
Chickpeas: Easy ways to eat more of this nutritious legume

Do products that claim to stop snoring actually work?

Flowers, chocolates, organ donation — are you in?

Chair yoga: Benefits of a mind-body practice without the risk of falling

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Low-carb foods: Nutritious choices for creating a sustainable diet that's lower in carbohydrates

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A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do

Calcium-rich foods: How to boost your intake of this important mineral

DNR: What is a do-not-resuscitate order?
Medical Tests & Procedures Archive
Articles
The best way to beat colon cancer
When do you need to get screened, and how often?
One of the deadliest cancers can be prevented or detected at a curable stage if you follow recommended screening guidelines.
Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The good news is that the death rate has steadily dropped over the past several decades among older adults. (However, among people under 55, death rates from colon cancer have grown slowly, but steadily, since 2008.)
Blood test could find Alzheimer’s disease before symptoms appear
In the journals
Researchers are close to finding early cancer with a blood test. They may soon do the same with Alzheimer's disease. A new blood test called p-tau217 has shown great promise in diagnosing people with the disease, according to findings published online July 28, 2020, by JAMA.
The test looks for a specific type of tau protein in the blood. In people with Alzheimer's, tau protein in the brain forms tangles. Accumulation of tau protein tangles along with beta-amyloid deposits is thought to play a key role in how the disease develops.
Stress-induced brain activity linked to chest pain from heart disease
Research we're watching
Doctors have long known that mental or psychological stress can lead to angina (chest pain or discomfort caused by inadequate blood to the heart). Now, new research reveals a direct correlation between angina and stress-related activity in the brain's frontal lobe. The study included 148 people with coronary artery disease with an average age of 62. All underwent brain and heart imaging tests done in conjunction with mental stress testing, which involved mental arithmetic and public speaking. Imaging tests were also done under "control" conditions, which featured simple counting and recalling a neutral event. Researchers monitored the participants for angina during the tests; they also assessed angina rates again after two years.
Activity in the inferior frontal lobe area of the brain during mental stress was linked to the severity of self-reported angina, both during the brain imaging and at the two-year follow-up. A better understanding of how the brain reacts to stress may be an important consideration for doctors who treat angina, according to the study's lead author. The study was published online Aug. 10, 2020, by the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.
Smokers may have higher risk of brain aneurysm
Research we're watching
Need another reason to quit smoking? A study published in the September 2020 issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry found that women ages 30 to 60 who smoked had four times the risk of having a brain aneurysm (a weakened artery in the brain that bulges and could burst) compared with nonsmokers.
Researchers looked at nearly 550 women who had a brain scan performed, most often because of persistent headaches. The scans showed that 113 of them had one or more brain aneurysms. These individuals were then matched with 113 people who did not have brain aneurysms. In comparing the two groups, the researchers found not only that smoking drove up the risk of finding a brain aneurysm, but also that women who both smoked and had high blood pressure had seven times the risk compared to nonsmokers with normal blood pressure. If future research shows that smokers also have a significantly higher risk of brain aneurysm rupture, women smokers ages 30 to 60 might be candidates for aneurysm screening.
Considering cataract surgery? What you should know
The operation to replace a clouded lens is low-risk, fast, and effective, but requires some decision making.
Image: CJ_Romas/ Thinkstock
Cataract surgery—which involves removing the eye's clouded lens and replacing it with a clear synthetic version—once required several days in the hospital and a long recovery period. Today it is performed under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis, and people are back to their normal lives within days. The success rate is high, and the rate of vision-threatening complications is relatively low. For people with cataracts, the decision whether to have surgery may be easy to make. However, two additional decisions might be more difficult: when to have surgery and what type of lens implant to get, says Dr. Laura Fine, an ophthalmologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Why you may need cataract surgery
To a great extent, cataracts are a normal consequence of aging. Cataract formation is usually a gradual process that plays out over years. The lenses of our eyes become less transparent, less resilient, and often thicker. By age 80, half of us will have cataracts.
Non-HDL cholesterol, explained
Ask the doctor
Image: © jarun011/Thinkstock
Q. My recent cholesterol test result included "non-HDL cholesterol." What is the significance of this number?
A. Your non-HDL cholesterol result refers to your total cholesterol value minus your HDL cholesterol. When you get your blood drawn for a cholesterol test (also known as a lipid profile or lipid panel), the report usually includes four numbers: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol; high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; triglycerides; and total cholesterol.
Carotid artery ultrasound: Should you have this test?
This screening test is simple and painless, but it isn't appropriate for most people.
Image: © VILevi/Thinkstock
For years, for-profit companies have mailed offers for health screening tests to homes across the United States. For about $150, you can undergo a series of ultrasound scans, which the companies claim can uncover potentially dangerous cardiovascular conditions. One scan looks at your carotid arteries, which run up either side of your neck.
Just like arteries in the heart and elsewhere in the body, the carotid arteries can become clogged with fatty deposits. Narrowing of a carotid artery (also called carotid artery stenosis) can increase the risk of stroke — the narrower the artery, the higher the risk.
High calcium score: What’s next?
Ask the doctor
Image: © Tinpixels/Getty Images
Q. I recently got a coronary artery calcium scan and the results showed that I have quite a bit of calcium in my heart arteries (my score was 900). Should I have an angiogram to confirm the results? I don't have any heart-related symptoms, but I'm worried about having a heart attack.
A. That is a very high coronary artery calcium score. But the short answer to your question is no. The main reason to have an angiogram is to locate a narrowed heart artery that is causing chest pain or other symptoms. For the test, a cardiologist injects a dye that is visible on x-rays into the blood vessels of your heart, then takes a series of x-ray images. This is done in preparation for angioplasty, in which a narrowed artery is opened, or as a prelude to referral for coronary artery bypass surgery.
When do you need a heart stent?
A stent can save your life during a heart attack, but can it help prevent one?
Image: © jauhari1/Getty Images
An estimated two million people get coronary artery stents every year, and if you have coronary artery disease, there is a good chance your doctor will suggest you get one.
But do you really need it? In 2013, the American Medical Association issued a report that said stents were one of the most highly overused medical interventions.
The best way to measure your blood pressure at home
Get an approved blood pressure device and follow these steps.
Monitoring your blood pressure at home has always made good sense. Blood pressure is one of the main indicators of cardiovascular health, and taking measurements is an important way to manage chronic conditions between doctor visits.
Now, with a pandemic under way and fewer people visiting their doctors, the case for monitoring blood pressure at home has never been stronger. Home monitoring yields valuable information for you and your physician, who'll be counting on you to provide accurate blood pressure measurements when you talk on the phone or in a video chat.

Chickpeas: Easy ways to eat more of this nutritious legume

Do products that claim to stop snoring actually work?

Flowers, chocolates, organ donation — are you in?

Chair yoga: Benefits of a mind-body practice without the risk of falling

Need a prescription for an ED medication? What to know about BlueChew, hims, Roman, and other online ED medication retailers

Low-carb foods: Nutritious choices for creating a sustainable diet that's lower in carbohydrates

Pilates: A good option for older adults?

A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do

Calcium-rich foods: How to boost your intake of this important mineral

DNR: What is a do-not-resuscitate order?
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