The 2018 Stanley Cup may rest for a bit as the pride and joy of enthusiasts in the nation’s capital and of its title-winning team. But as fans of the pro and amateur game look to the future, they may have reason to be downcast about hockey’s most important component: its players. Author Ken Dryden….
Continue ReadingMental Disability
Stigma inflicts harsh toll on mentally ill, but society pays too
Although Americans keep making progress toward ending the stigma associated with mental disorders, including trying to put public funding for the diseases’ treatment on a more even footing, patients with serious mental illness suffer unfairly and harshly still due to their conditions. Dhruv Khullar, a doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a researcher at the Weill….
Continue ReadingStars helping to shed a light on struggles with mental health
With all the excesses, abuses, and nonsense that pro athletes and pop stars can get into these days, it’s gotten rarer that commentators can point to positive actions these influential personalities can take. But a growing number of them deserve credit for publicly discussing their struggles with mental health issues, helping to reduce widespread stigma….
Continue ReadingA bit of optimism for the 65+: a dozen years on average of cognitive health
As many as five million Americans already have Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related conditions, and their resulting loss of cognitive capacity and personal control rank among the top causes for health dread among those 55 and older, polls show. So it’s worth noting that new studies are showing that seniors 65 and older get on average….
Continue ReadingSick and injured battered by costs of hospitalization, long-term care, bad jobs
Illness and accidents batter and beggar Americans worse than many of us realize. New studies show it’s not just the cost of medical services but also long-term care and loss of jobs staggering the lives and finances of too many. Margot Sanger-Katz, writing in the data-driven New York Times column, “The Upshot,” reported that hospitalization….
Continue ReadingCommon sense needs to rule the roost in accommodating support animals
All critters great and small may be adorable and adored, but some extreme and unsupported claims for the mental health benefits that pets bring may be launching a needed correction in how so-called emotional support animals get accommodated in public spaces. It would be tough to make up this story, much less explain why a….
Continue ReadingRepeated, lesser head hits, and not just concussions, linked to brain harms
As the science keeps getting deeper, the news keeps getting worse about the harms that can be inflicted by repeated blows to the head in sports — and in life. The path-breaking medical scientists at Boston University and elsewhere, who have helped to establish how concussions, notably in football, may lead to the onset of….
Continue ReadingPost-mortem study confirms extensive damage to brains of NFL players
Football players and fans, if they had doubts before, have taken yet another hit to their favorite sport, with a retrospective study of hundreds of pro players’ brains finding a damaging disorder in a startling percentage of the donated organs. Experts reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that 110 of 111 brains….
Continue ReadingAre dire circumstances helping to renew focus on stigmatized mental health?
Although advocates ended 2016 cheered by new legislation that increased funding and raised the priority of mental health in the nation’s health policy, the year also closed with stark reminders of how far the United States has lagged in this vital area. Two separate news investigations have painted dire portraits of how the lack of….
Continue ReadingMore Bad News for People Who Take Statins
When the guidelines for taking statins were changed last year, it made lots of noise. The revision for the drugs, which are prescribed to control blood cholesterol and prevent heart disease, classified millions more people as candidates for daily use. The new recommendation, by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, ignored….
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