Author: Eileen Gilligan

Typical Mother’s Day gifts can sometimes have a downside, especially if there are young kids involved. There’s breakfast in bed, followed by lots of cleanup in the kitchen. Or dinner out, including cutting kids’ meat, shepherding little people to the bathroom, and feeling responsible if children shout or get silly and bother other diners. So what about something offbeat? Mothers in the thick of raising little ones can be hesitant to ask for time off, but they might be grateful to receive it. About 4 million women in the United States gave birth in the past year — some might…

If there were a vaccine for breast cancer, she wouldn’t be able to close the office doors ever, says Dr. Linda Imboden of Brighton Hill Pediatrics in Syracuse. Yet nearly half the teenagers in the United States remain without the vaccine known to prevent most cervical and throat cancers. Human papillomavirus, or HPV, has been found to cause most cervical and vaginal cancers as well as throat cancer and genital warts in men and women. This is tough stuff to talk about with adolescents and even parents. The virus is considered a sexually transmitted disease. But doctors recommend the three-shot…