By C. Claiborne Ray
Q. It is well known that mosquitoes, fleas, lice and ticks transmit human diseases, but what about cockroaches?
A. Read More…
Safety
How Many People Can’t Tolerate Statins?
By Richard Klasco, M.D.
Medical researchers, normally a genteel lot, disagree sharply on the extent to which side effects from statin drugs are a problem.
Q. Are there studies concerning the number of people who cannot tolerate statins?
A. Yes. Studies show that about 5 percent to 10 percent of people are unable to tolerate statins, largely because of muscle aches and related side effects, including potential muscle damage. But… cont
The Best Medicine?
By Mikkael A. Sekeres, M.D. May 3, 2018
What’s Meaningful to Our Patients
At the age of 28, my patient was already a war-weary veteran of leukemia.
When his cancer was diagnosed, we treated him with a multi-drug cocktail of chemotherapy over months, first with more intensive regimens that sidelined him from being able to work, and then with milder medicines.
His leukemia came raging back, though, so we treated him again, this time with one of the new, expensive immunotherapies that has been approved recently by the Food and Drug Administration. These are not curative, but in his case eliminated enough of the leukemia to enable him to receive a bone-marrow transplant, which did have the potential of curing him. cont
Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You?
Ask Well
ALICE CALLAHAN APRIL 27, 2018
Q. Are there benefits of drinking alkaline water, or is what I’m reading just a bunch of hooey?
A. Despite the claims, there’s no evidence that water marketed as alkaline is better for your health than tap water. Continue reading the main story
Global Health
A column by Donald G. McNeil Jr. about global health news.
Bill and Melinda Gates Grade the World’s Health
Bill and Melinda Gates handed the world a report card last week, assessing its progress on 18 global health indicators: infant mortality, AIDS, vaccine use, smoking rates and so on.
Lasting Merit Found in a Tuberculosis Vaccine Invented a Century Ago
Tuberculosis kills almost two million people a year. A perfect vaccine could save many of them, but the one now in use — invented in the 1920s and known as BCG, for Bacillus Calmette-Guérin — has so many flaws that some countries, including the United States, have never adopted it.
The Wrong Way to Keep Kids Safe From Predators
Opinion | The New York Times
They need more than protection; they need the chance to develop survival skills.
My heart is racing as he kisses my cheek. “Bye, Mom,” he says. Then he grabs his backpack and walks away. I want to snatch him back. I’ll settle for puking instead.
It’s the summer of 2015, and my baby is going off to camp. It’s 3,000 miles away. It’s his first time flying on a plane by himself.
GetWell.org 