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To date, there is no cure for UC, a chronic disease of the large intestine (colon) in which inflammation brought on by a faulty immune response creates sores, or ulcers, in the lining of the colon. The chronic condition affects nearly 1 million Americans and tends to run in families, according to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. Epidemiological research shows that westernized populations and people with diets high in fat and low in fiber are at higher risk for UC....

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 16 million people in America have COPD, a classification that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD can be early, moderate, severe, or very severe depending on your symptoms, the number of exacerbations you’ve had, and your lung function. In early COPD, a person may have chronic cough and phlegm but may not be aware they have reduced lung function; they sometimes dismiss their symptoms as a normal part of aging....

Obviously, this makeup is dramatically different from how many restaurants create their meals. And if you cook at home, your plate may not look this way either. But there’s good reason to change that. A study published in April 2019 found that adherence to MyPlate is just as effective for weight loss, reduced waist circumference, and providing a feeling of fullness as calorie counting. This means that MyPlate could prove to be a much easier, but just as useful, tool for weight loss....

And then there’s real pumpkin — that is, the orange squash with the seedy insides, which comes into season as fall rolls around. (Officially, pumpkin season can start as early as August and end as late as December, per WhenIsTheSeason.com, but it’s most commonly associated with September through November.) So, should you be eating more pumpkin? If so, how do you go about preparing it? And what is pumpkin spice, anyway?...

Researchers found that people who ate 2 ounces (oz) of almonds each day for one month had more of a recovery-boosting fat in their blood after a single session of hard exercise than a group who ate a cereal bar with the same number of calories. What’s more, “They also reported feeling less fatigue and tension, better leg [and] back strength, and decreased muscle damage after exercise than control volunteers,” said David C Nieman, DrPH, a coauthor of the study, a professor, and the director of the Appalachian State University Human Performance Laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, in a press release....

“Apples are healthful foods that you should include in your diet more often,” says Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN, who is based in Ojai, California. “They have important nutrients linked with disease protection, are portable, and have their own natural food ‘packaging,’” she says. Because there are so many types of apples, chances are, there’s a variety for everyone. 93 caloriesProtein: 0.3 grams (g)Fat: 0.4 gCarbohydrate: 22 gFiber: 3 g (11 percent of the daily value, or DV)Vitamin C: 8 milligrams (mg) (9 percent of the DV)Magnesium: 7 mg (2 percent of the DV)Potassium: 143 mg (4 percent of the DV)...

“Biologic agents have been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis since the late 1990s,” says Jonathan Kay, MD, a rheumatologist, endowed chair in rheumatology, and director of clinical research in the division of rheumatology at UMass Memorial Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. Today, biologics are used to treat ankylosing spondylitis as well. Most biologics for ankylosing spondylitis work by blocking or inhibiting TNF, a protein that plays an important role in triggering the inflammation that can cause your joints to be swollen and painful....

Although the exact cause of bipolar disorder is unknown, it is thought that several factors, such as genes, brain structure, and stress response and management, could play a role in how often symptoms occur, how severe they become, and how long they last, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Certain lifestyle and environmental factors can also trigger or aggravate the extreme highs and lows, known as bipolar episodes, which are a hallmark of the condition....

The flip side of the coin, however, is that — as with everything in life — calorie cutting for weight loss requires balance. Our bodies need sufficient calories to function properly, and it’s definitely possible to eat too few of them — even when you’re trying to lose weight. Reducing calories too drastically for too long can actually derail your efforts to slim down, and even cause health problems. Healthy calorie cutting for weight loss shouldn’t be a game of limbo (as in, testing how low you can go), but more like a puzzle....

RELATED: Does the Autoimmune Protocol Diet Help Rheumatoid Arthritis? Another study, published May 3, 2018, in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that dietary cinnamon may reduce inflammation and blood pressure. Rheumatoid Arthritis and Cinnamon: What the Data Shows In a Chinese meta-analysis published in the September 2020 Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 12 studies looked at doses of cinnamon powder ranging from 1.5 to 4 grams (g) per day....

