Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown cause. RA not only affects your joints but also affects a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, blood, nerves, and heart. RA affects just over 1.3 million Americans — approximately 0.6 percent of the population — and approximately one percent of the world’s population.
Recent outbreaks of measles are spreading rapidly in communities with unvaccinated individuals. Fortunately, if you start a search online, you can understand your risk of developing measles and protect yourself. Since 2000, the childhood disease measles was thought to be a disease of the past, all thanks to a large-scale effort to vaccinate children against […]
When a cancer moves from its place of origin to a new location in the body, it’s known as metastatic cancer. For a patient or family whose loved one has just received this diagnosis, it can be devastating and hard to understand. At the most basic level, cancer develops when cells grow in an uncontrolled, abnormal way. They don’t function like normal cells. Rather, they interfere with the normal functioning of the body. Cancer develops as a result of a mutation in a person’s DNA. Often, the mutation is a result of the normal process of aging, but it can also be due to unhealthy habits like smoking or exposure to harmful fumes or gases. A cancer typically metastasizes, or grows into a different location, in the later stages of the disease.
Narcolepsy is perhaps one of the most misunderstood conditions out there, and for many their first point of reference is a cartoonish depiction of someone who sleeps all day or who falls asleep mid-sentence while hilarity ensues. But in reality, it can be a serious condition that can greatly affect one’s independence, abilities, and overall quality of life and is thought to affect more than 200,000 people in the United States and three million people worldwide.
Oral health is about so much more than vanity. No mouth is an island. It’s part of an interconnected biological system. Good oral health protects against cavities, sure. But a comprehensive oral health strategy can also protect you from heart disease, diabetes, and even dementia.
Most of us are guilty of not always treating our body like the temple it is. Sadly, a lot of the best things in life aren’t good for us in large amounts and alcohol is no different. While the short-term affects of relaxation, euphoria, and lowered inhibitions might sound fun, the long-term affects of heavy alcohol use are quite damaging and could significantly shorten your lifespan.