December 14th, 2010 by Jeffrey Benabio, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Dermatology, Dr. Jeff Benabio, Family Medicine, General Medicine, Genital Skin Cancer, Genital Warts, Gynecology, HPV, HPV Vaccine, Human Papilloma Virus, Internal Medicine, Men's Health, Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer, Primary Care, Safe Sex, Sexual Health, sexually transmitted diseases, STDs, Sun Exposure, The Dermatology Blog, Unprotected Sex, Women's Health
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Not all skin cancers are from sun exposure. Viruses such as human papilloma virus (HPV), the virus that causes genital warts, also cause skin cancer. Skin cancer from HPV develops on genital skin in both men and women. It’s rarely talked about, but it’s important and can be deadly.
Did you know that half of all deaths from skin cancer other than melanoma are from genital skin cancer? You probably also didn’t know that women are more likely to die from genital skin cancer as they are from skin cancer that developed from sun exposure (again, excluding melanoma).
We dermatologists are inexhaustible when it comes to warning people about the dangers of sun exposure, but we should also be warning people about the dangers of genital warts. HPV protection, which includes HPV vaccines, is as important as sun protection in preventing death from non-melanoma skin cancer.
Genital warts can lead to deadly skin cancer. If your dermatologist has not checked your genital skin, be sure your primary care physician or gynecologist does. This is especially important, because unlike other sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) which often have symptoms, HPV or genital warts often don’t. It may be embarrassing, but it could save your life.
*This blog post was originally published at The Dermatology Blog*
December 14th, 2010 by Peggy Polaneczky, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
Tags: BBC News, Dr. Peggy Polaneczky, Evidence-Based Health Reporting, GYN, Gynecology, Hormone Replacement Therapy, HRT, Lack of Scientific Medical Evidence, Menopause, Misleading Healthcare Readers, Non-Evidence-Based, Responsible Health Reporting, Sex Hormones, TBTAM, The Blog That Ate Manhattan, Women's Health
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Confused about hormone replacement therapy (HRT)? I can’t imagine why…
*This blog post was originally published at tbtam*
December 14th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, True Stories
Tags: Barbara Ficarra, Celiac Disease, Cognitive Health, Daily Decisions, Diabetes Management, Empowered Patient, Fitness and Exercise, Ginger Vieira, Health In 30, Healthy Living, Inner Strength, Living With Diabetes, Medical Team, Patient Confidence, Personal Challenges, Personal Trainer, Teamwork In Medicine, Type 1 Diabetes, Women's Health, Your Diabetes Science Experiment
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In a recent post I wrote why patients are the most important part of the medical team, and my colleagues, Elizabeth Cohen, Kevin Pho, MD, Donna Cryer, JD, and Carl R. Sullivan, MD, shared their insights as well. Today, Ginger Vieira, a patient living with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, says:
“You, as the patient, are the most important part of the medical team because you are the one who makes the daily decisions, who balances your disease around dinners, soccer games, long hours at work without enough time to check your blood sugar and eat lunch. You are the one who takes the knowledge you learn from your doctor and fits it into your everyday life. That’s a huge role, and it’s never easy.”
Ginger Vieira shares her story about the challenges and how her positive attitude is allowing her to lead a life she thought was off limits.
Contagious Confidence, Endless Possibilities
By Ginger Vieira
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.” My twin brother, Pete, said this to me several months ago. I wrote it down on an index card and taped it to my bathroom mirror. Funny thing is, it’s never been other people telling me I can or cannot do something. The loudest voice I hear is my own.
When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the seventh grade over eleven years ago, the first list that ran through my head was the list of things I probably couldn’t do anymore. I couldn’t eat ice cream without first counting the grams of carbohydrates in the bowl and determining how much insulin I needed. I couldn’t play basketball anymore (at least, that’s what I thought). I couldn’t buy candy and popcorn with my friends when we go to the movies without feeling overwhelmingly guilty about eating such diabetic-off-limits food. The list of foods, activities, dreams and goals I thought were off-limits seemed endless. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
December 13th, 2010 by PJSkerrett in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: AF, AHA, American Heart Association, Americans and Stroke Death, Aspirin, Atrial Fibrillation, Blood Flow to the Brain, Brain Attack Prevention, Cardiovascular Health, CDC, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, Diabetes, Diet and Exercise, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Heart Letter, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Havard Health Publications, Heart Health, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Hypertension, Irregular Heartbeat, Leading Causes of Death in the U.S., PJ Skerrett, Preventive Health, Preventive Medicine, Sickle Cell Disease, smoking, Stroke Deaths, Stroke Risk, Warfarin
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Stroke killed 2,000 fewer Americans in 2008 (the last year with complete numbers) than it did in 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday in its latest annual Deaths report. That dropped stroke from the third leading cause of death in the United States to the fourth.
Good news? Yes and no. It’s always good news when fewer people die. The reduction suggests a payoff for efforts to prevent stroke and improve the way doctors treat it.
Yet the drop from third to fourth place is due largely to an accounting change. The CDC reorganized another category, “chronic lower respiratory diseases” (mainly chronic bronchitis and emphysema), to include complications of these diseases such as pneumonia. The change substantially increased the number of deaths in this category, which had long trailed stroke as the fourth leading cause of death.
More worrisome is that the decline in deaths from stroke isn’t matched by a decline in the number of strokes. On the rise since 1988, stroke now strikes almost 800,000 Americans a year, and that is expected to grow. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 10th, 2010 by AnnMacDonald in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Ann MacDonald, Antidepressants, Archives of General Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorder, Citalopram, Dr. Roy Perlis, Emotional Health, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Mental Health Letter, Harvard University, Major Depression, Massachusetts General Hospital, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Psychology, Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression, STAR*D Study, Treatment-Resistant Depression
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Only one-third of people with major depression achieve remission after trying one antidepressant. When the first medication doesn’t adequately relieve symptoms, next step options include taking a new drug along with the first, or switching to another drug. With time and persistence, nearly seven in 10 adults with major depression eventually find a treatment that works.
Of course, that also means that the remaining one-third of people with major depression cannot achieve remission even after trying multiple options. Experts are hunting for ways to understand the cause of persistent symptoms. In recent years, one theory in particular has gained traction: that many people with hard-to-treat major depression actually suffer from bipolar disorder. However, a paper published online this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests otherwise — and the findings provide new insights into the nature of treatment-resistant depression. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
