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“Some people may have muscle fatigue and morning stiffness that lasts for several hours and gets in the way of daily functioning,” says Ronald Rapoport, MD, chief of rheumatology at Southcoast Health in Fall River, Massachusetts. Though exercises for psoriatic arthritis feet and hands may not seem very appealing when you’re feeling stiff, swollen, and achy, research shows that physical activity can help improve symptoms. Movement keeps tendons loose and can also lessen pain and inflammation....

With psoriatic arthritis, the immune system does not function properly. Instead of fighting off bacteria and viruses, it attacks the body’s tissues. Patients with this particular autoimmune disease may experience pain, stiffness, and swelling due to inflammation in the joints. Psoriatic arthritis has similar symptoms to other types of arthritis, and several therapies are available that can help patients achieve low disease activity. To better understand how to identify psoriatic arthritis and what treatments are currently used, Everyday Health posed some commonly asked questions to two experts in the field: John Miller, MD, instructor of medicine in the division of rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and Stanford Shoor, MD, a rheumatologist with Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, California....

Now, as part of a new pilot program created by the Arthritis Foundation and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), Courtnay does much more than speak to other people living with RA. As a patient advocate, she speaks to doctors and researchers and helps them develop a better idea of what it is like to live with the disease. Schooling Doctors and Researchers on the Real Life Experience of RA “Recently, I attended the ACR conference with the Arthritis Foundation,” Courtnay says, describing her role in the ACR Arthritis Foundation Patient Representative Program....

For most of the season, the H1N1 flu strain has dominated, but now a stronger H3N2 strain appears to be taking over. During the week ending March 9, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 61 percent of new influenza A cases were H3N2. The CDC’s latest report also indicates widespread flu activity throughout 48 states and Puerto Rico, with the most H3N2 cases in the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee)....

As many as 30 percent of people surveyed in a study from the University of West Georgia said they find scented products irritating. Those with asthma or chemical sensitivities may find strong scents particularly problematic due to the allergy-like symptoms they cause. Unlike tree pollen or dander, for example, perfumes and scents aren’t actually allergens, they’re irritants — but that doesn’t mean that they can’t trigger allergy symptoms like sneezing....

Does Having Psoriasis Put You at Higher Risk for Contracting COVID-19? Experts don’t have enough information to say whether people with psoriasis are more likely to contract COVID-19 compared with the rest of the population. According to the National Psoriasis Foundation, “it is not known whether having psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis meaningfully alters the risks of contracting SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19 illness) or having a worse course of COVID-19 illness....

Until about eight years ago, Stanton, 33, knew nothing about these diseases. But then a female cousin and several other family members and friends were diagnosed. And they are hardly alone. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), at least 23.5 million Americans live with an autoimmune disease, and the numbers are rising. Per the NIH, there are more than 80 autoimmune diseases, among them psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and lupus....

Those first two parts of my bio (and even some of the writing bits) are part of the reason I am in an ever-constant struggle to keep my weight in check. My orbit of the food world gives me access to some of the most incredibly delicious meals one could imagine. Reduced mobility, steroid-whacked metabolism, and general aging issues mean I must now plan out my consumption of these delicacies like so many other parts of my life with multiple sclerosis (MS)....

Data collected from a group of female athletes at the University of Georgia and the University of Florida show that, despite being otherwise healthy, almost half of participants had elevated blood pressure. “There have been very few studies describing the female athlete’s heart, and risk factors that might lead to cardiac morbidity and mortality in this group,” said Cecil Rambarat, MD, a cardiology fellow at the University of Florida and the study’s lead author, in a statement....

Hotels also pose potential health risks that predate the pandemic — from down pillows, which can trigger an allergic reaction in some people, to the age-old problem of (sorry) bed bugs. Before you panic, one good thing to come out of the pandemic is that many hotels are taking extra measures to safeguard guests’ health, such as improving ventilation in common areas and individual guest rooms and implementing more robust cleaning procedures....

When I first quit sugar, I treated it as an invitation to try out a new way of living, just to – you know - see how it went (It went well, thanks!). My physical and mental health were transformed in a matter of weeks. I then shared how I did it with an eight-week detox program, and a stack of people joined me at the party. Three years later and I’m still asked, almost hourly, “So you quit… and how do you feel?...

DVT is relatively rare, affecting about 900,000 people in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But it can have serious health consequences. DVT happens when a blood clot forms in a vein deep in the body, usually in the lower leg or the thigh. If left untreated, the clot can break off and travel through the bloodstream to an artery in the lungs (known as a pulmonary embolism), blocking blood flow and potentially causing death....

One such problem is exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). “EPI occurs when the pancreas fails to produce sufficient digestive enzymes, which results in inefficient absorption of nutrients from the diet and loss of nutrients in the stool,” explains Mark E. Lowe, MD, PhD, vice chair of pediatrics clinical affairs and strategic planning and a professor of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Here’s what you should know about the link between EPI and gut health....

How Prayer and Spirituality Protects Emotional Health There are challenges to studying the impact of prayer, notes psychologist Crystal Park, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. For example, people who pray often and are active with their faith communities might be making generally healthier decisions, such as taking fewer risks or avoiding smoking and drinking. It’s also possible that people are praying too erratically — in crises only, for example — for researchers to know just what effects it can have on well-being, Dr....

Here are some ways to feel less alone and connect with others if you have HS. 1. Talk to family and friends about your condition If you’re close with your family and friends, they can form a support network for you and may even be able to help when it comes to doctor visits and accessing resources. “The more honest you are with the people who mean the most to you, the easier it is for you to get the support you need,” says Andrews....

Sweet potatoes have a similar nutritional profile to their pale cousins with slightly fewer calories and carbs, per the Cleveland Clinic. Important to note is that about half of the fiber is located in the skin of the potato (either sweet or white) and leaving the skin on will make it significantly healthier as a result. You can use a sweet potato in virtually any recipe that calls for regular potatoes, including casseroles, chips, and fries....

The headaches caused by the virus differ from your “typical” headaches in that they may be more painful and longer in duration, and they may not respond to over-the-counter (OTC) treatments such as aspirin, according to a review of literature published in November 2021 by the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports. “COVID-19 headaches vary substantially, from pressure-type pain to severe, throbbing pain with some migraine-like features,” notes Teshamae Monteith, MD, an associate professor of clinical neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and chief of the Headache Division at the school....

It often feels like the heart is fluttering chaotically, a shortness of breath, or a sudden drop in blood pressure that makes you feel woozy, says Gaurav Upadhyay, MD, a cardiologist and a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Chicago Medicine. He says that atrial fibrillation after surgery often occurs two to four days after the procedure as the body tries to recover from inflammation, which is part of the body’s natural immune response to surgery....

You can take the following steps to lower your heart attack risk: Quit Smoking Smoking puts harmful chemicals in your bloodstream and is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), in which fatty deposits build up in your arteries. Even if you already have heart disease, you’re more likely to have a heart attack — and to die from it — if you smoke than if you don’t....

The Connection Between Kidney Disease and RA A growing number of studies show that kidney disease is more common among people with rheumatoid arthritis than in the general public. For example, one in four people with rheumatoid arthritis develops chronic kidney disease, compared with one in five people in the general population, according to a study published in 2014 in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. Researchers also found that heart disease was more common among people with RA and kidney disease....