HEALTH & FITNESS

News about health, fitness, exercise and healthy living in Alabama

"We are sending this letter home because a case of pertussis (whooping cough) has been identified in a classmate, team member or other close contact of your child at Spanish Fort High School. Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that is spread to others by contact with respiratory droplets such as coughing," according to a letter e-mailed by David D. Legett area immunization manager for the Baldwin County Health Department.  Full story »

The kids all got adapted AmTryke tricycles, specialized three-wheelers that can be modified a dozen ways to meet a dozen special needs. Full story »

Rev. Jesse Jackson blasted U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, for voting against the House health care bill. Full story »

Authors are offering their book free for a limited time on their website.  Full story »

ATLANTA -- The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia. Full story »

The numbers are in! North Central Alabama Komen Affiliate has funded 10,592 mammograms in our service area since 2002. 57 breast cancer cases were detected. If that doesn't make the hard work worth it, I don't know what does. Full story »

A government panel recommended no routine mammograms for women under age 50 without special risk factors.  Full story »

St. Martin's in the Pines is offering motion-detecting sensors to its residents. Sensors are spread throughout a home to monitor variances in a daily routine that might indicate something is wrong. Full story »

The purpose of this study is to explore the process and context of HIV disclosure by black men to partners and family, and the perceived health outcomes, benefits and consequences of the disclosures, university officials said in a news release. Full story »

BAY MINETTE, Ala. -- Parental consent forms for H1N1 flu vaccines are being sent to parents of Baldwin County elementary students starting today, a school spokesman said.  Full story »

Ernest Berger, president of Santa America, went to an Alabama congressman last week to argue for the big guys in the red suits to be seen as priority cases for swine flu vaccines, along with health care workers and those who work with infants. A spokesperson for the congressman, Mobile Republican Jo Bonner, said staff members were considering the action.  Full story »

The FDA approved the 2009 swine flu nasal mist for those age 2 to 49 with no underlying health conditions. Children with compromised immune systems or those with long-term health problems are advised to see a pediatrician, another health care provider or go to a county health department to get an injectable influenza vaccine, health officials said.  Full story »

Hutch Mohr, a 5-year-old Monrovia boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, hopes to be among those participating in the annual "Give thanks. Walk."  Full story »

"We have 90,000 doses of the nasal mist," said Jim McVay, a spokesman for the state department of public health. The mist, he said, "will allow us as quickly as possible" to give the vaccine.  Full story »

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile County Health Department will offer free swine flu vaccinations to protect against H1N1 influenza to people in high priority groups Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 545 N. Cody Road in west Mobile.  Full story »