Drugs and Medications Features
- Forbidden Medicine
If it weren't for his few daily tokes from marijuana cigarettes, Kiyoshi Kuromiya believes he would no longer be alive
- Grand Parenting?
Tips for staying sane when you're bringing up your grandchildren.
- Weak in the Knees?
An innovative fitness program is helping female athletes stay healthy
- Silent Symptoms
You'd certainly know if you were having a heart attack, wouldn't you? After all, you couldn't possibly miss symptoms as unmistakable as crushing chest pain or extreme shortness of breath.
- Abstinence vs. Sex Ed.
We know what kids are doing but what are they learning?
- Getting a Food Guru
When Susan Bilyeu was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago, her doctor's advice seemed more like an ultimatum: Lose weight and change your eating habits or take blood sugar-lowering medication for life.
- Putting the Squeeze on Juice
When you hear the phrase 'All things in moderation,' fruit juice probably doesn't come to mind, but most pediatricians caution parents that allowing kids to drink excessive amounts of juice is a recipe for poor health.
- The Good Bugs
Looking to prevent or treat diarrhea? Kick your digestive tract into gear with probiotics.
- When You Need to Go, Go, Go
The discomfort and inconvenience associated with overactive bladder usually can be reduced.
- Peace After the Affair
Jerry Rogers had a dead-end job and a dull marriage. He could usually cope on the job, but not at home. 'After years of being with the same woman,' says Rogers (not his real name), 'the desire to have sex with another woman was overwhelming.' When the opportunity for an affair came along, he couldn't resist. 'The affair helped me escape,' Rogers says.
- Sound Sleep
Loud snoring might be a symptom of sleep apnea.
- Eye on a Cure
Every night, insomnia and nightmares; every day, panic, anxiety, depression. These were the ruins of childhood and adolescence for Donna Bowers of Placentia, Calif., who was abused for 19 years by a close relative. Ten years of psychotherapy did little to ease her symptoms, the classic signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Think Healthy, Be Healthy?
A number of recent studies have uncovered a startling fact: A man's opinion about his health is one of the most important keys to his longevity.
- Life of the Party
What's the key to a long life? After years of working with older people, gerontologist Thomas Glass knew the answer wasn't simply good health. 'There are people who seem relatively healthy who die in their 60s,' says Glass, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.
- Total Body Medicine
When Nancy Nichols began her osteopathic practice 15 years ago, no hospital in her town of Mesa, AZ, would grant her privileges. Today, she's welcome to practice at all of them.
- Hunting for Answers
With 'mad cow' panic sweeping Western Europe, a related illness here in deer and elk has officials on alert.
- Gambling With Your Health
Greater access to gambling can increase addiction.
- Beyond Depression
Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness among adults.
- Way Too Personal
Secrets, dreams, fears, fantasies -- all are shared with the professionals we hire to guide us toward optimal mental health. It's no surprise that patients often become attracted to their therapists.
- Abortion Debate Clouds Future of Stem Cell Research
Does stem cell research result in the destruction of life, or is it the harbinger of a lifesaving scientific tool?
- Contagious Daycare?
More parents are leaving their children in day care than ever before: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 65% of women with children under the age of six were part of the labor force in 1998, compared with only 44% in 1975.
- Email Health Scares
The Internet has made it simple for women to spread health information with a click of the mouse. Some of these health claims gain steam as women discuss the alleged dangers of everyday products.
- Searching for Sex Therapy
If the thrill has completely deserted your sex life, your performance flags repeatedly, or your appreciation for porno movies exceeds your interest in being intimate with your partner, it might be time to consider some sessions with a sex therapist.
- Avoid a Broken Heart
Your lover is cheating on you. Your job has just been relocated to Taiwan. Your brother wants to borrow another grand. And to top it off, your cat's been scratching your antique divan. It doesn't help at this point for your doctor to tell you that hostility is bad for your heart.
- Tracking a Vision Thief
At first, the only clue might be slightly distorted or blurry vision, or difficulty reading. When it gets worse, you decide to see your eye doctor. In doing so, you might learn you have a condition called age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. In AMD, the macula -- the area of the retina that is responsible for your sharpest central vision -- deteriorates.
- Doctors of the World Unite?
Union membership, which has been steadily declining in the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, might be poised to gain some new ground in the health care industry.
