Only the Lonely Let’s start with a quiz! What are the answers to these three questions? 1. What is associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke?…

Pick a Word Pick a word – chubby, pudgy, stout, plump, or round. When used to describe a person’s body, these words reflect a negative view of an individual who is not thin/skinny. Americans have…

Four Roses I remember my parents frequently saying that our next-door neighbor, Mr. T, a friendly and kind man in his early 70s, was “talking to the four roses.” I was only 8 or 9…

I Did It My Way Let’s face it, no one likes being told what to do. If you have ever heard the song My Way, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1969, you may remember…

Refrigerator Mothers April is Autism Acceptance month, sometimes referred to as Autism Awareness month. While current research supports that genetic and environmental factors are some causes of autism, the exact cause of autism remains unknown. But…

May I? As children, we were taught to ask permission before doing something for safety reasons or as part of learning respect for others. We longed to be a “grown-up” in order to have the…

Want to Bet? March Madness, the annual NCAA Tournament to determine the Division I men’s and women’s college basketball national champion, is in full swing! In the men’s tournament, Sweet 16 competition continued Friday with teams vying to advance…

If you talk to a healthcare benefits professional, health plan representative or consumer, the word “access” will inevitably enter the conversation. Exactly what is access? In the opening sentence to an article about consumer satisfaction,…

Let’s use a proverb, one of those short sentences that people often quote to give advice or tell you something about life, to level-set other popular proverbs for real life situations! There are so many…

You Are What You Eat You may have heard the old saying “you are what you eat.” The phrase is commonly used to link one’s overall health to healthy eating habits – which is good…

You may have heard the slogan, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat or gloom of night stays these couriers from the completion of their appointed rounds”.   While this slogan is often associated with the…

This edition of the Download is dedicated to the Michigan State University (MSU) community and the many Spartans that have touched our lives. MSU, a member of AEPC since 1997, became the latest casualty of…

Hearts take center stage in February! It is widely recognized as the month of love with the celebration of Valentine’s Day on February 14th. February is also designated as American National Heart Month to raise…