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Hypothermia can be deadly. Getting too cold from being in icy water or frigid temperatures can cause your body temperature to drop dangerously low. But now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are using hypothermia to help save the lives of stroke patients.
Resource: Stroke
Imagine being afraid to pick up your child because any pressure on her skin could cause blisters and pain. That's a reality for the little girl you're about to meet. She has a genetic condition called epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. Her skin looks scaly and tough, but it is so sensitive even clothing hurts.
Resource: Dermatitis
Stomach pain, nausea, heartburn, trouble swallowing : Common symptoms that prompt many people to head to the doctor's office. But it's not always easy for doctors to find out what's causing them. That's especially true if the culprit is a certain type of food allergy which can contribute to particular medical conditions. There just hasn't been a reliable and accurate way to test them until now.
Resource: Allergic Diseases in Minnesota
It happens in approximately one out of every 6-thousand operations. A surgical team unintentionally leaves something such as a sponge inside of a patient. Doctors at Mayo Clinic want to make sure that doesn't happen. They're using grocery store bar code technology to account for all sponges, in hopes of reducing errors in the operating room.
Resource: Colon and Rectal Surgery in Minnesota
Brain aneurysms can be very deadly. The ballooning vessel can rupture, leaking blood into your brain. If that happens there's a 60% chance you won't make it. Doctors agree that it's vitally important to fix aneurysms at risk of bleeding. Let's go to Mayo Clinic to learn about a new technique for repairing aneurysms. It's less invasive than traditional surgery and some patients can go home the same day.
Resource: Cerebral Aneurysm
Suffering patients know the importance of human touch. The power of personal contact to the sick or post-surgical patient can be profound. Whether it's a massage or knitting a shawl, health care volunteers like the ones you're about to meet know there is healing in caring hands.
Resource: Massage Therapy
Breast cancer does not discriminate. Any woman of any race can get it. But what many might not know is that minorities such as African Americans, Latinos and Asians tend to develop breast cancer earlier and often have more aggressive tumors than white women. And too often minorities aren't diagnosed until after the disease has spread. More on breast cancer and minorities from Mayo Clinic.
Resource: Breast Cancer
This is a story about beating the odds. The woman you're about to meet was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told she had months to live. But before she had major surgery and chemotherapy to try to keep the devastating disease at bay, she got a second opinion. A new diagnosis with the promise of life.
Resource: Autoimmune Pancreatitis
A living nightmare. That's how the woman you're about to meet describes her experience with a rare disease called myasthenia gravis. The condition caused her to become so weak she couldn't walk, talk or swallow. After seeing several doctors, she ended up at Mayo Clinic where medication and a minimally invasive approach to surgery helped her regain her strength and her life.
Resource: Myasthenia Gravis
Most men know that when they head to the doctor's office for a check-up, they'll be screened for prostate cancer. The tests are routine. But the man you're about to meet also has routine breast exams. Why? Because he is a breast cancer survivor.
Resource: Breast Cancer
The statistics are alarming. Two-thirds of the adults in the U.S. are overweight and one-half of that group is considered obese. Every year those numbers get bigger. But it's not just adults who are tipping the scales, kids are gaining weight, too. One-third of all school-age children are overweight and when bad habits start early, they're hard to break. A nursing group from Mayo Clinic wants to change that. They're working with public schools, nursing students and parents to help kids get and stay healthier.
Resource: MayoClinic.com: Childhood Obesity
Research shows that screening for colorectal cancer saves lives. That's because screening can catch cancer early, while it's still curable. But let's face it, having a colonoscopy to look for cancer or precancerous polyps is not fun. Doctors at Mayo Clinic have studied and improved upon a non-invasive screening test that requires no preparation or procedure. The test detects cancer or precancerous polyps by measuring DNA in your stool.
Resource: Colon Cancer
Lower back pain is very common. If you lift, bend or twist wrong, you can pull a muscle, pinch a nerve or even cause a herniated disc. Many times those injuries will get better on their own. Sometimes you need surgery. Here's a story about a woman with debilitating back pain who ran the Boston marathon soon after surgery to repair a bulging disc.
Resource: Neurosurgery
Running a marathon can be a grueling effort, even for well-trained athletes. Runners can suffer electrolyte imbalances and even kidney problems. An important factor in all this is hydration. But how much and what should runners drink? Those are questions doctors at Mayo Clinic want to answer. They're studying the effects running has on the human body in hopes of being able to tell runners and other endurance athletes how best to prepare for an event.
Resource: Hyponatremia
Epilepsy is a disease that can control your life. For example, the man you're about to meet had to give up his driver's license, his job and much of his social life because of uncontrolled seizures. But a new device being researched at Mayo Clinic is giving him hope. It's like a pacemaker for your brain that may stop seizures before they happen.
