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Mayo Clinic Minute: Molecular breast imaging for supplemental breast screening
If you are one of the millions of women identified as having dense breasts, your health care team may recommend supplemental or additional screening to check your breasts for cancer.
Dr. Kristin Robinson, a breast radiologist at Mayo Clinic, says there are several options when it comes to these screening tests. She recommends working closely ...Read more
After recovering from heart failure related to pregnancy, she went on to game show glory
As academic director for Duke University's corporate education business, Cheryl Stokes traveled the globe. Doing so while 4 months pregnant meant enduring more discomfort than usual.
While returning home from a work trip, she felt a few contractions. But she was more concerned about her mother, Myrtle Bell, who was recovering from a stroke ...Read more
Climate change threatens the mental well-being of youths. Here's how to help them cope
We’ve all read the stories and seen the images: The life-threatening heat waves. The wildfires of unprecedented ferocity. The record-breaking storms washing away entire neighborhoods. The melting glaciers, the rising sea levels, the coastal flooding.
As California wildfires stretch into the colder months and hurricane survivors sort through ...Read more
Mayo Clinic Minute: Reset your eating habits for a new year
It's officially 2025. A new year offers new beginnings and an opportunity to reset your eating habits after the holidays.
Andrea Delgado, a Mayo Clinic dietitian, says it's best to eliminate what you don't need, including those party food leftovers.
Is your refrigerator holding onto holiday leftovers? It's OK to let them go.
"What we want to ...Read more
Aerobics can help you lose weight and dodge chronic diseases
You've often heard that the calories you take in (or don't take in) determine weight loss, not the calories you expend (through exercise), since the body adjusts in ways that keep your so-called "calories-out" pretty constant. But a couple of interesting new studies shine a light on how getting a good dose of moderate to vigorous aerobics (150 ...Read more
Woman Wonders What Is The Best Way To Treat A Hiatal Hernia
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 74-year-old woman who is active and healthy. I recently had an endoscopy, and the findings were a hiatal hernia of about 5 centimeters with some inflammation. I have been having almost daily acid reflux episodes.
The gastroenterologist put me on a regimen of 40 mg of omeprazole for six weeks. It worked perfectly for me,...Read more
Illinois approves 4 new conditions for women for medical marijuana
For the first time since 2019, Illinois regulators have approved new medical conditions to qualify for medical cannabis, all centered around women’s health.
Endometriosis, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids and female orgasmic disorder were approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health, at the recommendation of the Medical Cannabis ...Read more
Mayo research sorts out whether rare BRCA mutations have cancer links
A Mayo Clinic-led team of researchers is solving one of the most frustrating aspects of genetic cancer screening — results that give zero guidance to patients on whether they are at elevated risk.
While some mutations in the BRCA2 gene clearly indicate risks for breast and prostate cancer, thousands of less-common variations have confounded ...Read more
Respiratory illnesses are up nationwide. Here are the COVID, flu and RSV hotspots
If it feels like everyone around you is fighting off a cold or recovering from the flu, it may be because respiratory illnesses are running rampant in most of the United States, and cases are only increasing.
The overall respiratory illness activity level in the U.S. was rated as “high” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on ...Read more
Medicaid expansion debate will affect other health policy issues before Montana Legislature
HELENA, Mont. — A last-minute change to a 2019 bill put an end date on Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, setting the stage for what is anticipated to be the most significant health care debate of the 2025 Montana Legislature.
In recent interviews, legislative leaders predicted a vigorous debate over keeping the Medicaid expansion ...Read more
Mayo Clinic Q and A: So your kids were gifted noisy toys: Now what?
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My teenager received new headphones for Christmas while my preteen asked for a drum set. It's been a bit noisy around here. How can I protect their developing hearing?
ANSWER: Hearing loss often is thought of as something that happens to the elderly. But we live, work and play in a noisy environment, and hearing loss affects ...Read more
Ask the Pediatrician: What to do if your infant or toddler hits their head
Just like older kids, babies and toddlers can get concussions. In fact, little ones face some extra risks. But it can sometimes be harder to recognize the signs of concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury, in infants and toddlers. They may not have the language skills yet to tell you how they feel.
The impact from a bump, blow or jolt ...Read more
Heart-protecting advice for a peak experience in the mountains
Whether it's a wintry visit to a snow-covered ski resort or a summertime hike in an alpine park, a vacation in the mountains can be breathtaking. Literally.
"There is less oxygen available to breathe at higher altitudes," said Dr. William K. Cornwell, an associate professor of cardiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in ...Read more
Health care AI, intended to save money, turns out to require a lot of expensive humans
Preparing cancer patients for difficult decisions is an oncologist’s job. They don’t always remember to do it, however. At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, doctors are nudged to talk about a patient’s treatment and end-of-life preferences by an artificially intelligent algorithm that predicts the chances of death.
But it’s ...Read more
Putting your best foot forward
The human foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and tendons. That means there's a lot that can go wrong! No wonder 81% of Americans report foot problems at some point.
When you have chronic or acute foot pain, the repercussions range from loss of balance and increased risk of falling to inability to walk or do aerobics ...Read more
Long-Term Use Of High-Dose Gabapentin Causes Great Concern
DEAR DR. ROACH: Am I a doomed man? When I was 25, I survived a battle with testicular cancer. The good news is that 45 years later, after two kids and three grandkids, I'm in good health. The only medicine I take is gabapentin for peripheral neuropathy that was caused by the chemotherapy drugs I received during the cancer treatment. One or ...Read more
New noninvasive asthma test may help doctors tailor treatment for kids
Impacting millions of children in the U.S. alone, asthma can be particularly problematic to diagnose with specificity — leaving the majority of kids without treatments that target their subtype of the condition.
Using a new, noninvasive nose swab test, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have for the first time detected multiple ...Read more
Indiana state senator moves to scrap hospital monopoly law he helped create
On the heels of a scuttled hospital merger between rivals in Terre Haute, Indiana, a state senator introduced a bill that would forbid similar mergers in the future.
Last year, nonprofit Union Health tried to acquire the only other acute care hospital in Vigo County by leveraging a state law it helped create that allows hospital monopolies. Now...Read more
On Nutrition: Questions from readers
Along with starting a few resolutions for the new year, I checked my mailbag. Joyce M. writes, “I enjoyed your column on cranberries in the Dallas Morning News. Several of the health benefits were new to me, but I was educated on cranberry production by elderly Wisconsin relatives who worked on the farms.
“For years I have bought extra ...Read more
Blood Pressure Level Fluctuates After Getting Off All Medications
DEAR DR. ROACH: I am 89 and in good health. For six months, my systolic blood pressure was 113 mm Hg. Then, 10 days ago, it dropped to 88 mm Hg for a week. For today and the past week, it's been 187/93 mm Hg. I was on a blood pressure medication, but my doctor took me off of it when my blood pressure was low. I am currently off of all ...Read more
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