How an ER Doctor Diagnoses a Transient Ischemic Attack
If you suspect you just had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), get to the ER stat (have someone drive you) so that a doctor can make a diagnosis. It's interesting to wonder just how a [...]
When You Need to Worry About Cloudy Urine: Urologist Answers Questions
If you’ve ever had cloudy urine, you’ve no doubt wondered what’s causing the cloudiness and may have even been troubled by this odd symptom. After all, is cloudy urine a sign of cancer or some [...]
Why It May Be Safe to Lose Over Two Pounds a Week
Yes, it CAN be safe to lose more than two pounds a week as long as you understand some really simple math. And the keyword is "can." Certainly, a "starvation" or "crash" approach to dieting [...]
Why You Should Brush Your Teeth Before Gym Workouts
Few gym-goers realize how wicked their workout breath smells to other exercisers. Yes, you read that right: Before stepping foot into your health club or gym, you should thoroughly brush your teeth. After all, you’re [...]
Can You Have Severe Heart Disease but Good Cholesterol Numbers?
It's actually possible to be a ticking time bomb with severe coronary heart disease while also having a "normal" cholesterol (lipid) profile. This is why you shouldn't assume you're automatically out of the woods just [...]
Why Even One Crumb of Gluten Is Harmful for Celiacs
Just one crumb of gluten may as well be an entire loaf of bread to someone with celiac disease. Celiac patients can't even have a tiny crumb; that's all it takes to trigger their immune [...]
Negative Celiac Blood Test, but Stool Sample Shows Antigliadins
What if the blood test for celiac disease is negative, but a stool sample is positive for elevated antigliadins? Was your celiac blood test negative, but a stool sample positive for elevated antibodies for gluten? [...]
Fast Resting Heart Rate Increases Death Risk from All Causes
An elevated resting heart rate is associated with an increased risk of death from all causes. This includes cardiovascular disease. Are you familiar with what your pulse normally is when you're at rest? If not, you'd [...]
Does High Cholesterol Mean You Should Take Statin Drugs?
If you have high cholesterol, statin drugs may come to mind as something you must necessarily take. As to whether or not high cholesterol is an automatic green light for taking statins: “Absolutely not! Since [...]
What Happens During an MRA? Patient Describes Procedure
You know what an MRA is, but what exactly happens during an MRA – here is my firsthand account. I had an MRA – no, not MRI, but MRA, as in magnetic resonance angiogram. An [...]
The Insulin Resistance Connection to Juices and Fruits
Can drinking huge amounts of juice daily lead to insulin resistance? Are you a big juice drinker and wondering if this might cause insulin resistance, a harbinger of type 2 diabetes? We grow up hearing [...]
19 Questions to Ask Your Shoulder Arthroscopy Surgeon
Have these 19 shoulder arthroscopy questions ready for your surgeon. Don’t wait until the day of your shoulder arthroscopy to ask these crucial questions to the surgeon. If you’re suffering from shoulder pain and have [...]
Will a Failed Knee Replacement Worsen if Not Revised?
Find out what likely will happen with your knee if you don’t have revision surgery for a failed total replacement. You’ve had a total knee replacement and, over time, things have gotten worse, leading to [...]
Does Insulin Resistance Always Make You Gain Weight?
Will insulin resistance make you gain weight? It’s easy to conclude that insulin resistance will lead to weight gain. Insulin resistance is when the body’s cells no longer utilize this hormone efficiently, resulting in blood [...]
Can Lifting Weights Fight Off Insulin Resistance?
One more reason to lift weights is that it will prove a mighty defense against insulin resistance. And you do not want insulin resistance. This is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Normal fasting blood [...]
What’s a Normal Blood Sugar Reading After Eating?
Some “diabetes hypochondriacs” test their blood sugar repeatedly with home tests, wondering what really is the right reading range right after eating. “It is not uncommon to have a one to two hour postprandial blood [...]
Can You Be Too Young to Have Clogged Arteries?
How young is too young to have measurable plaque buildup in the coronary arteries? A coronary artery calcium score exam has been proven to be very reliable at predicting the likelihood of a coronary event [...]
Causes of Intense Hunger After Eating Sugary Junk Food
Here are the causes and solutions to that intense and insane hunger you feel after eating sugary junk foods or highly processed snacks. It's just so amazing that such crazy hunger follows wolfing down a [...]
Can Reactive Hypoglycemia Be Caused by Processed Foods?
Reactive hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, can indeed be triggered by processed foods. Reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar that can cause deep hunger) and processed foods are tightly linked. “Much of the ‘food’ that surrounds [...]
Is Shoveling Snow Dangerous for Kids?
You know that shoveling snow can be dangerous for poorly conditioned adults, but are kids prone to any dangers from this kind of activity? Yes, they are. But not in the same way [...]
