918-579-DOCS

Blog

Food Safety Tips For A Healthy Super Bowl Weekend

Super Bowl weekend is here! That means it’s time to gather around the T.V. with friends and family for the most anticipated football game of the year. However, what’s a super bowl party without our favorite game day foods? According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), following Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest food consumption day of the year.

With the big day approaching it is important to practice safe food handling when preparing and serving champion dishes. Each year approximately 48 million Americans suffer from foodborne illnesses.  Food... Read More »

Oklahoma Winter Weather Preparation Guide

It’s that time of the year again for cold temperatures and frosty weather. Winter is well on its way to Oklahoma.

While winter holidays keep our hearts warm, the weather can have the opposite effect on our homes, vehicles, and bodies. If we're not prepared, such weather can put us at a higher risk for injuries and illnesses. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), proper and early planning is the key to staying healthy and safe during this winter weather season.

As we make preparations for what could be dangerously low temperatures, it is necessary for us... Read More »

A Motivating Movember

Utica Park Clinic marketing coordinator, Dave Dallow, started talking to the Hillcrest HealthCare System marketing department about Movember months ahead of time. Truth be told, he was likely thinking about it well before then. Throughout the year, Dave coordinates and strategizes the marketing of Utica Park Clinic health care services and providers available to patients throughout northeastern Oklahoma. Participating in Movember is a perfect fit for that plan during the month of November, when beards and mustaches are grown in support of raising awareness for men’s health. While Utica... Read More »

Heat exhaustion vs. Heatstroke: Know the signs and differences

With the warmest and brightest days of summer upon us, we find ourselves spending more time in the sun. A lot of people are enjoying the outdoors for summer-related activities including exercising, swimming, biking or even playing Pokémon Go!

No matter the activity, as the summer days are longer, it is hotter than any other time of the year. The heat can make an otherwise pleasant, outdoor activity uncomfortable. While being hot is normal, there are important signs and symptoms that could be something more. For a few people, that something more is a heat-related injury or illness.... Read More »

Sunscreen: Where You Might be Missing

The dog days of summer are upon us, and by now nearly everyone has heard the recommendation to apply sunscreen before heading outdoors. Our faces, arms and legs typically receive the most attention for sunscreen, but one place that we need to be mindful of is our hands. Hands are vulnerable to the sun in a variety of ways each day; walking outside and even gripping the steering wheel in the car exposes them to UV rays. These rays can age and damage skin and hands which commonly go without sunscreen.

For years, sunscreen has been believed to provide anti-aging benefits, in addition... Read More »

Urgent Care or Emergency Room – What’s the Difference?

When needing medical attention, sometimes it is not always clear where to go to receive it. There are many factors to consider depending on the situation, such as severity of condition or injury, what time of day the medical attention is needed or type of medical coverage. For example, the best choice might be to go to your primary care physician, an urgent care center or the closest emergency room.

If you have been struggling with allergy symptoms and want to see whether it is something more serious, this would be a case where making an appointment with your health care provider... Read More »

Concern over Zika Builds in Oklahoma

The most recent reports from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) find that more than 350 Americans have contracted the Zika virus, including 31 pregnant women. The vast majority are travel-associated cases. Cases of Zika reported in Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and American Somoa are the only locally acquired cases reported at this time. However, concern continues to build, especially in areas of the country preparing for mosquito season in upcomingweeks, including Oklahoma. Utica Park Clinic physician Dr. Jeffrey Galles joins us on the blog to share what we need to... Read More »

After Losing Mother to Colon Cancer Daughter is Diagnosed

Marjorie Thompson, 67, did not know at the time the grip colon cancer would have on her family when her mother died from the disease at the age of 82. It was 2013. Marjorie was not only mourning the loss of her mother, but also her husband to cancer. The mother of five awoke one morning and quickly noticed something unusual after seeing blood in the toilet. “My first thought was cancer,” she remembers. “We had just lost my mother.”

Marjorie picked up the phone and called her health care provider in Depew, who scheduled an appointment later that day.  She was then referred to a... Read More »

The Myths Holding us Back from Scheduling a Colonoscopy

24 million times someone has made an excuse to not schedule a colonoscopy. That’s how many Americans need to have a colonoscopy but have not done so yet. Colonoscopy is the most accurate screening test for cancers of the colon and rectum. Colon cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer related deaths among men and women in the United States. Yet, colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. When possible pre-cancerous polyps, a precursor to colon cancer, is discovered and removed, the risk of dying from colon cancer is cut by as much as 95 percent. So why do so many people wait... Read More »

Friends for Life and Better Health

Are friends the secret to staying healthy? According to a recent study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the more connected we are socially from a young age, the better our health is throughout our lives. The study linked social relationships with measures of physical health, such as abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and inflammation –risk factors for heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Fostering social relationships early in life is important when you consider the impact of social isolation. Researchers believe social isolation can be more harmful than diabetes... Read More »