Health Blog
Topic: Disease Management
Sun Life 11th annual High Cost Claims Report: Insights and strategies to help you lower your risk of the top serious conditions
Sun Life publishes an annual research report focused on the highest cost health insurance claims. The data in the report is drawn from Sun Life’s stop loss claims, a type of insurance employers who self-fund their health insurance plan purchase to protect against the financial impact of very high cost health insurance claims. This year’s... Read More
The pros and cons of in-person and virtual second opinions
A second opinion can be a valuable decision making tool for people who have been diagnosed with a complex, rare, or serious health problem or who have received a recommendation for surgery. You may also want to seek a second opinion if your current treatment isn’t working as expected, you live in an area where... Read More
Overheated or heat-related illness? How to tell the difference.
If you feel like there have been more very hot days this year, you’re right. Data gathered by NASA projects that there’s a 99% likelihood that 2022 will rank among the ten hottest years on record. But what does this excessive heat mean for your health? Very hot weather increases the risk of heat-related illness.... Read More
Strategies to encourage teens and young adults to take COVID precautions
As the omicron COVID-19 variant drives record high case numbers in the U.S., public health experts are recommending that people redouble their efforts to lower their risk of contracting and spreading the virus. The key steps of risk mitigation are familiar by this point in the pandemic: Getting vaccinated and boosted as recommended Wearing masks... Read More
Could lifestyle medicine help you be healthier?
You know what a healthy lifestyle looks like—healthy food choices, regular activity, and avoiding health harming habits like smoking, excess alcohol, and substance use disorder. What you might not know is that there are physicians and other healthcare providers who focus on preventing and treating health problems by using evidence-based therapeutic lifestyle interventions to prevent... Read More
Medical cannabis 101: A discussion with Dr. Caroline MacCallum
Medical cannabis has been legalized in all but 14 states in the U.S. and its use for treating a range of conditions is a growing topic of conversation in the medical community. We talked with Caroline MacCallum, MD, a specialist in internal medicine, with expertise in complex pain and cannabinoid medicine. Dr. MacCallum is the... Read More
Answers to common questions about preventive care
Preventive care is the foundation of a strategy to help lower your risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes and mange risk factors for diseases like cancer. The goal is to help preserve your health, manage any health issues you’ve been diagnosed with, and detect serious diseases like cancer as early as possible... Read More
Should you ask your doctor for a medication review?
According to statistics gathered by the CDC, nearly half of adults in the U.S. take one prescription medication, while nearly a quarter take three or more prescription medications. The numbers are even higher for people who are 65 and older. Eighty-nine percent of people included in a Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll take one... Read More
Five strategies to encourage teens to practice social distancing
Recent increases in the number of COVID-19 cases in U.S. have included a rise in the number of people under the age of 18 who are contracting the virus. Part of the reason for the growth in the number of teens and young adults who test positive for COVID-19 is their failure, or in some... Read More
Strategies to help you manage the high cost of care for COVID-19
There’s no doubt the cost of the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 is high. Data collected by FAIR Health found costs that ranged from approximately $37,000 to more than $93,000 per patient, depending on age, location, and whether the patient had other health problems that increased the risk of complications from the virus. Early in... Read More