Andrew E. Kaiser

Lupus is a chronic (long-term) autoimmune condition that occurs when the immune system attacks healthy tissues by mistake, causing inflammation throughout the body.

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How Is Lupus Treated? Lupus treatment may include a combination of hydroxychloroquine, prednisone, and immunosuppressant. There is no cure for lupus.

When you swallow food, it travels down the esophagus and passes through a muscular ring known as the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). This structure opens to allow food to pass into the stomach.

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Heartburn (Acid Reflux, GERD): Causes, Symptoms and Remedies Heartburn is a symptom of acid reflux that causes chest pain when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus. Heartburn symptoms may mimic chest pain that occurs during a heart attack. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) may produce other symptoms.

The odds of developing cardiovascular issues, such as a heart attack or stroke, rise sharply after women go through menopause, according to a new study.

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Women's Heart Disease Risk Rises Sharply After Menopause, Study Shows New research shows that postmenopausal women may be at an increased risk for heart issues. Experts said this could be because production of estrogen—which protects the heart—is decreased after menopause.

The normal healing process in human tissue results in a scar. Scars occur when tissues have been significantly damaged and cannot be repaired with like tissue. Multicellular animals, particularly those with organs, have had to develop this means of survival and repair rather than replacement with like tissue due to the complex tissues that are in the body and the complex organ that the skin has become.

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Scar: Types, Pictures, Treatment, Causes, Prevention Scars include keloids, acne, burns & hypertrophic scars. Learn how to prevent scarring & how to heal your scar tissue effectively.

Myelofibrosis (MF) is a rare form of blood cancer that causes scarring (fibrosis) in the bone marrow—the spongy tissue inside your bones that produces blood cells.

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12 Symptoms That Can Be a Sign of Myelofibrosis—a Rare Type of Blood Cancer Myelofibrosis is a rare blood cancer that affects the bone marrow and blood cell production. Learn about its symptoms, causes, and treatment options.

These foreign substances are normally seen as harmless by the immune system in nonallergic individuals, but in allergic individuals, part of the immune system generates a response.

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Allergy (Allergies) Types, Symptoms, Food, Medicine, Treatment Read about allergy treatment, symptoms, testing, shots, and medicine. Learn about the types of allergies (asthma, allergic rhinitis, seasonal, conjunctivitis, eczema, anaphylaxis, hives) causes, risk factors, and more.

Botulinum toxin is one of nature’s most poisonous biological substances. It is a neurotoxin produced by bacteria known as Clostridium botulinum. The neurotoxin binds to the nerve terminals attached to the muscles, disrupts nerve signals, and causes muscle weakness and paralysis.

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What Is Botulinum Toxin Used For? Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The neurotoxin binds to nerve terminals controlling muscles, disrupts thier signals, and causes muscle weakness and paralysis. These effects can be harnessed therapeutically to relax spasming muscles, reduce wrinkles, an...

Obvious reasons for weight gain are taking in more calories than usual or reducing the amount of physical activity in your life. However, some people seem to gain weight even when they are eating and exercising the same as always. Let's look deeper at possible reasons for weight gain.

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Surprising Reasons for Weight Gain There are many reasons for sudden weight gain when there are no changes in diet or exercise. Learn to identify the cause of your sudden weight gain.

A small amount of mucus in your stool is normal. Your body produces the thin, slippery substance to move food and waste through the intestines and help protect against bacteria and digestive acids.

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9 Reasons You Might See Mucus In Your Stool Mucus in stool can be a sign of infection or an underlying condition. Learn about the causes, diagnosis, and treatment options for mucus in stool.

Hemorrhoids, sometimes called piles or enlarged hemorrhoids, are veins around your a**s or inside your re**um that have become swollen. The re**um is the part of the lower intestine closest to your a**s.

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Signs and Symptoms of Hemorrhoids Hemorrhoids (piles) are veins around your a**s or re**um that have become swollen, causing symptoms such as itching, burning, pain, or bleeding.

As someone who has been an online content creator before “influencer” was ever a word, I know all too well the link that society places between people living in larger bodies and having type 2 diabetes.

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What I Wish I Knew About the Weight Stigma I'd Have to Fight to Get the Type 2 Diabetes Care I Needed Society’s weight stigma can creep into healthcare, affecting your experience with managing conditions like type 2 diabetes.

Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast change and start to grow out of control, according to the National Library of Medicine MedlinePlus resource.

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What Is Metastatic Breast Cancer? Metastatic breast cancer (stage 4) is a severe and incurable form of the disease. Learn about causes and symptoms of cancer spreading to other organs.

Blood blisters, also known as hemorrhagic blisters, are a type of blister that can develop when small blood vessels beneath the skin's surface tear open due to friction or injury.

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Don’t Pop a Blood Blister, Do This Instead Blood blisters occur when injury or trauma damages tissue underneath the skin. Learn more about their causes and how to treat and prevent them.

Starting treatment for Munchausen syndrome can be difficult. When a person is confronted about a suspected diagnosis, they may react with hostility or denial.

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What Is Munchausen Syndrome? Munchausen syndrome is a psychiatric disorder in which a person intentionally makes up symptoms in order to appear sick or take on a “sick role.

Phlebitis occurs when a vein in your body gets inflamed or swollen. In most cases, the condition occurs because of an underlying blood clot. When a blood clot is causing vein inflammation, the medical term is known as thrombophlebitis.

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This Is What Happens to Your Body When Your Veins Become Inflamed Phlebitis is a condition that occurs when your veins become inflamed. Learn more about why it happens, what the symptoms are, and how to treat it.

