Researchers found that individuals who used 7 grams (g) or more — around ½ tbsp — in cooking, as a dressing, or along with their bread, had a reduced risk of dying of heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, or Alzheimer’s disease when compared with people who rarely or never consumed olive oil. Replacing about 10 g a day (about ¾ tbsp) of butter, margarine, mayo, or dairy fat with the equivalent amount of olive oil was associated with a lower risk of early death as well....

RELATED: Gentle and Restorative Yoga Moves for Rheumatoid Arthritis While everyone can benefit from tools and props, people with rheumatoid arthritis may especially need them, says Christa Fairbrother, a certified yoga-for-arthritis instructor in southwestern Florida who has managed her own connective tissue disease with the help of yoga. “Props and tools can make the practice more accessible and appropriate for their body,” she says. If the person you’re buying for is new to yoga, you may want to get them some of the more basic tools....

Within the chest cavity, the heart is protected and held in place by a membranous sac called the pericardium. Various issues, including infections, heart attacks, trauma, and autoimmune disorders, can cause the pericardium to become inflamed and swollen — a condition called pericarditis. Depending on the cause, pericarditis can either be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). The acute and chronic forms of pericarditis have different symptoms. Acute Pericarditis Symptoms Chest pain is the most common symptom of acute pericarditis....

Because pneumonia comes in different forms, treatment plans vary widely. Some people may only need bed rest, while others may require hospitalization. Roughly one-third of all pneumonia cases in this country are caused by respiratory viruses, most commonly influenza. (1) As Jason Turowski, MD, a pulmonologist and associate director of the adult cystic fibrosis program at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, puts it, “viruses set up shop and basically wreak havoc on your lungs....

“Qigong is a mind-body practice that utilizes postures, coordinated breaths, and intention setting. It’s one of these universal practices that can be applied in so many different ways,” says Michael Sweeney, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, a doctor of medical qigong, the deputy chair of the National Qigong Association (NQA), and the director of academics at the Red Thread International Qigong Institute in Carbondale, Colorado. According to the NQA, the term “qigong” is made up of two words or concepts....

Even so, 1 in 10 respondents who had been taking psoriasis medication before the pandemic stopped taking it because of COVID-19. Always talk to your doctor before making any changes to your treatment regimen. Patients, too, turned to telehealth, but some skipped visits altogether. According to the Everyday Health survey, about 1 in 5 people with psoriasis canceled or postponed a doctor’s appointment during the pandemic. Despite its recent widespread adoption, telehealth isn’t new....

She’s been mortified by these flares since childhood. “As a kid, I’d go to day camp wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts — and I never, ever wore a bathing suit,” she recalls. What Knee and Elbow Psoriasis Looks Like The knees and elbows are the most common location for psoriasis flare-ups. “Those are the textbook cases,” says Elisabeth Richard, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore....

“Psoriasis triggers don’t cause the disease, but they can activate it,” says Danielle M. Miller, MD, a dermatologist in Concord, Massachusetts. Understanding common psoriasis triggers also helps you and your doctor form strategies to treat and manage the condition. Here are some common psoriasis triggers — and what you can do to manage them to help prevent flares. Skin injuries An injury to the skin, such as a cut, bruise, or bump, can cause a psoriasis flare....

For example, people may also be diagnosed with PTSD after being sexually assaulted or raped, experiencing a natural disaster, or being in a car accident. “It could impact anyone,” says Tara Emrani, PhD, a psychologist based in New York City. PTSD has a range of symptoms that vary in severity, especially depending on which event first triggered the PTSD, says Elspeth Ritchie, MD, the chair of psychiatry at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D....

Although it’s not fully understood, there seems to be a link between the gut and joints, says Harry D. Fischer, MD, the chief of rheumatology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. For example, a bacterial infection in the digestive tract can cause a reactive type of arthritis, he notes. In addition, both arthritis and ulcerative colitis have a genetic component. According to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, people with ulcerative colitis tend to have one of three forms of arthritis:...

