Health - The Durango Herald

Cancer docs feel unprepared, but recommend marijuana anyway

SEATTLE – Nearly half of U.S. cancer doctors who responded to a survey say they’ve recently recommended medical marijuana to patients, although most say they don’t know enough about medicina...

DATE: May 15, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

When someone hovers at the edge of death, these singers step in to ease the passage

It’s a quiet afternoon at the Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center, a hospice in Arlington, Virginia, as four women huddle close, talking quietly in a tight circle before walking through the d...

DATE: May 12, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

WHO: Saturated fat should be less than 10 percent of diet

LONDON – The World Health Organization is taking on the battle of the bulge, saying that saturated fats shouldn’t make up more than 10 percent of a person’s diet. In its first dra...

DATE: May 11, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

At 100, my mom had dementia and needed hospice care. Getting it was nearly impossible

When my mother prayed - when she remembered what prayer was - she asked every saint to please let her die in her sleep. In late 2016, my mom died that way, in her own bed, one week past her ...

DATE: May 9, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

The risky surgery to remove a woman’s 132-pound tumor that grew by 10 pounds a week

The tumor had ballooned to 132 pounds and stretched the patient’s abdomen into a 3-foot-wide orb. By the time oncologist Vaagn Andikyan examined the 38-year-old woman, she could n...

DATE: May 7, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Drug epidemic ensnares 25-year-old pill for nerve pain

WASHINGTON – The story line sounds familiar: a popular pain drug becomes a new way to get high as prescribing by doctors soars. But the latest drug raising red flags is not part o...

DATE: May 4, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Tooth whiteners essentially bleach your teeth, and that has pros and cons

Walk down the toothpaste aisle at your typical drugstore and you’ll see a range of products that promise to whiten your teeth. Whitening toothpaste, whitening strips, a whitening gel that yo...

DATE: May 3, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Diseases spread by ticks, mosquitoes and fleas more than tripled in the U.S.

The warmer weather of spring and summer means the start of tick and mosquito season and the diseases they transmit, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile and Zika. ...

DATE: May 2, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

U.S. seeking 1 million for massive study of DNA, health habits

WASHINGTON – Wanted: A million people willing to share their DNA and 10 years of health habits, big and small, for science. On Sunday, the U.S. government will open nationwide enr...

DATE: May 1, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Portable test helps identify refugees at risk of outbreaks

WASHINGTON – Call it a lab in a box: Researchers created a device about the size of a toaster that can test a drop of blood to tell, in about half an hour, who’s immune to certain infections...

DATE: Apr 30, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Cataract surgery evolves to make vision even sharper

New tool allows Durango surgeons to improve lens selection

DATE: Apr 29, 2018 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

More kids have autism, better diagnosis may be the reason

NEW YORK – The government estimates that autism is becoming more common, but it’s only a small increase and some experts think it can be largely explained by better diagnosing of minority ch...

DATE: Apr 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health