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Around 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to the National Kidney Foundation. And some 200,000 of them have such limited or failed kidney function they have to go through dialysis, a several-times-a-week procedure that filters waste from the blood. CKD patients on dialysis also are subjected to more prescription medications than most other people with chronic diseases. In fact, they often are given a mind-boggling number of pills to take daily. And while these drugs are prescribed to help control kidney disease, a new study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN) concludes the more pills dialysis patients take each day, the worse their health-related quality of life becomes , including the ability to simply enjoy daily activities.
In the '90s, Americans grew fond of the idea that you can fix depression simply by taking a pill - most famously fluoxetine (better known as Prozac), though fluoxetine is just one of at least seven selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that have been prescribed to treat hundreds of millions of people around the world.
But in the past few years, researchers have challenged the effectiveness of Prozac and other SSRIs in several studies. For instance, a review published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in February attributed 68% of the benefit from antidepressants to the placebo effect. Likewise, a paper published in PLoS Medicine a year earlier suggested that widely used SSRIs, including Prozac, Effexor and Paxil, offer no clinically significant benefit over placebos for patients with moderate or severe depression. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies maintain that their research shows that SSRIs are powerful weapons against depression. (Here's a helpful blog post that summarizes the debate.)
But in the past few years, researchers have challenged the effectiveness of Prozac and other SSRIs in several studies. For instance, a review published in the Journal of Affective Disorders in February attributed 68% of the benefit from antidepressants to the placebo effect. Likewise, a paper published in PLoS Medicine a year earlier suggested that widely used SSRIs, including Prozac, Effexor and Paxil, offer no clinically significant benefit over placebos for patients with moderate or severe depression. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies maintain that their research shows that SSRIs are powerful weapons against depression. (Here's a helpful blog post that summarizes the debate.)
© Unknown
Spinal-z is a methanolic mixture of dried powdered seeds, domestic to Iran, which are considered poisonous on their own. The combination of the herbs has shown promising results in treating stomach cancer.
Iran's Deputy Health Minister, Hamidreza Rasekh, said that spinal-z, which has strong anti-carcinogen properties, has successfully finished the three phases of clinical studies and will be ready to enter the market soon.
A court has denied the former wife of a rich City financier all access to their three children after she was found to be turning them against him.
In an extraordinary ruling, the woman, who was also judged to be too indulgent a parent, has been legally barred from seeing her children for three years. She was jailed for approaching one of them in the street and telling him she loved him in breach of a court order. She is facing a possible return to jail this summer for posting a video about her plight on the internet.
The woman judge presiding over the case justified banning contact between the mother and her children because they were being placed in "an intolerable situation of conflict of loyalties resulting in them suffering serious emotional harm".
In an extraordinary ruling, the woman, who was also judged to be too indulgent a parent, has been legally barred from seeing her children for three years. She was jailed for approaching one of them in the street and telling him she loved him in breach of a court order. She is facing a possible return to jail this summer for posting a video about her plight on the internet.
The woman judge presiding over the case justified banning contact between the mother and her children because they were being placed in "an intolerable situation of conflict of loyalties resulting in them suffering serious emotional harm".
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition that many people struggle with. Statistics show that one in ten Americans display the symptoms of IBS, accounting for more than 2 million prescriptions and 35,000 hospitalizations each year. It is also the second highest cause of work absenteeism after the common cold.
"Hope to "Save the World Through Genetic Engineering"
Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome, and idealistic -- the perfect candidate to project the company's "Save the World Through Genetic Engineering" image.
Monsanto was quite happy to recruit young Kirk Azevedo to sell their genetically engineered cotton. Kirk had grown up on a California farm and had worked in several jobs monitoring and testing pesticides and herbicides. Kirk was bright, ambitious, handsome, and idealistic -- the perfect candidate to project the company's "Save the World Through Genetic Engineering" image.
It sounds like something from a bad sci-fi movie. People report the sensation of creatures crawling under their skin, mysterious moving fibers appear, and finally bugs and worms pop out. Unfortunately, these terrifying symptoms are all too true. The people having them are experiencing Morgellons, the latest and scariest in the series of bizarre diseases appearing in the last few years, seemingly from nowhere. Morgellons is now reaching epidemic proportions in the U.S. and abroad.
