If you can believe it, allergy season is already upon us. UNM's allergy expert Dr. Mark Schuyler shares what to expect during allergy season and some of the best ways to alleviate your symptoms.

When a pediatric patient is fighting through cancer and receiving chemotherapy or radiation there is a pain and sickness component that is not always addressed by conventional medical care. That's where the UNM Center for Life and integrative medicine come in. Through acupuncture, massage, healing touch, and other CAM (complementary and alternative medicines) services, the center's care providers are able to assist in ways to support the whole person in their healing process. But not all of integrative services are paid by the patient’s insurance benefits. So UNM pediatric oncologist Dr. Linda Butros and Center for Life director of advanced manual therapies David Lang are introducing Kids Supporting Kids, an arts initiative to raise funds for integrative oncology services for children fighting cancer.

New Mexico state lawmakers once again hit the hardwood to help fight cancer, raising more than $20,000 for the UNM Cancer Center. The annual event, pitting members of the state Senate against the House of Representatives has raised more than $120,000 since 2007.

Retired New Mexico State University Men's Basketball Head Coach Lou Henson and NMSU Deputy Athletics Director David McCollum coached the House Aggies, while UNM Men‟s Baseball Head Coach Ray Birmingham coached the Senate Lobos.

Senate Lobos beat the House Aggaies 26-24.

How Does Multiple Sclerosis Affect the Brain?

New neuroimaging technologies have greatly enhanced researchers’ ability to understand how MS impacts the brain.

Corey Ford, who has been studying and treating MS for more than two decades, says the brains of MS patients develop lesions that can cause memory loss, weakness and vision problems. “Usually, MS begins with ‘attacks’ of a symptom,” he says. “Then, over weeks or months, it gets better. If they don’t recover completely, they may be left with a disability that could accumulate over time.”

 “The magnetoencephalography machine (MEG) shows both where the brain is activated and the timing while a person is performing a specific task,” says Ford. “So we can see when some part of the brain turns on, when it communicates and whether or not it’s slow or abnormal.”

Read the full story in the 2013 UNM HSC Annual Report of Contracts and Grants

UNM CARE NM Community Health Workers, or CHWs, go above and beyond to ensure the most 'at risk' New Mexicans have access to the services vital to their health and well being.  Often this means meeting with their clients at their homes, which can put the CHW in a vulnerable position.  The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department has begun a self defense and awareness training program with CARE NM to make sure that our community health workers stay safe in the field and are able to do their job, which is not only imperative to the health of their clients, but to the overall public health of New Mexico.

For more information about CARE NM, please visit: http://fcm.unm.edu/programs/care-nm/index.html