Gout is very common, 9 million Americans have gout. Gout is a form of arthritis that can affect anyone. It presents with sudden, severe attacks of pain, swelling, redness and tenderness in one or more joints without warning. Gout attacks primarily occur at night. The pain is so severe that even the weight of the…
A stroke can occur when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or reduced. This prevents brain tissue from getting the necessary oxygen and nutrients. If the brain is unable to get these things, brain cells will die. There are many risk factors to a stroke. Some examples are hypertension, obesity, cholesterol,…
Conjunctivitis, or “pink eye” as many of us know it, refers to the inflammation of the membrane that covers the eye. Though usually viral, pink eye can also be caused by bacteria, allergies, and general irritation to the membrane. Each one of these causes can present a little differently and they are also managed differently. …
Urinary tract infections are very common in the United States and the rest of the world. They can have many predisposing factors including old age, poor hygiene, and sexual activity. Women are at the highest risk of UTIs, as it is common for the vaginal bacteria to make it into the urinary tract. There are…
Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the United States for men, women andacross most racial and ethnic groups. About 659,000 people die from heart disease every year. Food plays one of the most important roles in heart disease. Before I dive into the different types of foods everyone should eat and…
Before I start talking about the different types of coughs, we first have to understand what acough truly is. A cough is a reflex action to clear your airways of mucus and irritants such asdust or smoke. Most of the time a cough is benign and is rarely anything serious. Most coughs will go away…
Food plays a very important role in our gastrointestinal system. Depending on what stomach issues you have, avoiding certain foods can help alleviate and prevent symptoms. For example, if we take a gastrointestinal disease like Gastritis which refers to inflammation of the stomach lining, eating foods that have anti-inflammatory properties will definitely help. Foods that…
Head lice are tiny insects, about the size of a sesame seed, that resides on hair and flourishes by sucking blood from the scalp in humans. Lice may be present on the body as well as in the pubic hair. The condition is often tagged with poor personal hygiene, but people with good hygienic can also acquire the pest.
What are antibiotics? A brief history… In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that there was a fungus growing on his bacterial culture. Around this fungus, he noticed that there were clear areas with no bacteria present. After much research into this phenomenon, he concluded that the virus, penicillium notatum, had the ability to kill the bacteria…
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder. The condition affects the small intestine. A patient who has celiac disease often has a family history of this condition.
“About 1 in 8 U.S. women… will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime,” according to breastcancer.org in 2021. That is a staggering statistic to hear for women. Most of us know someone, if not us personally, who has battled breast cancer at some point. Though scary, the good news is that…
Acne is a skin condition that affects about fifty million people in the U.S. every year. The condition is tagged with adolescent and puberty, but it can affect anyone, even newborns (neonatal acne).
Stomach flu is the layman term for viral gastroenteritis, infection of the intestine. The source of the infection is often contaminated food or water.
Eczema is a chronic skin condition marked by dry and itchy skin. The skin lesions usually appear in skin folds like the elbow or neck creases or behind the knees.
