WBFO Health & Wellness Desk

Most people have heard of PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health problem that can develop after witnessing a life-threatening event.

Lesser known is PTG. While recording the oral histories of local Vietnam War veterans, a University at Buffalo researcher found that post-traumatic growth can exist at the same time as PTSD. Marian Hetherly explains as part of WNED|WBFO's "Our Vietnam Voices" series.

A team effort to encourage more youth participation in sports is expanding and going nationwide. And one of the institutions that helped roll out a plan at the Western New York level earlier this year is joining more partners on the national project.

Having enough people to foster each child in need has been a longtime problem, complicated by couples who both work. In fact, earlier this year Erie County ran out of foster parents, forcing kids to move as far as Jamestown to a new family who could care for them.

The City of Toronto has fast tracked the opening of three supervised safe injection sites, and at least one interim site has already opened. As Dan Karpenchuk reports, the time line appears to have been ramped up after a harm reduction group opened its own supervised injection site in response to the opioid crisis.

Around 600 people turned out on Thursday evening for a town hall meeting with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in Buffalo State's Rockwell Hall. The large audience appeared to agree with her on most issues.

You might not expect to find a therapeutic dance program occurring in the middle of an art center. But that's exactly what's taking place each Wednesday morning, now through December, at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.  WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley tells us how the Art Moves Me dance program is helping people with Parkinson's disease. 

A disease outbreak from flood waters in Texas is not likely. That's according to University at Buffalo Environmental Engineering Professor James Jensen, who gained expertise in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s health commissioner received a grilling from state senators at a hearing this week on whether New York is doing enough to combat tick-borne illnesses.

This summer, Netflix started controversy by releasing the film, To The Bone. In the movie, the main characters suffers from an eating disorder, and this sparked debate. Some people said the movie glorifies eating disorders, while others believe the movie is a great way to get people talking and spreading awareness.

A former EPA administrator and a former New York state health department official have teamed up with a Vermont college to conduct a health survey of people potentially affected by polluted water in the villages of Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, and in Bennington, Vermont.

In Western New York, addiction is everywhere - from cities to suburbs to rural areas. Medical experts say treatment facilities should be where the patients live.

More and more oral cancers being treated by oncologists can be traced to a well-known and very common virus for which there is a vaccine for young people.

Catholic Health officially gave up Monday and told residents of a small Amherst neighborhood there would not be a drug treatment clinic next door. The new plan is to shift to an office park in Audubon.

A new integrated medical facility for Buffalo’s West Side neighborhood is nearing its grand opening after a year of construction.

The Erie County Health Department reported Monday that West Nile Virus was positively identified within a pool of mosquitoes tested in the Town of Amherst.  State health officials are reminding the public to take precautionary steps to slow its spread.

iPads are giving a voice to children who cannot speak.  WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley says students at the Cantalician Center are learning to communicate in a new way in the classroom and at home.

You get your hair cut on a regular basis, so why not get your health checked just as often? A barber shop in Niagara Falls is part of an innovative approach to instilling that healthy trend in the community.

Yet another mark of the University at Buffalo’s expansion into the downtown medical corridor went on display Wednesday with the installation of its logo on the new Main Street medical school building.

The work of high school students in a summer STEM education program came to fruition Tuesday with the presentation of 3D-printed hands for children.

First created by a young girl battling brain cancer, Carly's Club at Roswell Park is taking on a new name. The newly-renamed Courage of Carly Fund has also gained a new corporate sponsor that will help encourage donations to support research and programming for young cancer and blood disorder patients.

The University at Buffalo has welcomed its largest-ever medical school class for a new semester.  WBFO's senior reporter Eileen Buckley says UB is calling this a "milestone". 

President Donald Trump on Thursday declared the opioid addiction crisis a "national emergency." Those welcoming the declaration hope it will soon lead to more federal investment in treatment and prevention programs. Meanwhile, Erie County lawmakers spent time Thursday hearing feedback from agencies, - including some whose funding proposals were turned down - on a plan to spend one million dollars for response programming.

A Buffalo native and University at Buffalo graduate is embarking on innovative research to challenge a disparity in minority health.