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Doctors at Mayo Clinic say, no matter what the cause, if you have a cough that sticks around for more than three weeks you have what's called chronic cough. And it often takes some real sleuthing to figure out the right treatment.
Resource: Treatment of Chronic Cough
Ten years ago, 48,000 women -- mothers, wives, sisters -- died every year from breast cancer. Today, that number has dropped to 40,000. But it's still too high. That's why many women who are at high risk of getting breast cancer choose genetic testing.
Resource: Breast Cancer Risk Assessment
There is no cure for Alzheimer's, but every year researchers are learning more. Doctors at Mayo Clinic are studying a new test that could predict who will get Alzheimer's. And this information could help doctors find ways to prevent it.
Resource: Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
What causes blurry vision, lots of glare and can make reading the paper nearly impossible? The answer is cataracts, and everyone is at risk of getting them as they age. The good news is surgical options keep getting better.
Resource: Treatment of Cataracts
When a doctor graduates from medical school, he or she takes an oath to take the best care possible of all patients. The Mayo Clinic doctor you're about to meet takes that oath seriously, even when his patients are not what you'd expect to see in the operating room.
He's a world-class martial arts champion. But his strength could not fend off a deadly cancer. A cancer that causes debilitating pain. It took some intense detective work by doctors at Mayo Clinic to make the diagnosis and find a treatment that would keep this athlete alive.
Resource: Cancer Treatment
If you have a school-age or teenage child, you know how tough it can be to make sure they get enough sleep. And a new study from Mayo Clinic shows that kids who get headaches lose even more sleep than those who don't. That's because headaches and sleep problems tend to go hand in hand.
Resource: Treatment of Sleep Disorders in Children
Snoring happens for a number of reasons including nasal passages that are too small. Extreme cases can cause sleep apnea where you actually stop breathing while you sleep.
Most childhood heart murmurs are not dangerous; in fact, almost all children will have them at some point. But if the murmur sounds suspicious -- like there might be a problem -- doctors use a high-tech but painless test to find out.
Resource: Treatment of Congenital Heart Disease
The small bowel is hard to reach with regular scopes, so most patients were diagnosed during exploratory surgery. The new balloon enteroscope allows doctors to see the small bowel and treat it without surgery.
Johnny Aguire contracted hepatitis C from an unknown cause. The disease slowly caused severe cirrhosis. Aguire was very, very ill. After three days on the liver transplant list, Aguire received the gift of life.
Resource: Treatment with Liver Transplantation
Mayo Clinic radiologists perform a procedure called vertebroplasty to treat vertebrae fractures caused by osteoporosis. The procedure involves injecting surgical cement into the spine at the site of the fracture.
Resource: Treatment with Vertebroplasty
This story focuses on one child who received a transplant from an unrelated donor. Her story highlights how treatment for childhood diseases such as aplastic anemia and leukemia has improved dramatically in recent years.
Resource: Bone Marrow Transplant
Not long ago kids with bone cancer in a leg faced amputation. But now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are performing a surgery that allows some kids to regain use of their leg, even after part of it has been removed.
Resource: Treatment with Rotationplasty
Stress can make you physically ill and it can also cause feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression. But one doctor says that you can ease some of life's troubles by getting a pet -- a dog, cat or even a fish.
Resource: Additional Healthy Living Information
Drink milk or take a calcium supplement for strong bones. But did you know that no matter how much calcium you take, it won't do a bit of good if you don't get enough vitamin D?
Resource: Treatment of Osteoporosis
Doctors are using robots for many operations including prostate cancer surgery. Learn the latest on how this advance in technology is helping some patients get better faster.
Resource: Treatment with Robotic Prostatectomy
He was in his prime, his early 40s, when the symptoms hit. Dizziness, vision problems, loss of balance, among others.
Resource: Treatment of Cavernous Malformation
Every year, thousands of people have open heart bypass surgery to reroute blocked arteries. Now a group of doctors are performing bypasses without silencing your beating heart.
Resource: Treatment with Bypass Surgery
Imagine being diagnosed with a disease so rare that some doctors don't even know it exists.
Resource: Treatment of POEMS Syndrome
How easy would it be for you to get up off the couch and run a 15K race? Now imagine running that race after having a lung transplant.
Resource: Treatment with Lung Transplant
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, caused by a degeneration of brain cells in the front and side parts of your brain. In very rare cases, this process affects the back of your brain instead, causing different and disturbing symptoms. It's called Posterior Cortical Atrophy.
Resource: Treatment of Posterior Cortical Atrophy
When the doctor you're about to meet leaves the hospital, he dons a saxophone instead of a lab coat and goes from medicine to music.
Thousands of teenagers have a hard time getting moving in the morning. But for kids with POT Syndrome, or POTS, the fatigue is debilitating.
Resource: Treatment of POTS
Imagine how hard it would be to watch a loved one die waiting for a heart transplant because no donor organs were available. Unfortunately this happens to thousands every year. The good news is that technology for keeping people alive longer as they wait is getting much better.
