Looking after an elderly parent could cost you more than you expect: Your retirement security. Those were the findings from a study of caregivers by the Transamerica Institute, a foundation that specializes in retirement and healthcare issues. Last March and April, the institute polled 3,074 individuals who provided nonprofessional or unpaid care for friends or
For people who’ve battled certain common forms of skin cancer, use of a generic cream called 5-FU may greatly reduce the odds that the disease will come back, new research shows. The study tracked outcomes for just over 930 U.S. veterans who averaged 70 years of age. All had already been diagnosed with a minimum
Obesity is linked to prostate cancer, scientists know, but it’s not clear why. On Monday, researchers reported a surprising connection. When prostate cancers lose a particular gene, they become tiny fat factories, a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston reported in a paper published in Nature Genetics. Then the cancers spread from
Most of us think that Parkinson’s disease is mostly shaking uncontrollably, but it’s much more than that. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation: “Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (‘dopaminergic’) neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra.” The Mayo Clinic provides an easier to understand definition: “Parkinson’s
Which is more unpleasant – going to the dentist or having to go to a hospital? Both can be painful, expensive and make it difficult to sleep or get needed rest. Most people hate having to go to a hospital and if they are like me, it’s avoided at all cost. It has to be
Most of us hate medical terms like syncope and wish doctors and nurses would talk in plain English, but many don’t. So, what is syncope? Is it a disease? What causes it? How does age affect syncope? Is it serious? What is syncope? Simply stated, syncope (SIN-co-pee) is the fancy medical term for loss of
What are the most important problems facing America as we enter 2018? How would you answer that? Is it the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea? Bitter partisan politics in Washington DC? The Mueller investigation? Is it energy, economy or other problems? Gallup asked a number of people what the most important problem facing
In an earlier post, I wrote about the dangers many people, especially diabetics face in the winter time. The colder it is outside, the more our furnaces run to keep us warm and the more the furnaces run, the drier the air in our house gets. That may not sound very concerning, but realize that
If you live near any city or industry center, you are familiar with that haze in the air. It’s especially noticeable on a clear day. For decades, we’ve called it smog, which is a combination of air pollution, dust particles and even tiny water drops that cling to the dust and pollution particles. Many local
Several mornings ago, my wife walked into the kitchen and asked if I was bleeding. I told her no and she said I needed to check because she had a blood spot trail on the kitchen floor. She came out and looked at the bottom of the pair of socks I was wearing and sure
