July 27th, 2016
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When Can You Stop Getting A Colonoscopy?

Colonoscopy_1200
Date: July 26, 2016         
Unlike some unnecessary medical screenings, colonoscopies and other tests for colon and rectal cancer are highly effective. They really do save lives. Everyone should get screened by age 50—sooner if you have a genetic predisposition to colorectal cancer or a condition such as inflammatory bowel disease.
But there’s been controversy over how long screenings continue to make sense as you get older. After all, colon and rectal cancers are slow-growing, so at a certain age, you’re much more likely to die from something else, such as heart disease, than from colon cancer. Eventually the risks of colonoscopy, albeit small—such as complications of anesthesia—might outweigh the benefits. Is that age 70? 75? 85? 100?

To find out, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which sets guidelines for American medicine, did a thorough review of the medical literature on the topic.

Bottom line: Keep doing your preps, folks. The findings…

  • There is a “high certainty” that colorectal screening up to and including age 75 providessubstantial net benefit. Advice: Get it done.
  • Even after age 75, up to age 85, there is still a moderate benefit. Advice: Make your own decision, with your doctor, based on your overall health and previous screening history.
  • After age 85, any benefit of screening is, at most, very small, and outweighed by the risks.Advice: No screening in almost all cases.
  • Exception: If you’ve never been screened, get screened—whatever your age.

GETTING SCREENED THE RIGHT WAY

Colonoscopy is the only screening method that can actually remove growths—polyps—and get them tested to see if they are precancerous. It actually gets rid of the cancer threat. If all is clear, it’s repeated every 10 years. If a precancerous polyp was removed, it’s repeated more frequently.

But it’s not the only approved method…

  • Stool-based tests, which don’t require bowel cleansing (prep) or sedation, include a fecal occult blood test, as well as the more advanced stool DNA tests, which look not only for blood but for altered DNA biomarkers.
  • Computed tomography (CT) or “virtual” colonoscopy provides an image of the colon using radiation but no sedation. It’s repeated every five years.
  • Flexible sigmoidoscopy, which shows growths in about one-third of the colon. It’s also repeated every five years.

If you have a stool test, a CT scan or a sigmoidoscopy and it finds a potentially precancerous polyp, you’ll still need a colonoscopy to remove it. While the USPSTF didn’t take a stand on which screening method is best, every health expert in the field agrees—any screening is better than noscreening. If you choose a colonoscopy, make sure you get it done right…

  • Have your colonoscopy done by a trained gastroenterologist rather than, say, your primary care doctor.
  • Prep smart. How well you prepare your bowel before the colonoscopy can make the difference in how effective it is in picking up—and removing—cancer threats.
  • Even though screening makes sense well into older ages, nearly one-quarter (23%) of colonoscopies may still be unnecessary—ordered too frequently, for example.
  • Even if you’ve had a precancerous polyp removed, you may not need to repeat a colonoscopy as often as you thought.

Colon cancer screenings aren’t exactly a fun topic. But it’s a tragedy that colon cancer still kills nearly 50,000 Americans a year. After all, if every person got a colonoscopy by age 50, about two-thirds of the cases of colon cancer would never have developed.

General Health ,
July 23rd, 2016
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Here’s a way to tell what that leg pain really means…

If you’ve ever been stopped cold by a charley horse, you know just how excruciating these muscle spasms can be. But are you sure it’s just a muscle spasm? Or is that leg pain due to something far more serious?

What can cause leg pain…Running physical injury, leg calf pain. Runner sore body after exercising, red background

PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE (PAD)

This is one to worry about. Even though the pain usually isn’t intense, it can triple your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke.

What it feels like: About 10% of people with PAD suffer leg cramps, leg aching and leg fatigue that occur only during physical activity involving the legs (any type of activity can trigger it—even just walking). When you rest your legs, the discomfort goes away, usually in 10 minutes or less. As PAD becomes more severe and blood circulation worsens, pain can occur during rest and result in leg ulcers and even gangrene.

