A New Cancer Treatment for Dogs By Jane Farrell article A cancer therapy that was until now only available for humans has been developed for dogs. Scientists from the Messerli Research Institute of the Vetmeduni Vienna, the Medical University of Vienna, and the University of Vienna have developed a way to use cancer immunotherapy on dogs. Almost half of dogs ten years or older develop cancer.
_ Alternative Health Alternative Treatments for Fibromyalgia By Jane Farrell article People who suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder with symptoms that include musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tenderness, often seek relief from alternative-health practices. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) part of the National Institutes of Health, talks about the research:
_ Menopause Toolkit to Diagnose Menopause By Sondra Forsyth article The ΓÇ£Practitioner Toolkit for Managing the MenopauseΓÇ¥, designed to guide physicians in the management of menopausal conditions for women from the age of 40 has been designed by researchers at Monash University in Australia. The kit, which includes a diagnostic tool as well as a compendium of approved hormone therapies, was published on July 6th 2014 in the journal Climacteric.
_ Heart Health Painless AFib Treatment By Sondra Forsyth article A technique called cardiac optogenetics achieves defibrillation without the pain of electric shocks, according to research presented on July 4th at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. The meeting is organized by the Council on Basic Cardiovascular Science of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in collaboration with 13 European cardiovascular science societies.
_ Glitch in ΓÇ£Garbage RemovalΓÇ¥ Ups Dementia Risk By Sondra Forsyth article An international team of researchers identified a pathogenic mechanism that is common to several neurodegenerative diseases. The findings suggest that it may be possible to slow the progression of dementia even after the onset of symptoms.
_ Heart Health Women and Heart Disease: A New RIsk By Jane Farrell article Hormonal changes during menopause could increase a womanΓÇÖs risk of heart disease, researchers have found. The study, by investigators from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, was done by using an advanced method to analyze ΓÇ£cholesterol carriersΓÇ¥ in the blood. The researchers found that during the transition to menopause, the quality of those carriers degrades. Investigators said the study showed that the quality of cholesterol carriers could be as important as cholesterol numbers.
_ Menopause Menopause Brain: What You Need to Know Beat the Odds By Sondra Forsyth article By Soriyya Bawa As if hot flashes and irritability werenΓÇÖt enough to handle, women going through menopause also worry about the risk of memory loss. Some of the common cognitive concerns relating to memory loss that are reported by women going through menopause include trouble with routine mental tasks and remembering what was once easily retrievable information. A lot of research has delved into evaluating the link between menopause and memory loss, and weΓÇÖre now beginning to understand even more.
_ How Private Is Your Mental-Health Information? By Jane Farrell article Whatever you think of the Affordable Care Act (and there are many different and heated opinions) thereΓÇÖs no doubt that itΓÇÖs expanded mental health and substance use disorder benefits and protections to 62 million Americans. Leon Rodriguez, Director of the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in a federal blog that the c hange represents ΓÇ£the largest expansion of behavioral health coverage in a generation and will help make treatment more affordable and accessible.ΓÇ¥
_ "Brain Marijuana" Can Help with Dementia By Jane Farrell article The protein beta-amyloid, long suspected to play a key role in AlzheimerΓÇÖs, may begin its destructive process by blocking marijuana-like substances in the brain. A study by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine focused on the blocking of endocannabinoids in the early stages of AlzheimerΓÇÖs. Endocannabinoids are signaling substances that are the brainΓÇÖs versions of the psychoactive chemicals in marijuana and hashish. As a result of the discovery, the investigators are now focusing on the molecular details of exactly how the blocking occurs.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Anger Management: Your questions Answered By Sondra Forsyth article By Mayo Clinic Staff Anger itself isn't a problem ΓÇö it's how you handle it. Consider the nature of anger, as well as how to manage anger and what to do when you're confronted by someone whose anger is out of control. What is anger?
_ Women's Health and Wellness For Some Older Women, Calcium Supplements Up Risk of Kidney Stones By Sondra Forsyth article Calcium and vitamin D are commonly recommended for older women, but the usual supplements may send calcium excretion and blood levels too high for some women, according to a study published online June 18th 2014 in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society. Excess blood and urine calcium levels may lead to kidney stones or other problems. The study will be published in the November 2014 print edition of Menopause.
_ Two Anti-Smoking Treatments Better Than One By Jane Farrell article A combination of quit-smoking therapies is more effective than using just one for male smokers and people with a high level of nicotine dependence. Researchers from Duke Medicine analyzed the outcomes of 349 people who reported smoking ten or more cigarettes per day. The participants were given a six-item questionnaire that measured their level of nicotine dependence. Before they quit, the researchers provided the subjects with a nicotine patch.
_ The "New Normal": Life After Cancer Treatment By Jane Farrell article Cancer is a frightening and even traumatic experience not only for patients but for caregivers. But once diagnosis and treatment are over, people who cared for a loved one may expect to put it behind them and go back to their normal life. As the National Cancer Institute (NCI) explains, though, thatΓÇÖs not usually the case. Caregivers are faced with a ΓÇ£new normalΓÇ¥ that may make life seem more forbidding and uncertain. Here, experts from the NCI take a look at a situation thatΓÇÖs often neglected, and share some strategies for coping:
_ Heart Health For Women, Improving Accuracy of Heart Disease Diagnosis By Sondra Forsyth article Diagnosing coronary heart disease in women has become more accurate through gender-specific research that clarifies the role of both obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease as contributors to ischemic heart disease in females, according to a statement published in June 2014 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
_ Medical Care Docs Say ΓÇ£AMENΓÇ¥ When Patients Pray for a Miracle By Sondra Forsyth article Cancer clinicians and a chaplain at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have developed a new tool to help doctors, nurses, and other health care providers talk to dying patients and families who are, literally, praying for a miracle.
_ Men's Health Men with Gout Often Have ED By Sondra Forsyth article A study presented in June 2014 in Paris at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress (EULAR 2014) showed that erectile dysfunction (ED) is present in most men with gout and is frequently severe. A release from EULAR reports that in a survey of 201 men, 83 had gout, of whom a significantly greater proportion had ED (76%) compared with those patients without gout. Also, a significantly greater proportion of gout patients (43%) had severe ED compared with patients without gout (30%).
_ Heart Health A Better Assessment Tool For Heart-Disease Risk By Jane Farrell article An international team of researchers has created a heart disease risk assessment tool designed to better evaluate the likelihood of heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. People with rheumatoid arthritis are twice as likely as the average person to develop heart problems.