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Crohn's Disease and Cow's Milk
Crohn's disease is a condition associated with chronic intestinal inflammation that causes pain, bleeding, and diarrhea, affecting 400,000 to 600,000 people in North America. Researchers from the University of Liverpool found that a bacteria present in cow's milk called Mycobacterium paratubuerculosis releases a molecule that prevents a type of white blood cell from killing E.coli bacteria found in the body. E.coli is known to be present in increased numbers within tissue affected by Crohn's disease. It is believed that Mycobacteria are introduced into the body via cows' milk and other dairy products. Until recently, it has been unclear how this bacterium could trigger intestinal inflammation in humans. (Read more about Crohn's Disease and Cow's Milk)
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Risk Factors for Erosive Esophagitis
Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD is a common disorder with a high incidence rate in adults of 10 to 38%. Diagnosis and treatment of GERD are important because the disease, in addition to the problematic typical symptoms, has numerous known consequences. GERD can affect a patients' quality of life, decrease functional activity, and increase the risk of esophageal carcinoma. (Read more about Risk Factors for Erosive Esophagitis)
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What is Renal Stenosis?
It is very interesting that a lot of people don't know that blocking the arteries of the kidney can be a cause for hypertension. Particularly someone who is young and becomes hypertensive suddenly, one should make sure there is no blockage in the renal arteries. There are millions of people with hypertension, so it's easy to think that we should simply give them medications. But it's important to understand that there is a very small segment of the population, who develop hypertension at a young age, particularly in their twenties, thirties, forties. They need to be looked into. All we need to do is a scan of their kidneys. What is called a duplex scan or an ultrasound of their arteries. With this methodology we can actually pick up a narrowing of the arteries. (Read more about What is Renal Stenosis?)
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Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems
A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events." (Read more about Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems)
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Mortality Rates Drop for Diabetic Men But Not Women
A recent analysis of the mortality rates of men and women with diabetes from 1971- 2001 found that while death rates for men have dropped, women's have remained static. This study, to be published in the August issue of the Annals of Medicine, uncovers the disparities, but doesn't attempt to look at causes. (Read more about Mortality Rates Drop for Diabetic Men But Not Women)
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Study Supports the Efficacy of Chelation Therapy
A new study suggest positive effects of chelation therapy.
A new study by Ohio State Medical Center suggests a link between mercury and heart disease, traced to the activation of a relatively unknown enzyme, which triggers a process leading to plaque buildup in blood vessel walls. The same study also suggests that both antioxidants and chelation therapy, a treatment that removes metals from the body, may be the key to reducing the arterial injury caused by mercury, and possibly other heavy metals. (Read more about Study Supports the Efficacy of Chelation Therapy)
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healthwrap_video games
New research out of the University of Rochester shows video games that contain high levels of action can actually improve your vision.
People who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters on a standard eye chart. (Read more about healthwrap_video games)
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REMEDY OR RIP OFF LIPOZENE
There is a heavily advertised product on the market--you might have seen it while watching popular shows like the daily show--which claims to allow you to burn fat with no effort--no exercise, no diet.
The Federal Trade Commission will tell you there is no magic in a bottle. (Read more about REMEDY OR RIP OFF LIPOZENE)
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Joe Theismann Superbowl
When you settle down on Sunday to watch hours--and we mean hours of Superbowl coverage--.and you’re drinking your soft drinks and your beer, does an enlarged prostate force many of you into deciding whether to stay for the next play or missing it because you just gotta go?
Former Superbowl quarterback Joe Theismann will tell you, you’re not alone. (Read more about Joe Theismann Superbowl)
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Emergency Rooms and STDs
A new medical study raises an important question: should anyone who is seen in an emergency room be automatically screened and treated for other essential problems and conditions that in the end affect society as a whole—such as sexually transmitted illnesses?
Some experts are saying a visit to the emergency room should mean much more to many patients besides ice, ace wraps, and sutures.
“Unfortunately without a primary care physician they are missing out on a lot of important services,” says second-year pediatric resident Dr. David Kessler and supervising physician Dr. Karin Sadow at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
They recognized that once a patient is finally seeing a doctor in the E.R., for whatever reason, while it’s certainly not an ideal or inexpensive place to have a patient visit, at least they’re there.
And maybe, screening for other health issues that are costly to society as a whole makes sense.
The researchers had young males coming in for any reason, complete an anonymous questionnaire on sexual behavior.
They also performed urine-screening tests for gonorrhea and Chlamydia.
They found a high frequency of high-risk sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted illness among those who use the E.R. as their only means of health care, and did not go to a regular doctor--like Knemal Moore, who doesn'’t have a doctor, came in for a sore throat and didn’'t know he was, by chance, also carrying a sexually transmitted illness. (Read more about Emergency Rooms and STDs)
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