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Balance billing happens after you’ve paid your deductible, coinsurance or copayment and your insurance company has also paid everything it’s obligated to pay toward your medical bill. If there is still a balance owed on that bill and the healthcare provider or hospital expects you to pay that balance, you’re being balance billed. This article will explain how balance billing works, and the rules designed to protect consumers from some instances of balance billing....

If you’ve got eczema, you’re not alone. In fact, this condition affects more than 31 million Americans. Eczema is a skin condition that can affect multiple areas of the body, including your breasts. Inflammation occurs when your body overreacts to substances called allergens. This condition typically causes dry, itchy skin. Unfortunately, there’s no cure for eczema, but symptoms can be managed with medications and a good skin care routine. This article will cover what you should know if you have breast eczema, including your options for managing the condition....

A cardiologist is a physician who specializes in disorders of the heart and circulatory system. They are trained to diagnose, treat, and prevent conditions ranging from high blood pressure and heart rhythm disorders to potentially life-threatening heart attacks and stroke. Cardiologists receive extensive education and training, including four years of undergraduate studies, four years of medical school, three years of residency in internal medicine or pediatrics, and three more years in a cardiology fellowship....

Chemotherapy treatment can be physically and emotionally challenging, and the side effects can be the same. One of the side effects of chemotherapy can be hair loss. Hair loss is one of the most dreaded side effects of chemotherapy, which works by targeting the fastest-growing cells in your body. Among the most rapid-growing cells are hair follicles, which divide every 23 to 72 hours. Hair loss is one of the most common side effects of cancer treatment and one of the most devastating ones....

The cardiac electrical system controls the heart rate and makes sure that the various chambers of the heart contract in a completely coordinated way. These tasks are complex and intricate—for instance, when the heart’s electrical signal travels from the atria (upper chambers) to the ventricles (lower chambers), a difference in timing of just a tenth of a second can make a big impact on the efficiency of the heartbeat. With a system that requires this level of precision and complexity, there are bound to be any number of ways it can be disrupted or disordered....

A chem 7 blood panel is a blood chemistry test that is part of a series of tests ordered before surgery. The tests help the medical team understand the patient’s general health status. Also known as chem 7 or chem 7 basic metabolic panel, it looks at seven different substances in the blood. A chem 7 is also routinely performed after surgery. This helps make sure the person is well in the days following the operation....

Congenital heart disease is a medical issue resulting from a congenital heart defect, a malformation of the heart present from birth. Depending on the exact issues involved, congenital heart disease might only cause minor issues. On the other hand, more serious kinds of congenital heart disease can cause life-threatening problems from infancy. Congenital heart defects, which can occur alone or with other medical problems, are one of the most common kinds of birth defects....

Smoking tobacco increases a person’s risk of COVID-19 infection, as well as the severity of the disease, according to a study published in the journal Thorax last week. Key Takeaways Active smokers are 14% more likely to experience the classic triad of COVID-19 symptoms: fever, shortness of breath, and persistent cough.Smokers are also twice as likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 infection.Smoking can damage the lungs and immune system, making it more difficult to fend off viral infections....

While most women begin the process of being diagnosed with endometrial cancer as a result of visiting their healthcare provider for abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge, for some women, the diagnostic process begins as a result of an abnormality detected during a routine pelvic examination. Whatever starts the process, it’s important to keep in mind that an endometrial biopsy (when a tissue sample is removed from the inner lining of the uterus) is the gold standard test for diagnosing endometrial cancer....

What Is Duobrii? Duobrii (halobetasol and tazarotene) is a prescription lotion used to treat a chronic skin condition called plaque psoriasis in adults. Duobrii contains two active ingredients from two different classes of drugs: halobetasol propionate 0.01% (a corticosteroid) and tazarotene 0.045% (a retinoid). These ingredients help decrease inflammation in your skin’s layers to control plaque psoriasis symptoms. Duobrii comes in a white aluminum tube containing the lotion, which is to be applied topically (on the skin)....

