Category: Uncategorized

  • Is there a good side to drug side effects?

    Is there a good side to drug side effects?

    Drug side effects are common, and often quite troublesome. Major side effects, such as severe or even life-threatening allergic reactions, require immediate treatment and discontinuation of the drug. More minor symptoms may be tolerable when weighed against drug benefits. And sometimes, these go away on their own as the body…

  • Prostate cancer: Brachytherapy linked to long-term risk of secondary malignancies

    Prostate cancer: Brachytherapy linked to long-term risk of secondary malignancies

    When cancer patients are treated with radiation, it’s possible that the therapy itself may cause new tumors to form in the body later. Radiation kills cancer cells by damaging their DNA, but if the treatments cause genetic damage to normal cells near the radiation target, there’s a small risk that…

  • Bugs are biting: Safety precautions for children

    Bugs are biting: Safety precautions for children

    If you spend time outdoors — which we all should do, for all sorts of reasons — you are likely to encounter biting bugs. Most of the time the bites are just a nuisance. But besides the fact that sometimes they can be painful or itchy, bug bites can lead…

  • Life can be challenging: Build your own resilience plan

    Life can be challenging: Build your own resilience plan

    Nantucket, a beautiful, 14-mile-long island off the coast of Massachusetts, has a 40-point resiliency plan to help withstand the buffeting seas surrounding it as climate change takes a toll. Perhaps we can all benefit from creating individual resilience plans to help handle the big and small issues that erode our…

  • Orienteering: Great exercise and better thinking skills?

    Orienteering: Great exercise and better thinking skills?

    Picture this: you’re with friends in an unfamiliar forest using only a map and a compass to guide you to an upcoming checkpoint. There are no cell phones or GPS gadgets to help, just good old brainpower fueled by a sense of adventure as you wind through leafy trees and…

  • Ever read your medical record? Here’s why you should

    Ever read your medical record? Here’s why you should

    Do you ever read the notes written by your doctor or health practitioner during a medical visit? If not, you might want to check them out. Usually, these medical notes are full of helpful insights about your health and reminders of recommendations discussed. And there’s medicalese, of course: hard-to-pronounce illnesses,…

  • Packing your hurricane go bag? Make provisions for your health

    Packing your hurricane go bag? Make provisions for your health

    When you live in a coastal area, preparing early for potential hurricanes is a must. Storms can develop quickly, leaving little time to figure out where you’ll be safe or which items to pack if you have to evacuate. And health care necessities, such as medications or medical equipment, are…

  • The cicadas are here: How’s your appetite?

    The cicadas are here: How’s your appetite?

    You’ve probably heard the news: Cicadas are coming. Or — wait — they’re already here. And are they ever! Due to an unusual overlap of the lifecycles of two types (or broods) of cicadas, trillions of cicadas are expected to emerge in the US by the end of June, especially…

  • One surprising effect of wildfires: Itchy, irritated skin

    One surprising effect of wildfires: Itchy, irritated skin

    Are you finding yourself with itchy, irritated skin that you can’t stop scratching? Or have you wondered why your child’s eczema is suddenly worse and so hard to control? Mounting evidence suggests that wildfires, which are increasing in intensity and frequency, contribute to skin problems, including eczema flares. What is…

  • Health care should improve your health, right?

    Health care should improve your health, right?

    It’s undeniable: modern medicine offers ever-expanding ways to heal and prevent disease. But it’s also true that health care can cause harm. One analysis found that about 6% of health care encounters caused preventable harm, leading to thousands of deaths each year. And it’s not just errors that cause trouble.…