Look for new, more secure Medicare cards

By Kimberly Lankford
Posted on May 03, 2018

Q: I remember reading that Medicare will start sending out new cards this year that don’t include Social Security numbers. How can I find out when I’ll receive my new card? Do I need to do anything to get it? A: In an effort to protect against identity theft, Medicare has been preparing to replace everyone’s Medicare cards with new ones that include a unique 11-digit Medicare... READ MORE

Understand burns and how to treat them

By Henry Schiller, M.D.
Posted on May 03, 2018

Dear Mayo Clinic: What’s the best way to treat a minor burn? At what point does a burn require medical care? The level of care needed for a burn depends on how extensive the tissue damage is from the burn. Minor burns can often be treated at home without seeing a healthcare provider. Burns considered “minor” include first-degree burns and second-degree burns that are no larger... READ MORE

Threat grows from ‘nightmare bacteria’

By Marilynn Marchione
Posted on May 02, 2018

“Nightmare bacteria” — those with unusual resistance to antibiotics of last resort — were found more than 200 times in the United States last year in a first-of-a-kind hunt to see how much of a threat these rare cases are becoming, health officials said. That’s more than they had expected to find. And the true number is probably higher because the effort involved only certain... READ MORE

Ways to improve your memory and focus

By Mary Kane
Posted on May 02, 2018

When retired professor Darlene Howard taught in the psychology department of Georgetown University, she often had to remember the names of as many as 50 students a semester. So she used a memory trick: She created an association with each student’s name or face. A student with the last name of Brady might make her think of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The next time she... READ MORE

Obesity may rob the tongue of taste buds

By Lauran Neergaard
Posted on May 01, 2018

Packing on pounds seems to dull people’s sense of taste, and puzzled researchers turned to mice to figure out why: Obesity, they found, can rob the tongue of taste buds. If these recent findings pan out, “this could be a whole new kind of target in treating obesity,” said Cornell University food scientist Robin Dando, whose lab led the research. “People don’t really look at the ... READ MORE

Debate over ‘right to try’ experimental meds

By Matthew Perrone
Posted on May 01, 2018

The idea is a political crowd-pleaser with a catchy slogan: giving desperately ill patients the “right to try” experimental medicines. Last month, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives became the latest group of politicians to back the effort, sending a bill to the Senate, which President Donald Trump has pledged to sign into law. A federal right-to-try law — first... READ MORE

Glow-in-the-dark dyes to identify cancers

By Marilynn Marchione
Posted on April 30, 2018

It was an ordinary surgery to remove a tumor — until doctors turned off the lights and the patient’s chest started to glow. A spot over his heart shined purplish pink. Another shimmered in a lung. They were hidden cancers revealed by fluorescent dye, an advance that soon may transform how hundreds of thousands of operations are done each year. Surgery has long been the best way to ... READ MORE

New, more secure Medicare cards coming

By Barbara Albert
Posted on April 26, 2018

As you may have already heard, between now and April 2019, new cards will be mailed to all Medicare beneficiaries. With both Maryland and the District of Columbia being in the first wave, you should receive your new card by June of this year. The new card will help protect your identity and keep your personal information more secure by removing your Social Security number and replacing... READ MORE

Try stuffed tomatoes instead of peppers

By Melissa D’Arabian
Posted on April 16, 2018

Does your meatless Monday game need an overhaul? As a meat-eater myself, I find that the trick to meatless meal-making is to have a small repertoire of recipes that can work as a side dish or first course, or be eaten in larger quantities as a vegetarian main dish. This is the same strategy I use when hosting a vegetarian in my home. Today’s Quinoa-Stuffed Tomatoes fits the bill... READ MORE

Tailored treatments for hard-to-treat cancer

By Barbara Ruben
Posted on April 13, 2018

Perhaps chemotherapy was successful at first, but now the cancer is back and growing quickly. Or radiation failed to obliterate all of a tumor. Patients who may have been told that there is nothing else doctors can do are now being sought for a trial of targeted drugs matched to their genetic profiles. A study launched last fall, the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry... READ MORE