_ New Combo Drug Effective for Hep C By article Treatment options for the 170 million people worldwide with chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) are evolving rapidly, although the available regimens often come with significant side effects. Two multi-center clinical trials led by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center show promise for a new option that could help lead to both an increase in patients cured with a much more simple and tolerable therapy involving only oral medication.
Bitter And Sweet: The Paradox Of Living With Dying By blog The name of my book is “Bitter and Sweet, A Family’s Journey with Cancer.” Here is a brief summary. In April of 2010, my husband Tim began to have some strange sensations in his side. On May 7, we found ourselves facing stage IV gallbladder cancer rather than a simple gallbladder removal as planned. Five months and one week later, my husband died. Those five months were the most difficult and horrifying time of our lives. It was also an extremely beautiful time for us.
_ Heart Health 10 Ways To Resist Tobacco Cravings By Jane Farrell article For most tobacco users, tobacco cravings or urges to smoke can be powerful. But you're not at the mercy of these tobacco cravings. When an urge to use tobacco strikes, remember that although it may be intense, it will be short-lived, and it probably will pass within a few minutes whether or not you smoke a cigarette or take a dip of chewing tobacco. Each time you resist a tobacco craving, you're one step closer to stopping smoking or other tobacco use for good. But it can be difficult.
_ Heartburn/GERD GERD: Help For Heartburn And Other Woes By Jane Farrell article Ugh…heartburn again? If that’s your mantra after meals or as you fall asleep, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In GERD, the valve between your lower esophagus and stomach weakens. This sometimes lets food and stomach acids back up into your esophagus. The result is usually a burning sensation behind the breastbone, or heartburn. But GERD can also cause other symptoms: hoarseness, chest pain, a dry cough, the sensation that food is caught in your throat. A Problem For All Ages
_ Doctors Say Malpractice System Is Better But Needs More Work By Jane Farrell article In a new assessment of the state of medical malpractice, the American College of Physicians (ACP) said that although the cost of liability insurance has leveled off, doctors still “fear litigation” and “expect lawsuits.” Molly Cooke, MD, FACP, president of ACO, also said that physicians feel “the psychological burden of navigating the complex medico-legal system.”
_ Needed: Better Decision Making for the Sickest Patients By Jane Farrell article A sick, elderly patient who is considering risky surgery needs comprehensive help in the decision process, according to an analytical piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Laurent G. Glance, M.D, professor and vice-chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, said that a team approach would lead to better care that’s in accordance with the patient’s values.
_ Our New Secretary of HSS By Sondra Forsyth article In the wake of the error-plagued healthcare rollout that left millions of Americans struggling to log on to HealthCare.gov in order to get insurance, Kathleen Sibelius has resigned from the position of United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. On April 11th 2014, President Obama nominated Sylvia Matthews Burwell to be Sibelius’ successor. Burwell, who will turn 49 in June, served as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget beginning in April 2013 after a stint as president of the Walmart Foundation starting in January 2012.
_ Long Live the Mitochondria! By article Manipulating the metabolic process of mitochondria, the “power plants” of cells, may compensate for defects that are associated with aging and various neurological diseases. That is the finding of scientists at the University of Alberta who published their research on April 10th 2014 in Cell Reports. The study will appear in the print edition of the journal on April 24th.
Silly Putty the Key to Stem Cell Therapies? By article Could a component of Silly Putty, the childhood classic from the 1950s that your grandkids probably play with today, help embryonic stem cells turn into working spinal cord cells? Yes, say researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann who published their study online at Nature Materials on April 13th 2014.
No News May Be Good News: Mindful Living By Jane Farrell blog Did you read the headlines today? Did you hear the “top stories”? Were they uplifting or did your mind go to worry, fear, concern? For many years, much to the chagrin of many, I never watched TV, never read a paper, and never listened to the news on radio. I was teaching mindfulness and meditation to those challenged with panic and anxiety disorders. News was, for me, disturbing. It still is. Good news doesn’t sell newspapers or get TV viewers. I always thought, if it’s something that will impact me now, today at this very minute, someone will tell me.
Facebook And The Doctor's Office By Jane Farrell blog I like a lot of things about Facebook. It allows me to see pictures and videos of my nephews and niece and of friends’ children, it quickly lets me know when something big (either happy or sad) is going on in people’s lives, it lets me know what people are thinking about, and it gives me the opportunity to share my own news, thoughts, pictures, or occasional videos with others.
_ Avoid Portion Distortion By Jane Farrell article Want to try eating smaller? These tips from choosemyplate.gov can get you off to a great start: We’ve all been guilty of “portion distortion” – of believing that we’re eating a lot less than we actually are. Avoid that trap by figuring out how big your portions really are:
_ Sleep Health The Dangers of Sleep Disorders By Jane Farrell article The doctor will then perform a physical examination, looking for signs of illnesses that can affect sleep, including Parkinson’s and heart disease. If your doctor feels more information is needed, he or she may refer you to a sleep center for more testing.
Telephone Care Helps Some Medicare Patients By Jane Farrell article Medicare Patients And Low-risk Medicare patients who are getting home health care appear to benefit from medication management therapy conducted via phone, but that procedure doesn’t work for higher-risk patients, a new study shows. The study, conducted by researchers from Purdue University, aimed to see which patients benefit the most from medication management via telephone.
_ Potato Chips And Toxins By Jane Farrell article Researchers have found that the snack food ingredient olestra speeds up toxin removal from the body. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cincinnati’s medical school, was published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Olestra is a zero-calorie fat substitute found in low-calorie snack foods such as Pringles. Researchers said it could reduce the levels of serum polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in people who had been exposed to PCBs. High PCB levels have been linked to hypertension and diabetes.
_ DonΓÇÖt It Make My Brown Fat White By Jane Farrell article What causes “good” brown fat to turn into “bad” white fat? Boston University researchers say the unfortunate transformation happen when you eat too many high calorie foods. They found that this habit not only leads to an increase in white fat cells (the type prominent in obesity) but that it also makes brown fat cells (the type that generate heat and burn energy) “whiten”. The results were published in April 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
_ Does Memory Decline Lower Cancer Risk? By article Having some senior moments? The upside is that you may be at a lower risk for dying of cancer. A study done at the University Hospital in Madrid and in the April 9th 2014 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that older people who are starting to have memory and thinking problems but do not yet have dementia may have a lower risk of dying from cancer than people who have no memory and thinking problems.