Is it Possible to Counteract the Risks of Smoking?

Smoking is hazardous to one’s health. Smoking causes cancer. Smoking harms unborn babies. Second-hand smoke poses an increasing number of health-related risks. These are the warnings printed on the packaging of tobacco products in some countries across the world today. And yet, despite these dire warnings, some of which are accompanied by graphic pictures of [...]

Neuroblastoma Immunotherapy Trial

Scientists in the UK are studying immunotherapy as a possible weapon in the fight against the childhood cancer, neuroblastoma. The cancer, which affects the nervous system and is most commonly found in children less than five years of age, currently accounts for approximately 17 percent of cancer deaths in children. The disease is caused by [...]

Prescription Drug Abuse

The incorrect use of prescription drugs is rapidly becoming a very serious issue in the United States. Increasing numbers of individuals seek simple solutions, most often in the form of a pill, for a variety of symptoms which were either not recognized or not considered to be abnormal five, ten, or even fifteen years ago. [...]

Why Americans Are Turning to Alternative Medicine and Techniques

Looking back even 20 years ago, prior to the advent of global communication resulting from widespread use of the Internet, information as it pertains to scientific or medical fields was generally restricted to specific medical journals or publications that were only released periodically throughout a given year. Twenty years ago we did not have Google; [...]

How Safe Are Your Cosmetics?

The cosmetics industry is one that has long been known to dabble in the realm of borderline-acceptable ingredients with respect to their products. In many ways, it is analogous to the food industry and the international debate as to which particular food additives various countries consider to be acceptable. The European Union bans certain additives, [...]

Will Losing Your Appendix Affect Your Health?

In humans the appendix is a pouch-like swelling of the large intestine located at the bottom of the caecum, wherein the small intestine empties its content. The appendix varies in length from two to four inches and is roughly half an inch thick in diameter. Its inner lining, known as the mucosa, is continuous with [...]

Managing Heartburn /Acid Reflux – Allopathic and Natural Treatments

Heartburn is a condition that affects 70 million individuals in the US – approximately 20 percent of the population – each year. It is caused by stomach acid returning to the esophagus from the stomach. Although it has nothing to do with the heart, the chest pain it causes is very similar to that of [...]

Trigger Finger Syndrome: Symptoms and Treatment Options

Trigger finger, or stenosing tenosynovitis, its proper name, is a snapping or clicking of any of the fingers when opened or closed. It can be either painful or painless. The digit locks in a bent position. To date the cause of trigger finger is not known, although where trauma occurs to the palm or the [...]

Seasonal Affective Disorder: Symptoms and Treatments for “SAD” Depression

First mentioned in medical literature in 1985, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, also known as the winter blues or winter depression, is among the newer recognized medical conditions. It tends to affect those who live away from the equator, in northern climes, and is quite common in places where there is often snow for much [...]

Are Prostate Cancer Screenings Truly Effective?

Since 1987, millions of men have been subjected to PSA testing for prostate cancer. Recent published studies, however, suggest that this screening may be largely responsible for a serious over-diagnosis of the disease over the past two decades. What Is PSA Screening? PSA is an acronym for prostate-specific antigen. Found in the blood, this protein [...]

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