When Angelina Jolie publicly announced her double mastectomy in 2013, she was praised for possibly saving many women’s lives. But we know more today than we did then and experts now agree that too many women are undergoing unnecessary mastectomies. Here are the facts.
Read More »Medical Care for Adults
The National Center for Health Research reviews important new research as soon as it is published. We cut through the hype regarding various medical treatments to let you know what is proven and what is unknown about the risks and benefits of various treatment options. We do not accept funding from the companies that make medical products, so you can trust that our information is based on science, and not biased by financial ties to the treatments we’re evaluating.
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Some of these articles were written this year and others were not, however, if they are on our website it means the information is up-to-date. We always scrutinize new research and call the researchers to learn even more. Then we translate it into plain language that everyone can understand.
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What You Need to Know About Breast Implants
Research clearly shows that implants are associated with significant health, cosmetic, and economic risks within the first few years and these risks increase over time. Unfortunately, long-term risks remain unknown because of a lack of careful scientific studies. FDA has required implant manufacturers to conduct additional research to determine why implants break, how long they can be expected to last, and what the longer-term health consequences of broken and leaking breast implants might be. Those studies, however, have not yet been made public.
Read More »Steroid Injections May do Harm and do No Good for Joint Pain
A 2017 study showing that steroid injections are not helpful for joint pain finally confirms what many researchers have been saying for years.
Read More »Will Acai Help Me Lose Weight?
Many sellers of health foods and supplements claim that the acai (AH-sah-EE) berry will help you lose weight. Dieters beware: these claims are false.
Read More »When Should Women Start Regular Mammograms? 40? 50? And How Often is “Regular”?
In recent years, there has been a growing concern that annual mammograms starting at age 40 may do more harm than good for many women. That is why the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, an expert group that reviews the latest research findings, recommends that mammography screening for most women start at age 50 rather than 40, and that the frequency be every two years (instead of annually) through the age of 74.
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