Diseases & Conditions Archive

If a growth or mole looks like a melanoma, the doctor will take a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. This entails removing either a sample of tissue or else the entire growth and some surrounding skin, and examining the tissue under a microscope to determine whether it's cancer. Depending on how deep a melanoma is, additional tissue may have to be removed. In some cases, lymph nodes may be removed, too. A procedure called sentinel node biopsy can show whether the lymph node nearest the tumor contains any cancer cells. If it does, surgery to remove additional nodes right away can improve survival.

In addition to surgery, treatments for melanoma include immunotherapy (which strengthens the immune system against the cancer), chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Newer, so-called targeted treatments include drugs that target specific genetic changes seem in people with certain forms of melanoma. For example, about half of melanomas have genetic changes (mutations) in a gene called BRAF, which signals melanoma cells to grow and divide quickly. Drugs that inhibit BRAF, such as vemurafenib (Zelboraf ) and dabrafenib (Tafinlar), and related proteins are now available.

Physical therapy is helpful for wear-and-tear knee osteoarthritis, especially if you start doing it early. But injecting a painful knee with an anti-inflammatory steroid medication before starting physical therapy offers no additional benefit, according to a clinical trial in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Studies have shown that physical therapy modestly reduces pain and improves daily functioning in people with knee osteoarthritis. That could mean being able to walk farther with less pain or to continue leisure activities such as gardening. Before you start physical therapy, your doctor may offer to inject the knee with a cocktail of anti-inflammatory steroid medication and an anesthetic. Hypothetically, this could make it easier for you to stick with exercise and therefore lead to better results.

A driving assessment program can help identify your strengths and weaknesses and suggest ways to improve your driving skills.

The sense of freedom and independence that comes with driving is as important at 65 as it is at 16. But driving skills may start to falter as we age, an issue many people choose to ignore. "We all seem to be in denial about driving in our older years. No one wants to give it up. The good news is that you may not have to," says Lissa Kapust, a social worker at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Wear sunscreen, and avoid direct exposure to the sun.

Knee replacements can restore your mobility, but you don't want to get one too soon—or wait too long.

Strokes hit women hard. Self-care is key to preventing a stroke and minimizing the damage if you have one.

This year an estimated 425,000 women will have a stroke, and 55,000 will die from one. Women are more likely than men to have strokes, and they are also more likely to be disabled or to die from them.

Fatty plaque in the arteries that feed the kidneys poses a danger to the heart and brain.

Simple changes can help to turn down the volume.

If your wife or sleep partner often seems bleary-eyed and resentful in the morning, you may be one of the millions of adults who snore habitually—a condition that affects twice as many men as women. Snoring occurs when your upper airways narrow too much, causing turbulent airflow. This, in turn, makes the surrounding tissues vibrate, producing noise.

"Snoring is a sign that there is a really narrowed space," says Dr. Sanjay Patel, a sleep disorder specialist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "That happens either in your nasal passages or in the back of your throat." Some men are snorers because they have excess throat and nasal tissue. Others have floppy tissue that's more likely to vibrate. The tongue can also get in the way of smooth breathing. 

Here's another reason to get depression treated as soon as possible: a Harvard study found that people with persistent symptoms of severe depression were twice as likely to suffer a stroke compared with people who have mild symptoms. The study appeared May 13, 2015, in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers looked at the health information of more than 16,000 men and women ages 50 and older. The participants were interviewed every two years during a 12-year period and asked about many health issues, including depression symptoms. Researchers found that people who reported high depression symptoms at two consecutive interviews were more than twice as likely to have a first stroke than people with low depression symptoms. The stroke risk remained high even after depression symptoms went away.

The study showed only an association, and didn't prove that depression causes strokes. So why the link? Researchers speculate that depression—which is associated with high blood pressure, increased inflammation, and physical inactivity—may have a cumulative effect that causes damage to the blood vessels over time. Bottom line: Seek treatment if a case of the blues lasts more than two weeks, because it could be a sign of depression.

It appears that cognitive behavior therapy may help people with chronic insomnia and no underlying medical problems fall asleep faster.