_ Vision Health A Computer That Can "See" You By Jane Farrell article Someday, your computer may have ΓÇ£glassesΓÇ¥ to help you see the screen ΓÇô not the other way around, according to researchers developing the technology. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, are developing computer models to compensate for a personΓÇÖs visual impairment. When fully developed, these vision-correcting displays enable users to see words and pictures on a screen clearly without eyeglasses or contact lenses.
_ Stress-Free Living Not Wild about Your Backyard Wildlife? By Sondra Forsyth article By Diane Blum A variety of wildlife routinely exists in many neighborhood backyards. Homes that are near open space, hills, natural water sources, meadows and the like are known as an urban or suburban interface. In these areas in particular, people not only will see deer and other small animals, but sometimes more dangerous wildlife may move in. Hillside development may destroy previously wild habitat. Drought can also cause bears, mountain lions, and other predators to move in to residential areas.
Exercise 5 Steps To Establish a Workout Routine for Better Health By Sondra Forsyth article By Andrea Warshaw-Wernick There aren't many guarantees in life but working out can be one. By working out, you can see and control your results. And with summer in full swing, thereΓÇÖs no better time to hit the gym and start integrating exercise into your every day 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.
_ Cosmetic Surgery Beware of Claims About Cosmetic Stem Cells Procedures By Sondra Forsyth article Advertising claims for cosmetic procedures using stem cells are running far ahead of the scientific evidence for safety and effectiveness, according to a review in the August 2014 issue ofPlastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Dr. Michael T. Longaker of Stanford University Medical Center and colleagues wrote: "Stem cells offer tremendous potential, but the marketplace is saturated with unsubstantiated and sometimes fraudulent claims that may place patients at risk."
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition Controversy Over Changes to Food Labels By Sondra Forsyth article To help Americans make better decisions about what they eat, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year proposed significant changes to the Nutrition Facts label found on nearly every food product in the U.S. An July 2014 article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), explains the suggested updates ΓÇö and the fight that has ensued.
Five Trials Are Targeting Alzheimer's By Jane Farrell blog Recently I noticed a tweet from TIME magazine about some new research trials focusing on AlzheimerΓÇÖs disease. Intrigued, I visited their website to learn more. The headline - ΓÇ£5 Groundbreaking Drugs are Testing Ways to Prevent AlzheimerΓÇÖs - is what caught my attention. I love the words ΓÇ£groundbreakingΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£preventΓÇ¥ ΓÇö especially when they are used in connection with AlzheimerΓÇÖs disease or another type of dementia.
_ 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.
_ Investigators Discover a Glucose-Controlling Enzyme By Jane Farrell article Researchers have zeroed in on a neural mechanism that is key to sensing and controlling blood glucose levels. The investigators, from the Yale School of Medicine, said that the finding could eventually lead to new treatments for diabetes.
_ Sleep Health 3 Bad Sleep Habits To Give Up (And 5 Good Habits To Start) By Sondra Forsyth article This article, which is adapted from Sleep Soundly Every Night, Feel Fantastic Every Day, originally appeared on DemosHealth.com.
_ Kidney Disease Drug Halves Risk of Kidney Transplant Rejection By Sondra Forsyth article Oxford University scientists in the UK have shown that a powerful drug given at the time of a kidney transplant operation not only halves the early risk of rejection, but that it also allows a less toxic regimen of anti-rejection drugs to be used after the operation.
_ Osteoarthritis Omega-3 Lessens Severity of Osteoarthritis By Sondra Forsyth article Mice consuming a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids had healthier joints than those fed diets high in saturated fats and omega-6 fatty acids, according to Duke Medicine researchers. The findings, published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases on July 11th 2014, suggest that unhealthy dietary fats ΓÇô not just obesity ΓÇô may contribute to worsening osteoarthritis.
_ Medical Care $15 Billion Physician Training System Needs Overhaul By Sondra Forsyth article The U.S. should significantly reform the federal system for financing physician training and residency programs to ensure that the publicΓÇÖs $15 billion annual investment is producing the doctors that the nation needs, says a new report release in July 2014 by the Institute of Medicine. Current financing -- provided largely through Medicare -- requires little accountability, allocates funds independent of workforce needs or educational outcomes, and offers insufficient opportunities to train physicians in the health care settings used by most Americans, the report says.
_ 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.
_ Mobile Health Apps Need More Oversight By Jane Farrell article Although people often assume that mobile health apps have been ΓÇ£approved,ΓÇ¥ in fact there is very little oversight of the multibillion-dollar industry, according to health-law researchers.
_ Aging Well Caregiving 3 Tips for Choosing an Assisted-Living HomeΓÇ¿ for Your Parents By Sondra Forsyth article By Peder Johnsen Seventy percent of people age 65 and older will need long-term care at some point in their lives, according to a 2014 study by CareScout, a division of Genworth Financial Services. But that doesnΓÇÖt mean they have to sacrifice quality of life. In fact, a person who needs some assistance with day-to-day living will often find he or she is much happier in a good assisted-living community with an atmosphere that reminds them of their former home.
_ Oral Health Why Bad Breath Complaints Heat Up in the Summer By Sondra Forsyth article By Bob Kross PhD Whether itΓÇÖs a picnic, beach day, family gathering or a night out with friends, summer is a time when people come together for fun. DonΓÇÖt let that great social buzz kill, bad breath, spoil the fun! For a significant number of people bad breath, also called halitosis, is an unnecessary embarrassment caused by malodorant sulfur compounds created by putrefying bacteria in your mouth, primarily in crevices of your tongue.
_ Trees Save Lives, Especially in Cities By Sondra Forsyth article In the first broad-scale estimate of air pollution removal by trees nationwide, U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators calculated that trees are saving more than 850 human lives a year and preventing 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms. The researchers valued the human health effects of the reduced air pollution at nearly $7 billion every year in a study published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution.