Posts

Acupressure is a practice in traditional Chinese medicine that involves applying manual pressure on specific points on the body. Unlike acupuncture, acupressure practitioners use their fingers, palms, elbow, feet, or other devices instead of needles. There have been claims that acupressure is effective at helping someone lose weight. While there is little research to confirm this benefit, some studies are showing promising results. Acupressure is safe for most people who may want to try it as supplementation to a conventional diet and exercise plan....

Tinea pedis is the medical term for athlete’s foot, one of the most well-known fungal foot conditions. Tinea pedis got its nickname because of its tendency to infect athletes, who often wear hot, sweaty athletic shoes that provide a good breeding ground for the fungus that causes the condition. In reality, athlete’s foot can affect anyone, young or old, regardless of shoe style. Symptoms Characteristics of athlete’s foot include an itchy or burning rash that may have such symptoms as redness, odor, scaling and peeling skin, ​or small blisters that may resemble pimples....

On Friday, January 15, President-elect Joe Biden laid out his COVID-19 vaccination plan for the U.S., emphasizing the need to act quickly. Key Takeaways Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination plan calls for an expansion of the priority groups originally established by the CDC.A commitment to increased vaccine production will be necessary to get more high-priority people vaccinated.Federal resources like FEMA will aid in vaccine distribution at the state level, since not all states have the same ability to quickly get people vaccinated....

A team of U.K. researchers is developing a blood test that may potentially help detect and diagnose ovarian cancer earlier. But it’s too soon to say whether it will improve accuracy enough to put it into general use. Key Takeaways A blood test for a biomarker called HE4 may improve diagnosis of ovarian cancer when used in conjunction with tests for CA-125, a commonly used biomarker, and a diagnostic algorithm.Ovarian cancer is often not diagnosed until it has reached an advanced state because symptoms are usually vague and can be attributed to several other conditions....

Wondering whether you’ll owe a tax penalty for being uninsured? In most states, the answer is no. But if you’re in California, DC, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Rhode Island, there is a penalty for being uninsured, which is assessed when you file your state tax return. Here’s an overview of how the individual mandate penalty has evolved over time: ACA Goal: Insure Most Americans and Keep Them Insured The overarching goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to extend health insurance coverage to as many Americans as possible....

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages across the globe. In the United States, the average consumption is about three cups per day, and 9 out of 10 adults choose to drink a cup at breakfast. In the United States, about 25 million people have asthma or 1 in 13 Americans (this number represents about 8% of adults and 7% of children who are affected). Statistically, women appear to have asthma more than men....

Dorsal kyphosis is a technical term for a very common phenomenon, which is that of a rounded upper back posture. The slang term for this phenomenon is a hunchback. Weak or overstretched muscles in the upper thoracic area account for many cases of dorsal kyphosis. Especially in the age of technology, where automation spares us from quite a bit of physical work compared to generations past, our muscles, including those in the upper back, may miss out on conditioning that could otherwise result from our daily activities....

Changing your diet is one of the biggest ways to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the primary cause of death in the United States and worldwide. A study published on June 15 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlights just how much dietary patterns can make a difference over time—32 years, to be exact. Key Takeaways New data suggests that following certain dietary patterns may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease over time....

An inactive ingredient in a drug or medication is any component that is not the active ingredient. These are the ingredients that do not exert the intended therapeutic effect and do not cause the side effects, known or unknown, associated with the particular drug. Another name for inactive ingredients in a medication is excipient. Excipient refers to a pharmacologically inactive ingredient, according to the website Drugs.com. Inactive ingredients are used in the manufacturing process and/or are present in the final medication product....

The success rate of shoulder surgery is very high, however, there are possible complications, the most concerning being an infection. Why Infections Occur Most shoulder infections resulting from surgery are caused by bacteria that are normally found on the surface of your skin. These bacteria can get access to the deeper soft-tissues and joint spaces in your shoulder when your skin is cut. If the infectious organisms make their way into these deeper tissues, and your body’s immune defense doesn’t adequately protect you from them, you might develop an infection....

Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. It involves difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. These sleep disturbances negatively affect the amount and quality of sleep you need to function properly the next day. Roughly one-third of adults experience occasional insomnia at some point in their lifetime. It’s estimated that 1 in 10 people will develop chronic (or long-lasting) insomnia. This article highlights important facts and statistics you should know about insomnia....

Jarcho-Levin syndrome is a genetic birth defect which causes malformed bones in the spine (vertebrae) and ribs. Infants born with Jarcho-Levin syndrome have short necks, limited neck movement, a short stature, and difficulty breathing, due to small, malformed chests that have a distinctive crab-like appearance. Jarcho-Levin syndrome comes in 2 forms that are inherited as recessive genetic traits and called: Spondylocostal Dysostosis type 1 (SCDO1)Spondylocostal Dyostosis type 2 (SCDO2) (this form is milder than SCDO1 since not all of the vertebrae are affected) There is another group of similar disorders called spondylocostal dysostoses (not as severe as Jarcho-Levin syndrome) that are also characterized by a malformed spine and rib bones....

Orthopedic surgeons are constantly striving to improve the design of artificial joint replacements. Over the past 40 years, a variety of implant designs have been tested and been used in patients. Some of these designs have been improvements and led to increased longevity of the total joint replacements. Other designs, on the other hand, have not offered improvement and have been the same, or in some cases worse, than other designs on the market....

Levator ani syndrome (LAS) is a medical condition that causes chronic rectal pain due to spasms of the pelvic floor muscles. It is considered a functional gastrointestinal disorder (FDG), meaning a digestive disorder that causes symptoms without a known cause. It is estimated that LAS affects 7.4% of females and 5.7% of males. While there are strategies to help relieve symptoms, only around a third of those with this chronic (persistent) condition seek medical care....

There are a lot of blood vessels in the body. In fact, if you lined up all the arteries, veins, and capillaries, they would stretch for almost 100,000 miles. It can be tricky to distinguish one vessel from the next—especially with the naked eye—but some parts of the vascular system stand out more than others. The median cubital vein is one of them. The median cubital vein, also known as the median basilic vein, is located in the triangular area inside the elbow known as the cubital fossa....

If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, monitoring your cholesterol levels at home may seem tempting to do. By testing your cholesterol at home, you can check your lipids without having to go to your healthcare provider. But are these tests really accurate? Home cholesterol tests have been available in pharmacies since 1993. Most tests commercially available in the United States have been examined and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....

Think about how long you’ve had your mattress—probably too long. While mattresses are a big purchase, we’ve eased the sticker shock a little with some of our favorite Cyber Week mattress deals, including some picks that we’ve tested and reviewed. Now is the perfect time to buy a new mattress, with top brands like Sleep Number, Casper, and Tuft & Needle discounting their mattresses up to 50%. See some of our favorite Cyber Monday deals you can still get here, on sale now....

A diagnosis of breast cancer is one of the most devastating things a woman can hear. After such shocking news, it is normal to feel a range of emotions, from despair to rage. But for some patients, even once the initial confusion and grief have dissipated, a serious mental health issue may develop. Your Emotional Symptoms After Breast Cancer Diagnosis The first thing to know is that you are not alone....

One of the neurological tests doctors use to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) is the Romberg test, in which you place your feet together, extend your arms in front of you, and close your eyes. As simple as this may sound, people with MS will often find themselves nearly toppling over the moment their eyes are shut. What they’ve experienced is not clumsiness or a sudden bout of dizziness. It is a sensory effect known as Romberg’s sign, or the loss of proprioception....

Rib fractures are injuries that occur to the chest wall. The most common cause of a rib fracture is a traumatic injury to the chest, such as from a fall, automobile crash, or another blunt force injury. Much less common is overuse rib stress fracture, an injury that can result from specific sports activities such as competitive rowing. Rib fractures seldom require specific intervention or treatment themselves, but they can be a sign of injury to the organs of the chest and abdomen....