Health & Wellness News

Join Megan Frank at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. every Friday for Insights with LehighValleyNews.com on WLVR. This week, she's joined by Bethlehem reporter Will Oliver and Digital News Content Producer Makenzie Christman.

Northampton County Council voted 5-4 Thursday to provide free pads and tampons in every county-owned restroom equipped with running water, including men's rooms.

A Lehigh Valley woman thanks her German stem cell donor in-person nearly a decade and a pandemic after the transplant. St. Luke's University Health network helped connect the two.

Among the winners are projects to repaint the basketball court at Building 21; build several community gardens; and plant trees.

Northampton Community College has a new center dedicated to those going into the health care field. The school now offers cardiac sonography and respiratory care training, a state-of-the-art simulation center, and a center for interdisciplinary health sciences workforce development.

Four years into his massage therapy career, Jared Skinner set out to master a relatively "new" technique to the practice — rolfing. It's a 10-step practice on a weekly basis that aims to relieve the body naturally of pain for upwards of five to 10 years. Only 2,000 body workers professionally practice it worldwide.

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation is introducing groundbreaking robotic exoskeleton technology in the Lehigh Valley. The device helps people who may have suffered a spinal chord injury, stroke, or other paralyzing conditions walk.

The River Crossing YMCA in the Lehigh Valley is enrolling people for free programs this fall. The programs include health and wellness classes for veterans, those needing mental health assistance, those struggling with diabetes, and 7th grade students.

For Overdose Awareness Day, Easton will host a march from the free bridge to the amphitheater where community advocates will be recognized for their efforts, followed by an evening event where authorities and experts will share their thoughts and experiences concerning overdoses.

This time of year can be hectic for families sending kids back to the classroom. A culinary medicine specialist has some quick, easy ways to add nutrients into meal time.

A bike repair station donated by the Whitehall Area Rotary Club was dedicated at the Ironton Rail Trail pavilion on Monday.

The court is optimized to offer a brief but effective workout experience if needed. Users can exercise for 45 seconds, follow that with 15 seconds of rest and be through each zone around the seven-minute mark.

Marshmallow lovers can rest easy today. After coronavirus caused a nine-month hiatus the locally-made Peeps are making a comeback.

In the wake of concerns about getting vaccines from the state next week, Lehigh Valley Health Network says it’s keeping its vaccination appointments for next week, as it feverishly lobbies the state for more doses.

Lehigh Valley Health Network may not get the vaccine shipment it was counting on for next week. Network leaders are scrambling to find out where the doses are for scheduled shots.

As folks across the Lehigh Valley are struggling to get vaccines, a Facebook group has popped up to help find direction.

Pennsylvania has received more than 2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine but, fewer than a million residents have received their first shot.

Concerned residents held a vigil outside the Lehigh County Jail in Allentown over the weekend with signs and candles to remember an inmate and correctional officer who recently died from COVID-19 and to raise awareness of what they say are dangerous conditions inside.

Lehigh Valley community members say the situation inside the Lehigh County Jail is bleak. Activists say COVID-19 conditions are causing harm to inmates and employees. And they plan to make their voices heard this weekend.

A limited supply of the coronavirus vaccine has hampered the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s vaccination efforts for Lehigh Valley residents.

In most cases, COVID-19 presents mild symptoms in children. However, in some rare cases, children have developed after-effects of the virus called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome or MIS-C.

At a public forum with several Lehigh County Commissioners on Jan. 28, they called their working conditions “life-threatening.”

Millions of Pennsylvanians are now eligible for the COVID-19 shot, and health care providers are racing to distribute the vaccines in time.

Some people who contract the coronavirus experience no symptoms at all. For others, it’s life-threatening. Doctors say serious symptoms can linger for weeks -- or months -- in COVID-19 patients.