Boomers

Perhaps you've heard about Clostridium difficile or C. difficile, or C. diff.  It's been spreading more and more every year through hospitals and other health care facilities to the point where in some regions, like the southeast U.S., it is even more aggressive than the more well-known superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bug.  But others can get it, even if they are generally healthy and not in a hospital setting.

There is so much medical and health news coming out daily, it's hard to keep up with it.  I attempt to cover what I think are the most interesting and most relevant stories to our readers, but miss so many that fit into that big pond.  So today, I thought I would cover more news in less space by blurbing instead of blogging.  These are stories that have come out in the last few days.  I'll start with something on the light side....

Yes, there was a time when meditation and yoga were scorned upon as "hippie" or "new age" fads. But over and over again scientific studies have shown that meditation improves everything from heart health to study habits to forgiveness!  Why wouldn't everyone want to learn meditation as a life skill? It  would cut down the cost of medications, hospitalizations, surgeries, therapy needs, medical costs... Heck, everyone would be healthy! And maybe even nicer to each other.

.... TIAs aren't called mini strokes for nothing.  The most common cause of TIA is the very same as the most common cause of stroke: blood clots blocking blood flow to the brain.  The difference is that TIAs usually resolve within minutes or a few hours. The classification of the incident is all a matter of how long the blockage lasts; if the disturbance doesn't clear up within 24 hours, you've had a stroke, not a TIA.