Free health seminar

Free health seminar

BOARDMAN

The Ohio Naturopathic Wellness Center at 755 Boardman-Canfield Road., Suite D3, Boardman (Southbridge West Complex), is offering a free natural-health seminar, ”How to Achieve Your Ideal Weight,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with Dr. Ted Suzelis and Valentina Khoury Dubasic.

They will discuss a plan for healthy weight loss usually enables patients to lose 7 to 10 pounds in the first week and 2 to 3 pounds per week thereafter. For information or to reserve a seat, call 330-729-1350 or go to OhioND.com. Registration is required.

Lupus foundation

AUSTINTOWN

The Lupus Foundation of America, Greater Ohio Chapter, is traveling to seven areas of the state to present three informational sessions about the Lupus Foundation. Light refreshments will be provided.

Locally, the session will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 23 at Fairfield Inn & Suites Youngstown Austintown, 801 North Canfield-Niles Road.

People who attend the series will learn about the Lupus Foundation and its Greter Ohio Chapter, what lupus is, and receive the encouragement needed to fight lupus every day.

Registration is required by Saturday. Call 1-888-NO-LUPUS or visit lupusgreaterohio.org. All registered guests receive a free T-shirt. Lupus Foundation of America GOC is located at 12930 Chippewa Road, Brecksville.

Keratoconus info

MCHENRY, Ill.

People who are healthy but their vision is failing and glasses no longer provide clear vision and streamers and halos around lights won’t go away may have keratoconus, a condition that likely will worsen severely with further loss of sight without treatment.

About 150,000 people in the United States are suffering from keratoconus, and many do not know it until the eyes are seriously damaged. According to the Mayo Clinic website, keratoconus occurs when the eye’s cornea, the clear, dome-shaped front surface of the eye, thins and gradually bulges outward into a cone shape, which causes blurred vision and may cause sensitivity to light and glare.

Results of a two-year study recently published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cornea has shown the effectiveness of a new cross-linking technique and a new riboflavin-containing medication that allows for painless and very rapid recovery after treatment. The National Library or Medicine summary is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26606293.

The rapid healing technique, freely available in Europe, has been approved for clinical testing in the U.S. at the Mercy Center for Corrective Eye Surgery under the direction of Dr. Robert L. Epstein by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For information on enrolling for treatment, visit www.ICanSee.com or call 1-800-422-6733.

Pet ownership health

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Human Animal Bond Research Initiative Foundation reports that the findings of an economic analysis on the health care cost savings associated with pet ownership, conducted by researchers from George Mason University, calculated an $11.7 billion savings a year in United States healthcare costs as a result of pet ownership.

The largest savings, $11.37 billion annually, was based on 0.6 fewer doctor office visits by pet owners, at an average $139 per visit, compared with nonowners; and an additional $419 million was saved by the 20 million people who walk their pets, resulting in a lower incidence of obesity.