_ Heart Health Mayo Clinic Challenges Cholesterol Guideline By Sondra Forsyth article A Mayo Clinic task force has challenged some recommendations in the updated guideline for cholesterol treatment that was unveiled by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) in 2013. The task force concludes, based on current evidence, that not all patients encouraged to take cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins may benefit from them and that the guideline missed some important conditions that might benefit from medication.
_ Flu High-Dose Flu Vaccine Best for Elderly By Sondra Forsyth article High-dose influenza vaccine is 24 percent more effective than the standard-dose vaccine in protecting people ages 65 and over against influenza illness and its complications, according to a study led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville TN and published August 13th 2014 in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
_ Women's Health and Wellness What's Your Bladder Telling You About Your Health? By Jane Farrell article How your bladder functions every day can tell you a lot about your overall health. How often you urinate during the day and during the night, the color of your urine and whether you can ΓÇ£hold itΓÇ¥ all provide clues to health conditions that donΓÇÖt involve your urinary system. ΓÇ£Eighty percent of the causes of bladder problems are related to conditions outside of the bladder,ΓÇ¥ says urologist Raymond Rackley, MD. These can include problems with the nervous or cardiovascular systems, Rackley says. So what should you look out for?
Coming Next Week! August 18th to August 22nd 2014 By Sondra Forsyth article HereΓÇÖs a sneak preview of the articles, slideshows, and blogs weΓÇÖll be posting during the coming week on ThirdAge, the biggest and best site for ΓÇ£boomer and beyondΓÇ¥ women since 1997. As always, weΓÇÖll bring you the latest information from top experts about maintaining a healthy body, mind, and spirit as you navigate both the challenges and the joys of being a ThirdAger.
_ Colon-Cancer Screenings: Weighing the Options By Jane Farrell article Editor's note: If you ever thought getting a colonoscopy was the only way to screen for colon cancer, you're wrong. Here, the experts from the Mayo Clinic explain what the choices are: WHAT IS YOUR DOCTORΓÇÖS APPROACH TO COLON-CANCER SCREENING? Make sure that you're comfortable with the colon cancer screening test your doctor recommends. If your doctor specializes in a particular test but you'd rather have another test, express your wishes. If necessary, your doctor might offer a referral to someone trained in the test with which you feel most comfortable.
_ Medical Care Many Hospitals Missed E-health Deadline By Sondra Forsyth article Many of the nation's hospitals struggled to meet a federally mandated electronic health records deadline, and as a result could collectively face millions of dollars in reduced Medicare payments, according to a study done at the University of Michigan published online August 7th 2014 and slated to be published in the September print issue of the journal Health Affairs.
Do It By blog Fear is the thief of happiness and sometimes we have to get the courage to Just Do It. Ever since her first seizure many years ago a close relative held onto the dream of the medical world finding a cure. She has patiently gone through countless procedures and medications and before going into the operating room for what she prays will be the answer, she hugged her mother and admitted her fear. But, bravely, she was doing it. Time will tell if this was the cure, but sheΓÇÖs not worried as she moves on with life in her positive and cheerful way.
Prescription Drugs prescription medicines Safety Concerns About New Drugs By Sondra Forsyth article The authors of a study published in the August 2014 issue of Health Affairs contend that when the FDA approval process for medications changed in 1992 with the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which allowed the FDA to collect fees to expedite drug approvals, the new process may have led to the release of drugs before they could be adequately evaluated for safety issues.
_ Doctors Often Don't Talk to Patients about Aspirin By Jane Farrell article Although the health benefits of aspirin have been proven, there arenΓÇÖt many doctors recommending it to patients at risk of heart attack or stroke. Researchers from the University of Rochester based that conclusion after studying a national sample of more than 3,000 middle-aged patients, both men and women. Most of the participants said they couldnΓÇÖt recall their doctor telling them to take aspirin.
_ High blood pressure / hypertension BP, Lower May Not Be Better By Sondra Forsyth article The mantra for treatment for high blood pressure has been "the lower, the better," but that goal can potentially put patients at risk of kidney failure or death, according to a study done Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles and published August 4th 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers examined the electronic health records of nearly 400,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in Southern California who were taking medications to treat high blood pressure from January 2006 through December 2010. They found that:
_ Rituals Help With Asthma Med Adherence By Sondra Forsyth article Storing asthma medications in the bathroom and establishing taking the drugs as part of a daily routine may be helpful advice that doctors can give their older asthmatic patients who struggle to remember to stick to their medication schedule. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of a study done at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City, which discusses how elderly asthmatics cope with taking their inhaled corticosteroid medication as prescribed. The report was published August 5th 2014 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
_ How Safe Are Your Dietary Supplements? By Jane Farrell article WeΓÇÖre bombarded daily by commercials that promise everything from weight loss to sexual fulfillment if we just buy the dietary supplement theyΓÇÖre advertising. But how do we know whether the substance is safe, let alone effective? Here, experts from the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outline what you should know about these supposed curatives:
_ Medical Care Pharmacists Could Boost Drug Adherence By Sondra Forsyth article Community pharmacists can dramatically help their patients stick to their prescription regimens, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. The findings, published on August 4th 2014 in Health Affairs, suggest also that greater adherence to medications can lead to a reduction in emergency room visits and hospital admissions, thereby lowering health care costs for a variety of chronic conditions including diabetes and asthma.
_ Living With and Treating Peripheral Artery Disease By Sondra Forsyth article If you have P.A.D., you may feel pain in your calf or thigh muscles after walking. Try to take a break and allow the pain to ease before walking again. Over time, this may increase the distance that you can walk without pain. Talk with your doctor about taking part in a supervised exercise program. This type of program has been shown to reduce P.A.D. symptoms.
_ Obesity Clue to Curbing Obesity By Sondra Forsyth article Preventing weight gain, obesity, and ultimately diabetes could be as simple as keeping a nuclear receptor from being activated in a small part of the brain, according to a study done by Yale School of Medicine researchers andp ublished in the August 1st 2014 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).
_ Vision Health How to Know You Need Bifocals or Progressives By Sondra Forsyth article A gradual loss of the ability to see well up close is a natural part of aging. The condition is called presbyopia, from the Greek for ΓÇ£elder eyeΓÇ¥. If you already wear glasses or contact lenses for distance vision because you have myopia, the medical term for nearsighted, youΓÇÖll need to switch to a new prescription. Options include bifocals, vari-focals, and progressives. For contacts, you could also choose monovision in which one eye is corrected for distance and the other is corrected for close work.
_ Complicated Grief: When Sorrow Is Overwhelming By Jane Farrell article Losing a loved one is one of the most distressing and, unfortunately, common experiences people face. Most people experiencing normal grief and bereavement have a period of sorrow, numbness, and even guilt and anger. Gradually these feelings ease, and it's possible to accept loss and move forward. For some people, feelings of loss are debilitating and don't improve even after time passes. This is known as complicated grief. In complicated grief, painful emotions are so long lasting and severe that you have trouble accepting the loss and resuming your own life.
_ Breast Cancer Acupuncture Helps Breast Ca Patients By Sondra Forsyth article Use of electroacupuncture (EA) ΓÇô a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles ΓÇô produces significant improvements in fatigue, anxiety and depression in as little as eight weeks for early stage breast cancer patients experiencing joint pain related to the use of aromatase inhibitors (AIs). That is the finding of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial examining the intervention led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and published online in July 2014 in the journal Cancer.