Harvard Health Letter articles from March 2007

Harvard Health Letter archives from March 2007

Air ambulance services take off.
March 1, 2007... But it's ‘flier beware' for the customers of a confusing, lightly regulated industry. More Americans than ever before are traveling to Africa, Asia, and South America. These adventurers now include many older people with the...

Reaching for the anti-salt.(potassium)
March 1, 2007... Sure, potassium is important, but don't fret too much about meeting a recent guideline. Potassium is an important nutrient because it helps offset all the sodium that we get from salt, which, chemically, is sodium chloride. Potassium...

Pancreatic cancer: An update on a ‘stealth' cancer.
March 1, 2007... Treatment advances have been slow in coming. What makes this cancer so intractable? There's been a steady stream of good news about cancer lately, from targeted therapies like Gleevec to new strategies like anti-angiogenesis, which zeroes...

Toenail fungus: Drill to kill.
March 1, 2007... Delivering antifungal medicine through holes in the infected nail may make it more effective. Fungi thrive where it's dark and damp, so you'll find them growing in caves, basements -- and the tissues of feet. Shoes and socks are ideal, if...

In Brief; Sing along for health.
March 1, 2007... Their mouths curve into O's as if in collective astonishment. Sometimes they sway. Other times, they lean toward each other, gathering themselves for that climactic note. Whether in a barbershop quartet, an a cappella group, a gospel...

In Brief; Of pets and pounds.
March 1, 2007... It's said that pets, particularly dogs, look like their owners. But poor pooches -- they're getting portly like us and suffering myriad health consequences. Roughly 30% of adult Americans are obese (defined as having a body mass index of 30 or...

By the way, doctor; Can you tell me about the tests for liver and muscle side effects from statins?
March 1, 2007... Q. I am 80 and am taking a 40-milligram Crestor pill every day. Recently I saw a Crestor ad that said blood tests should be done to monitor for the possible side effects of liver or muscle injury. Can you tell me something about these tests?...