_ Carbon Monoxide: Preparation Is the Key to Protection By article By Morgan Ellsworth As you age, your body becomes more vulnerable to carbon monoxide. And for people who have heart problems, breathing disorders or sickle cell anemia, exposure becomes even more hazardous.
_ Weather Changes Linked to Strokes By article Stroke hospitalization and death rates may rise and fall with changes in environmental temperature and dew point, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014 in San Diego.
Getting Rid of the Apostrophe By blog I was recently invited to a party I was fearful to attend,because I didn’t think I knew a lot of the guests. So when the host, who happens to be a special friend asked, if I would be coming, my response was “I’ll try my best to be there.”
Make a Date with Yourself for Valentine's Day By blog Whether you’re married, single or divorced, the Valentine’s Day’s emphasis on romance and the expectations it sparks can create more stress than joy for many people. There can be pressure on Feb. 14 for anyone. The happily single may begin to have doubts; spouses may question the quality of their marital relationship; and for someone who recently experienced a breakup, the holiday can bring nothing but heartache.
_ Men's Health Testosterone Therapy Not Always Good for Older Men By Jane Farrell article Experts are calling for a full evaluation of the risks and benefits of hormone therapy for older men with declining levels of testosterone. The statement by the Endocrine Society was prompted by recent studies, one from the Veterans Health Care System and the other from the National Institutes of Health, that have raised concerns about the risks of testosterone therapy for older men with a history of heart disease.
Diabetes: 7 New Genetic Regions By article Seven new genetic regions associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified in the largest study to date of the genetic basis of the disease. DNA data was brought together from more than 48,000 patients and 139,000 healthy controls from four different ethnic groups. The research was conducted by an international consortium of investigators from 20 countries on four continents, co-led by investigators from Oxford University's Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics. The study is published in the February 2014 issue of journal Nature Genetics.
6 Little Known Secrets For A Lifetime of Passion and Love By blog Everyone wants a great sex life, but few people know how to achieve that goal and even fewer know how to maintain it in a long-term relationship. Couples try new positions and look for “sexy” things to wear. They try to improve their communication and relationship skills. But to really have a great sex life you have to know the secrets of what it means to be male and female.
_ Heart Health New Guidelines for Preventing Stroke in Women By Jane Farrell article For the first time, researchers have developed guidelines for preventing women from having strokes. "If you are a woman, you share many of the same risk factors for stroke with men, but your risk is also influenced by hormones, reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and other sex-related factors," said Cheryl Bushnell, M.D., M.H.S., author of the statement published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. The guidelines outline stroke risks for women women and provide recommendations on how o treat them, including:
_ The Benefits of ΓÇ£TelehealthΓÇ¥ By Sondra Forsyth article “Telehealth”, an approach to saving costs and improving patient care in hospitals, goes far beyond videoconferenced doctor visits, according to researchers at the University of Michigan who conducted the first survery of how broadly web-based technologies are being used nationwide. The team found that 42 percent of U.S. hospitals use some type of "telehealth" approach. The study, published in the February 2014 issue of the journal Health Affairs, breaks down adoption rates by state.
Women's Health and Wellness Go Red for Women 2014 By article 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?
Watch Out for These Destructive Types By blog Like so many Americans, we changed health care plans this past month. Mike and I shared a terrible experience this week when we went to meet a new doctor It was truly the worst behavior I have ever witnessed from a trained professional.
_ Living with Chronic Kidney Disease By Jane Farrell article You've been told that you have chronic kidney disease (CKD). What does that mean? And what does it mean for your health and your life? Here, the experts from the National Kidney Disease Education Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, offer expert tips on living with the condition. First, the basics: Your illness affects your two kidneys. Each is about the size of your fist. They filter wastes and excess water from your blood to make urine. They also help control blood pressure, and they manufacture hormones.
_ Sleep Health Sleep: Myths vs. Facts By Jane Farrell article 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
_ Nerve Block Eases Hot Flashes By article Injecting a little anesthetic near a nerve bundle in the neck cut troublesome hot flashes significantly, according to a study done at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago and published in the journal Menopause. the a new randomized, controlled trial published online today in Menopause,
_ Heart Health Patients, Have a Statin Discussion with Your Doctor By Jane Farrell article 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.
Re-Emerging By blog One definition of the word re-emerge is to once again make popular. Life has a way of going full circle and dreams from our past at times re-emerge. I found this to be true when my husband completed an improv class a few months ago. As a child, Kevin enjoyed entertaining his family by putting on silly shows and making them laugh. Many times things we are passionate about are things we did when young. If we are lucky and smart when grown we allow ourselves to let them re-emerge.
_ Fast, Cheap Way to Detect Staph Infections By article Chances are you won't know you've got a staph infection until the test results come in, days after the symptoms first appear. But what if your physician could identify the infection much more quickly and without having to take a biopsy and ship it off for analysis?
Parents without Children By Jane Farrell blog When my mom was still alive, my sister and I often visited her in assisted living and later in memory care. Many times, we would be the only outside visitor. In fact, there were many residents whose family didn’t visit them. Sitting hour-after-hour in the lobby, these aging seniors would watch the front entrance intently. They looked as though they were constantly waiting. Waiting for someone who rarely or never came to visit. Their waiting and obvious loneliness made me incredibly sad.