Health & Fitness

Published August 15, 2017

Programs and therapies explore ways to manage pain

TROY — Shelby Township resident Deborah Sferlazza, 60, a former school principal, lives with chronic pain — but she’s learned ways to put her pain “in the back seat.”

“It (the pain) is not always invited to the party,” she said.

While she worked as principal of Brookfield Academy, in Rochester Hills, during renovations in 2008, she did too much heavy lifting and injured her back.

Published August 15, 2017

Farmington Press

Herbal tea party to steep in medicinal benefits

FARMINGTON HILLS — Holistic health practitioner Sonja Ozog is ready to take today’s tea drinking back a couple of centuries.

Ozog specializes in herbal medicine and wants to show tea-drinking aficionados and newbies alike how to use medicinal teas, herbs and spices to their benefit.

Ozog will share her knowledge at the Herbal Tea Party 6:30-8:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Longacre House.

Published August 14, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Oakland County honors local breastfeeding-friendly spots

OAKLAND COUNTY — Did you know there’s an Oakland County Breastfeeding Coalition?

The group partners with the Oakland County Health Division and the Women, Infants and Children program to honor World Breastfeeding Week with an annual Breastfeeding-Friendly Place awards ceremony.

If you didn’t know, you’re not alone. And that’s exactly why the county is doing its part to bring awareness to breastfeeding and reducing stigma behind feeding in public places.

Published August 1, 2017

C&G Newspapers

West Nile Virus confirmed in Macomb County

MACOMB COUNTY — A Macomb County Health official confirmed today that the West Nile Virus has been detected for the first time this summer in two separate samplings of mosquitoes gathered in the county.

Health Department Director William Ridella said there have been no confirmed cases of a human contracting the virus in Michigan this year.

Ridella issued a list of precautions for the public to follow to protect themselves and their family from West Nile:

Published August 1, 2017

Shelby - Utica News

Holistic Health & Wellness Fair returns to Packard Proving Grounds

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — On Saturday, July 29, the third annual Holistic Health & Wellness Fair took over the repair garage at the Packard Proving Grounds during a regularly scheduled Shelby Township Farmers Market.

The event’s goal was to spread awareness for better health and a better planet by bringing the community together for a fun, interactive and educational experience.

Published July 26, 2017

Southfield Sun

Oakland County mosquitoes test positive for West Nile virus

OAKLAND COUNTY — Mosquitoes in a local pool recently tested positive for West Nile virus, according to officials from the Oakland County Health Division.

Published July 26, 2017

Birmingham - Bloomfield Eagle

Heart of the Hills run returns to Bloomfield Hills

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The Heart of the Hills run will be returning to Bloomfield Hills Saturday, July 29, and runners from all over the area are lacing up their running shoes.

The run will encompass a 5K and a 10K, and it benefits youth charity programs run through the Bloomfield Hills Optimist Club and the Bloomfield Hills School District’s charity program. The run has been lauded by past participants for its beautiful and challenging route.

Published July 26, 2017

Mount Clemens - Clinton - Harrison Journal

New aneurysm-defeating procedure successful at McLaren

MOUNT CLEMENS — Interventional neurologists at McLaren Macomb Hospital have successfully performed Macomb County’s first Pipeline Flex embolization, a minimally invasive neurological procedure for the treatment of brain aneurysms.

A McLaren doctor explained in a recent press release how the Pipeline is a specialized stent that is implanted in the brain to divert bloodflow, preventing the aneurysm from growing and allowing it to heal.

Published July 17, 2017

Royal Oak Review

$40 million Beaumont Proton Therapy Center celebrates first patient

ROYAL OAK — When 86-year-old Bill Baker learned that his brain tumor was returning, it was another valley in his medical journey.

Already a cancer survivor and former Mayo Clinic patient for partial tumor removal, the mid-Michigan resident wasn’t sure if there would be any more options. But then one day while channel surfing, he saw Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson discussing a new type of radiation treatment coming to the area.

Published June 20, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Oakland County expands Nurse-Family Partnership program

HAZEL PARK/MADISON HEIGHTS — Nursing assistance is available to low-income women who are pregnant with their first child and who enroll in Oakland County’s Nurse-Family Partnership, or NFP, program. The program recently expanded to include residents of Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Oak Park and Southfield.

