IBS is now categorized as a disorder of gut-brain interaction, which means that there’s a problem with how the gut and brain communicate with each other. He says stress plays a key role. There’s no cure for IBS, but symptoms can be managed. Try eating smaller, more frequent meals, and exercising regularly. Deep breathing and yoga are also helpful to reduce stress.
Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
The signs and symptoms of pneumonia vary from mild to severe, depending on factors such as the type of germ causing the infection, and your age and overall health. Mild signs and symptoms often are similar to those of a cold or flu, but they last longer.
Signs and symptoms of pneumonia may include:
Newborns and infants may not show any sign of the infection. Or they may vomit, have a fever and cough, appear restless or tired and without energy, or have difficulty breathing and eating.
See your doctor if you have difficulty breathing, chest pain, persistent fever of 102 F (39 C) or higher, or persistent cough, especially if you’re coughing up pus.
It’s especially important that people in these high-risk groups see a doctor:
For some older adults and people with heart failure or chronic lung problems, pneumonia can quickly become a life-threatening condition.
Gallstones (gallbladder stones) develop in your digestive tract and can be as small as a grain of sand or as large as a golf ball. Gallstones can cause a blockage in your gallbladder or bile ducts. A diet high in fat or cholesterol can contribute to the development of gallstones.
Kidney stones develop in your urinary tract and can be as small as a grain of sand but can grow to several inches in diameter. Kidney stones move through your urinary tract into your ureter and block the flow of urine. A diet high in sodium, oxalates or animal protein can contribute to the development of kidney stones. An insufficient intake of fluids or calcium can also lead to the formation of kidney stones.
If you have gallstones, you may experience the following symptoms:
Gallstones cause pain in your mid-upper abdomen that may radiate to your back or under your right shoulder.
If you have kidney stones, you may experience the following symptoms:
Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:32 What causes nearsightedness? 1:01 Why can’t you see far? 1:20 When does nearsightedness usually begin? 1:42 What are symptoms of nearsightedness? 1:59 Can nearsightedness be corrected? 2:23 Is there a cure for nearsightedness?
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common digestive disorders in the world. It happens when acid comes up from the stomach, which is acid-resistant, into the esophagus, which is less acid-resistant. Dr. James East, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, says GERD may be common, but there can be potentially severe complications if it’s ongoing and left untreated.
Tetanus is a serious disease with no cure. But it’s also highly preventable. This video explains what happens when tetanus enters your body, and why vaccination is so important.
Chapters: 0:00 What is tetanus? 0:30 How do you get tetanus? 1:15 What symptoms does tetanus cause? 2:16 Can it be prevented?
Even mild COVID-19 is at least correlated with a startlingly wide spectrum of seemingly every illness. We need a much better taxonomy to address people’s suffering.
From The Atlantic, October 5, 2022:
The cases of long covid that turn up in news reports, the medical literature, and in the offices of doctors like me fall into a few rough (and sometimes overlapping) categories. The first seems most readily explainable: the combination of organ damage, often profound physical debilitation, and poor mental health inflicted by severe pneumonia and resultant critical illness.
This serious long-term COVID-19 complication gets relatively little media attention despite its severity. The coronavirus can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome, the gravest form of pneumonia, which can in turn provoke a spiral of inflammation and injury that can end up taking down virtually every organ. I have seen many such complications in the ICU: failing hearts, collapsed lungs, failed kidneys, brain hemorrhages, limbs cut off from blood flow, and more. More than 7 million COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred in the United States before the Omicron wave, suggesting that millions could be left with damaged lungs or complications of critical illness. Whether these patients’ needs for care and rehabilitation are being adequately (and equitably) met is unclear: Ensuring that they are is an urgent priority.
Learning about cervical cancer can be intimidating. Kristina Butler, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Mayo Clinic, walks you through the facts, the questions, and the answers to help you better understand this condition.
Video timeline: 0:00 Introduction 0:38 What is cervical cancer? 1:16 Who gets cervical cancer? / Risk factors 2:23 Symptoms of cervical cancer 3:03 How is cervical cancer diagnosed? 4:26 Treatment options 5:20 Coping methods/ What now? 6:10 Ending
Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Many prostate cancers grow slowly and are confined to the prostate gland, where they may not cause serious harm.
However, while some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.
Prostate cancer that’s detected early — when it’s still confined to the prostate gland — has the best chance for successful treatment.
Prostate cancer may cause no signs or symptoms in its early stages. When it’s more advanced may cause signs and symptoms such as:
COMMENTARY:
PSA screening will pick up prostate cancer very efficiently. However, it will also pick up slow growing cancer that might never be require treatment, and responding to the positive test could cause problems ranging from pain and convenience to erectile dysfunction and incontinence.
It takes 1000 men screened to produce one life-saving treatment for prostate cancer.
Risk reward analysis means that the younger you are, the more reasonable is a test, since you have many more years of potential life. The older you are, conversely, the less you have to gain. The problem is that most cancers are slow growing, and might never cause a problem, especially if you have only a few years left to live.
Most experts recommend a test when a man reaches the age of 45, but reserve annual testing for those who are at high risk, such as having a brother or father with aggressive prostate cancer.
When a man reaches the age of 70, most experts would decline to test.
Sometimes, emotional considerations present themselves; worry is very much a disease. For instance, the best man at my wedding stopped getting his PSA test about three years before he was diagnosed with fatal metastatic prostate cancer. I am inclined to continue getting my annual prostate test, and would worry if I didn’t.
A recent study in the journal Cancer reported that more than half of a group of men 75 years and older had PSA tests and biopsies.
As an interesting aside, the PSA test is the only test I have ever had rejected by Medicare, presumably because of this expert opinion factoring in the cost benefit analysis of using the test.
—Dr. C.
The World Health Organization recently declared monkeypox a global public health emergency – with cases being reported in many different countries, including here in the United States. Our expert explains what exactly the virus is, the symptoms and how it spreads.
For more information about monkeypox, please visit https://cle.clinic/3ABwZTH
Doctors Without Waiting Rooms 