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that almost half of adults have experienced some form of headache at least once in the past year, and says a lack of knowledge among healthcare providers and the general public acts as a barrier to effective care. It doesn’t have to be that way. Many organizations offer educational materials and assist in finding doctors or clinics that specialize in migraine and headache care....

RELATED: Hot and Cold Therapy for Joint Pain Relief “Drugs are effective for rheumatoid arthritis, but they don’t affect the stress pathways that are so fundamental to the condition,” says Michael Irwin, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California in Los Angeles and the director of its Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC). Stress symptoms, he says, activate inflammation and even heighten the perception of pain. “A mindfulness-based intervention, which targets the multiple components of the body’s stress response, can decrease overall pain severity and increase quality of life....

When you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), building your diet around foods that help curb the inflammatory response is important, but that’s easier said than done — especially when it comes to desserts. RELATED: The 8 Best Winter Fruits to Help Keep You Healthy The hope is that anti-inflammatory diets will help lessen the chronic inflammation and therefore lessen the painful symptoms many people with RA live with each day. “It may also lessen the damage that inflammation causes to joint cells and blood vessels....

Her three children (ages 9, 10, and 18) started remote learning. Her husband, a physician, continued seeing patients at his hospital, but they stopped going out on evenings and weekends. Oquist was running her own management consulting firm, Oquist McFadden Consulting, from her home. Like many, Oquist says her family felt hunkered down and like they’d hit the “pause” button on their lives. She says she started moving her body physically then as a way to practice self-care....

What does it feel like if one of these implanted defibrillators fires? My patients often describe a “shock” from their defibrillator as a bomb going off inside the chest. Most patients would gladly exchange this very short and intense burst of pain for extra years of life. My colleagues and I studied this question (the results of our study were published in October 2013 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology....

People with COPD have lung conditions that block airflow and make it harder to breathe. There are two main types of COPD — emphysema and chronic bronchitis — and many people experience both, per the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Researchers did sleep assessments for 1,647 patients with COPD and then followed them over three years to see how often they had flare-ups that required treatment. Compared with people who slept well, those with mild sleep problems were 25 percent more likely to have COPD flare-ups, according to the study’s results, reported June 6 in the journal Sleep....

“I kept asking him, ‘What is the matter with you?’ I screamed at him and said, ‘Bradley, talk to me, it’s like you can’t hear me,’” says Kim, 63, who works at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Bradley had just had his 61st birthday. He wasn’t overweight, did not have diabetes, and he didn’t smoke. He did have high blood pressure that was kept under control with medication....

Here’s everything you need to know to get started and get better at it. Simply splashing around in a pool, lake, or ocean doesn’t automatically mean you’re swimming for exercise. “What separates a swimming workout from a leisurely swim is the structure and goal behind the swim,” says Todd Buckingham, PhD, a competitive triathlete and chief exercise physiologist at The Bucking Fit Life, a holistic fitness, nutrition, and mental health coaching program in East Lansing, Michigan....

Some people with lymphoma will experience obvious signs of the disease, while others won’t notice any changes. Recognizing the symptoms of lymphoma can improve your chances of receiving a timely diagnosis and prompt treatment. Swollen Lymph Nodes: A Common Symptom The two main types of lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and Hodgkin lymphoma, can both cause swollen or enlarged lymph nodes. Your lymph nodes are part of your immune system and work by helping to circulate lymph fluid, which contains immune cells, throughout your body....

Remission can last for months or years, which can make it difficult to know whether a treatment helped or a spontaneous remission occurred. (1) Ulcerative colitis may progress over time, affecting greater areas of the colon. In general, the more of the colon that’s affected, the more serious the disease and the worse its symptoms and complications. (2) The disease and these symptoms typically come on gradually. (2) As the disease progresses, other symptoms may include:...