McLaren Macomb Health Care Blog

CDC guidelines have been updated to suggest masking vaccinated people in certain areas. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced an update to its pandemic masking guidelines. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the CDC had recommended that everyone wear a mask when leaving their home. With the success of the vaccine rollout and the nationwide drop in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the CDC updated its guidelines in May — unvaccinated Ame...

Technological advancements have benefits both in patients’ outcomes and recoveries. “There are a lot of reasons why we eventually make our way to that surgery discussion.” Dr. Michael Wagner, an orthopedic surgeon and co-director of the joint replacement program at McLaren Macomb, every day sees patients whose enjoyment of life has been limited because of pain in a joint — or multiple joints. “Pain is definitely a big driver,” he said, “but it’s also a loss of mobility. Most people that have a hip repla...

Breakthrough cases are rare but expected with mass vaccination programs. As of mid-July, more than 159 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Among the vaccinated, there are more than 10,000 reported “breakthrough” cases, which is defined as testing positive for COVID-19 once fully vaccinated (two or more weeks after receiving the second vaccine dose). Medical professionals and public health experts expect these cases with mass vaccination programs. No vaccine is 100 ...

Being proactive and teaming with your doctor can improve overall health. When interacting with their family doctor, a lot of patients may approach this relationship in a passive role. In this dynamic, the doctor recommends a course of action or treatment, and the patient complies — and there are many conditions and instances in which this dynamic is required and benefits the patient. But when it comes to their general and overall health, both patients and doctors are moving toward patients taking an act...

At what point should a doctor evaluate headaches? Everyone gets headaches. They can range, perhaps starting as a dull pain before escalating to the squeezing, dizzying feeling, and start from a number of causes: a lack of/poor quality sleep, certain foods, alcohol consumption, stress, eye straining, dehydration/lack of food, among others. In many cases, a drugstore pain reliever or headache medicine will resolve the symptoms relatively quickly. There does reach a point, though, that consistent headaches...

The therapy has played a signification role in the fight against COVID-19. As the pandemic progressed, the term monoclonal antibodies began to be heard more and more. It was touted as a treatment for COVID-19 patients who were experiencing symptoms. But what is it? And what should you know about monoclonal antibodies? What are monoclonal antibodies? Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that are designed to act like the body’s immune system, in that they fight off invading, harmful viruses ...

Questions can arise for where to get common, non-life-threatening conditions treated. If anyone should see the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke in themselves or someone around them, the first move should be to call 911 and request an ambulance. The same should be done if there’s been an accident, and bones are broken and wounds are significantly bleeding. For these potentially life-threatening conditions or severe injuries, immediate treatment should be sought at the nearest ER and trauma center. Bu...

Minimally invasive procedure mends alarming aortic aneurysms. “My cardiologist said, ‘It’s time that we need to do something about this.’” Ed had been living with some chest pain. He also had some fatigue that would come and go. It wasn’t something he was overly concerned about, but to be safe, he brought it up with his family doctor. After some tests, the results were in and a diagnosis was made — Ed had an aortic aneurysm. A large and critical blood vessel, the aorta carries blood from the heart to th...

Research shows virus affects vaccinated people differently. Since the COVID-19 vaccines began getting administered there have been reports of fully vaccinated people testing positive for the coronavirus. Researchers and public health experts anticipated these ‘breakthrough cases,’ which occur when a fully vaccinated person (who received their second vaccine dose more than two weeks ago) tests positive for the virus. Breakthrough cases are expected with mass vaccination programs. With more research avail...

With potentially devastating results, cardiologists urge everyone to not wait to call 911. The line between being overly cautious and not wanting to cause a commotion can be potentially dangerous. For people experiencing chest pain or any minor discomfort, the sensation may be a passing annoyance and gone in a few minutes. But it could also be a sign of something serious to come. The question then becomes: When do you call 911 for chest pain? Dr. Timothy Logan, a McLaren interventional cardiologist, say...