Erythromelalgia (EM) is a rare condition affecting the feet and sometimes the hands. It causes episodic or continuous intense burning pain, severe redness, and skin warmth. The condition is not fatal, but it can cause severe discomfort that affects the quality of life and can sometimes be disabling. The word erythromelalgia comes from three Greek words: “erythros,” which means redness, “melos,” meaning limb, and “algia,” meaning pain. The condition was formerly known as Mitchell’s disease after American physician and writer Silas Weir Mitchell....

Fascia is a system of connective tissue that encases our body parts and binds them together. Fascia, made primarily of collagen, can be thought of as a sausage casing for your body’s tissues. It surrounds muscles, nerves, tendons, and ligaments and gives them shape. Fascia also connects your skin to the tissue that is directly beneath it. The collagen that makes up fascia is organized in a wavy pattern. When pulled, these lines of tissue resist tensile and shear loads, helping to keep your body parts together....

Nosophobia is an intense, persistent fear of getting sick. While many people experience anxiety about their health, people with nosophobia can’t control their fear. They’re often afraid of developing a specific disease or condition, such as heart disease, cancer, or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Learn more about the fear of getting sick, including traits, symptoms, causes, and how to seek treatment when necessary. Definition Nosophobia is a marked and ongoing fear of getting sick or fear of disease....

Measles, also known as rubeola, is diagnosed by your symptoms, particularly fever, spots in your mouth, and the measles rash, as well as blood tests to confirm that you have measles and not one of several other conditions that can mimic some of its signs and symptoms, such as scarlet fever or mono. Measles-related deaths most frequently occur in developing countries with poor healthcare systems, but there are more and more outbreaks of measles in the United States and Europe due to lowered vaccination rates....

Epilepsy is characterized by seizures, which are periods of hyperactivity in the brain causing convulsions, involuntary and jerking movements, and other symptoms. Over the long term, it can lead to brain cell (neuron) death and damage. Occurring in about 0.6% of children, this condition can be particularly challenging for families, and parents play a particularly important role in helping manage the condition. If your child has epilepsy, it’ll be essential to have a discussion about seizures....

People who live with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or indeterminate colitis, may be at a higher risk for having certain other conditions. This includes several types of cancer, including colon cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, and cervical cancer. It’s not clear how the risk of cervical cancer may be increased in women with IBD. It is still an area of study to know if the risk may be higher than it is in healthy women and how that risk is related to medications that suppress the immune system....

Cancer is not contagious and it does not spread from person to person. It cannot be caught by touching, kissing, or breathing the same air as someone who has cancer. There are rare instances, though, when cancer genes can be passed from parent to child or from an organ donor to an organ recipient. It is also possible to catch a contagious virus that puts you at risk of developing cancer, such as the human papillomavirus (HPV)....

Leukapheresis is a lab procedure in which white blood cells (also known as leukocytes) are separated from your blood. It is a form of apheresis in which specific components of blood, such as red blood cells or platelets, are extracted while the remaining blood is returned to circulation. Leukapheresis can be used to reduce an excessively high white blood cell (WBC) count caused by diseases like leukemia. It can also be used to harvest white blood cells that can later be returned to someone whose WBC has dropped due to chemotherapy....

Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which your body mistakenly attacks your joints, muscles, and skin. These attacks can show up as joint swelling or muscle soreness for some people with this chronic disease. Butterfly-shaped skin rashes, mottling (red or purple marbled skin), and sensitivity to the sun are also common lupus symptoms. About 5 million people worldwide, and 1.5 million in the United States alone, have been diagnosed with lupus....

Nearly all women experience menopause unless they have their ovaries removed before puberty. Menopause affects every woman differently and can happen naturally or be induced by surgery, illness, or medications. It disrupts hormone levels, which can cause symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, and more. You may also experience heart palpitations during the different stages of menopause. This article discusses menopause-related heart palpitations, how to manage them, and when to see a healthcare provider....