What appears to be appendicitis can actually be cancer of the appendix in some cases, especially in patients under the age of 50, a new study suggests. While antibiotics can be used instead of surgery to treat acute appendicitis, patients who receive antibiotics should be closely followed in case they actually have cancer, according to…  read on >  read on >

Scars from facial surgery look worse to skin cancer patients themselves than to others, so it’s important for surgeons to prepare patients beforehand, researchers say. Doctors can help by outlining the healing process and explaining what their scars will look like in the weeks after surgery, the study authors suggested. “Our research seems to support…  read on >  read on >

Parents of children with special needs face a number of challenges, so here’s some advice from an expert. “Raising children is an adventure for any parent, but the journey for parents of children with special needs often has a few more twists and turns,” said Dr. Thomas Challman, medical director of the Geisinger Autism &…  read on >  read on >

MONDAY, March 21, 2022 (American Heart Association News) — When she arrived at her neighbor’s house and found him unconscious and turning blue, Brianna Colquitt knew what to do. While someone called 911, Colquitt, then a high school senior in Carrollton, Georgia, started CPR. She kept it up until emergency responders arrived. Her training, which…  read on >  read on >

Add this to the ever-growing list of health problems tied to sleep apnea: New data shows it ages you. But the same new small study also found that using a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine for at least four hours a night for a year could slow or possibly reverse that trend. “This highlights…  read on >  read on >

Here’s a compelling reason to shed those extra pounds: A new study finds that middle-aged people who are obese, or even simply overweight, may face more health problems down the road. The study, of nearly 30,000 men and women, found that the more people weighed around age 40, the greater their odds of chronic health…  read on >  read on >