Wet wrap therapy: After bathing, damp pieces of fabric are wrapped around the skin, followed by a dry layer. This is kept on for several hours or overnight. On top of the dry layer, regular clothes or pajamas are worn.Topical corticosteroids: These steroid creams are applied to the skin to help ease inflammation. They can vary in strength, with levels ranging from very potent (Class 1) to least potent (Class 7)....
The study, published in March 2021 in Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, focused on 72 patients ranging in age from 28 to 85 years old who had recently been diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and received follow-up care at a hospital clinic for patients with blood-clotting problems. All of the patients completed mental health questionnaires, and half of them also agreed to sit down for longer interviews to provide a more detailed picture of the psychological impact of their diagnosis....
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is “absolutely continuing to go in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Harris, in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday night. Addressing the COVID-19 surge on the West Coast, she said, “We are setting records in California. They are looking at crisis standards of care, and we do need an all-in effort.” Also interviewed by Blitzer was Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, a professor and the dean of tropical medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, who described the current COVID-19 situation in the United States as “a full-on homeland security crisis for the nation....
Many of the new therapies have benefited those with axial spondyloarthritis, a type of arthritis that affects the sacroiliac joints (the joints that connect the bottom of the spine to the pelvis) or the vertebrae (the bones of the spine). RELATED: Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis and Autoimmune Diseases: Your Questions, Answered To help patients and doctors navigate this world of new therapies and make optimal decisions regarding treatments, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) updated its Recommendations for the Treatment of Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA)....
There are drugs and lifestyle strategies that can help you feel better and stay in the best health possible. Working closely with your rheumatologist and the rest of your healthcare team is the first step. Finding ways to feel good physically and mentally doesn’t always come easily when you have AS, but it can be done. Here we address many aspects of living with ankylosing spondylitis and how to deal with common issues....
What’s really become almost unbearable in the past couple of weeks are the relentless attempts by others to manage my emotions. A lot of people, for instance, are telling me not to be scared. “Don’t panic,” they say, through cheery, emoji-riddled texts. “Stay positive!” they shout through Instagram stories. “Hang in there,” they end their emails. Every time I see one of these posts or hear it on the other end of the phone line, I cringe, bristle, and immediately become angry or defensive....
Organizations American Heart Association: 1-800-AHA-USA-1 (1-800-242-8721) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: 1-301-592-8573 Heart Rhythm Society: 1-202-464-3400 American College of Cardiology: 1-800-253-4636 ext. 5603 Financial Assistance Partnership for Prescription Assistance NeedyMeds: 1-800-503-6897 TogetherRxAccess Social Security Administration Coping, Advocacy, and Support StopAfib.org Mended Hearts WomenHeart AF Association Coping With Atrial Fibrillation Fears Statistics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Atrial Fibrillation Fact Sheet StopAfib.org: Stroke Risks from Afib American College of Cardiology: Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: 2016 Update...
We know it has probably been a while since you finished sex ed in school, so here is a little refresher: To prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, condoms are a must. As a barrier method of birth control that prevents sperm from entering the vagina, condoms can be up to 85 percent effective, according to Planned Parenthood. When used consistently and correctly, condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....
Consider the quadriceps, for example. These muscles, which are the most voluminous ones in the body, help you complete regular daily movements, such as climbing up the stairs, rising from a chair, and extending your knee, according to an April 2020 article in StatPearls. The hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors, and calves are the major muscles of the leg, though you can also count the glutes, too, King says. Technically the glutes are part of the muscles of the butt, but they’re involved in pretty much all movements that utilize the lower extremities and are called on during most leg exercises (including the ones below)....
BMI can be a sensitive topic — and maybe you don’t care to pay it any mind. Some medical professionals support that choice. “Unfortunately, there is no perfect tool [to measure one’s health],” says Anisha Abraham, MD, interim chief of the division of adolescent and young adult medicine at Children’s National Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. Instead, there are several measurement tools, such as blood pressure, BMI, and blood sugar, that tell us different things but are pieces of a larger puzzle, she says....
Recently, some users on TikTok have begun gushing about hyaluronic acid for another reason: its purported ability to transform hair from dry and brittle to healthy and lustrous. “Saw a TikTok that said hair oil doesn’t moisturize your hair, only water can. So I tried Hyaluronic Acid!” wrote TikTok influencer Kaitlyn Boyer in an August 2021 video that has been viewed over 3.7 million times. Starting out with damaged-looking locks, she explains that she wet her hair and applied a hyaluronic acid product, The Ordinary’s Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5, nightly....
In a study published in December in Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), scientists in Italy observed that people who eat chili peppers four times a week or more were 40 percent less likely to die from heart attack and 60 percent less likely to die from cerebrovascular disease such as stroke compared with those who do not regularly consume chili peppers. “An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed,” says the lead investigator, Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, an epidemiologist at the Neuromed Mediterranean Neurological Institute in Pozzilli, Italy....
The chemicals, which are found in certain azo dyes used to color the footwear, are toxic and prolonged and direct contact with the shoes’ upper material may cause adverse health effects for the wearer. The synthetic chemical benzidine (and the derivative dimethoxybenzidine) has not been sold in the United States since the mid-1970s because it is potentially cancer-causing, according to the National Cancer Institute. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a press release saying that consumers should immediately stop wearing the shoes....
Constipation occurs when you have fewer than three bowel movements in a week, or have bowel movements that contain hard, dry stools that are difficult or even painful to pass. In some cases, constipation makes it feel as though you’re unable to completely empty your bowels. Treatment for constipation depends on its severity, duration (acute or chronic), and cause — which can include a range of factors, from a low-fiber diet to medications to other health issues....
While this class of medications isn’t necessarily new anymore, they can still feel new to many people who are considering them for the first time. If you’re one of them and have questions, read on to get the answers. Why does your body create this inflammation? It’s part of your immune system’s natural defense against foreign invaders that might make you sick. But with psoriasis, your immune system is overactive, and causes excess inflammation, which activates skin cells to multiply too fast, leading to plaques on your skin....
Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart become hardened and narrowed due to the buildup of cholesterol and other substances, known as plaque. As plaque builds up and the blockage grows, the heart cannot get the blood or oxygen it needs to function. CAD is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States....
A nurse in New York City was one of the first Americans to receive an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning, according to USA Today. “I feel hopeful today,” said Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at New York’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center, after she received the shot. Healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities are prioritized to be inoculated first, in accordance with a recommendation made at the beginning of the month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)....
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located right below the liver. Gallstones form in the gallbladder when bile, a liquid made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder to help the body digest fats, hardens. These stones can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. The liver and gallbladder are closely interconnected with the intestines, which are often inflamed from Crohn’s....
Got a cold? No big deal, we can still share that milkshake. Even feeling a little ill? Pshht, the endorphins from sex will help fight off the bacteria. But a virus that has health experts scrambling for a vaccine and forcing government officials to close down parts of their countries — mmm, I’d like to hold off, thanks. And I’m not alone; one recent date canceled on me because he watched Contagion the night before and decided to play it safe....
Researchers found that only 0.2 percent of the 6,848 sudden cardiac death (SCD) cases autopsied at a London hospital between 1994 and 2020 were related to sex. That means that for every 1,000 SCD cases, only 2 of them happened during or within one hour after sex. “We believe these findings provide some reassurance that engaging in sexual activity is relatively safe in patients with a cardiac condition, especially in younger (less than 50 years old) individuals,” the authors wrote....
