Track Your Family Health History
Celebrating with far-flung relatives this holiday season? Take some time to gather information about your family’s health history. Here’s how.
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Tag Archives: Health
New Hand Therapy
A unanimous decision by an FDA advisory committee on September 16, 2009, paves the way for full approval of a novel and noninvasive treatment to restore hand function (and quality of life) for people with the potentially disabling condition called Dupuytren’s contracture.
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Where Is the Government’s Health Care Plan?
Why hasn’t the government resolved the issue in over a half century of deliberation? What would Dr. Franklin have to say about this?
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5 Ways to Save on Prescription Drugs
How to get the medicines you need at a price you can afford.
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On the Horizon: Breath Tests for Health?
In the future, a sophisticated sensor being developed at the University of Missouri may analyze breath or urine samples for chemical clues about what is happening inside the body. The test will help determine whether the patient has breast cancer, lung cancer, diabetes or asthma. The device, known as the opto-fluidic ring resonator (OFRR), detects ... More
Diabetes: Foot Care
A new bathroom scale with illuminated mirrors may help people with diabetes rise to the challenge of managing the disease and avoiding its big time complications. Daily foot exams and meticulous foot care help detect and treat minor problems before they develop into major ones. The Insight Foot Care Scale allows for thorough and safe ... More
Running Errands …
Note: This is a story about my Grandma Eileen who was entering the late stages of Alzheimer’s. After reflecting on the sadness of the disease, I was finally able to put a positive, light-hearted, and sometimes funny angle on what is such a devastating process. Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Jim were in Indianapolis for the ... More
Walk Away Leg Pain
Intermittent claudication (cramping or pain caused by decreased blood flow to the lower leg muscles) is a common symptom in people with peripheral artery disease. Pain usually increases when the person walks, rather than when at rest. A new study from The Netherlands concludes that community-based walking programs offer an effective and cost efficient way ... More
Breast Cancer: Better Test, Better Treatment
A new test called chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) looks for color changes in cancer cells to help identify — without ultra-expensive microscopes — those that are sensitive to certain therapies. Unlike other tests, it can be used on tissue samples stored in the lab. The Food and Drug Administration approved the CISH test last year, and biopsy test ... More
Are You Allergic to Penicillin?
Probably not, suggests results of skin tests reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The new study shows that more than 90 percent of patients who report a penicillin allergy in fact test negative for it, a finding which has important implications for how infections are treated in the emergency department and elsewhere. “Penicillin is ... More
Obesity Is a Problem
Each of these doctors comes from a country where being overweight is not unusual. After all, their own mama-mias and babushkas become portly through pasta or pirogue poisoning. Likewise, overweight male shopkeepers, government officials, and opera singers abound in their native lands. Yet as one Italian orthopedist put it, a young woman between 18 and ... More
Food For Thought
Parents looking for reasons to shape up personal eating habits need look no further than their own children. New research from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research confirms that good dietary habits start at home. “If parents are eating poorly,” says center research scientist and coauthor of the policy brief, Susan H. Babey, “chances ... More
A Heartfelt Thank You
Dear Dr. SerVaas, In your November/December 2008 issue I happened to read that leg and hand spasms could be caused by the cholesterol medicines. I had been having such severe pains that I would have to pull over in traffic because I was afraid to drive with them. I tried eating bananas and all the ... More
Keep a List
To J.B., Lipitor and Lescol work in nearly the same way to help decrease cholesterol levels in the body. Taking two medicines with similar mechanisms of action increases the risk of side effects. It is unlikely, however, that the combination caused the health conditions you mentioned. Other cholesterol-lowering drugs work in different ways and are ... More
Rid Audible Heartbeat
Regarding the lady who could hear her heartbeat in her ear upon reclining: I know exactly what she means, and it’s nasty! Lucky for me, I had a chiropractor appointment the second day after I woke up with the condition. The chiropractor adjusted my neck (for me, C3) and I was rid of the condition. ... More
Ablation Helps Flutter, Too
I had ablation of the atrioventricular (AV) node in 2001 that apparently took care of my atrial fibrillation but left me with heart flutter. When I relax in my recliner for a short period of time, I get short of breath and feel very much as I did with atrial fibrillation. When I sit on ... More
Artificial Heart Valves
How long are porcine aortic valves expected to last? I’m going to subscribe to the magazine because of your answers. Thank you. I am glad you like my column, and that you plan to subscribe to the Post to read it. Thank you. Porcine heart valves (made from pig hearts) have been used to replace ... More
