Laura Ann Petrini M.D.

As Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and if you have Crohn’s Disease or colitis, you know there are fewer mantras truer than this.The symptoms of IBD and some of the medical treatments that go along with it can all put you at risk for various ailments and...

Imagine taking an illness that makes life incredibly difficult and turning it into art. It sounds like an impossible feat, but that is exactly what Kristy Stevens is doing.Stevens was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) 10 years ago and she felt like her life was over at the time. Diagnosis of a...

What is cilantro and where does it come from?Cilantro is a plant that blooms and is replanted yearly. Thus, it is considered an annual herb. Its scientific name is Coriandrum sativum and is also known as "coriander" or "Chinese parsley". Every part of the plant is edible, but its dried seeds and...

A new technique out of McGill may be the key to shed new light on how muscles work. It’s an important step towards a better understanding of how muscle-targeted diseases and disorders work. With a greater understanding also comes a better handle of how to treat and possibly cure these diseases in...

What is Zika virus?Zika virus (Flavivirus) isn`t a new virus, initially, it was found in Uganda and called after the place where the virus was first detected- Zika forest (1947). It is a mosquito-borne virus, which is transmitted from a particular species of infected insects (Aedes), the aggressive...

IntroductionAn average person typically holds approximately 5 liters of blood. To stay alive, the body generally needs to have more than 2 liters of blood in the system. It can be life-threatening if more than 2 liters of blood is lost in the body. For this reason, simply donating blood can help...