- The Sweet Science of Dozing
One of the most important pieces of equipment in the Boston University office of psychologist William Anthony, Ph.D., is a long beige couch. But Anthony doesn't use it for counseling sessions. He takes naps there.
- Probing the Power of Prayer
When Aretha Franklin crooned the words 'I'll say a little prayer for you' in the hit 1960s song she probably didn't imagine that the soulful pledge would become the stuff of serious science. But increasingly, scientists are studying the power of prayer, and in particular its role in healing people who are sick.
- Who's Lighting the Fire?
In your romantic relationship, who usually initiates sex? You? Your partner. Or do you both take turns? Your answer may be linked to how sexually satisfied you are.
- How Your Vaccines are Approved
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that each year up to 50,000 children and adults are hospitalized because of the virus, and that 20 to 40 people die from it.
- The Future of Follicles
Science is inching its way to a cure for baldness.
- Fish Oil to Treat Depression?
Dave thinks a lot about fish these days. Study after study has suggested benefits for omega-3 fatty acids, which are plentiful in certain fish oils. But what intrigues Dave isn't that omega-3's might reduce his risk of heart attack, or ease the pain of arthritis. He's hoping to lubricate his mind.
- Good Fat, Bad Fat
Americans have become downright fat-phobic. And with good reason: Scientists have pointed to fat as a possible cause for diseases ranging from heart disease to obesity to some cancers. In response, store shelves are now lined with fat-free potato chips, luncheon meats, and cookies, all concocted so people can literally have their cake and eat it too.
- Harvest Your Own Herbs
Maybe there's nothing you like better than a cup of herbal tea to begin each day. So you're thinking how much better it would be if you brewed it from fresh herbs, instead of dropping one of those prepackaged bags into boiling water.
- Plagued by Pollen
Preventive tips, treatments, and more: Your survival guide for the spring allergy season.
- Who Gets the Last Say?
It's also a complicated process. Everything from the patient's age, to the chances of surviving aggressive treatment, to his or her wishes for end-of-life care must be taken into account.
- Donating Nourishment
Donated Human breast milk is also used to help heal babies with infectious diseases, severe diarrhea, and pneumonia.
- Coping with Workplace Stress
A look at male-specific problems when dealing with workplace stress.
- Avoid Toy Horror Stories
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), more than 120, 000 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms in 1998 for Holiday toy-related injuries, and 14 children died.
- The State of Women's Health
Ten years ago, a woman suffering a heart attack was too often misdiagnosed. Without the chest pains commonly seen in men, her symptoms of dizziness or back pain were often dismissed as unimportant.
- Murder-suicides in Elderly Rise
A typical homicide-suicide case involves a depressed, controlling husband who shoots his ill wife, according to Donna Cohen, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of South Florida's department of aging and mental health.
- Alternative Medicine for Rover
Thousands of pet lovers are turning to alternative approaches for their four-footed friends. New professional associations for veterinary acupuncturists and chiropractors have been created. But do the alternative treatments they promote really work?
- Having a Happy Retirement
When Saeed Amanullah retired seven years ago, he thought he had his life all figured out. Like many people hitting the retirement trail, he planned to do some consulting work and to go abroad to see the world.
- Sunshine For SAD Sufferers
As winter approaches and the days get shorter, millions of people once again develop the sadness and loss of energy that is characteristic of seasonal affective disorder. Find out what's behind this mysterious condition and what can be done about it.
- The ABCs of Vitamins
Find out the history behind the most popular vitamin supplements.
- Disability Insurance and Women
Disability insurance is designed to provide benefits when a policyholder can't perform his or her primary job.
- When Santa Stops Being Real
When your child starts guessing the truth about St. Nick.
- Is the Environment Male-Friendly?
Rapidly falling sperm counts in the United States. Rising rates of genital defects in male infants. Unprecedented numbers of cases of testicular cancer among young American males.
- Better Shape for Better Sex
Gush on and on about the usual benefits of regular exercise -- helping to keep blood pressure at normal levels, weight control, and overall well-being -- and before long even the dedicated exercisers within earshot will be stifling yawns. But drop just a hint about how regular workouts can improve life in the bedroom, and you've got the attention of even the most stubborn couch spuds.
- Taking Medications Correctly
Taking prescription drugs in a wrong way can lead to serious problems -- even poisoning.