

OSF Healthcare
CHAMPAIGN - Alina Paul, MD, has been singing for as long as she can remember. She added guitar while in boarding school in India.

Food poisoning cases tend to increase in November and December, because many traditional holiday foods include raw ingredients such as egg, meat or unpasteurized milk. That’s why health experts like Nicole O’Neill, a clinical dietitian for OSF HealthCare, stress the importance of playing it extra safe this time of the year.
“Make sure you’re always washing your hands before you prepare," says O'Neill. "If you can get all of your guests to wash their hands before they join the buffet line that is an excellent way to keep everyone safe. Make sure your hot foods stay hot and your cold foods stay cold. There are lots of products out there that can help you do that. Make sure you have a great thermometer. One that you use through the entire process, and make sure you clean your thermometer between different foods so you don’t accidentally cross-contaminate.”
Another important reminder is to keep all food separated. Remember to keep meat, chicken, seafood and eggs separate from other foods in your shopping cart and in the refrigerator. Store these items in containers or plastic bags to ensure their juices won’t leak or drip onto other foods.
“You don’t want to ever mix things," says O'Neill. "In your refrigerator all your meat should be on the bottom and away from everything else. Your fruits and vegetables should be separate too. You don’t ever want to mix raw and ready to eat things together because that’s an easy cross-contamination. It’s easy for bacteria to move back and forth.”
Cook food thoroughly until it’s done. A food thermometer is a helpful instrument that helps determine that the meat, chicken or seafood is properly cooked to a safe internal temperature.
O’Neill says bacteria can grow quickly in the danger zone between 40°F and 140°F. Perishable foods should be refrigerated within two hours of preparation or serving.
“Make sure you cook your food properly to the right temperature; there are a lot of charts out there, or you can buy magnets to put on your fridge," says O'Neill. "Certain meats should be cooked to a certain temperature, which means you have to have a thermometer. There are many versions. Some you can leave in the meat or in the oven. As you cook – you pull the thermometer out and you’re good to go.”
And who doesn’t love a nibble of raw cookie dough or batter? If you do, O’Neill says to walk away. Dough for cookies, cakes, pies and other treats is made with eggs or flour that can contain E. coli and Salmonella. If you simply can’t resist, shop for edible cookie dough that uses pasteurized eggs or no eggs. Pay attention to labels.
The bottom line, O’Neill says, is to take the extra steps to ensure your meal or appetizers doesn’t leave your guests feeling blue this holiday season. After all, no one wants a gift that keeps on giving.
“Everyone needs to be super safe especially if you are going to have other people in your home. You have to, that’s all there is to it.”
According to the American Heart Association, kids ages two to 18 should have less than 25 grams (or about six teaspoons) of added sugar daily. Eating too much added sugar at an early age is linked to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and increased risk for heart disease. Sara Umphfleet, RD, LDN, is a registered dietitian at OSF HealthCare Saint Luke Medical Center in Kewanee, Illinois. She says some of our favorite treats are often harboring more sugar than we might expect.
“There is a sugar model I like to use. It talks about things like the amount of sugar in half a cup of Jell-O, for example – and there is a lot of sugar in Jell-O (about 16 grams). Same with the amount of sugar that is in something like just one Pop-Tart (about 14 grams), and you get two in a bag. A big one is soda which has a lot of extra added sugar in it (about 39 grams). And these aren’t natural sugars like from apples and oranges and bananas. These are sugars that are added. Hershey’s candy bars are another example with a lot of sugar (about 24 grams),” explains Umphfleet.
However, according to Fortune, the average child consumes about three cups of sugar on Halloween alone, which is about 144 teaspoons and nearly 27 times the recommended daily amount. Furthermore, every year Americans purchase nearly 600 million pounds of candy for Halloween festivities and trick-or-treaters.
If you haven’t bought Halloween candy yet this year, Umphfleet recommends an alternative route.
“I typically recommend offering things like bubbles or bouncy balls – some of those little trinkets you can find at the dollar store instead of giving candy out. You also think of food allergies and they are going to get candy from a lot of neighbors and friends – so try to do something different,” says Umphlfeet.
You do not need to completely forego the Halloween candy. But if you do let your kids indulge, Umphfleet recommends doing so in moderation, as too much sugar on even just one day can result in increased exhaustion and headaches – or a “sugar crash.”
“I recommend to give them a couple pieces of candy and then putting the rest away. They definitely don’t need to be eating all of the candy the night of Halloween. And then offer it usually in the afternoons rather than at night time when they are getting ready for bed and less active. You don’t want all of that sugar to sit in their gut,” Umphfleet explains.
It is also important to make sure your child is drinking enough fluids on Halloween in between the festivities and candy consumption – but make sure their beverage of choice is not full of sugar. When it comes to hydration, plain old fashioned water remains the best option.
“It is very important to stay hydrated and get those beverages in, but try to stick to the sugar-free beverages. Choose 100% fruit juice rather than juice that has 10% juice which has a lot of extra added sugar. Also look on food labels to avoid things with high fructose corn syrup, so things like soda,” advises Umphfleet.
