Older Doctors Are Losing Their Edge—And It Can Have a Scary Impact On You

You don’t need to go full Doogie Howser, but it may be in your best interest to find a younger doctor. A new study from a research university called Harvard found that patient mortality rates increase with the physician’s age. The effect is slight but still significant.

Researchers examined more than 70,000 hospital admissions for elderly patients under the supervision of more than 19,000 physicians. The mortality rate for patients with doctors under 30 was 10.8 percent, while that figure rose to 11.1 percent for doctors between 40 and 49. For doctors between 50 and 59, the rate goes up to 11.3 percent, and it jumps up to 12.1 percent for doctors older than 60.

The Scary Health Condition Sleeping Too Long Can Signal

There’s nothing better than sleeping in, right? But sleeping for too long might be signaling something serious about your brain health, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine suggest.

In the study, people who slept for more than 9 hours a night were twice as likely to develop dementia of any kind over a 10-year follow up than those who snoozed between 6 to 9 hours nightly. They were also 71 percent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

The Scary Truth About Lyme Disease

Michael Radonich remembers the day he got Lyme disease: It was late August 2012, the beginning of his first semester at the Wharton School in Philadelphia. He and his classmates had boarded buses for a day of ropes courses and bonding activities at a campground in the Pennsylvania woods.

About two weeks later, Radonich suddenly awoke to shooting pains in his scalp, as if someone had clipped electrodes to his temples. His heart rate began fluttering between 60 and 140 beats per minute. His experienced severe double vision, and then the left side of his body went numb. He was 28 years old, much too young to be having a stroke.

The Scary Side Effect of One Sleepless Night

BY JESSICA GIRDWAIN

Forget hits to the head—just one night of sleep deprivation creates changes in the brain similar to a mild concussion, according to new research from Sweden. 

The small study was done on 15 healthy guys. One night they got 8 hours of sleep in the lab, and another night, total sleep deprivation. The men played games, read, or watched movies to stay awake.

After the all-nighter, blood samples revealed that certain levels of neurochemical markers associated with brain cell damage rose by 20 percent compared to when the guys snagged a full night’s rest.

Scary Symptoms You Can Relax About

Don't hit the panic button

It has been nearly 20 years since I officially practiced medicine, but my friends and family consider me their frontline medical adviser. In an age when it is hard to get a doctor on the phone and can be pricey to see one, I remain really good at screening symptoms. The vast majority of the time, I can assure people that their anxiety is unfounded. Of course, every once in a while, my advice is "Yikes, worry more!" Here are some common medical worries you can set aside—along with a little guidance on when you should indulge them.