What’s different in the stage 0 melanoma patient than the stage 1 patient such that 10-year survival rate is higher? The earlier that melanoma is caught (or staged), the higher the survival rate when projected [...]
Find out if there’s a difference in melanoma risk in someone with fair skin and brown eyes vs. fair skin and blue. Lists of melanoma risk factors often include “fair/light skin and blue eyes.” Sometimes, [...]
Find out a most unlikely, but harmless, cause of sudden-onset, brief stabbing pains in a breast; and it’s not a tight bra. Have you developed sudden-onset, stabbing, sharp or piercing pains in a breast? And [...]
A doctor explains what can cause swelling (edema) in both ankles when your heart, liver, kidney and other key tests are normal and you’re not obese. The following can cause swelling (edema) in both (bilateral) [...]
A doctor discusses possible causes of sudden, extreme and brief dizziness in younger people. And solutions. There are MANY causes of sudden, brief episodes of severe dizziness in people who do not have any conditions [...]
If you have hearing loss, here’s why people get irritated when you ask them to repeat or why they say “Never mind, it’s not important.” Many people with hearing loss, impairment, who are hard of [...]
Have you noticed tiny red dots against the toilet bowl after a bowel movement or urine output and wondered what’s wrong? Imagine turning towards the toilet to look inside after having a bowel movement or [...]
A zero calcium score is NOT an accurate predictor of cardiac events in patients with symptoms, but for those without symptoms, it’s over 95 percent. A group of people with symptoms like chest pain and [...]
Find out a most unlikely cause of difficulty breathing IN during or after exercise in the absence of chest pain in an otherwise healthy person. Suppose you just had your heart checked and everything’s normal, [...]
Sudden difficulty taking breaths immediately after a cardio stint isn’t always exercise-induced asthma. If you think that your recent struggle with inhaling or taking breaths was your first bout with exercise-induced [...]
Have you been diagnosed with a class II heart murmur and are scared? In June 2011 a cardiologist told me I had a class II heart murmur on inspiration (inhaling). It was not something he [...]
A proven way to tell the difference between orange urine, yellow-orange and dark yellow. If you’ve read somewhere that orange urine can be a sign of disease and are wondering if what you’re seeing as [...]
Do you get chest pain or what feels like angina that comes and goes, literally hurting one second then going away the next, like intervals? “By definition, angina occurs when the oxygen supply to the [...]
There's a type of angina that can occur at rest but not during exertion. Maybe you know that “unstable angina” can occur at rest, even during sleep and awaken the patient. But this type of [...]
If you go to the ER complaining of chest pain or shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, the doctor will want to order a chest X-ray. You may wonder if this type of image can show a [...]
Find out what you should do if ER testing finds nothing wrong with your heart despite chest pain and shortness of breath. Chest pain is the No. 1 reason why people visit the emergency room. [...]
Just because your carotid arteries are “clean” doesn’t mean you don’t have severe blockages in your coronary vessels. I was inspired to write this article after my father underwent an exam to see if there [...]
Low risk for heart disease but chest pain? Which test is warranted: CT angiogram or catheter angiogram? Find out what someone with low risk for heart disease should do if they have suspicious symptoms and [...]
A cardiologist explains why you can have a normal stress test one day and then a massive heart attack the next. You’ve probably heard of instances in which a person had a normal stress test [...]
A cardiologist addresses exercise safety in people with many PVCs, even nonstop. Some people have premature ventricular contractions seemingly nonstop, thousands and thousands a day, and fear that exercise may not be safe for them. [...]
A cardiologist explains how exercise suppresses or inhibits PVCs: premature ventricular contractions. Though some people with PVCs wonder if it’s safe to exercise, it’s a well-documented fact that exercise suppresses PVCs. In fact, many individuals [...]
Making lifestyle changes to help prevent a DVT is as easy as 1 through 7. Deep vein thromboses are much more common than you think and are very dangerous, requiring immediate medical intervention. “The problem [...]
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a very serious condition, but not all cases require treatment. The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body. It comes out of the heart and travels all the [...]
Just because doctors haven’t mentioned peripheral neuropathy as the cause of your pain, doesn’t mean you can’t have it. “Peripheral neuropathy” means disease of the nerves of the peripheral nervous system, and I know at [...]
The death rate following the repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is something that you'd definitely want to know. However, if your doctor is already discussing surgical treatment with you, it's a safe bet that [...]
A DVT (blood clot) that's in your leg has a chance of breaking apart or completely dislodging and then going to your lungs...and how long this takes is not what you may think it is. I [...]
Find out the interesting answer to the question: Can a pulmonary embolism form in the absence of a DVT? “By definition a PE is an ‘embolus’ that has traveled to the lungs," says Seyed-Mojtaba Gashti, [...]
How likely is it that the swelling in only one ankle, but nowhere else in the leg, is being caused by a deep vein thrombosis? A DVT typically causes swelling up and down the lower [...]
What should be done when a patient gets a DVT in the neck after coronary bypass surgery? Seems like an SVC filter should be placed? Following coronary bypass surgery (a.k.a. CABG), it’s possible for a [...]
Is deep vein thrombosis common in people who use wheelchairs? Since prolonged “inactivity” is a risk factor for developing a DVT, the logical conclusion would be that this condition is quite common in people whose [...]
So you've been cramped on that airplane for hours and are finally walking on the ground; how long after will DVT blood clot risk last? “As far as I know, DVT forms while traveling," says [...]
Suffer from stomach pain and diarrhea? This could be Crohn’s disease, which can be diagnosed by swallowing a pill that has a camera. Crohn’s disease often presents with two key symptoms: diarrhea and stomach or [...]
Noise pollution is a very real problem, says the EPA, yet few people take the risks of hearing loss seriously. We are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to understanding the risks of noise [...]
An audiologist addresses a fair question: Can hearing be damaged by screaming children? I was inspired to interview an audiologist for this article because my sister has been diagnosed with bilateral moderate hearing loss. She [...]
Anybody who’s health conscious will want to know the truth about hearing loss dangers from pounding music in group fitness classes. Imagine you, the group fitness class enthusiast, are transported back in time about 60 [...]
It’s time for the big boys to admit it: Slamming and banging weights will likely damage hearing over time. For this article on hearing loss resulting from weights being thrown, slammed and banged around at [...]
I’m stunned that often, I see men without hearing protection working around wood chippers. Wood chippers can be screaming loud, yet many workers continue to “chip” without protection for their ears. A typical wood chipper comes [...]
Warning: A DVT can leave permanent effects. You want to do everything possible to avoid this very serious (and highly avoidable) condition. A vascular surgeon responds to the question: Can a deep vein thrombosis become [...]
Find out what a DVT expert says about fish oil and garlic supplements as preventive measures. A deep vein thrombosis is a pretty common condition in the general population, but there are those individuals who [...]
Excessive desk work certainly can increase one’s risk of DVT, says Dr. Paul Lucas. The human machine was not designed to spend all day sitting at a desk. Unfortunately, that's what many men and women [...]
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