“It can be difficult to distinguish between early ALS atrophy and normal atrophy,” says Bonnie Gerecke, MD, MD, director of the Neurology Center at Mercy in Baltimore. The typical course goes as follows: • You [...]
Do whatever it takes to quit smoking if you’ve had a TIA. Smoking damages the blood vessels in the brain. But not only that, it also causes conditions that are independent risk factors for transient [...]
If you just learned a family member has a brain aneurysm, you definitely should schedule an MRI scan of your brain, as there is a familial link to this condition. This genetic link was shown [...]
Are you a weightlifter or runner with an unruptured, newly coiled aneurysm? Just what does “return to full activities” really mean? Exercise is encouraged by surgeons who clip or coil brain aneurysms, but the term [...]
Once you’ve had a transient ischemic attack, life as you know it will never be the same — but there are five measures you can take to regain power over your life. […]
If you’ve suffered from a TIA, perhaps you’re wondering if the DASH diet will help prevent another one of these mini-strokes, which can mean a massive stroke in the near future. You need not have [...]
Can your “jabs and jolts” stabbing head pain be caused by an aneurysm that’s about to rupture? Aneurysm pain from rupture is classically a “thunderclap” headache: sudden in onset, and excruciating, the worst head pain [...]
What you think is a muscle twitch from MS (myokymia) may actually be just a harmless fasciculation; there’s a way to tell the difference with these two kinds of muscle twitching. […]
There actually is a type of facial twitch that’s associated with multiple sclerosis. However, this data needs to be picked apart very carefully, which is why the statement, “A twitching nose can be an early [...]
A brain tumor can cause an eyelid to droop, but the big question is: Can a brain tumor cause an eyelid to twitch? Many people who have a persistently twitching eyelid are terrified that this [...]
Perhaps you’ve read that a stroke can cause a metal taste in the mouth, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that a TIA can leave a metal taste in your mouth, does it? A TIA (transient [...]
Is the cause of gold stools—a more golden color rather than straight yellow—different from the cause of a blander yellow type of poop? What can be considered a “gold” stool might actually be a yellowish [...]
So you know that left arm pain with chest pain, nausea, sweating might mean a heart attack. But what if your ONLY symptom is unexplained left arm pain? First off, even when pain in the [...]
You should not rule out a heart problem if you keep awakening with chest pain that gets better soon afterwards. It may seem odd that a heart problem would cause chest pain only in the [...]
If you have burping along with your chest pain, this definitely can mean something’s going on with your heart. A visit to a cardiologist would be smart. Angina Chest Pain with Burping Angina is impaired [...]
If you’re having chest pain AFTER exercise, not during the activity, this may still be related to your heart. The older you are, the more likely that any chest pain that’s associated with exercise is [...]
The problem with comparing a TIA headache with a ruptured brain aneurysm is if the sudden headache is a burst aneurysm, you don’t have minutes to wait around and see what happens. […]
How can one tell the difference between a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and brain metastases? There’s an overlap of symptoms with a TIA and brain mets, but there’s also features of brain mets that would [...]
The life expectancy after ALS diagnosis averages two to five years, but progression of the disease is not always predictive of life expectancy. Progression of this fatal disease will vary from one patient to the [...]
ALS is 100% fatal, though there are extremely rare cases in which the patient lives many years after diagnosis. But ALS will kill them, too, assuming that by sheer chance, another illness or accident doesn’t [...]
Here’s a comparison between the muscle weakness of ALS and that of benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS). There are striking differences between the muscle weakness of ALS and that of BFS. […]
Do you have the green light to eat a ton of sugar in one sitting if your blood sugar level is in the normal range? For example, you’re healthy and have a glucose monitor device [...]
Anxiety over your moles can get bad enough to disrupt productivity at work, ruin social events & cause insomnia. However, you can overcome this nagging problem. […]
You know it’s bad, but HOW bad is a glucose reading in the 400’s? This can be “a very unhealthy place and could be a medical emergency,” says Alison Massey, MS, RD, LDN, registered dietitian [...]
How does one tell if the “edema” in their lower legs is strictly from obesity vs. congestive heart failure? Though an obese person may also have heart failure, there are obese people who do not [...]
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart that, unlike a catheter angiogram (the gold standard for showing plaque buildup in arteries), is non-invasive and carries no risks. The CT angiogram (CAT scan with contrast [...]
Congestive heart failure isn’t just an “old person” disease; it strikes young adults—and for specific reasons. The reasons differ from those for elderly people. What Is Congestive Heart Failure? Failure of the heart to adequately pump [...]
There are distinctions in the shoulder pain from a heart attack vs. a pinched nerve in the neck. But does this mean you can self-diagnose? Shoulder pain from a heart attack can come on fairly [...]
A person with diabetes walks into a gym and is overwhelmed by the different pieces of strength training equipment. Strength training doesn’t have to be confusing or complicated. […]
Is there a difference between how a diabetic should train for building muscle and someone without diabetes? Do the exercises differ? What about the bench press? […]
If you’ve been suffering from worsening fatigue, congestive heart failure may come to mind, but ALS can also cause this. Is there a difference between early stages of ALS fatigue and that of mild congestive [...]
The reason some athletes have a fast resting heart rate has nothing to do with their training. Athletes can have medical conditions that cause a fast resting pulse. […]
If you have diabetes and want to use the best cardio machine for your condition, you’ll be surprised at just what this piece of equipment is. […]
Here are the basic guidelines for how someone with diabetes can get six-pack abs. The good news is that for diabetics who want six-pack abs, there is nothing different they need to do as far [...]
There’s actually quite a few causes of sudden sharp pain on the left side of one’s chest, ranging from heart problems to serious lung conditions to harmless muscle strains. Causes of Sharp Chest Pain on [...]
So if you have a heart problem like severely clogged arteries or a rhythm disorder, would pressing your fingers or palm on your chest bring out any pain? What if you were having a heart [...]
Is there something inherently unique about walking that causes PVCs or heart palpitations? Yes, there is something that just might be going on only when you walk. And one of those is anxiety. “Stress and [...]
Can exercise, rather than drugs, be beneficial for premature ventricular contractions? Or is it the other way around—that some kinds of exercise can increase PVC’s? Sedentary Men with PVCs Benefit from Exercise • 196 sedentary [...]
If a racing heart is waking you from sleep, this can be even scarier than PVCs. When you’re sleeping, your body is at its lowest energy needs, so why would your heart suddenly start racing? [...]
Post-workout fatigue or soreness is normal, but what does it mean when a muscle starts twitching–the muscle you exercised in that workout? […]
