydrate, calorie-controlled food plan. Generally, by cutting 500 to 1000 calories a day, you can lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. But, don’t let your total calorie intake go below 1,200 a day for women and 1,400 for men; otherwise, you won’t get the nutrients your body needs. Talk with your doctor about the right diet for you, based upon your specific medical needs.

· Keep track of what you eat in a food diary to control mindless eating.

· Eat several small meals a day, rather than 2 or 3 big meals, to keep from feeling hungry and overeating.

· Watch yo... Read More »