October 6th, 2009 by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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When thinking of the health risks of smoking, almost everyone is aware that smoking causes lung cancer and respiratory diseases. The connection between inhaling smoke into the lungs and developing diseases of the lung is immediately plausible. But every year medical researchers discover more and more diseases that are worsened by smoking.
One example that recently caught my attention is multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a very serious neurological condition caused partly by damage to the myelin sheath covering cells and their connections in the central nervous system. The precise neurological symptoms the person experiences depends largely on which part of their central nervous system is affected. Read more »
This post, Smoking May Worsen Multiple Sclerosis, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Jonathan Foulds, Ph.D..
October 4th, 2009 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Humor
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Last night I had a chance to sit with some parents here in Norwalk and talk about our collective experiences with diabetes. These parents were taking care of children with diabetes, ranging from the newly diagnosed three year old to the newly diagnosed 13 year old, and everywhere in between. High school angst, the issues of disclosure, the pursuit of “perfection,” and all those other issues that parents of kids with diabetes, and the kids themselves, are dealing with.
“I was invited here to talk about how to raise a child with diabetes without losing your mind. But I’m not really qualified to talk about that sort of thing, to be honest. I’m not the parent of a diabetic child. I am the diabetic child.”
The parents at this group were wonderful, all actively engaged in their child’s health, just trying to make sense of what diabetes doles out every day. We were a small group – about 12 of us in total – so the conversation flowed pretty smoothly and comfortably. And we hit upon some very intimate issues.
Like menstrual cycles and their impact on blood sugars. (Remind me again why I’m talking about puberty and my female hormones with strangers?) Or the dodgy things I did as a kid to lash out at my diabetes or my parents or at life in general. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
October 2nd, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
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“Psychiatrists may be the last batch of physicians who are still granted a luxurious amount of time with patients.”
So says Maria, a psychiatrist who blogs over at intueri.
And because time is so undervalued in our health system, some doctors are relying on psychiatrists to counsel patients in the hospital. She cites an example with surgeons, saying that “it is entirely unfair to both the patient and the psychiatrist for the surgeon to completely emotionally ‘turf’ the patient.”
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*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
October 1st, 2009 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, True Stories
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This topic has become more real for my family. My first cousin’s son-in-law committed suicide this past weekend. He had had difficulty adjusting since his return from Iraq, but the family was still caught off-guard. If you can make it any worse, he chose his wife’s birthday to take his life. Fortunately, neither she nor their toddler son was home at the time.
The issue of soldier suicide concerns many. Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, Arkansas’ National Guard Adjutant General, recently made a public plea for help asking family members, friends and employers of the state’s 10,000 Guardsmen to watch for personality changes or signs of stress overwhelming his soldiers and airmen. There has been four suicides in Arkansas Guardsmen since January.
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*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
September 29th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) proposed sex education guidelines are stirring up quite the controversy – before they are even published! I will give you one guess who is attacking them – oh come on, guess!
That is correct – conservative and religious groups are attacking the guidelines because of their portrayal of issues like sex education, abortion and homosexuality. Specifically, the guidelines describe sexual abstinence as only one of a range of choices available to young people to prevent disease and avoid pregnancy. The guidelines also dare to suggest that families discuss masturbation with their children, starting as young as five, but definitely with preteens.
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This post, UN’s Sex Education Guide Generates Opposition, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
