Health and wellness information for men from the University of Rochester Medical Center
Watch a rerun of the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and you’ll see what a battering older adults take in the entertainment media, especially television. In one episode, the dysfunctional Barone family is startled when a car crashes into their living room, driven by none other than Raymond’s father, Frank. Fortunately, no one is hurt. The [...]
Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones surprised the public in 2011 when she announced she had been living with bipolar disorder. After being hospitalized, she decided to go public to help reduce the stigma associated with the illness. Called manic depression up until the 1950s, bipolar disorder causes dramatic and unpredictable mood swings and affects about 2.5 percent [...]
The mantra in stroke care is “time is brain.” Timely diagnosis and treatment is essential to increase the chances for recovery because each passing minute means more brain cells are irretrievably lost. While significant strides have been made to improve the response time of caregivers, our new study shows that a critical step in the [...]
Although marijuana has been used as a medical agent for thousands of years and in multiple cultures we still do not have conclusive proof of its medical efficacy. Commonly credited as possessing multiple purported benefits, it has been most notably used as a pain reliever and psychotropic. The FDA approval process Under most circumstances, botanical [...]
The legendary 80-year old dealmaker made headlines last week with his decision to undergo radiation treatment for early stage prostate cancer. This was newsworthy because Buffet made the decision in spite of recent pronouncements by the United States Preventive Task Force (USPTF) against routine prostate cancer screening and treatment. Buffett is known for his canny [...]
April is National Donate Life Month when national attention is drawn to the plight of thousands awaiting transplant each year. As a transplant surgeon, I am saddened on a daily basis by the discrepancy between the number of people waitlisted for transplantation and available donor organs. New York state is currently in 48th place in [...]
The Infectious Diseases Society of America issued an advisory last week stating that most acute sinus infections are caused by viruses and should not be treated with antibiotics, which target bacteria and are useless against viruses. This news follows in the wake of research published in February in the Journal of the American Medical Association [...]
The statistics are alarming. About four in 10 men – 40 percent – die from coronary heart disease. In order to prevent heart attacks, it’s important to know what causes them and whether you are at risk. The University of Rochester Medical Center wants to make it easy to ask questions in a casual, informal [...]
This week, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) issued its annual 2012 Spring Allergy Capital list. On the basis of seasonal pollen count, use of allergy medications (both over-the-counter and prescription), and number of board-certified allergists per patient, the AAFA identified cities that are bound to be among the toughest places to call [...]
Vitamin D seems to be touted as a wonder pill everywhere in the media lately. The truth is we do not yet have conclusive proof that vitamin D deficiencies cause disease, but it is an area ripe for research. Unfortunately, we’ve been here before with other nutrients, where promising observational data was not borne out [...]
