Shop earlier for Medicare plans this year
A new deadline for Medicare Advantage plans — privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program — may trip up seniors who typically wait until the holidays to settle on their health insurance coverage for the coming year.Medicare Advantage plans cover more than 11 million people. They offer basic Medicare coverage topped with extras, such as vision or dental... READ MORE
Better nutrition may reduce arthritis pain
When your joints are inflamed with arthritis, the condition can be painful and debilitating. Although the first line of defense for arthritis is medication, research is unfolding about the effects of diet on joint health.“Some people may find that over time — three to six months — a plant-based, Mediterranean-type diet may help them feel better,” said Dr. Lona... READ MORE
Blood test for mental illness, Alzheimer’s?
Cancer has the biopsy, kidney disease has the urine test, and HIV has the cheek swab. Yet diagnosis for mental illness is often nothing more than a survey or a conversation with a psychiatrist.The lack of distinct biological markers of disease could be doing a huge disservice to patients, said Alexander Niculescu, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the Indiana School of Medicine.... READ MORE
Shop earlier for Medicare plans this year
A new deadline for Medicare Advantage plans — privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program — may trip up seniors who typically wait until the holidays to settle on their health insurance coverage for the coming year.Medicare Advantage plans cover more than 11 million people. They offer basic Medicare coverage topped with extras, such as vision or dental... READ MORE
Robotic surgery may not be better choice
Q. A hospital in the area is advertising robotic surgery. Is it really any better than having a surgeon do the operation?A. A better term might be robotic instrumentation, because ultimately, there’s always a human surgeon with his or her hands on the robot’s controls. The first such surgery was performed in the mid-1980s. Now thousands of operations are being done with the... READ MORE
Don’t just cut sodium, boost potassium
The debate about the dangers of eating too much salt has gained a new wrinkle: A federal study suggests that the people most at risk are those who also get too little potassium.The new research is one of the first and largest U.S. studies to look at the relationship of salt, potassium and heart disease deaths.Potassium-rich foods, including fruits and vegetables, have long been recommended... READ MORE
Hypnosis can replace general anesthesia
As the surgeons cut into her neck, Marianne Marquis was thinking of the beach.As she heard the doctors’ voices, she was imagining her toes in the sand, the water lapping.Marquis had been hypnotized before surgery to have her thyroid removed. She’s among a growing number of surgical patients at the Belgian hospital, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc in Brussels, who choose... READ MORE
Cataracts don’t need to ‘ripen’ anymore
Q. I think I may have cataracts. I heard somewhere that they need to be “ripe” before I get surgery. Is that true?A. The lens of the eye is normally clear and has a consistency that is a bit stiffer than Jell-O.A cataract is a clouding of the lens caused by degradation and clumping of various proteins in the tissue. When that happens, the lens also gets stiffer, and in extreme... READ MORE
Irradiated food is safer, but unpopular
Microwaving salad fixings with just a bit of radiation can kill dangerous E. coli and other bacteria — and U.S. food safety experts say Europe’s massive outbreak shows that wary consumers should give the long-approved step a chance.The U.S. government has OK’d irradiation for a variety of foods — meat, spices, certain imported fruits, the seeds used to grow sprouts.... READ MORE
Cancer risks abound. Should you worry?
You’re sitting in a freshly drywalled house, drinking coffee from a plastic foam cup and talking on a cell phone. Which of these is most likely to be a cancer risk?It might be the sitting, especially if you do that a lot.Despite all the recent news about possible cancer risks from cell phones, coffee, styrene, and formaldehyde in building materials, most of us probably face little if... READ MORE
