We all experience stress in our lives. Traffic. Monthly bills. Health concerns. Relationship issues. Because the mind and body are so closely linked, these constant worries can take a toll on health, contributing to a host of diseases. While you can’t erase all sources of stress, you can learn how to reduce stress and also […]
Regular physical activity can boost mood
Exercising regularly can improve symptoms of mild to moderate depression as well as anxiety and psychological distress, a review of many prior published studies suggests. The analysis, published online Feb. 16, 2023, by the British Journal of Sports Medicine , used 97 earlier research reviews involving more than 1,000 trials with a total of 128,119 […]
New thinking on glaucoma treatment
For people with the most common form of the disease, the approach to first-line treatment is changing. When the doctor says you have glaucoma, there’s a good chance it’s open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the vision-robbing disease. It’s also likely you’ll be given prescription eye drops to halt the disease’s progression; that’s typically […]
Why is my heart rate high?
Q. As expected, my heart rate rises when I exercise. But sometimes it seems elevated for no apparent reason. Why might this happen? A. When at rest, the average adult’s heart beats between 60 and 100 times each minute. Your heart can speed up for many different reasons — including, as you’ve noted, physical activity. […]
How to recognize and respond to a “warning” stroke
A temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain, known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), can cause a range of unsettling symptoms, including slurred speech or arm weakness. The symptoms appear suddenly but usually last less than five minutes, which is why TIAs are often ignored or missed. Although TIAs are often referred to […]
Prostate cancer: Radiation therapy elevates risk for future cancers
A standard treatment for localized prostate cancer — meaning cancer that is confined to the prostate gland — is to kill or shrink tumors with radiation. The long-term outcomes for most men treated this way are excellent. But as with other cancer treatments, radiation involves a certain amount of risk, including the possibility that it […]
A new treatment for advanced prostate cancer improves survival in phase 3 clinical trial
Radiation therapy is getting more precise, enabled by technologies that make it easier to kill tumors while sparing their surrounding tissues. Some newer therapies are even given intravenously instead of by machines, and they deliver radiation particles directly to the cancer cell itself. One of these new therapies — a sort of smart bomb targeted […]
What are the different types of body fat?
Ask the doctor Q. I hear there are different types of fat in your body, some good for you and some not. Could I be a lucky person who has only the good kind? A. Unfortunately, no one has only the good kind, but most of us at least have some. Over the past 30 […]
How can I tell if I have a concussion?
Ask the doctors Q. I tripped over the vacuum cord the other day and whacked my head on the banister. I seem okay now, but how would I know if I got a concussion? A. Ouch! Few of us haven’t hit our heads in a similar way at some point. But a blow like that […]
Adding hormonal therapy to radiation lengthens survival in men with recurring prostate cancer
High-grade cancer that’s still confined to the prostate is generally treated surgically. But a third of the men who have their cancerous prostates removed will experience a rise in blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This is called PSA recurrence. And since detectable PSA could signal the cancer’s return, doctors will often treat it by […]