Archive For: Medical Conditions
Higher Anxiety? Our ‘age of anxiety’ began four centuries ago It can come on suddenly and intensely, causing shaking, confusion and difficulty breathing for no apparent reason…trigger an irrational avoidance of elevators or public transportation…or become a steady drumbeat of worry always in the background. All are known as anxiety disorders, one of the country’s […]Read more →
A condition that is thought to have tripled in prevalence over the last 50 years, impacting over 23 million people, could justifiably be seen as an epidemic, or at least, a growing health concern. Autoimmune diseases, though, are not often thought of in that way because they manifest as 80+ different illnesses that nevertheless share […]Read more →
If you’ve ever wondered why a blood pressure check is part of almost every visit to a doctor’s office, consider what is communicated through the familiar black cuff in just a few seconds. The force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps is a critical measure of how well […]Read more →
The aching, swollen, stiff joints associated with osteoarthritis (OA) have long been considered an inexorable result of aging. According to conventional wisdom, cartilage, the smooth connective tissue on the end of bones that cushion the joints, simply breaks down over a lifetime of walking, exercising and moving, allowing the bones to rub together. When medications and […]Read more →
In the not so distant past, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), characterized by a loss of central vision, was deemed just another unfortunate consequence of growing older. The gradual breakdown of light-sensing retinal tissue that results in a blind spot directly ahead has caused each generation to struggle with driving a car, reading a printed page or recognizing a friend’s face. As the […]Read more →
Common, rarely life-threatening, but very unsettling, an attack of dizziness or vertigo can send your world into a spin with simple acts like turning around to back up a car, bending down to tie a shoe or looking up at the sky. A range of sensations may keep you off balance, from tilting, swaying, whirling […]Read more →
Unsurprisingly for an illness known as “The Great Imitator,” the misconceptions surrounding Lyme Disease continue to proliferate. Acute or chronic? Highly treatable or stubbornly resistant? Misdiagnosed because of symptoms that mimic conditions like lupus, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease, or overestimated for the same reason? While television celebrity Yolanda Foster recently gained national […]Read more →
As technology continues to weave into the fabric of our everyday lives, consumers are more engaged than ever, taking to the web to explore menus before dining, products prior to purchasing and even physician practices before seeing a new doctor. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Doctors Check Online Ratings From Patients […]Read more →
The miracles of the human body are on continual display each day. Even involuntary actions, such as sneezing and shivering, help our bodies function optimally. The big sneeze. Every time we breathe in foreign particles, sensors in our noses and sinuses detect this, and signal the cilia (hairlike structures that line the nostrils) to sweep […]Read more →
It can start as “pins and needles,” as if your hand or foot has fallen asleep, followed by burning, feelings of electric shock, muscle weakness, or extreme sensitivity to the lightest touch. Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a chronic and painful condition which involves damage to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. This condition […]Read more →
