Health & Wellness - July 2014 Archives

While insect repellent is a good way to ward off disease-carrying insects, you may be making common bug-spray mistakes. One of the common mistakes is ...

  Today is National Heatstroke Prevention Day Many northern  communities in the United States are used to the winter thermometer dipping into negative numbers, but summer heat can often rival the challenges of a cold, snowy winter. As we move into August, one of the hottest months of the year, temperatures can easily exceed 100 degrees F, bringing the threat of heat illness and heat-related afflictions. Regional director of Mayo Clinic Health System Urgent Care, Ruth Bolton, M.D., offers this important preventive information. Q. What is heat illness? A. Heat illness is exactly what it sounds like — a sickness caused by heat. Heat illness can take multiple forms, each ranging in severity. The different types of heat illness, from mildest to most dangerous, include heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Q. What are the symptoms of heat illness? A. As heat illness progresses from cramps to exhaustion to stroke, the symptoms become more extreme. Symptoms of heat cramps include:

Most people have heard that carrots are good for their eyes, but do you know that other foods help protect vision and prevent eye disease?  The National Eye Institute and other vision experts note that a healthy diet is an important factor in eye health. Researchers have found that certain nutrients with antioxidant properties are beneficial. These include carotenoid compounds such as beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, and vitamins C and E. Zinc and omega-3 fatty acids are also important for eye health. Mayo Clinic eye and nutrition experts offer the following lists to help you choose foods for better eye health: Vegetables: Kale, collard greens, peppers, broccoli, sweet potato, spinach, peas, pumpkin, carrots and Swiss chard Fruits: Peaches, blueberries, oranges, tangerines, mango, tomato, apricot, papaya, cantaloupe, honeydew, avocado and grapefruit Sources of zinc: King crab, lamb, bulgur, lean beef, fortified breakfast cereals, beans, lean pork, dark meat of poultry, whole-wheat or buckwheat flours, pumpkin seeds Omega-3-rich foods: Salmon, herring, tuna, mackerel, rainbow trout, sardines, flaxseed, English walnuts, canola oil, roasted soybeans Read more Eating for Eye Health

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FloX45Ue414 Being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis can be frightening. It's a lifelong chronic condition that not only causes painful damage to your joints but can ...

JACKSONVILLE, Flórida — Imagine que no futuro pode ser possível criar novo pulmão, usando o próprio material celular do paciente; ou um dia em que será possível repor com uma injeção células que permitam curar uma lesão no cérebro, nos nervos ou em outros tecidos.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZljTlvGCY   A medicina regenerativa não é mais ficção científica. É uma doação substancial de Jorge e Leslie Bacardi, das Bahamas,  irá acelerar significativamente as pesquisas do Centro de Medicina Regenerativa da Clínica Mayo, em Jacksonville, na Flórida.

Miss the show? Here is the podcast! Mayo Clinic Radio Full Show 8-2-2014 44min mp3 Are you feeling dizzy, disoriented, lightheaded and/or anxious? On the ...

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My grandson had a virus with flu symptoms. Then one of his eyes got very red, but it wasn’t itchy or mattered shut. When my daughter took him to the doctor, she was told it was the virus settling in his eye. But it wasn’t pink eye. What’s the difference between this type of eye infection and pink eye? Are the treatments different? ANSWER: The two conditions you mention are both eye infections, and they are actually also both forms of pink eye. The difference is that the type of infection your grandson had is caused by a virus. The other is caused by bacteria. Viral eye infections typically do not require any treatment. Bacterial eye infections are usually treated with antibiotic eye drops. Eye infections are common, especially in children. As in your grandson’s case, they often happen when a child has a cold. Both viral eye infections and bacterial eye infections are called conjunctivitis, or pink eye.

A digital, individualized Mayo Clinic approach to better health through lifestyle and behavior change    Rochester, Minn. — Mayo Clinic announced today a new health engagement platform called Mayo Clinic Healthy Living online. Designed for employers and other groups to help members improve and stay healthy, the platform focuses on lifestyle areas where change can have the most beneficial effect on overall health. As a result, this new solution promises positive results, not only for the individual, but for the employer/client in terms of controlling health care costs and optimizing performance and productivity. The science underpinning the platform draws upon the expertise of Mayo Clinic and leverages the new Mayo Clinic Healthy Living program as a learning lab to research and measure outcomes to improve health and wellness. Mayo Clinic Healthy Living online is at the forefront of the next generation of digital wellness and lifestyle behavior change tools. The program is designed to engage members by leveraging new technologies, connectivity to remote devices, data-driven user personalization, incentive capabilities, and user-driven responsive design, all underpinned by evidence-based approaches validated though the medical practice and research at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic research was used to identify areas with the most potential to improve health. The platform focuses on diet and nutrition, physical activity, and weight management, with plans to build out stress, sleep and resiliency offerings. “What we are doing with this tool is bringing Mayo expertise outside the walls of the clinic. People are struggling with their wellness goals, and we want to use technology to provide the support necessary for wellness and disease prevention,” says Philip Hagen, M.D., M.P.H., medical director for Mayo Clinic Healthy Living online.

THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES Menopause hormone therapy: Pros and cons Hormone therapy can provide effective relief from menopause symptoms. Talk with your doctor to weigh your personal risks and benefits. Best sunscreen: Understand sunscreen options With so many types of sunscreen out there, it can be hard to know which to choose. This Q&A with a Mayo Clinic dermatologist can help. Buying prescription drugs online Ordering prescription medications online can save you time and money, but not all pharmacies are licensed. Stay safe with these do's and don'ts. EXPERT ANSWERS Are there any effective alternative treatments for food allergies? Find out which alternative treatments have shown promise for treating food allergies. Acute hepatitis C infection: Is it serious? Acute hepatitis C infection precedes chronic hepatitis C. Find out how acute hepatitis C develops and what the diagnosis means. Thirdhand smoke: What are the dangers to nonsmokers? Toxic tobacco residue clings to walls, carpets, clothes, cars and other surfaces. Click here to get a free e-subscription to the Housecall newsletter.

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: My father, 68, has advanced emphysema. Medication for it doesn’t seem to help as much as it used to. We’ve heard that volume reduction surgery is sometimes used in cases like his. What does this surgery involve? What are the benefits? How do we find out if he’s a good candidate for it? ANSWER: Lung volume reduction surgery can help treat some severe cases of emphysema. The procedure involves removing part of the damaged lung tissue, so the remaining healthy tissue can work better. But it is only appropriate in a small number of cases. A thorough medical evaluation would be necessary to see if your father might be a good candidate for lung volume reduction surgery. Emphysema is a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, that damages the lungs’ air sacs, called alveoli. The alveoli are clustered like bunches of grapes. In emphysema, the inner walls of the air sacs weaken and eventually break down. That creates one larger air space instead of many small ones. This decreases the surface area of the lungs and lowers the amount of oxygen that reaches the bloodstream. Emphysema cannot be cured. Medications and pulmonary rehabilitation are the main therapies for this disease. Medications including bronchodilators, inhaled steroids, oxygen and antibiotics often are used to help ease breathing problems and prevent flare-ups.

Por muitos anos, a síndrome do intestino irritável (SII) foi diagnosticada em milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo, depois de apresentarem diversas moléstias e dores gastrintestinais de forma recorrente. Ainda não existe cura definitiva para essa doença, que é um problema de saúde crônico, embora benigno. Porém uma nova esperança surgiu para alguns pacientes. Dentro do espectro das intolerâncias e/ou alergias relacionadas à toxicidade resultante da ingestão de glúten, se acrescentou outra patologia conhecida como “sensibilidade ao glúten não celíaca” ou, simplesmente, “sensibilidade ao glúten (SG)”. O glúten é uma substância encontrada nos grãos de alguns cereais como o trigo e a aveia. Os sintomas da SG são praticamente idênticos aos apresentados por pacientes com a síndrome do intestino irritável. Por isso, fazer um diagnóstico que diferencie uma patologia da outra pode ser a solução para pacientes que podem estar recebendo o tratamento errado. A sensibilidade ao glúten apresenta uma melhora clara depois que o paciente adota uma dieta livre de glúten. A gastrenterologista da Clínica Mayo, María Vázquez Roque, que também é professora assistente da Escola de Medicina da Mayo, explica essas doenças:

If you have shoulder problems the next Mayo Clinic Radio is for you!  On Saturday, July 26, at 9 a.m. CT, John Sperling, M.D., will join us to discuss the many causes of shoulder pain. What do you know about shoulder bursitis, tendinitis and something called Wiiitis? How are torn rotator cuffs diagnosed and repaired? We'll discuss a new option for patients with arthritis called reverse arthroplasty. Join us! Myth or Matter of Fact: Rotator cuff tears can heal without surgery. Follow #MayoClinicRadio and tweet your questions. To listen to the program on Saturday, click here.  Mayo Clinic Radio is available on iHeart Radio. Listen to this week’s Medical News Headlines: News Segment July 26, 2014 (right click MP3)