By Leah Grout Garris, for The Gazette Len Petska, an 88-year-old Cedar Rapids resident, calls the SilverSneakers class he attends his “can-do class.” “Because of this class, I can do things I never used to be able to do,” he says. Petska has struggled with shoulder problems for 30 years. After participating in the SilverSneakers [...]

Editor’s note: Erin Moeller, 35, of Mount Vernon, is a lifelong runner who qualified for the last two Olympic Marathon Trials. A native of Ryan, she’s a graduate of North-Linn and Wartburg who works for Benchmark Inc. in Cedar Rapids. She has two children — Ryne (8) and Evelyn (3) — and one on the [...]

Doctor shortages continue to be an issue in Iowa’s most rural areas. But momentum is picking up with hopes of reversing the trend. Iowa ranks 43rd nationwide in the ratio of doctors to residents, and ranks last in the number of emergency medicine and OB-GYN physicians, according to the Iowa Medical Society.  Neighboring states such [...]

Doctors recommend getting a colonoscopy to check for colon cancer every 10 years, starting at the age of 50. Kim Bro, of Cedar Rapids, turned 50 in December so she made an appointment to have a colonoscopy on Feb. 1. “I’m a nurse so I know the importance of early detection screenings,” Bro says. What [...]

  Cancer screenings, like mammograms, are becoming more commonplace. But health authorities are still trying to get the message out about the need for colon cancer screenings. Doctors recommend that everyone have a colonoscopy every 10 years beginning at age 50. “Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of all cancer deaths in Iowa,” says [...]

As one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colorectal cancer touches thousands of families each year. Fran McCaffery, the men’s basketball coach at the University of Iowa, knows this pain all too well, losing not only his father, but also his mother to colorectal cancer. Jack McCaffery died 15 years [...]

  You’ve just turned 50 and you know you need to make That Appointment … to schedule your first colonoscopy. But you’re putting it off. You’ve heard the prep is really unpleasant; who wants to go through all that? This is the attitude of many people facing their first colonoscopy, says Dr. Douglas Purdy, of [...]

The Iowa Department of Public Health is using a humorous approach to get people talking about a less-than-funny topic, colorectal cancer. Humorous “back side” drink coasters have been distributed to 26 bars and restaurants in 19 Iowa counties, including Beef O’Brady’s at 5420 Edgewood Rd. NE. in Cedar Rapids. “We tried to think of a [...]

  CEDAR RAPIDS — The message was clear Saturday at New BLUEhemia: encourage Cedar Rapidians to live longer, happier and healthier lives. The rally celebrated Cedar Rapids becoming a Blues Zones Project demonstration site. Cedar Rapids, along with Marion, Iowa City, Muscatine, Oskaloosa and Sioux City, were named Blue Zone Project demonstration sites in late [...]

All Month Babies Go Red — Newborns at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics will be given red hats all month long. Right now, in the state of Iowa only about 30 percent of hospitals offer every newborn a potentially lifesaving screening called pulse oximetry. This non-invasive, $4 test checks a baby’s blood oxygen [...]