Your Health

Lawn mower safety

Ah, the smell of fresh-mown grass - just make sure it's not mingled with fresh-cut fingers this summer.

Lawn mower-related accidents injure 200,000 people a year - 16,000 of them children - and doctors say patients endure years of painful operations to repair tragic injuries.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission recommends the following precautions:

• Pick up rocks, garbage, and sticks from the yard before mowing to avoid injury from objects shooting out of the blades.

• Fill the fuel tank and set cutting height before starting the engine - never while it's running or hot.

• Don't cut the grass when it's wet, which can clog the chute, and never clear a clogged mower while it's running or with your hands.

• With a push mower, cut across a hill, to avoid it rolling back on you if you slip. With a rider mower, cut up and down, to avoid tipping over.

• Medical associations agree that children should be at least 12 years old before they operate any mower, and at least 16 before they run a rider mower.

Buzz is building

Yep, mosquitoes are back. The cool weather has kept them down, but with all the rain we've gotten, health experts expect them to return with a vengeance.

With mosquitoes - especially once the weather turns dry and hot - comes the threat of West Nile virus.

That threat has diminished significantly since 2002, when Illinois had more cases than any other state, with 884 illnesses and 64 deaths.

Last year, there were 20 illnesses statewide and one death.

Only one out of five people with the virus will get sick, and most who do will have only mild symptoms of fever, headache and body ache.

Those over 50 or with chronic illness, such as heart disease or cancer, face the greatest risk of serious complications.

Anyone concerned should minimize exposure to mosquitoes, eliminate stagnant water in gutters and elsewhere, and report dead birds, which can carry the virus, to local health officials.

Golf and fight cancer

The Whisper Memorial Foundation is trying to bring awareness of ovarian cancer into the forefront.

In honor of the late Joyce Schauer, her family - whom she raised in Lombard - is organizing its second annual golf outing July 2 at Carriage Greens in Darien.

Last year, the outing raised $70,000, which helped set up a fund to test women for ovarian cancer at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Proceeds also went to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and the American Cancer Society.

Because symptoms can be very mild, ovarian cancer is a silent killer. A Pap test does not detect ovarian cancer, so it's important to know the warning signs:

• pelvic or abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating or feeling of fullness.

• vague but persistent gastrointestinal distress such as gas, nausea and indigestion.

• frequency or urgency of urination.

• unexplained weight gain or loss.

• changes in bowel habits.

The foundation's newsletter alerted one woman to see a doctor about her symptoms. She found she had Stage 2 cancer, which is very treatable.

See whispermemorialfoundation.org or call (630) 515-9080.