For patients and caregivers, understanding clinical progression, diagnostic imaging results, and pharmacological treatment options is vital for managing acute and chronic health conditions.
It's hard to sleep when you can't breathe through a stuffy nose. If you have a cold, sinus problems or allergies, you may have difficulty breathing when you lie down. Gravity contributes to the problem and can also help relieve it. Elevating your head on a few pillows may make it easier to breathe.
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Shiitake mushrooms, a traditional food also used as a medicine in Asian cultures, are the third most popular mushroom in the United States, according to ScienceDaily. The mushrooms, which grow on oak logs, are low in calories but high in minerals such as potassium and zinc.
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Children are susceptible to rupture of the eardrum for several reasons. Some suffer from frequent ear infections, while others cannot resist poking things into their ear canals.
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Progesterone is a hormone that helps maintain the uterine lining in preparation for a pregnancy. Birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy and pills to regulate menstrual cycles often contain a synthetic form of progesterone.
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As people age, their skin usually takes a direct hit, if not with more wrinkles then with more bumps and discolorations. Cherry angiomas, also called cherry hemangiomas, are, like their name suggests, cherry-colored flat or slightly raised dots that generally grow no larger than 1/4 inch in diameter.
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When you think of food poisoning, garlic may not come immediately to mind. But garlic can cause a serious type of food poisoning called botulism. The bacteria that cause botulism, called Clostridium botulinum, are found in many soils in the United States, particularly in the Western half of the U.S.
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Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease that can cause symptoms in many body systems, including the eyes, well after the initial tick bite occurs. Ocular problems are uncommon side effects of Lyme disease that can occur in the early or late phase of the disease and can take many different forms.
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It's estimated that ischemic colitis, which is when blood flow to the large part of the colon is narrowed or blocked, is responsible for 1 out of every 1,000 hospitalizations, according to clinical practice guidelines from December 2008 published in "World Journal of Gastroenterology."
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Although your stomach muscles always contract after you eat in order to break down food and start the digestive process, you don't usually feel it. Many disorders can cause stomach cramping after eating, some temporary and some chronic, some serious and others merely annoying.
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The last stage of liver failure, cirrhosis, usually develops over a number of years-- although acute liver failure can occur. Cirrhosis can be compensated--meaning that the liver retains enough function to perform vital processes--or uncompensated, meaning that the liver can no longer carry out normal functions.
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If you're pregnant, you may know to question the safety of oral medicine use during pregnancy. But you may not think about topical medicines such as eye drops as having any potential effect on your baby. Eye drops can contain steroids, histamine blockers or mast cell stabilizers that also prevent histamine release.
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Dilating drops allow doctors a better view into the eye, make it easier to perform eye surgery, and relieve the pain of some eye diseases, like uveitis, an inflammation of the uvea in the eye. Drops used to dilate eyes are called mydriatics.
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Tylenol, a brand name for acetaminophen, is an over-the-counter pain medication. Tylenol is also an ingredient in cold and sinus preparations and prescription narcotics. Doses of up to 4,000 mg a day are considered safe for most people, but people with existing liver damage should take less.
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Numbness and shock-like electrical sensations in the fingers can cause discomfort and lead to difficulty picking things up or weakness in the fingers. Nerve problems generally cause these symptoms. The burning, tingling or prickling sensations, called paresthesias, need evaluation if they last more than a few minutes.
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Glaucoma is elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) that squeezes the optic nerve fibers and causes vision loss. There are two types of glaucoma: open-angle and narrow-angle.
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Tuberculosis, an airborne disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, primarily affects the lungs though it can spread to other organs. More than 13,000 new cases of tuberculosis, or TB, were reported in the United States in 2007, according to Merck Manuals Online Medical Library.
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Stomach pain is a common and usually short-lived, benign symptom. Almost everyone has experienced a bout of stomach pain after eating, often as a result of dietary indiscretions.
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Alkaline phosphatase is the term used to describe two enzymes normally found in the liver and bones. The kidney cells lining the intestine and the placenta, the organ that nourishes the growing fetus in the uterus, can also produce alkaline phosphatase.
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Clindamycin is an antibiotic medication classified as a lincosamide; it inhibits bacteria protein synthesis. Clindamycin is used to prevent or treat bacterial infection. Clindamycin is also applied topically to the skin as an ointment to treat or prevent acne.
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Spring brings leaves to the oak trees and sends oak pollen into the air, causing millions of allergy sufferers to reach for the antihistamines and tissue. Oak trees normally pollinate in March, April and May, with more pollen appearing in the early morning hours.
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