Symptoms

More than 2 million American men have turned to saw palmetto extract to help alleviate the uncomfortable symptoms of having an enlarged prostate. It remains a popular herbal remedy despite the fact that a spate of clinical trials in the past 10 years have found its benefits to be limited at best. That may change once men learn about the results of a new trial published in Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. First, a primer on enlarged prostates.

Exercise relieved symptoms of arthritis in obese mice, even though they lost no weight from their efforts, a study finds. Excessive weight has long been considered one of the culprits of osteoarthritis, since it puts additional strain on joints. While exercise has been shown in some studies to ease arthritis symptoms, others have found that for overweight and obese people, a fitness regimen can exacerbate the condition. This study, published online Tuesday in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism , found that although weight may heighten the risk of osteoarthritis, regular exercise could diminish joint problems by slowing its progression.

Inhaling a concentrated cloud of insulin through the nose twice a day appears to slow — and in some cases reverse — symptoms of memory loss in people with early signs of Alzheimer's disease, a new pilot study has found. The study involved only 104 people and is considered very preliminary. But it suggests that a safe, simple and cheap measure that boosts flagging metabolism in key areas of the brain could hold off or possibly derail the progression of the devastating neurological disorder in its early stages.

People suffering from depression may not bring it up with their doctor for a number of reasons, a study finds. The most common one? They're afraid of getting a recommendation for antidepressants. Those findings are featured in a study released Monday in the journal Annals of Family Medicine . In it, researchers surveyed 1,054 adults about why they wouldn't tell their primary care physician about depression symptoms, as well as their beliefs about the mental disorder. Depression symptoms, the study authors note, are underreported.

For New York City resident Esperanza Muñoz, the attack on the World Trade Centers is not over 10 years later — not by a long shot. At odd moments, the stench of death still rises to her nose, and the 55-year-old woman slides into a haze of nausea and tears. She suffers headaches and is awakened several times a week by nightmares of headless bodies and shoes with bits of feet left inside. She dreads the sound of sirens or a passing plane. Muñoz lives in the New York City borough of Queens, and can't — or won't — go into Manhattan, even to attend her support group for Latinas still scarred by the events of Sept.

I sat in an uncomfortable flower-print chair in my neurologist's office. The nurses in the front office were talking to each other about what type of sandwich they would order for lunch. The background was filled with traces of annoying soft-rock music and an overpowering smell of coffee. It was apparent that someone put much effort into creating a calm and relaxing environment, but at the moment it felt as irritating as wearing an itchy sweater in the desert. Hearing the diagnosis — "You have Parkinson's disease.

It appears one of the Ducks' major off-season questions has been answered. Goalie Jonas Hiller says he is no longer suffering from the vertigo symptoms that plagued him last season and expects to attend training camp next month. The All-Star goalie said Friday he's been practicing without symptoms in his native Switzerland since July 10 and is eager to be back on the ice with his teammates after sitting out almost the entire second half of last season. "It's great to feel better," Hiller said.

In many households, the start of a new school year is a cause for excitement. There are new books to read, friends to be made, pencils to sharpen. But in the Gigliotti household in Benicia, Calif., the anticipation is mixed with apprehension. The family's oldest son, Justin, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which can be difficult to mesh with the routines and structure of the classroom. "Every year at the beginning of the school year, it's a new challenge," says Heidi Gigliotti, a registered nurse and mother of three.

Some signs of Alzheimer's disease appear in cerebrospinal fluid 10 or 20 years before symptoms of the disease appear in families with an inherited form of the disease, a finding that may help provide early diagnosis in those with sporadic forms of the disease, researchers said Wednesday. The findings may also provide a group of subjects in whom potential Alzheimer's drugs can be tested to determine if they work better when used at the earliest stages of the disease, according to researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Oh, Octomom. You've been through so much--one minute you're up and the next you're down. This must be a down moment for Nadya Suleman, since she recently supposedly admitted to In Touch Weekly that she hates her babies. "They disgust me," she reportedly told the magazine. If true that's sad news, but maybe not unexpected, considering some studies show that single mothers (even ones who don't have 14 children, among them a set of octuplets) and their children may be stressed and suffer greater health and other consequences compared with their married counterparts.