While you don’t necessarily need to skip sugary treats altogether, Umphfleet emphasizes that you should not let your kids deter too far from their normal daily eating habits on Halloween. Enjoy a piece of candy or two, and spend some time over the holiday weekend enjoying other Halloween traditions as well, such as watching a Halloween movie, looking at local decorations, and carving pumpkins.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), when someone who has diabetes gets sick with things like colds or the flu, the illness and stress cause their body to release hormones that raise blood sugar (blood glucose) levels, making it harder to keep their blood sugar in their target range. The ADA adds that while having diabetes in and of itself does not necessarily make someone more likely to get a cold or the flu, it does raise the chances of getting seriously sick. Some people may not even know they have diabetes until a severe illness occurs.
“If you have poorly controlled or undiagnosed diabetes and develop symptoms of something like the flu, you will have increased risk factors of severe illness. I would encourage those people to get quickly examined at an urgent care or their primary physician,” says Mohammed Khan, M.D., an OSF HealthCare family medicine physician.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that nearly a third of people with diabetes do not know they have it, and someone can go years before getting a diagnosis. The reason diabetes can fly under the radar is because the symptoms can be minor, especially early on.
“When patients have certain symptoms like more frequent urine and going to the restroom more often, losing weight, having lack of energy, having dry mouth, feeling thirsty and drinking more often, having recurrent infections like skin and urine infections – those are the things that indicate a screening for diabetes,” explains Dr. Khan.
He adds, “People who have diabetes sometimes ignore the symptoms and think they are not affected which is why it is a silent killer. The body is getting destroyed from the inside and many do not notice it unless you go to regular health exams or are screened for it. Diabetes is also one of the most common causes for chronic kidney disease. For a lot of people who develop problems like kidney failure or needing dialysis, the root cause for that most of the time is diabetes.”
Dr. Khan advises people who do have diabetes to keep it under control as best as possible, as well-controlled diabetes helps manage seasonal illnesses when they do occur. However, serious illness can still occur.
“With diabetes, your immune system goes down which is a risk factor. If you have diabetes, you want to make sure you are fully vaccinated and get the flu shot and are up to date on COVID vaccinations. If they are at a higher risk factor due to age and are in the age group to receive the pneumonia vaccination, we encourage get that as well, Dr. Khan advises.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a pneumonia shot for anyone age two or older who, because of chronic health problems (such as diabetes) or age, has a greater chance of getting pneumonia, and urges all eligible individuals who are six months and older to get their annual flu shot.
If you have diabetes, have a kit on hand with the following items in it: A glucose meter, extra batteries, supplies for your insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor, ketone test strips, a week’s worth of glucose-lowering medication (but don’t store these longer than 30 days before use), glucose tabs or gels, and flu or cold medications that won’t disrupt your diabetes management.
If you do end up with a seasonal illness, keep track of your symptoms and let your primary doctor know if they get worse. If your symptoms become severe or unmanageable, go to the nearest urgent care or emergency department.
If you have not been diagnosed with diabetes but are exhibiting any possible signs and symptoms, make an appointment with your doctor.
It’s estimated that SAD affects 5-million to 8-million people a year in the United States, particularly in late fall and colder, winter months when days are shorter and nights are longer.
It is thought to be related to the lack of available sunlight, leading to a deficiency of Vitamin D. This can disrupt a person’s natural sleep cycle, and the effect on the brain can cause a person to function differently.
“People in the winter time, particularly in northern, far northern latitudes or far southern latitudes, farther away from the equator will tend to get kind of sluggish and maybe depressed, they start to have carbohydrate cravings, and it may be enough that it’s really a significant problem for them,” explains Dr. Scott Hamilton, a psychiatrist with OSF HealthCare Behavioral Health in Bloomington.
As a behavioral health psychiatrist, Dr. Hamilton works with people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. He says there’s a difference between SAD and a case of the occasional winter blahs. If you find your mind and mood are impacting your relationships, ability to work, or social activities, it’s something that needs to be addressed.
There are a number of treatment opportunities for Seasonal Affective Disorder. Dr. Hamilton says one of the most effective is bright light therapy.
“These have a UV shield, full spectrum light, 30 minutes in the morning is how most studies were done with pretty good results. Pretty uniformly positive results in people that have wintertime depression, and people that don’t have winter depression, they do sometimes still help, but they’re not as likely to be helpful.”
Dr. Hamilton says these light boxes are available online, often for less than $50. He also says that simple behavior modification can help with SAD symptoms. He says eating well and exercise can have a tremendous effect on depression symptoms, but if a person is having a tough time functioning on a day-to-day basis, he or she might want to see a therapist for professional help.
“I think trying that and getting more exercise and doing some healthy things first does make sense,” said Dr. Hamilton. “If they get to the point where they can’t function or they get suicidal thoughts, things like that, then they ought to talk to somebody. Those would be the real red flags.”
