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In March 2018, at 29, I was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer. Doctor appointments, surgeries, in vitro fertlization (IVF), and chemotherapy all swiftly became my new life. Daily morning or evening walks when the sun wasn’t fully out, returning to teach in the fall, and talking with friends at a coffee shop were fair game, if I wasn’t exhausted. But I had to sit out on seeing my students graduate high school, going to summer music and food festivals, taking road trips to see friends, going to the pool, attending weddings, pedicures, reading books....

The study involved 785 British patients, ages 51 to 81, who underwent at least two brain scans, administered on average three years apart. A total of 401 participants tested positive for infection with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) between the two scans. Fifteen were hospitalized. “Despite the infection being mild for 96 percent of our participants, we saw a greater loss of gray matter volume [or thickness] and greater tissue damage in the infected participants, on average four and a half months after infection,” said the lead author, Gwenaëlle Douaud, PhD, an assistant professor at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, in a press release....

It’s important to recognize that all fats aren’t created equal. Unsaturated fats (also known as “good fats”) can lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. These healthy fats are broken down into monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) or polyunsaturated fatty acids. MUFAs are found in foods such as: Olive oilCanola oilPeanut butterMany kinds of nuts and olivesAvocado Polyunsaturated fatty acids are found in foods like: Fatty fishSoy milkTofuSafflower oilCorn oil Lisa Simon, RD, a registered dietitian in London, says there’s a wide variety of healthy fats and we should encourage more people with Crohn’s disease to eat foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds, tahini, and extra-virgin olive oil....

What causes IBS is still not known, but experts think the overgrowth of harmful bacteria in the gut could be the reason. The theory is that probiotics help balance the bacteria in the gut so that the body’s digestive system functions properly. Probiotics have become so popular over the years that you can easily find them in foods like yogurt, chocolate and granola bars, or in supplements and powders. In a clinical trial conducted in Bavaria, Germany, researchers used a dead bacterial strain of Bidfidobacterium bifidum, the live form of which is commonly used to treat IBS, to see if it would be just as effective at improving IBS symptoms....

A recent study, published July 16 in Human Molecular Genetics, found that having a higher body mass index (BMI) increased the likelihood of depression, even in the absence of poor metabolic health and increased risk for weight-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes or heart disease. Obesity and depression have a bidirectional relationship — that is, having obesity does appear to cause depression, and depression does cause obesity, says Roger S....

I’m referring to my increasing difficulty getting into the pill bottles and other packaging that keep the pharmaceuticals I need to put into my body just out of reach. MS Affects Not Just Leg Strength, but Arm Strength, Too When it comes to progressing multiple sclerosis, I once heard a leader in the field, professor Gavin Giovannoni, MBBCh, PhD, say that the arms are the legs for a person who has progressed to a wheelchair....

CAR T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy first approved in 2017 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for patients younger than 25 with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood cancer. “CAR” stands for chimeric antigen receptor, a special type of receptor that gets added to a patient’s T cells (which are part of the immune system) in the lab and makes those T cells attach to cancerous cells and kill them (according to the National Cancer Institute’s definition)....

Some children may grow out of atopic dermatitis, but the inflammatory skin condition is a chronic (long-lasting) affliction for adults. (3) One common misconception about atopic dermatitis is that “it is only a skin problem,” says Kanwaljit K. Brar, MD, a pediatric allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone in New York City. But this is far from the truth. “Atopic dermatitis is a systemic disease and very bothersome to those who suffer from it,” she explains....

To be sold under the names Insulin Lispro Protamine and Insulin Lispro Injectable Suspension Mix75/25 KwikPen (3 milliliters [mL] at 100 units/mL) and Insulin Lispro Injection Junior KwikPen (3 mL at 100 units/mL), the disposable insulin pens will have a list price of $265.20 for a package of five, the company said in a January 14, 2020 news release. This follows the company’s introduction in May 2019 of a half-price generic version of its popular Humalog fast-acting insulin (insulin lispro injection), at a list price of $137....

The recommendations would still put Americans’ daily sodium consumption far above the U.S. dietary guidelines’ recommended limit of 2,300 mg for people ages 14 and up. Yet the FDA said in a statement that “even these modest reductions made slowly over the next few years will substantially decrease diet-related diseases.” Even if the food industry doesn’t embrace the guidelines, the FDA’s move is a step in the right direction, says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, MPH, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston....

