Here’s why it’s actually possible for a prescription antidepressant to work within 24 hours like a charm. Antidepressants typically take a while before their effects begin kicking in, sometimes several weeks. In fact, drugs.com says [...]
Here's why you shouldn’t panic if you learn an elderly loved-one’s D-dimer test came back positive and indicates a blood clot. The D-dimer blood test is to screen for a blood clot, and doctors routinely [...]
Your doctor will want your small abdominal aortic aneurysm to be followed with a watchful-waiting approach: serial imaging to see if the bulge is getting bigger. This means imaging at fixed intervals to track any [...]
How much better is the survival rate of an endovascular repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm when compared to open surgery? An endovascular repair of an AAA isn’t as complicated when compared to the more [...]
An aortic dissection can kill you in two minutes; certainly there has to be a best time to suffer this life-threatening rupture of the heart's great vessel. Unfortunately, you don't get to decide when an aortic [...]
Innovative technology makes endovascular repair possible for an abdominal aortic aneurysm when it’s close to the renal arteries. Have you been told you can’t have endovascular repair of your abdominal aortic aneurysm because the defect [...]
All advanced cancers are difficult to treat, but one of the most difficult metastases to manage is melanoma skin cancer. Melanoma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. However, researchers are closing in [...]
There IS a way to detect and diagnose melanoma when it's in a very early stage -- and hence, highly curable with an excellent 10-year survival rate. Just how early can melanoma be detected? First [...]
Twitching muscles is a symptom of the deadly ALS disease, as this is listed on many medical sites that describe this fatal motor neuron condition. Many people suffer from a mysterious condition in which they [...]
There IS a way to conquer the perceived weakness and ALS terror that comes from twitching muscles. If you suffer from perceived weakness from benign fasciculation syndrome (muscle twitching accompanied by other symptoms), then you [...]
How safe, or harmful, is it for someone with pneumonia to be around crowds, and just what constitutes a “crowd”? There are two kinds of pneumonia: community and hospital. Community is when the infection is [...]
Is there a such thing as MILD pneumonia in an elderly person, and if so, is this any less of an urgent situation? Ever wonder if it's possible for an elderly person to experience a [...]
There are causes of pain throughout the body other than depression. As you may already know, depression can cause pain all over your body, but other things too can have this effect. “To tell if [...]
Longer telomeres mean a longer healthier life; you can actually lengthen the telomeres in your cells with any one of four natural ways. This has been shown by research from UC San Francisco and the Preventive [...]
How long does it take to get rid of medial epichondylitis, also known as golfer’s elbow? I developed a case of medial epichondylitis (golfer’s elbow) after doing high reps, low weights, with a close-grip on [...]
If a brain aneurysm scares the heck out of you, quit smoking and make sure your blood pressure is normal--especially if you're a woman. Did you know that when a brain aneurysm ruptures, the survival [...]
There is a simple, painless and non-intimidating test to evaluate foot drop, which can have many causes. If you’ve been experiencing foot drop and want a medical test to evaluate this symptom, there’s a particular [...]
If no matter what you do you can't put weight on your skinny body, here's why, and what you can do to solve this problem. Rigorous exercise is one sure way to increase appetite. Raise [...]
A TIA should never be ignored; this can lead to your death, even if the mini stroke lasts only seconds. A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is also commonly called a mini stroke, but don’t let [...]
Cardiac rehab will help you reduce your risk of stroke after having a transient ischemic attack. If you’ve been diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack (TIA), then you know this is a mini stroke which [...]
There's yet one more reason why you should try not to get hit hard in the head: It may increase your risk of a stroke. The stroke at issue here is the ischemic type, in [...]
A very brief transient ischemic attack is as much a medical emergency as is a full-blown stroke. Sometimes, people who have experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA) are not given clot busting drugs because their [...]
Are you constantly under stress and worried about getting a stroke? The good news is there's a certain kind of exercise that will dramatically lower your chance of getting a stroke. This type of exercise [...]
Could it be that chronic stress creates adverse changes in the brain that eventually lead to a stroke? An ischemic stroke is a blood clot in the brain that shuts off oxygen supply to the [...]
The diagnosis of a chronic subdural hematoma in the emergency room is easy to make: A CT scan easily reveals the collection of blood. But what happens once this diagnosis is made? My mother went into [...]
Here’s information concerning risk of chronic subdural hematoma resulting from tPA combined with blood thinners in stroke patients. Many men and women take blood thinning drugs to help prevent stroke. Thicker blood is more likely [...]
The most common symptoms of a chronic subdural hematoma in the elderly differ from those in younger patients. “A chronic subdural hematoma is a collection of blood on the brain’s surface, under the outer covering [...]
My elderly mother's doctor didn't warn her that she could get a chronic subdural hematoma even though her head CT scan was normal. Elderly age plus head trauma = fair chance of developing a chronic [...]
Seemed the neurosurgeon was wrong and the layperson was right about recurrence of chronic subdural hematoma. A neurosurgeon didn’t think my mother’s new symptoms were the result of a recurring chronic subdural hematoma. My mother [...]
Have you had knee replacement surgery, and have noticed that the other leg seems to be getting bigger or swollen in appearance, even though after the first several days following the operation, it looked as [...]
Barbell squats or dumbbell squats: which is better for building muscle mass? The barbell squat and dumbbell squat both have plenty to offer fitness enthusiasts. When I was a personal trainer at a gym, I'd [...]
Do you know the 10 reasons it's wrong to hold onto the treadmill while walking or jogging? As a former personal trainer, I have observed -- with a lot of interest -- how people use [...]
Fat burning zone vs. cardio training zone for burning fat? Do you ever wonder what the difference is between the "fat burning zone" and the "cardio training zone"? Surely you've seen these diagrammed in some [...]
It's common to see old men with thin arms and legs, but fat bellies... Ever notice how many old men have skinny legs and arms, but plenty of fat in their bellies? In fact, as they [...]
Here is a guide on how to lose weight with exercise even if you can’t do aerobics or leg workouts and need a total knee replacement. A person who needs a total knee replacement can [...]
If you have knee pain, try pedaling backwards on the elliptical machine and see if this doesn’t alleviate your joint discomfort. Most people don’t pedal backwards on the elliptical trainer, but this may actually alleviate [...]
If you have a total knee replacement surgery planned, you’d be doing yourself a huge favor by losing weight before having this procedure done. A report in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Oct. [...]
Is your knee pain worse after revision surgery even though at first it wasn’t so bad? A knee revision surgery is when a failed or loosened implant is replaced in part or whole by new [...]
Perhaps you’ve had an epidural steroid injection for a herniated disc which solved the sciatica pain, but now you have a new kind of discomfort. Have you recently had an epidural steroid injection to relieve [...]
The big question is: At what point does conservative treatment for a herniated disc switch over to decompression treatment? A herniated disc can be treated with conservative means or with a technique called percutaneous disc [...]
