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Expensive Arthritis Pills Have Not Lived Up to the Hype
Seduced by hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, Americans spend $6 billion a year for the arthritis pain-killers Vioxx and Celebrex, said to be as good as over-the-counter drugs — and easier on the stomach. But the two have not lived up to their hype, according to published research and interviews with arthritis doctors…
Pelvic Exams Done Without Permission
At teaching hospitals around the country, medical students routinely practice doing pelvic exams on unconscious, anesthetized female patients — often without the patients’ knowledge or consent. Some of the nation’s 126 medical schools have forbidden the practice, but Dr. Ari Silver-Isenstadt, a Baltimore pediatrician and co-author of a 2003 paper on the topic, said the…
Scientific Support For Yoga Is Slim
I have been standing on my head, off and on, for about 35 years now, as well as sitting cross-legged breathing through one nostril at a time, and — my favorite — lying flat on my back, utterly relaxed, in the so-called “corpse pose.”I am, in other words, one of the 15 million Americans who,…
Unraveling the Mysteries of MS
Judi Bartnicki, 53, had been an artist all her life. Then MS, or multiple sclerosis, struck four years ago, doing its worst damage in her left hand, the one she needs for painting and drawing. “I kept trying to paint and I would drop everything,” she said. Finally, her fiance David Richardson, figured out a…
Does Eating Soy Make you Healthier, or Not?
Health food advocates have long claimed that soy, he little legume found in everything from tofu burgers to smoothies, can protect against heart disease, ward off cancer and combat hot flashes. But those claims are coming under scrutiny, now that a soy food manufacturer, the Solae Co. of St. Louis, Mo., is seeking government approval…
Exercising Your Right to Live Longer (Part 1 on the Importance of Exercise)
It can be rather bewildering, frankly. We all know by now — duh — that we’re supposed to exercise.But how? By lifting weights? Or running? How much? A short walk from the parking lot to the office, or miles and miles a day? How often? Once a week on Saturday mornings, if someone else can…
If I Were the Diet and Exercise Czarina (Part 2 on the Importance of Exercise)
What this fat, out of shape country needs is a Diet and Exercise Czarina. I hereby volunteer. First, let’s get two philosophical things straight. Eating too much and exercising too little is obviously a matter of individual responsibility. Nobody’s force-feeding us, or tying us down so we can’t exercise. But the fact that 64% of…
On the Verge of an Ovarian Cancer Test
Judith Rubel, a former marketing specialist for a Boston-area hospital, seemed an unlikely candidate for ovarian cancer. She was healthy, fit and slim. She had no family history of the disease. Besides, ovarian cancer was pretty rare — only one woman out of 59 gets the disease over a lifetime.“It never occurred to me that…
New Cancer Therapy Easier on the Patient
Eighty-two year old Marie Desilets lives in Dunstable, about an hour’s drive from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. When she discovered that she needed radiation for breast cancer a year or so ago, she faced a dilemma. She could get regular radiation treatments, which would involve being in Boston 5 days a week for…
The 2-hour Marathon
Hardly anyone thought it was possible for a human being to run a mile in less than four minutes – until Roger Bannister did it in 1954. Within 3 years, nine other men had done it, too. In the dark old days, some people thought women shouldn’t compete at all for a variety of silly…
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