Screening tests, such as Pap smears or blood pressure checks, could save your life. But the benefits of screening tests tend to decline as we age. Learn about the limits of screening.
Increasingly, floods, fires, and extreme weather stemming from climate change are contributing to large-scale health and safety issues for people everywhere. There are steps you and your family can take to help protect your health.
A 2022 survey suggests that a large proportion of American women know relatively little about how breast reconstruction surgery affects mastectomy patients emotionally, physically, and financially.
A 2022 study found that women undergoing fertility treatment who drank seven or more alcoholic beverages weekly were 7% less likely to become pregnant. The chances of live birth dropped 9% in women whose male partners drank that amount.
A 2022 study tracking 115,000 people 65 and older found that adding strength training to aerobic exercise lowered the risk of dying, regardless of cause, over nearly eight years of follow-up.
Pain in the shoulder, elbow, or wrist without obvious injury is common. Possible causes include arthritis, bursitis, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tear, tendinitis, or nerve compression in the carpal tunnel or the cubital tunnel. Home remedies include rest, ice, compression, or elevation; over-the-counter anti-inflammatory pain relievers; and devices such as a splint or brace. Other treatments include physical therapy or steroid injections. Surgery is usually a last resort.
One in 10 Americans ages 65 and older has dementia. The condition is likely to progress slowly, offering couples the opportunity to adopt coping strategies that can smooth their path. Early on, you can consider treatment that may temporarily improve memory and thinking problems. People whose partners have been diagnosed should get informed about dementia, attend doctor’s visits, take over certain tasks, keep routines, update legal documents, and join a support group.
Everyone is born with the blood vessels that underlie hemorrhoids, but they may become problematic when they enlarge. Half of people have symptoms by age 50 that include pain, itching, swelling, and bleeding. Home remedies such as pain relievers, topical creams and ointments, sitz baths, and cold compresses don’t eradicate hemorrhoids. In-office procedures can cut off blood supply to internal hemorrhoids, allowing them to fall off. Surgery is the only definitive treatment option for external hemorrhoids visible at the anus.
Many women report stronger body odor during perimenopause. It can result from a changed sense of smell; profuse sweating from hot flashes or night sweats; or greater prominence of testosterone, which attracts more bacteria to sweat.
Women should consider genetic testing for breast cancer if they have a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer, especially diagnosed at age 50 or younger; family history of BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations; or Ashkenazi Jewish heritage.