Grounding (Earthing): The Easiest Way to Fight Stress By blog We all know that the world is becoming more stressful every day. We worry about the economy, another war in a place we’ve never heard of, our parents getting old and dying, the well-being of our children, our own health. Sometimes it seems like our lives are one endless series of stresses. The bad news is that stress is on the rise and it’s causing major problems for many of us. The good news is that there are simple ways to combat stress and get back in control of our lives.
_ Heart Health Determining The Benefits Of Aspirin By Jane Farrell article Scientists have developed a method for figuring out who should take aspirin to prevent heart attacks. Although the remedy has been recommended for more than 30 years, it’s been unclear exactly which individuals might benefit. New research published today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes shows that coronary artery calcium (CAC) score, a measurement of plaque in arteries that feed the heart, could help determine whether a person should take aspirin.
_ Caregiving Aging in Place: The ΓÇ£Granny PodsΓÇ¥ Trend By article By Hilary Young According to the American Association of Retired Persons, over 80 percent of adults now intend to age in place. Nursing homes are no longer the norm. Many seniors prefer to stay active and remain independent for as long as possible. One major trend that is helping to make this wish come true is the proliferation of transitional housing options, otherwise known as “Granny Pods.”
_ AFib = Dementia Risk If Meds Are Out of Range By article A study done by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City has found that atrial fibrillation patients who are on blood thinning medications are at higher risk of developing dementia if their doses are not in the optimal recommended range. The findings presented at the 2014 Annual Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Session on Friday, May 9th, 2014 in San Francisco.
_ Breast Cancer Misguided Fear of Radiation from Mammograms By article Misinformation and misunderstanding about the risks associated with ionizing radiation have created heightened public concern and fear that may result in women avoiding mammograms that can detect early cancers, according to the American Roentgen Ray Society(ARRS), a radiology society was founded in 1900 in Leesburg, VA.
_ Mental & Emotional Health A Healthcare Team Helps Women Beat Depression By article A collaborative approach to depression counseling for women at obstetrics and gynecology clinics involving psychiatrists, clinicians, specialists, and depression care managers is an improvement over typical of mental health care at specialty clinics. That is the finding of a study done at the University of Washington and published May 7th 2014 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. A release from the university notes that approximately one-third of American women list an obstetrician/gynecologist as their primary physician.
_ Age Discrimination Worse Than Sexism or Racism By Jane Farrell article People who believe they are a victim of age or weight discrimination are linked to worse health than those older adults who are the targets of racism and sexism, according to a new study. The findings, by researchers from the Florida State University College of Medicine, were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
_ Living Well With Hepatitis C By Jane Farrell article By Jane Farrell Hepatitis C, an inflammation of the liver caused by a virus, is a discouraging, debilitating condition. It affects an estimated 3.2 million Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The illness is usually caused by receiving donated blood that is infected, having had a bad organ transplant, or sharing a needle or having sex with a person who is contaminated with the virus.
_ Women Recover Faster from Concussions By article A study of concussion patients at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that males took longer to recover after concussion than females did. The study, which shows that using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as a bias-free way to predict concussion outcome, was published online May 6th 2104 in the journal Radiology.
_ Medical Care The Right Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Hepatitis C By Sondra Forsyth article By Sondra Forsyth The Centers for Disease Control has designated May as Hepatitis Awareness Month. One goal of that campaign is to let Boomers know that of the more than three million Americans infected with hepatitis C, over 75% are in their 50s and 60s. You can find out the extent of your risk with this 5-minute online assessment from the CDC.
_ Women's Health and Wellness Women & Peripheral Artery Disease By Sondra Forsyth article Women, especially older women, face greater limits on their lifestyle and have more severe symptoms as a result of peripheral artery disease (PAD) than men do. The condition happens when fatty deposits build up in arteries outside the heart, usually the arteries supplying fresh oxygen and blood to the arms, legs and feet. About 8 million Americans have peripheral artery disease.
_ Challenging the Notion of ΓÇ£Healthy ObesityΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article Back in October of 2013, the concept of “healthy obesity” made news because of a study published in the journal Diabetologia about overweight people with no metabolic problems. Now a study published on April 30th 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology challenges that assertion. A release from the publisher explains that obese people who have no signs of cardiovascular disease show a much higher prevalence of early plaque buildup in the arteries compared to healthy normal weight individuals, according to a study.
_ Breast Cancer Sleeping Well Boosts Survival for Breast Ca Patients By article A study done at Stanford and published in the May 1st 2014 issue of the journal Sleep reports that “sleep efficiency”, defined as the ratio of time asleep to time spent in bed, is predictor of survival time for women with advanced breast cancer.
_ Skin Skin Health ItΓÇÖs Melanoma Monday! By article May 5th 2014 is Melanoma Monday, and the entire month of May is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, according to a release from the American Academy of Dermatology. (The observances are registered trademarks of the academy). The academy encourages all of us to learn how to detect skin cancer. An estimated one in five Americans will be diagnosed with skin cancer in the course of their lifetime, and one person dies from melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – every hour.
_ Sleep Health Does Melatonin Work? By Jane Farrell article could get to sleep. Millions of people suffer from the same condition, and melatonin, a popular dietary supplement, is said to help. The melatonin sold in stores is a concentrated form of a natural hormone that plays a role in sleep. The hormone’s levels in the body rise in the a.m. and fall in the p.m. It’s been studied in connection with sleep disorders such as jet lag and insomnia, as well as dementia symptoms.
_ Alzheimer's Subtype Often Misdiagnosed By Jane Farrell article Neuroscientists have defined a subtype of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that they say is neither well recognized nor treated appropriately. The variant - called hippocampal sparing AD - made up 11 percent of the 1,821 AD-confirmed brains examined by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Florida.
_ For Meds Adherence, Feedback Trumps Digital Nagging By article A device that monitors people when they take their meds and then give feedback has advantages over “automated nagging” according to a release from Carnegie Mellon University about a study done there and presented on April 30th 2014 at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) in Toronto.
_ Vitamin D and Aggressive Prostate Cancer By Jane Farrell article Researchers say that Vitamin D deficiency is an indicator of aggressive prostate cancer risk in middle-aged men who underwent a biopsy. Adam B. Murphy, M.D., MBA, assistant professor in the Department of Urology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said that the finding affected European-American and African-American men, although the link between Vitamin D deficiency andaggressive prostate cancer was stronger in African-Americans.