Flu (influenza) is a contagious respiratory illness that causes symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat and body aches. During the 2023-2024 influenza season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that influenza was associated with 40 million illnesses, 18 million medical visits, 470,000 hospitalizations, and 28,000 deaths in the United States. Every year, approximately 2,000 New Yorkers die of seasonal flu and pneumonia, which can develop as a complication of the flu.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month

An estimated 98 million American adults (more than 1 in 3) have prediabetes—which can lead to type 2 diabetes. Yet 90% of those who have prediabetes don’t know it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Making changes to your diet and activity level are important ways to reduce your risk of prediabetes and diabetes, says Melissa Keeney, MS, RDN, CDN, CDCES, Community Health Educator, in the Community Health and Wellness Department at Montefiore Nyack Hospital in Nyack, N.Y.

Screening for lung cancer in current and former smokers is so important.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States and is the leading cause of death from cancer. If lung cancer is found early, when it is small and before it has spread, it is more likely to be treated successfully. That’s why screening for lung cancer in current and former smokers is so important, according to Rostislav Gorbatov, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care specialist with Highland Medical Pulmonary Medicine Associates in Nyack, NY.

Early treatment can completely correct the problem 

If you feel numbness, tingling and pain in your hand and forearm, you may be experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The condition occurs when one of the major nerves in the hand – the median nerve – is squeezed or compressed as it passes through the wrist. 

With recent advances in breast cancer research and treatment, doctors are often able to reduce the amount and intensity of treatment women receive, while maintaining equally good cancer outcomes, according to Sunny Mitchell, M.D., FACS, Medical Director of The Breast Center at Montefiore Nyack Hospital.