MS Maze

Find out how iPads are helping kids during emergency room visits.

Read it: iPads Help Lessen Pain and Anxiety in Children’s ER

Breast Cancer in the News
Breast cancer patients with 25-OH vitamin D deficiencies are more likely to present with aggressive tumors and poorer prognosis than women with optimal levels of vitamin D, according to a recent study from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Previous research has focused on vitamin D deficiencies and cancer risk, but this is one of the first to look at vitamin D and the progression of breast cancer.

Read it: Aggressive Breast Cancer Linked to Low Levels of Vitamin D

Living with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Series
#1 The Lump in my Breast: Meeting the Enemy
#2 Most Breast Lumps are Non-Cancerous: Would mine be?
#3 The Mammogram, the Ultrasound, and ‘the Look’
#4 The Biopsy and Breast Cancer Confirmation
#5 A New Twist: It’s Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
#6 Before the Mastectomy: Planning for the Future
#7 Mastectomy Day: What it’s like to lose a breast
#8 After the Mastectomy: Unveiling and Staging

Kids are getting shortchanged on medical care due to cost. Even among parents who have insurance, the high cost of health care is keeping them from taking their children to the doctor, according to a new study.

Read it:It Costs Too Much to Bring Kids to the Doctor

The power of social media and the Internet can influence medical research priorities, according to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature.

A case in point is a controversial multiple sclerosis treatment and demand for clinical trials in Canada.

Read it: Social Media Alters Medical Research Priorities

Many Americans age 50 and over are not discussing the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with their physicians, according to a recent survey from AARP and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

Read it: Older Americans Not Discussing CAM with Docs

Some antiseptic products and hand sanitizers claim they prevent MRSA infections, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants consumers to know the claims are unproven.

Read it: FDA Warns Companies about Unproven MRSA Prevention Claims

“Acai Berry EXPOSED – Health Reporter Discovers the Shocking Truth.” If you’ve spent any time online, chances are you’ve seen these ads disguised as news stories. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has, and is taking steps to put a stop what it calls deceptive advertising. (Read it: FTC Targets Acai Berry Fake News Sites)

When you read about organ donation, two facts jump out at you right away:

• one organ donor can save up to eight lives
• 18-20 people in the U.S. die each day waiting for an organ

That’s powerful incentive to donate. April is Donate Life Month. Find out how you can donate life… (Read it: The Time to Donate Life is Now)

In the time it takes to answer the phone or the doorbell, a child can locate and swallow a poisonous substance.

March 20 – 26 is National Poison Prevention Week, a week set aside each year since 1961 to highlight the dangers of accidental poisonings and how to prevent them. Is your child safe? (…MORE)

Seventy-one percent of the estimated 26 million people who braved the individual health insurance market in the previous three years found significant roadblocks or were rejected, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund.

The majority of adults seeking health insurance on the individual market face outright rejection due to pre-existing conditions, pre-existing condition exclusions, or higher premiums and higher deductibles. (…MORE)

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently posted test results regarding radiation emitted from some passenger and luggage screening equipment. The reports included calculation errors, missing data, and anomalies, prompting the TSA to announce it will retest all radiation-emitting full-body scanners and other baggage screening equipment that had inaccurate reports.

Is the TSA doing all it can to protect the flying public and airport employees from radiation exposure… and are we receiving accurate information? (…MORE)

Breastfeeding is a perfectly natural, healthy human function, some might even call it beautiful.

Mothers have been breastfeeding their offspring since the dawn of humankind, but modern societal pressures place undue burden on breastfeeding mothers. (MORE)

Heart devices on the market often don’t have adequate data on safety and effectiveness in women. Devices like pacemakers, defibrillators, heart valves, and stents may act differently in women than in men, and there is a stunning lack of information (…MORE)

Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can benefit from the appetite stimulant qualities of cannabis, according to a Canadian study.

For many cancer patients, chemotherapy gives food an unpleasant metallic taste. The sight, smell, and texture of foods can become completely unappetizing. Chemotherapy can also cause a feeling of nausea that compounds the problem, causing many cancer patients, myself included, to lose weight. Too much weight loss can lead to other serious health concerns. (…MORE)

Are you uninsured with a pre-existing health condition? The new high risk-pools may be an option for you.

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP), as part of The Affordable Care Act, is set up to help Americans with pre-existing conditions who have been denied health coverage or priced out of the market.

PCIP is a temporary program, designed as a “bridge” to 2014, when insurers will be prohibited from charging more or denying coverage based on health status. The PCIP program is administered by either state or federal government. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have elected to have their PCIP program administered by the federal government, and 27 states are running their own programs.

You are eligible for PCIP if (…MORE)

photo credit photoxpress.com