Stewart Memorial Community Hospital provides an Educational Luncheon on Preventative Medicine

                Stewart Memorial Community Hospital (SMCH) welcomed over sixty people at the November “Lunch Connection” event. The program featured Dr. David Frate who spoke on “Preventative Medicine: Checking the Boxes for a Quality Life.”

                Dr. Frate, board certified in family and internal medicine, discussed several ways to lead a healthy lifestyle. He recommended balancing healthy eating, advocating the government’s My Plate program which seeks to remind people to make healthier food choices. Along with a balanced diet, he also recommended physical activity, building up to 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

                Illness prevention was another area Dr. Frate addressed. He recommends the following immunizations: influenza, pneumonia, shingles and pertussis. Influenza hospitalizes 200,000 people each year. The fatality rate is 23,600 with 90% of that amount being 65 years of age or older. The pneumonia vaccine is administered one time for adults over 65. Shingles, an extremely painful condition, occurs when the chicken pox virus is reactivated. The one-time vaccine reduces the risk of acquiring shingles by 51 percent.

                Read the full article in the November 12 edition of the Graphic-Advocate.