Diagnosis

For decades, those with high cholesterol have been given a list of don'ts when it comes to their diet: Don't eat cholesterol-rich eggs; don't eat butter; don't eat red meat or regular ice cream. Well, now researchers have identified a list of do's for the diet that may work to lower cholesterol levels better than avoiding those don'ts. In a study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that eating cholesterol-lowering foods like nuts, soy protein, and certain fiber-rich items result in bigger drops in "bad" LDL cholesterol than avoiding...

Former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has been diagnosed with cancer in his tongue and lymph nodes, his family confirmed Friday, a disease that can be fatal if not detected early. DiMasi, a onetime political power now serving eight years in a Kentucky prison for corruption, was diagnosed last month after he discovered a suspicious growth, a family friend said. It's unclear where DiMasi will be treated, but there is a prison medical facility specializing in cancer treatment in North Carolina.

As a child, Steve Thompson displayed outsized reactions to ordinary events and intense mood swings. By age 12, doctors diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. The idea that he had a chronic mental illness - one typically marked in adulthood by manic periods followed by depression - frightened him. "It's something you think you'll have your entire life," said Thompson, a 23-year-old student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton. But over the past year, with the help of his longtime psychiatrist, he has weaned himself off mood-altering medication.

As a child, Steve Thompson displayed outsized reactions to ordinary events and intense mood swings. By age 12, doctors diagnosed him with bipolar disorder. The idea that he had a chronic mental illness - one typically marked in adulthood by manic periods followed by depression - frightened him. "It's something you think you'll have your entire life," said Thompson, a 23-year-old student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton. But over the past year, with the help of his longtime psychiatrist, he has weaned himself off mood-altering medication.

Late last fall, Dartmouth Medical School researchers reported in the journal Cancer that all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in their study experienced at least some level of distress, and nearly half met the criteria for a significant psychiatric disorder such as major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Well, duh! Is it really news that a serious medical diagnosis can shake a person to the core? The only surprise to me is that a study like this is necessary.

Actress Demi Moore was admitted to the hospital last night with a diagnosis of exhaustion, according to a statement by her rep. Let's assume she really does have exhaustion and not anorexia, a substance abuse problem, or garden variety depression. Is exhaustion an actual medical diagnosis? "There's no code that I can submit to insurance if a client came to me complaining of exhaustion, but it's a very real problem," said Karen Ruskin, a Sharon-based psychotherapist. While exhaustion can be a symptom of depression or anxiety, it can also be an entity in and...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Wayne Schenk, who won $1 million in the lottery shortly after finding out he had terminal cancer, died Monday at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse. He was 51. "He is in a better place now," friend Nick Pascazi told The Daily Messenger of Canandaigua. "He was starting to suffer, and we didn't want that. " On Jan. 12, Mr. Schenk won $1 million playing a $5 scratch ticket in the New York State Lottery. Five weeks earlier, he had found out that he had less than a year to live because of inoperable lung cancer.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt hopes her public battle with dementia raises awareness about the disease and inspires people to do more. Kentucky associate head coach Kyra Elzy is one of many whom Summitt has already touched. Elzy had already made a New Year's resolution to increase her volunteer work in 2011. So when the 59-year-old Summitt made her announcement in August, she saw a perfect opportunity to honor her former coach and her grandmother, who had Alzheimer's. Elzy volunteers at Best Friends Day Care in Lexington, Ky., an adult day care for people...

"There is, at least, some relief in diagnosis. " — Hanif Kureishi

Unless you’ve been through it, you don’t know exactly how you’d behave if told you had only months to live. Would you be heroic, cowardly, self-obsessed, depressed, an anxious whirl of denial, a fountain of gallows humor, a saint? All of the above? Would you pull a Walter White from “Breaking Bad’’ and become a drug kingpin with no moral center? Showtime’s “The Big C’’ is a blackly comic portrait of one woman’s choices upon learning she has stage IV melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

Wayside Youth and Family Support Network is sponsoring a free talk about proposed changes in how autism spectrum disorders are labeled in the American Psychiatric Association's next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, on May 9 at 7 p.m. in the Waltham Public Library. The draft of the new manual, a resource for diagnosing mental conditions and developmental disabilities, would classify Asperger's disorder, PDD-NOS, and childhood disintegrative disorder under one entry for "autism spectrum disorder" and list the previously stand-alone conditions as subtypes.

OSLO - Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik slammed a psychiatric report that declared him insane, insisting Wednesday that it was based on "evil fabrications" meant to portray him as irrational and unintelligent. "It is not me who is described in that report," the right-wing extremist, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a July 22 bomb-and-shooting rampage, said in court. A second psychiatric examination concluded that Breivik was sane. The five-judge panel trying Breivik on terror charges for the attacks will consider both.

Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik slammed a psychiatric report that declared him insane, insisting Wednesday it was based on "evil fabrications" meant to portray him as irrational and unintelligent. "It is not me who is described in that report," the right-wing extremist, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a July 22 bomb-and-shooting rampage, said in court. A second psychiatric examination found that Breivik was sane. The five-judge panel trying Breivik on terror charges for the attacks will consider both reports.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Red Sox took a gamble when they acquired Andrew Bailey from the Oakland Athletics in December. The righthander unquestionably had the talent and temperament to replace Jonathan Papelbon as the closer, but had a troubling history with injuries. Now, just days before the season starts, Bailey has been told he needs surgery on his right thumb, according to major league sources. Bailey was examined by team doctors in Boston on Monday and on Tuesday will see Dr. Thomas Graham, a hand specialist at the...

ATLANTA (AP) — A new government report says autism is more common than previously thought, burdening as many as 1 in 88 children. Health officials attribute the increase largely to better recognition of cases, through wide screening and better diagnosis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday. They are the latest in a series of studies that have been steadily increasing the government's estimate for autism.

"There is, at least, some relief in diagnosis. " — Hanif Kureishi

NEW YORK - Proposed changes in the definition of autism would sharply reduce the skyrocketing rate at which the disorder is diagnosed and may make it harder for many people who would no longer meet the criteria to get health, education, and social services, a new analysis suggests. The definition is under review by a special panel appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, which is completing work on the fifth edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

ATLANTA (AP) — A new government report says autism is more common than previously thought, burdening as many as 1 in 88 children. Health officials attribute the increase largely to better recognition of cases, through wide screening and better diagnosis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Thursday. They are the latest in a series of studies that have been steadily increasing the government's estimate for autism.

Greg Dickerson, the reliable sideline reporter on Comcast SportsNet New England's Celtics telecasts, has never tried to hide his affinity for the team or his appreciation for his job. For him to miss a significant amount of time, as he has this season, viewers might presume it was because of a serious matter. It was. Two days before the Celtics' Christmas Day opener in New York, Dickerson suffered a major seizure. After meeting with neurologists and other doctors, he was diagnosed with epilepsy.

Greg Dickerson, the reliable sideline reporter on Comcast SportsNet New England's Celtics telecasts, has never tried to hide his affinity for the team or his appreciation for his job. For him to miss a significant amount of time, as he has this season, viewers might presume it was because of a serious matter. It was. Two days before the Celtics' Christmas Day opener in New York, Dickerson suffered a major seizure. After meeting with neurologists and other doctors, he was diagnosed with epilepsy.