With a loyal local following and rave reviews from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis continues to draw adoring audiences from throughout the world. And its new season is set to be no exception. General director Tim O’Leary recently filled us in on the company’s worldwide impact and its four new shows, to feature classic and modern opera, jazz, romance and comedy.

 If you think of the body as a structure, the feet are the foundation on which everything else rests. Pounds of force are placed upon the feet with every step we take. The delicate bones, tendons and tissues usually bear this load cheerfully enough, but the condition of your feet can provide clues to overall health and affect the condition of the rest of the musculoskeletal system.

Spring is finally here! And when the weather gets warm, people run outside. Then they fall down. Or twist their ankle. Or throw the ball just a little too hard for their own good.

If you’ve ever been through it, you have true sympathy for others. Trying to soothe a colicky baby is one of the greatest initial trials of parenthood. One day your baby starts to cry—and he keeps on crying. For weeks. And then...it stops as mysteriously as it began.

Following graduation from college, I spent four years in medical school, then three years in a pediatric residency. This was long before medical student and resident work hours were restricted, so I spent up to 100 hours each week for many years learning medicine – specifically pediatric medicine. I’ve spent the rest of my life practicing to get it right. After all the time, effort and expense, what have I spent most of my professional time doing? Talking about poop: too much, not enough, too hard, too loose—you name it, some mom, dad or grandma has worried about it, and I’ve discussed it.

When Annie Seal’s daughter was 15, she was diagnosed with an eating disorder. After intensive, comprehensive treatment, she has fully recovered, and is now a junior in college. But there is not always a happy ending for those with this complex illness. For 20 percent of them, it’s a fatal disease, Seal says.

Blood clots pose a medical dichotomy: They save lives when they form on cuts or wounds, protecting underlying tissue and enabling healing; yet they threaten lives when they form in blood vessels, blocking necessary blood flow to vital organs. So while we rely on our blood to clot in circumstances of traumatic injury, we want to guard against the propensity for internal arterial or venous blood clots.

Admiring abstract art. Analyzing articles in The Wall Street Journal. Researching the Dead Sea Scrolls. Not the usual activities for an older adult, but for Henrietta Freedman and other local retired professionals, it’s all in a day’s coursework. As co-founder of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University, Freedman has given area seniors the gift of being in college again. And it’s a pleasure, not a chore, this time around.

Belching is a sign of appreciation for a fine meal in some cultures. But it’s not such a positive thing when it’s accompanied by heartburn, coughing and throat irritation—the classic symptoms of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).

Perhaps Sitting Bull said it best: “Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love.”

Story: The Lazara String Quartet has a history as a brilliant classical music ensemble. The four members of the group have achieved world fame and won numerous awards. Now they are on the verge of their biggest triumph: A command performance at The White House that will be nationally televised and seen by 15 million people.

For such a little gland, it can cause some big problems. The thyroid is a small gland in the neck that secretes hormones needed to regulate metabolism. Everything from body temperature to weight to energy are metabolically modulated, so an imbalance in thyroid function can cause a range of unpleasant symptoms.

Kim Eberlein (Volunteer Leadership)

Dr. Patrick Yeung has a message for women: “Killer cramps are not normal.” Yet women who suffer from endometriosis may assume their pain is par for the course and fail to seek treatment. Yeung, a SLUCare Physician at SSM St. Mary’s Health Center, specializes in minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries, specifically endometriosis with laser excision, and notes that this is one disease that women don’t have to suffer in silence.

Story: Caleb has returned home, or rather what’s left of his home, following the conclusion of the Civil War. The Confederate soldier has been shot in the leg and is badly in need of surgery, but he resists the efforts of Simon, his former slave, to take him to the hospital in Richmond.

Among the most common orthopedic injuries, rotator cuff tears cause shoulder pain and temporary disability for millions of people each year. And while we associate rotator cuff injuries with baseball pitchers who are constantly putting strain on the shoulder, this problem is most often diagnosed in adults age 60 and older.

The humble knee is a true orthopedic workhorse. With its combination of bone, cartilage, ligaments and fluid, it carries us through life—until something goes wrong.

Are you ready? Spring is here, and we’ll soon be revealing more skin as we switch to lighter clothing and spend more time lounging by the pool. If you have problem areas that could use a little improvement, you’re in luck. A panel of local experts offers advice from head to toe to help you welcome warm weather by looking your best.

Story: Thomas has grown weary interviewing actresses for the starring role in his new play, Venus in Fur. It’s written in the large, bombastic style of 19th century European literature, a genre Thomas laments is all but extinct in modern art. He prepares to leave the audition room in frustration when a flamboyant, stunningly attractive woman enters the room.

Kim Uzzetta, administrator of Parkcrest Orthopedics, is busy. That’s because the practice of four orthopedic surgeons and two certified physician assistants offers a full range of services. Yet Uzzetta is never too busy to provide the kind of personalized service she would expect for her own family, and that philosophy is at the heart of the practice, she says.

There is one piece of music that I’m sure you’ve all heard, but may not know much about. Carl Orff’s O Fortuna has been featured in a number of films, on TV shows, in commercials, and even on the playing field (one college marching band plays it every time its team gets a third down).

Sitting down to talk about Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ programs to avert bullying, the first obvious question is, What does Shakespeare have to do with bulling? As it turns out, the connection runs deep.

Most women juggle busy schedules filled with demanding careers, motherhood and managing a household, often leaving their own health issues on the back burner. Amid these hectic lifestyles, doctors say the lesser-known symptoms of a heart attack can go untreated. “We commonly have women come to the emergency room who are stunned to learn they are having a heart attack,” says Dr. Linda Stronach, an interventional cardiologist at Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MoBap).

Prostate disease is one of the most common health concerns for men age 50 and older. While cancer is most concerning, other types of prostate trouble often develop with age.