Category: Health

April 26, 2024 – Before there was Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound, there were cost-friendly, safe, and effective weight loss drugs. FDA-approved obesity medication like orlistat (brand name: Xenical), phentermine/topiramate (Qsymia), and naltrexone/bupropion extended release (Contrave) have been on the market for decades. “Some older obesity medications go all the way back to the ’50s and ’60s – like phentermine, which is still one of the most widely prescribed medications in the world,” said Anthony Auriemma, MD, medical director of Ascension Illinois Weight Loss Solutions. While newer GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) often lead to greater degrees of weight loss, the benefits of more ... Read more

Many of the things that make rural living appealing to some – the remoteness, the absence of crowds, the simplicity – can make health care more difficult. Choices for doctors may be limited and health care facilities can be miles away. For some care, you may need to plan days or more in advance. So while it’s always a good idea to look ahead for your health care needs, it can be especially important in a rural community. “It’s better to establish care before you need it,” says Kevin Bennett, director for the Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare, University ... Read more

Maybe you know a smoker who never exercises and is living happily into old age. Or perhaps you read about a veggie-loving marathon runner who had a heart attack in middle age. These kinds of stories can’t help but make you think: If your health is simply written into your genes, what’s the point of all that exercise and healthy eating? Why not just do what you want? But, says Laura Zimmermann, MD, medical director of the Rush University Prevention Center, these stories stick with us because they are unusual. They are examples of what scientists call “outliers.” The reality ... Read more

You may see them on your drive to work, while walking your dog at the park, or at intersections with crumpled signs requesting help. They are people without homes, sometimes even without shelter for the night. There are more than half a million people homeless in the U.S. in any 12-month period, and almost 200,000 of them sleep without shelter on any given night. “I think COVID made people more aware of the issue of homelessness,” says Steve Berg, vice president for programs and policy at the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, DC. “Everyone was told to stay ... Read more

When Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, Ukrainian civilians were immediately caught in the crossfire. Over the last month, people have been fleeing to neighboring countries, waiting out the nights in bomb shelters, and getting by without running water or electricity. Pregnant people are among those caught in the middle. Some of the most horrific images from the war so far have come from a maternity hospital in Mariupol that was bombed by Russian troops in mid-March. The upheaval spurs a troubling question: Could the stress and condition of war affect a fetus in the womb? Research suggests that the ... Read more

As of April 2022, two states have passed bills banning gender-affirming care – health care related to a transgender person’s medical transition – for transgender youth, and 20 states are considering laws that would do so. If passed in all these states, more than a third of transgender teens aged 13 to 17 would live in a state that prohibits them from accessing trans health care. But the meaning of gender-affirming care for young people, and what it looks like on the ground, isn’t always clear. The cloud of politics surrounding these bills has obscured the medical reality of how ... Read more

COVID-19 has changed the way we do everything — especially when it comes to doctor visits. Older adults have a higher risk of complications from the coronavirus, so it’s best to avoid unnecessary exposure. But sometimes you need to see the doctor in person. And what if you have to go to the hospital? We asked experts for what to expect and how to get the best care, now that some restrictions have been lifted. What to Expect Even though COVID-19 guidelines have led to changes in safety restrictions, health care facilities still have a high level of requirement and ... Read more

April 25, 2024 – Over 2 million people in the 1980s and 1990s had a procedure known as radial keratotomy, a vision-correcting eye surgery that preceded the laser surgery known as LASIK. As part of the procedure, eye surgeons would make tiny cuts in the patient’s cornea, the outermost layer of the eye, in a radial pattern from the center, to flatten the central cornea to correct nearsightedness. The surgery, known as RK, was considered a successful tool for correcting vision at the time, but in recent years, many of these patients who have gone on to have cataract surgery ... Read more

April 24, 2024 – Weights, aerobics, and … Wegovy? Some in the fitness industry are moving to dispense the popular GLP-1 medications to club members, combining the new, easier method of losing weight with the old, more challenging one. Take Life Time Fitness, for example. Late last year, Jeff Zwiefel, chief operating officer, said the gym chain would pilot a program to prescribe weight loss drugs for members. They plan to bring health care professionals into the gyms to deliver the medications, working with their members, primary care doctors, trainers, and nutritionists to form a “comprehensive plan” that includes the ... Read more

Many people who’ve had breast cancer take medications – tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors – to help prevent the cancer from coming back. Doctors prescribe them for people with “hormone positive” tumors, which accounts for about 2 out of 3 breast cancers. This approach saves lives. “It is extremely effective in reducing the risk of cancer recurrence anywhere in the body,” says Erica Mayer, MD, MPH, director of breast cancer clinical research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. For most people who take hormone therapy medications, there aren’t major issues. “In general, very few patients will have side effects that ... Read more