A study suggests it may not be necessary for knee replacement patients to wait up to two weeks after surgery before showering, as many surgeons require. The study from Loyola Medicine compared patients who were allowed to shower two days after surgery with patients who had to wait 10 to 14 days. Researchers performed bacterial… Continue reading New Study Suggests Patients May Shower Earlier after Knee Replacement Surgery
Author: Jane Farrell
Women Who Use Alternative Medical Techniques Tend to Postpone Chemotherapy
Women with early stage breast cancer were less likely to start chemotherapy if they used alternative therapies, according to latest research led by Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The study, one of the first to examine the interaction betweeh complementary alternative medicine (CAM) and… Continue reading Women Who Use Alternative Medical Techniques Tend to Postpone Chemotherapy
Rewriting Dementia: Poetry and Alzheimer’s Patients
By Molly Middleton Meyer It’s difficult to imagine that out of grief could come something so beautiful, that out of pain could come healing, but that’s exactly what happened. In 2008, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. My then 79-year-old mother bore most of the emotional and physical turmoil. I could use the excuse… Continue reading Rewriting Dementia: Poetry and Alzheimer’s Patients
“Sixth Sense” Protects Drivers – But Not While Texting
While much has been made about the dangers of texting and driving, less attention has been focused on the age-old distractions of being absent-minded or upset while driving. A team of researchers from the University of Houston (UH) and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) focused on all three of these important factors. Led by… Continue reading “Sixth Sense” Protects Drivers – But Not While Texting
How Friends and Family Can Help with Your Doctor Visits
Editor’s note: Doctor visits can be frightening at any time, but they can become intimidating as well when you grow older. You may be dealing with serious or chronic health problems; you could be on several medications and need to talk to your physician about individual ones. Anxiety and tension may make it harder to… Continue reading How Friends and Family Can Help with Your Doctor Visits
A Controversial Study on Heart-Disease Risk
A new study is raising questions about a tool designed to help physicians prevent heart disease and stroke among people at high risk for those diseases. At issue in the analysis published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology is the “risk calculator,” which aims to help identify people who may face… Continue reading A Controversial Study on Heart-Disease Risk
Healing Relationships at The End of Life
Often, the end of a life leaves us filled with mixed emotions: sadness, yes, but also, deep regret about things that were never said and about thorny relationship rifts that remain forever unresolved. Bereavement care specialist Dr. Virginia A. Simpson, author of the memoir The Space Between: A Memoir Of Mother-Daughter Love At The End… Continue reading Healing Relationships at The End of Life
Enjoy Eating Out – with Fewer Calories
We all know that most restaurants serve high-calorie meals, but the Mayo Clinic cites a study that shows just how many calories these meals can have. According to Mayo, the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, showed that the restaurant entrees averaged 1,200 calories. That did… Continue reading Enjoy Eating Out – with Fewer Calories
How to Solve a Splinter Problem
Although splinters can seem like a very small problem, they can be pretty painful and can even become infected. Here, the American Academy of Dermatology tells you how to handle them: Everyone has been there. No sooner did you or your child touch that old wooden bench when a small sliver of wood slides into… Continue reading How to Solve a Splinter Problem
A Better Test for Surgery Success
A simple arm test that employs a novel wearable technology can rapidly and accurately identify physiological frailty in older adults before they undergo surgery, according to study results published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print publication. Older adults undergo 35.3 percent of inpatient procedures and 32.1 percent… Continue reading A Better Test for Surgery Success
What Medical Tests Should You Be Taking?
What tests you should take, and how often you should take them, can present a confusing picture. Here, from SeniorHealth division of the National Institutes of Health, drawn from Women Stay Healthy at 50+, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, is an alphabetical list of recommended health screening tests for women over… Continue reading What Medical Tests Should You Be Taking?
A Revolutionary Anti-Depressant
The substance ketamine can be an effective anti-depressant, but it hasn’t been used because of its hallucinatory and dissociative side effects. Now, though, a solution may be at hand. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) have identified a metabolite of ketamine that quickly reverses depression in mice, but without ketamine’s… Continue reading A Revolutionary Anti-Depressant
Aging and Chronic Pain
Age may play a difference in how severely and for how long a person experiences chronic pain, according to a small, preliminary University of Florida Health study. This could mean that older adults could be at risk for developing chronic pain and may benefit from taking anti-inflammatories soon after an injury or procedure, according to… Continue reading Aging and Chronic Pain
Treating High-Risk Drivers
In a study focusing on repeat drunk driving and speeding offenders, researchers have discovered distinct behavioral, personality and neurobiological profiles behind each of these forms of dangerous driving. “Surprisingly, these drivers usually don’t consider themselves as risk takers,” says lead author Thomas G. Brown, an assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University and researcher at… Continue reading Treating High-Risk Drivers
Fast Food and Boredom
Boredom drives people to eat fatty and sugary foods, according to new research being presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society this week. An investigation by by Dr Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire, involved two studies of boredom and food choices. In the first study the researchers asked 52… Continue reading Fast Food and Boredom
Fantastic Fitness Gear for This Month – and All Summer
By Delaina Dixon Hi, thirdAGE readers. One of the things I love about fitness is that it’s constantly offering new ways to make your exercise and healthy life endeavors more effective, manageable and fun. Technology has truly changed the face of fitness, perfecting everything from a simple walking shoe to how you monitor your exertion.… Continue reading Fantastic Fitness Gear for This Month – and All Summer
A Genetic Flip-On Switch for Longevity
Newly discovered genetic switches that increase lifespan and boost fitness in worms are also linked to increased lifespan in mammals, offering hope that drugs to flip these switches could improve human metabolic function and increase longevity. These so-called epigenetic switches, discovered by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de… Continue reading A Genetic Flip-On Switch for Longevity
Talk Yourself into Successs
Self-talk regulates your self-image. If you believe you’re an average (or terrible) performer, you won’t be able to do much better or worse than your baseline self-assessment. Self-image is determined by what you consistently tell yourself about yourself. So you have the power to change your self-image by changing your self-talk. This will program you… Continue reading Talk Yourself into Successs