Posts

With atopic dermatitis, the skin barrier is “compromised,” meaning it doesn’t do an adequate job of keeping irritants and allergens out and moisture in, says Amy Paller, MD, chair of dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Throw on top of that the dryness and coldness of winter, which can dry out your skin even more and irritate you, and add on all the handwashing we are doing between cold and flu season and worries about COVID-19, and you can end with exacerbations [flares],” she explains....

“Stress is becoming more and more a part of everyday life,” says Alka Gupta, MD, chief medical officer and cofounder of Bluerock Care in Washington, D.C. It’s likely that just checking the news on your phone can be enough to get your heart pounding — and not in a good way. Why We Feel Stressed All the Time According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2022 Stress in America survey — its annual review, which included 3,200 adults in the United States — Americans cited major stressors coming from multiple directions: financial pressures from inflation, rising crime and violence, and a loss of faith in government amid ongoing political divisions....

And we are struggling when it comes to avoiding that latter outcome. Results from an Everyday Health survey of 3,000 adults ages 18 to 65 show that stress is rampant, with 59 percent of those individuals rating their stress level at 5 or higher on a 7-point scale (7 being “extremely stressed” and 1 being “not stressed at all”). The survey data was published as part of Everyday Health’s United States of Stress story....

If you’re not in the habit of working out regularly, it may be challenging to get into a good exercise routine. But no matter what your physical fitness level is, how comfortable you are with regular workouts, or even how busy you are, there are ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily routine. Here are some tips for how to find the best exercises for your needs that you’ll actually enjoy, plus how to overcome any barriers to staying active with nr-axSpA....

During that same time, I competed and won the title of Miss USA 1998, and by the end of my title year, I had officially been signed on as a host on DirecTV. I was thrilled by where this journey was taking me. But something wasn’t quite right. When I Closed My Eyes, I Couldn’t Understand What People Were Saying Traveling at times 20,000 miles a month while fulfilling my Miss USA duties, I began having trouble hearing and communicating....

— Milly, South Carolina High levels of cardiac enzymes can mean a number of things, but they often signal some type of damage to the heart. Enzymes are proteins that promote specific biochemical reactions within cells. Key enzymes that work within heart muscle cells include troponin (TnI, TnT), which helps control how the heart muscles contract, and creatine phosphokinase (CPK, CK), which is a critical player in the heart’s energy management process....

The study, which was published in June 2020 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, followed a cohort of around 700 women, some HIV-positive and the rest HIV-negative, for seven years. During semi-annual follow ups, participants were questioned about “psychosocial risk factors” — depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Then coronary artery plaque was measured via ultrasound. Both sets of women were grouped by high stress and depression versus low stress and depression....

But be careful that your cleaning efforts don’t backfire, since many cleaning products can cause allergy-like symptoms for some. “The cleaning product does not trigger an allergy, but it is an irritant,” says Julie McNairn, MD, an allergist and immunologist in private practice in Middletown, Ohio. “And an irritant can cause the same symptoms as an allergy.” Symptoms of Allergy Irritation Symptoms of irritation that can be caused by cleaning products include:...

The good news is that most stomach cramps pass and don’t require medical attention. But when the problem is caused by diverticulitis, the pain can differ from other aches you’ve had before. Understanding What Diverticulitis Is and the Factors That May Cause It To understand diverticulitis, you must first understand what’s going on inside your colon — not the most comforting thought but a necessary one. “Diverticulitis means that a saclike protrusion has become inflamed and generally infected....

It’s important to get a diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible, before more severe Lyme disease symptoms develop. After you remove a deer tick that has been attached to you for at least 36 hours — the amount of time it takes for the tick to transmit the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi — there’s a 72-hour window during which your doctor may give you a single dose of the antibiotic doxycycline to prevent the development of Lyme disease....

But Sunny Anderson, a cohost of the Food Network’s The Kitchen, has always loved food, cooking, traveling, and trying dishes from all different parts of the world. Even after being diagnosed with UC as a young adult, she was determined not to let her chronic condition stand in the way of any of those things. And, clearly, she hasn’t. From her early days as a caterer to hosting Food Network shows like Cooking for Real and Home Made in America With Sunny Anderson, the 46-year-old has managed to mix living with UC and working in the food world, primarily by learning how different foods affect her body....

