It pays to be cautious at any age about taking medications. But it’s especially important for older people, who are likely to have multiple prescriptions. And that, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can increase the chances of harmful drug interactions.
Author: Jane Farrell
The “New Normal”: Life After Cancer Treatment
Cancer is a frightening and even traumatic experience not only for patients but for caregivers. But once diagnosis and treatment are over, people who cared for a loved one may expect to put it behind them and go back to their normal life.
As the National Cancer Institute (NCI) explains, though, that’s not usually the case. Caregivers are faced with a “new normal” that may make life seem more forbidding and uncertain. Here, experts from the NCI take a look at a situation that’s often neglected, and share some strategies for coping:
A Microwave Device that Helps Treat Strokes
A device that detects different kinds of strokes in patients could be a lifesaving instrument, according to new research.
Strokefinder, which is placed on a patient’s head, uses microwaves to examine the patient’s brain tissue. The device interprets the findings to determine if the stroke is caused by a blood clot or bleeding. The difference between those two kinds of strokes can be crucial in emergency treatment.
Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital, in Sweden, studied 45 patients.
The Drug That Improves Anti-Cancer Viruses
Combining a widely used medication with a cancer-killing virus might improve the effectiveness of the virus in battling malignancies, according to a new study.
Getting Rid of Chronic Pain
As people age, chronic pain becomes a real problem. In your younger years, you probably had pain for a short while – from a broken arm, say, or a bad toothache. But pain can become a constant, unwelcome companion for older people who have age-related illnesses like arthritis, cancer or diabetes.
However, though chronic pain often accompanies aging, that doesn’t mean it’s something you should put up with. Don’t delay going to your doctor. Here, from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), are tips on how to talk to your doctor so your pain problem can be solved.
Facebook and Your Friends’ Feelings
Reading your Facebook news feed may do more than keep you up to date. It may also influence the emotional state of your status updates – and that will affect your friends as well.
To reach that conclusion, social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, studied the news feed of 689,003 randomly selected Facebook users. In their experiment, they controlled the news feed of the users to add more negative stories or more positive stories.
People Underestimate Intensity of Exercise
If you think you’re exercising enough, you just might be mistaken, a new study shows.
The investigation, by researchers from York University in Toronto, found that many people over-estimate the effort required to work out at a moderate intensity level.
Is Medical Marijuana Safe?
Editor’s note: As of earlier this year, 20 states have legalized the use of marijuana for some serious medical conditions, including cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS. But using medical marijuana isn’t a casual decision. Here, the National Institute on Drug Abuse offers (NIDA) offers a briefing on the most controversial medicine of our time:
According to NIDA, the term “medical marijuana” refers to the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or its crude extracts. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t recognize or approve those substances as medicine.
Estrogen May Affect Male Obesity
An imbalance of female hormones may contributing to obesity among men in Western nations.
In a paper published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the University of Adelaide’s School of Medical Sciences, in Australia, said that part of the massive weight gain among men could be linked with exposure to substances containing estrogen.
“Hormonally driven weight gain occurs more significantly in females than in males, and this is very clear when we look at the rates of obesity in the developing world,” said medical student James Grantham, co-author of the study.
A New Kind of Drug for Alzheimer’s?
Researchers have discovered a new drug target to fight Alzheimer’s, and the finding could lead to a new diagnostic tool as well.
Earlier drugs have long targeted the amyloid protein called plaques, which can cause neurons in the brain to die. But Penn State University researchers have found that another substance, a neurotransmitter known as GABA, could also be implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s.
Watching Out for Bedbugs
Along with other insect-related problems we’re worrying about (bites from ticks, mosquitos and ants, to name a few) we’re got an even nastier one: bedbugs. And they’re growing in number.
Friends and Your Health
Friendships can have a major impact on your health and well-being, but it’s not always easy to build or maintain friendships. Understand the importance of friendships in your life and what you can do to develop and nurture friendships.
What are the benefits of friendships?
Good friends are good for your health. Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends can also:
Increase your sense of belonging and purpose
Frailty Means Greater Hospital Complications
Researchers have found that elderly patients who are frail are likelier to experience in-hospital complications following trauma. Previously, complications had been associated with age alone.
The investigators, from the University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, examined statistics from 250 patients according to the 50-item Canadian Frailty Index, which measures social and daily living activities, nutrition and mood.
Keeping Your Pet (and Yourself) Healthy
We Americans love our pets – and we’ve got millions of them. According to the Humane Society of the United States, there are 164 million owned pets across the country, in 62 percent of our households. But while pets provide love, comfort and companionship, they may also have health issues, and some of them can affect us. Here, from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are some tips on keeping your pet (and your family) healthy.
A Better Assessment Tool For Heart-Disease Risk
An international team of researchers has created a heart disease risk assessment tool designed to better evaluate the likelihood of heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
People with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely as the average person to develop heart problems.
A Breakthrough in Anti-Aging Treatment
The hormone oxytocin – associated with childbirth, sex and social attachments – is also essential for muscle maintenance and repair, researchers have found. But an animal experiment found that it declines with age.
The new study, published) in the journal Nature Communications, indicates that oxytocin, if it could be administered to humans, could eventually be a treatment for age-related muscle wasting, or sarcopenia.
The discovery is especially significant because oxytocin is already approved by the Food and Drug Admnistration for use in people.
A Possible Link Between Carbohydrates and Breast Cancer
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Limiting carbohydrate intake could reduce the risk of one type of breast cancer, researchers have found.
The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, focused on the cancer whose tumor tissue has the IGF-1 receptor.
“There is a growing body of research demonstrating associations between obesity, diabetes, and cancer risk,” said lead author Jennifer A. Emond, an instructor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.
Depression LInked to Quicker Progression of Alzheimer’s
Late-life depression could be a major risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s more quickly than those who aren’t depressed.
The finding was presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
“Our results clearly indicate that mild cognitively impaired subjects with depressive symptoms suffer from elevated amyloid-levels when compared with non-depressed individuals,” said the study’s principal scientist Axel Rominger, MD, from the department of nuclear medicine at the University of Munich in Germany.