If a person has recently had a pacemaker implant, but is also suffering from blackouts or fainting spells, one may wonder if the vagal nerve is somehow getting adversely affected by the pacemaker. Pacemakers Are [...]
Have you been wondering why a routine physical or even routine cardiologist exam doesn’t include the Corus CAD test? This blood test uses “gene expression” to quickly and safely determine when chest pain is due [...]
Why isn’t the Corus CAD test given to people who’ve had coronary bypass surgery? This test uses “gene expression” to safely and quickly determine whose chest pain or shortness of breath is the result of [...]
“IBS by definition is not a true disease,” says Dr. Saad Habba, MD, a board certified gastroenterologist at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ. One of Dr. Habba’s areas of interest is irritable bowel syndrome. He [...]
If your child's hamster is very sick or seems to be dying, here are clear instructions on what you, the parent, should do and NOT do. In your mind, the hamster might be nothing more [...]
Are you wondering (hoping) that your constant chest and back pain is being caused by GERD rather than a heart problem? GERD stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease and is notorious for causing chest pain. “Acid [...]
Can the acid that’s refluxing up from your stomach and into your esophagus actually trigger a pounding heartbeat? “Acid reflux is when the normal stomach acid regurgitates up into the esophagus,” says Jay Desai, MD, [...]
One mistake parents can make is to blow off the bullying as normal sibling rivalry. Sibling bullying isn’t “normal” or “healthy” just because the parents experienced it with their own siblings or just because it [...]
One day I began noticing oddly shaped and colored bowel movements that were loose enough to be considered mild diarrhea. I thought this was related to my period, which was due in several days. Very [...]
Let’s get to the bottom of whether or not a dent in your quadriceps muscle means you might have ALS. The “quad dent” evokes fear in tens of thousands of people. Are you one of [...]
You will damage your hearing if you keep attending Zumba classes unless you wear significant ear protection. Has it ever occurred to you, the Zumba enthusiast (either as a participant or instructor), that the volume [...]
As funny and goofy as Popeye's elbow looks, one has to wonder if this bizarre condition always comes with pain. Though Popeye’s elbow (olecranon bursitis) is associated with pain, it can also be painless — [...]
When is dizziness serious enough to warrant a head CT scan, being that this procedure emits radiation to the brain? Many people go to the ER for feeling dizzy. The sudden onset of what the [...]
Is it possible that a bullied teen could feel helpless enough to try suicide because their parents have shamed them for their troubles? Maybe the parents have always been critical, and that certainly would not [...]
An ENT doctor explains all about acid reflux burning in the nose as part of LPR, plus cause, how to prevent and long-term effects if it keeps happening. Acid reflux can shoot up into the [...]
A teacher blew off a 13-year-old’s proposition that fidgeting burns calories, which, many years later, was proven by research to be true. When I was 13, I was a freshman at a Catholic high school. [...]
Perhaps the bullied teen or adolescent who dies by suicide was thinking rationally rather than suffering from clinical depression or mental illness. When yet another story breaks of a child who dies by suicide as [...]
Find out what parents should never do in response to a child bullying a younger sibling; the way the parents respond in an attempt to “fix” the problem can make the situation far worse. This [...]
Since the Corus CAD blood test can determine if chest pain is being caused by clogged arteries, why aren’t all patients with chest pain in the emergency room given this test? Wouldn’t that more efficiently [...]
This blood test uses age, sex and gene expression measurements to safely & quickly determine whose chest pain is the result of obstructive coronary artery disease (clogged arteries). Certain patients are candidates for this blood [...]
This is all about premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) as far as frequency and what REALLY matters as far as if they mean harm. At my mother’s pacemaker evaluation, it was determined that over the preceding [...]
Did you recently have a baby, have resumed your exercise routine, but are now experiencing frightening PVCs? A PVC is a premature ventricular contraction that makes it feel as though your heart is either skipping [...]
A cardiologist explains PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) that occur after exercise: how soon after do these matter; is there a cut-off point? If someone has PVCs in the minute after stopping the exercise but not [...]
Do your premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) keep making you think that they mean a heart attack is coming? There are some people for whom, no matter how many premature ventricular contractions they experience, and no [...]
Are you losing sleep over the worry that insomnia can increase the frequency of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)? There can be a connection between premature ventricular contractions and insomnia because lack of sleep can cause [...]
Find out why caffeine causes premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and how long after eating or drinking this substance it takes to make your heart "skip" beats. How long after eating (or drinking a caffeinated beverage) [...]
What does it mean when you have premature ventricular contractions (PVC's) but also a zero calcium score and normal heart structure? Can the presence of the PVC's still be indicative of something bad? I asked [...]
Here’s the explanation for why hair has a NATURAL scent or fragrance, rather than what causes a BAD smell. This isn’t a “Why does my hair smell bad?” article. It’s a “What gives hair its [...]
There IS a difference between an soy intolerance and an actual allergy to this food, including how it relates to irritable bowel syndrome. “It is important to differentiate soy allergy from soy intolerance,” explains Dr. [...]
Here is information about the onset of an attack of irritable bowel syndrome. “The onset of IBS symptoms is usually slow and ongoing for a prolonged period of time,” says Dr. Saad Habba, MD, an [...]
Here’s why people with Prader-Willi syndrome should train with weights (strength training). One of the classic features of the genetic condition of Prader-Willi syndrome is that of very poor muscle tone — the result of [...]
A gastroenterologist discusses differences between colon cancer diarrhea and the diarrhea caused by IBS. Do they look the same? How are they different? You may have read that “constipation alternating with diarrhea” is a possible [...]
It’s a myth that kids who are big or husky hardly ever get bullied. Ever notice that in TV shows and movies, a boy who’s a bully is almost always bigger than his classmates? He’s [...]
Is it at all possible for irritable bowel syndrome to cause any bleeding, or blood to appear in the mucus that comes out when you have a bowel movement? “Mucus is the product of shedding [...]
Here is information about red melanomas vs. benign red moles in terms of physical appearance. “Benign moles can appear reddish in part due to sunburn or irritation,” says Dr. Michael Shapiro, MD, Medical Director and [...]
You may have read that moles can be grey in color, but how normal or common is this? “The most common moles usually have an even pink, tan or brown color,” says Dr. Michael Shapiro, [...]
Sun spots mean there's been damage to the skin. Whether or not these might one day transform into melanoma is a fair question. “While sun spots do not automatically mean skin cancer, people with sun [...]
“Sometimes, nodular melanoma can resemble a pimple you might find on your face,” says Michael Shapiro, MD, Medical Director and Founder of Vanguard Dermatology in NYC, NY. “Nodular melanoma spots, unlike pimples, will be [...]
Age spot Can a melanoma look like an age spot and vice versa? As people get older, their risk of melanoma rises, but they also start developing age spots. Age spots commonly appear [...]
If you suddenly decide that housework counts as true exercise, does this then magically make it so? One of the biggest gimmicks over the past decade or so is this idea that housework gets included [...]
