Browse Category: Diseases and Disorders
Have you ever heard of someone who has gone through a common, relatively simple surgery, only to emerge with a horrible or painful complication or infection due to
medical error? Or even died due to a "mistake"? Wait, that kind of sounds like a scene from a new Hollywood thriller!
OK, we all know the debate on marijuana – whether it should be legal, for medical purposes or just altogether. The opponents of legalization have expressed their opinion, and many have deemed marijuana a “dangerous” drug.
Well, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
When it comes to researching for medical symptoms, the online medical content is one great resource. People visit global health communities, health chats, health forums, and medical blogs, looking for information on their medical symptoms.
You may know us here at Insiders Health for our tendency to be on the “alternative” side – that is, that we regularly promote natural solutions and holistic approaches when it comes to your health. But we also do recognize the benefit of certain medications – especially those that are instrumental in things like cancer treatment.
When is the last time you took a close look at your urine? OK, true, that’s kind of a gross question to start off an article. But we’re not afraid to get down and dirty here, and tell you straight up – you need to start paying attention to your pee!
Why? Well, urine can be a window into your body's overall health, if you know what to look for.
With everyone talking about what a joyous season this is surround the holidays; it can be hard to imagine that this can be the hardest time of the year for some.
Is it wrong to own a patent on a living thing? For now, laws and regulations say it’s acceptable, much to the dismay of others. For instance, bio-ethicists claim that if private businesses own the rights to certain genes, they could monopolize medical treatments and research could be limited. So essentially, would those monopolies be deciding who lives, and who dies?
If your doctor got paid extra money for every test performed on a patient, would he or she be more inclined to recommend tests that would otherwise be unnecessary? According to a recent study by researchers at Duke University, doctors are indeed more likely to recommend tests when they
earn money from them – despite the test’s level of necessity, or in some cases, even harm.
Today is World AIDS Day, and a good reminder of how far treatment of the disease has come. Back in the 1980s an AIDS diagnosis was equated with a death sentence. The following decades saw an advent in medications that prolonged the life span of patients stricken with the disease. Now scientists have used genetic engineering to develop red blood cells resistant to HIV, the virus that causes the disease. It’s a bold new approach ultimately aimed at finding a cure for AIDS.
Despite many advancements in racial congregation, it seems that the African-American community is still facing inequality in the most dangerous of arenas: medical treatment.
Hepatitis C might not seem like a big deal to some. After all, there are many instances when a person infected with the disease
doesn't even show symptoms . . . either for many years or their whole lives. Dozens of famous celebrities , including Pamela Anderson, Gregg Allman, Keith Richards, Steven Tyler and Ken Watanabe have it, so it must not be too bad, right?
What would you do if you were paying for health insurance, and at a time when you needed it the most, you get turned down? This is exactly what many people with eating disorders are going through right now.
With so many different treatments, pills and surgeries available, how can you figure out when something is more than you need? Today's doctors are quick to prescribe medicine for any ailment you may have, and this could be causing unnecessary side effects. In fact, numerous studies are showing that doctors are now being much more aggressive when it comes to performing diagnostic tests and prescribing medicine as compared to past decades. Researchers are attributing it to rising fears of being sued,
misdiagnosing or mistreating illnesses, and less time available to spend with a patient.
How does the U.S. stack up against other countries when it comes to health? Since we like to think that we lead the world in many areas, including health and science, you’d think that the U.S. would be “top notch.” BUT, judging by the results of a scorecard report recently delivered from the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, our country's healthcare systems are only rated a 64 out of 100. While the United States did improve some areas, it still fell far behind other nations. Should we really be surprised?
Have you ever known someone who sold their extra oxycodone or Vicodin pills to fellow coworkers to make a quick buck? Maybe you know someone who faked an illness just to get a prescription for painkillers? Whether or not you yourself have done these things, or know someone that has, a new report reveals that almost 200,000 people do things like this every year.
It seems that every week now there is a new story on the local television news channel regarding
privacy issues or identity theft. Perhaps someone had their identity stolen through an email, or a person swiped his or her debit or credit card at a national retail store to pay for items, only to have their information collected by a third party which resulted in their money getting stolen. In fact, just last week, someone was able to create a duplicate of my credit card and was trying to use it in France!
In today's high-tech world, it seems like there is a solution to most of our problems; complete face and hand transplants,
mechanical organs, and stem cell research are just a few of the hurdles we have overcome. And for everything else it feels like there are a slew of drugs and vaccines that might help whatever is ailing you. For 27 years, a researcher at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, Dr. Kim Janda, has been studying and working hard to develop a vaccine to one of the biggest flaws in human behavior: addiction.
A recent study done by the University of California, Irvine (UCI) shows that a supplement which resembles
Glucosamine in chemical makeup may help suppress Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms. This dietary supplement, called N-acetylglucosamine (shortened to GlcNAc), could end up being a new metabolic therapy for patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.
Perhaps the most universal sign of enamored affection is the kiss. Young adolescent girls dream of their first kiss; newly married couples seal their commitment with a kiss; and steamy make-out sessions on the big screen usually signify at least some level of affection. But aside from the obvious pleasures, what else can a kiss deliver?
If you live on planet Earth, than you’ve probably heard about the latest food scare gripping the nation: cantaloupe. And if you haven’t heard, I’m telling you now: step away from the cantaloupe . . . don’t walk, RUN to your nearest trash can and get rid of that nasty melon!
