Contraception and birth control Archive

An ingrown toenail is one of the most common sources of foot pain. Although it's usually just a nuisance, it can be a serious problem for anyone with diabetes or circulatory difficulties.

An ingrown toenail develops when the side of the nail digs into the skin. This can lead to pain, irritation, swelling, and redness. The big toe is most often affected, although no toe is immune. The problem usually develops because the nails have not been trimmed properly. Overly tight shoes may also be a factor. Some people have an inherited tendency to develop the problem.

When shopping for shoes, you want to have more than fashion in mind — you'll also want to consider function and keeping your feet in good shape. These 10 tips can help you choose the right shoes:

1. Take a tracing of your foot with you. Place any shoe you think you might buy on top of the tracing. If the shoe is narrower or shorter than the tracing, don't even try it on.
2. Shop for shoes during the afternoon — your foot naturally expands with use during the day.
3. Wear the same type of socks to the store that you intend to wear with the shoes.
4. Have a salesperson measure both of your feet — and get measured every time you buy new shoes. Feet change with age, often growing larger and wider. If one foot is larger than the other, buy a size that fits the larger foot.
5. Stand in the shoes. Press gently on the top of the shoe to make sure you have about a half-inch of space between your longest toe and the end of the shoe. This provides enough room for your foot to press forward as you walk. Wiggle your toes to make sure there's enough room.
6. Walk around in the shoes to determine how they feel. Is there enough room at the balls of the feet? Do the heels fit snugly, or do they pinch or slip off? Don't rationalize that the shoes just need to be "broken in." Find shoes that fit from the start.
7. Trust your own comfort level rather than a shoe's size or description. Sizes vary between manufacturers. And no matter how comfortable an advertisement claims those shoes are, you're the real judge.
8. Pay attention to width as well as length. If the ball of your foot feels compressed in a particular shoe, ask if it comes in a wider size. Buying shoes that are a half-size bigger — but not any wider — won't necessarily solve the problem.
9. Feel the inside of the shoes to see if they have any tags, seams, or other material that might irritate your foot.
10.  Examine the soles. Are they sturdy enough to provide protection from sharp objects? Do they provide any cushioning? Take note of how they feel as you walk around the shoe store. Try to walk on hard surfaces as well as carpet to see how the shoe feels on both.

For more advice on keeping your feet pain-free, buy Healthy Feet, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

Biomarkers are "chemicals" that can indicate both normal and abnormal processes in the body. One of the most famous is prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The PSA test, which detects abnormally high blood levels of PSA, has been used for decades to screen for prostate cancer and potentially catch it early.

There are two problems with the PSA test. First, PSA levels can tell you that something is going on with the prostate — but that "something" isn't necessarily cancer. High levels may mean other benign prostate conditions. Second, when high PSA levels do turn out to be the result of prostate cancer, the PSA level alone won't tell you which cancers are aggressive and need treatment, and which are slow-growing and can be managed more conservatively.

Q. I am scheduled to have my prostate removed and am concerned about the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) after the surgery. I've heard that taking an ED drug daily during my recovery could help. Do you recommend this?

A. About half of men lose some erectile function after radical prostatectomy, which removes the entire prostate gland. ED drugs help men to have erections after surgery, but so far research has not shown that taking it daily produces better results than taking the medication as-needed—when you anticipate sexual activity.

The health effects of balancing career and parenting have been studied a lot, but most of the attention has focused on a single period in the middle of a woman's life. Recently, researchers affiliated with Harvard University and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health decided to look at how sustaining that balancing act over decades affects a woman's risk of dying before age 75.

The team studied data on work histories, marriages, and parenting for more than 7,500 women in the U.S. Health and Retirement Study—an ongoing biennial survey of the health and lifestyles of thousands of women and men. They found that a woman's risk of dying between ages 55 and 75 varied substantially with her history of work, marriage, and childrearing. Married women who went back to work after staying at home with their children had the lowest death rate—around 5%—while single mothers who had never worked had the highest rate—12%. The death rate was just under 7% for nonworking married mothers, and slightly above 8% for single working mothers. The report appeared in the April 2015 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

The release of new guidelines on mammography never fails to renew the heated controversy over the potential benefits and harms of this procedure. The latest draft guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) are no exception. The USPSTF recommends that women begin having mammograms at age 50 and stop at age 75. (The American Cancer Society and other medical organizations recommend that women begin getting regular mammograms at age 40.) The draft recommendations say there isn’t enough evidence to recommend or discourage the use of a new technique called 3-D mammography for screening, and also say there isn’t enough evidence to recommend that women with dense breasts, who are at higher risk of breast cancer, should have an ultrasound or MRI in addition to screening mammography. Comments can be made on the USPSTF draft until 8:00 pm Easter Time today. A final version of the recommendations is expected to be released in the fall of 2015.

A large study reinforces the current thinking on hormone therapy after menopause: it doesn't shield women from heart disease and may slightly increase their risk of a stroke.

For decades, doctors believed that hormone therapy could prevent heart disease. But in 2002, findings from the landmark Women's Health Initiative revealed that long-term hormone use boosted heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer risk.

Men with locally advanced prostate cancer who combine hormone therapy with a course of radiation therapy tend to live longer than men who only take hormone therapy.

Fibroids are noncancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. They may be smaller than a seed or bigger than a grapefruit. Depending on their size, number, and location, fibroids can cause heavy bleeding and long menstrual periods (which can, in turn, cause anemia), pelvic pain, frequent urination, or constipation. Fibroids can also cause infertility and repeated miscarriages. About 7 in 10 women will develop this condition at some point. Given how common uterine fibroids are, it’s surprising how few randomized trials have been done to compare treatment options. A clinical practice article in today’s New England Journal of Medicine lays out the options for treating uterine fibroids and discusses the factors women and their doctors should consider when making treatment decisions.

Standard biopsies of the prostate gland often miss potentially aggressive prostate cancer. Adding MRI images to standard biopsies improves the detection of prostate cancer.