“I’m known as the wild card of my group,” says Hong, of Brooklyn, New York. “You never know which Esther you’re going to get for the day, but whichever Esther you do get, she’s always a vibe.” Hong wasn’t always so comfortable in front of a camera (or smartphone), though. She’s one of the 16.5 million adults in the United States who have atopic dermatitis, a type of eczema that causes itchiness, dry skin, and skin discoloration, according to the National Eczema Association....

Flares are often unpredictable, and can be caused by random fluctuations in the level of disease activity, according to Kathryn Dao, MD, an associate professor of rheumatology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Doctors aren’t sure exactly what leads to AS flares but suspect that things like stress, infections, and generally “overdoing it” (working long hours and not getting enough sleep, for example) could be contributing factors. Pain, disruption of your daily life, and unpredictability of symptoms can all add up to a challenging mix when you’re living with AS....

As with adults, constipation is a common issue in babies and children. Constipation is typically defined as a condition in which you have fewer than three bowel movements in a week. But this definition doesn’t quite apply to babies, because their “normal” bowel habits vary greatly depending on their age and what they eat. If your baby isn’t having regular bowel movements, this doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is constipated....

Previous research has suggested bariatric surgery can lead to short-term improvements in sexual function, but authors of the new study, published in February 2019 in the journal JAMA Surgery, found that one-half of participants who underwent the operation saw better sexual function, including a boosted libido and more frequent sex, for at least five years afterward. The study is also noteworthy because it shines more light on an overlooked aspect of obesity and subsequent weight loss: changes in sexual satisfaction and sexual function....

When Hensel opened his eyes in the recovery room, he knew right away that something was wrong. “The nurse said, ‘the doctor wants to talk to you,’” Hensel recalls. “I thought ‘that wasn’t part of the plan, so something must be wrong.’” Even then, Hensel didn’t anticipate what came next. The procedure had revealed a tumor so low in his colon that even a digital exam would have detected it....

Aromatherapy has been used to relieve stress and pain for thousands of years and is usually safe, although there isn’t much scientific evidence to prove its efficacy. A lack of research studies on essential oils doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t work, says Yufang Lin, MD, an internal medicine doctor at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In many cases, these oils just haven’t been studied to find out if they’re effective because of lack of funding or other reasons, Dr....

Breakouts. Irritation. Scars. If these pesky skin issues are impacting your daily beauty routine, you’re not alone. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, acne is the most common skin condition in the United States and impacts 50 million individuals each year. Acne is caused by four factors: plugged follicles from skin cell debris, increased production of sebum (oily secretions) by the skin’s sebaceous glands, inflamed skin around the follicles, and Propionibacterium acnes bacteria....

Vegetables not only provide essential nutrients but can also contain prebiotics, a type of fiber that helps boost the growth of healthy gut bacteria, explains Ryan Warren, RDN, who specializes in nutrition and counseling for patients with gastrointestinal (GI) conditions at the Jill Roberts Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. Research backs this up: People with ulcerative colitis who followed a high-fiber, low-fat diet for four weeks experienced lower levels of unhealthy gut bacteria and inflammation and reported a higher quality of life than those who followed a typical American diet, according to a small study published in June 2021 in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology....

A new study, published in July 2020 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found a significant increase in cases of stress cardiomyopathy since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Stress cardiomyopathy, better known as broken heart syndrome, can be characterized by physical or emotional stress that results in dysfunction or failure of the heart muscle. Patients of broken heart syndrome can experience symptoms similar to a heart attack, such as shortness of breath and chest pain; however, their heart arteries appear normal....

Rumer Willis, daughter of Willis and Demi Moore, revealed in an Instagram post that her father’s diagnosis is “impacting his cognitive abilities.” “To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” Rumer Willis wrote. “As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him,” she added....