What to do: See a doctor. PAD is usually caused by atherosclerosis, the same condition that leads to most heart attacks. Your doctor will compare the blood pressure in your arms to the pressure at your ankles. If there’s a significant difference, that could mean that you have PAD and you’ll need an ultrasound of the legs to determine the extent and location of arterial obstructions. Continue reading “Here’s a way to tell what that leg pain really means…” »

General Health
June 3rd, 2016
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Large Cyst Removal “Kill George”

General Health , , ,
May 31st, 2016
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Insect Removal from the Ear Cavity

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General Health , , ,
March 24th, 2016
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How A Toothache Can Turn Deadly

A Toothache Can Turn Deadly

EVEN MILD PAIN SHOULD NEVER BE IGNORED

It’s hard to imagine how a toothache could turn deadly—but it can. Even mild or moderate discomfort (for example, pain while chewing…sensitivity to hot and cold…and/or redness and swelling of the gums) can quickly turn into a potentially serious condition, known as an abscess, a pus-filled infection inside the tooth or between a tooth and the gum. Though the pain may be merely annoying in the beginning, within a day or so, it can turn into the intense, throbbing pain or sharp, shooting pain that is the telltale sign of an abscess.

Dangerous trend: The number of Americans hospitalized for dental abscesses is on the rise. Over a recent eight-year period, hospitalizations for periapical abscesses (infections at the tip of the tooth root) increased by more than 40%.

No one has a precise explanation for the trend, but some experts speculate that the high cost of dental insurance is preventing many people from seeking routine dental care and perhaps delaying treatment when a problem occurs. Medicare does not cover routine dental care, and many private health insurance plans offer very limited coverage.

WHAT GOES WRONG

If there’s a breach in a tooth’s protective enamel—from tooth decay, a chip or even gum disease, for example—you’re at risk for an abscess. Some cracks can be taken care of with bonding or a crown (see below). Some don’t need treatment at all because they don’t go through to the tooth pulp (the soft tissue inside the tooth). But if bacteria get inside the tooth, an abscess can form.

Other signs to watch for: In addition to the symptoms described earlier, other red flags of a dental abscess may include persistent foul breath, a swollen face, jaw and/or neck glands and a fever.

Once the pain kicks in, people who have dental abscesses will often describe it as the worst they’ve ever experienced. If you’ve ever had a root canal (see below), you might have had an abscess.

• Get help immediately. An abscess will not go away on its own. Worse, the infection can spread as quickly as overnight (in some cases, however, it can take years to spread). An abscess can cause death when the infection spreads to the brain or heart or when swelling cuts off the airway.

When to be especially suspicious: If you have pain in one of your back teeth. They’re the ones that do most of the chewing, and they’re also the ones that are harder to reach with dental floss and a toothbrush. If you crunch something hard, such as a popcorn kernel, piece of ice or even an almond, a back tooth is the one most likely to be cracked.

GETTING PROMPT TREATMENT

Your dentist can diagnose an abscess in just a few minutes. All he/she has to do is gently tap on the suspected tooth with a small metal device and see if you wince. A tooth abscess will be very sensitive to pressure. An X-ray will confirm if there’s a pus-filled pocket near the tooth root.

You might be given penicillin or another antibiotic if the infection has spread beyond the tooth. In addition, your dentist will treat the abscess in one of three ways…

• Incision and draining. If the abscess is between the tooth and the gum, your dentist will make a small incision, drain out the pus and clean the area with saline. The pain will start to diminish almost immediately. Your dentist also can drain an abscess that occurs inside a tooth, but this won’t cure it—the infection will probably come back.

• Root canal. This is the most widely used treatment for an abscess near the tooth root. Your dentist will drill into the infected area, scrape away damaged tissue and drain the pus. After that, the canal will be filled with sealant, and the tooth will be crowned (a porcelain or metal cap is put over the tooth). If you get a root canal, there’s a good chance that the tooth will survive. The drawback is cost. Root canals usually are done by an endodontist (a dentist with advanced training). Expect to pay from $300 (for a front tooth) to $2,000 for a molar. The crown is an additional $500 to $3,000 (prices depend on where you live and whether you go to a specialist or your regular dentist).

• Extraction. This is the most permanent treatment for a deep abscess. It costs about $75 to $300 to remove a tooth—and once the tooth is gone, the abscess goes away with it.

Some patients save money by choosing not to replace an extracted tooth. But there are health risks associated with not replacing a tooth, such as increased chance of additional decay and infection, bone loss, poor chewing function and speech disturbances.

Better: Replace the tooth with an implant (at least $2,400) or a bridge (at least $1,100).

If you can’t see a dentist immediately: Consider going to an ER if you have severe pain and/or swelling. If you are having trouble breathing, go to an ER right away.

PREVENTING AN ABSCESS

If you take care of your teeth, there’s a good chance that you’ll never have an abscess.

