Osteoporosis is a common complication of aging, and produces high risk of fractures, which cause disability and even death. Osteoporosis can be effectively treated. When doctors discover osteoporosis and prescribe treatments, the risk of fractures is reduced by 30 to 50%.
Sometimes, doctors neglect to screen for osteoporosis. The usual type of screening is a bone density or DEXA scan. However, many individuals have chest or abdomen CT scans performed for other problems. And now…
It is logical that having a good physician with whom you have a close relationship can improve your sense of confidence in your medical care. But does it result in improved health care outcomes?
In an important scientific article, K. Trevino and co-authors studied the relationship between 95 young adults with advanced cancer and their physicians. In these young adults who were between 20 and 40 years old, having a strong relationship with the physician,…
We have all seen when people get older, they develop more and more wrinkles. Unless celebrities have had face-lifts (and many have), you can see examples of wrinkling developing in celebrities on television and movies. Although face-lifts may eliminate wrinkles on the face or neck, hands are always very revealing of the wrinkling that takes place.
Other than using plastic surgery, can other things be done to prevent this wrinkling with age. In a surprising result,…
We are all told that after age 50 we should have a screening colonoscopy. This reduces the risk of death from colon cancer by finding and removing polyps that can cause cancer later. But the difficult preparation for having a colonoscopy prevents many people from agreeing to have periodic colonoscopies, and many older patients have a dangerously high risk from repeated colonoscopy examinations.
A recent article examined what options a person has and what are…