A common household product may be what's causing your white German shepherd to be losing chunks of its beautiful fur. A veterinarian can overlook this cause, as was the case of our dog! When my [...]
If your teenager has a “skipped” heartbeat and problems breathing, what might this possibly mean? A teen may experience what seems like a skipped heartbeat from anxiety, but trouble with breathing adds a whole new [...]
You already know that PVCs can be caused by anxiety, but just HOW does this mechanism occur? “PVCs, which are extra beats that occur commonly and if they occur in modest frequency are not necessarily [...]
How is it possible for an elderly person (over age 65) to have a low resting heart rate along with severe coronary artery disease (CAD)? Before my mother had CABG x 5, her resting heart [...]
Can a run of three PVCs in someone with a structurally normal heart ever mean something concerning? PVC stands for premature ventricular contraction, and some people experience or “feel” three in a row, as in [...]
You are not imagining hearing or feeling a heartbeat in your ear, as this is real and has a definite cause. The phenomenon of having a heartbeat in your ear even has a name! “At [...]
This is about stress causing an extra heartbeat or the sensation of one, rather than the feeling of a skipped heartbeat. “Studies have shown that stress can cause a sensation of a skipped or extra [...]
A cardiologist, not an online thread layperson, answers the question, “Can gas cause heart palpitations?” Is there a true connection between farting and a flip-flopping heart? “There is no clear cause and effect relationship between [...]
Since atrial fibrillation isn’t guaranteed to occur in any given 24-hour period, isn’t it logical to conclude that a Holder monitor could miss it? What exactly is atrial fibrillation? Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is a heart [...]
Have you been having PVCs right after you stop exercising, as in, you’ve been running on a treadmill or doing the burpees or pushups, and within seconds of ceasing the activity…you feel the premature ventricular [...]
Bleeding or spotting in between periods CAN mean cancer but also many other benign causes, and missed menstruation has a ton of causes. Have you ever spotted in between periods? Seen blood stains on your [...]
Cervicitis is inflammation of the cervix, but can this turn into cancer? This is a question that many women would like to know, so I posed it to Justin Chura, MD, a gynecological oncologist in [...]
Many disorders can cause bad cramps in the lower abdomen or pelvic area, but what are the odds that your recent-onset cramping is being caused by cervical cancer? Yes, cervical cancer can cause bad cramping, [...]
“Just because a woman is diagnosed with cervical dysplasia does not mean that she will develop cervical cancer,” says Justin Chura, MD, a gynecological oncologist in Philadelphia, PA. A Pap smear will detect cervical dysplasia, [...]
Here’s reassuring information about your discharge after a colposcopy and cervical biopsy. Just how common is the discharge? “Experiencing discharge after colposcopy and cervical biopsy is common,” says Justin Chura, MD, a gynecological oncologist in [...]
If melanoma is caught early enough, it’s highly curable, but many people let it slip by, and this is how this deadly skin cancer can get past even health-conscious people. Two ways that this can [...]
There’s a disturbing case of a young woman who let melanoma skin cancer get past her, and as a result, she died. But it didn’t have to be this way. Melanoma kills about 10,000 Americans [...]
Yes, that deep bronze or golden tan on your young body looks awesome, but here’s a big question: Why would actinic keratoses ignore you when it’s time to aggravate an adult who used to worship [...]
Have you noticed that some of your moles are raised, that is, clearly higher than the surface of the skin around them? This doesn't refer to moles that used to be flat and are now [...]
Are atypical melanocytic hyperplasia and in situ melanoma one and the same? “Yes, I consider them the same thing; it all depends who is reading the slides,” says Dr. David Rahimi, MD, F.A.A.D., board-certified dermatologist [...]
A black area or streak on the big toenail can have multiple causes, and one of them is melanoma. What are all the things that a black spot or area on the big toenail can [...]
A dermatologist says, “Nodular melanoma can spread very quickly; within a matter of days or weeks.” “Melanoma is a very interesting cancer and behaves very differently depending on the age of the person and [...]
Warning signs for skin cancer include changing shape and colors in a pre-existing mole, as well as getting bigger. However, can a benign mole undergo such changes? I was motivated to write this article after [...]
Here is the bald man’s complete guide by a dermatologist on skin cancer prevention and detection on his scalp. “Non-melanoma skin cancer is extremely common on the scalp in bald men,” says Dr. Joel Schlessinger, [...]
Many people assume that a mole on a toe is more likely to become melanoma, or, already is this deadly skin cancer. “Moles on toes (and fingers) can be more concerning but aren't usually melanomas,” [...]
Perhaps you already know that an itching mole is a possible symptom of melanoma. But what most medical sites do not say is whether or not this itching is almost always, or usually, or sometimes [...]
Can you be too old to get melanoma? Is it true that if you have never gotten melanoma by a certain age…you’ll probably never get it? If this is true, how is it that advancing [...]
How effective can exercise be at raising ejection fraction? What else can raise ejection fraction other than exercise? “There are some patient populations where ejection fraction is modestly increased with regular exercise,” says Norman E. [...]
Suppose a person has been exercising for years, but then gradually develops chronic heart failure. How noticeable or rapid will the decline be in this person’s ability to exercise? “The decline in function will depend [...]
Is it possible to have a really low ejection fraction and still not have congestive heart failure? “There are two major types of congestive heart failure (CHF),” begins Norman E. Lepor, MD, cardiologist and internal [...]
The kind of weight gain that heart problems can cause is not the same that's caused by eating too much. In fact, weight gain from chronic heart failure has absolutely nothing to do with body [...]
Are you wondering if coronary bypass surgery, aka CABG, can prevent the development of chronic heart failure? Heart failure may involve fluid buildup in the legs that needs to be controlled with medication. In other [...]
An MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram) is often used to see if there’s anything wrong with the heart and associated structures. If someone has an MRA, the report will include what the ejection fractions are for [...]
Why are statins pushed when instead, it seems that the safer route is to just take high doses of niacin (vitamin B3) to lower cholesterol? You may have read that niacin or niacinamide has a [...]
Why settle for drugs when you can lower your bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol with natural supplements, minus side effects? Don't be fooled by brilliant ad campaigns for drugs -- drugs that are among the best [...]
Is there actually a difference in the mechanism that causes hair loss in women when compared to that which causes male pattern baldness? Well, they are not the same, but the mechanisms can be similar, [...]
“Feeling of the pulse at different locations in the body can be completely normal,” says Chester M. Hedgepeth, III, MD, PhD, Executive Chief of Cardiology at Care New England. “Importantly, all the arteries in the [...]
A cardiologist explains the possible causes of chest pain when you lean forward and backward. “Pain in the chest with leaning forward or backward is a symptom commonly associated with pericarditis,” says Chester M. Hedgepeth, [...]
A cardiologist explains what it means to often feel your heartbeat in your chest. This doesn’t refer to feeling your heart beating in your chest after you just did 20 squat jumps or ran hard [...]
“My bed is elevated and I STILL get acid reflux overnight! Help!” Does that describe you? Overnight acid reflux can cause upper abdominal and/or chest discomfort, a bad taste in the mouth and coughing. A [...]
*********************
