_ AsthmaInhaler Reminders Improve Adherence By Adprime Admin articleIf you’re an asthma sufferer and you sometimes forget to use your inhaler, an electronic reminder could be the answer to keeping yourself on track. A study conducted by a research team at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia showed that reminders prompting asthma patients to take their control inhalers if they miss a dose significantly improved medication adherence, During the six-month investigation, patients receiving reminders took on average 73% of their prescribed doses compared to only 46% in patients who did not have reminders.
_ Pain ManagementNew Target for Chronic Pain Treatment By Adprime Admin articleResearchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have found a new target for treating chronic pain: an enzyme called PIP5K1C. In a paper published on may 21st 2014 in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers led by Mark Zylka, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, shows that PIP5K1C controls the activity of cellular receptors that signal pain.By reducing the level of the enzyme, the scientist demonstrated that the levels of a crucial lipid called PIP2 in pain-sensing neurons is also lessened, thus decreasing pain.
_ Breast CancerDouble Mastectomy Doesn’t Increase Survival By Sondra Forsyth articleMany women diagnosed with cancer in one breast undergo a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) to remove both breasts. Yet removing the unaffected breast has not been shown to increase survival, according to a study done at the University of Michigan and published online May 21st 2014 in Jama Surgery.
_ Pain ManagementVirtual Chronic Pain Patient Boosts Docs’ Skills By articleAn online training module using “Edna”, a virtual elderly woman with chronic lower back pain as a case study, greatly improved medical student clinical skills. That’s 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).
_ Breast CancerHope for Beating HER2-Positive Breast Cancer By articleScientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Lonf Island in New York report on May 18th 2014 a discovery that they hope will lead to the development of a powerful new way of treating an aggressive form of breast cancer commonly called "HER2-positive".
_ Women's Health and WellnessBacteria and Overactive Bladder By Jane Farrell articleBacteria in urine appears to contribute to overactive bladder in some women, according to new research.The finding, by researchers from Loyola University Chicago, appears to contradict the belief that urine is germ-free. The investigators used DNA-based detection methods to reveal the presence of bacteria that couldn’t be revealed by standard techniques.
_ Alternative HealthFinding A Good Alternative Health Practitioner By Jane Farrell articleThere are so many “alternative” or “complementary” therapies available today that it can be hard to tell which ones are effective, don’t work at all or can do you harm. It’s just as much of a challenge to choose a complementary health practitioner. Should you want to go to one, it’s best to do the research beforehand or you may end up paying money for “treatments” that don’t 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.
_ Heart HealthHospital Visits for AFib Rising By articleHospitalizations and costs for treating irregular heartbeats, a condition called atrial fibrillation or AFib, are escalating. This fact is increasing the burden on the U.S. healthcare system, according to new research published in May 2014 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. AFib can lead to stroke and other heart-related complications.
_ Mental & Emotional Health“Forgive and Forget” Really Works By Sondra Forsyth articleIf you’re still holding a grudge about a wrong someone did to you, you’d probably do well to follow the old adage that tells us to “forgive and forget”. That’s the advice of researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, who showed that the details of an offense are more likely to be wiped from your memory when you’ve forgiven that transgression. You don’t even have to forgive the offender in person. You can simply resolve to pardon the person in your mind.
_ Heart HealthNew Heart Tx as Good as Gold Standard By articleLCZ696, a drug with two antihypertensives to lower blood pressure, won a head to head comparison with ACE inhibitors, the gold standard treatment. The trial, which was conducted in Athens and called the PARADIGM-HF, was stopped abruptly in May 2014 because of a benefit to patients that was overwhelmingly statistically significant.
Sleep Health7 Hidden Causes of Fatigue By Jane Farrell articleFrom the Cleveland Clinic Fatigue can signal anemia, diabetes, hypothyroidism or hepatitis C. But once your doctor rules out major medical causes of fatigue, it’s time to consider hidden ones. “We look for the less obvious roots of fatigue — that’s our job,” says Tanya Edwards, MD, Medical Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine. Hidden causes include: 1. A junk food diet
Heart HealthViagra for Heart Failure? Works Better for the Guys By articleClear-cut gender differences stand out in measuring impact of Viagra as therapy for heart failure, according to a study done at Johns Hopkins and posted online May 16th 2014 in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Specifically, in female mice modeling human heart failure, the benefits of sildenafil, the generic name for Viagra, ranged from robust to practically nonexistent depending on the animals' levels of the hormone estrogen. Yet in male mice, sildenafil generally appears to work well because it targets a different biological process independent of estrogen.
_ Vision HealthGlaucoma Patients Not Always Using Eye Drops By articleElectronic monitoring to measure medication adherence by patients with glaucoma documented that a sizable number of patients did not regularly use the eye drops prescribed to them, according to two studies published in May 2014 in JAMA Ophthalmology. The research was led by Michael V. Boland, M.D., Ph.D., of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Heart HealthSugar Is Bad for Your Heart Even If You’re at a Healthy Weight By articleResearchers from New Zealand's University of Otago have uncovered evidence that sugar has a direct effect on risk factors for heart disease, and is likely to impact blood pressure, independent of weight gain. Dr Lisa Te Morenga, Research Fellow with Otago's Department of Human Nutrition, and colleagues conducted a review and meta-analysis of all international studies that compared the effects of higher versus lower added sugar consumption on blood pressure and lipids (blood fats or cholesterol) – both of which are important cardiovascular risk-factors.
Sleep HealthWhen It's More Than Being Tired By Jane Farrell articleWhether from insomnia, stress, or just doing too much, we all feel tired occasionally. But if a good night’s sleep doesn’t revive you, and your tiredness lasts for weeks, that’s probably another issue entirely. Here, the experts at SeniorHealth, a division of the National Institutes of Health, share what you should know about fatigue:
_ Mental & Emotional HealthMay Is Mental Health Month: Where’s Your Sanity? By articleBy Dr. Claudia Luiz 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.
_ Heart HealthWatch: Dietary Fiber Can Help Heart Attack Survivors Live Longer By articleHere's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
_ Skin Skin HealthIs It Shingles? By Jane Farrell articleShingles is one of the most common conditions for American adults: more than 50 percent have had it by the time they reach 80. However, it’s most frequent in the years between 60 and 80. How can you tell if you have this bothersome, painful problem, and what should you do about it? The experts at the SeniorHealth division of the National Institutes of Health have some answers: