A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease such as cancer. Some of these risk factors can be modified, while some can’t be changed. For example, even though breast cancer does occur in males, being a woman is its biggest risk factor since breast cancer…
“Hepatitis” means inflammation of the liver. Toxins, certain medications, heavy alcohol use, as well as bacterial and viral infections can all cause hepatitis. The most common types of viral hepatitis are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, each caused by a different virus. These viruses may produce similar symptoms…
There is no question but that an epidemic of influenza will occur during the 2016-2017 “flu season”. What is not known is when this epidemic will happen, the specific strains of flu virus responsible for illness, or the number or severity of cases of flu that will occur. For that…
Stomach “growling” is typically associated with hunger or an absence of food in the stomach. The medical term for intestinal rumbling is borborygmus (bor-boh-RIG-mus). If you say this out loud, you may find that pronouncing the word mimics the sound produced when your stomach growls. In fact, the word borborygmus…
Fibromyalgia is a chronic medical condition characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender areas known as “trigger points”. Fibromyalgia is considered to be an arthritis-related condition, but it is not truly a form of arthritis because it does not affect the joints (knees, shoulders, wrists, etc.) per se. …
Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones lose strength and density. Results of studies have been inconsistent, but some point to soft drink consumption as having a negative effect on bone density. This has important implications to the more than 10 million Americans, mostly women, who have osteoporosis as well…
Fatigue is defined as a feeling of weariness, tiredness, or lack of energy. There are a number of conditions that can lead to fatigue including anemia, depression, thyroid disease, and diabetes. Many people reporting temporary or recurrent fatigue, however, are tired because of three factors—inadequate sleep, poor nutrition or excessive…
Almost everyone has had (or knows someone who has) bad breath. Termed “halitosis” in medical jargon, bad breath has a number of identifiable and often correctable causes. Unfortunately, the flavored gums, mints, and mouthwashes available in the local pharmacy provide only temporary improvement and do not generally address the underlying…
Last week we learned about a very common gynecological problem, uterine fibroids, and the symptoms that they can produce. In the past, many women with large or highly symptomatic fibroids opted to undergo surgical removal of the uterus (hysterectomy). While removal of the uterus does provide definitive treatment for symptomatic…
Uterine fibroids, also known as leiomyomas or simply “myomas”, are non-cancerous tumors that grow in, on, or outside of the wall of the uterus. In a study involving U.S. women between the age of 35 and 49 years of age, it was found that 60% of African-American women and 40%…