Urinary incontinence
The loss of bladder control is a common and often embarrassing problem. The severity ranges from occasionally leaking urine when you cough or sneeze to having an urge to urinate that's so sudden and strong you don't get to a toilet in time. Learn more about the causes and risk factors for urinary incontinence.

EXPERT ANSWERS
Does caffeine make depression worse?
There's no clear link between caffeine intake and depression. However, caffeine intake and depression may be linked indirectly for people who are particularly sensitive to the effects of caffeine or who have too much caffeine. Learn more from Dr. Daniel Hall-Flavin, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist.

Is Vicks VapoRub an effective nasal decongestant?
Vicks VapoRub doesn't relieve nasal congestion, but it seems like it does. Why? Learn more from Dr. Jay Hoecker, an emeritus Mayo Clinic pediatrician.

PLUS ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Rotator cuff injury
Video: 'Reverse fly with dumbbell'
Vasculitis

HEALTHY RECIPES
French onion soup
Chicken cordon bleu
New England trifle

HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK
Know when to move your winter workout indoors
Wind chill extremes can make exercising outdoors unsafe even if you dress warmly. The wind can penetrate your clothes and remove the insulating layer of warm air that surrounds your body. If the air temperature dips well below 0 degrees F (minus 18 C), choose an indoor activity instead.

Need practical advice on diet and exercise? Want creative solutions for stress and other lifestyle issues? Discover more healthy lifestyle topics at mayoclinic.org.

Receive a free e-subscription to Housecall and other health newsletters.

The post Housecall: Why you should try interval training appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Myth or Matter-of-Fact: Men are more likely than women to experience PTSD.

Mayo Clinic Radio is available on iHeartRadio.

Listen to this program at 9:05 a.m. CT Saturday, November 7 and follow #MayoClinicRadio.

Access archived shows.

Mayo Clinic Radio is a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

The post Mayo Clinic Radio: PTSD/Artificial Limbs/Alive Day Project appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Myth or Matter-of-Fact: Men are more likely than women to experience PTSD.

Miss the show?  Here's the Mayo Clinic Radio Podcast.

Follow #MayoClinicRadio and tweet your questions.

Mayo Clinic Radio is available on iHeartRadio.

Mayo Clinic Radio is a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

Access archived shows.

The post Mayo Clinic Radio: PTSD/Artificial Limbs/Alive Day Project appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

In a presentation during the 20th European Congress of Psychiatry in Prague, Mayo Clinic psychiatrists will present a systematic literature review of prazosin in the treatment of nightmares. Researchers investigated 12 prazosin studies, four of which were randomized controlled trials.

"The studies showed the drug was well-tolerated and can take effect rapidly, within days to weeks, and some patients reported a return of nightmares when the course of prazosin was stopped," says Simon Kung, M.D., a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and principal investigator of the study.

"There's not much available for treating nightmares in terms of medications, so prazosin is a promising option," Dr. Kung says.

He added that the literature review opens the possibility of widening the use of prazosin. "Because of the low side effects of prazosin as reported in these studies, it seems logical to extend the use of prazosin to non-PTSD nightmares."

For people who suffer from PTSD, one of the most distressing effects is the experience of nightmares; in particular, the kinds of dreams that ruin sleep with extremely frightening images of physical or emotional threats. Nightmares can be so severe that they can contribute to alcoholism, substance abuse and suicidal thinking.

One possible cause of nightmare symptoms, such as disrupted sleep, is the development of overstimulated chemical messenger norepinephrine receptors in the central nervous system.

"The thinking is that pharmacologic agents, like prazosin, that block these receptors may be ideal in treating nightmares," Dr. Kung says.

Prazosin is a hypertension medication that's been used, following research that began a decade ago, by some Veterans Administration hospitals to treat PTSD-related nightmares.

Other investigators in the study include Maria Lapid, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, and Zelde Espinel M.D., M.P.H., of the Universidad El Bosque, Bogota, Colombia.

Media Contact: Nick Hanson, 507-284-5005 (days), newsbureau@mayo.edu

The post Mayo Clinic Review: Blood Pressure Drug Effective for Treating PTSD-Related Nightmares appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.