But fiber doesn’t deserve its dull rap — in fact, when you eat a balanced diet that’s rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, you’ll likely get most of the fiber you need. Fiber has also been shown to help manage weight and lower your risk for diabetes and heart disease. Unfortunately, when you start to include more fiber-rich foods in your diet, you may start to notice an undesirable side effect: excessive gas....

“Ninety-five percent of people with EPI need extra supplementation for vitamins A, D, E, and K, because their levels are low,” says Kristi King, RD, MPH, of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Why are these vitamins affected? Absorbing fat-soluble nutrients versus water-soluble nutrients, like vitamins B and C, is a more complex process for the intestines....

The first positive case was reported on October 6, and as of November 15, there have been 528 cases of influenza diagnosed by the University Health Service (UHS). The cases have surged higher in the past two weeks, with 313 cases (37 percent of cases testing positive) the week of November 8 and 198 cases (27 percent of cases testing positive) the week of November 1. The majority of the campus cases — 77 percent — are in people who have not gotten the flu vaccine, according to health officials....

How to Read a BMI Chart and How to Calculate Your BMI If you’re an adult, locate your height in inches (remember, there are 12 inches in each foot) and your weight in pounds on the BMI chart below. Where those numbers intersect is your BMI, which will be either in the normal (healthy), overweight, or obese range. If your weight and height are not in this sample chart, use the mathematical equation below to find out where you fall....

But did you know there are multiple types of heart disease? In fact, it’s an umbrella term that includes a number of conditions affecting the structures and functions of the heart. Some of these conditions are hereditary, while others are brought on by unhealthy lifestyle habits. The following is a list of the different types of heart disease. Coronary artery disease can be chronic, narrowing arteries over time and limiting blood supply to the heart....

Heartburn is a familiar feeling to many people. It involves an uncomfortable burning sensation in your chest, which is often accompanied by a sour taste in the back of your mouth, creeping up from your throat. While heartburn is most commonly caused by eating problematic foods, it can also be a symptom of certain medical conditions, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Occasional heartburn can usually be treated successfully with over-the-counter options and doesn’t tend to cause lasting damage....

“There are very specific behavioral changes that we all feel with extreme heat,” says Robin Cooper, MD, an associate clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California in San Francisco School of Medicine, and the president and cofounder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. Heat can affect anyone’s irritability, memory, attention, and reaction time, as well as sleep, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA)....

“Isolated time-restricted eating and HIIT have received increasing attention for being effective and feasible strategies for at-risk populations,” senior author Trine Moholdt, PhD, head of the exercise, cardiometabolic health, and reproduction research group at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, said in a statement. “We wanted to compare the effects of the combination of time-restricted eating and HIIT with their isolated effects, and to determine whether time-restricted eating and HIIT would act synergistically in improving health in individuals with risk for cardiometabolic disease....

Anyone can get HIV, but certain populations are at greater risk. There are, however, a number of ways to reduce your risk, and certain medicines and precautions can prevent the spread of the virus. BloodSemen (“cum”)Pre-seminal fluid (“pre-cum”)Rectal fluidsVaginal fluidsBreast milk An infected mother to her infant through pregnancy, birth, or breastfeedingOral sex, especially if it involves ejaculation in the mouthInfected blood from mouth sores and bleeding gums, such as through “deep” open-mouth kissing, biting that breaks the skin, and eating food that’s been prechewed by an HIV-positive personHIV-contaminated needles and objects that puncture the skin, especially needle-stick injuries in the healthcare settingBlood and clotting factor transfusions, and organ and tissue transplants (because of comprehensive testing, this is mostly an issue outside the United States)...

Women may opt for a topical treatment like minoxidil (Rogaine) or ketoconazole shampoo (Nizoral shampoo) as their hair loss treatment. But women who are menopausal, experiencing severe hot flashes, and are prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for their menopausal symptoms may get a double-whammy benefit: HRT can be a good treatment for hair loss, as well. About Hormone Replacement Therapy Hormone replacement therapy involves taking female hormones, typically estrogen and progestin together....