Since the 1970’s, gynecologists would generally advise women who are hysterectomy candidates to also have their ovaries removed, along with the uterus. The idea was to prevent ovarian cancer, which is difficult to detect but often deadly. However, Roni Rabin reports in a New York Times story that a new study finds compelling reasons for….
Continue ReadingArchives for April 2009
“Back in the Hospital Again” — A Result of Fragmented, Uncoordinated Care
Getting a loved one home from the hospital is always a relief for both patient and family, but the weeks immediately after hospital discharge are fraught with peril, as many families don’t discover until the patient has to be readmitted for a new problem. This is especially common with Medicare patients: an alarming one in….
Continue ReadingAmericans’ Health Care Suffers in Ailing Economy
In a newly released Thomson Reuters survey, one in five respondents say they have delayed medical care, and one in four of those who did listed financial cost as the primary reason, reports Maggie Fox of Reuters. The survey also predicted that in the next three months, one in every five adults in America will….
Continue ReadingThree Things All Patients Need to Know
One of the true pioneers of modern medicine is Dr. Thomas Sarzl, who performed the first liver transplant and who developed many of the procedures that have made transplantation a safe lifesaving treatment for thousands of people. Dr. Sarzl is still active at age 83. He was interviewed recently by another transplant surgeon, Dr. Pauline….
Continue ReadingBetter Health Through Close Friendships
Everybody knows that close friendships can be wonderful, and medical researchers are now coming up with tangible evidence that friendship can pay off in longer and healthier lives as well. “Friendship has a bigger impact on our psychological well-being than family relationships,” says sociologist Rebecca Adams of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She was….
Continue ReadingLegal Win for Maryland Victims of Malpractice
Victims of medical malpractice won a big victory in a Maryland court this week when a judge refused to reduce a jury’s verdict in a wrongful death case to the artificial “cap” on damages set by the legislature. The case is Semsker vs. Lockshin, in which Patrick Malone and Associates represents the family of a….
Continue ReadingShould Pregnant Women Have a Thyroid Test?
If you are pregnant and experiencing fatigue, dry skin, sleep loss, or weight loss, it may be worthwhile to find out whether you are a candidate for a thyroid test – these symptoms, while common in pregnant women, may be caused by underactivity (hypothyroidism) or overactivity (hyperthyroidism) of the thyroid gland. If untreated during pregnancy,….
Continue ReadingThe Bed Bugs Are Back!
Many people nowadays have never seen a bed bug, a blood-sucking insect assumed to exist only in underdeveloped countries and impoverished neighborhoods. However, more and more Americans are now finding themselves aghast with the sight of real bed bugs infesting their homes. An article published in the Journal of American Medical Association in April discusses….
Continue ReadingInactivity May Lead to Fatty Liver Disease
As if there is not already a multitude of problems awaiting those who lead an inactive lifestyle, researchers recently found yet another inactivity-related condition that threatens human health, a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), according to Medical News Today. In an article published in The Journal of Physiology, Dr. John Thyfault of the….
Continue ReadingMammogram Benefits Exaggerated?
Widely hailed for saving lives through early detection of breast cancer, mammography may in fact “do more harm than good,” writes Roni Rabin of the New York Times. Rabin reports that British health care advocates and experts complained in a letter to The Times of London that candidates for mammography receive informational fliers that exaggerate….
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