Reverse Insulin Resistance with T3 Bioidentical Hormone
Insulin resistance or prediabetes can be successfully treated or reversed with T3, a bioidentical hormone, says Dr. Kent Holtorf, MD, thyroidologist and founder of Holtorf Medical Group in California. Though a diagnosis of insulin resistance [...]
Can Intense Exercise Prevent Insulin Resistance?
Is it really true that intense exercise can prevent you from ever getting insulin resistance? IR is when the body’s cells can no longer efficiently “take” the glucose molecules that are delivered to them via the [...]
Can Insomnia, Poor Sleep, Cause Insulin Resistance?
Who’d ever think that poor sleep or insomnia can actually cause insulin resistance? But it can. Insulin resistance is associated with obesity, even being moderately overweight, lack of exercise and poor diet. It can lead [...]
Can Insulin Resistance Kill You?
Wondering if insulin resistance can kill a person? Can you actually die, directly, from insulin resistance? This is a fair question, because insulin resistance is a precursor to type 2 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes [...]
How a Low Thyroid Can Make You LOSE Weight
It's possible that low thyroid can cause weight loss -- but wait till you find out how this can happen. Hypothyroidism (the medical term for "low thyroid") is often blamed on gaining weight. Hypothyroidism is [...]
Should People with Celiac Gene Avoid Gluten If Not Sick?
Should people with the celiac disease gene avoid gluten even if they have no symptoms of gluten intolerance? About 30 percent of the American population has the gene associated with celiac disease. According to the [...]
Does Celiac Gene but No Disease Mean You Can’t Eat Gluten?
If you have the celiac gene but not the disease, should you eliminate gluten? The short answer is: No. Even if celiac disease only develops in people who have the genes for it, having the [...]
Low Thyroid Medication Adjustment: Why the 8 Week Wait?
Why must one wait eight weeks between adjustments for low thyroid medication? The eight-week wait between thyroid medication adjustments can be hairy if the last adjustment wasn’t sufficient to correct the hormonal imbalance. Typically, the [...]
Should Genetic Testing for Celiac Disease Be Standard?
Ever wonder why, at the annual physical exam, your primary care doctor doesn't do a genetic screening for celiac disease? Since celiac disease takes an average of nine years to be diagnosed in a symptomatic [...]
What to Expect the Day AFTER Knee Replacement Surgery
The day OF total knee replacement surgery -- after the surgery, that is -- is not always the same as the day AFTER total knee replacement surgery. Are you worried about a loved-one who just [...]
Can Two Supplements Reverse Plaque in Coronary Arteries?
Can these two supplements actually reverse buildup of plaque in coronary arteries (heart disease)? Yes -- according to a very interesting study. But there are things you need to consider about the study. “This study [...]
How Long It Takes Good Diet to Lower Bad Cholesterol
Do you think you're too old to improve your diet for your cholesterol because it'll take too long to kick in? Guess what: you're wrong. "Any blood work that is obtained on an individual can [...]
Can Green Vomit Mean Cancer?
Do you fear that the green in your vomit means cancer? Perhaps you've upchucked lately and couldn't help notice that the color of your vomit was actually green. Now that can sure be unsettling. However, [...]
What It Costs to Treat Dog Injuries from Exercise
The cost of treating a dog's injuries--the kind from exercise -- is not the least bit cheap. It's advised that you have a "dog injury fund" in a second bank account! When it comes to [...]
Local vs. General Anesthesia for Knee Arthroscopy
Which is better for knee arthroscopy: local anesthesia or general? We all know that general anesthesia comes with far more risks than local, but there are circumstances that call for general anesthesia over local for [...]
Stomach Burning from Exercise Caused by Magnesium Deficiency
Have you experienced a burning sensation in your stomach during or right after exercise? What can cause a burning feeling in your abdomen when you exercise? “Sit-ups can aggravate a hiatus hernia and lead to [...]
Pancake Breakfast or Skipping Breakfast: Which Is Healthier?
Mmmm, a stack of steaming pancakes drenched in maple syrup and butter for breakfast: Is this healthier than SKIPPING breakfast? Plenty of research shows that a nutritious morning meal is the most important meal of [...]
Surgical Hair Restoration: Can You Run Out of Donor Sites?
Ever see those surgical hair restoration infomercials and wonder if the donor follicles can keep up with the hair loss follicles? In surgical hair restoration, follicles that are not genetically programmed to eventually stop producing [...]
How Many CT Scans Should a Head Trauma Patient Have?
Just how many CT scans are needed if someone has a small brain bleed resulting from a not-so-severe head trauma? This can be banging their head on the bottom of the bathroom sink after kneeling [...]
Should I Go to ER After Hitting Head on Bathtub?
Hitting your head on a bathtub after falling can cause bleeding in the brain, but should you rush to the ER simply because you bonked your head on the bathtub? What if you're fully conscious [...]
