_ 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.
_ Pain Management 9 Ways to Tame Your Chronic Pain By Jane Farrell article When it comes to chronic pain, thereΓÇÖs usually a limit to how much relief medications and procedures can bring. ThatΓÇÖs where changes to your daily life can help bridge the gap. Cleveland Clinic pain and wellness specialists Daniel Leizman, MD, and Mladen Golubi─ç, MD, PhD, offer nine ΓÇ£pain wellnessΓÇ¥ tips to make sure youΓÇÖre following for maximum pain management. Take deep breaths. The average adult takes eight to 16 breaths per minute. Slowing that down to five or six deep breaths that really fill your lungs will help you relax, which can lessen your discomfort.
_ Sex Restarting Your Sex Life By Jane Farrell article Normal aging brings physical changes in both men and women. These changes sometimes affect the ability to have and enjoy sex. A woman may notice changes in her vagina. As a woman ages, her vagina can shorten and narrow. Her vaginal walls can become thinner and also a little stiffer. Most women will have less vaginal lubrication. These changes could affect sexual function and/or pleasure.
_ Alcohol and Aging By Jane Farrell article Although we often associate drinking too much with younger people (parties, bars, spring break vacations), alcohol abuse is a problem at any age. And while itΓÇÖs true that younger people drink more than older people, alcohol abuse presents some age-specific issues for seniors. Here, from the SeniorHealth division of the National of Health (NIH), is an explanation of the damaging effects, and how you or a loved one can get help if itΓÇÖs needed.
_ Aging Well Life Expectancy Gains Threatened By Sondra Forsyth article A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that the more ailments you have after retirement age, the shorter your life expectancy. The analysis, one of the first to examine the burden of multiple chronic conditions on life expectancy among the elderly, may help explain why increases in life expectancy among older Americans are slowing. A report on the findings, based on an analysis of 1.4 million Medicare enrollees, appears in the August 2014 issue of the journal Medical Care.
_ Medical Care Update on Telehealth By Sondra Forsyth article By Miles E. Drake, Jr., MD ΓÇ£TelehealthΓÇ¥ or ΓÇ£telemedicineΓÇ¥ have been used more or less interchangeably over the past 50 years to describe the provision of health care services and exchange of health information by electronic means. The initial concept of telephonic and later computer-based medical interaction and education was defined by the Institute of Medicine as ΓÇ£the use of electronic information and communications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates participantsΓÇ¥.
_ Senior Health Stroke Stroke Rates Have Dropped 40% for People 65+ By Sondra Forsyth article A new analysis of data from 1988-2008 by researchers at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine has revealed a 40% decrease in the incidence of stroke in Medicare patients 65 years of age and older. The decline is greater than anticipated considering this population's risk factors for stroke. Not only that, but the drop applies to both ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. The team also found that deaths resulting from stroke declined during the same period. The findings are published in the July 2014 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
_ Money Matters The Documents Every Woman Should Have By Jane Farrell article ThereΓÇÖs more to managing your money than the shoebox filled with crumpled receipts under your bed. According to Patrice C. Washington, Money Maven of the Steve Harvey Morning Show, organizing paperwork and keeping track of financial and legal documents is imperative to your financial well-being. ΓÇ£It is hard to stay on top of your finances if documents are scattered about,ΓÇ¥ Washington says. ΓÇ£On top of that, many women donΓÇÖt know which types of documents they need or even where to start.ΓÇ¥
_ Statins Prolong Life for Patients With Diabetic Heart Disease By Jane Farrell article Using cholesterol-lowering statins could help prolong life for people who have diabetic heart disease, a new study has found. Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center published their study in Diabetes Care. ΓÇ£Although our study was not a clinical trial, it did show that people with diabetes and heart disease can still live quite a few years by taking statins,ΓÇ¥ said Don Bowden, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study.
_ Losing Your Sense of Smell By Jane Farrell article Many older people are not even aware that they have a problem with their sense of smell because the changes occur gradually over several years. They may not even notice that they are experiencing a loss of smell until there is an incident in which they don't detect food that has spoiled or the presence of dangerous smoke.
_ Stroke Fewer Stroke Deaths Over Past 2 Decades By Sondra Forsyth article Fewer Americans are having strokes and those who do have a lower risk of dying from them according to a a study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers and is published in the July 16th 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
_ Medical Care Antibiotic Use Prevalent in Hospices By Sondra Forsyth article The use of antibiotics is still prevalent among terminal patients who have chosen hospice care as an end-of-life option, despite little evidence that the medications improve symptoms or quality of life, and sometimes may cause unwanted side effects. That is the finding of a study done at Oregon State University and the Oregon Health & Science University and published on July 14th 2014 in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
_ Kidney Health Supplements & OTCs May Hurt Your Kidneys By Sondra Forsyth article How well are your kidneys working? Unless youΓÇÖve had problems in the past, you probably take for granted that your kidneys are working as they should. But more than one in 10 adults in the United States has kidney disease, and most people who have it donΓÇÖt know it.
_ Safe Traveling with Diabetes By Jane Farrell article Getting out of your routine is part of the fun of vacation and traveling. But donΓÇÖt forget your medications and your care routine, especially if you have diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says. Experts at the federal agency, part of the National Institutes of health, say that travel factors such as meals away from home, a change in physical activity, and different time zones can affect your management of your conditions.
_ 6 Reasons Your Hypertension Meds Might Not Be Working By Jane Farrell article From the Cleveland Clinic A hypertension specialist looks at potential causes. Usually, itΓÇÖs not just one single issue but various factors that contribute to the problem. Your doctor will work to figure out why ΓÇô and from there, create a new plan of attack. ΓÇ£Finding the right combination of medications for uncontrolled hypertension may require some trial and error,ΓÇ¥ says hypertension specialist George Thomas, MD. In his work with patients, Thomas investigates possible explanations for difficulty in controlling blood pressures. These can include: