Health

Far beyond their usefulness as last-minute Christmas presents, gift cards now often serve a more sinister purpose: enabling scammers to steal money from consumers – to the tune of $74 million during the first nine months of 2019 alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission [FTC].

Although the holidays bring thoughts of celebrations and togetherness with friends and family, many seniors face an entirely different type of holiday season: a lonely one.

In addition to visits from family and friends, the holiday season can often bring unwelcome guests: anxiety, fatigue and depression. The holidays come with a long list of demands, and keeping up with them along with the realities of daily life – all while trying to make things “perfect” – can become overwhelming.

After “falling back” nearly a month ago, most of us probably believe our bodies have fully adjusted to the reduced amount of sunlight that comes with the end of Daylight Savings Time [DST]. Not so, says researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who claim that setting the clocks back an hour has a harmful long-term impact on many peoples’ brains.

Every November, Bladder Health Awareness Month brings a national focus to bladder problems like incontinence, which becomes a major health issue as people age – especially among women.

Diabetes has exploded worldwide, from 108 million people with the disease in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. Just ahead of this year’s observance, a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health has found that a new type of treatment improves control of type 1 diabetes while freeing patients from the burden of constant monitoring.

Most pregnant women in the U.S. don’t get both the flu and whooping cough vaccines in spite of the fact that together, these two immunizations can protect them and their newborns from illnesses that can be especially serious for them.

For the second consecutive year, St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield has been named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery™ by the independent rating organization Healthgrades.

Moms-to-be are generally advised to reduce or eliminate alcohol even before they start trying to conceive in order to protect their infants against birth defects, particularly heart abnormalities. However, new research shows that this advice should apply to both parents.

The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has announced recalls of a number of a growing number of medications used to treat high blood pressure over the past several months, due to the discovery of possible cancer-causing impurities in them.