News that could be confusing at best – or scary at worst – is circulating on-air and online, and many parents are left to wonder how to talk to their children about unsettling current events.
“The conversation really should be about the child. Give them permission to express their feelings. Make sure that they understand it’s important for them to be expressing their opinions, their viewpoints, their feelings. We want to make sure that they are hearing from us as the parent that we care about what they think. We care about what they are feeling,” explains Kyle Boerke, PsyD, an OSF HealthCare clinical child psychologist.
As information comes in, children may misinterpret what they hear, and might be frightened by something they don’t understand. Dr. Boerke says the first step parents should take is to simply ask kids what they know, and then talk about it truthfully, in a way that is appropriate for the age and developmental level of their child.
“We want them to know the information that I am giving to them is something that they can trust that is accurate. So if they are hearing me fiddle with the truth one way or another and they have a teacher at school that is having a conversations with them, that is going to put kind of a doubt in their head. So it is important to be open and honest with them at that age appropriate level. That way they know that they can trust you as a parent and your discretion,” he says.
And while the topic of the day might be divisive, parents can use the current environment as a teaching opportunity. Dr. Boerke reminds us that our kids are watching our reactions to current events and how we treat those with differing opinions or outlooks.
“We have the ability to model how we agree with or how we disagree with something in an appropriate way, and especially in a time like this when the country is so divided, that is a really important thing for us to model – appropriate ways to disagree or have different opinions from other people,” urges Dr. Boerke.
And Dr. Boerke says one of the most important things a parent can do is to reassure kids that they are safe.
During unsettling times, sometimes kids can have trouble coping. Dr. Boerke says signs of that include changes in behavior like nightmares, a child not sleeping, new fears, a lack of concentration or unusual moods.
If a parent notices these changes are ongoing, and talking with the child doesn’t seem to alleviate the fear, Dr. Boerke suggests speaking to your child’s pediatrician to get a referral to a behavioral health provider.
Country music star Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” tries to sum up the emotions of a terminal illness.
It’s not just Hollywood. Rita Manning counsels patients and their loved ones as a pastoral care professional and bereavement coordinator for OSF HealthCare. She says there are ways to make the person’s final days more peaceful.
Getting the diagnosis
Before the “what’s next?” phase sets in, Manning says gut reactions to a terminal illness diagnosis can vary widely. Some have been in declining health, and they may show less of an emotional response. Others learn the news unexpectedly and abruptly.
“Those that are broadsided probably have more of an impact of mental and emotional things,” Manning says.
People might talk about being afraid of death or ask lots of questions. Some may want to go “full speed ahead,” as Manning puts it, and do things while they can. They may travel or catch up with old friends. Others may retreat and want to contemplate the future alone. Depression and other mental health issues can follow.
Helping out
Here’s a phrase to try when starting the conversation with a loved one:
“You may not want to talk about this now. Just know that whenever you are ready, I’m ready to listen and be there,” Manning says, putting herself in the shoes of a caregiver.
In other words, try to meet the person where they are. Don’t try to fix something that can’t be fixed. Acknowledge that the news is tough. Sit and cry with your loved one if that’s the emotion they show. Or if you don’t wear your emotions on your sleeve, offer help in other ways. Offer to mow the yard or take care of groceries.
Manning advises to avoid cliché phrases like “How are you doing?” Instead, try “How’s your day treating you?”
Another poor phrase: “You’re going to a better place.”
“Those types of phrases might be factual for them in their faith journey. It still may not be the time they want to hear that,” Manning says.
End of life discussions
It’s not uncommon for an adult with a terminal illness to put off talking about their funeral, estate and other matters once they have passed away. But there comes a time when there’s little time left to get things in order. Approach it delicately, Manning suggests.
“We just want to honor your wishes,” Manning says, again posing as a caregiver. “If you could help us understand what those are, that would help us to know how to move forward.”
Other phrases that may work: What is your greatest concern? What is your greatest hope? How can we make your final days full and comfortable?
Children and terminal illnesses
Consoling and supporting a child who will soon pass away requires a different approach, Manning says. You should still be honest, but they may not understand death. So, explain it in a way they understand.
First, reassure the child that the situation is not their fault.
Try something like: “Sometimes people just get sick. As hard as we try, we just can’t find that solution to make you well again.”
If they ask a question, an adult may need to ask one back to make sure they grasp what the child is thinking. For example: does the child’s stomach hurt because they are nervous or because of the illness? The response will shape what the adult says.
Relate to what children know, like a pet who died or even leaves falling off trees in the winter. But don’t be afraid to use words like “death” and “dying.” Using words like “lost” may cause confusion, Manning says. For example: a parent says, “We lost grandma today.” A child may respond, “Let’s go find her.”
Manning adds that there are books from trusted sources that talk about death.
“They’re still going to have questions,” Manning points out. “But it starts the hard task. Reading helps them engage and understand better.”
Learn more
Learn more about resources for people nearing the end of their life on the OSF HealthCare website.