Whether or not you get a flu shot, try these tricks to lower your chances of getting grounded by the flu, as well as to prevent colds and other infections.

Wash, over and over
Your hands need attention. Use plain old soap and water, and make sure to rub vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds.

Avoid crowds
The flu virus thrives on socializing. Do more shopping online than at the mall, and try to cover your face if someone sneezes near you.

Keep hydrated
Membranes in your nose and throat trap viruses and move them back out in the form of mucus. Drink lots of fluids and gargle to keep your membranes in fighting shape, says Neil Schachter, MD, author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu. But avoid humidifiers; they can spread germs. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re experiencing a severe headache at the time you reach orgasm, this can be worrying for you and your partner.

Unfortunately, such pains do occur – sometimes just before orgasm, sometimes during it, and sometimes just after it.

They are more common in men than in women – which is a little surprising because in general, headache is more often seen in females than in males.

They seem to be seen more frequently in people who have migraine. But the pains themselves are not typically ‘migrainous’ in nature. Read the rest of this entry »

There are a many medical conditions and disabilities that make it difficult to enjoy a normal sex life.

For example, sexual intercourse may be difficult for people with any of the following conditions:

• paralysis (following a stroke or a spinal injury)
• severe arthritis
• heart failure
• severe respiratory problems (such as chronic bronchitis or emphysema)
• kidney (renal) failure.

Numerically, the problem which most often affects people’s sex lives is heart disease.

Heart attacks and heart failure (cardiac insufficiency) are common, and can easily make patients feel frightened about re-starting sexual intercourse.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are embarrassed about discussing such issues. So a man or woman may find it hard to talk about his or her sexual problem or to ask for any kind of help. A reluctance to discuss things often makes the problem worse.

Please do try and talk matters over with your partner and your doctor. Read the rest of this entry »

By breaking down Botox molecules into two separate building blocks, Davletov’s team were able to produce them separately and safely, and then “clip” them back together again, they said in a report of work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.

LONDON — British scientists have developed a new way of joining and rebuilding molecules and used it to refine the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox in an effort to improve its use for Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy and chronic migraine.

Researchers at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology said their results also open up ways to develop new forms of Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin, commonly known as Botox, which may be used as long-term painkillers.

“It will now be possible to produce Botox-based medicines in a safer and more economical way,” Bazbek Davletov, who led the study, said in a statement about his findings.

The new clipping method produced a refined Botox-like molecule, they said, which would be practical for clinical use but would not have unwanted toxic effects.

In recent years, Botox has been used increasingly as a medical treatment, with doctors exploiting its ability to relax muscles and nerves to try to still spasms and tremors such those in patients with Parkinson’s disease, or to ease pain. Read the rest of this entry »