Alzheimer's Disease Archive

Studies suggest that adopting a sunnier outlook may improve your health and even extend your life.

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In these turbulent times, it's sometimes a struggle to maintain a glass-half-full view of life. But if you can, it may serve you well. A growing body of research links optimism—a sense that all will be well—to a lower risk for mental or physical health issues and to better odds of a longer life.

One of the largest such studies was led by researchers Dr. Kaitlin Hagan and Dr. Eric Kim at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their team analyzed data from 70,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study who, in 2004, had answered questions about how they viewed their futures

The risk of developing stress incontinence or urge incontinence increases along with BMI and body fat percentage. Stress incontinence is also associated with declines in grip strength.

The relaxation response appears to manage stress and some chronic conditions at the deepest levels.

 Image: © XiXinXing/Thinkstock

Chronic stress takes a toll on the body: it contributes to everything from high blood pressure and heart disease to anxiety, digestive disorders, and slow wound healing. On the flip side, managing stress helps control many chronic conditions or reduce your risk for developing them. Strategies include regular exercise, a healthy diet, and better sleep. And one strategy in particular—eliciting the relaxation response—may enable you to manage stress right down to your genes.

The anti-stressor

Trigger the response

Some experts feel there is evidence that probiotics may help prevent or treat several conditions, such as inflammatory bowel diseases, travelers’ diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and some allergies (particularly eczema).

The realities of treatment can help relieve hearing loss concerns.

 Image: © Thinkstock

Hearing loss is common in older age. It affects one in three people ages 65 or older, and two out of three people ages 75 or older. The condition leaves people struggling to keep up with conversations or simply hear the phone or TV, which can lead to serious problems. "Hearing loss can make a person less likely to engage with friends and family, which can be associated with depression," says Dr. David Jung, an otologist (ear specialist) with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

Common excuses

Acne

Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:

• At what age did your problem with acne begin?
• Do you have blackheads, whiteheads, pustules, or cysts?
• If so, what areas are involved: your face, chest, back?
• What is your skin-care routine?
• What products do you use? Do any of them help?
• What medications have you tried (e.g., benzoyl peroxide, Retin-A, antibiotics, Accutane)?
• If you are female, does your acne get worse around the time of your menstrual period and do you have regular menstrual periods?
• What medicines do you take, including over-the-counter medicines and birth-control pills?
• Have you been developing extra body or facial hair?

Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:

• Skin exam

Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:

• Blood tests (liver function tests, cholesterol, or if you are female, perhaps a pregnancy test if you are taking the medicine Accutane)

Acoustic Neuroma

Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:

• Do you have trouble hearing out of one ear or both?
• Do sounds seem distorted in one ear?
• Are sounds different between your two ears?
• Is the hearing loss getting progressively worse?
• Do you have difficulty understanding others when they are talking? For example, do you have trouble hearing people on the other end of the telephone?
• Do you have ear pain?
• Have you been dizzy or lightheaded? If so, does it seem as if the room is spinning?
• Do you feel unsteady when you walk?
• Have you heard ringing or unusual noises in one or both of your ears?
• Do the muscles on one side of your face feel weaker compared to the other side?
• Is there any weakness of your face?
• Have you lost your ability to taste certain foods?
• Have you had headaches? Nausea? Vomiting?
• Have you had double vision or unusual eye movements?

Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:

• Ear, nose, and throat exam, including a screening test of your hearing in each ear
• Neurological exam

Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:

• Audiometry (formal hearing test) by a certified audiologist
• Brain-stem auditory evoked potentials
• MRI or CT scan of the head

Bell's Palsy

Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:

• Do you have weakness or paralysis of the muscles in your face?
• Can you still raise your eyebrows?
• Can you close your eyelids?
• Have you had ear pain? If so, on which side?
• Are your eyes watery?
• Have you noticed any change in your sense of taste?
• Have you had problems hearing?
• Have you had problems chewing?
• Over what period of time did your symptoms develop?
• Have you had a recent upper respiratory tract infection (for example, a cold)?
• Could you have had a tick bite in the recent past?
• Do you have diabetes?

Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:

• Neurological exam focusing on the strength of the facial muscles
• Examination of the ears, nose, and throat

Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:

• Blood tests for blood sugar and possibly Lyme disease
• Hearing test (if you report difficulty hearing)
• MRI computed tomography (CT) of the head (if your history and exam are concerning for a stroke or tumor)

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), or Enlarged Prostate

Questions to Discuss With Your Doctor:

• Over the past month, how often have you had a sensation of not emptying your bladder completely after you finished urinating?
• Over the past month, how often have you had to urinate again less than two hours after you finished urinating?
• Over the past month, how often have you found you stopped and started again several times when you urinated?
• Over the past month, how often have you found it difficult to postpone urination?
• Over the past month, how often have you had a weak urinary stream?
• Over the past month, how often have you had to push or strain to begin urination?
• Over the past month, how many times did you most typically get up to urinate from the time you went to bed at night until the time you got up in the morning?
• If you were to spend the rest of your life with your urinary condition just the way it is now, how would you feel about that?
• Have you had blood in your urine, or urinary tract infections?
• Have you ever had surgery on your prostate, bladder, or kidneys?
• Do you have gastrointestinal problems such as diverticulitis or constipation?
• Do you have diabetes?
• Does anyone in your family have diabetes?
• Have you been unusually thirsty or had unintentional weight loss?
• Have you ever had a stroke or nervous system disease?
• Have you ever had a back injury or back surgery?
• What medications are you taking (prescription and over-the-counter)?
• What do you know about medical and surgical treatment options used in the treatment of benign prostatic enlargement?
• Do you know the side effects that can occur with medications?
• Do you know the complications associated with surgery?
• Do you know how much benefit you can expect from each type of treatment?
• Do you know the risks of waiting, and doing nothing at all?

Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:

• Abdominal examination
• Neurological examination
• Digital rectal examination
• Genital examination

Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Test or Studies:

• Urinalysis (for glucose, red blood cells, white blood cells, and bacteria)
• Blood tests (for kidney function and prostate-specific antigen or PSA)
• Cystoscopy
• Ultrasound of the bladder after you urinate (post void residual)
• Ultrasound of the kidneys
• Pelvic CT scan

Crohn's Disease

Questions to Discuss with Your Doctor:

• Do you have abdominal pain or cramping?
• Do you have diarrhea, fevers, fatigue, rectal pain, or bloody stools?
• Have you recently lost weight?
• Is there a family history of inflammatory bowel disease?
• How many times a year do you get pain flare-ups?
• Do you have episodes of joint pain or swelling?
• Are you taking any medications?

Your Doctor Might Examine the Following Body Structures or Functions:

• Temperature, blood pressure, heart rate
• Careful abdominal exam
• Rectal exam

Your Doctor Might Order the Following Lab Tests or Studies:

• Sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy
• Stool sample to look for the presence of blood, white blood cells, and to culture
• Complete blood count and other blood tests
• CT scan or MRI of the abdomen