The greater Issaquah community is quickly becoming the location of choice for companies offering advanced and innovative medical treatment.

This is the first of a three-part series focusing on the emergence of personalized medicine, the genetics behind it, and its implications for the present and future.

Salisbury steak, lumpy mashed potatoes, and a dry roll. Think school lunch from 20 years ago and that is probably what you picture. Fast-forward to 2011 and most likely you will find children who are excited when they get to buy lunch instead of bringing one from home.

Cancer is a still a difficult topic for most people. Almost everyone has known someone who has battled the disease. Fortunately, more people are beating cancer because of improved screening, earlier diagnoses, and advanced cancer treatments.

The benefits of physical activity for children are well documented: increased fitness, better stamina, sharper mental health, better sleep, and better team-building skills. However, over the past two decades there has been a significant increase in sports-related injuries, and athletes are burning out at escalating rates. If you think these problems are related, you are correct.

My dad had yellow pants. They were for golfing. It was acceptable as it was 1976. These yellow fancies were crisp and “polyestery” and looked sharp, matched with a similarly pastel-colored golf shirt. I can see him getting ready on a Sunday morning and out the door those yellow pants would walk.

Chris Robins was desperate for help when she turned to natural medicine one year ago. The eastside executive and mother of two school-aged children didn’t have time to slow down for the disabling headaches that she was experiencing on a weekly basis.

Are you a guy who hates going to the doctor? Are you the woman who nudges or nags your man to take care of his health?

Neither of you are alone with your actions. A national poll taken in 2000 found American men were three times more likely than women to go a year without seeing a doctor. Another survey for the American Academy of Family Physicians found the #1 reason men go to the doctor is because of the women in their lives.