In addition to regular brushing and flossing and avoiding a lot of sugar-filled foods and drinks…

• Use fluoride toothpaste. It remineralizes tooth enamel and makes it stronger. This is particularly important for older adults, whose receding gums can expose parts of the tooth and leave it vulnerable to decay.

Also helpful: A fluoride mouth rinse. There are many brands in drugstores. They strengthen the enamel and reduce tooth decay.

• Don’t slack off on dental visits. Most people should have dental checkups and cleanings every six months. If you smoke or have gum disease, diabetes or any other condition that increases your risk for dental problems, it’s usually a good idea to schedule even more frequent dental visits.

Source: Samuel O. Dorn, DDS, chair of the department of endodontics and program director at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where he holds the Frank B. Trice, DDS, Professorship in Endodontics. He is the president-elect of the International Federation of Endodontic Associations and the 2013 recipient of the Coolidge Award given by the American Association of Endodontists for lifetime achievement.

General Health , , ,
February 22nd, 2016
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Multiple Sclerosis…. Information You Should Know

27 MS Facts for World MS Day

By Editorial Team—May 27, 2015

Multiple sclerosis affects more than 2.3 million people around the world. In honor of World MS Day today, we have gathered 27 important facts about multiple sclerosis, to help our community raise awareness about MS.

We will be updating Facebook and Twitter with new facts throughout the day using the hashtag #strongerthanMS. To help spread awareness, please feel free to like, share, retweet, and/or comment on any or all of these 27 topics!

  1. Experts recognize 4 courses of MS: progressive-relapsing, secondary-progressive, primary-progressive, and relapsing-remitting.
  2. Of those diagnosed with MS, progressive-relapsing affects about 5% of people, about 10% are diagnosed with primary-progressive, about 85% are diagnosed with relapsing-remitting initially, and about 50% of people with relapsing-remitting develop secondary-progressive within 10 years of diagnosis.
  3. There is greater prevalence of MS in higher northern and southern latitudes.
  4. MS is much more common in females than males.
  5. MS is most commonly diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 50 years.
  6. The lifespan of a person with MS is just about as long as the lifespan of a person without the condition.
  7. While much effort and research has gone into finding out hat causes MS, there are still no clear answers.
  8. In MS, a person’s immune system attacks the central nervous system, causing inflammation that damages myelin, the fatty coating that insulates and protects nerve fibers.
  9. To understand the central nervous system, it’s easiest to picture the nervous system as a tree. The CNS is the tree’s roots and truck.
  10. Out of the approximately 400,000 people who live with MS in the US, about 8,000 to 10,000 are children or adolescents.
  11. Fatigues the most common and potentially most disabling symptom, affecting between 75% and 90% of people who have MS. Another common, yet less understood symptom of MS is pain, and this pain exists in many different forms.
  12. Numbness or tingling are common symptoms and the result of damage to nerves that transmit sensations from body surfaces to the brain.
  13. A relapse is when new symptoms or worsening of symptoms that persist for at least 24 hours and occur at least 30 days since a previous relapse.
  14. During a relapse, immune cells that normally circulated harmlessly in your blood stream attack and breakdown the blood-brain barrier.
  15. While there is no cure for relapses, treatment may help in speeding up recovery time.
  16. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)is an important tool used for diagnosing MS and monitoring disease progression.
  17. MRI scans reveal abnormalities in the majority (90% to 95%) of people with MS.
  18. Radiologists and neurologists will use MRIs to look for evidence of new damage, primarily lesions, and evidence of chronic damage to the CNS.
  19. Disease-modifying treatments (DMTs)have been shown to be effective in decreasing the frequency of relapses or exacerbation’s.
  20. DMTs are given either orally or by injection or IV.
  21. While DMTs are effective in the majority of cases of MS, they have not proven to be effective in cases of primary-progressive MS.
  22. People with MS may experience emotional problems, such as depression, anxiety, mood swings, pseudo bulbar affect (PBA), and stress.
  23. Clinically significant depression affects up to 50% of people with multiple sclerosis over the course of their lifetime.
  24. No specific diet has been scientifically proven to slow progression. Specialists promote the same low fat, high fiber diet recommended for all adults.
  25. Stress is a trigger for MS. It comes in many shapes and sizes from emotional and physical, to the stress on the body by extremes in temperature.
  26. Regular exercise, including exercises for strengthening, stretching, and coordination and balance, can be useful in managing many common MS symptoms.
  27. Scientists still have a lot to learn about the immune system and autoimmune diseases, but they do know it plays a role in the development of MS

There’s so much more to understand about multiple sclerosis beyond what we have in our list. We hope you will continue to be a part of our community and share stories and spread awareness about MS.