Although the term is becoming more common, unless you’ve done some internet sleuthing, what “counting macros” really means is probably unclear. Here’s the lowdown. “Macronutrients are the primary nutrients that provide energy to the body,” says Jessica Levinson, RDN, a culinary nutrition expert in Westchester, New York. “Namely, they are carbohydrates, protein, and fat,” Levinson says. Thus, when you’re counting macros, you’re tallying how many grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fat you’re taking in, according to the Cleveland Clinic....

People who experience a loss of appetite due to cancer may eat less than usual (or not at all) or feel full after eating only a small amount, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). This makes it hard to get the nutrients needed to stay strong and feel better overall. The risks of not eating enough include weight loss, increased fatigue, muscle loss, and nutrient deficiencies. Here’s what you need to know about appetite loss and ways to get the calories and nutrients you need....

“It can be very overwhelming,” says Susan Glaser, a licensed senior clinical social worker and certified oncology social worker at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. “You may have a whole host of emotions, including feeling angry, scared, stressed, depressed, disappointed, and demoralized. You may even feel all those things at once.” Although metastatic breast cancer can’t be cured, the number of women in the United States who are living with this advanced-stage breast cancer is increasing, in part because of better treatments....

How Much Sweat Is “Excessive?” Sweating is the body’s way of cooling itself. But excessive sweating — or producing as much as five times more sweat than is needed — is a real medical condition. According to the International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHS), as many as 365 million people worldwide experience excessive sweating. It’s an equal opportunity problem, affecting both men and women. People with hyperhidrosis sweat profusely nearly all day, every day....

This type of psoriasis is the inverse — or opposite — of the more common plaque psoriasis, which occurs on the outer, extensor surfaces of the body, such as the knees and elbows. Psoriasis, in general, is a genetic condition passed down through families. “It’s likely that multiple genes need to be affected to allow psoriasis to occur, and that it’s frequently triggered by an external event, such as an infection,” says James W....

“It’s much harder to tell the symptoms of cold, flu, and COVID-19 apart now than it was at the beginning of the pandemic,” says Sharon Nachman, MD, chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook’s Renaissance School of Medicine in New York. With all three illnesses, “there tend to be upper respiratory symptoms. So thinking that you can be super specific in diagnosing yourself, as in, ‘I have laryngitis, so I must not have COVID-19,’ isn’t realistic,” Dr....

The hashtag #rawcarrotsalad has amassed over 22 million views, with some videos demonstrating how to make it topping one million views. “It’s the salad that changed my life,” TikToker Chloe Roehrig claims in one of them. Another user, Paige Nicole, claims she has seen a “huge difference” in her hormonal acne, “especially right after my cycle.” Many of the videos credit the salad to Ray Peat, PhD, “who found that there was a unique fiber in carrots, which helps bind excess estrogen in the body and eliminate toxins,” explains Sam Wolk, who credits herself as a nutritional therapy practitioner, in a video....

“I had to go out and find a primary care doctor at that point because I’d never had any health issues,” she recalls. “It took a while to reach the diagnosis because I was a brand new patient and my doctor had to run every test he could think of until he was able to diagnose it as asthma.” Struggling to Control Asthma Symptoms Although O’Neal was prescribed maintenance and rescue medications for her asthma, she didn’t fully understand the condition or take her medication as directed, and her symptoms repeatedly landed her in the hospital....

The best part? There’s no right or wrong way to journal. Whether you tap out quick notes on your phone, doodle in a notebook, or pour out your heart with lengthy prose, when and how you practice journaling is entirely up to you. Here’s how to get started. “From an ayurvedic perspective, journaling is essentially mindfulness in action, since it gives us a chance to proactively and healthily process our emotions,” says Meera Watts, founder and CEO of Siddhi Yoga, a yoga, meditation, and ayurvedic training school based in Singapore....