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Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

New Parkinson's treatment developed at Stanford could help millions

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

After a twitching pinky finger led to a diagnosis of young-onset Parkinson’s disease, Keith Krehbiel, then 42, stopped at a bookstore on the way home to learn more about the progressive neurological disorder before telling his wife Amy the shocking news.

“I remember sitting in a parking lot and hearing this sad piece by Miles Davis,” he ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Ask the Pediatrician: Keep your child's heart healthy: Habits to start early

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

When it comes to your child's health, do you think much about their risks for developing heart disease? Probably not, since so much of keeping kids healthy means dealing with sore throats, scraped knees and other ailments. But recent research has prompted doctors and parents to take a second look at heart health in children.

Evidence shows that...Read more

Paul Morigi/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tribal health leaders say Medicaid cuts would decimate health programs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

As Congress mulls potentially massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding, health centers that serve Native American communities, such as the Oneida Community Health Center near Green Bay, Wisconsin, are bracing for catastrophe.

That’s because more than 40% of the about 15,000 patients the center serves are enrolled in Medicaid. Cuts to the ...Read more

How to reduce your child's risk of ADHD -- before birth

A 2024 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that around one in nine kids, ages 3 to 17, have been diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and that's over a million more than were identified with the condition in 2016.

Better recognition of the condition may be one reason for the increase, but it...Read more

Using Stevia In Coffee Is OK For Borderline Prediabetic Patient

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: In a recent column, you OK'd stevia, which I had heard could negatively impact our microbiomes. I am borderline prediabetic, and I had stopped using stevia accordingly. However, I hate unsweetened coffee. Can you comment on stevia's impact on our microbiomes in your column? -- M.M.

ANSWER: I wish I could give you an answer that ...Read more

Esben Hansen/Dreamstime/TNS

FDA crackdown on poppers prompts rush on popular gay party drug

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

LOS ANGELES — There's a rush on Rush.

Stores up and down Santa Monica Boulevard have seen a run on the iconic red and yellow vials this week, as the Food and Drug Administration cracks down on poppers, a product that has long existed in legal limbo.

The active ingredient in Rush and other poppers is alkyl nitrite, a chemical that instantly ...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Health insurers made $41B the year COVID-19 landed. Why are they raising rates now?

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Claire Lindell had to wait months for treatment when doctors in April 2020 were forced to suddenly cancel the little girl’s spine surgery.

The delay was particularly stressful because the operation addressed several issues, including the 4-year-old’s high risk of respiratory infection — such as from the emerging COVID-19 virus.

“That ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Some patients worry about affording their medications as insurers cut coverage for weight-loss drugs

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

PHILADELPHIA -- Mara Nissley has a rare disorder that causes her brain to swell as if she has a tumor. Losing weight can help treat the condition, called pseudotumor cerebri. Last year, her doctor recommended she start a popular weight-loss drug in the hopes of alleviating her debilitating headaches and vision problems.

In just a few months, ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

On Nutrition: All y'all in Texas

Health Advice / Nutrition /

While visiting an eating establishment during our recent visit to Texas, I noticed a framed map of the United States on the wall. It showed two areas. The most noticeable was an embellished boundary of this 28th state identified as TEXAS. The rest of the map was simply “Not Texas.”

I can see what makes the people of this state so proud. ...Read more

Vitali Michkou/Dreamstime/TNS

Mayo Clinic Minute: Warning signs of colorectal cancer in younger adults

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

Colorectal cancer, the third-most common cancer in the U.S., has been rising among younger people for the past two decades. It is not one type of cancer but two cancers: colon cancer, which starts in the large intestine, and rectal cancer, which begins in the last part of the large intestine, known as the rectum.

Dr. Derek Ebner, a Mayo Clinic ...Read more

Woman Unable To Lose Weight Despite Exercise And A Good Diet

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 69-year-old female in excellent health, other than having been treated for breast cancer eight years ago. (I underwent surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, then five years on an aromatase inhibitor.) Since then, I have gained 40 pounds. I am 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and weigh 178 pounds. I have been unable to lose the weight ...Read more

Three medications that ease Alzheimer's symptoms

As we wait for a breakthrough that can block or reverse Alzheimer's disease, there is some consolation that we finally have three kinds of medications and a treatment that can damp down or slow the progression of symptoms -- cholinesterase inhibitors, memantine, and a monoclonal antibody, lecanemab.

Cholinesterase inhibitors increase levels of ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Toxic braiding hair study forces Atlanta's Black community to seek safer options

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

ATLANTA — A recent report about cancerous synthetic hair extensions has sparked a heated conversation, prompting the Black beauty community to question if there are alternatives for protective styles.

According to a study published Feb. 27 at Consumer Reports, toxins were found in 10 brands of synthetic braiding.

“The products were tested ...Read more

Insomnia can lead to heart issues − a psychologist recommends changes that can improve sleep

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

About 10% of Americans say they have chronic insomnia, and millions of others report poor sleep quality. Ongoing research has found that bad sleep could lead to numerous health problems, including heart disease.

Dr. Julio Fernandez-Mendoza is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, neuroscience and public health sciences at ...Read more

5 years on, true counts of COVID-19 deaths remain elusive − and research is hobbled by lack of data

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers struggled to grasp the rate of the virus’s spread and the number of related deaths. While hospitals tracked cases and deaths within their walls, the broader picture of mortality across communities remained frustratingly incomplete.

Policymakers and researchers quickly ...Read more

Laura McDermott for KFF Health News/KFF Health News/TNS

Her case changed trans care in prison. Now Trump aims to reverse course

Health Advice / Health & Fitness /

In 2019, Cristina Iglesias filed a lawsuit that changed the course of treatment for herself and other transgender inmates in federal custody.

Iglesias, a trans woman who had been incarcerated for more than 25 years, was transferred from a men’s prison to a women’s one in 2021. And in 2022, she reached a landmark settlement with the Federal ...Read more

Man Fails To Respond To Oral Medications And Injections For Ed

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have erectile dysfunction (ED). I am 71, and this has been an issue for over a year. But it seems to be getting worse. I have used sildenafil and Cialis with no effect. I also received testosterone injections for over a year. I have used Trimix and Quadmix, which worked initially to a certain extent, but now it doesn't work ...Read more

Is your high school athlete undernourished?

In 2022-2023, almost 3.5 million girls and just over 4.5 million boys participated in high school sports. That's a lot of soccer, softball, basketball and football (including 4,094 girls on 11-player high school tackle football teams, and 42,955 girls playing flag football).

That's wonderful -- it means they're getting physical exercise that ...Read more

Heir Pollution

Health Advice / Scott LaFee /

Researchers report that both maternal and paternal exposures to outdoor air pollution can negatively affect human embryo development in in vitro fertilization cycles. In other words, air pollution may make it harder to get pregnant.

The study in Environment International presented a new approach to understanding the associations between air ...Read more

A GLP-1 Agonist Can Help Reduce Weight, Sleep Apnea And More

Health Advice / Keith Roach /

DEAR DR. ROACH: My 66-year-old husband recently received a diagnosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. He is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and weighs 270 pounds. He is treating his fluid retention with 100 mg of furosemide daily. He also has mild, untreated sleep apnea.

He would like to try one of the GLP-1 drugs to lose some weight, ...Read more