Searching for symptoms online is causing people to obsess about aches and pains, experts say.
Anxiety over health ’caused by cyber-chondria’
Reply
Daily Archives: 06/09/2017
‘Pen’ identifies cancer in 10 seconds
The technology could help surgeons ensure they remove all of a tumour.
Public ‘tricked’ into buying unhealthy food
“Upselling” is fuelling obesity by persuading people to buy larger portions, say health officials.
Sleep may help eyewitnesses from choosing innocent suspects
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Synthetic version of popular anticoagulant poised for clinical trials
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Supercharging silicon batteries
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Watching My Mother Age Taught Me About America’s Lack Of Care For The Vulnerable
Since I teach mostly young people, college age, and have been an active cyclist with much younger friends for a while now, I have depended on a persistent self-deprecating joke about being old.
Since the end of 2016, a pelvis fracture, a winter of illnesses including the flu for the first time in decades, and then my mom’s stroke followed by my father’s death have all tempted me to shift that joke to a more serious view of life. However, I am increasingly convinced the problem with the human condition is not aging ― which is inevitable and preferred to the alternative ― but a lack of compassion and community in the U.S.
While literature and pop culture are awash in portrayals of the challenges that families bring, Kurt Vonnegut spent a great deal of his work as a writer ― in speeches, essays, and fiction ― arguing passionately for more human kindness as well as the importance of the extended family, an idealizing of tribal life that recognized the horror that is human loneliness.
Like most people, Vonnegut himself may have failed some or even often as a spouse, sibling, and father, but that doesn’t diminish the power and truth behind his essential message.
I suspect I have compassion for Vonnegut’s flaws since I share them along with his ideological commitments to kindness and community ― regardless of how inept I can be at both.
And my curmudgeon tendencies are strong, but as I grow older, and as I struggle with the necessary deteriorations of aging, I am more and more apt to recognize the futility of lamenting aging, of fearing and regretting old age (whatever that may be).
I remain frustrated with aging, and my vanity is triggered more than I like to admit. But I am more convinced than ever that the real fear is a lack of community as I continue to struggle with how to provide for my mom the sort of late life she deserves despite the consequences of her stoke (which took a significant part of her humanity) and the barriers we are encountering because, to be blunt, she has very little money to sustain her ― and the typically horrible insurance that most working-class and poor people are saddled with (if they have any at all) in the godforsaken U.S.
Many times, I have lamented that in the U.S. we simply do not care about children, and about that I am both deeply saddened and convinced. But that callousness and carelessness is a subset of a much larger and damning part of the so-called American character: we simply do not care about any vulnerable populations: children, disabled people, carers, and the elderly.
The great and caustic residue of being a rugged-individual culture is that we are willfully choosing to reject community in favor of Social Darwinism, consumerism, and the almighty dollar.
Instead of social safety nets being a foundational commitment among us, we have chosen to cast everyone to the fate of the Invisible Hand, our claims to being a Christian nation reduced to so-much hokum in practice.
The cost of growing old is in fact not the deterioration of the mind and body, but the consequences of aging being magnified by a people who refuse to provide for vulnerable populations as an unwavering commitment to human dignity.
I will continue to joke with my younger students and friends about being old; it is fun and often a way to assert my humanity into an environment that I recognize will eventually discard me because of age, although my privileges of being male, white, and well-educated will inoculate me for quite some time.
Despite my many, many flaws, my anger about the callousness of the U.S. toward vulnerable populations is not about me, and extends well beyond my sadness at how the world does not really care about my aging and disabled mother.
My anger is reflected in why Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” has resonated so powerfully over the past several months. Smith forces us to admit “[t]he world is at least/ fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative/ estimate,” and she keeps us focused on the vulnerability of children.
My anger is enflamed because I do believe Smith’s closing lines: “This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.”
My anger grows because I doubt we will ever assure that comes to fruition.
