Using antidepressants can be tricky, since it can’t be predicted exactly how someone will respond to treatment. There are four categories of antidepressants plus a few “atypicals” that have unique properties.
Dark chocolate contains flavonols that help lower blood pressure and probably fight plaques of atherosclerosis.
Making plaque disappear is not possible, but it is possible to shrink and stabilize it. Drugs called statins can help with this, and so can eating a heart-healthy diet, exercising, and quitting smoking.
It appears that improving the doctor-patient relationship can produce health effects as beneficial as some common treatments, such as taking a daily aspirin to prevent heart attack.
The summertime brings a bounty of delicious fruits and vegetables that can boost health, such as Swiss chard, sweet red peppers, zucchini, and blackberries.
Scientists are testing a new class of drugs to treat migraine headaches. The drugs would block (inhibit) a brain protein called CGRP that sends pain messages to the body.
A new study suggests that insulin might not be the best drug to add to metformin in the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes. But outside experts questioned the conclusions. The study was based on records from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration, Medicare and the National Health Index. People in the study had been taking metformin. Doctors added a second drug to better control their blood sugar. For about 2,400 people, that drug was insulin. Another 12,000 people added a type of drug called a sulfonylurea. In the next 14 months, both groups had similar rates of heart attack and stroke. But people who took insulin had a 44% higher death rate. Outside experts told HealthDay News that other factors may have caused the difference. People who got insulin were sicker, an American Diabetes Association official noted.