A Healthy You

Some types of cancers can be found before they cause any symptoms. The process of checking for cancer before it causes symptoms is called a cancer screening. Cancer screenings can help find cancer in the earlier stages when the cancer is most often easier to treat. For this reason, there are screening recommendations. Unfortunately, no single test can detect all types of cancers, and some cancers don’t have any type of screening. Breast cancer is one of the types of cancer women can be screened for. Most women should follow the general recommendations for breast cancer screening listed below. If you have a family history of breast cancer or have the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, you may need to get screenings at a younger age or more often. Talk with your health-care provider about the best time to start breast cancer screening.   Types of Breast Cancer Screenings There are...

Madison is dedicated to the health and welfare of both our community and our workforce. This summer, Madison employees and families walked 3.25 laps around the world through a voluntary walking team challenge. September 7th, we ended this summer’s walking challenge with a party in Smith Park with music, dinner, trout fishing, inflatables, and more. Overall, our accomplishments include: 3.25 laps around the globe in 16 weeks 80,847 Miles 161,693,163 Steps Dr. Clark had 42,248 steps in one day We started out with 18 teams of 9, and successfully finished with 15 teams (we lost teams in the Amazon Rainforest, Sahara Desert, and the Bermuda Triangle). The rest continued to report their weekly steps from their captains. A few of the captains lost a team mate or two when their co-workers moved away or forgot to use their step tracker. The most important accomplishment was the action of movement for...

Genetic Testing There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell. Those chromosomes have genes that determine things like your body’s hair and eye color. Therefore, those genes can also help identify the need to take steps to prevent diseases like breast cancer or obesity.  23andMe, a personal genomics company, shared the following genetic testing story about one of their customers: “Growing up, Sarah didn’t have the benefit of thinking about Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease in a abstract way. She had a personal connection to both diseases — her grandfather’s battle with Parkinson’s and her grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s. Sarah turned to 23andMe to explore her own genetic risk for these conditions. She discovered that she did not have the variants associated with Parkinson’s disease. However, she did test positive for dispositions of Late-Onset Alzheimer’s disease.” As we can learn from Sarah’s experience, genetic testing can help identify mutations that...

Have diabetes in your family, and want to stop it?

Join our Diabetes Prevention Program

Class instruction and mentoring for one year from a certified life coach starting soon.

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Prediabetes Information

Kevin is the CNO at Madison Memorial Hospital. He received his Doctor of Nursing Practice from Boise State and was elected to the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) National Board of Directors to serve a three-year term.  What is AONE AONE is a national professional organization for nurse leaders, CNOs, vice presidents, etc., with an overall objective to provide leadership, professional development, advocacy and research to advance nursing practice and patient care, promote nursing leadership excellence and shape public policy for healthcare nationwide. The AONE board of directors is made up of 19 nurse leaders from all levels of healthcare practice, academic environments and practicing clinical nurse leader. His Goals Madison Memorial Hospital & AONE As a board member and CNO, I hope to add to the discussion of developing frontline clinical nurse leaders that lead our teams in healthcare every day,” said McEwan. “I hope to be the...

Hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature, is a dangerous condition that can occur when a person is exposed to extremely cold temperatures. Hypothermia is caused by prolonged exposures to very cold temperatures. When exposed to cold temperatures, your body begins to lose heat faster than it’s produced. Lengthy exposures will eventually use up your body’s stored energy, which leads to lower body temperature. Warnings signs of hypothermia: Adults: shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech drowsiness Infants:  bright red, cold skin, very low energy **If you notice any of these signs, take the person’s temperature. If it is below 95° F, the situation is an emergency — get medical attention immediately. A body temperature that’s too low can affect the brain, which makes hypothermia particularly dangerous because the victim may not know it is happening. Hypothermia is most likely at very cold temperatures, but it can occur even at merely cool temperatures...

For women contemplating having a baby, new research adds to the evidence suggesting that starting a pregnancy at a normal weight is best. The study found that too much or even too little weight increases an expectant mom’s risk for severe illnesses and death. “Not only for baby’s sake, but also for your own sake, have a healthy diet and get regular exercise before pregnancy,” said study lead author Dr. Sarka Lisonkova. She’s an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Columbia and the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre in Vancouver. “It’s never too late, even if you’re already pregnant,” Lisonkova said, adding that weight gain during pregnancy can also increase the risk for severe illnesses and even death in expectant mothers. The study, published Nov. 14 in Journal of the American Medical Association, included information on nearly three-quarters of a million women from...