Latest from EmpowHer.com

Research, animal testing and you - how do you feel about Animal Experimentation?

susanc — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:09:08 -0600

Groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are avid campaigners against cruelty against animals and the end of animal research.

Vicki Totsis: Chemo Diary 17th May 2008

tovith — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:35:32 -0600

Hello everyone,

Thank you once again for reading my blog. Your ongoing support has been dearly appreciated and I am honoured at the suggestion to start a diary of my treatment in order to share my story!

LA TIMES: Is Obesity A Cause of Global Warming?

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:03:21 -0600

That pesky obesity thing. First it forced Disneyland to increase the sizes of its theme-park costumes, and hospitals to buy larger hoists and beds. Now, in a letter published Friday in the medical journal Lancet, two scientists write that obese people are disproportionately responsible for high food prices and greenhouse gas emissions because they consume 18% more food energy due to their greater body mass -- and require increased quantities of fuel to transport themselves and the food they eat.

Health Care Workers at Las Vegas Endoscopy Clinic Linked To 80+ Cases of Hepatitis C

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:00:27 -0600

Health care workers at a Las Vegas endoscopy clinic linked to more than 80 cases of hepatitis C routinely mishandled injection equipment and medication vials and often failed to perform basic hand hygiene, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

FDA Panel Considers Toll-Free Number for TV Drug Ads

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:54:51 -0600

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Direct-to-consumer drug ads on television should include a toll-free phone number that would allow consumers to report adverse side effects, U.S. health experts suggested Friday.

The experts serve on a panel that advises the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Such phone numbers are already mandated by the FDA for print ads. At Friday's meeting, the panel discussed designing a study to determine the most effective way of adding the phone number to TV ads.

The Doctor I regretted picking was a foot doctor

wandad26 — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:41:38 -0600

I had a sore toe and thought I had an ingrown toe nail (big toe). Dr. took pair of scissors and cut down both sides of my toe with out any deading. I have never had anuything hurt so bad.

Ended up getting infection in the toe and ended up in the emergency room at the hospital getting a tetnus shot etc.

Dr. was bad news.

Annoying hot weather issue: monkey butt

samiam — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:39:25 -0600

Whenever the weather gets particularly hot and humid, I get an annoying irritation between the buttocks. Athletes call this "monkey butt," and the treatment of choice is called Anti-Monkey Butt Powder. I kid you not!

Excessive sweat from sports like cycling or horseback riding, long runs in heat and humidity (I'm a distance runner), or just sitting on your rear for long periods of time, can cause this condition. Baby powder, or the Anti-Monkey Butt Powder, and wearing natural fiber, looser clothing can help alleviate the problem and aid the skin in healing.

Vitamin D Use Linked to Lower Mortality in Kidney Patients

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:43:39 -0600

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Taking activated vitamin D may cut the risk of death for people with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease by about one quarter, a new study suggests.

During a two-year study of more than 1,400 patients, those being treated with calcitriol, an oral form of activated vitamin D, had their overall risk of death lowered by 26 percent when compared with those not on the drug. Those taking calcitriol were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease, which requires dialysis to replace lost kidney function.

Outcomes Similar for Laparoscopic, Open Colon Cancer Surgeries

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:40:10 -0600

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgery and open surgery for colon cancer produce similar outcomes, according to researchers who reviewed findings from 12 international studies involving over 3,300 patients.

Study Details Look at Immune Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:37:06 -0600

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- New details about the immune cells thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes are revealed in a study by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Gene Signature May Predict Recurrence of Lung Cancer

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:32:29 -0600

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- A panel of 15 genes may help determine which patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer will experience a recurrence and, therefore, benefit the most from chemotherapy, a new study shows.

No buying, no selling - just some easy ways for you to go 'green' right now!

GauguinFan — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:08:09 -0600

I didn't pick these from a magazine or anything, and they are probably not the best (and certainly not the only!) ways to go a little green but here are some of the things I do to help me, my family and my environment. We're definitely not perfect (we have two cars and a sprinkler system!) but we're trying...

Aging in America - Do you really want to live to be 150?

susanc — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:37:53 -0600

One of my favorite Queen songs is Who Wants to Live Forever? I am not sure I do.

So I know I won't live forever, anyway, but I see so many headlines these days about how to lengthen our lives, and captions like "you too can live to be 120!" with a picture of some cute, smiling little old lady in a French nursing home underneath.

But I have a question. Two, in fact. One, do I actually want to live that long, and two, can I afford to?

Bizarre Story About a 9-Year-Old Girl Carrying Her Own Twin Embryo??

dragonfly — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:25:18 -0600

Anyone see this crazy story? What do you think about this? Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Doctors Shocked By News of 9-Year-Old Girl Carrying Her Own Embryonic Twin

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:58:06 -0600

The medical community is still reeling Friday over news that a 9-year-old girl from Greece had a two-inch growth -- believed to be her twin embryo -- removed from her stomach.

"It is a very rare situation to have an embryo inside a twin. I cannot recall anything like that in my practice over the years. I have only heard about it through medical literature,” said Dr. Kathy Anderson, an Obstetrician and Gynecologist located in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Partnerships Effective Communicators of Cancer Advances Say Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:33:56 -0600

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Partnerships between major academic cancer centers and community hospitals are a quick and effective way to spread cancer treatment advances, say researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Islet Cell Transplants Aid Type 1 Diabetics

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:15:26 -0600

By Serena Gordon
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Transplanted islet cells help people with type 1 diabetes live insulin-free for at least a year or two, and appear to provide longer-term improved metabolic control even after people have to begin using insulin again, researchers report.

Not All Colon Cancer Patients Need Chemotherapy: Study

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:10:34 -0600

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Colon cancer patients with a specific subset of the disease don't need to receive chemotherapy. In fact, not only does chemotherapy not benefit this group of patients, it may actually harm them, a new study found.

Researchers: New Therapy Kills Human Leukemia Cells in Mice

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:05:09 -0600

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) A treatment that uses natural killer (NK) immune system cells from umbilical cord blood effectively destroys human leukemia cells in mice, researchers say.

Childhood Cancer Survivors Prone to Early Heart Trouble Say Researchers at Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota

hernews — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:54:34 -0600

By Amanda Gardner
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who had cancer as children or teens are more likely to experience cardiovascular disease, a new study found.