Heart palpitations, including the feeling that your heart has skipped a beat, though not necessarily serious, may startle you. They have a variety of causes, including chocolate, or more specifically, some of the compounds in chocolate.
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Passing a kidney stone can be a painful experience. And kidney stones often recur. According to Roger L. Sur, MD, director of University of California San Diego Comprehensive Kidney Stone Center, if you’ve had one kidney stone, there is a 50 percent chance that you will develop another within five to 10 years.
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Hip pain can have many causes. The hip joint is a complex joint with a number of supporting tendons, ligaments and muscles. A weakness in any of the supporting structures can cause pain. Arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis, muscle strain and nerve irritation can also be potential sources of hip pain.
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Sodium is one of the most important minerals in the body. The kidneys use sodium to maintain the proper balance of water and electrolytes—chemical substances such as sodium and potassium—and sodium is critical for water retention. But this very characteristic can cause problems with blood pressure.
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Estrogen and progesterone are the two major hormones that affect women’s reproductive cycles. Presence, absence or timing of menstrual cycles, premenstrual syndrome, pregnancy and menopause are all influenced by the amount of estrogen or progesterone circulating in the body.
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The area called the shoulder includes two major bones – the humerus, or upper arm bone, and the scapula, or shoulder blade. In addition, the clavicle, or collarbone, is connected to the front part of the shoulder. All of these bones are held together and supported by tendons, ligaments and muscles.
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Whether that stuffy nose comes from the flu, a cold or allergies, it’s a real nuisance. Caused by swelling in the tissues due to inflamed and congested blood vessels, a stuffy nose is also one of the possible symptoms of a sinus infection.
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When humans eat carbohydrates, the body converts them to sugar. The sugar fuels every cell in the human body, but it’s important that sugar levels be neither too high nor too low. Low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, can cause brain damage and even shock. High blood sugar, known as hyperglycemia, is another matter.
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Testosterone is a male reproductive hormone that is also produced in smaller amounts by women. Testosterone determines male sexual characteristics and plays a role in some of the female signs of puberty, such as hair growth in the genitals and underarm area. Testosterone also helps prevent osteoporosis in women.
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Any toddler might have gastrointestinal symptoms occasionally. When your child has them on a regular basis, however, it could be related to diet. Lactose intolerance is a deficiency in the enzyme toddlers need to break down the milk sugar called lactose.
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Your body makes an amino acid called L-carnitine in the liver and kidneys and uses it to turn fat into energy. Normally your body can make all the L-carnitine it needs, but some cardiac or vascular diseases can cause low levels of L-carnitine in the body.
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Lithium is an oral medication used to treat the manic episodes of bipolar depression. Symptoms of mania include hyperactivity, aggression, anger and poor judgment, as well as a reduced need for sleep. Lithium affects the way that sodium chloride (salt) moves in and out of the body's cells.
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Magnetic resonance imaging is a test that uses a computer to produce very detailed pictures of body structure to help diagnose various diseases and medical conditions. MRIs are not X-rays and do not use radiation. A serum creatinine is a lab test that may be done to measure kidney function before an MRI is performed.
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A subluxation is a slight dislocation or misalignment of a bone. Your ribs normally move in a smooth gliding motion, but a subluxation can make the joint jam and cause pain that is so severe you can hardly breathe. Surrounding muscles may go into spasm and the pain may be aggravated by movement or even breathing.
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Just as you eat to nourish the rest of your body, you must also nourish your brain. Protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals provide nutrients that keep your brain functioning, prevent deficiencies and promote the activities of substances known as neurotransmitters -- the chemical messengers in the brain.
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Potassium is a mineral that is used by the body cells to create an electrical conduction system across the cell membrane. These cell membrane transmissions promote heart function, nerve impulse transmissions and muscle contractions.
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If you have a sulfa allergy, you are not likely to react to sulfites from onions and garlic and vice versa. A sulfa allergy is mediated by the immune system. Sulfite reactions occur because your body is reacting to a metabolic product of sulfite called sulfur dioxide.
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Statins are used to lower cholesterol. These drugs work by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol; they may also help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has built up on artery walls.
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Nicotine was first promoted as a weight loss aid for women in the 1920s. The manufacturer of Lucky Strike cigarettes advertised its product as a better choice for weight control than sweets. The ad campaign was eventually followed by research.
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The second week of a weight loss diet may be discouraging if you expect to lose as much weight as you did in the first week. It’s not that your diet has stopped working, it’s because you drop excess fluid in the first week or so, which can lead to unrealistic expectations for the rest of your diet.
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