_ Pain ManagementHow To Make Chores Pain-Free By Jane Farrell articleFrom the Cleveland Clinic Brain & Spine Team For some people, daily chores are a pain — literally. Up to 90 percent of people in the United States suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, and routine activities such as chores often cause flare-ups. But the chores themselves aren’t to blame, says occupational therapist Michael Milicia, OT/L. It’s how you do them. Below, he offers tips to help you do your household scrubbing and yard work without triggering pain.
Pain ManagementNatural Migraine Prevention Tips By articleBy Romie Mushtaq M.D. Headaches are fifth-leading cause of emergency room visits among all Americans, according to a 2013 National Institutes of Health report that calls headaches a major public health problem. The key to preventing headaches is, of course, to figure out what’s triggering them. While migraine and stress headaches can both be triggered by stress, migraines have many other possible triggers and they vary from one individual to the next.
_ Breast CancerHope For Treating A Deadly Breast-Cancer Gene By Jane Farrell articleResearchers have discovered that a gene, previously not linked to breast cancer, plays a central role in the growth of triple negative breast cancer. Targeting that gene, the research indicates, could lead to a new approach for treating that form of the disease. Triple negative breast cancer, which accounts for 20 percent of all breast cancer cases, often has few treatment options.
_ Mental & Emotional HealthNasal Spray Treats Depression By articleA nasal spray that delivers a peptide to treat depression holds promise as a potential alternative therapeutic approach, according to research done at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. The study, led by CAMH's Dr. Fang Liu, is published online in Neuropsychopharmacology.
Breast CancerBreast Reconstruction: Making the Decision By Jane Farrell articleEvery woman who has a mastectomy is then faced with another choice: whether to have breast reconstruction – surgery to rebuild the shape of the breast. There are other choices, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI): to wear a breast form, or padding, or to do nothing.
_ Heart HealthPost-Stroke Surgery Increases Survival Rate By Jane Farrell articleStroke patients over the age of 60 benefit from a post-stroke surgical procedure that temporarily removes part of the skull, researchers have found. The findings involve people who have suffered a major stroke because of blockage to the middle cerebral artery. The procedure that benefits them is called hemicraniectomy – removal of part of the skull located above the affected brain tissue. It relieves increased pressure on the brain in the 48 hours after the stroke.
Breast CancerMammogram Risks for Age 70+ Outweigh Benefits By articleResearchers from Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands report that their study suggests that breast cancer screening programs for older women results in a large proportion of women being over-treated, and at risk from the harmful effects of such treatment, because these women were more likely to die from other causes than from any tumors detected in the early stages of growth. The team presented the findings the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glascow UK.
_ Sleep HealthGet Back to Sleep - Without Drugs By Jane Farrell articleFrom the Cleveland Clinic We’ve all been there. You are wide awake at 3 a.m., your mind racing with a rising sense of panic about the difficult day ahead if you don’t fall back to sleep. What you’re experiencing is a type of insomnia, says sleep disorders specialist Harneet Walia, MD, DABSM, of Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorders Center.
_ Heart HealthMillions More Adults Could Start Using Statins By Jane Farrell articleUp to 12.8 million Americans may begin taking statins thanks to new guidelines for using the drugs, according to a research team led by scientists from Duke University. The finding is the first to make specific predictions based on the American Heart Association’s new guidelines, which were issued in November. The investigators, whose findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that most of the additional users would be people over 60.
_ Vision HealthExercise & Light Drinking = Better Vision By articleGet moving and raise a glass now and then if you want to stave off the kind of vision problems that can’t be corrected with lenses. That’s what the results of a study done at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health suggest. The team found that a physically active lifestyle and occasional drinking are associated with a reduced risk of developing visual impairment. The article was published online in March 2014 in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
_ Heart HealthMaybe Saturated Fats Aren’t So Bad After All By articleA study led University of Cambridge in the UK and published March 18th 2014 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine raises questions about current guidelines that generally restrict the consumption of saturated fats and encourage consumption of polyunsaturated fats to prevent heart disease.
_ Mental & Emotional HealthReducing Anxiety? There’s an App for That. By articlePlaying a science-based mobile gaming app for 25 minutes can reduce anxiety in stressed individuals, according to research done at Hunter College in NYC and the City University of New York and published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The study suggests that "gamifying" a scientifically-supported intervention could offer measurable mental health and behavioral benefits for people with relatively high levels of anxiety.
_ Heart Health"Bendopnea" = Heart Failure Symptom By articleUniversity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center cardiologists have defined a novel heart failure symptom in advanced heart failure patients: shortness of breath while bending over, such as when putting on shoes. The cardiologists dubbed he condition “bendopnea”, which is pronounced “bend-op-nee-ah”/ The easily detectable symptom can help doctors diagnose excessive fluid retention in patients with heart failure, according to the findings published in a March 2014 edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Heart Failure.
Pain ManagementWatch: Why Are Doctors Worried About a New Painkiller? By articleHere's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
_ Mental & Emotional HealthSuppressing Unwanted Memories By articleResearchers at the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in the UK have shown that suppressing unwanted memories reduces their unconscious influences on subsequent behavior. The team has also shed light on how this process happens in the brain.
Heart Health5 Common Questions About Sex and Your Heart By Jane Farrell articleBy Steven Nissen, MD Cleveland Clinic Patients often ask me: Is sex good for your heart? The question seems simple. The answer is complicated, in part because of the limits of what research can tell us. But we do have a strong sense that sex fits in with a heart-healthy lifestyle. Below are answers to five common questions. 1. Is sex exercise?
Heart HealthNew "Heart Attack Gene" Discovered By Jane Farrell articleResearchers have found a previously undiscovered gene variation that reduces heart attack risk, and the discovery could lead to better treatment of high cholesterol and related disorders. The finding, by a team from the University of Michigan and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, took six years of analysis.
_ Heart HealthWatch: 3 Common Heart Disease Myths You Probably Believe By Sondra Forsyth articleHere's another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!