Dear Dr. Toshi, I heard that it's important to eat fiber. Can you explain what fiber is and how we get it? One of the things that I've been really impressed with in this area is the fact that many people are avid gardeners and they're growing a great variety of wonderful vegetables! It turns out that this is a truly wonderful thing for our health! ...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I'm often constipated. Can you tell us about constipation and some home remedies I can try? You may have chronic constipation if you have two or more of these characteristics for more than three months: if you have less than three bowel movements (BMs) a week, if you have hard or pebble-like stools, if you have to strain when you ha...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I'm taking a medication called furosemide (also called Lasix), which is known as a "pee pill." What does it do for the heart? My doctor says it's good for the heart, but it sure makes me go to the bathroom often. Many people take medications called "diuretics," which you may know as a "water pill" or "pee pill." One of the things it...

Updated 03/12/2021 WRHS Clinics and Hospital Visitation Updates Hospital Visitation - Up to two (2) adult visitors at time per inpatient, no visitors under the age of 18. All visitors masked. COVID Unit - End-of-life patient visitation only, and will require full PPE for those visitors. Visitors must sign a waiver and will be limited and approved b...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I get uncontrollable morning sneezing. Can you talk about that? It's impossible for me to diagnose a specific condition without seeing and examining the person, but we can talk in general about sneezing and possible causes of "morning sneezing." Sneezing can be annoying, as we all know. Sneezing is an upper airway reflex. Upper airw...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I'm taking a number of medications, and I don't really know what they're all for or whether I need to be taking all of them. What should I do? Last week I talked about how to optimize your visit to the clinic, and mentioned a few things about your medications. With the advancement of medical science and pharmaceutical research and d...

West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger was recently named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by The Chartis Center for Rural Health for 2021. "Coming out of one of the most difficult years in our organizations history, I am very happy for this recognition provided to our organization. Being awarded Top 100 st...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I just heard of a condition called "Metabolic Syndrome." What's that? "Metabolic syndrome" is a problem related to abdominal fat, blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipids (cholesterol and fats) that affects our health in significant ways. I talked about hypertension and cholesterol in previous articles, and also discussed BMI and w...

Dear Dr. Toshi, People talk a lot about Vitamin D. I'm outside a lot in the sun, so I shouldn't need any vitamin D supplement, right? You might already know that vitamin D is important in our body for the health of our bones. Vitamin D helps us absorb calcium and maintain strong bones. Without it, bones can become thin, brittle, or malformed (like ...

Dear Dr. Toshi, What's a heart attack and how does it happen? What's commonly known as heart attack is also called a "myocardial infarction" (MI). The heart is a muscular organ, and its muscle is called myocardium. Infarction is the death of the myocardium, and it's caused by coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease is a disease of arteries...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I recently noticed that I'm losing more hair when I brush my hair. Is it normal to lose hair as we get older? Hair loss is common. We often see classic male pattern hair loss and women with thinning hair as they get older. It's possible that it's a simple "hair loss" (though the symptoms are not so simple emotionally), but there are...

Dear Dr. Toshi, Can vitamin C prevent me from catching a cold or even from getting COVID? You might have heard that vitamin C can help prevent a common cold or even COVID. Unfortunately, there's no clear data showing that vitamin C can help prevent colds, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP says that taking vitam...

Dear Dr. Toshi, "Sometimes people say their spouse is crabby so they should have their vitamin B12 level checked. Can a low B12 level really make somebody crabby?" My answer is, "It's possible." If someone is anemic due to a vitamin B12 deficiency, they can experience symptoms like fatigue, irritability, and cognitive decline. Even people with a lo...

Dear Dr. Toshi, When I go to the doctor's office, it seems like sometimes I have to wait a long time in the waiting room or exam room for the doctor or other provider to see me. Why are they often running behind schedule like that? It's very frustrating as a patient to have to wait a long time even though you get to an appointment on time or even e...

There have been some questions raised on if WRHS will be vaccinating the public. Currently, the answer is no. The North Dakota Department of Health would like one entity to perform vaccinations to avoid duplication of efforts and confusion of doses allocated. Per the North Dakota, pandemic plan local public health units are taxed with the responsib...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I have an appointment coming up at my doctor's office. Could you tell me how to use my time with my provider in the most effective way? When you go to see your doctor or provider in a clinic, there are many things you can do to make the time more useful for yourself. Doctors and providers are specially-trained people who are your pa...

Dear Dr. Toshi, I get a little depressed every year around this time in the fall and winter. Is that something I should be concerned about? Have you ever heard of a condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD)? If you have seasonal symptoms of depression every year around the same time, and your doctor ruled out (tested and made certain) that...

Dear Dr. Toshi,  I was told that I'd be referred to a specialist, but I didn't catch if the doctor said, "neurologist" or "urologist." Can you tell me what they are? I get this question quite often because there are so many specialists! So, today, I'd like to give you some information about doctors who specialize. In my mind, there are two big...

With the uncertainty of the current times, never before has staffing been such an integral part of West River Health Services and Western Horizons Living Centers. We are constantly searching for the brightest and most caring healthcare personnel we can find – and especially those who want to work and raise their families in a rural community. There...

Dear Dr. Toshi,  What's the differences between cleaning, sanitizing (as in hand sanitizer), and disinfecting? What's the difference between disinfectants and antiseptics? What should we use against COVID-19? Antiseptics and disinfectants both kill microorganisms (germs) such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and tiny parasites like amoeba. An anti...