Resource: Heart Transplant
Occasional heartburn is usually nothing to worry about. But if heartburn hits two or more times a week, you may be at risk of developing a condition called Barrett's esophagus that increases your risk of cancer.
Resource: Treatment with Photodynamic Therapy
Almost one out of 10 Americans suffers from depression. Most find some relief from medication. But some don't.
Resource: Treatment of Depression
The Cub Scout pack you're about to meet is learning about the importance of organ donation.
Resource: Transplant Programs at Mayo Clinic
One in eight. Those are the odds that your mom, sister, wife or friend has of getting breast cancer in her lifetime. The risk goes way up if you have one of two known breast cancer genes.
Resource: Treatment of Breast Cancer
Computerized legs are replacing older mechanical models. Mayo Clinic is testing the technology on a firefighter who lost his leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident.
Resource: Treatment in Orthopedic Surgery
In a society that celebrates youth and beauty, growing old is something many people dread. But the truth is, if you follow tips from doctors at Mayo Clinic, you can take steps that will help you age gracefully.
Resource: Senior Health Center
Doctors at Mayo Clinic did a study to find out if giving women information before they have a mammogram makes a difference in their experience.
Resource: Mammography Screening
For many years, doctors have been using the vibrations of ultrasound to diagnose and even treat many conditions. Now research shows that the vibrations of a harp may help improve the condition of people nearing the end of life.
Every year thousands of kids head to the doctor to have their tonsils removed because of recurrent sore throats or obstructed breathing. Doctors at Mayo Clinic are removing tonsils using technology that makes recovery easier for most children.
It's what every parent dreads. A phone call with news that their child has been in an accident. Frances Wheelock's son was an organ donor and his kidney continues to give life for another three decades after the accident. Today, that father and kidney recipient have the chance to meet.
Resource: Transplant Programs at Mayo Clinic
Kicking the habit isn't easy. Most smokers who try to quit aren't successful until their fifth attempt. Researchers at Mayo Clinic are hoping to make quitting easier for adults by getting the smokers' teenage kids involved in the process.
Resource: Stop Smoking Service
Suicide can be especially hard for friends and relatives who are left behind, haunted by questions such as, "What could I have said or done to prevent this?" The answers aren't easy. But doctors at Mayo Clinic offer insight into some of them.
Resource: Treatment of Depression
Research shows that in order to maintain a healthy heart and weight, most of us need to move more. And one of the easiest ways for many to do that is by getting up and walking. Or running if you can.
Resource: Fitness Program
What does optimal health mean to you? Being able to run a marathon, lowering your cholesterol or just having enough energy to make it through the day? Whatever your health goals are, wellness experts at Mayo Clinic have tips on how you can reach them.
Resource: Healthy Living
If you have kidney cancer, you might not get symptoms until it's rather advanced. Not long ago a diagnosis like that was bad news. But now, thanks to technology, teamwork and medical expertise, people are beating this deadly disease.
Resource: Treatment of Kidney Cancer
If you've ever been in the hospital, you know that it's usually not much fun. You may have to take medicine that makes you feel lousy, have tests and are no doubt a little anxious about being there. Doctors at Mayo are working on making the hospital experience easier for patients and their families.
Resource: Complementary and Alternative Medicine
In the spring of 2006 the National Cancer Institute released initial results of the STAR trial for breast cancer prevention. The study compared the drug tamoxifen to another drug called raloxifene. Both reduced the incidence of invasive breast cancer by 50 percent in high-risk postmenopausal women.
Resource: Treatment of Breast Cancer
There is a type of breast cancer that often doesn't show up on mammograms. It's called inflammatory breast cancer. IBC can be stopped if you know the signs and symptoms.
Resource: Treatment of Breast Cancer
The young woman you're about to meet became deaf from a disease called neurofibromatosis. But doctors at Mayo Clinic implanted a device in her brain that's giving much of her hearing back.
Resource: Treatment of Neurofibromatosis
Here are the five top causes of death among men and what you can do to help lower that risk.
Resource: MayoClinic.com: Men's Health Center
Doctors at Mayo Clinic have a new weapon in the fight against liver cancer. It's a type of radiation that directly targets the tumor without typical side effects.
Resource: Treatment of Liver Cancer
You're at the doctor's office and he or she tells you there's a tiny spot in your lung. It could be cancer. To find out, your options have been to wait and see if it grows or go to surgery for a biopsy. Now there's another option.
Resource: Treatment of Lung Cancer
In our world stress is a year-round issue. It can make you sick, depressed and burned out. In fact some say there's a stress epidemic in this culture.
Resource: Stress Management
Your pancreas is an organ that does two things: it secretes enzymes that help you digest food, and it creates insulin to regulate blood sugar. But sometimes gall stones, medications or alcohol can cause pancreatitis.
Resource: Treatment of Pancreatitis
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