_ Humidifiers and Your Health By Jane Farrell article Dry sinuses, bloody noses and cracked lips — humidifiers can help soothe these familiar problems caused by dry indoor air. Humidifiers can also help ease symptoms of a cold or another respiratory condition. But be cautious: Although useful, humidifiers can actually make you sick if they aren't maintained properly or if humidity levels stay too high. If you use humidifiers, be sure to monitor humidity levels and keep your humidifier clean. Dirty humidifiers can breed mold or bacteria. If you have allergies or asthma, talk to your doctor before using a humidifier.
_ Breast Cancer Biennial Mammograms Just as Good as Annual Ones? By Jane Farrell article The adoption of guidelines calling for mammograms every two years for women age 50 to 75 would yield effective breast screenings and save the United States $4.3 billion a year in health care costs, a new study said.
Exercise Video Improves Post-Stroke Exercise Results By article About 80% of stroke survivors experience a condition called hemiparesis that causes weakness or the inability to move one side of the body. Core stabilization exercise to improve postural stability and independent walking in chronic hemiparetic stroke patients could be enhanced by real-time video feedback, according to research done at Sahmyook University in the Republic of Korea and published in the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.
_ Fast, Cheap Way to Detect Staph Infections By article Chances are you won't know you've got a staph infection until the test results come in, days after the symptoms first appear. But what if your physician could identify the infection much more quickly and without having to take a biopsy and ship it off for analysis?
_ Quality of Memories Trumps Quantity By article The capacity of the working memory is better explained by the quality of memories we can store than by their number, according to research done at New York University and published in the journal Psychological Review.
Determining Severity of Rotator-Cuff Injuries By article About 90 percent of people over 60 years old have rotator-cuff disease. A new ultrasound probe that has been developed at Clemson University in South Carlina could take some of the guesswork out of determining the severity of rotator-cuff injuries, making it easier for doctors to decide whether patients need surgery. Rotator-cuff injuries are the second highest-costing disease in the country, behind only back injuries.
Parents without Children By Jane Farrell blog When my mom was still alive, my sister and I often visited her in assisted living and later in memory care. Many times, we would be the only outside visitor. In fact, there were many residents whose family didn’t visit them. Sitting hour-after-hour in the lobby, these aging seniors would watch the front entrance intently. They looked as though they were constantly waiting. Waiting for someone who rarely or never came to visit. Their waiting and obvious loneliness made me incredibly sad.
_ Molecule Linked to Reawakened Prostate-Cancer Cells By Jane Farrell article Dormant prostate-cancer cells in bone tissue can be reawakened, causing the disease to spread to different parts of the body. The discovery, by researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, in Los Angeles, could lead to new ways to intervene before the disease progresses.
Love and Intimacy By blog Did you know that over 50% of Americans over age 50 are single? And according to the latest research, those who choose to find a significant other, will find the person online. That may all be true, but I believe that how we meet isn’t half as important as where we are in our lives when we meet. The truth among us human beings is our tolerance for human closeness or intimacy will determine what kind of partner we choose next, and how far that relationship can go.
_ What You Need to Know About COPD By Jane Farrell article Along with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, affects a patient’s very ability to breathe. COPD, which is also called emphysema or chronic bronchitis, is a progressive lung disease in which the airways of the lungs become damaged, making it hard to breathe. COPD is also known as emphysema or chronic bronchitis. According to the National Institutes of Health, COPD is a major cause of death and illness worldwide. In the U.S., it kills more than 120,000 Americans every year, or one every four minutes.
Frayed: Adventures on the ACA Trail By blog The following is a journal of my experience with the Affordable Care Act and specifically my application process with Covered California. In the spirit of “sometimes you just have to laugh” I have taken a humorous approach. However, the many problems of enrolling in a health care plan were frightening and filled with frustration. I know I am not alone with these thoughts and feelings.
_ Database of ΓÇ£Health Legacy FoundationsΓÇ¥ By Jane Farrell article A new database of philanthropic foundations has been created by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The team suggests that consideration of the adoption of the more comprehensive generic term "health legacy foundation" would be a way to foster more precise thinking of the variation in the diverse but related phenomena occurring in health care mergers and other consolidations. The goal of the database is to help communities nationwide better understand local resources.
Blood Test to Find Your Anti-Aging Diet By article In this age of commercial gene sequencing, a simple blood test might tell you which diet would give you the best chance for longevity. That’s the contention of researchers who discovered a genetic mechanism linking aging to specific diets. The study was done at the University of Southern California and published in the January 2014 issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.
_ 7 Ways to Traverse Through Any Transition By Jane Farrell article By Servet Hasan None of us can escape loss. Life's challenges are universal and eventually will find us. Whether you're moving to a new city, leaving for college, or experiencing a divorce in your family, having life throw a major curve ball can leave us longing for the way things used to be.
Why the Next Big Frontier in Medicine is Energy Medicine By blog I first heard about Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2000 when I was writing my book The Whole Man Program: Reinvigorating Your Body, Mind, and Spirit After 40. Dr. Oz was one of the top heart surgeons in the world at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center. I wanted to find someone with the best scientific credentials to help me better understand heart disease so I could help other men. Dr. Oz was a wonderful resource. He is still one of the best surgeons in the world but he has since expanded his view of what constitutes good medicine.
State Efforts to Promote Continuity of ACA Coverage By article A new culture of health care has been ushered in by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) but Americans with income fluctuations, such as those with multiple part-time jobs, may experience shifts in coverage. Those transitions would require the affected people to "churn" between Medicaid and private insurance, a process that could affect affordability and continuous access to care.
_ Possible New Parkinson's Therapy By article When properly manipulated, a population of support cells found in the brain called astrocytes could provide a new and promising approach to treat Parkinson's disease. That’s the finding of a study done at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York and published on January 28th 2014 in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.
_ Men's Health Hope for Reversing Hair Loss By article One potential approach to reversing hair loss uses stem cells to regenerate the missing or dying hair follicles but it hasn't been possible to generate sufficient numbers of hair-follicle-generating stem cells. Now, however, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicinehave come up with a method for for converting adult cells into epithelial stem cells.