On October 1st, every state in the U.S. will open an online health insurance marketplace. For states that have opted to run their own insurance exchange (rather than letting the federal government set it up), the challenge now is informing residents about how to use these new marketplaces. Americans who already have insurance probably don't need to know the ins and outs of online exchanges,…
Doctors and nurses have always known the importance of treating a stroke as soon as possible, but a new study from the medical journal, Stroke, has shown just how important it is to diagnose and offer care to stroke victims as soon as possible.
Published in August 2013, the study demonstrated that in order to greatly minimize…
This year, award-winning starlet Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, after genetic testing showed an 87 percent chance that the actress would develop breast cancer. In light of Jolie's very public medical announcement, many women with a family history of cancer considered taking a similar genetic test.
Available…
A national programme of regular health checks operated by the UK public health authorities has been called into question by both independent research and the Royal College of General Practitioners, which represents doctors responsible for primary care.
New research is throwing a clearer light onto some of the processes that bring about specific cancers via investigations into the basic building blocks - our cell and genes. This is allowing scientists to discover exactly how smoking or exposure to ultraviolet light can lead to cancer and also confirm if a particular environmental hazard has been the cause of a specific cancer.
When it comes to advising how best to manage the medical conditions that are the principal causes of death in the prosperous west, there is absolute clarity from the health profession. Whether it is heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancers of the breast and the colon, the simple message rings out very clear - more exercise is the one simple thing that almost anyone can do to reduce the…
Until the new changes made were announced in England this week, only certain 'prescribers' have been allowed to assess patients and prescribe medicine to aid their recovery. Some of these medical professionals are known as 'Independent Prescribers', and they include doctors, dentists nurses, pharmacists and optometrist. But news this week, has seen another two professions…
Recent research has confirmed previous findings that taller people are more likely to suffer from some cancers. However, for a range of other serious conditions - particularly heart disease and strokes - the reverse is true with these ailments being more common among shorter people. The reason why height should be associated with these illnesses is far from clear and is the subject of…
Changes to the current NHS policy regarding medical workers will mean that as of April 2014, HIV positive doctors, nurses, dentists in the UK will be able to perform surgical procedures as they could before the 1990s when the restriction was imposed. Chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies made the announcements last week and declared that the existing legislation was outdated and introduced…
A recent article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a Journal of the American Medical Association Network publication, has highlighted how modern doctors deal with patients who come to them concerned about back pain. According to the studies, an increasing number of cases of back pain have been…
English