Originally published June 2018. Reviewed and corrected August 2026. Summer in the Ozarks is hot, and the sunscreen aisle is overwhelming. Here is how to choose one and use it properly. Which SPF? SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum, water-resistant. That covers most people. If you burn easily, have very fair skin, or have a personal or family history of skin … Read More
Pharmacogenomic Testing: What Your Genes Can (and Can’t) Tell Us About Medications
Originally published May 2018. Reviewed and substantially revised August 2026. Your genetics decide your eye colour and your height. They also influence how your body processes medications — which is part of why one person does well on a particular antidepressant while another feels awful on the same dose, and why some people tolerate a statin while others get muscle … Read More
Introducing Peanuts, Milk and Other Allergens to Your Baby
Originally published March 2018. Reviewed and substantially corrected August 2026 to reflect current NIAID, AAP and AAAAI guidance. Nobody has time to sort through the constantly changing, conflicting advice on infant feeding — and Google makes it worse, not better. So here is the current version, plainly. The old advice was backwards For years parents were told to delay allergenic … Read More
Fever in Kids: When to Worry and When to Relax
Originally published February 2018. Reviewed and updated August 2026 to follow current American Academy of Pediatrics guidance. Let’s start here: fever is not the enemy. Fever isn’t an illness. It’s your child’s immune system doing its job — raising body temperature slows bacteria and viruses down and revs up the cells that fight them. There’s no evidence that fever itself … Read More
Cervical Cancer Screening: How Often You Really Need a Pap
Originally published January 2018. Reviewed and updated August 2026 — cervical cancer screening has changed substantially since this was first written. “How often am I supposed to get a Pap smear?” is one of the most common questions I get, and the honest answer is that it’s more complicated than it used to be — because screening got better, not … Read More
Breastfeeding: My Real Story, and What I Tell New Moms
August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, so I want to share my own breastfeeding story — not the tidy version. I usually keep these posts scientific, and there are medical facts and tips at the end. But first I want to tell you what it was actually like, because I think new moms hear the polished version far too often. My … Read More
Poison Ivy: What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Around 85% of people are allergic to poison ivy, oak and sumac. Only about 10 to 15% seem genuinely unable to react. Here are the facts and the fictions, because there is a lot of confident misinformation about this plant. FICTION: “I’ve never gotten it, so I’m immune.” This is the one that catches people out. The reaction is an … Read More
Nutrition and Weight Loss Support at Tri-Lakes Family Care
Want to learn how to eat better? Looking to lose weight? Nutrition is one of the most powerful tools we have — and one of the hardest to use alone. What you eat plays a central role in managing weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. For many of our patients, the right changes to a daily eating pattern do … Read More
Lyme Disease in Missouri: How Common Is It Really?
The lone star tick — the female’s single white dot makes her easy to identify. This is the tick behind most of Missouri’s tick-borne illness. Summer in the Ozarks brings lake days, hiking, yard work — and ticks. Every year patients come in worried after finding one attached, and the first question is almost always the same: “Can I get … Read More
Diet and Zero Sugar Sodas: Are They Actually Helping?
If you switched from regular soda to a diet or zero sugar version to cut calories, you have probably also seen a headline telling you those drinks are linked to stroke, dementia, or weight gain. So which is it? Here is what the research actually says — and what it does not. First: “zero sugar” and “diet” are the same … Read More
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