The Aesthetics Advisor

A tonsillectomy is the surgical removal of your tonsils, two oval-shaped pads of tissue located on each side of the back of your throat. 1   Although the number of tonsillectomies has declined drastically in the last 30 years, the surgery continues to be one of the most commonly performed on children, 2   with more than 530,000 done each year on children under 15 in the U.S. 3 Administration of the guidelines for the surgery differ between countries. For instance, England's National Health Service (NHS) has classified the surgery as "of limited benefit," 4  with some commissioners unwilling to pay for surgery unless a child has had eight cases of tonsillitis documented by a physician visit in one year, strongly adhering to the letter of the Paradise Criteria for Tonsillectomy. 5 This has resulted in a significant drop of routine tonsillectomies, with an increase in emergency admissions to the hospital for tonsillitis. While it may appear as if children are suffering more ...

When Darla Torno entered the radiology suite for a routine MRI with contrast, she expected clarity. After all, she was about to undergo a scan for preventive measures, not due to any illness. The procedure required gadolinium, a standard imaging agent. But in the weeks following the procedure, Ms. Torno’s energy levels plummeted, a mysterious weakness crept into her muscles, and a cognitive fog settled over her. Within months, normalcy became a distant memory.   Initially dismissed, her symptoms eventually were traced back to an unexpected source: the very contrast dye used in her scan. The Role of Gadolinium in Modern Medicine Gadolinium, a dense rare-earth element categorized as a heavy metal, distinguishes itself from essential metals such as iron and zinc. Unlike these nutrients, it’s absent from the human body, only making its way in through medical injections tailored for diagnostic purposes. Its role? To bring clarity to the MRI process. When MRI machines cast powerful magne...

A decade after Kyoto University biologist Shinya Yamanaka won a share of a Nobel Prize for discovering a cocktail of proteins that reprogram adult cells into versatile stem cells, two teams argue the proteins can turn back the clock for entire organisms—perhaps one day humans. One group at a biotech used gene therapy to deliver some of the so-called Yamanaka factors into old mice, and modestly extended their life span. And a separate team followed a similar strategy to reverse aging-like changes in genetically engineered mice. In both cases, the Yamanaka factors appear to have restored part of the animals’ epigenome, chemical modifications on DNA and proteins that help regulate gene activity, to a more youthful state. But scientists not involved in the work say suggestions of age reversal are premature. “These studies use reprogramming factors to reverse epigenetic changes that happen during aging,” says Matt Kaeberlein, a geroscientist at the University of Washington, Seattle, but tha...

Snoring isn’t always just a nuisance that can keep you and your partner up at night. It’s a common sign of sleep apnea, which can have serious — even life-threatening — complications. In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common form, 1   the airway becomes blocked during sleep, leading to reduced or blocked airflow. Left untreated, OSA is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and neurocognitive complications, as well as increased morbidity and mortality. 2  People with untreated sleep apnea also have a greater risk of Type 2 diabetes, 3  heart failure, stroke, high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat, along with a three-fold greater risk of being involved in a motor vehicle accident. 4 However, many people with the condition aren’t aware they have it, putting them at risk of potentially preventable related health issues. So, if you or a family member is a snorer, it’s important to consider OSA as a cause ...