Radiation Aids Arteries After Angioplasty The world's oceans and waterways hold great promise as the source of new drugs, biologics, and medical devices.

Tips for Talking to Your Doctor Today, patients take an active role in their health care. You and your doctor will work in partnership to achieve your best possible level of health. An important part of this relationship is good communication. Here are some questions you can ask your doctor to get your discussion started.

Watery Eyes? Runny Nose? Time to Spring into Action Against Seasonal Allergies By the time her daughter, Brooke, was 18 months old, Nancy Sander of Fairfax, Va., had discovered the child was allergic to much of the environment around her. Her eyes watered and her nose ran constantly. Worse yet, her allergy symptoms triggered frightening asthma attacks....

The Gallbladder: An Organ You Can Live Without The gallbladder is a small, muscular, pear-shaped sac nestled in a depression on the right underside of the liver. It holds about a quarter of a cup of a yellowish-green, pasty material called bile. Bile contains water, bile salts and acids, pigments, cholesterol, phospholipids (a type of fat molecule), and electrolytes (electrically charged fluids). Bile tastes bitter, and this is why the word bilehas come to denote bitterness. Bile breaks up, or emulsifies, large globs of fat into smaller globs in the small intestine, a first step in fat digestion.

Incontinence Can Be Controlled No one wants to talk about it. Patients don't bring it up. Physicians don't ask. Meanwhile, millions suffer in silence as urinary incontinence erodes their quality of life. When it is discussed, all too often, patients are told--incorrectly--that it's a normal consequence of aging and that they should just get used to it. Misconceptions about incontinence abound among health-care professionals and the public alike.

New Attitudes Towards Menopause By the end of this century, more women than ever before will be experiencing the sometimes uncomfortable symptoms that accompany the end of menstruation and natural childbearing capacity.

Reasons for Brain Tumor Increase Not Black and White It was a routine annual physical, and everything checked out fine. Blood pressure normal, electrocardiogram normal, weight good, no particular complaints--except one. The patient, 65-year-old Sylvia Zeidner of Potomac, Md., had been having some peculiar dizzy spells, and she laughingly told the doctor, I must have a brain tumor.

Exercise Makes Instant Difference in Reducing Blood Pressure The long-term benefits of exercise in reducing high blood pressure are well known, but a recent study by the University of Maryland published in the January issue of the American Journal of Hypertension shows that they can be immediate as well.

Blood pressure control, smoking cessation at heart of stroke prevention Saying no to cigarettes and yes to blood pressure screenings is the bedrock of stroke prevention, according to an expert scientific panel of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, which has issued a statement to physicians on strategies to prevent stroke.

5 Tips for Parents with Overweight Children People may find it hard to believe that children need a diet and fitness plan. It's a common misconception that growing kids can eat anything and will stay healthy because they naturally enjoy running around and being active.

Introduction to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an illness characterized by prolonged, debilitating fatigue and multiple nonspecific symptoms such as headaches, recurrent sore throats, muscle and joint pains, and cognitive complaints.

High Blood Pressure: What it is and What Happens When it's High High Blood Pressure, also called hypertension, is a risk factor for heart and kidney diseases and stroke. Find out about what high blood pressure means to you and what you can do to lower your blood pressure.

Diabetes and Psychosocial Problems Like other chronic illnesses, diabetes mellitus poses a wide range of problems for patients and their family members. These problems include pain, hospitalization, changes in lifestyle and vocation, physical disabilities, and threatened survival. Direct psychological consequences can arise from any one of these factors, making it harder for patients to treat their diabetes and live productive, enjoyable lives.

Questions and Answers Regarding Fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. Tender points refers to tenderness that occurs in precise, localized areas, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. People with this syndrome may also experience sleep disturbances, morning stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and other symptoms.