Month: June 2014

A new review of studies shows just how some substance use disorders and mental conditions affect lifespan —- and depending on the condition, the mortality risks are the same, if not higher, than heavy smoking. “We found that many mental health diagnoses are associated with a drop in life expectancy as great as that associated with smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day,” study researcher Dr. Seena Fazel, of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University, said in a statement. …

As we age, and our natural sleep architecture becomes increasingly fragmented, we should all be doing what we can to try and get a good night's sleep.

By Madeline Vann, MPH Reviewed by Niya Jones, M.D., MPH Los Angeles entrepreneur Neal Sideman was in the middle of an intense workout at the gym when he felt lightheaded and realized his heart was pounding. Alarmed, he immediately worried about his heart — never thinking that he might be having a panic attack instead. However, a visit to the doctor the next day and an EKG reassured him his heart was fine. His doctor told him that what he'd experienced were, in fact, the symptoms of anxiety. Signs Of Anxiety And Panic Attacks An anxiety or panic attack

What's the thing that lingers on your heart — that you just can't stop daydreaming about? Do the thing you would do if you could do anything. It's called your passion. And it's what you should be doing.

An experimental drug from Novartis markedly shrank tumors in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, according to the results of a mid-stage study published on Sunday. Basal cell carcinoma can be highly disfiguring and life-threatening in its advanced stages. The number of people with the illness is on the rise as the global population ages and people become increasingly exposed to ultraviolet rays. The Phase II trial assessed the safety and efficacy of two oral doses of Novartis’ drug LDE225 in patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma.

CHICAGO (AP) — It’s National Cancer Survivors Day, and chances are good that you know at least one of them.

CHICAGO (AP) — It’s National Cancer Survivors Day, and chances are good that you know at least one of them.

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) – The estrogen-blocking drug Aromasin worked better than the long-standing therapy tamoxifen at keeping cancers from returning in younger women with early stage breast cancer, a finding that may change the way the patients are treated, U.S. researchers said on Sunday. Aromasin, a drug developed by Pfizer Inc that is sold generically as exemestane, is in a class of treatments called aromatase inhibitors that are typically used in post-menopausal women with low levels of estrogen. The drugs have largely been off-limits for younger women with working ovaries that produce estrogen. In premenopausal women with hormone-sensitive cancers, the standard for preventing recurrence is five years of treatment with a drug called tamoxifen.

A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity is expected to be released soon, a government official said on Saturday, after Khartoum came under diplomatic pressure to halt her execution. "The related authorities in the country are working to release Mariam (Yahya Ibrahim), who was sentenced to death for apostasy, through legal measures," Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdelah Al-Azrak told Reuters. A Sudanese court this month imposed the death sentence on the pregnant 27-year-old woman, who is married to a Christian American, and ordered her to return to Islam.