Health

Patients Are Their Own Reward

Deciding medically what is best for you

By:

Masha Rifkin, JNS.org

Perhaps doctor doesn’t know best. In their new book, Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What Is Right for You, husband-wife physician team Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband lay the groundwork for making sound medical decisions. No choices are completely independent, the authors say; rather, they are influenced by a set of values and history. Understanding what makes people tick...

Fighting Cancer

Pass It On?

Are certain cancers hereditary — or are there other reasons for disease clusters among related generations

By:

Elyse Glickman, Special Sections Feature

With the concept of “pre-existing conditions” making front-page news in the ongoing tug-of-war focused on U.S. health care, it is not surprising that an increasing number of Americans are making more of a concerted effort to track their family health history. Research reveals that regular check-ups and informative websites barely scratch the surface when it comes to family legacies. Indeed,...

Fighting Cancer

Breast Cancer & Sexual Intimacy

Does the diagnosis of one lead to an end of the other?

By:

Lauren Kramer, Special Sections Feature

Sexual intimacy is one way couples bond and reaffirm their affection for and their attractiveness to one another. For patients living with a breast cancer diagnosis, those affirmations are more important than ever. But getting intimate can be complicated when your libido is compromised by the very drugs you hope will cure you. Women living with a breast cancer diagnosis...

Fighting Cancer

A Cure at Last?

One doctor looks for ‘an explosion’ in the next decade’s battle to bring breast cancer to its knees

By:

Rachel Vigoda, Special Sections Feature

President John F. Kennedy pledged in 1961 to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. It took less than nine years to accomplish. In 1971, President Richard Nixon promised there would be a cure for cancer in 10 years. It’s been 41 — and researchers are just starting to figure out what’s taking so long...

Health

Marriage: Fairy Tales Can Come True …

But what happens when Cinderella has to deal with Prince Not-So-Charming’s bad side?

By:

Lynne Blumberg

Even though women have more options these days, most still wish to marry a Prince Charming-type who will sweep them off their feet, says Susan Shapiro Barash, author of The Nine Phases of Marriage, her 13th book about women’s issues. During a recent interview, Barash said her research found that 85 percent of women want to be wives. She believes...