_ MenopauseAre You Setting Off Your Hot Flashes? By Sondra Forsyth article By Gary ElkinsIf you start taking note of your hot flashes, you may recognize some events, emotions, or activities that actually seem to contribute to, or “trigger,” the onset of a hot flash. Scientifically speaking, while the physiology of hot flashes is associated with a decrease in estrogen level or an increase in gonadotropin concentrations, the actual physiological mechanism of hot flashes is not known.
_ Heart HealthFor Women, Improving Accuracy of Heart Disease Diagnosis By Sondra Forsyth articleDiagnosing 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.
_ High blood pressure / hypertension Senior HealthDiuretics Risky for Older Adults By Sondra Forsyth articleAdults over 65 with high blood pressure who have recently begun taking thiazide diuretics are at a greater risk for developing metabolic-related adverse events including acute kidney injury, according to research done at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco. The study was published in June 2014 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
_ Injury Prevention & Treatment Medical CareThirdAge Health Close-Up: I Fell and Dislocated My Shoulder By Sondra Forsyth article By Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW
_ Digestive HealthWatch: Irritable Bowel Syndrome Advice By Sondra Forsyth articleHere's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
_ Pain ManagementGetting Rid of Chronic Pain By Jane Farrell articleAs people age, chronic pain becomes a real problem. In your younger years, you probably had pain for a short while – from a broken arm, say, or a bad toothache. But pain can become a constant, unwelcome companion for older people who have age-related illnesses like arthritis, cancer or diabetes.However, though chronic pain often accompanies aging, that doesn’t mean it’s something you should put up with. Don’t delay going to your doctor. Here, from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), are tips on how to talk to your doctor so your pain problem can be solved.
_ Medical CareDocs Say “AMEN” When Patients Pray for a Miracle By Sondra Forsyth articleCancer 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.
_ Vision HealthAMD: Omega-3 Stops Unwanted Blood Vessel Growth By Sondra Forsyth articleAge-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is characterized blood vessel growth, is the primary cause of blindness in the elderly in industrialized countries. The prevalence of the disease is projected to increase 50% by the year 2020. There is an urgent need for new pharmacological interventions for the treatment and prevention of AMD.
_ High blood pressure / hypertensionLower BP Not Always Better By Sondra Forsyth articleFor decades, common medical wisdom has been "the lower the better" in treating the approximately one in three people in this country who have high blood pressure. But does that approach result in reduced risk for dangerous heart events? Not necessarily, according to research done at Wake Forest Baptists Medical Center in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and published in the June 16th online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.
_ Osteoarthritis6,000 Steps a Day Helps Ease OA By Sondra Forsyth articleResearch done at from Sargent College at Boston University in Massachusetts shows that walking just 6,000 steps a day reduces the risk of developing mobility issues such as difficulty getting up from a chair and climbing stairs that are often associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The typical recommendation I 10,000 steps – about five miles -- a day but BU team found that fewer steps will do the trick. The study, which was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, was published in June 2014 in in Arthritis Care & Research.
_ Medical CareNew Ways to Combat MRSA in Hospitals By Sondra Forsyth articleNew guidelines aim to reduce the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), improve patient safety and prioritize current prevention efforts underway in hospitals. This drug resistant bacterium is a common source of patient morbidity and mortality in U.S. hospitals, causing nearly twice the number of deaths, significantly longer hospital stays and higher hospital costs than other forms of the bacteria.
_ Men's HealthMen with Gout Often Have ED By Sondra Forsyth articleA 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 HealthA Better Assessment Tool For Heart-Disease Risk By Jane Farrell articleAn 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.
_ Exercise Heart Health Stress Management Stress-Free LivingWhy Stress & Overexertion Trigger Heart Attacks By Sondra Forsyth articleScientists believe they have an explanation for the axiom that stress, emotional shock, and overexertion may trigger heart attacks in vulnerable people. Hormones released during these events appear to cause bacterial biofilms on arterial walls to disperse, allowing plaque deposits to rupture into the bloodstream, according to research published in published in June 2014 in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
_ Mental & Emotional HealthImaging the Adult ADHD Brain By Sondra Forsyth articleBrain scans done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology differentiated adults who have recovered from childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and those whose difficulties linger. The study was published in the June 10th 2014 issue of the journal Brain.A release from MIT notes that about 11 percent of school-age children in the United States have been diagnosed with ADHD. While many of these children eventually outgrow the disorder, some carry their difficulties into adulthood: About 10 million American adults are currently diagnosed with ADHD.
Breast CancerA Possible Link Between Carbohydrates and Breast Cancer By Jane Farrell articleLimiting carbohydrate intake could reduce the risk of one type of breast cancer, researchers have found.The findings, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, focused on the cancer whose tumor tissue has the IGF-1 receptor."There is a growing body of research demonstrating associations between obesity, diabetes, and cancer risk," said lead author Jennifer A. Emond, an instructor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.
_ Vision HealthNo More Eye Drops for Glaucoma By Sondra Forsyth articleScientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Singapore Eye Research Institute have jointly developed a new nanomedicine, liposomal latanoprost, that will allow glaucoma patients to do away with daily eye drops. The nanomedicine is delivered to the front of the eye via a painless injection and will stay and release the anti-glaucoma drugs slowly over the next six months.
_ Beauty & Style Cancer Center Hair Skin Skin cancerSummer Beauty, Health, and Fitness Dilemmas By Sondra Forsyth articleTop experts share tips on how to sidestep some top seasonal ailments so you can savor your summer days.Don’t Get Burned by Skin Cancer