March 28, 2024

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Health is important

Health news: Therapeutic ‘magic mushrooms’, the importance of living donations, and more | Health

How to save lives and become an organ donor

April is National Donate Life Month, and Roth is sharing his story to celebrate Jafari and bring attention to the people still waiting to find a lifesaving donor. That number is more than 100,000 people, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Living donations may make some people more uneasy than the thought of donating after death, but donation organizations say they are a big part of their efforts. Here’s how you can become an organ donor.


Living organ donations save lives. This is how you become a donor

Genetic fingerprints can help treat skin conditions

Rashes can be thought of as a dysfunctional community of skin cells. Your skin harbors dozens of distinct cell types, including those that form blood vessels, nerves and the local immune system of the skin. For decades, clinicians have largely been diagnosing rashes by eye. While examining the physical appearance of a skin sample under a microscope may work for more obvious skin conditions, many rashes can be difficult to distinguish from one another.

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At the molecular level, however, the differences between rashes become more clear.

Doctors suggest new names for low-grade prostate cancer

A cancer diagnosis is scary. Some doctors say it’s time to rename low-grade prostate cancer to eliminate the alarming C-word.

Cancer cells develop in nearly all prostates as men age, and most prostate cancers are harmless. About 34,000 Americans die from prostate cancer annually, but treating the disease can lead to sexual dysfunction and incontinence.

Changing the name could lead more low-risk patients to skip unnecessary surgery and radiation.


Doctors suggest new names for low-grade prostate cancer

Can cancer blood tests live up to promise of saving lives?

A Canby, Oregon, resident had volunteered to take a blood test that is being billed as a new frontier in cancer screening for healthy people. It looks for cancer by checking for DNA fragments shed by tumor cells.

Such blood tests, called liquid biopsies, are already used in patients with cancer to tailor their treatment and check to see if tumors come back.

Now, one company is promoting its blood test to people with no signs of cancer as a way to detect tumors in the pancreas, ovaries and other sites that have no recommended screening method.


Can cancer blood tests live up to promise of saving lives?

Can shrooms help with therapy? And can conservatives be swayed?

Conservative Utah has become at least the fourth state over the last two years to approve studying the potential medical use of psychedelics, which are still federally illegal. A string of cities have also decriminalized so-called magic mushrooms and an explosion of investment money is flowing into the arena.

Experts say the research is promising for treating conditions ranging from PTSD to quitting smoking, but caution some serious risks remain, especially for those with certain mental health conditions.


'Magic mushrooms' for therapy? Vets help sway conservatives

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Get more of the past week’s health news here:


Vaping loophole closes as FDA can now regulate all forms of nicotine


It doesn't take a lot of exercise to fight depression, study says


As states move to restrict abortion access, neighboring states prepare for surges in demand


Abortions stop in Kentucky as groups seek to block new law