Category Archives: Health & Wellness

Bad Tick Season May Lead to More Lyme Disease

By: Dr. George Cavanagh

Following a mild winter, Maryland’s tick population was expected to explode this summer. This could lead to a record number of Lyme disease infections in 2019.

Warmer winters allow black-legged ticks, which are the chief carriers of Lyme disease, to remain active longer and spread the illness into new regions of the country. Maryland gets about 1,300 cases of Lyme disease each year, but that number may climb this year.

Lyme Disease Symptoms

Bites from infected ticks often leave a bull’s-eye-shaped rash: a red spot surrounded by white and red circles. Symptoms of Lyme disease include flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, fatigue, body aches and headache), facial paralysis and swollen knees. If left untreated, Lyme can progress to more serious issues like memory problems, heart rhythm irregularities and chronic arthritis.

Not every tick bite leads to Lyme disease, especially if you get them off soon, but if you are bitten by a black-legged tick, see your doctor for antibiotics to treat the illness.

Tips for Prevention

Avoid areas with high grass, brush and leaf clutter.
Wear light-colored clothing, long sleeves and closed-toe shoes when hiking. Tuck your pants into your socks, too.
Use insect repellent containing permethrin to treat your clothes and shoes. Use repellent with DEET, picaridin or IR3535 on your skin
If you’ve been in a tick-prone area, thoroughly check your body for ticks and shower as soon as possible once indoors.
Put your clothes in the dryer on high heat for at least 10 minutes to kill any ticks on them.
If you find a tick, remove it with tweezers immediately.
Call your doctor if you experience any of the symptoms listed above after removing a tick.
Check dogs and cats for ticks frequently, and ask your veterinarian about tick preventives.

As a general rule, if you spend time outdoors in an area prone to ticks, assume you’ve picked one up. Do a thorough check when you’re back indoors and remove any ticks immediately.

Dr. Cavanagh is a Maryland Primary Care Physicians partner and is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. He sees patients in MPCP’s Bowie office.

Well-Child Visits: Foundation for a Healthy Life

A Q&A with Dr. Jamie Harms

Dr. Harms explains why children, like adults, should see their doctor for annual checkups.

Q: My child isn’t sick. Why should they get a checkup?

A: A yearly checkup – known as a “well-child visit” ─ helps monitor your child’s development and can spot potential health problems. The visits also help your child develop a positive relationship with their doctor, a relationship that will become the foundation of good health care throughout your child’s life.

Most parents are good about bringing babies and preschoolers in for regular appointments, but after children start school, visits tend to drop off. When that happens, we miss a lot of opportunities to help kids grow up healthy.

Q: What happens during a well-child visit?

A: We track your child’s growth and development, including their vision. It’s surprising how many kids start school with vision problems, which can impact their ability to learn. We can help detect issues so kids can do well in school.

Children change a lot in 12 months, and we can tell you what to expect in the coming year. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s health, we can answer your questions and direct you to health resources.

We can help teach your child good health habits, like eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and balancing screen time with active play time. The annual visit is also a good place for kids to learn how to deal with social pressures they will encounter at various ages, including relationships, drinking and drugs.

Q: What else happens in the appointment?

A: We will make sure your child receives any needed immunizations, including measles, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and influenza (flu). Kids who don’t see their doctor regularly miss these vaccines and are at higher risk for serious illness. In fact, many college-age kids have missed important immunizations, even though some diseases are most likely to occur in the teenage years, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and meningitis.

Q: What problems do you typically see?

A: There’s a big problem with children not getting enough physical activity. With too much time spent watching TV, playing video games or being on their phones, many kids don’t build bone strength or develop good cardiovascular health. Inactivity during childhood can lead to serious problems later, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Also, some of the kids we see don’t get enough sleep. We live a crazy 24-hour society, and children get drawn into that. Kids ages 6-13 need 9-11 hours of sleep each night, and teens need 8-10 hours. Lack of sleep can cause emotional and behavioral problems and poor performance in school.

Q: When should my child get a checkup?

A. It’s a helpful reminder to schedule the visit near your child’s birthday each year. And many MPCP offices have extended hours, so you don’t have to pull your child out of school.

Setting good health habits early makes a real difference. The whole idea of staying healthy starts with seeing the doctor once a year. It’s never too early to start building a healthy life.

Why You Need a Checkup (Even If You Feel Fine)

By: Manuel Skow, P.A.

If you feel okay, you don’t need to see the doctor, right?

Wrong. An annual checkup with your primary care doctor should be part of your regular health routine, just like exercise. Here are five good reasons to schedule a checkup, even if you feel fine.

