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Health

Award-winning mental health documentary will be shown at Chesterfield Community Center

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Thursday night, “Kings Park: Stories from an American Mental Institution” will be featured at the Chesterfield Community Center (formerly the Senior Center). The award-winning documentary was written and direct by filmmaker Lucy Winer, who was a teenage patient at Kings Park in 1967. Established in 1885 and closed in 1996, Kings Park State Hospital on Long Island, N.Y., warehoused more than 9,000 patients at its height in the 1950s. The film offers an inside look at public mental health care in America by focusing on the story of this now-abandoned institution, including former patients, their families and hospital staff, who share intimate accounts of their lives at the facility. These accounts bear witness to the … 0

FILE- In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 file photo, actress Angelina Jolie poses for a portrait to promote her directorial debut of the film "In the Land of Blood and Honey" in New York. Jolie authored an op-ed for Tuesday’s May 14, 2013 New York Times where she writes that in April she finished three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts as a preventive measure. She says she’s kept the process private but is writing about it now with hopes she can help other women. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri, File) ITALY OUT

Angelina Jolie discloses preventive double mastectomy

Friday, May 17, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Angelina Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for Tuesday’s New … 0

FILE - This Feb. 26, 2012 file photo shows actress Angelina Jolie, right, and actor Brad Pitt at the 84th Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Jolie says that she has had a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer. The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in an op-ed she authored for Tuesday's New York Times under the headline, "My Medical Choice." She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, file)

Angelina Jolie hailed for bravery in mastectomy revelation

Friday, May 17, 2013

NEW YORK — “I hope that other women can benefit from my experience,” Angelina Jolie wrote in a powerful op-ed article Tuesday, explaining her decision to go public with having her breasts removed to avoid cancer. But amid the accolades for the film star’s courageous revelation, doctors and genetic counselors were careful to … 0

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Kristin Gross of Northampton, left, forces out Madison Grande of East Longmeadow on a hit from Mary Edwards Friday in Northampton. JERREY ROBERTS Northampton softball suffers another tough loss
Rear view of the Florence Community Center at 140 Pine Street in Florence. KEVIN GUTTING Florence Community Center tenants wary of change as building sale nears
Diezel, a Dutch Shepherd police dog owned by UMass Canine Officer Liana Varosky, searches Thursday for marijuana in vehicles during a K9 training event held at UMass. The task is part of the yearly certification required for all police dogs. SARAH CROSBY ‘They won’t mess with a dog’ ... At UMass K9 training, dogs build, prove police skills
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Enlarged prostate can cause problems in men

Monday, May 13, 2013

Many men will experience prostate enlargement as they get older, some to the point that it will cause urination problems. Dr. Michael Naslund, director of the Maryland Prostate Center at the University Maryland Medical Center, said there are many options for treatment, including surgery, drugs and lifestyle changes. … 0

Physician’s book gives tips for better health

Friday, May 17, 2013

Doctor and author Richard Besser prefers tap water to bottled. And, he advises, take the money you are spending on multivitamins and put it toward eating more fruits and vegetables. In 2009, Dr. Richard Besser faced a public health crisis just months after being named the interim chief … 0

Health notes: Vaccine for heart patients

Monday, May 13, 2013

Vaccine for heart patients The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases is aiming to boost pneumonia vaccination rates among at-risk patients. The pneumococcal disease vaccine is recommended for people older than 18 who have underlying conditions — including chronic … 0

Check it out

Monday, May 13, 2013

PALLIATIVE CARE TALK A program on palliative care with Cooley Dickinson Hospital physicians and nurses as well as representatives from the Cooley Dickinson Patient Family Advisory Committee, will be held today at 6:30 p.m. at the St. Philip’s Parish Hall, 128 Main St., Easthampton. Palliative care helps patients … 0

Health events

Monday, May 13, 2013

For a full list of upcoming health events visit www.gazettenet.com/living/health/ VISION, SPEECH AND HEARING HEARING — Walter Nowak of the Avada Hearing Care Clinic offers a hearing clinic and hearing aid cleanings for area seniors on the first Wednesday of every other month from 1-3 p.m. at the … 0

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 2, 2007 file photo, one dose of the vaccine Gardasil, developed by Merck & Co., is displayed in Austin, Texas. On Thursday, May 9, 2013, the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership that's worked with drugmakers to deliver affordable vaccines to poor countries to treat childhood illnesses, announced a program that will team multinational drugmakers Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline with top global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world's poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer. Merck & Co. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC initially will provide 2.4 million doses of their vaccines against cancer-causing human papilloma virus, for a fraction of the cost commanded in Western countries. Merck will supply its Gardasil for $4.50 per dose, and Glaxo its Cervarix for $4.60 per dose. In the U.S., the shots cost well over $100 apiece, and a three-dose series over six months is required.(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck, File)

Drugmakers, health groups to make cervical cancer vaccine available to poor

Thursday, May 16, 2013

TRENTON, N.J. — Two multinational drugmakers are teaming up with top global health groups to protect millions of girls in the world’s poorest countries from deadly cervical cancer. Starting with pilot programs in eight Asian and African nations, … 0

JERREY ROBERTS Cooley Dickinson Hospital Monday afternoon.

Cooley Dickinson’s bid to join Mass General moves forward with key state approval

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

NORTHAMPTON — Massachusetts General Hospital’s acquisition of Cooley Dickinson Hospital was approved Wednesday by a state panel, a key step in the eventual merger of the two institutions. The Public Health Council of the state Department of Public … 0

FILE - In this Dec. 20, 2011 file photo medical bills are spread out on the kitchen table of a cancer patient in Salem, Va. Hospitals across the country, and even within the same city, sometimes charge tens of thousands of dollars more for the same procedures, according to figures the government released for the first time Wednesday, May 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

Disparities immense as hospital bills made public

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

WASHINGTON — For the first time, the government is publicly revealing how much hospitals charge, and the differences are astounding: Some bill tens of thousands of dollars more than others for the same treatment, even within the same … 0

In this photo provided by Connie Colton, her son Tony, right, poses for a photo with his friend Ashley Krueger in November 2012 at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. The two teens met while undergoing cancer treatment at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. They are doing more than providing emotional support for each other, they’re also helping each other financially. (AP Photo/Connie Colton)

Teens help each other pay for cancer treatments

Thursday, May 9, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In a normal school setting, Tony Colton and Ashley Krueger probably wouldn’t cross paths. He’s 13. She’s 18. He’s short and outgoing. She’s about 6 feet tall and serious. He’s in middle school, she’s … 0

Bogota banks on pot cure for drug addicts

Thursday, May 9, 2013

BOGOTA, Colombia — Marijuana has long been accused of being a gateway to deadlier vices. But could cannabis be a swinging door that might also lead people away from hard drugs? That’s what this capital city is trying to find out. In coming weeks, Bogota is embarking on … 0

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