PlaneTree's website

May 2016

New Hours at PlaneTree Center

Effective immediately, the PlaneTree Health Information Center in the Cupertino Library will be open on Saturdays only, from 10 am to 4 pm. Drop-in patrons are always welcome, of course, but you are encouraged to make an appointment as patrons with appointments will be given priority. Check the Center's website for contact information to set up an appointment by phone or email.

The PlaneTree Health Information Center has been staffed and funded by our partner, the Santa Clara County Library District, since fall 2013.

News You Can Use

A Caution for Back Pain Sufferers

"Provocative discography" sounds like it might be a controversial catalog of music. In fact it is a diagnostic procedure often performed on patients prior to spinal fusion surgery. Previous studies have not found the test to be diagnostically helpful. Now a new study suggests that the procedure may actually be harmful.

Crazy-bad Lead Levels

If you are the parent or grandparent of an elementary school-age kid, please be aware that a very popular line of make-your-own jewelry kits 2 schoolage girls

had dangerously high levels of lead in recent tests. Until news about the problem broke, Cra-Z-Art jewelry kits were sold by Amazon, Target, Walmart, Toys-R-Us, and other stores.

Succinctly...

What do scientific studies say about the medicinal properties of turmeric (or curcumin, the chemical that makes it yellow-orange)?

Here is a tip for preventing blisters on your feet during strenuous athletic activities.

When is pet health insurance worth the expense?

Do you take 5 or more different supplements, over-the-counter drugs, and/or prescription medications daily? "Polypharmacy" increases the risk of drug-drug or drug-supplement interactions. Learn more.

What is known about shingles has changed in the last decade. Update your knowledge about maintaining immunity.

Treating Alcohol Use Disorder

Medications can be a very useful component of treatment for individuals who have difficulty drinking less or no alcohol, despite wanting to do so. These articles for patients and doctors describe how the different drugs help.

Doctors and treatment centers often fail to utilize these drugs despite their efficacy, so patients may need to initiate discussing them with a health care provider.

Food Additives

Most of us have felt like ignoramuses when trying to read the ingredients listed on food labels. If you want to know what an additive is used for and how safe it is, this chart from the Center for Science in the Public Interest will be helpful. (Unfortunately, pronunciation guides are not included!)

Women & OB/GYNs: Avoid These

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises women and doctors to avoid the following common practices. ACOG provided brief information about the following recommendations, plus additional information about problems associated with electively inducing labor.

During pregnancy:

-- Electively inducing labor before 39 weeks, or at 39 to 41 weeks when the cervix is unfavorable

-- Performing prenatal ultrasounds solely to create keepsake images

-- Routinely restricting activity or going on bedrest during pregnancy, even with multiples, preterm labor, vaginal bleeding, high blood pressure, and other conditions

Cancer screening & treatment:

-- Doing annual Pap smears in average-risk women, age 30-65

-- Using transvaginal ultrasound or a blood (serum 125) tests to screen for ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women at average risk

-- Treating mild, recently diagnosed cervical dysplasia

Surgery for noncancerous gynecological conditions:

-- Using robot-assisted laparoscopy when other surgical techniques would work well

Prostate Cancer

An expert panel has released guidance for patients regarding the most effective treatments for localized prostate cancer. (Information for physicians was also released.

If you are, or soon will be, receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer, you may be at increased risk of developing depression, especially if your androgen deprivation treatment lasts many months. Men for whom depression is a concern may want to discuss alternate treatment options or limiting the treatment's duration with their doctor.

"Fraying at the Edges"

A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease called one woman to live life as fully and positively as possible. Her and her husband's first years of adapting to her changing mental capacity are brilliantly chronicled in an extended article in the New York Times Magazine.
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In This Issue

News You Can Use

"Fraying at the Edges"

Events