Doctor Column

‘Ten + Five’ hearing tips for Airline Travelers

July 03, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MD Medical Advisory Board A baby girl screams in pain as the plane is landing, while the passengers around her watch in empathy. Another says, “My ears feel blocked as if cotton is stuck in them.” Ear fullness, ear pressure, and pain are common complaints of airline travellers. For the ears to

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Airplanes and ear problems — barotrauma of the ear

June 18, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MD Medical Advisory Board We’ve been there. Check in at the airport, pick up our boarding passes at the check-in-counter, board the plane, spot our assigned seat and place the carry-on-luggage in the overhead compartment. We sit down and fasten our seat belts. The flight attendant reviews the safety precautions with us,

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Zika virus (ZIKV) and Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome

May 30, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MDMedical Advisory Board IN 2015, the Zika virus outbreak in Recife, Brazil made international headlines. The Brazilian Health Ministry and the World Health Organization rang the alarm bell because pregnant woman infected with the Zika virus were suspected of giving birth to children with birth defects, most notably, microcephaly. (1, 2) However,

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The Zika virus key facts You need to know

May 15, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia, MD “A sudden, sharp increase in babies with ‘no foreheads and very strange heads’ was baffling doctors in Brazil. That set off a search for answers that led to a little-known pathogen, the ZIKA virus.” — NY Times, February 6. 2016. The Zika virus, ZIKV, belongs to a group of viruses related

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Abnormal Voices — “What do they mean?”

May 06, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MDMedical Advisory Board Your voice is not healthy if it doesn’t sound right to you or others. The way the voice sounds is a clue, a symptom to an underlying problem which can be due to many causes; including vocal misuse, smoking, infection, cancer or neurologic (nerve) problems. Abnormal changes in the

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Hoarseness what’s causing my voice problem?

April 24, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia, MD We all want a pleasant voice. Hoarseness is an abnormal, unpleasant change in the quality of the voice. It‘s a symptom, not a disease. It can affect the clarity, loudness and/or vocal effort of the individual. It’s a signal of an underlying problem that makes it more difficult to communicate with

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‘Sudden’ Hearing Loss — a medical emergency!

April 10, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MD Medical Advisory Board Sudden Hearing Loss (SHL) is an alarming medical emergency that is often a medical mystery. It’s devastating to patients and demoralizing for physicians. For decades ENT specialists and researchers have tried to untangle the problem of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (Sudden SNHL) with limited success. The cause of

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THE HUMAN VOICE — WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS

March 27, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MDMedical Advisory Board One of the things we take for granted is a good voice, one that is strong, easily understood and of good quality. We have a problem when a voice disorder interferes with our ability to communicate personally, with family or friends – or professionally, to earn a living. The

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“VOICEPRINTS” — YOUR UNIQUE VOICE

March 06, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MDMedical Advisory Board In a few seconds, with remarkable confidence, one can tell the sex of a person speaking on the telephone or radio. We can recognize almost immediately the voice of our favorite artist who is singing our favorite song. And in the middle of the night, a mother can tell

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INFLUENZA — ‘MORE THAN A COLD’

February 21, 2016

Joseph R. Anticaglia MDMedical Advisory Board Most people would agree that the flu is more troublesome than a cold. Influenza (flu) is a contagious viral infection that targets your nose, throat, larynx and lungs. Flu virus droplets spread through the air when people sneeze, talk or cough. You can also contract the virus by touching

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