Blood pressure naturally rises as we age, and keeping track of it is a key component of staying healthy. The bigger problem? It’s a hassle to keep track of at home. There are endless wires, tubes, and according to research in the American Journal of Hypertension, home blood pressure monitors are inaccurate 70% of the time. I was looking for an upper-arm blood pressure monitor that’s wireless (so no cords to fumble with)....

If your doctor has recommended a pacemaker, it’s important to understand how this compact piece of technology works with medication for successful afib treatment. Pacemakers are used most often for atrial fibrillation when someone’s heart rate switches between fast and slow rhythms. “This is called tachy-brady syndrome,” says Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD, an electrophysiologist at the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. The heart beats too fast in atrial fibrillation and too slow when it’s not....

“There is a growing recognition that there is no health without mental health, that the body and mind are integrally connected,” says Danovitch. “Our culture’s current gravitation to natural substances probably also contributes to the current wave of openness to rediscovering agents that have long existed on the periphery of society and have powerful effects promoting self-reflection, empathic connectedness, and sometimes adaptive change.” Psilocybin (4-Phosphoryloxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) LSD (D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) Ketamine Peyote (Mescaline) “There is evidence that the brain becomes more flexible or ‘plastic’ after a psychedelic,” says Johnson....

Several previous studies made headlines for concluding that in people with RA, moderate alcohol consumption was linked with less severe symptoms and a better quality of life. But according to a study published in March 2019 in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, these benefits may not be directly from the alcohol itself. The study found that people with RA tend not to drink when they don’t feel good, so when they do drink, it’s when their symptoms are already under better control....

RELATED: Rheumatoid Arthritis and You: What RA Can Do to All Parts of the Body For these reasons, it is important for people with RA to assess their cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking, and reduce them. RELATED: Protect Your Lung Health When You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis Over time, RA can cause more than just pain and inflammation in the joints — it can actually deform joints, making it difficult for people to perform normal daily activities....

The disease, which affects up to 1.3 million Americans, most often manifests in the joints of the hands, wrists, and knees. (1) Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, particularly joint pain, can interfere with daily activities, ultimately decreasing quality of life. There are numerous options to help get RA-related pain under control. These drugs, including newer versions called biologic DMARDs, slow the progression of the disease and reduce inflammation and symptoms. But they are not used for acute pain management....

What Is Salt and Where Does It Come From? Salt, or sodium chloride, is a mineral of great importance to human health. Most of the salt people consume comes from evaporated seawater or is mined from deep within the earth, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. To some people, salt is nothing more than an ingredient in their favorite dishes. But salt doesn’t only add flavor to foods. The body needs some salt, and it plays an important role in preserving food, since bacteria can’t live in a high-salt environment, reports the Harvard School of Public Health....

If someone experiences asthma symptoms more than twice a week, their asthma is termed “persistent.” And among those with persistent asthma, doctors further categorize the condition as mild, intermediate, or severe. “The symptoms of severe asthma are similar to those of mild asthma, they’re just more frequent and more severe, and require more medications to keep them under control,” says Emily Pennington, MD, a pulmonologist and asthma specialist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio....

Why Aren’t My Erections Like They Used to Be? For years, it has been well known that erectile dysfunction (ED) is more common in men who have diabetes. A study published in July 2017 in the journal Diabetic Medicine offers clues on the prevalence of this issue: Men with diabetes are 3.5 times more likely to have ED than men without diabetes. High blood glucose damages nerves, meaning the “let’s have sex” signal doesn’t make it to the penis....

The success of any shared decision-making strategy for MS depends, of course, on the amount and quality of communication between you and your healthcare team. Unfortunately, time constraints and certain habits in how both doctors and patients behave can get in the way of sharing all the information needed to make decisions together. But by knowing what information and questions to bring to your appointments — and how to share them with your doctor in a pragmatic way — you can help start a conversation that leads to true collaboration in your treatment decisions....

A course of phototherapy usually involves a series of office visits (in some cases, nearly every day) over several weeks. There are many ways to deliver the light, including by laser, and the exact number of sessions that are needed depends on your doctor’s approach . For example, German doctors found that three sessions over nine days with a new type of excimer laser delivered safe and effective results. But not every dermatology clinic has high-powered lasers....

“People who have eczema are much more susceptible to irritation from things that they can commonly come into contact with, which could be as simple as water,” says Marisa Garshick, MD, FAAD, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology in New York City. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep these potential triggers to a minimum in every room of your home....

While the sleep hormone melatonin has been shown to improve sleep for some individuals with asthma (and possibly provide an anti-inflammatory effect), a research group led by Kentaro Mizuta, DDS, PhD, a professor at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry in Japan, has discovered that melatonin could actually worsen asthma. In data from lab testing published November 16 in the journal Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Dr. Mizuta and his colleagues demonstrated that melatonin can exasperate the constriction of the bronchus, the pathway that moves air to and from your lungs....

I know the terminology of MS and of neurology and more medical abbreviations than I care to. That’s why a recent paper struck me: It used an abbreviation — SELs — I’d never seen before and, quite frankly, I wasn’t very happy to read about them. Black Holes: as Bad as They Sound The paper, published in May in NeuroImage:Clinical, explained that SELs are slowly expanding lesions, which are closely associated with persisting black holes (PBHs), a term with which I am unfortunately, like many in the MS community, familiar....

Age 26 Why I Tried It To help alleviate “tech neck” and back pain after working at home for months without a desk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many people who stare at a computer screen for a living, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States I’ve been tuning into work every day via a laptop computer. Before our “new normal” of masks and social distancing began in the United States in March 2020, I used to commute to my job as an editor and spend my days in an office, sipping my morning coffee and typing away in a cubicle with a desk and chair....

Although the number of people who smoke has been on the decline for decades, 12.5 percent of American adults age 18 or older — an estimated 30.8 million people in the United States — still light up, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (1) Indeed, smoking is one of the worst habits for a person’s health: It affects nearly every organ in the body and is a significant risk factor for a laundry list of health conditions and diseases....

Q: My dry skin gets worse in the summer — what can I do? Dr. Shenara Sexton: During these hot months I recommend drinking more water and taking a look at the products that you’re using on your skin. Make sure you’re using a moisturizer at least daily, and the best time to apply is within two minutes of exiting the bath or shower. Daily showers are fine and encouraged, particularly if your daily activity finds you getting hot and sweaty....

From these beach towels — adorned with a heart, a peace sign, and a pink ribbon — the “Peace Love and a Cure” campaign was born. Word quickly spread from the campaign’s origins in Long Island to the rest of New York, New Jersey, and Florida, where Nancy’s family and other friends had heard about her situation and wanted to help by fundraising themselves. Nancy’s insurance company ultimately agreed to pay for her chemotherapy, and with the money her friends had earned, they founded the Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Foundation in 2006....

Dandruff is not caused by dryness. If the skin on your body or face becomes scaly or itchy, your first instinct is probably to reach for a moisturizer. When your scalp is flaky, though, it’s usually the result of too much oil rather than too little. “It’s a common misconception that dandruff is caused by dryness; in reality, it’s usually due to an overgrowth of a harmless yeast,” explains Jessica Wu, M....

In very rare cases, and if blood pressure reaches dangerous levels, a person may get headaches or more nosebleeds than normal. But in the majority of cases, there are no signs or symptoms of hypertension, which is why it has been dubbed the “silent killer.” If high blood pressure goes undetected for a long period of time, the condition can damage your heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and other parts of your body....