What Doctors Don't Tell YouSome good news, of sorts, for heavy smokers. Apparently, the NSAID (non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug) type of painkillers reduce their chances of oral cancer. In fact, the drugs are as protective as if they’d given up smoking altogether.
Readers’ corner
Things are seriously unravelling for big pharma at the moment. Within days of Merck withdrawing its painkiller Vioxx, a leading Food and Drug Administration official has warned that five of the world's best-selling drugs may also have an...
I seem to have contracted polymyalgia rheumatica, a type of arthritis that affects the muscles, but not the bones or joints. It’s causing the muscles in the backs of my legs to ache badly when I walk or sit for more than a few minutes. It also...
GIVING BIRTH: Water's good, and the sooner the better
* Prenatal perineal massage. There is significant evidence to show that you can increase the flexibility of your perineum by regularly massaging the tissue before giving birth. In a randomised controlled trial carried out across five hospitals in...
HYSTERECTOMIES: Is this really the only 'cure' for heavy periods?
Q I have been suffering from intense pain in my coccyx for several years. The pain started after a bad epidural and the subsequent therapeutic blood patch, but became infinitely worse after back surgery four years ago. I have sought help from...
Neck pain is a common problem, and one that tends to affect more women than men. But how are you going to treat it? The three most popular options are: your family doctor (a ‘wait-and-see’ approach with advice on ergonomics, possibly...
Ibuprofen, the grandfather of all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), was considered so safe that it was made an over-the-counter drug. This class of drugs (Nurofen, Brufen, Motrin, Rufen, Advil, Nuprin, Medipren) is used to treat fever...
