Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

- Season 5

(2005)

This episode looks at the latest advances in hernia-repair operations, the most common surgery performed in the United States. In addition to seeing where and why hernias form, viewers will learn about advances in mesh materials that are leading to less pain and faster recoveries for patients who undergo hernia-repair operations. New surgical techniques are also lowering the odds of recurrent hernias.

Prostate Cancer - In 2005, over 232,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and over 30,000 men will die from it. American men are 33% more likely to develop prostate cancer than an American woman is to develop breast cancer. In fact, prostate Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States. We'll look at the severity of this disease, how it is diagnosed, and the treatments available.

While new cases of hepatitis B & C are declining in the U.S., deaths are expected to increase over the next decade, as patients who contracted the infections years ago via infected blood transfusions and the drug abuse related sharing of syringes, begin to develop liver failure or liver cancer.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an umbrella term used to describe patients with Chronic Bronchitis and/or Emphysema. The condition causes shortness of breath and can restrict mobility, making simple tasks like walking to the car seem almost impossible.

MDS, or Myelodysplastic Syndrome, is a preleukemic blood disorder. In this case, the mutated cells live along side normal cells. But once the number of mutated cells grows to the point where they begin to crowd out the normal cells, leukemia develops. Once that happens, life expectancy is about 3 years. There are new therapies to stem the tide of this disease, and research is underway via clinical trials to improve treatment

About sixty years ago, successful organ transplants for humans began to show signs of success. Since then, organ transplants have saved millions of lives worldwide. More than 65,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant. While each day about 57 Americans receive a transplant, about 13 will die because not enough organs are available. Once a transplant has been completed, preventing the body's rejection of the transplanted organ can be an ongoing challenge. The body's attempt to destroy the transplanted organ; usually occurs in the first year after transplant. ...

In the United States, kidney cancer accounts for approximately 3% of all adult cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 32,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 12,000 people die from the disease annually. Kidney cancer occurs most often in people between the ages of 50 and 70, and affects men almost twice as often as women. There is a trend to move away from more toxic treatments that have fewer side effects, like oral medications now being used. Other forms of treatment continue to make an impact on this disease.

Asthma is a serious, sometimes life-threatening respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for millions of Americans. Asthma leads to 2 million emergency room visits and 5,000 deaths per year in the U.S. And although many cases of asthma go undiagnosed, health officials estimate that at least 20 million people in the U.S. have asthma, including 6.3 million children. Although there is no cure yet, it can be controlled through medical treatment and management of environmental "triggers".

Acne affects more than 90 percent of people at some point in their lives. It can begin soon after puberty and continue into adulthood. Often, acne clears on its own but for some people if left untreated, acne can leave years of physical and emotional scars. In this episode we'll take a look at the causes of acne and explore treatments that are helping patients overcome the condition and get back their confidence.

Chemotherapy has a tough reputation, but enduring the treatment isn't what it used to be. Advances in the control of side-effects are making "chemo" more tolerable. Traditionally, some patients were forced to quit or delay therapy because of these side effects... in turn, making them more vulnerable to their cancer. Today, advances in chemotherapy are making treatments more effective with fewer side effects and more often then not, allow patients to work and be active during their treatment. There's hope with today's Chemotherapy.