News

“Now that spring has sprung, get your dose of sunshine daily and keep yourself healthier,” Dr. Victor S. Sierpina writes in his regular column. “Nudist camps often claim to be health-promoting — and we may have something to look at there.”

According to podiatrist Chanel Perkins, DMP, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, what’s happening in the body when someone gets a toe cramp depends on the exact cause. One common reason according to Perkins is dehydration. Also, the lack of movement could be causing your toe cramping. “Lack of blood flow leads to low oxygenation and nutrition in the tissues, causing them to cramp,” she said.

Undergoing physical and mental stimulation that creates the stress response in the brain for a short period of time (minutes to hours) has been shown to improve physical, mental and emotional health. “Do hard things,” Dr. Samuel Mathis writes. “Do something that will challenge you.”

"COVID-19 orphanhood confronts us at a time nearing resource exhaustion across multiple systems,” said Dr. Michael Goodman of the University of Texas Medical Branch. “The consequences of orphanhood linger throughout the course of a lifetime, affecting the futures of families, communities and societies. We determine how long our communities will suffer the effects of COVID-19 by urgently determining the quality and force of our concern for orphaned young people.”

Patient Taylor Thurstonson recently shared how UTMB OBGYNs kept her and her baby boy safe during an unexpected 30-week delivery via c-section.

Cleora Rodriguez, 46, left the UTMB Health Angleton Danbury Campus in early November after spending more than 90 days hospitalized with COVID-19.

While a reduction in the number of infections is good news, scientists and doctors are beginning to understand the chronic illness that lingers after COVID infection, called long-haul syndrome. Long-haul patients were infected and appeared to recover, but then chronic symptoms began and remained months after the infection. Extreme fatigue and debilitating brain fog are common symptoms, write Drs. Norbert Herzog and David Niesel of UTMB.

For months, Pearland realtor Gerald Hatter anxiously waitied on news that her 11-year-old daughter Bella Hatter would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. On Wednesday, one day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use for children ages 5-11, Bella received her first dose. She is one of 2.9 million children in that younger age group now eligible for the vaccine in Texas. In Galveston, UTMB opened its system for appointments Wednesday afternoon. Within 24 hours, 575 appointments had been scheduled, Jenny Lanier, UTMB’s director of ambulatory operations said. UTMB has as many as 6,000 of the pediatric vaccines available this week, Lanier said, with more coming.

Conflicting news earlier this year about COVID-19 vaccinations confused Michele Budd, so she put off deciding if she should get the shot. Then she got sick and spent two weeks in the hospital.

Findings from new University of Texas Medical Branch research suggest a substantial mental health impact of COVID-related mitigation measures such as stay-at-home orders. The study, which was published today in the JAMA Network Open, found an increase in the use of psychiatric medications coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic among both men and women, with a substantially higher increase among women.

Acute confusional state, more commonly known as delirium or brain fog, in COVID-19 patients is linked to longer hospital stays, higher likelihood of needing intensive care and higher likelihood of death, according to new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

The long-awaited renovation of the AB wing of John Sealy Hospital at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston Campus will mark its completion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 3. Approximately 220,000 square feet were renovated across five different floors, which will house services for women, infants and children.

Surgeons at UTMB Health’s Clear Lake Campus recently performed the hospital’s first craniotomy for brain tumor removal and the first intracranial aneurysm clipping, which represent an expansion of services offered at the campus as the hospital continues to find new and innovative ways to provide world-class treatments to the growing communities it serves.

Thanks to a $1.4 million grant from the Moody Endowment, the University of Texas Medical Branch has a brand new, ultramodern, Mobile Mammography Unit that will enable women across the region to have access to screenings for Breast Cancer.