For the fourth and final installment of our Women’s Health Month blog series, we spoke with Lei Wang, MD, a rheumatologist with Dignity Health Woodland Clinic. Dr. Wang shares guidance on common rheumatic diseases — which are conditions that affect joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles.

Proper nutrition plays an important role in overall health and wellness. It is also a powerful tool for building a resilient cardiovascular system and battling heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Month in March aims to highlight the importance of making informed food choices and developing healthy eating habits.

Anabel Facemire, MD, FACC, a cardiologist with Dignity Health Medical Group — Sierra Nevada, shares important nutrition reminders that can contribute to good health and lower your risk for heart disease.

Your health can be affected by the environment around you, and this includes elements of weather like temperature and air quality.

Over the past few months the western region of the U.S. has experienced extreme weather patterns that have contributed to periods of high heat, dry, drought conditions and wildfires. To help you understand the potential effects of high temperatures and air quality on physical health, we’ll address both topics with the help of Dignity Health Medical Group physicians.

This next school year will be different for students and parents alike. While school systems are finalizing details for the 2021-2022 school year, you and your family should also prepare a plan-of-action to stay healthy in and out of class. Mercy Medical Group pediatrician Kimberly Hart, DO has some advice that can ease any concerns you may have about sending your kids back to school in this phase of the pandemic.

Summer for most kids means no school, road trips, and days well-spent in the sun. With that, your child’s body needs to be well-fed and hydrated in order to power through summer activities. For some kids three square meals will do the trick, but for others, snacking can keep them going between meals. Melody Steeples, MPH, RD, with Woodland Clinic, shares some insight on why snacking can be helpful for your child, as well as some advice on how to snack healthily this summer and beyond. Read to the end for a special summer recipe from Melody Steeples!