Blood donation requirements protect the blood supply and all the people who may benefit from donated blood. They also protect you, since you may need a blood transfusion someday, and in some cases, giving blood can be dangerous for your health. Along with giving basic information like your name and … Read More
Based on some early studies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added a warning on statin drug labels that they may cause memory loss and confusion in some people. [1] This warning led to fears that statin drugs might increase the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, which is the … Read More
Pretty much everyone knows his or her normal urine color (or subtle range of urine colors). If the shade changes a great deal, however, we can become a little alarmed. But hold on. While urine color is a centuries-old diagnostic tool, many shades of yellow can be perfectly normal, even … Read More
The liver doesn’t actually contain nerves, so the organ itself can’t feel pain. Even so, the sensation of liver pain can occur because the layer of tissue that surrounds the organ—it’s called Glisson’s Capsule—does contain nerves. Any diseases affecting the liver that increase its size can result in what feels … Read More
A relatively easy procedure, blue light therapy has successfully treated multiple conditions, including cancer, actinic keratosis (a type of superficial skin cancer), and acne. More commonly known as photodynamic therapy (PDT), blue light therapy works often as well as surgery or radiation therapy. Plus, it doesn’t cause awful side-effects. What … Read More
If you’ve been experiencing a nagging abdominal pain that seems to worsen after eating, it might not be a stomach upset—it might actually be pancreas pain. If pancreatitis is at the root of your pain, it can manifest acutely, or as a chronic illness. Acute pancreatitis is most likely due … Read More
Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder characterized by hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid). And it's not particularly rare: It affects 1 in 200 Americans. If untreated, Graves’ disease can cause serious health issues within many of the body's systems—and it even can prove fatal. Graves' disease is up to eight times more … Read More
Carried by mosquitoes, malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were 216 million cases of malaria, in 91 countries in 2016, up 5 million over 2015. Ninety percent of cases and 91 percent of deaths occured in Africa. To put it in perspective, … Read More
Patrick Swayze. Steve Jobs. Luciano Pavarotti. Michael Landon. They’re just a few of the public figures who have succumbed to pancreatic cancer. In the vast majority of people it touches—rich or poor, famous or anonymous—pancreatic cancer causes death. In fact, while mortality rates for many other cancers are declining, deaths … Read More
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, accounting for more than a quarter of all deaths from cancer, according to The American Cancer Society. One reason for this high mortality rate is that lung cancer symptoms usually don’t manifest until the disease has reached an advanced state. Yet, … Read More