Morgellons is a multi-dimensional disease
Morgellons starts with relentless itching, stinging or biting sensations. Cotton-like balls may appear on the body with no reasonable explanation. Soon skin rash develops along with lesions that will not heal. Many sufferers report string-like fibers of varying color popping out through the skin lesions. These fibers can be black, white, red or even iridescent blue. Others report black specks falling from their bodies that litter their sheets and bathrooms. Eventually a variety of bugs and worms begin to find their way out of the body through the lesions. Other accompanying symptoms include hair loss, debilitating and chronic fatigue, hard nodules beneath the skin, and joint pain.
Morgellons is a multi-dimensional disease
Morgellons starts with relentless itching, stinging or biting sensations. Cotton-like balls may appear on the body with no reasonable explanation. Soon skin rash develops along with lesions that will not heal. Many sufferers report string-like fibers of varying color popping out through the skin lesions. These fibers can be black, white, red or even iridescent blue. Others report black specks falling from their bodies that litter their sheets and bathrooms. Eventually a variety of bugs and worms begin to find their way out of the body through the lesions. Other accompanying symptoms include hair loss, debilitating and chronic fatigue, hard nodules beneath the skin, and joint pain.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has given care giant Kaiser Permanente over $300,000 to test and interview 150 to 500 patients suffering from Morgellons Disease. The study will be done in northern California where many Morgellons patients live.
Prior to this news, people had written off the disease as a hoax or the result of hypochondria. But recent evidence suggests that the disease is indeed real, and may be related to genetically modified (GM) food.
What is Morgellons Disease?
On August 1, 2007, the CDC issued the following statement regarding Morgellons Disease: "Morgellons is an unexplained and debilitating condition that has emerged as a public health concern. Recently, the CDC has received an increased number of inquiries from the public, health care providers, public health officials, Congress, and the media regarding this condition. Persons who suffer from this condition report a range of coetaneous symptoms including crawling, biting and stinging sensations; granules, threads or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; and/or lesions (e.g., rashes or sores) and some sufferers also report systemic manifestations such as fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision.
Prior to this news, people had written off the disease as a hoax or the result of hypochondria. But recent evidence suggests that the disease is indeed real, and may be related to genetically modified (GM) food.
What is Morgellons Disease?
On August 1, 2007, the CDC issued the following statement regarding Morgellons Disease: "Morgellons is an unexplained and debilitating condition that has emerged as a public health concern. Recently, the CDC has received an increased number of inquiries from the public, health care providers, public health officials, Congress, and the media regarding this condition. Persons who suffer from this condition report a range of coetaneous symptoms including crawling, biting and stinging sensations; granules, threads or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; and/or lesions (e.g., rashes or sores) and some sufferers also report systemic manifestations such as fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision.
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All Things Considered-- A U.S. soldier is now more likely than a civilian to take his own life. The Army crossed that threshold at the end of 2008 - a year in which 140 soldiers killed themselves - a record high. And the situation is getting worse, not better.
The Army counted 64 possible suicides in the first four months of this year, 11 of those were at Fort Campbell, Ky. - four suicides in January, three in February and four in March.
The stories from this sprawling post on the Tennessee-Kentucky line are tragic and disturbing. Sgt. Jeremy Duncan deployed from Fort Campbell to Iraq with a soldier who killed himself last year with a shotgun.
© Will InteractiveSoldiers now use an interactive video to role play as the buddy of another soldier in crisis. The choices made at the end of each scene lead either to finding help for this imaginary soldier or attending his funeral.
The Army counted 64 possible suicides in the first four months of this year, 11 of those were at Fort Campbell, Ky. - four suicides in January, three in February and four in March.
The stories from this sprawling post on the Tennessee-Kentucky line are tragic and disturbing. Sgt. Jeremy Duncan deployed from Fort Campbell to Iraq with a soldier who killed himself last year with a shotgun.
© Don Hammond / Design Pics Inc. / Rex FeaturesHealth and intelligence may be the result of the same genetic factors.
A new study of 3654 Vietnam War veterans finds that men with lower IQs are more likely to suffer from dozens of health problems - from hernias, to ear inflammation, to cataracts - compared with those showing greater intelligence.
This offers tantalising - yet preliminary - evidence that health and intelligence are the result of common genetic factors, and that low intelligence may be an indication of harmful genetic mutations.
"It poses the question to epidemiologists: why is it that intelligence is a predictor for things that seem so very far removed from the brain," says Rosalind Arden, a psychologist at King's College London, who led the study.
