Red Wine: Good, Bad, Yes, No? Who Should We Believe? By blog It wasn't all that long ago that there was great joy among lovers of red wine and chocolate. The announcement that these two treats (or necessities, depending on the person) could be good for you was very welcome news.
Male Menopause: No Longer a Myth, But a Medical Reality By blog My search to understand male menopause began in the early 1990s and was both personal and professional. Personally, I was nearing the age of 50 and my wife was telling me something was wrong. ΓÇ£YouΓÇÖre hormonal,ΓÇ¥ she told me. ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs like youΓÇÖre going through menopause or something.ΓÇ¥ At first I laughed at the idea. But professionally many of my male clients were experiencing prostate problems, erectile dysfunctions, anger, depression, and other symptoms that I was learning were related to the ΓÇ£change of life.ΓÇ¥
Fibromyalgia Awareness By blog May 12th was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. I marked that day by introducing my new project, 101 Answers About Fibromyalgia. This project is dedicated not only to those who have fibromyalgia, but to those who love people who have fibromyalgia. The goal is to collect at least 101 questions about the condition and gather the answers from different experts around the world. Regular visitors to my blog know that I've written about fibromyalgia before, both here and for other outlets.
_ Pain Management Virtual Chronic Pain Patient Boosts DocsΓÇÖ Skills By article An online training module using ΓÇ£EdnaΓÇ¥, a virtual elderly woman with chronic lower back pain as a case study, greatly improved medical student clinical skills. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of a study done at the University of Pittsburgh and published in the May 2014 issue Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The module is the first curriculum resource created through the efforts of the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium's Centers of Excellence in Pain Education program (CoEPEs).
_ Alternative Health Finding A Good Alternative Health Practitioner By Jane Farrell article There are so many ΓÇ£alternativeΓÇ¥ or ΓÇ£complementaryΓÇ¥ therapies available today that it can be hard to tell which ones are effective, donΓÇÖt work at all or can do you harm. ItΓÇÖs just as much of a challenge to choose a complementary health practitioner. Should you want to go to one, itΓÇÖs best to do the research beforehand or you may end up paying money for ΓÇ£treatmentsΓÇ¥ that donΓÇÖt work. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is part of the National Institutes of Health and an authority in the field of alternative medicine.
_ How Can We Avoid Another Global Pandemic? By Jane Farrell article An investigation into the 1918 flu pandemic has yielded some findings that could help experts improve current health policies, researchers say. Researchers from the University of Missouri looked at remote regions in North American to see how environmental, nutritional land economic factors determined the effect the pandemic had on them. The flu pandemic infected more than 500 million people and killed at least 50 million.
Exercise The Try Tennis for Free Campaign By article Are you looking for a way to be more active? One option is the “Try Tennis for Free” campaign offered during the month of May 2014. Visit PlayTennis.com where you can find tennis facilities and teaching professionals in your area offering free events for beginners and returning tennis players.
_ Mental & Emotional Health May Is Mental Health Month: WhereΓÇÖs Your Sanity? By article By Dr. Claudia LuizΓÇ¿ΓÇ¿ Everybody is overwhelmed and nobody is afraid to talk about it. Historically speaking, we are more sophisticated than ever emotionally; we are highly aware of what we feel, and we can talk about it. If we don’t feel better, it’s only because our methods for dealing with what we feel are still so antiquated. It’s just the same-old, same-old: try to be better, get inspired to change. But it doesn’t’ work. ΓÇ¿ ΓÇ¿
_ Dementia Drugs Not Always Necessary By Jane Farrell article Experts say a team-based approach to handling undesirable behaviors in dementia patients could lead to a reduction in the use of psychiatric drugs. The approach is known as DICE – Describe, Investigate, Evaluate and Create. The researchers said they hope that using the DICE approach will create better teamwork among people who care for dementia patients at home, in hospitals and clinics and in residential facilities. The panel of experts published their analysis in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
_ Pets Do Therapy Animals Really Help Patients? By article While many people have an opinion on whether animals can help to improve wellbeing and care for patients in hospitals, does anyone really know whether there are benefits both for the patients and the animals themselves?
_ Medicare Data on How Much Docs Are Paid By article A historic release of data gives Medicare beneficiaries an unprecedented look at the medical services physicians provide and how much they are paid.On Arpil 9th 2014, as part of the Obama administration’s work to make our health care system more transparent, affordable, and accountable, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of new, privacy-protected data on services and procedures provided to Medicare beneficiaries by physicians and other health care professionals.
_ Cancer Patients and Post-Surgery Problems By Jane Farrell article Editor’s Note: For patients, cancer is frightening in a lot of ways. Beyond the physical risk to a patient’s health, there are mental effects as well. After surgery, people often find they suffer from memory and nervous systems problems as well as chronic pain. The changes, which can be caused by side effects of treatment, can be overwhelming if a patient doesn’t understand why they’re happening. Here, from the experts at NIHSeniorHealth, is an explanation: Memory
_ Don't Be Confused By Organ-Donation Myths By Jane Farrell article From the Mayo Clinic Over 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for an organ donation. Unfortunately, many may never get the call saying that a suitable donor organ — and a second chance at life — has been found.
Osteoporosis Too Fit to Fracture By article Experts from the Too Fit to Fracture Initiative have established exercise recommendations for people with osteoporosis, with or without spine fractures. The results were presented at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases in Seville, Spain in April 2014.
Vision Health Folate May Lower Glaucoma Risk By article Exfoliation glaucoma (EG), caused by exfoliation syndrome, a condition in which white clumps of fibrillar material form in the eye, is the most common cause of secondary open-angle glaucoma and a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment. Elevated levels of homocysteine, a non-protein a-amino acid, may increase exfoliation material formation. Research studies have demonstrated that high intake of vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate is associated with lower homocysteine levels.
ΓÇ£White Coat EffectΓÇ¥ on BP Is True By Jane Farrell article Doctors routinely record blood pressure levels that are significantly higher than levels recorded by nurses, according to the first thorough analysis of scientific data on the so-called “White Coat Phenomenon”. The study was done at at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK and published in March 2014 in the British Journal of General Practice.
_ Depression and Lifestyle Changes By Jane Farrell article Discussing healthy eating habits with a nutrition coach was as effective as talk therapy in preventing major depression among older adults with mild symptoms of mood disorder, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Maryland. The findings, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, examined both black and white adults.