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Sarcoidosis Awareness Day

This past August, I wasn’t the only one surprised to hear that Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, better known as actor-comedian Bernie Mac, had died. He was only fifty years old, seemingly in the prime of his life and career, what could have brought this on? Headlines first told of a week-long bout with pneumonia and it was later confirmed that the pneumonia was most likely brought on by complications of a little-known disease that affects both men and women usually between the ages of 20 and 40. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can crop up in almost any organ in your body.

Can Malaria Bite the Dust? $3 Billion Says Yes

Imagine a world where an infectious disease affects over 515 million people a year, killing 1 to 3 million people and leaving the rest having little to no way of dealing with painful symptoms like kidney failure, an enlarged liver, fever, shivering, vomiting, chills, joint pain, brain damage and even coma. Imagine that the majority of people living with this disease are children in poverty-stricken countries. Now imagine that this disease could be erased, and imagine it possibly happening within your lifetime. You would think it unimaginable, right?

Melanoma Could Be In Your Genes

Individuals with a variation of a Vitamin D gene, known as BSMI, have a greater risk of suffering from melanoma, a form of skin cancer that can be deadly. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. The chances of being diagnosed with skin cancer increase as we age, but it is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. Annually over 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma. When melanoma is found in its early stages, recovery is usually very positive. When melanoma grows deeper into the skin and spreads to other organs it is very hard to cure.

Brain Chemical May Play Part in Obesity Puzzle

With an estimated 67 million obese and an additional 75 million overweight adults, it is clear America has an obesity health crisis on its hands. Experts predict that, if the current trend continues, two in every five adults and one in every four children in the U.S. will be obese by 2015. So what can we do about this growing epidemic? It's not just a matter of reminding people of the importance of a proper diet and exercise.

Medication for Huntington's Disease Approved by FDA

Among the classic signs of Huntington's disease is the development of chorea, involuntary, rapid, irregular, jerky movements that may include the face, arms, legs or trunk. The disease is hereditary and includes progressive neurodegenerative symptoms including emotional, behavioral and psychiatric abnormalities. The condition was originally described in 1872 by Dr. George Huntington, who studied a Long Island family with a high percentage of affected members. Symptoms of the disease are usually not apparent until the individual is in their late forties to early fifties.

Complementary Medicine Common Among Cancer Patients

Complementary Medicine (CM) is generally thought of as treatments used in addition to the conventional therapies your traditional health care provider may prescribe, such as using yoga in conjunction with prescription medicine for anxiety or taking an omega-3 fatty acid supplement in addition to statins to reduce your cholesterol. A growing number of Americans use CM for a wide array of conditions including back, neck or joint aches as well as colds, depression and sleeping problems. And, according to a new study, complimentary methods are also very common among cancer survivors.

International AIDS Conference: Low-Dose HGH Research

A hormone that is better known for its illicit use among some athletes may help treat some troublesome complications that come along with the AIDS virus. Unfortunately, the study conducted found that the hormones might come with some potential risky side effects.

Identifying Cancer Cells Allows Tumor-Specific Treatment

Fat Around the Heart: A Danger to Your Health

Belly fat is more dangerous to your health than the subcutaneous fat that lies just under your skin, but did you know that the fat that surrounds your heart, called pericardial fat, is more dangerous to your health than either subcutaneous or belly fat?

Old World Frankincense Offers Hope for Arthritis

Osteoarthritis—the most common form of arthritis—generally targets weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, but can also affect the hands, wrists, feet and spine. It is characterized by chronic painful swelling and stiffness in the joints which restricts movement, often making even simple daily tasks difficult. Evidence of osteoarthritis (OA) dates back as far as the Ice Age, while the cause of the disease is still not completely know nor is there a cure, it afflicts almost 30 million people in the United States alone.