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You’ve probably heard that mood changes are a normal part of the change of life or menopause. You might wonder if your symptoms are normal or if you have clinical depression. Here’s how to tell the difference. Perimenopause and Menopause As you enter perimenopause, you may find that you’re more irritable, sad, angry, negative, or restless. It may be hard to tell if these are just temporary blips on your emotional radar screen or symptoms of a more serious mental health problem....

Drooling in your sleep can have a number of causes. In general, when you sleep, the muscles in your face and body relax. Your mouth may fall open causing excess saliva to run out. Other reasons for drooling too much, also called sialorrhea or hypersalivation, may include certain medications, nasal congestion, sleep apnea, neurological conditions, pregnancy, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This article explains why you may drool when you sleep and what you can do about it....

Despite treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, sometimes cancer comes back. And while many cancers recur in the first five years, some can recur decades later. Why do some cancers come back, and how does this happen? Importance of Knowing Why Cancers Recur Often, cancer recurrence is metastatic. An initial cancer that was stage 1 or stage 2 can recur in stage 4 with metastases. More than 90% of cancer deaths occur due to metastases....

If you or a loved one has coronary artery disease (CAD), you may have heard the term “acute coronary syndrome,” also referred to as ACS. ACS is a relatively new term used by cardiologists, and it can be a little confusing. However, because it represents the new way of thinking about CAD, it can be useful to take a few minutes to understand it. Causes ASC occurs when a blood clot suddenly forms within a coronary artery, usually due to the acute rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque....

Unlike many cancers that are diagnosed by stage (indicating how advanced the cancer is), acute myeloid (or myelogenous) leukemia (AML) is diagnosed based on genetic subtypes or specific genetic mutations; these help determine outlook and treatment. Subtypes are classified (grouped) based on the genetic changes underlying an individual’s cancer. Recent advances in subtype classification have improved diagnostics, treatments, and survival rates over the past several years, providing a more hopeful outlook for a disease that has, historically, not always had a great prognosis....

If drinking alcohol—also known as ethanol—gives you food allergy symptoms such as flushing, itching, and diarrhea, you may have an allergy or an intolerance to alcohol. A food allergy is an abnormal immune reaction to things we eat, while a food intolerance is an adverse reaction to food that does not involve the immune system. Although true allergies to alcohol are rare, alcoholic beverages have ingredients that can cause symptoms of allergy or intolerance....

It’s important to keep up with ongoing medical treatments, but there are also many natural remedies for muscle pain and inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Some arthritis natural remedies are easy to do at home, while others require specific equipment or the care of a trained individual. This article will outline the alternative treatments available for RA and how they may benefit you. Herbs and Supplements for RA Many different supplements and herbs have shown promise in addressing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis....

What Is Ambien? Ambien (zolpidem) is a controlled, prescription sedative-hypnotic medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for short-term use in insomnia (sleep difficulty), specifically for falling asleep (sleep initiation). It’s unclear though whether Ambien may help people stay asleep (sleep maintenance). Ambien is available in a tablet form. It works mainly by preventing excitability in the brain’s neurons. Ambien has a boxed warning for complex sleep behaviors. Some people who take Ambien may sleep-walk or participate in other activities—like sleep-driving—during their sleep....

Autism, by definition, can only be diagnosed if symptoms appear before age three. As a result, autism is usually diagnosed in children—often in children as young as three years old or even younger. Yes, there are circumstances in which autism is diagnosed in teens or adults, but the average age of diagnosis is between ages three and six. Because autism is usually diagnosed in youngsters, many people think of it as a childhood disorder....

Autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases all stem from problems in the immune system, but they’re differentiated by which part of the immune system is malfunctioning. In autoinflammation, it’s the innate immune system, while it’s the adaptive immune system that’s involved in autoimmunity. However, some diseases have aspects of both autoimmunity and autoinflammation. In order to understand all of this, it helps to understand the innate and adaptive immune systems and how they act in these diseases....

Birth control is the use of different devices, sexual practices, techniques, chemicals, drugs, and/or surgical procedures to purposely try to prevent getting pregnant while having sex. There are several types of birth control methods that have been officially labeled as contraception—i.e., they have been shown to be reliable in preventing conception from taking place. Available Birth Control Methods There are multiple contraception methods available. And with so many options, it can get confusing....

Your last hamburger order may have come with an unexpected side of toxic chemicals. Key Takeaways Toxic “forever chemicals” contaminate food packaging from some of America’s largest restaurant and grocery chains, a new report shows.The chemicals can leach into food and the environment, posing serious health problems.Chick-Fil-A and Restaurant Brands International—the parent company for Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes—said they will phase out PFAS in its food packaging by 2025....

Celiac disease is not a fatal condition. But if it’s managed, it can affect your health In ways that put you at risk of earlier death. Here’s what we know (and what we don’t know) about your risk of early death if you have celiac disease. Celiac Disease and Mortality Risk There are many health complications of untreated celiac disease that can contribute to an earlier death. Nutritional deficiency and an increased risk of lymphoma are known causes....

The Framingham risk calculator is a tool used to predict your risk of heart disease. It is based on information gained from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), a long-term, ongoing health study of people in Framingham, Massachusetts, that began in 1948. The study helped establish that heart disease is linked to smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Using information from the FHS, the risk calculator provides a cardiac risk score, which helps predict a person’s risk of heart disease....

A chest wall recurrence is when breast cancer returns after receiving treatment. A chest wall recurrence may involve skin, muscle, and fascia (a thin layer of connective tissue) beneath the site of the original breast tumor, as well as the lymph nodes. When cancer recurs in the chest wall, it may be classified as local (in the same remaining breast tissue or chest wall), regional (in the nearby lymph nodes) or as a distant metastasis (when cancer has spread to other parts of the body)....

Though rare, congenital lung malformations can result in parts of the lung and airways not forming normally during prenatal development. Depending on the severity, this might cause significant symptoms or no problems at all. They are rare conditions, estimated to affect 1 in 10,000 infants born. Some estimates put the number closer to 1 in 3,000, based on new information from sensitive prenatal scans. Types of Congenital Lung Malformation The terminology around congenital lung malformations is still in flux, and some conditions are known by more than one name....

End-of-life documents, or advance directives, help ensure your healthcare wishes are carried out as you near death and after you die. They’re also used if you’re incapacitated, meaning you are unable to tend to matters regarding your own well-being (e.g., in a coma). Advance directives include proxies, living wills, do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders, and organ donor cards, all of which are meant to protect you when you can’t speak for yourself....

The pH test for acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD) provides several measures of how stomach acid behaves in your esophagus, including: How often it entersHow long it staysHow well it’s cleared out Your healthcare provider may order this test to confirm a diagnosis or to periodically monitor your reflux symptoms and treatments. This article explains why you may need the test and the ways the test is conducted. It also explains what you can expect to learn from the test results....

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday authorized the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use in children as young as 6 months, more than a year after authorizing the shots for adults. Key Takeaways FDA authorized Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children 6 months and older.Experts say it’s important to have the vaccine options available to young kids, especially those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19. The authorization was followed by support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday, meaning vaccination can begin in young children....

The news of a lung cancer diagnosis is often soon followed by a flood of concerns, questions, and things to do. You may be experiencing a gamut of emotions ranging from anger and fear to depression and guilt. You may worry about the side effects of treatment, the costs, and what your diagnosis means in terms of survival. All of these feelings and thoughts are reasonable, but they can be overwhelming....