Looking past the pandemic: Could building on our willingness to change translate to healthier lives?
If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that people have the capacity to change entrenched behaviors when the stakes are high enough. Who among us declared that 2020 would be the year for us to perfect the practice of physical distancing? Although we were clueless about pandemic practices a mere three months ago, we’ve adopted this new habit to avoid getting or spreading the virus. But what about other unhealthy behaviors that have the potential to shorten life spans across the US? On January 1, 2020, some of us made New Year’s resolutions aimed at improving our health: to eat less, lose weight, exercis...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 28, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Steven A. Adelman, MD Tags: Addiction Behavioral Health Healthy Aging Healthy Eating Heart Health Source Type: blogs
More sexual partners, more cancer?
Two headlines caught my eye recently:
The relationship between chronic diseases and number of sexual partners: an exploratory analysis
and
Study warns more sex might mean higher likelihood for cancer
It may be hard to believe, but both of these refer to same medical research. I’m not sure which one I like better. The first one is the actual title of the research, which provides no information about its findings. The second one is a newspaper headline. It cuts right to the chase about the study’s main findings. While it’s much more specific — and alarming — it is also misleading.
Is there a link between the number...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 28, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Cancer Relationships Sex Sexual Conditions Source Type: blogs
New radiation therapies keep advanced prostate cancer in check
Treatments for prostate cancer are always evolving, and now research is pointing to new ways of treating a cancer that has just begun to spread, or metastasize, after initial surgery or radiation. Doctors usually give hormonal therapies in these cases to block testosterone, which is a hormone that makes the cancer grow faster. But newer evidence shows that treating the metastatic tumors directly with radiation can produce better results.
In March, researchers published the latest study that supports this approach. Based at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, the team used a method for delivering power...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 28, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Living With Prostate Cancer Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
7 tips for going outside safely with your children during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, getting outside can be a great idea for both the physical and mental health of you and your family. But as with everything else these days, going outside needs to be done safely. Here are my top seven tips for what you need to think about as you put on your shoes and head outdoors.
Be careful about what you touch as you go outside or return home. For those who live in single-family homes this isn’t a big deal, but if you live in a shared building, you need to be careful about things like elevator buttons and doorknobs that others touch. Make a game of it so your kids don’t touch — prete...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 27, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Claire McCarthy, MD Tags: Adolescent health Children's Health Exercise and Fitness Mental Health Parenting Source Type: blogs
Is angioplasty plus stenting or coronary artery bypass surgery better for treating left main coronary artery disease?
This study found no difference between the two treatments for the main endpoint. The stenting group had a slightly higher rate of death, but it wasn’t due to cardiac causes. (There were slightly more patients in the stenting group who died from infection and cancer, which was felt to be unrelated to the procedure.) Similar to NOBLE, EXCEL also found that patients undergoing stenting had higher rates of needing bypass surgery or repeat stenting. There was no difference in stroke rates.
A recent meta-analysis (a study that pools together and analyzes many studies) found that bypass surgery and stenting were equal in terms ...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 27, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Darshan Doshi, MD, MS Tags: Health Heart Health Surgery Source Type: blogs
