An apple a day may not keep the doctor away.  According to a recent article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, an apple a day may not be all that helpful for keeping the doctor away.  In the study, apple eaters only had slightly fewer visits to doctors compared to those who tend to avoid apples, but these differences were not found when the researchers factored in race, weight, health insurance, education level, and other factors.  Apple eaters were also less likely to smoke.  No differences were seen in overnight hospital stays or mentalRead More

Mount Carmel Health System will be closing the Mount Carmel West Hospital inpatient services in Franklinton, but will invest 700 million dollars by building a hospital in Grove City as well as expanding Mount Carmel East over the next four years.  The Mount Carmel West Hospital will maintain the 24/7 emergency department, but the hospital will shift to outpatient care.  The Grove City hospital is expected to fully open in 2018, and the Mount Carmel West inpatient services will be transitioned to the Grove City Hospital location. Mount Carmel Grove City willRead More

For Central Ohioans, a diet that combines a vegetarian diet with fish might be the most helpful to prevent cancers of the colon or rectum. According to a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the risk for all colorectal cancers was 22 percent lower in vegetarians compared to nonvegetarians.   For rectal cancer only, the risk was 29 percent lower. Vegans had a 16 percent lower risk for colorectal cancer.  For lacto-ovo vetetarians (eat dairy and eggs), the risk was 18 percent less compared to nonvegetarians.  However, the lowest riskRead More

In the last week of February, there was a slight increase in hospitalization due to Flu  (135 cases) compared to the second to last week in February (119 cases). The total number of Flu hospitalizations in the 2014-15 season is 7,985, which is a considerable increase compared to the 2870 hospitalizations at the same point in the season last year. This increase in Flu hospitalizations is consistent with this year’s flu vaccine not being as effective due to the prevalent strain being different than what the vaccine was designed to prevent.Read More