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Heavy consumption of diet soda can damage teeth as badly as methamphetamine or crack cocaine, a new study contends.More >> Heavy consumption of diet soda can damage teeth as badly as methamphetamine or crack cocaine, a new study contends.More >> Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.More >> Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.More >> Kids who eat fast food at least twice a week are 50 percent less likely to use calorie and nutritional information than kids who eat fast food less often.More >> Kids who eat fast food at least twice a week are 50 percent less likely to use calorie and nutritional information than kids who eat fast food less often.More >> The American Cancer Society, which is celebrating on Wednesday a century of fighting a disease once viewed as a death sentence, is making a pledge to put itself out of business.More >> The American Cancer Society, which is celebrating on Wednesday a century of fighting a disease once viewed as a death sentence, is making a pledge to put itself out of business.More >> In the aftermath of this week's deadly tornado, many people in Oklahoma are not only struggling to care for children and relatives, but also their pets.More >> In the aftermath of this week's deadly tornado, many people in Oklahoma are not only struggling to care for children and relatives, but also their pets.More >>
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Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.More >> Teen birth rates in the United States are dropping sharply, especially among Hispanic teens, according to a new government report.More >> The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising.More >> The overall health of Americans isn't improving much, with about six in 10 people either overweight or obese and large numbers engaging in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, heavy drinking or not exercising.More >> When a classmate commits suicide, teens are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study. More >> When a classmate commits suicide, teens are more likely to consider or attempt suicide themselves, according to a new study. More >> Pregnant women with specific alterations in two genes may be at increased risk of suffering depression after giving birth, a small new study suggests.More >> Pregnant women with specific alterations in two genes may be at increased risk of suffering depression after giving birth, a small new study suggests.More >> Although spring arrived late this year in parts of the United States, the summer allergy season will still be strong, according to a sinus expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.More >> Although spring arrived late this year in parts of the United States, the summer allergy season will still be strong, according to a sinus expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.More >>
Ladies, here’s a warning for the men in your life. They may be at risk for an abdominal aortic aneurysm and not even know it.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is when the largest artery in your body, the aorta, starts to bulge or balloon. It often happens to men over 40 who suffer from high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or have a family history of aneurysms. It's very common and can be deadly because most men don't know they have it.
Jim Toman is a 56-year-old insurance agent in Tyler. He considers himself a pretty healthy guy. He eats right and exercises. But one morning on the way to work, he says he started feeling uneasy.
"It wasn't really pain as much as a coldness I felt throughout my body, and of course, your mind plays games with you. I was telling myself I was having a heart attack," Jim says.
He immediately went to see his doctor, who told him the problem wasn't with his heart, but with his aortic vessel. He had an aneurysm.
"It's a blood vessel under a high amount of pressure," explains MedTeam Doctor Ed Dominguez.
Dr. Dominguez says an abdominal aortic aneurysm can dissect or rupture the main artery in your body.
"Which means blood can collect between the aneurysm and outside wall and shut down the aneurysm and blood flow. Or it can rupture and blood would be coming out of it and that can kill you in seconds," says Dr. Ed.
"I call it the grace of God. No question in my mind," says Jim.
Jim adds if he hadn't followed his instincts and went to the doctor when he started feeling badly, he might not be here today. Abdominal aortic aneurysms kill 15,000 men every year, but they don't have too.
"All you have to do is get screened. All it takes is an ultrasound," says Dr. Ed.
You can sign up for a screening at your doctor's office or at ETMC or Mother Frances Hospital.
