Category: Health
Go Red for Women 2014
In 2003, the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute created National Wear Red Day to raise awareness about the fact that heart disease was claiming the lives of nearly 500,000 American women each year. The event is held annually on the first Friday in February. Today, February 7th 2014, why not wear red to participate in the effort to make sure we realize that, especially as we age and reach postmenopause, heart to heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women?
New Clues to Endometriosis
Researchers have taken a step toward better diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis by discovering a pattern of molecules and cellular activity linked to the painful condition.
Endometriosis, the invasion of uterine tissue into surrounding organs, including the peritoneal cavity and the ovaries, affects an estimated 10 percent of women. It can cause severe pain and infertility. It’s also difficult to diagnose because symptoms may disappear for years at a time, and very little is known about its cause.
Mental Health Care Scarce for Rural Women
Women living in rural communities are less likely than urban-dwelling women to receive sufficient mental health care, in large part due to limited access to services and societal stigma, according to a study dome at Penn State College of Medicine and published in the journal Mental Health in Family Medicine.
Knowing Your “Heart Age” Leads to Healthier Behavior
People who know their “heart age” are likelier to engage in healthier behavior, according to a new study.
Sleep: Myths vs. Facts
How much do you know about one of life’s most important activities? Here, the experts from the National Center on Sleep Disorder Research, a division of the National Institutes of Health, separate the facts from the myths and misunderstandings:
Sleep is a time when your body and brain shut down for rest and relaxation
Patients, Have a Statin Discussion with Your Doctor
Patients and physicians should work together to decide on individualized treatments based on new statin guidelines, according to a commentary by three Mayo Clinic doctors.
The guidelines, issued last year by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, called for caregivers to prescribe statins to healthy patients if their 10-year cardiovascular risk is 7.5 percent or higher.
Beating Pain with Mindfulness Training
A new intervention called Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, or MORE, trains people to respond differently to pain, stress and opioid-related cues University of Utah researcher Eric Garland developed the treatment, which has been shown to not only lower pain but also decrease prescription opioid misuse among chronic pain patients. The study was published published online February 3rd 2014 in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Biennial Mammograms Just as Good as Annual Ones?
The adoption of guidelines calling for mammograms every two years for women age 50 to 75 would yield effective breast screenings and save the United States $4.3 billion a year in health care costs, a new study said.
This Is Your Brain on Anxiety
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, over 18 percent of American adults suffer from anxiety disorders. These people suffer from excessive worry or tension that often leads to physical symptoms. A release from the California Institute of Technology reports that previous studies of anxiety in the brain have focused on the amygdala, an area known to play a role in fear. However, Caltech researchers had a hunch that understanding a different brain area, the lateral septum, could provide more clues into how the brain processes anxiety. Their instincts paid off.
Testosterone Tx Ups Heart Attack Risk at Any Age
Previous studies have shown that testosterone therapy raises the risk of heart attacks in men over 65 but new research has found an increased risk of cardiovascular events even when men using the therapy are under 65. Yet as a result of a ubiquitous advertising campaign for testosterone gel and patches, sales of Androgel exceeded those for Viagra in 2013.
Running Trumps Walking for Breast Cancer Survival
Previous studies have shown that breast cancer survivors who meet the current exercise recommendations of 2.5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity per week are at 25% lower risk for dying from breast cancer. Now research from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and reported in the International Journal of Cancer suggests that exceeding the recommendations may provide greater protection, and that running may be better than walking.
Hope for Reversing Hair Loss
One potential approach to reversing hair loss uses stem cells to regenerate the missing or dying hair follicles but it hasn't been possible to generate sufficient numbers of hair-follicle-generating stem cells. Now, however, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicinehave come up with a method for for converting adult cells into epithelial stem cells.
Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in Older Men
A one-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in men 65 years or older is associated with decreased AAA rupture and AAA-related mortality rates, according to a new review published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
New Way to Image Dense Breasts
Dartmouth engineers and radiologists are developing new approaches for an emerging technique called MRI with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to image dense breasts for abnormalities. The study will appear in the February 2014 issue of the journal Academic Radiology.
When Good Cholesterol Goes Bad
A dysfunctional version of the normally protective protein that makes high-density lipoprotein (HDL) – the so-called "good cholesterol" –promotes inflammation and coronary artery disease. That’s the finding of researchers at the Cleveland Clinic who discovered the process by which HDL loses its cardio-protective properties, and instead causes atherosclerosis, or the clogging and hardening of the arteries. Their research was published online January 26th 2014 in the journal Nature Medicine.
Repetitive Stress Injuries: Beyond Carpal Tunnel
By Sondra Forsyth
BP Med Can Prevent Migraines
Candesartan, a medication used to treat high blood pressure, is just as effective as more the commonly prescribed propranolol when it comes to preventing migraine attacks. That is the finding of a study from St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Better yet, the team learned that candesartan may work for patients who get no relief from propranolol.
A release from the university quotes lead researcher Professor Lars Jacob Stovner as saying, "This gives doctors more possibilities and we can help more people."