Women's Health
January 17th, 2016
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The Relationship Between Diabetes and Heart Disease

If you’re aware of your heart health, you’ve probably read and heard a lot about risks for people who have diabetes.  That’s because there’s a major connection between the two types of disease.

In fact, people who are diabetic are twice as likely to have heart disease than those who aren’t diabetic.  It’s also true that someone who is diabetic who has a heart attack is also more likely to die from that heart attack.

Some of the reason for this may be the common characteristics of people who are diabetic and those who are at risk for heart disease.  For example, many people who are diabetic are overweight, which is also a risk factor for heart disease. downloadDiabetics are also more likely to be sedentary and to have high blood pressure.  This combination of risk factors would make anyone at risk for heart disease. What may make diabetes a more special case for cardiac risk is the insulin-resistance that’s characteristic of it.

Insulin resistance is known to increase LDL and triglyceride levels (the bad cholesterol) and also cause HDL (good cholesterol) to be lower.  This causes the advancement of hardening of the arteries. Continue reading “The Relationship Between Diabetes and Heart Disease” »

General Health
December 15th, 2015
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Have You Ever Wondered About Your Cough?

Here are 4 Types of Coughs discussed…

General Health , , ,
November 24th, 2015
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Hey, What Is An MRI?

Have you ever wondered just what exactly is an MRI?

General Health
October 30th, 2015
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How the Budget Deal Blunts Medicare Cost Increases, & Tweaks Social Security

620-medicare-social-security-cards-wallet[1]The bipartisan budget agreement reached by the White House and congressional leaders wards off a spike next year inMedicarepremiums and deductibles for millions of older Americans as well as ensures full Social Security disability benefits to millions who had faced steep cuts. The accord went to President Barack Obama after being adopted by the House of Representatives Oct. 28 and by the Senate Oct. 30.

In a letter to Congress, AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins applauded the agreement: “Your efforts to reach across the aisle and together find sensible solutions to significant problems are appreciated and commended.”

Newsletter: Get the latest on AARP advocacy programs affecting you »

Here’s a look at measures in the deal that affect the pocketbooks of older Americans.

Limits Medicare premium deductible increases. With no Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2016, 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries will see no increase in their monthly Part B premiums next year, despite the program’s increased costs. But because of a wrinkle in federal rules, the burden of paying for the increased costs was to fall on the other 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries through an increase in premiums from $104.90 to $159.30. The budget deal softens the blow to $120 a month.

The reduction is financed by a $7.5 billion loan that will begin to be repaid through an additional $3 monthly surcharge on many of these same beneficiaries and a surcharge of up to $12 a month on higher-income beneficiaries. In years when there is a Social Security COLA, all beneficiaries will be subject to the surcharge. The loan is expected to be repaid within five years.

Limits the deductible increase in traditional Medicare. The deductible for everybody with traditional Medicare, which had been projected to increase by more than 50 percent in 2016, from $147 to $223, will be held to $167.

Replenishes the Disability Trust Fund. The fund that pays Social Security disability benefits was expected to run out of reserves late next year without a fix. Eleven million Americans — 7 out of 10 of them age 50 or older — would have seen a nearly 20 percent decline in benefits.

The budget deal prevents this cut by diverting a larger share of payroll taxes over the next three years to the disability fund, allowing it to pay full benefits through 2022. Currently, workers and employers pay a total of 12.4 percent of wages in the Social Security tax, most of which goes to retirement benefits. But for the next three years, 2.37 percent of wages — an increase of .57 percentage points — will be allocated for disability benefits.

Congress has approved similar reallocation of the payroll tax in other years.

Eliminates certain Social Security claiming strategies.Some couples have taken advantage of a strategy that arose from changes to the law in 2000 and maximized their benefits through Social Security’s “file and suspend” option. Here’s an example of how it works: A husband files for Social Securityat full retirement age and then immediately suspends his benefit. This allows his benefit to continue growing at 8 percent for every year he keeps his benefit on hold until age 70. Meanwhile his wife, who may not have qualified for benefits on her own, can collect a spousal benefit — worth up to half of her husband’s benefit.

General Health
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