To squander vulnerable populations ― from children to the elderly ― is to abandon our souls, to spit in the face of beauty, to declare our society morally bankrupt.
Free IVF no longer offered in county where it all began
The decision will save £700,000 per year, local health chiefs claim.
Health24.com | This is how diabetes, asthma can lead to suicide
Chronic diseases and conditions are often the result of unhealthy behaviours that can be changed. Examples of such behaviours are lack of exercise, poor nutrition, tobacco use, and alcohol abuse.
Young adults with chronic diseases like asthma and diabetes are more than three times as likely to try to kill themselves as their healthy peers, a new Canadian study suggests.
They’re also 28% more likely to think of suicide and 134% more likely to have plans to do so.
Chronic illness and mental disorders
“Evidence suggests risk for suicide attempts is highest soon after young people are diagnosed with a chronic illness,” said lead researcher Mark Ferro, a professor in the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. “There is a critical window of opportunity for prevention and continued monitoring.”
A recent Health24 article indicates that suffering from chronic pain such as backache be debilitating and even fatal – research has shown a link between chronic pain and suicide and depression.
The current study was published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Little time for mental health concerns
The researchers also found that young people are more likely to have a mental disorder when they suffer from a chronic illness, although it’s not clear if one causes the other.
Still, “having a chronic illness may increase the risk for the development of psychiatric disorder, which in turn, increases risk for suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts,” Ferro said in a university news release. “Having both a chronic illness and psychiatric disorder has a compounding effect, further increasing the odds of suicidal thoughts.”
According to Ferro, the study findings point to the importance of focusing on mental illness during doctor visits instead of just the chronic illness.
“For many young people with chronic conditions, their physical illnesses take precedence in doctor’s visits, leaving little, if any, time for mental health concerns,” Ferro said. “While the idea that there is no health without mental health is becoming more pervasive, we still have a long way to go.”
Image credit: iStock
NEXT ON HEALTH24X
Health24.com | 5 alternatives to starchy veggies at dinner
Who doesn’t love a big serving of creamy mashed potatoes or a side of steamy rice with their chicken? They’re delicious, but it’s easy to overindulge in these starchy, higher-calorie foods while falling short on healthier vegetables.
Try these ideas for smart substitutions that are lower in calories and carbs, but will still delight your taste buds and satisfy your appetite.
1. Swop the potato for cauliflower
Start with cauliflower, a non-starchy vegetable that easily mimics starchy ones, says registered dietitian Rachel Begun. You can mash, whip or rice cauliflower just like potatoes, and even use it to make pizza crust.
2. Rethink your spaghetti
Try zucchini noodles or butternut noodles instead of regular spaghetti and top it with fresh tomato sauce. While spaghetti squash is not that readily available in South Africa, you can shred the fleshy insides of a gem squash and top it with a tomato-based pasta sauce. For a great mac and cheese alternative, scoop out the insides of gem squash and bake it with a sprinkling of low-fat zesty cheese. It’s a great source of vitamin C, fibre and potassium, plus you’ll get calcium from the cheese.
3. Roast a variety of veggies
Roast gem squash, patty pans, zucchini or Hubbard squash for lighter yet still sweet swaps for sweet potatoes.
4. Incorporate whole grains
When you want to have a grain, make it a whole grain, like couscous, quinoa or barley. Whole grain side dishes are a great way to get fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. To save on calories, cut your usual portion in half and add in steamed or lightly sautéed vegetables to boost volume and nutrients. And don’t forget to use herbs and spices to liven up the taste.
5. Go green
Get into the habit thinking “dinner is not dinner without a side of greens”. Don’t make your family force down kale if everyone hates it. Green veggies do not have to be limited to a bowl of limp, steamed spinach. Sprinkle green beans with a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs and roast them in the oven. As long as there is a splash of green on your plate, it’s all good.
So, get out of the potato-and-rice rut and savour these easy substitutions to spice up your dinner tonight.
Image credit: iStock
NEXT ON HEALTH24X