What is surprising: Black Americans, members of other minority groups, low-wage workers, members of LGBTQ+ communities, women, the elderly, residents of rural areas, and those lacking insurance, transportation, or help in caring for ailing family members are often unable to access these advances because of who they are — and where and how they live. There is reason for hope, however, in the form of modern-day heroes. Across the United States, researchers, clinicians, patients, advocates, community leaders, and activists are working to circumvent or eliminate obstacles to care....

Depression is insidious. It affects not only your mood, but also your ability to feel, think, and function. It blunts sensations of pleasure, closes off connectedness, stifles creativity, and, at its worst, shuts down hope. It also often causes deep emotional pain not only to the person experiencing it, but to that person’s close family and friends. “It’s not what people think, an act of laziness or a lack of will for change,” says E....

On the contrary, actually. As a consequence of living with rheumatoid arthritis, it is easy to develop a bad attitude. Most people would say a bad attitude is understandable. Some may even say you are entitled to it. While your bad attitude may indeed be somewhat expected — par for the course, explainable, and understandable — it still hurts you. RELATED: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Mood Disorders: Understanding the Link...

But with a large number of individuals refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, questions about how to safely interact with others and what information is important for you to know (not to mention is polite to ask) about their vaccine status are top of mind for many. Should you ask your hairdresser, babysitter, or others you come in contact with if they’ve had a shot? We asked the experts when and how you should pop the question — about vaccine status — in the time of COVID-19....

As a complication of EoE, dysphagia can be uncomfortable and annoying at best and a potential emergency at worst — if food becomes impacted (stuck) in the esophagus and won’t budge. In that case, medical attention may be in order. But, if you have EoE, there are ways to help prevent dysphagia and the complications it can cause. How Swallowing Works To understand how dysphagia occurs, it helps to first understand the process of swallowing....

Frisella launched 75 Hard in 2019; it was free then and still is. If you sign up via his website, you’ll receive an email explaining more about the program and the daily tasks required of you. The hashtag #75hard has been showing up on Instagram since 2019, and now has nearly 900,000 posts; #75hardchallenge has more than 300,000 posts. More recently, on TikTok, #75hard has amassed more than 990 million views, and #75hardchallenge has amassed 676 million views....

About 1 in 9 new mothers in the United States experience depression after giving birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For severe cases, doctors may prescribe antidepressants, but these can take up to two months to start working, noted an article published on July 28, 2016, in UIC Today. This week the FDA approved Zulresso (brexanolone), the first drug to specifically treat postpartum depression. The new medication is administered through a continuous intravenous infusion over a 60-hour time period....

As part of the World Health Organization Global Influenza Surveillance Response System, 144 national influenza centers around the globe conduct year-round surveillance of the flu virus. Twice a year, a committee made up of representatives from five of the top participating centers come together to review the data and determine which strains to include in the next round of flu vaccines. They base their recommendations on: Which flu viruses are actively making people sickHow much these viruses are spreadingHow effective the previous season’s flu vaccine is likely to be against themWhether or not the vaccine can provide cross-protection for other related viruses...

The good news is that while, yes, holiday weight gain is a reality, it’s not nearly as severe as most people think. Americans expected to gain an average of 8 pounds over the 2021 holidays, according to a survey of 2,000 Americans conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Herbalife Nutrition. But research published in September 2016 in The New England Journal of Medicine has found that most pack on only around 1 pound during that time....

Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC), an inherited cancer disorder that increases the risk for stomach cancer Lobular breast cancer, breast cancer that begins in the milk-producing glands of the breastOvarian cancerProstate cancerColon cancerBlepharocheilodontic syndrome, a disorder that causes birth abnormalities such as a cleft lip, cleft palate, or both E-cadherin has many important roles, including binding cells together, controlling cell movement and development, helping transmit chemical signals within cells, and regulating the activity of specific genes....