According to a review in the medical journal American Family Physician, the medical term for earwax is cerumen, and it serves an important function. Earwax keeps the thin layer of skin in your ear canal clean, moist, and protected from germs. Earwax is a combination of wax secreted by cerumen … Read More
Before any new vaccine becomes available, including the new COVID-19 vaccines, it must go through the steps and stages that the FDA requires to assure the vaccine is safe and effective. Vaccines work by triggering your body’s defense system – called your immune system – to fight off an infection … Read More
Arthritis is more than one disease. The three most common types are rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and gout. All types of arthritis cause joint pain, swelling, and tenderness. Symptoms of arthritis tend to come and go. When they get suddenly worse, it is called an arthritis flare up. Sometimes the cause … Read More
It would be great if there was an over-the-counter supplement that would boost your immune system enough to prevent a cold or the flu. Unfortunately, according to Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health, there are no proven benefits to supplements for the immune system. In fact, the whole idea of boosting … Read More
Influenza virus – the flu – attacks about eight percent of Americans every year. Flu symptoms range from mild to severe, and in a few cases, flu can be life threatening. Mild flu attacks your nose and throat. More serious flu attacks your lungs and breathing tubes. The best way … Read More
You scraped your knee a few days ago. Now your cut is surrounded by angry, red skin that’s sore, warm to the touch, and emitting a gross amount of pus. You are suffering from an infected wound. Here’s how to recognize an infected would or cut and how to treat … Read More
As long as we frequent public places—grocery stores, malls, plazas, restaurants, offices, schools, airports, train stations—it’s bound to happen. Someone walking toward us lets loose with a spontaneous sneeze. Can the germs suddenly floating in the air make us sick? To answer that question, let’s first address this one: How … Read More
An estimated 761,659 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, lymphoma, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Lymphoma is not just one disease, but rather two distinctive forms of cancer with many subtypes. As such, the answer to the question of "What is … Read More
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces daily in household common areas. In most homes, frequently touched surfaces include doorknobs, light switches, remotes, countertops, tables, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks. And don’t forget the handles of … Read More
Jane Murcia and Sara Hogan, MD
More people are upping their hand-washing game now that the CDC and health officials have emphasized that regular hand washing is imperative to helping curb the spread of COVID-19. But there's one step we all tend to forget after washing our hands or applying hand sanitizer – that critical layer … Read More
