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Sjogren’s syndrome is a condition that causes joint pain, dry eyes and mouth, and a number of effects throughout the body. It is a chronic autoimmune disease that typically affects adults. There are several markers of inflammation that can be identified with blood tests. Along with your symptoms, the presence of these markers can help in the diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome Treatment often includes immunosuppressive medications, such as steroids. You may also need symptomatic treatment for comfort, like eye drops....

Skin discoloration can be bothersome, especially when it occurs on your face. It may be a normal part of the aging process or may be something to be concerned about. A person’s skin color can change throughout their life for a variety of reasons. Certain health conditions can cause changes to a person’s skin color such as hypopigmentation, which is the whitening or lightening of the skin, or hyperpigmentation, the darkening of the skin....

Stress is our body’s natural physical and mental response to challenges or changes. It may help you overcome obstacles and push yourself to new levels of personal growth. When your body’s stress response system starts dysfunctioning, though, the same feelings can become barriers and limit your ability to perform at your best. Research has even shown that stress can trigger or aggravate several conditions and impair the functioning of different body systems....

Susac’s syndrome (SuS) is a rare autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of the smallest blood vessels in the brain, retina, and inner ear. This attack causes blood vessels to be injured and swollen, blocking blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain, retina, and inner ear. SuS is also known as retinocochleocerebral vasculopathy. The prevalence of SuS is unknown, but the condition primarily affects young women between the ages of 20–40....

What Is Synarel? Synarel (nafarelin) is a prescription nasal spray used to treat the symptoms of endometriosis in adults and central precocious puberty (early puberty) in children. Synarel belongs to a group of medications called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists. GnRH agonists work by decreasing your body’s production of certain hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. This medication is available as a nasal solution administered through a nasal spray. What Is Synarel Used For?...

Anyone working in an emergency department in a northern climate knows that on a very snowy day they will not be seeing any downtime. They will be running non-stop during their entire shifts. It’s pretty likely they’ll be seeing at least a few people injured in snow-related car crashes, or in sledding or skiing accidents. But it’s virtually certain they’ll be confronted with medical problems caused by shoveling snow. And to deal with these shoveling-related emergencies they will have at least two kinds of specialists on speed dial....

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite is a tiny single-celled organism called a protozoan. People can acquire it from undercooked meat and exposure to cat feces. In healthy individuals, this infection doesn’t usually do lasting damage and often shows no symptoms. But, pregnant people, their fetuses, and people with a weakened immune system are at risk of more dangerous infections. Toxoplasma grows in and affects various parts of the body, including the brain, eyes, and muscles of the heart and body....

What is Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia and what do you need to know if you are diagnosed with this disease? Definition of Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). WM is a cancer that affects B lymphocytes (or B cells) and is characterized by an overproduction of proteins called IgM antibodies. WM may also be referred to as Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, primary macroglobulinemia, or lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma. In WM, the cancer cell abnormality occurs in B lymphocytes just before they mature into plasma cells....

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell treatment, also called CAR-T therapy, is a type of adoptive cell transfer therapy used for treating certain kinds of cancer. Normally, T-cells fight cancer cells to prevent them from multiplying and causing disease. Most of the research on CAR-T treatment has been focused on blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) and Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) are the first CAR-T drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....

For patients who recover from a heart attack, providers typically prescribe a handful of pills to help prevent additional heart problems. But keeping track of all those drugs can be challenging, and many patients fail to take their medications consistently. Key Takeaways A single pill that contains three different drugs can help prevent serious cardiovascular problems in people who have previously had a heart attack, per a new study.Study participants who took the polypill were a third less likely to die of a cardiovascular event, and had a reduced risk for outcomes including stroke and heart attacks....

Tics are involuntary movements that can occur in children and adults with both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Tourette’s syndrome. About 50% of children diagnosed with ADHD have tics, and between 35% and 90% of children with Tourette’s have ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms. ADHD is a developmental disorder that usually appears in early childhood. Tourette’s syndrome is a nervous system disorder that also usually surfaces in young children. Both ADHD and Tourette’s can make it hard for children to sit still, focus, and control their impulses....

Aicardi syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a partial or complete absence of the corpus callosum, a key brain structure. This syndrome also causes abnormalities in the retina of the eyes and seizures. Researchers think Aicardi syndrome is caused by an X chromosome gene mutation. Symptoms of this condition may appear as early as 4 months of age. Aicardi syndrome is named after Jean Aicardi, a French neurologist who first described the condition in 1965....

With so many letters and numbers being thrown around, it can feel like we’re swimming in a COVID-19 “variant soup.” With each new variant comes new questions. Could this variant take over? Will it cause more severe disease? Could it slip past our immune defenses and thwart our antiviral treatments? Finding the answers to these questions often involve carefully mapping the virus’s genome and studying how the virus behaves in cells in a lab....

If you think it’s tough to make sense of your loved one’s autism, you’re right. Of course, autism is a complex disorder, but that’s only half the problem. The other half is created by well-meaning professionals who carefully clothe their statements about people’s loved ones in terms that can (and do!) mislead family members about their autistic loved one’s level of challenges and abilities. Commonly Misunderstood Terms About Autism Why would a professional intentionally confuse a parent, guardian, or caregiver?...

Babies are born with soft spots (fontanels) on their heads where the skull bones haven’t fully come together. These small gaps are made of connective tissue. They allow the brain to grow and develop before the skull bones fuse together. There are two main soft spots, one on top of the head and the other at the back of the head. Each has a distinct shape and size. Certain conditions can change the appearance of the soft spots, which may indicate abnormalities in development....

The treatment of HIV has traditionally been complicated as it requires multiple antiretroviral drugs to fully suppress the virus. Therapies typically involved three or more drugs from at least two different classes, each with distinct mechanisms of action and drug half-lives (the speed by which the drug is eliminated from the body). In the past, this posed serious problems as older drugs like Crixivan (indinavir) required three pills every eight hours, while others like Zerit (stavudine) and Epivir (lamivudine) required dosing every 12 hours....

The muscle pain present in both fibromyalgia (FM) and myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is why these two conditions are sometimes mistaken for one another or erroneously lumped together as one condition. While FM and MPS do resemble each other, they can be easily distinguished through a careful medical history and physical exam—and a correct diagnosis is a key to moving forward with an effective treatment plan. Comparing these disorders from start (what causes them) to finish (how they are treated) can help you navigate a potential misdiagnosis or dual diagnosis....

Sigmund Freud, the creator of psychoanalysis, coined the term “defense mechanisms” (also sometimes called ego defense mechanisms or coping styles) in 1926. Freud’s term attempted to explain how individuals manage stress and described them as relatively involuntary responses to internal or external factors surrounding thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Defense mechanisms consciously or unconsciously aim to protect against anxiety and emotional stress. They can also kick in when a person’s self-esteem feels threatened....

If you have diabetes (a chronic condition of high blood sugar), you are likely to develop joint pain, especially if your blood sugar isn’t controlled by diet or medication. This article will explore the connection between joint pain and diabetes, including the causes and treatment, as well as management, of joint pain in diabetes. What Is Joint Pain? Joint pain can affect your knees, hips, fingers, or other joints in the body—places where bone meets bone....

A team of doctors is urging officials in charge of medical residency programs to add curriculum addressing climate change and its effects on both health and health care. The doctors made their case in a new scientific paper and created a framework for residency programs to use. Key Takeaways Climate change can impact your personal health and health care, even making certain medications unsafe to take under certain environmental conditions.Despite this, many doctors are not educated about the potential impact of climate change on their patients during residency....