Recent Articles
Court ruling curbs unfounded claims for memory supplement
Health benefits of ginger and simple ways to incorporate this zesty root into your diet
Effective tips for reducing eye strain
Do you spend most of your day sitting? These hip flexor stretches are for you
No-cost, low-cost, and bigger splurges for climate-conscious gifts
What can cause blood in stool?
Sundowning: What to know if your loved one with dementia experiences late-day symptoms
An action plan to fight unhealthy inflammation
How to treat spider bites and when you need to see your doctor
Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
Women's Health Archive
Articles
Emergencies and First Aid - How to Make a Sling
How to Make a Sling
1. To make a sling, cut a piece of cloth, such as a pillowcase, about 40 inches square. Then cut or fold the square diagonally to make a triangle. Slip one end of the bandage under the arm and over the shoulder. Bring the other end of the bandage over the other shoulder, cradling the arm. | 2. Tie the ends of the bandage behind the neck. Fasten the edge of the bandage, near the elbow, with a safety pin. |
Collar and Cuff Sling |
Use a collar and cuff sling for a suspected fracture of the collarbone or elbow when a triangular sling is not available. Wrap a strip of sheet, a pants leg, or pantyhose around the wrist and tie the ends behind the neck. |
Emergencies and First Aid - How to Splint a Fracture
How to Splint a Fracture
For a lower arm or wrist fracture (left), carefully place a folded newspaper, magazine, or heavy piece of clothing under the arm. Tie it in place with pieces of cloth. A lower leg or ankle fracture (right) can be splinted similarly, with a bulky garment or blanket wrapped and secured around the limb. A person with a hip or pelvis fracture should not be moved. If the person must be moved, the legs should be strapped together (with a towel or blanket in between them) and the person gently placed on a board, as for a back injury. | |
Emergencies and First Aid - Heimlich Maneuver on an Adult
Heimlich Maneuver on an Adult
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Emergencies and First Aid - Heimlich Maneuver on a Child
Heimlich Maneuver on a Child
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Emergencies and First Aid - Heimlich Maneuver on an Infant
Heimlich Maneuver on an Infant
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Help with online health
Frustrated by medical and health care websites? New research suggests seniors don't use this health technology like they should, but it may not be their fault.
Image: © BananaStock/Thinkstock
It's said that you can find just about anything on the Internet. Yet when it comes to finding information about health, many seniors are at a loss.
"Few seniors are using digital health technology," says Dr. David Levine, of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, who specializes in medical technology information.
Ask the doctor: Why would I need Prolia?
Denosumab (Prolia) is recommended for people at high risk for fractures for whom other bone-loss treatments were ineffective or had intolerable side effects.
Is there hope for leg cramp sufferers?
Despite the lack of a universally recognized therapy for nighttime leg cramps, a few approaches may be worth trying.
Image: Monkey Business Images/Thinkstock
Few things are more jarring to a night's sleep than shooting calf pains. If you have nocturnal leg cramps, you have lots of company. Although they can strike people at any time of life, they become more common with age. Among people over 60, almost half report having leg cramps, a third say they are awakened by cramps at night, and 15% report weekly episodes.
What causes leg cramps?
Preventing cramps
There are no FDA-approved medications for leg cramps, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force hasn't issued guidelines for treating them. However, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has issued the following advice on common therapies, based on scientific evidence of effectiveness.
Stretching exercises. The AAN says that there are not enough data to say for sure that stretching helps reduce the frequency of muscle cramps. That doesn't mean that the exercises are ineffective or harmful, and doing them can help contribute to the flexibility of your legs.
Quinine. There is solid evidence that quinine and quinine derivatives are effective in reducing the frequency of muscle cramps, although the magnitude of benefit is small. However, quinine is out-of-bounds for most people. The FDA has issued repeated warnings against using quinine (which is approved only to treat certain types of malaria) to prevent or treat leg cramps because it may cause serious side effects, including bleeding and kidney damage. Although doctors can still prescribe quinine, it is recommended only when cramps are disabling and when the person can be carefully monitored for side effects.
Vitamin B complex. There is some evidence that taking a daily capsule containing eight B vitamins—B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6, B7 (biotin), B9 (folate), and B12—may prevent cramps.
Calcium-channel blockers. Evidence indicates that one calcium-channel blocker—diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor XR)—is possibly effective.
Ineffective therapies. The AAN found enough evidence to indicate that magnesium supplements and gabapentin (Neurontin) aren't likely to help.
Other remediesIn situations like nighttime leg cramps, where there are no widely accepted treatments, unproven remedies may be worth a try. The following are low-risk and have enthusiastic proponents.
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Look on the bright side and maybe even live longer
Studies suggest that adopting a sunnier outlook may improve your health and even extend your life.
Image: © lzf /Thinkstock
In these turbulent times, it's sometimes a struggle to maintain a glass-half-full view of life. But if you can, it may serve you well. A growing body of research links optimism—a sense that all will be well—to a lower risk for mental or physical health issues and to better odds of a longer life.
One of the largest such studies was led by researchers Dr. Kaitlin Hagan and Dr. Eric Kim at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their team analyzed data from 70,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study who, in 2004, had answered questions about how they viewed their futures
Many preventive mastectomies may be unnecessary
Women with early cancer in one breast may opt to remove the other, healthy breast because they overestimate their risk of a second cancer.
Recent Articles
Court ruling curbs unfounded claims for memory supplement
Health benefits of ginger and simple ways to incorporate this zesty root into your diet
Effective tips for reducing eye strain
Do you spend most of your day sitting? These hip flexor stretches are for you
No-cost, low-cost, and bigger splurges for climate-conscious gifts
What can cause blood in stool?
Sundowning: What to know if your loved one with dementia experiences late-day symptoms
An action plan to fight unhealthy inflammation
How to treat spider bites and when you need to see your doctor
Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
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