Published June 14, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Coalition fights back against marijuana legalization

CLINTON TOWNSHIP/MACOMB TOWNSHIP — The future is hazy as it pertains to whether recreational marijuana will be supported or rejected by Michigan residents in 2018, if it makes the ballot, but the battle is already being waged.

On May 5, petition language was turned in to the Michigan Secretary of State, on behalf of the pro-legalization group the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. From that date, the group has 180 days to collect 252,523 signatures.

Published June 14, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Township forms committee to explore medical marijuana law

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — On May 30, the Clinton Township Board of Trustees discussed updates to the medical marijuana law that was approved by Michigan voters in 2008. A new set of state regulations are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Michigan is one of 20 states whose residents voted to approve medical marijuana.

Published June 12, 2017

Birmingham - Bloomfield Eagle

Don’t be a smurf: Law enforcement cracks down on pseudoephedrine laundering

BIRMINGHAM — Smurfing isn’t just limited to cartoons anymore. It’s a serious crime, and law enforcement officials are happy to put cuffs on any smurf they come across.

That was the message last week as Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette met at Mills Pharmacy and Apothecary in Birmingham to discuss the crime of smurfing and the tough consequences that come along with it.

Published June 7, 2017

Fraser - Clinton Township Chronicle

Jazzercise owner gives back to community

FRASER — For Clinton Township resident Yvonne Lewis, Jazzercise is a way of life.

Lewis, who lives in Clinton Township, started taking Jazzercise classes in 1981. Three years later, she started teaching fitness classes in Warren.

As the years have gone by, she has moved closer to Fraser. A decade-long stint in the city started with classes at Fraser Hockeyland, before Lewis opened her own studio, Jazzercise Fraser Fitness Studio, on Utica Road, south of 15 Mile Road.

Published June 5, 2017

Rochester Post

Rojo Rochester linked to salmonella outbreak

Rojo Mexican Bistro in Rochester has temporarily closed its doors while Oakland County health inspectors investigate the spread of a rare form of salmonella.

“They voluntarily closed last week when there was another confirmed case that had reported eating at that restaurant,” said Dr. Pamela Hackert, chief of medical services at the Oakland County Health Division.

Published June 5, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Students compete in YMCA-sponsored event

MOUNT CLEMENS/MACOMB TOWNSHIP — Recently, nearly 3,000 girls across metro Detroit took part in an empowering event.

Locally, more than 400 girls throughout Macomb County participated in Girls on the Run, a YMCA-sponsored event.

Stacey Butler, community engagement manager for Girls on the Run and STRIDE, another popular local event, said Girls on the Run is an after-school program dedicated to empowering girls to live joyful, healthy and confident lives, and is open to girls in third through eighth grades.

Published May 30, 2017

Grosse Pointe Times

Annual fun run honors two St. Paul students

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Every year, the St. Paul Athletic Club holds an annual fun run to generate funding for the athletic programs at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic School.

This year, fun run organizers decided to instead raise money for another cause: Friedreich’s Ataxia. FA is a rare mitochondrial disease that has affected two St. Paul students, Jake and Claire Juip. This year’s seventh annual fun run was organized by the St. Paul Athletic Club, under the leadership of Dina Desjardins and Biz Williamson.

Published May 24, 2017

Rochester Post

E-cigarettes on the rise among Rochester teens

ROCHESTER — E-cigarette usage has become a significant public health concern across the nation, especially among youth.

The battery-operated devices, also known as vaporizers, have surpassed traditional cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product among youth — with more than one-third of young adults having tried them, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Published May 24, 2017

West Bloomfield Beacon

World Asthma Month looks at what leaves people breathless

WEST BLOOMFIELD — World Asthma Month may almost be over, but breathing properly is certainly important for a lifetime.

It might not be common knowledge that keeping asthma symptoms at bay and breathing easier can be based on what people with asthma eat.

Kathleen Slonager, executive director of the West Bloomfield-based Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Michigan Chapter, said asthma can be exacerbated by unhealthy foods, including excess carbs. It can be better regulated, however, by a proper diet including leafy greens and other healthy foods.

Published May 15, 2017

C&G Newspapers

Drug grant will help county expand recovery services, save lives

MACOMB COUNTY — On the afternoon of May 9, two Richmond men, one driving and the other a passenger, lost consciousness while their car traveled along eastbound Interstate 94 in Harrison Township.

According to witnesses, the vehicle was seen swerving at the Metropolitan Parkway exit before it struck a guardrail and a roadside sign and landed in a ditch near Joy Road.