1. Staying healthy

Keeping up to date with vaccinations and screenings is basic to good health. Vaccinations can prevent some serious diseases, such as measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, German measles, mumps, tetanus, rotavirus, the flu and even cervical cancer. And screening tests are done to detect potential diseases in people who do not have any symptoms, leading to the early identification of serious conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and cancer. Early detection is important because it provides the best opportunity for a cure.

2. Knowing your numbers

Do you know your numbers? They include:

Blood pressure
Cholesterol level
Blood sugar level
Body mass index

High blood pressure and blood sugar, and unhealthy weight and cholesterol, greatly increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease. Also, if you have prediabetes or diabetes, you must carefully monitor your number to control the disease and improve the quality of your health.

Your doctor can help you learn your numbers and take steps to keep them in a healthy range.

3. Creating a medical record

Annual visits to the doctor are a chance to update your personal medical record. This record helps your doctor keep tabs on your health and monitor any issues you have. Also, if you are hospitalized in an emergency, having access to your medical records can reduce unnecessary testing, prevent allergic reactions, and help you get the best care possible.

4. Building a doctor-patient relationship

This relationship doesn’t just happen. It takes several visits for your doctor to really understand you, and for you to feel comfortable with your doctor. A good relationship is important because it can affect any treatment you receive, such as whether you can take certain medications.

5. Low-cost prevention

Most health insurance covers an annual checkup, including lab tests. There may be a small co-pay, but this is usually minimal. For one low fee, your doctor can assess your health, discuss your needs and concerns, and help you head off potentially serious health issues.

Has it been more than a year since your last checkup? Call your MPCP office today to set one up and get started on your healthier future.

Manuel Skow, Physician Assistant, received his Master of Science/Physician Assistant degree from St. Francis University, and completed his Physician Assistant Preceptorships in Primary Care at the U. S. Naval Academy Brigade Clinic and Internal Medicine/Cardiology at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He sees patients in MPCP’s Glen Burnie office.

Got Friends? You’ll Live Longer

People with strong social networks tend to be healthier, live longer and are happier.

By: Andrea C. Cuniff, M.D.

You’re probably familiar with the social benefits of friendship. Our friends:

Increase our sense of belonging and purpose
Boost our happiness and reduce our stress
Improve our confidence and self-esteem
Help us cope with trouble, such as serious illness, job loss or the death of a loved one

Now, there’s a growing body of research showing that strong friendships can also improve your health. Adults with good social support have a reduced risk of many significant health problems, including depression, high blood pressure and obesity. Women have better odds of surviving ovarian and breast cancers, and both sexes live longer after surviving a heart attack.

In fact, a recent study of older adults found that those with large circles of friends lived 20% longer than others with fewer friendships.

Despite the proven benefits of friendship, many of us find it difficult to maintain existing relationships or make new ones. In our busy lives, time with friends takes a backseat to jobs, children and other responsibilities. Or maybe you moved to a new community and haven’t met many people yet.

It’s also important to remember that when it comes to friendship, quality counts more than quantity. It’s good to have a big circle of friends, but you also want to cultivate a few truly close ones who will always be there for you.

Nurturing friendships

Maintaining friendships takes time and effort. Try these tips to keep your existing relationships healthy:

Practice kindness. Think of friendship as an emotional bank account. Each kind deed and word is a deposit into this account, while criticism and negativity reduce the balance.
Listen closely: Ask what’s going on in your friends’ lives and pay close attention to their responses. When they share details of hard times, be sympathetic but don’t give advice unless they ask for it.
Open up about yourself. Being willing to disclose personal experiences and concerns shows that your friend holds a special place in your life, and it deepens your connection.
Show that you can be trusted. Follow through on commitments you’ve made. When your friends share confidential information, keep it private.
Make yourself available. Building a close friendship takes time. Make an effort to see new friends regularly, and to check in with them in between.

Making new friends

It’s just as important to expand your circle of friends. Look at your existing social network for possible new connections. Think about people who:

You’ve worked or taken classes with
You’ve been friends with in the past but have lost touch
You’ve enjoyed chatting with at social gatherings
You share family ties with

If anyone stands out, reach out. Extend an invitation to coffee or lunch, or ask a mutual friend to introduce you. You will need to be persistent, and you may need to meet a few times before you can tell if this new relationship will work out.

Other good ways to make friends include:

Attend community events: Look for groups or clubs that gather around an interest or hobby you share.
Volunteer: You can form strong connections when you work with people who have mutual interests.
Join a faith community: Attend special activities and events for new members.

Starting and keeping friendships takes time and commitment. But it’s an investment that can pay off in better health and a happier life for you and your friends.

Dr. Andrea Cuniff received her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed her residency program in Family Medicine at Franklin Square Hospital Center. She is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and sees patients at MPCP’s Annapolis office.