Resource: Epilepsy
If you step on the scale and the numbers show you're at a normal weight, there's a one in four chance you're actually obese. It's called normal weight obesity. You might look slim, but you could have a high percentage of body fat compared to lean muscle and bone. This puts you at risk of heart disease, diabetes and other conditions. More from Mayo Clinic.
Resource: Cardiovascular Diseases
Bringing a new baby home from the hospital is supposed to be a time of wonder and joy. But the couple you're about to meet had a very different experience. Their baby girl was born with a severe congenital heart defect that required immediate surgery. Only after life-saving surgery at Mayo Clinic could this young family bring their child home.
Resource: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Cigarettes are highly addicting. But why is it that some people who try cigarettes can put them down and never get addicted while others get hooked right away? The answer lies in how your brain responds to nicotine.
Resource: Stop Smoking Services
Glaucoma is an eye disease that slowly robs people of their vision, often without them even knowing it. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. Treatment to stop the progression of glaucoma includes drops for mild cases or surgery when the disease is more advanced. But now doctors at Mayo Clinic are using another, less-invasive procedure to stop glaucoma and save vision.
Resource: Ophthalmology
Researchers at Mayo Clinic are exploring an association between the spread of breast cancer and asthma. They published a study suggesting that a woman with breast cancer, as well as asthma, may be at increased risk of that cancer spreading to her lungs.
Resource: Breast Clinic
You've heard the advice many times, "eat right and exercise to improve your health." The fact is, that advice is true. You really can make a difference. Doctors at Mayo Clinic designed the heart health and performance program to help people assess their health and learn ways to make it better.
Resource: Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Health Clinic
Watching a TV show in high definition is a different experience than watching it in standard def. The images are sharper and clearer. Now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are using high def CT scanners to see inside the body. The technology allows them to see more detail, but perhaps more important, it also allows them to reduce the amount of radiation patients are exposed to during scans.
Resource: Radiology in Arizona
It's that time of year again, when people who made weight loss New Year's Resolutions fall off the wagon. If fact, if you're still on track, you're doing very well because many people lose momentum by mid-January. Is it possible to make resolutions that last a life-time? We have some tips from experts at Mayo Clinic that may help you on your weight loss journey.
Resource: Weight Management
Crohn's Disease is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the intestinal tract that can cause diarrhea, stomach pain, joint pain and fatigue. Many people with Crohn's are women of childbearing age. It used to be that these women were warned that pregnancy could make the disease much worse, and some avoided having children. But now, newer medications mean that many women with Crohn's don't need to fear pregnancy for themselves or for their babies.
Resource: Crohn's Disease
Janis Ollson thought she had it all. She was young, in a great marriage with baby number two on the way. Then she got the bad news. A rare cancer had formed in her pelvis. Getting rid of the cancer would mean not only removing part of her pelvis, but also part of her spine and her entire left leg. For treatment, Janis went to Mayo Clinic where doctors performed a first-ever reconstructive operation in hopes that she would walk again.
Resource: Orthopedic Surgery
Colon cancer is a deadly disease that, thanks to screening tools, can be prevented and cured if caught early. One of the current ways to look for cancer or pre-cancerous polyps is with colonoscopy. That's the test during which doctors use a scope to spot and remove polyps which they send to a lab for diagnosis. But now, a new technology allows doctors to determine if you have pre-cancerous polyps without having to remove them first. Doctors at Mayo Clinic say it could save many people from having unnecessary biopsies.
Resource: Colon Cancer
For more than 4-thousand years, the Chinese have used acupuncture to treat many ailments. Pain, stress, depression even addiction. Today, many doctors continue that practice because, for many people, it works. Let's go to Mayo Clinic where a neurosurgeon is using acupuncture to help people who suffer from nausea and vomiting after many types of operations.
Resource: Complementary and Integrative Medicine
It's not something many people like to talk about, but urinary incontinence is a big issue. Up to 30% of all women suffer from it, and those who do know how embarrassing having an accident can be. Medications may work for some women, but for those who don't find relief with meds, there is another option. An implant that acts like a pacemaker for your bladder. More from Mayo Clinic.
Resource: Urinary Incontinence
Benign prostate hyperplasia, or BPH, is a common condition that men develop as they age. The main symptom is the need to make frequent trips to the bathroom. In extreme cases, complications such as painful bladder stones can develop. Traditional treatment for these cases meant a big incision and several days in the hospital. But now doctors are using minimally invasive robots to perform this operation. Let's go to Mayo Clinic to find out what the technology means for patients.
Resource: Robotic Assisted Surgery
The first few months after a new baby comes home is a time of joy and wonder, but it can also be exhausting. That's why the woman you're about to meet didn't think twice about being tired and sometimes short winded. What she didn't know was that her heart was growing weak because of a rare condition that can happen after delivery. Suddenly, she collapsed. She needed to get to a major medical center fast, because her local hospital was not equipped to help her. An air ambulance from Mayo Clinic was her only chance at staying alive.
Resource: Emergency Transportation
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