Patients with Psoriasis Prone to Diabetes and Serious Cardiovascular Condition
Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition characterized by thick, red, scaly plaques that itch and sometimes bleed, causing considerable discomfort and emotional stress for patients. In addition to the daily chore of dealing with the physical symptoms of this condition, new research suggests an association between psoriasis and two potentially serious medical conditions – diabetes and atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries.
For the 2 percent to 4 percent of the worldwide population affected by psoriasis, these findings could have a significant impact on their overall health, including the estimated 5.8 to 7.5 million Americans affected by the condition.
Violent video games “exhilarating escapism: survey
Players of violent video games believe they are just “exhilarating” escapism that does not desensitise them to real-life mayhem, according to a new survey of one of the entertainment industry’s fastest growing sectors.
However gamers do concede that people “who are already unhinged in some way” may be pushed over the edge if they play violent games obsessively.
Social workers can help older smokers
Getting older smokers to quit can be a tough order, but enlisting social workers in the battle could help, a new study suggests.
Even in old age, quitting smoking can have health benefits, but elderly smokers are less likely to receive smoking cessation counseling than their younger counterparts. One of the obstacles is simply reaching older adults who smoke, according to the authors of the new study.
Raise drinking age to 21, says think tank
Young people should be banned from drinking until they reach 21 or be forced to carry a card that records their alcohol intake, a think tank columnist claims yesterday.
Binge drinking has become such an “overwhelming” problem, argues journal of the left-leaning Institute for Public Policy Research, that policy makers need to practice “tough love” and put drink out of the reach of youngsters.
How student doctor got personal experience of brain surgery
As I walked into the neurologist’s office, I thought I knew what was coming. I didn’t. I’m a medical student and had looked up all of my symptoms; everything seemed to point to carpal-tunnel syndrome - a trapped nerve in my wrist. I sat down and, from the look on my doctor’s face, began to feel uneasy. He said that something unexpected had shown up on my MRI scan. The pins and needles, wasting and weakness that I had been experiencing in my left hand for nearly a year were, in fact, caused by a condition that I had never heard of called Chiari malformation.
This meant that I had been born with my cerebellum protruding through the base of my skull. The extra tissue had altered the pressure and flow of spinal fluid, causing it to get “dumped” into the middle of my spinal cord, a condition called syringomyelia, which was progressive.
