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No matter how many props nurses get, they deserve a little more

Columns

My son came home from school the other day and announced that the two most underappreciated occupations were teachers and nurses. During National Nurses Week, he had heard that, he told me, from his teacher. And though her bias might have tinged the first part of her claim (frankly, I think one of the most underappreciated occupations has to be “person who cleans the bathrooms at O’Hare Airport”), it certainly got me thinking about the nurses I’ve known. Immediately, I remembered the nurses at the NICU when my own two preemies were boarded there, unflappable in the face of my ...

Positive HPV test sparks panic due to a lack of explanation

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 61-year-old retired African-American woman. This past week, I just had a Pap smear (I hadn’t had one since 2021) and was told that it was positive for human papillomavirus (HPV). I’m upset because I was celibate from 2021-2024, and then in January 2024, I got married to my current husband, who lives in Africa. I was there for a week, and we honeymooned and consummated our marriage. I came back home and have since been monogamous. This week, I found out that I have HPV. What can I do? Will the vaccine help? I’ll be going back to Africa later this year to be ...

What makes a good teacher? Ask a Republican and a Democrat, and they are likely to agree

Columns

If you follow the headlines, it can seem like K-12 schools in the United States are a political battlefield. Some conservative parents and advocacy groups are lobbying to remove certain books from classrooms and libraries, most often those that highlight LGBTQ+ issues or race and racism. Some civil liberties groups, librarians and progressive parents, meanwhile, are pushing back against book bans, saying they are a form of unnecessary censorship. Parents and school boards also are clashing over a range of other issues, ranging from how transgender and nonbinary students are treated ...

The long battle for Black humanity

Letters to the editor

Tim Mannello Williamsport For centuries, America has waged a relentless fight over whether Black lives would be treated as fully human or as merely disposable. Today, successful attempts to rewrite and sanitize the story of Black Americans and to reverse civil rights laws downplay the brutality of slavery and the persistence of racial bias. They erase our memories of the resilience, resistance and cultural contributions that define the history of Black Americans. School boards in several states have recently softened descriptions of slavery. They suggested, for example, that ...

In a world that keeps telling us no, resilience becomes resistance

Columns

Sometimes life lets us set the record straight. It happens in big and small ways and reminds us to stay true to who we are, to believe in our talents, pursue our interests and develop our skill sets. The world is filled with people who will tell you “no,” and it feels like we are hearing “no” more frequently these days. Legislation, academic priorities and corporate policies are clawing back so much of the progress we’ve made in this country. Even still, I remain optimistic that our resilience will eventually see us through. Because when faced with people who tell us “no,” ...

High cortisol causes patient to feel awful amid normal tests

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’ve been feeling just awful. My doctor put me through the normal tests, and all were good. A neurologist recommended that I get a cortisol test. I did, and it showed a high cortisol level. I’d never heard of this. Would you explain what high cortisol is, how it is treated and if there are any natural cures or therapies? — S.K. ANSWER: Cortisol is a critical hormone that is needed for the function of many body systems. Without cortisone, the body cannot respond to stress, and a stressful event can literally kill a patient. A medical condition called ...