By then, Westbrook had already been practicing mindfulness-based breathing meditation for 14 years, which was essential during two separate breast cancer diagnoses in 2010 and 2012. “It was really beneficial in helping me navigate the healthcare system and all the diagnostic tests, surgeries, PET [positron emission tomography] scans, and treatments,” she says. “And it helped me stay focused on the moment rather than running down these paths to the future....

The National Psoriais Foundation (NPF) estimates that 70 percent to 90 percent of those with psoriasis experience persistent irritation of the skin that makes them want to scratch. The problem is scratching gives only the most temporary relief, and it can make the disease even worse. When scratched, patches of skin tear away and bleed, causing the rash to spread and plaque lesions to form. Compared with other inflammatory skin disorders, psoriasis can produce particularly intense itching in the scalp as well as the lower extremities (for example, the groin and buttocks)....

“There is a large, ongoing outbreak of meningococcal disease in Florida, primarily among gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men, including those living with HIV,” the CDC said in a statement. Additional cases have been reported in the state, including multiple cases in college students, that don’t appear related to this ongoing outbreak, the CDC said. “Florida’s increase in meningococcal disease cases is mostly affecting people who live in Florida but has also affected some people who have traveled to Florida,” the CDC added....

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the ingestion of the protein gluten — found in wheat, barley, and rye — leads to damage in the small intestine, making it hard for your body to absorb nutrients in food. (3) And celiac disease is not just a hypersensitivity or allergy to gluten-containing food but an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the bowel, says Abdullah Shatnawei, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic....

What Is Coconut Oil? On the one hand, coconut oil advocates acknowledge that it’s high in saturated fat, which has been implicated in increased heart disease risk. But they point out that there’s something unique about the saturated fat found in the tropical oil: It’s rich in a medium-chain fatty acid called lauric acid, which may behave differently from other saturated fats. The facts as they stand are that the effect of coconut oil on health isn’t quite clear....

People older than 60, along with those who have underlying health conditions such as respiratory problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and cancer are also at a higher risk for serious illness from the novel coronavirus, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Furthermore, non-Hispanic Black Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, all of whom have higher rates of both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes than white Americans, per the National Diabetes Statistics Report, are also at higher risk for serious COVID-19 disease, including complications and death, as has been widely reported....

“The flu shot is already available, so I would highly recommend people with diabetes get them as soon as they can,” says Hanah Polotsky, MD, an endocrinologist and internist at Kaiser Permanente in Denver. Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is a respiratory virus affecting an average of 8 percent of Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The flu causes symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, and runny nose, and can progress to more serious illnesses, such as pneumonia, and death....

Until a little over a decade ago, all types of NSCLC were essentially treated in the same way, typically with chemotherapy. However, now specific types of NSCLC can now be managed based on the biomarkers that characterize them. Biomarker testing, which is sometimes called genomic or molecular testing, looks for changes in a tumor’s DNA, or genetic makeup, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). When these biomarkers are identified, doctors can now match the type of NSCLC you have with the treatments that will provide you with the most benefit, potentially improving or extending your life with the disease, the ALA says....

“Current pediatric asthma guidelines do not list disability or delay as a risk factor for asthma,” says the senior study author, Sarah Messiah, PhD, the director of the Center for Pediatric Population Health at UTHealth Science Center School of Public Health in Dallas. Judging by the study results, pediatricians and specialists who care for kids with disabilities may want to consider screening for asthma, Dr. Messiah says. “If you have a child with a disability or delay and are noticing signs and symptoms of asthma in your child, ask your pediatrician for an asthma screening test,” Messiah says....

Even people who are fully vaccinated may be feeling anxiety about germs when they travel. Consider the Connecticut couple Mindy and Jeff Siegel, who booked plane tickets to Boca Raton, Florida, for two weeks after their second Pfizer vaccination, when they knew they’d have the full veil of protection against COVID-19. Still, the first thing Mindy did when they arrived at their hotel room was whip out the disinfecting wipes she’d brought from home, passing them over knobs, faucets, light switches, the telephone, and the remote control....