I have been suffering from a skin rash for about 10 years. A large patch of my skin constantly itches, and the skin is thick and feels like leather. I have gone through almost every ointment on the market, and none works. I went to a new doctor and he said that my rash was neurodermatitis and recommended an antidepressant. I was surprised. Have you ever heard of using a mood-altering medication to treat a skin rash?
Avoiding certain health problems in middle age dramatically improves your lifetime chances of preventing a heart attack or stroke, a new study finds. The study included about 250,000 people. It looked at a person’s lifetime risk based on their health at certain ages. Researchers put together the numbers from 18 prior studies. To gauge health, they focused on the standard factors that most strongly increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. They are smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. The study found that people with none of these risk factors at mid-life had very little chance of a heart attack or stroke in the rest of their lives. An example would be a 45-year-old male nonsmoker with ideal cholesterol and blood pressure, and no diabetes. His chance of ever having a heart attack or stroke would be 1.4%, researchers said.
When I am under great stress, my blood pressure sometimes shoots up to 200/120 for a short time but then quickly goes down to 120/80 or lower and stays there. One doctor told me that spikes like these are normal and not to worry about them. Another told me this isn?t normal or healthy. Who is right?
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is characterized by the accumulation of fat inside liver cells. It is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes, but other factors may influence who develops the condition.
I have varicose veins and would like to get rid of them. Could that lead to venous insufficiency?
The American Academy of Neurology has issued updated treatment guidelines for essential tremor, deeming some medications ineffective and suggesting surgical procedures for severe cases.
Two women with very limited vision appeared to improve after treatment with embryonic stem cells, researchers report. These cells are removed from human embryos. They can grow into many types of cells. Both women had some vision but were legally blind. Both had macular degeneration. This disease causes loss of central vision. One woman had the common “dry” form. The other woman had a rarer type. Each woman was injected in one eye with embryonic stem cells. Four months later, they showed some improvement in eye tests. For example, both could read more letters on vision charts. Doctors said the treatment appeared to be safe. The women had no signs of rejection or abnormal growths. The journal Lancet published the study online January 23. The Associated Press wrote about it.
I have bald spots all over my head, and am losing hair at an alarming rate. My fingernails have waves and lines in them. What could cause these problems?
Dr. Julie Silver discusses her book You can Heal Yourself, which offers research-based advice on healing physically and emotionally after surgery or a serious medical issue.
My husband had an MRI to rule out any abnormal causes for benign positional vertigo. They discovered a mass on his parotid gland that it is most likely benign. Does a parotid mass always need to be removed? Or can it be watched to see how it progresses?