Tag Archives: Patients

Can a new generation of weight-loss drugs finally help patients win at the losing game?

In 1992, a University of Rochester pharmacologist named Michael Weintraub published a study on a drug combination that appeared to produce never-before-seen weight loss. By week 34, his subjects — 121 volunteers — lost, on average, 30 pounds. What’s more, they rated the fenfluramine-plus-phentermine regimen not only more helpful than placebo, but also not terribly “bothersome.” The tiny study… Read More »

What Helps Calm Agitated Dementia Patients?

TUESDAY, Oct. 15, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Dealing with the agitation, anxiety and aggression that often come with dementia is one of the most challenging aspects of caring for someone with this brain disorder. But new research suggests that massage and other non-drug treatments may be more effective than medications. Even just taking people with… Read More »

Heart operation Bernie Sanders underwent often has patients back to normal within weeks

Patients who undergo procedures to unclog their arteries, as Bernie Sanders did, can expect to get back to their normal routines in as early as a week to several weeks, according to cardiologists. The Sanders campaign announced Wednesday that surgeons inserted two stents into one of Sanders’ arteries after discovering a blockage there. Stents help… Read More »

The problem of overdiagnosis: What can patients do?

An interesting article in the journal Pediatrics is both intriguing and sobering. It is intriguing because it lays bare something we don’t talk much about or teach our students about; it is sobering because it describes the potential harm that can come from it, harm I have personally witnessed. The issue is overdiagnosis, and it’s related to our relentless… Read More »

Smart devices are moving from fitness tracking to monitoring patients with chronic illnesses

 verbaska_studio | Getty Images The first generation of wearable devices, like smartwatches and activity trackers, were aimed at helping generally healthy people track their physical activity. Now, the medical industry is looking for ways to use smart gadgets to monitor patients with chronic illnesses. Keeping track of patients after they go home is increasingly important… Read More »