Despite their high use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), Americans over the age of 50 often do not discuss CAM use with their health care providers, a survey indicates. The results, from AARP and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health were released today.
The chances of developing some form of cancer during your lifetime are high, but there are actions you can take to try to protect your health, including cancer screening, not smoking, engaging in physical activity, and eating healthy foods.
CDC’s Flu App Challenge calls for an innovative mobile or web app, data visualization, system, tool, or game that educates the public on how to prevent and treat the flu. Cash prizes totaling $35,000 will be awarded. Submissions are due May 27, 2011.
A team led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health is the first to systematically survey the landscape of the melanoma genome, the DNA code of the deadliest form of skin cancer. The researchers have made surprising new discoveries using whole-exome sequencing, an approach that decodes the 1-2 percent of the genome that contains … Read more
Researchers have long questioned why patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tend to manage well through childhood and adolescence, yet succumb to their disease in early adulthood, or why elderly people who lose muscle strength following bed rest find it difficult or impossible to regain. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal … Read more
How to Order a Medicare Card by Phone or Online
Older adults and their loved ones can find easy-to-understand answers to these and other questions by visiting “Long-Term Care,” the newest topic on NIHSeniorHealth, the health and wellness website for older adults from the National Institutes of Health.
A National Institutes of Health study has found that progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, reduced the rate of preterm birth before the 33rd week of pregnancy by 45 percent among one category of at risk women.
An analysis of national prescribing patterns shows that more than half of patients who received an opioid prescription in 2009 had filled another opioid prescription within the previous 30 days. This report also suggested potential opportunities for intervention aimed at reducing abuse of prescription opioids. Researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a … Read more
Researchers have zoomed in on mouse chromosomes to map hotspots of genetic recombination — sites where DNA breaks and reforms to shuffle genes. The findings of the scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USU) have the potential to improve the detection of genes linked to disease and … Read more
A free, nationwide service was launched today to help primary care providers seeking to identify and advise substance-abusing patients. The service, Physician Clinical Support System for Primary Care (PCSS-P), offers peer-to-peer mentorship and resources on incorporating screening and follow-up into regular patient care. PCSS-P is a project of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), … Read more
A new study found that coronary artery bypass surgery added to medical therapy for selected chronic heart failure patients offered benefits over medical therapy alone. The combination of the two treatment approaches reduced the combined rate of deaths and heart-related hospital stays by 15 percent, although the total number of deaths between the two groups … Read more
Scientists supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health, will be presenting their latest research findings at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS).
As treatments for HIV/AIDS improve and patients are living longer, the distribution of cancers in this population has undergone a dramatic shift in the United States. While cases of the types of cancer that have been associated with AIDS progression have decreased, cases of other types of cancer are on the rise. These results, reported … Read more
A preliminary study conducted by a team at the National Institutes of Health has identified a promising new treatment in children for the most common periodic fever disease in children. The syndrome is called periodic fever associated with aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis — or PFAPA — and is characterized by monthly flare-ups of … Read more
Researchers extend use of gene therapy to treat a soft tissue tumor
Scientists have discovered that molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the energy factories, or mitochondria, in cells, may play a role in a rare inherited disorder in which uncontrolled inflammation damages the body’s tissues. Their research in human and mouse cells suggests that blocking these molecules could reduce inflammation in TNF receptor-associated periodic … Read more