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A study published in December 2019 in the journal Frontiers in Medicine found that people with ankylosing spondylitis were at nearly 3 times greater risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which airflow is blocked during sleep, causing snoring at night and daytime sleepiness. And a study published in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases found that nearly 60 percent of subjects with ankylosing spondylitis experienced impaired sleep....

What Does This Mean for People With IBD? Several months of data on COVID-19 outcomes have shown that people with IBD are not at a greater risk of worse outcomes simply due to the condition. But many of us take immunosuppressive medications, which creates additional concerns for increased risks of infection. According to recent studies (ICARUS-IBD, PREVENT COVID, CORALE-V IBD, and CLARITY IBD), however, many people with IBD who received mRNA vaccines mount immune responses comparable to the general population, in spite of us being on immune-modifying medicines....

For the study, which was published in June 2021 in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, scientists tested 231 cosmetic products — including concealers, eye makeup, foundations, lip color, and mascara — for fluorine, a marker of polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Overall, 52 percent of these products had high levels of fluorine, suggesting that the cosmetics likely contain high levels of PFAS. PFAS have been linked to many health problems including high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, infertility, and certain cancers....

“Having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis by itself should not increase your risk of developing COVID-19,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. But, Dr. Zeichner adds, “If you are taking a biologic, it is important that you take protective measures to avoid coronavirus exposure, as these medications have immunosuppressive effects.” How can you stay safe?...

“With vertigo, your body stops but your head continues to spin, making you feel dizzy and off-balance,” says Harris H. McIlwain, MD, a rheumatologist in Tampa, Florida, and the author of 15 books on arthritis, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain. (Note: The author of this article has coauthored books with Dr. McIlwain.) Dizziness is one of the most common reasons adults visit their doctors, according to the Mayo Clinic. “And half of all people who have dizziness have vertigo,” says McIlwain....

RELATED: Your COVID-19 Summer Safety Guide In Some Cases, Telemedicine Makes Sense for RA Checkups When you live with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it is important to stay in touch with your doctors and remain on your medications and treatment protocols. But with the shelter-in-place mandate, that can seem difficult. A telemedicine visit (consulting with your healthcare provider using a smartphone, tablet, computer or other technology), while not perfect, is a very good alternative....

One study followed people who had experienced a seizure over an average of eight years. Among them, 33 percent had a second seizure within four years, and the remaining people were seizure-free for the rest of the study. Of those who had a second seizure, there was about a 73 percent chance of a third seizure within those four years. (2) Many physical and psychological issues can lead to seizures....

Extensive research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (October 21–25) found that 30 percent of 38,875 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at 185 hospitals in the United States between January 1 and September 30, 2020, used statins to treat high cholesterol. Analysis of their electronic medical records revealed that the statin users were 37 percent less likely to die of COVID-19 than those who didn’t use statins....

When it comes to living with multiple sclerosis (MS), I must have seen just about every claimed correlation, suspected causation, purported symptom, and conspiracy theory out there — although I’m pretty sure I could find even more if I wished to spend my time looking down those rabbit holes. Is There an ‘MS Personality’? One thing that pops up now and again that interests me has to do with the personality traits of people living with MS....

This summer, though, as people are catching up on lost socializing time, colds have made a comeback. Some of the sick are saying these colds are especially bad. In July, Lisa Sanders, 57, a nonprofit director living in Silver Spring, Maryland, had to take a half-day off from work and cancel an upcoming weekend trip because of a cold. “I hadn’t been that sick in a long time,” she says....

“Crohn’s disease is a body-wide disease that is caused by excessive inflammation,” says Nirmal Kaur, MD, director of the inflammatory bowel disease center at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. “Some people with Crohn’s disease only have inflammation in the bowel, but about 30 percent to 40 percent of people have what are called extra-intestinal manifestations, or Crohn’s disease symptoms outside of their gastrointestinal tract.” In most cases, the treatments for non-digestive symptoms of Crohn’s are the same as the treatment for bowel-related symptoms: primarily medication....

For the study, published in May 2020 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers followed 448 teens over five years starting when they were 17.6 years old on average. The study group consisted of 156 adolescents with obesity, 151 teens with type 2 diabetes, and 141 young people without either of these conditions. At the start of the study, teens with obesity or type 2 diabetes had thicker and stiffer carotid arteries, the major blood vessels in the neck that send blood to the brain....

In addition to its health benefits, yogurt is one of the most versatile foods going. You can eat it as a snack, use it in drinks or dips, cook with it — the list goes on. No wonder per capita consumption among Americans rose 7 percent in 2020, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. But choosing a yogurt has gotten slightly more complex that deciding between peach and strawberry flavors....

Because cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease, it is often diagnosed shortly after birth — and most by age 2, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This also means a likelihood of developing EPI at an early age, which, left untreated, could restrict the ability to grow and cause weight loss, abdominal bloating, and more. “In EPI, the pancreas doesn’t have enough enzymes to digest food, and then what you do digest may not be absorbed due to cystic fibrosis,” says Steven D....

“I often hear that people with psoriatic arthritis benefit from massage or occupational therapy once they go,” says Ana-Maria Orbai, MD, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who specializes in arthritis and rheumatology. But Dr. Orbai stresses that it should be viewed as an adjunct therapy and is not intended to replace medication or other treatments. As with any complementary treatment, you should consult with your healthcare provider first....

Tonsil stones, also called tonsilloliths or tonsilliths, are growths that can form on the tonsils. These bumps can range in size from a grain of rice to a grape. In rare cases, tonsil stones can be large enough to interfere with swallowing or breathing, says Aaron Thatcher, MD, clinical assistant professor with the department of otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor. They may also be so small or embedded so deeply in the tissue of the tonsils that they are not visible....

Toxic megacolon is characterized by severe inflammation that causes the colon to become dilated or stretched. “This can lead to systemic toxicity, which causes low blood pressure, fevers, and a high heart rate,” says Amanda M. Johnson, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Because of its life-threatening nature, toxic megacolon requires immediate medical attention and treatment.” Who Is at Risk of Developing Toxic Megacolon? Toxic megacolon can be a complication of a few different diseases, says Aline Charabaty Pishvaian, MD, the director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC....

A man’s lifetime risk of dying from testicular cancer is low — about 1 in 5,000, according the American Cancer Society. One reason the risk is so low is that testicular cancer, which can affect one or both of the testicles, is relatively rare compared with other types of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. What’s more, the disease can usually be effectively treated with surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy (or a combination of treatments)....

There are four main types of melanoma of the skin (called cutaneous melanoma), based on their location and their appearance under a microscope. These include a rare but especially dangerous kind that typically affects African-Americans and other people of color. Three of these varieties of melanoma initially form in just the top layer of skin (referred to as in situ). The fourth is invasive from the beginning, meaning it has penetrated deeper layers of skin and thus is more likely to spread to lymph nodes or other organs more rapidly....

In a small study published in October 2019 in the journal Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, researchers found that the risk of afib following surgery could be halved by delivering noninvasive low level transcutaneous electrical stimulation (LLTS) to the vagus nerve, which contributes to the autonomic nervous system, a part of the nervous system that regulates involuntary bodily functions, including heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, and sexual arousal. “Electrical stimulation of the ear and the vagus nerve that sits on the surface there has a calming effect, in that we are stimulating the largest nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system [part of the autonomic nervous system] and hence the corresponding antagonists,” Martin Andreas, MD, lead author and an associate professor in the department of cardiac surgery for the Medical University of Vienna, said in a press release....