How much Sleep Do I Need?

The amount of sleep you need depends on several factors, including your age, lifestyle, health, and whether you have been getting enough sleep recently. The general recommendations for sleep, per day, are:

Newborns: 16-18 hours
Preschool-aged children: 11-12 hours
School-aged children: At least 10 hours
Teens: 9-10 hours
Adults (including the elderly): 7-8 hours

An Expression of Grief

Tomorrow is National Grief Awareness Day. A day to recognize that it takes time to heal from a loss.

Everyone feels grief in their own way. But there are common stages to the process of mourning. It starts with recognizing a loss and continues until a person eventually accepts that loss.

We All Need Clean Water

You can help protect your water supply:

Don't pour household products such as cleansers, beauty products, medicines, auto fluids, paint, and lawn care products down the drain.

Throw away excess household grease, diapers, condoms, and personal hygiene products in the garbage can.

Clean up after your pets. Pet waste contains nutrients and germs.

The Genetics of SMA

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease that attacks nerve cells, called motor neurons, in the spinal cord.

SMA runs in families. Parents usually have no symptoms, but still carry the gene. Genetic counseling is important if the disease runs in your family.

Testosterone Levels: What's Normal?

Both males and females have testosterone in their bodies but in different amounts. You may need a testosterone level test if you have symptoms of abnormal testosterone levels. For adult men, it's mostly ordered if there are symptoms of low T levels. For women, it's mostly ordered if there are symptoms of high T levels.

The test may be used to diagnose several conditions, including decreased sex drive, infertility, erectile dysfunction, or irregular menstrual periods.