Harvard Health Content API

Musculoskeletal fitness consists of muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility.  Any impairment in one or more of these areas can make it difficult to perform everyday tasks and can significantly impact one’s physical and mental well-being.  Improvements in musculoskeletal fitness are associated with multiple health benefits including a reduced risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.  There are many ways to improve one’s musculoskeletal fitness including walking, swimming, resistance training, lifting weights, and stretching.  Regular physical activity of any type can provide musculoskeletal benefits. 

The diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is made based on the presence of certain symptoms and findings on physical examination. Your doctor will look for the classic resting pill-rolling tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity and gait problems. There is no specific diagnostic procedure or laboratory test to establish a Parkinson's diagnosis. If a patient's symptoms improve after taking PD medication, the diagnosis is probably correct. However, it is important for your doctor to exclude other causes of parkinsonism, symptoms similar to those of PD but caused by another problem.

Lymphadenopathy refers to the presence of swollen lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small bundles of white blood cells. One of the ways the body's immune system responds to infections and inflammation is to greatly increase the number of white cells in the lymph nodes causing them to swell.
We have lymph nodes throughout our bodies. The parts of the body where people and their doctors can see or feel swollen lymph nodes include the neck, armpit, and groin areas. Most often swollen lymph nodes are caused by an infection, an autoimmune disease like lupus, or some other non-cancerous condition. Less commonly, lymph nodes enlarge related to cancer. 

Diaphoresis is the medical term for sweating. Sweating is the body’s natural way for cooling itself. When diaphoresis happens from hot weather or exercise, you just want to drink more fluids. On the other hand, some people sweat excessively, a condition known as hyperhidrosis. There are topical agents to blunt sweating on the hands and in the armpits. When hyperhidrosis is a symptom of anxiety, treating the anxiety can be very helpful at reducing sweating. 

Dizziness can mean so many things. Some cultures use the term to describe “brain fog” or just feeling unwell. More often people use the term dizzy to mean either vertigo (a spinning sensation) or lightheadedness, like they might pass out. Vertigo happens most often due to a problem in the semicircular canals in the inner ear. Lightheadedness can be from dehydration, medications, anemia (low red blood cell count), a heart problem and a number of other situations.

An ectopic pregnancy usually occurs in a fallopian tube but can also occur in other areas of the body such as the ovary, abdominal cavity, or cervix. An ectopic pregnancy cannot proceed normally to a full-term pregnancy.

Yes, women who have had an ectopic pregnancy can conceive again, even if they had to have a fallopian tube removed. There is about a 10% chance that another ectopic pregnancy will occur.