Study underscores importance of managing BP It’s not just your heart health you’ll improve when you manage your blood pressure. A national study found that optimizing blood pressure targets could help your memory too. While people’s blood pressure (BP) fluctuates all the time, the ideal BP target is 120 over 80. The first number (systolic BP) indicates [...]
Thailand’s capital Bangkok is choking on heavy smog, and the government is urging people to take steps to protect themselves. Bangkok’s air quality has worsened since the weekend, partially as a result of stagnant weather. The level of the pollutant PM2.5 in the air was three times higher on Tuesday than the safety limit set [...]
By Purvi Parikh, MD Respiratory viruses are common in children under 5, particularly those who attend daycare or are exposed to tobacco smoke. Most cases are mild, but for some children, an ordinary cold or flu can quickly turn into respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), asthma or pneumonia that requires ER treatment or hospitalization. Here’s how it happens: [...]
It may be the most unexpected dietary finding to come along in years. Dietary guidelines from groups as diverse as the Department of Agriculture to the World Health Organization urge all of us to eat less red meat — much less. But the authors of four new studies, published on Wednesday in the Annals of Internal [...]
The short answer from an interventional cardiologist Q: I have osteoarthritis and need to take something for pain relief. How safe are non-steroidal medications for someone who has had a heart attack? A: In this era of growing concern over opioids, individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) commonly use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain relief. Credit: Pexels, Tookapic Read more at [...]
Is eczema an autoimmune condition? Are many skin conditions autoimmune? I sought to find out the answers because it is an extremely stubborn and uncomfortable condition. I know first-hand. Skin conditions can be very difficult to identify and treat. Why? The skin is our first line of defense from the rest of the world and [...]
Flu season has officially started in the U.S. and there are already reports of cases across the country. While technically everyone is at risk of developing the flu (yes, even with a flu shot), an interesting new study found that living in certain areas of a city can influence your flu risk. The study, which [...]
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported on Wednesday there’s been a fourth death in the commonwealth from Eastern equine encephalitis, bringing the nationwide total to 10 deaths. An area hospital notified state officials of the death. The patient lived in Essex County. There have also been three deaths in Michigan, two in Connecticut and one [...]
Modern retroviral therapies have done a good job of turning HIV/AIDS into a treatable chronic illness, but except in a few rare experimental cases using stem cell transplants, there is no cure. Cure, in this case, meaning that the HIV virus is completely eradicated in the patient. Retroviral therapies cause the virus to become inactive, but they [...]
New guidelines for prevention Were you immunized against mumps as a child? Many people were. Yet, sadly, mumps is rebounding in the United States. Experts consider the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to be 90 percent effective, and usually, two doses offer sufficient protection. However, in response to a growing mumps problem, public health authorities recently updated MMR vaccine guidelines. Credit: iStock, [...]
