What to Expect Before, During & After a Colonoscopy
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March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, bringing attention to the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. But, it is also one of the most preventable forms of cancer and a colonoscopy is the primary method of detection. SVMC's Endoscopy team answers the most frequently asked questions in regards to prepping for your colonoscopy and what to expect during and immediately after the procedure.
If you, or a loved one, suffers with a chronic lung disease, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or pulmonary fibrosis, there is hope for rebuilding strength and enjoying a more full and active life through pulmonary rehabilitation. Caitlyn Boyd, DPT, discusses the benefits of this supervised education and exercise program.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of those terms people tend to jokingly throw about when attempting to explain a forgetful or disorganized moment. But for the 8.7 million U.S. adults with ADHD, the condition is no laughing matter. Read More
Milestones Matters
Watching your baby grow and learn to do new things is an exciting time for every parent.
While most babies reach developmental milestones around certain ages, some may take longer. And a delay may signal a bigger issue at hand. Read More
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Living with Wildlife: Bats in Your House?
Bats are everywhere! It may feel that way to some of Vermont's human residents. Summer is when some species of bats gather in colonies to raise their young in human-made structures such as houses, barns, office buildings, and bat houses.
"Summer is the time of year when the greatest number of unwanted bat-human interactions are reported," according to Vermont Fish and Wildlife's Small Mammals Biologist Alyssa Bennett, who works on the conservation and recovery of Vermont's threatened and endangered bat species.
"Bats can end up in your living space for many reasons, including young bats that are weak, disoriented or lost while coming and going from the roost, bats moving within a structure to find warmer or cooler roosting space as temperatures fluctuate, and bats being displaced from their roosts due to building repairs and renovations."
Finding and sealing off holes on the inside of your home, such as around attic doors or chimney flues, will keep bats out of your living space and can be done any time of year. However, during the summer when bats have flightless young, you should not attempt to seal holes on the outside of the house where bats come and go, a practice which can result in more bats in your bedroom at this time of year.
"Waking up to a bat flying in your bedroom or suddenly uncovering a dozen bats roosting behind a rotting trim board during home repairs can come as quite a shock," adds Bennett. "But don't fear, because there are answers to your burning bat questions on Vermont Fish and Wildlife's website using the search term -- bats."
Living with wildlife means considering the health and wellbeing of both the public and these fragile wildlife species. Although rarely detected in the general bat population, rabies is a deadly disease and should be taken very seriously.
If you are concerned that you have been in direct contact with a bat, have found a bat in a bedroom while sleeping or in a room with an unattended child, a pet, a person with a cognitive disability, or an intoxicated person, please call the Rabies Hotline at 800-4RABIES (1-800-472-2437). If the hotline staff or your health care providers determine there is no concern for rabies exposure, the bat can safely be released outside.
Pittsfield's Reed crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for the first home run of his varsity career and chased Morrie Fried around the bases with the winning run in a 4-3 walkoff victory at Springfield Central. click for more
Carson Rylander was dominant Sunday as the Drury baseball team beat Mount Everett, 4-0, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament.
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Mount Greylockâs girls got a first-place finish from their 4-by-800 relay team to secure a nearly five-point margin of victory over runner-up Hamilton-Wenham in the team competition. click for more
Adan Wicks scored four goals, and Brady Auger had a hat trick Wednesday to lead the Hurricanes to a 12-6 win over McCann Tech in the Western Massachusetts Class C Championship Game on Gene Dellea Field at BCC. click for more
JJ Prenguber hit a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth to drive in a pair of runs and lead the Drury baseball team to a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over Greenfield in the Western Massachusetts Class C Championship Game. click for more
Anna Doyle scored with 3 minutes, 23 seconds on the clock, and Phalyn Renderer denied South Hadley in the final seconds to secure a 13-12 win in the Championship Game of the Western Massachusetts Class C Tournament on Tuesday night at Springfield Central. click for more
