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Fennel supplements and tea can act like the hormone estrogen. It's best for pregnant women to avoid fennel tea and fennel supplements because there may be toxic contaminants in the products. Eating fennel and fennel seeds in small amounts is generally safe during pregnancy, but talk with your doctor first.

Agonal breathing is a reflex that causes gasping. But it is not true breathing because the brain has stopped sensing low oxygen blood levels and the person cannot consciously restart breathing. It is a sign that death is near, usually within minutes but it can go on for longer than expected. 

An eructation is the medical term for a burp (belch). Belching is a protective mechanism that prevents the stomach from overinflating. Every time you swallow, you take in a little air, and some of it travels down the esophagus and gets into the upper part of the stomach. When the stomach begins to stretch out, sensors in its wall send signals to your esophagus. These signals tell the small ring of muscle (sphincter) at the bottom of the esophagus to open a bit, allowing air that has built up in the stomach to escape.

Dioralyte is a commercial product that contains primarily sodium and potassium salts, water and a bit of sugar. It can be used if someone is very dehydrated from illness, extreme exercise or being outdoors for long periods in the heat. Usually does drinking enough plain water is sufficient for mild to moderate dehydration. Homemade versions can be made that replicate the product to save money.

People with dementia often don’t recognize they have a problem. So, once you have dementia, you usually can’t self-diagnose it. The stage prior to dementia is known as mild cognitive impairment, when memory and thinking are somewhat impaired but function is normal. With age, people often worry about subjective cognitive decline, when individuals are concerned about their thinking and memory, but both cognition and function are normal.

Symptoms of a concussion can last from a day or two up to several months, depending on the severity of the injury, the severity of the symptoms right after the concussion, and whether the person had previous concussions—especially if the previous concussion was recent.

There are many symptoms of a concussion, which can happen after either hitting the head or having a “whiplash” injury where the head moves quickly backward and forward. They include headache, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, difficulty with balance, blurry vision, ringing in the ears, memory problems, fatigue and other neurological symptoms. If you are having any of these symptoms after an injury you should call your doctor.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that typically causes inflammation in multiple joints as well as systemic (bodywide) inflammation. Rheumatoid arthritis may affect many other parts of the body besides the joints.

Examples include:

• skin – nodules or ulcers

• lung – scarring or nodule formation within the lung or inflammation of the lung’s lining (pleuritis) leading to fluid around the lung (pleural effusion)

• heart – inflammation of the heart lining (pericarditis)

• eyes – dryness, conjunctivitis, scleritis (inflammation within the white part of the eye)

• nerves – carpal tunnel syndrome may develop if swelling and inflammation affect the wrist joints; spinal cord injury in the neck is possible if rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints of the upper spine

• bones (reduced bone mass, called osteopenia or, if more severe, osteoporosis)

• bone marrow – anemia or low white blood cell count

Fibromyalgia is a condition of unknown cause marked by widespread pain, fatigue and cognitive problems. While it is considered a disease that primarily affects adults, it can be diagnosed in children. Some estimates suggest it affects up to 6% of persons under age 18; in this age group, the average age at diagnosis is around 15 years old. As with adults, fibromyalgia appears to be more common among females than males in younger populations.