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  Most adults should have their blood-cholesterol levels checked annually to see if they are in the healthy range. These include “good” HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein), known as a “lipid profile.” According to the American Heart Association, a lipid is a fatty substance that does not dissolve in the blood, and cholesterol, cholesterol compounds, and triglycerides More…

It seems that the appearance of a pill can influence a patients’ willingness to take it. This curious finding emerged from a study of heart attack patients who were faced with changes in the color or shape of the medication they were prescribed to take after their cardiac events. These patients were 30 percent more More…

Recent research shows that 4 in 10 parents make a significant error when measuring liquid medication for their children. They are also twice as likely to make an error when the doses are refereed to in “spoonful” units instead of milliliters. The problem is that not all household spoons are created of equal size. According More…

  When constant health monitoring is required, most patients indicate a preference for more comfortable at-home health care monitoring over more costly and less convenient hospital care. Home-monitoring device manufacturers are able to meet this need by enabling patients to provide accurate and timely data to health care professionals. The first step involves providing home More…

  In order to receive FDA approval, drug manufacturers must provide research showing that their product delivers benefit in treating a specific condition. While drug in question may also help with other conditions, pharmaceutical companies may decide not to conduct additional expensive clinical trials that can get the medication approved for treatment for other purposes. More…

  With concerns about weight gain being so pervasive, it may help to know that recent research indicated that those taking anti-depressants may put on a few pounds. Moreover, the study, which involved nearly 20,000 adults treated with anti-depressants, revealed that some medications are associated with more weight gain than others. Specifically, people talking citalopram More…

For years, health experts have been warning that unnecessary use of antibiotics leads to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria that are increasingly hard to kill. Now, in its first global survey of the resistance problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that antibiotic-resistant bacteria have spread to every part of the world and might More…

Because cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs are known to moderately raise blood sugar levels, those faced with an increased risk of both heart disease and diabetes may wonder if taking the drugs may still be beneficial. While statin drugs reduce the change of heart problems and stroke, they also might tip pre-diabetic individuals over the diabetes threshold. More…

Even healthy individuals can contact influenza, a potentially dangerous respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Those at particular risk are infants and seniors aged 65 years and older, among those whom about 90 percent of flu-related deaths occur during the flu season (which begins as early as More…

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is a problem to some degree for approximately half of the men between the ages of 40 and 70. This helps explain the popularity of drugs that can alleviate this problem in about 70% of otherwise healthy men. These drugs include sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), verdenafil (Levitra) and avanafil (Stendra). In combination More…

  Falling asleep at night and staying asleep is a problem for many people, particularly women. Not only is insomnia more common among women, there are also gender-specific differences in the way that prescription medications treat the condition. For instance, a recent study involving 13 men and 11 women of similar age and body mass More…

“Motion sickness” occurs when the inner ear, eyes and other motion-detecting areas of the body send conflicting messages to the brain. That is, one part of the body’s balancing-sensing mechanism may be sensing that the body is moving while the others do not. While prevention is the best course of action against motion sickness, it More…

Are you experiencing a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, watery eyes, fatigue or coughing? You might think it’s the common cold,  but with spring in full bloom you may be suffering from seasonal allergies. At this time of year many people confuse seasonal allergies with the common cold. The common cold typically last 10-14 days, More…

How is Zika Transmitted? Zika Virus is primarily spread to people through the bites of an infected mosquito (Aedes species), which are the same mosquitos that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. Zika virus may spread from infected mother to child either at time of birth or to the fetus during pregnancy. There are currently no More…

While eating a fiber rich diet, staying active, and drinking plenty of fluids generally help stave off constipation, occasional bouts of irregularity do occur. If so, the first treatment choice should be an over-the-counter, bulk forming laxative, which draws water into the stool and makes it easier to pass. Sometimes marketed as “fiber supplements,” these More…