For the fifth-consecutive year, Mission Hospital has been named one of the nation’s Top 100 Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, formerly known as Thomson Reuters.

The annual study evaluates hospitals across the nation on measures of overall organizational performance, including patient care, operational efficiency and financial stability.

MedWest-Harris recently completed installation on two systems that will enhance the level of care provided to mothers and babies on the labor and delivery unit located on the third floor of the hospital.

The technology that enables physicians and nursing staff to monitor a baby’s progress during labor was replaced with a new system outfitted with features that provide the most advanced upgrades in fetal monitoring.

When it comes to relieving the common headache or body aches, it seems as if the cure may be worse for you than the pain it’s supposed to relieve.

Consumption of NSAIDs – common pain relievers like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and acetaminophen (Excedrin) – has grown to 70 million prescriptions and 30 billion over-the-counter sales annually. That statistic is disturbing to Michael Sheehan, founder of natural medications company BioResource Inc., because of a study from the Archives of Internal Medicine (AIM) that reveals NSAIDS may play a part in the development of heart disease.

“The risks of NSAIDs are a growing concern,” said Sheehan. “The fact that they may contribute to heart problems is a wake-up call the public needs to take seriously.”

How to manage depression without resorting to anti-depressants

People suffering from depression are often given two choices – medicate it or deal with it. One expert, however, believes there is a third option.

“Those suffering with depression were considered to be self-indulgent and self-obsessed,” said Dr. Gregory Jantz, a licensed mental health counselor and author of Living Beyond Depression (www.drgregoryjantz.com). “Their dark moods were responded to with little patience or understanding. People with depression were often counseled to just ‘cheer up!’

When the ‘get-over-it’ method didn’t seem to work, increasing numbers of sufferers turned to medication. The use of Prozac and other anti-depressant medication has recently skyrocketed. But there is another way, and it doesn’t involve prescription medication, or any of the other age-old ‘remedies,’ such as alcoholism, drug abuse, promiscuity, eating disorders, self-mutilation, and other compulsive behaviors.