If a new antidepressant does not work, switching to a new one immediately does not work does not worsen symptoms and may produce slightly better results over the long run.
Combining rhythmic breathing and focused mental attention can elicit a healthful physiological state called the relaxation response. Being in the relaxation response for 10 to 20 minutes daily counteracts stress and its unhealthy effects.
Acupuncture relieves chronic pain in the back, neck, and shoulders, and from osteoarthritis and headaches. Acupuncture is often used in addition to standard treatments, such as pain medications, when they do not relieve pain well enough.
Postmenopausal women who eat fewer desserts and fried foods, drink fewer sugary beverages, eat more fish, and eat at restaurants less often are better able to lose weight and keep it off.
Most people do not fill their prescriptions for heart medications as directed. Unfilled prescriptions include those fop aspirin, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, beta blockers, calcium-channel blockers, thiazide diuretics, and statins.
Nearly 40% of older women live alone. This can foster a sense of independence but it can also raise health and safety risks. It’s important for women who live alone to stay socially active and make home modifications to ensure their safety.
Robot-assisted surgery can provide greater magnification and improved dexterity for a surgeon, but outcomes may not be better than with traditional laparoscopic procedures, and costs for robotic surgery can be higher.
Meditation may be an effective method for combatting loneliness, and at the same time reduce markers of inflammation, which might benefit the immune system.
Kids who get even a little more sleep may behave better in school, a small new study suggests. The study included 34 kids, ages 7 to 11. They did not have sleep disorders. They got an average of 9 hours of sleep a night. They also had no problems with mental health or learning. Children were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group went to bed an hour earlier than usual for 5 days in a row. The other group stayed up an hour later than usual for 5 days. On average, the first group got about one-half hour of extra sleep daily. The second group got about an hour less. Before the study, teachers answered questions about each child’s mood and behavior in class. After the study, they answered the same questions. Teachers ranked the kids in the sleep-deprived group as more restless, impulsive and moody than they were before the study.
A new study adds to the evidence that serious side effects of new drugs often show up later. It also shows that drugs approved through a fast-track process may be more likely to have problems. The study looked recent drug approvals in Canada and what was learned about the drugs after approval. Researchers focused on 434 drugs. They were approved between 1995 and 2010. Most drugs went through a 300-day standard approval process. About 1 out of 4 went through a 180-day process. The fast process is used if a condition has no good treatments, or if the new drug may offer a major advantage over current treatments. Of the drugs that went through the standard process, one-fifth became the subject of a serious safety warning or were withdrawn from the market. These problems occurred for about one-third of drugs that went through the fast approval process.