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For over 200 years, digitalis (a substance derived from the foxglove plant), has been a mainstay in the treatment of heart disease—most specifically, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Digoxin, by far the most commonly used form of digitalis, is still widely prescribed for the treatment of these cardiac conditions. You might still be taking digoxin if you were prescribed this medication many years ago, or your healthcare provider might prescribe it for you if newer treatment options are not considered beneficial for your condition....

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to a combination at-home flu and COVID-19 test collection kit. Key Takeaways The FDA has given an emergency use authorization to an at-home joint flu and COVID-19 test collection kit.COVID-19 and flu symptoms can be similar, so distinguishing between the two can be important for treatment. The kit will be available this month. The kit, which is created by Pixel by Labcorp, is designed to detect COVID-19 and influenza A/B at the same time in people as young as 2 years old....

New research finds that people who live with a child who attends in-person learning have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. The good news is schools can take certain safety measures to lower this risk. Key Takeaways Research finds that parents are more likely to report COVID-19 symptoms when their children attend in-person learning.The risk drops when schools follow COVID-19 mitigation strategies.Experts stress the importance of knowing what measures your child’s school is implementing....

Understanding negative predictive value (NPV) can be confusing. However, it is an important part of understanding the quality and accuracy of medical tests. The negative predictive value tells you how much you can rest assured if you test negative for a disease. It is a marker of how accurate that negative test result is. In other words, it tells you how likely it is that you actually don’t have the disease....

The symptoms associated with the development of an oligodendroglioma include seizures, headache, memory problems, numbness, speech and language changes, and more. However, symptoms may depend on the size and location of the tumor. This article will discuss the subsequent symptoms and complications associated with oligodendrogliomas. Frequent Symptoms The primary symptom of oligodendroglioma is a seizure. Approximately 60% of people with this type of tumor have a seizure before being diagnosed....

If you have suffered a fall or what’s called a FOOSH injury—a fall onto an outstretched hand—you may have a specific injury called a radial head fracture. This type of fracture can limit your ability to participate in athletics or work-related activities that require the use of your arm. If you have a radial head fracture, you may benefit from physical therapy to help you fully recover. Goals of physical therapy after a radial head fracture typically include regaining normal elbow and hand range of motion and strength and controlling pain and swelling....

Surprises continue to pop up as scientists learn more about COVID-19 and who is most vulnerable to the virus. A recent study found that people with food allergies are less likely to be infected by COVID-19 than those without the allergies. Key Takeaways People with food allergies had a nearly 50% lower occurrence of COVID-19 infection, according to a new study.Participants with other allergies such as hay fever, eczema, and asthma didn’t show a reduced risk of infection....

Yeast and fungi can cause infections in your body and on your skin. These organisms are part of the fungal kingdom, which includes mushrooms and molds, and they are separate from bacteria, viruses, amoeba, and plants. Many people associate yeast infections with the vagina, and that is one type of yeast infection. But there are other kinds of yeast infections that can affect skin all over the body. You might cringe at the thought of having a fungal or yeast infection....

Roseanna and Max Cameron met while they were at college in 2008. They got married a decade later, and in January 2020, they decided it was time to think about having their first child. Key Takeaways Contrary to some predictions, birth rates declined in the United States and Europe during the pandemic.Fear of COVID-19 and economic distress have led couples to postpone or reconsider their pregnancy plans.Despite a decline in childbirths, doctors noted that aspiring parents are thinking more intently about their family planning....

Nowhere in the world is the AIDS epidemic been more devastating than the continent of Africa. For South Africa, political turmoil and a long history of government denial fueled an epidemic that had reached disastrous proportions by the late 1990s and early 2000s. Even today, despite plunging death rates and greater leadership on the AIDS war front, the rate of new HIV infections continues to rise year after year. As a result, South Africa remains the country with the largest single population of HIV-infected people in the world....

If you have back pain, adjusting sexual positions (or trying new ones) can help you enjoy intimacy with your partner without undue pain. Certain positions are better suited for sex if dealing with spinal conditions like a herniated disc, facet joint pain, spinal arthritis, and sacroiliac joint pain. Moreover, it is possible to have sex while protecting your back from injury and pain following spinal surgery. This article describes some best positions for sex when faced with these common spinal and lower back problems....

People who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 will no longer have to quarantine unless they test positive or develop symptoms, according to updated guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Key Takeaways The CDC no longer recommends quarantine for people who’ve been exposed to COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status.Experts say the update may be more realistic for people to continue their responsibilities when exposed, but quarantine may still be essential for high-risk groups and unvaccinated people....

While the combination birth control pill has an extremely high rate of success, in those cases where it does fail, it is almost always due to user error. In fact, being even 12 hours late in taking your birth control pill increases your chances of getting pregnant. If you miss any of the first 21 pills in your pack you may need to use an alternate birth control method, such as a condom, for the next seven days....

In a promising early study, an artificial intelligence (AI) model could predict patients’ 10-year risk of death from a heart attack or stroke using a single chest X-ray. Key Takeaways A machine learning model could predict an individual’s risk of developing heart disease over the next decade with about the same success rate as the current clinical standard.The approach would require only a single chest X-ray.An easy-to-use AI model could help patients take preventive measures to minimize their risk of heart attack and stroke....

Central pain syndrome is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder caused by damage to the central nervous system. It can occur after a stroke, brain injury, or spinal cord injury. However, it can also be present along with conditions like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease. Central pain syndrome may present differently depending on the area of the nervous system that was damaged. Pain may be localized in a small area of the body or may be widespread....

One of the two primary veins of the upper limb, the cephalic vein carries blood from the hand, forearm, and arm back to the heart. “Cephalic” is derived from the Latin and Greek for “head,” which refers to the pathway it takes up the arms and shoulders, before draining into the axillary vein. Since it runs along a superficial course just beneath the skin, one of its branches, the median cubital vein of the forearm, is most often used by healthcare professionals to collect samples for blood tests....

You’re dating someone with fibromyalgia (FMS) or myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)? First of all, you must be an awesome person to be willing to take that on. Allow me to thank you on behalf of everyone with these illnesses. Next, you’ll want to learn a few things that can help this go a lot better for both of you. Because it can go well, and you both deserve it, too....

A delusion is a false idea or belief, sometimes stemming from a misinterpretation of a situation. While having these unshakeable beliefs in things that are untrue can be classified as a health condition on its own, experiencing delusions can also be a sign of dementia. About one-third of people with dementia experience delusions, with the likelihood increasing as the disease progresses. Symptoms If your loved one is experiencing delusions, things that are untrue will seem very real to them, even when they have evidence to the contrary....

Although research into non-celiac gluten sensitivity is just beginning and studies showing it’s a distinct condition haven’t yet been replicated, preliminary results indicate that you don’t need to carry either of the so-called celiac disease genes in order to develop gluten sensitivity. Those with celiac disease, the best understood of the five different types of gluten “allergy,” almost always carry one of two very specific genes. In fact, doctors routinely use gene testing to rule out celiac disease—if you don’t have the gene required to develop celiac, they say, you almost certainly don’t have the condition....

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis out of more than 100 different types. It’s the type most people think of when they hear someone say they have “arthritis.” You probably can name more than one elderly relative who has or had the disease. After all, it is associated with aging and wear-and-tear of the joints. You may remember your elderly loved one talking about their arthritis pain or remember watching them struggle to get out of a chair and walk....