In 1996 employees who reported chronic pain and continued to work was 19%. In 2006 the rate raised to 26% as reported by Pain And Work and done in partnership with the NationalPainFoundation.org… Read more

Since the 1950s stress has directly been linked to coronary heart disease. In one study chronic stress at work or at home was attributed to a 30% increase of death during a 9-year study. Depression has also been linked as a result to stress. But it is also noted that both heart disease and depression… Read more

I have a Unum Long term disability policy, I became disabled and unable to work for several reasons. Unum paid me for 7 yrs and then decided I was no longer disabled. I sent them update reports MRI, Nerve study showing them my problems have gotten worse not better and they don’t care. If you… Read more

Release of Michael Moore’s, Sicko is a week away and drug companies prepare to counter attack claims made in the film. They feel the American health care system has been unjustly characterized as ‘sick.’ One issue they have with the film is that Moore doesn’t pin down what works and what needs to be improved… Read more

According to an article presented by PhysOrg, isradipine is the first promising major advancement in the treatment for Parkinson’s disease in 30 years. For the past 3 decades, Parkinson’s has been treated principally with L-DOPA, which is used because it converts into dopamine. Studies of Parkinson’s patients have shown that they have insufficient dopamine, which… Read more

Researchers wanted to better understand what brain circuits suppress or assist in long-term memory retrieval. Yadin Dudai and colleagues report in the 01/10/2008 journal of Neuron on a study performed on a group of volunteers. The group was divided into those who were susceptible to hypnotic suggestions and those not. Both groups were shown a… Read more

For individuals who struggle with fibromyalgia, and their family and friends, the National Fibromyalgia Association’s (NFA) Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, ‘Caring by Sharing’ is quickly approaching and just weeks away. If you are in California you can join their Walk of Fame on May 10, 2008. The walk/run will be held at The Block at Orange… Read more

The on-line journal, Nature Medicine, reports that scientists from the University of Rochester Medical Center have an unique approach to ridding the brain of amyloid-beta—a protein that has been connected with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In a healthy brain, the protein sLRP (soluble low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein) attaches itself to amyloid-beta proteins, then neutralizes them—70-90%… Read more

The leading cause of cognitive impairment in the U.S. elderly is Alzheimer’s disease. Because it is so common it is not unusual for both parents to develop the disease and presumably their offspring would be more likely to carry any genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Suman Jayadev, MD, University of Washington, Seattle, and co-researchers, studied 111… Read more

If you, or a loved one, have difficulty identifying common smells such as banana, cinnamon, or lemon, it might be a sign for the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Robert S. Wilson, Rush University Medical Center, tested the sniffers of 589 adults (average age 80-years-old) who, at the time, showed no cognitive impairments. For… Read more

The organization for mature adults, AARP, offers numerous topics on health: insurance, Medicare, prescription drugs, health conditions, physical activity, staying healthy, brain health, and a health message boards… Read more

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe various cognitive degenerative diseases. A common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. A relatively rare hereditary form of dementia is frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with parkinsonism-17. Both of these forms of dementia share a common pathology–an over accumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain’s neurons… Read more