May-Thurner Syndrome (MTS)—also known as iliac vein compression syndrome—is a vascular (blood vessel) condition that causes problems with blood flow in the legs. The condition occurs when the right iliac artery in your pelvic area presses the left iliac vein against the vertebrae in your lower back.

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What To Know About May-Thurner Syndrome—the Rare Condition That Mostly Affects Women May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) affects blood flow in the legs, increasing the risk of blood clots. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of MTS.

Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a progressive form of vision loss that affects the center of what you see. Among the methods optometrists (eye doctors) or ophthalmologists (specialty eye doctors) use to diagnose macular degeneration are several kinds of eye tests and certain imaging techniques.

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How Do You Know if You Have Macular Degeneration? These Tests Can Help Macular degeneration, or age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a progressive form of vision loss diagnosed using eye tests and imaging techniques.

Actor Christina Applegate, 52, recently opened up about a health scare that took a significant toll on her gastrointestinal health—she contracted sapovirus, a common cause of childhood diarrhea, likely from a contaminated salad.

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Christina Applegate Was Sick for Weeks With Stomach Virus From Eating Contaminated Salad Actor Christina Applegate shared that she was sick for weeks after catching sapovirus from a contaminated salad, she shared in her podcast, MeSsy, recently. Here's what to know about sapovirus, the symptoms it can cause, and how it can be contracted.

Atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common type of eczema, is a chronic and recurring skin condition. Itchy rashes, inflamed skin patches that “weep” when scratched, and dry or leathery skin are classic signs of the skin condition.

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Is Atopic Dermatitis the Same as Eczema? Atopic dermatitis is a type of eczema that can affect anyone. Find out the symptoms and treatments for this chronic skin condition.

We can't help getting older, but we can age successfully. The more active, healthy, and fit you are now, the better you will feel as you get older.

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Exercise Tips for Seniors Exercise for seniors is important for healthy and successful aging. Learn what happens to our bodies as we age, how to start exercising, and the benefits of exercising as a senior.

Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder. The condition gets its name after Erik von Willebrand—a doctor who identified the disease in the 1920s.1 Your blood contains many proteins that help it clot properly and prevent excess blood loss.

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Von Willebrand Disease Is the Most Common Inherited Bleeding Disorder. Do You Know the Symptoms? Von Willebrand disease is an inherited blood disorder that causes frequent or prolonged bleeding. Learn about the symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Cyclic neutropenia is a rare blood disorder that causes changes in the levels of neutrophils in your blood. Neutrophils are white blood cells that your bone marrow produces to protect your body from infection.

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Everything You Need To Know About Cyclic Neutropenia, a Rare Type of Blood Disorder Cycle neutropenia is a rare blood disorder that causes changes in the levels of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection.

You might be familiar with a sensation called "brain zaps" if you have recently skipped or stopped taking antidepressants. Brain zaps are sensory disturbances that feel like electric shocks inside the brain.

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What Are Brain Zaps During Antidepressant Withdrawal? Brain zaps are like electric shocks inside the brain that occur with antidepressant withdrawal. Learn what brain zaps feel like and how to avoid them.

During flu season in the United States—from October to May—there's never an exact number of how many people die from the flu every year. The CDC estimated 20,000 flu-related deaths during the 2019–2020 flu season.

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This Is How Many People Die From the Flu Each Year There's no exact number of how many people die from the flu every year. Learn how experts predict flu season severity and how to prevent the flu.

There are a few things that play a role in having good vaginal health—including your underwear. From making sure that you take care of your underwear by using the right detergent and changing your underwear in a timely manner, there are a few recommendations to live by. Read on to learn more about Health's six underwear rules.

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6 Rules for Wearing Underwear Part of protecting your vaginal health concerns your underwear. Learn about underwear rules to live by including care, when to change them, and more.

It should come as no surprise that health care in the United States is expensive. According to the latest comprehensive data from 2014, health care spending in the United States costs about $3.2 trillion each year. Roughly a third of that cost comes from the top 18 most expensive conditions.

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The 18 Most Expensive U.S. Medical Conditions What are the most expensive medical conditions? Learn about heart conditions, brain disorders, back pain and many more expensive health conditions. Discover the tips that can prevent serious medical problems and protect your financial wellbeing.

If you compare your body to a book, your skin is the dust jacket. By examining the title, looking over the cover image, and reading the liner notes, you can often determine what might be going on inside. So, if you look carefully, you can tell quite a bit about the internal workings of your body by examining your skin.

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Skin & Health: How Your Skin Reveals Health Problems Skin problems are often the first signs of serious underlying health problems. Diabetes, lupus and lung cancer are illnesses that can relate to various skin disorders.

One of the most common sources of chronic pain is felt in the lower back. For many, treatment for lower back pain (LBP) requires physical therapy, medicine, or in the worst cases, surgery. The evidence from many clinical trials studying traditional needling for LBP is inconsistent.

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How Does Acupuncture Work? Benefits, Needles, Definition What is acupuncture? How does acupuncture work? Does acupuncture hurt? Learn various acupuncture points, the definition of acupuncture, the benefits of acupuncture and its drawbacks. Discover whether acupuncture can effectively treat fertility, back pain, nausea, smoking problems and more.

Eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water is the best way to get the nutrients needed for healthy, young-looking skin. Some foods are touted for their benefits to your complexion. We will talk about present some of the best foods to eat for glowing, healthy skin on the following slides.

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Dieting Tips to Care for Your Skin Your diet can affect your skin in many ways. Certain foods that contain nutrients that promote a healthy, vibrant complexion. Explore foods for clear, glowing and younger-looking skin.