So when she woke up the next morning with a runny nose and a scratchy throat, “I thought I had a cold, allergies, or strep throat,” says Dec, who is the executive director of the Bridgehampton Museum on Long Island in New York. Still, a slight fever and abundance of mucus prompted her to mask up and drive to see an urgent care physician. A PCR test showed that she did, in fact, have COVID-19....

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new set of guidelines for fully vaccinated people that allow for indoor and mask-free socializing in certain scenarios. “It’s been a crazy roller coaster ride over the last year, but right now there’s a lot of optimism because of the vaccines, and obviously a lot of effort going into distribution and rollout and making sure that we prioritize the people that need the vaccine quickly,” says Paul K....

— Gwen, Alabama Ordinary osteoarthritis causes the formation of bone spurs (osteophytes), while erosive osteoarthritis causes erosions of the bones and inflammation. Erosive osteoarthritis is a variant of osteoarthritis that occurs in a minority of patients. It affects primarily the middle and end finger joints (called the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints) and the joint at the base of the thumb (first carpometacarpal joint) and causes redness, swelling and pain of the joints....

Everyday Health Group has been Castle Connolly’s partner in health since December 2018. EverydayHealth.com reaches 49 million people every month. Together we are developing services and information to help support doctors, patients, and consumers amidst our public health crisis. You go to work for us, we stay at home for you. And we work from home. And we want to do more. Help us help you. We are creating a series of quick poll questions that will allow you to see in real time what challenges your colleagues are facing and how they are approaching solutions....

“I think the key message is to know what you are eating,” says Penny Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, a distinguished professor of nutrition in the college of health and human development at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. This means reading the menu carefully and looking for suspicious ingredients, says Tara Collingwood, RDN, a dietitian in Orlando, Florida, who blogs at Diet Diva. Here’s what you need to know before your next night out at your favorite restaurant....

According to a study published in October 2017 in Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers have found a direct relationship between excessive sedentary time and an early death. With stay-at-home behaviors being compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and having the holiday season upon us, individuals run the risk of becoming more inactive as major feasting and relaxation take over. The good news: A new study, published November 25 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, has found that a short amount of exercise each day can offset those harmful effects....

As quarantine continues, many Americans are turning to alcohol as a quick fix for boredom, uncertainty, and isolation. “It’s really hard to live in your body right now,” says Jenifer Talley, PhD, a psychologist at Manhattan’s Center for Optimal Living. “People are experiencing a combination of hypervigilance and being confined. For so many, it feels like the walls are closing in.” Her clients, she says, are reporting more cravings for food and alcohol — anything to jostle themselves out of whatever irritability or restlessness they may be feeling....

Then imagine you find a medical professional willing to puncture your skin and release all that painful pressure — after which some soreness remains, although it’s nothing compared to the blessed relief you’re now feeling. That procedure, dry needling, is what works best for me and the painful spasms that course through my shoulders. The needles deflate my muscle spasms, which feels like air rushing out of an overfilled balloon....

Dry scooping, which involves knocking back a dry scoop or two of pre-workout powder and chasing it with a swig of water. One TikTok user, who goes by the screen name kimg966, shared a dry scooping video in late May, racking up over 7.6 million views. In it, she attempts to swallow a capful of powder, but gags and spits it out before she even has a chance to wash it down with water....

Elevated blood pressure means that your blood pressure is higher than normal but not high enough to lead to a diagnosis of high blood pressure (hypertension). The good news is that lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising, and weight management, can have positive effects on blood pressure and reproductive health. The NIH study, published in April 2018 in Hypertension, was led by Carrie J. Nobles, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland....

For example, seizure symptoms on only one side of the body (unilateral) tend to indicate that the seizure is only on one side of the brain. A unilateral seizure can indicate that the seizure is a “focal” seizure, meaning it originates in one part of the brain and stays in that part of the brain. Seizures that arise from both sides of the brain (called “generalized” seizures) may lead to symptoms occurring on both sides of the body (bilateral)....

At the time, she thought the spot was a scar from a previous biopsy, which had tested benign. “The scar just kept getting bigger and bigger, and it was raised and it looked ugly,” she says. She wanted it removed for cosmetic reasons. She wasn’t expecting bad news. “It was just shocking,” she says, of the diagnosis. “I was walking down the street in New York City when I got the phone call and I just remember stopping on the curb being like, ‘Cancer?...

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) can be difficult to diagnose because it shares symptoms with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and gout. According to the Psoriatic Arthritis in America 2016 survey, most people who have PsA experience multiple symptoms over a period of years before the condition is properly diagnosed. The survey found that 41 percent of people saw at least four health professionals before a PsA diagnosis was made....

SJIA accounts for about 10 percent of JIA cases, says Jay Mehta, MD, a pediatric rheumatologist and the program director of the pediatric rheumatology fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. JIA affects about 1 in 1,000 children, according to data published in Arthritis Care and Research in June 2019. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis used to be referred to as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, notes the Arthritis Foundation; that’s no longer the preferred term, though, because JIA is not a childhood version of adult rheumatoid arthritis....

The once-daily oral medication is meant to be taken as an add-on to a heart-healthy diet and the maximum dose of statins a patient tolerates. “This is an exciting new class of drug and a new option for an oral medication that we can use for patients who are at high risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease like heart attacks or stroke,” says Alec J. Moorman, MD, an associate professor of cardiology and medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle....

In the clinical trials that were the basis for the drug’s fast-tracked FDA review, Xofluza reduced flu symptoms by a little more than a day in healthy patients over age 12. “The efficacy is pretty similar to Tamiflu (oseltamivir) in that it shortens the duration for about 24 hours if it’s given within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms,” says Stan Deresinski, MD, a clinical professor in infectious disease at Stanford University in California....

But when Micks, now a 42-year-old digital marketing strategist in Davis, California, began suffering numerous miscarriages, she got serious about finding a doctor who could diagnose and treat her. Last year, a new doctor, suspecting the neurological (but not fertility) symptoms might indicate multiple sclerosis (MS), finally scheduled an MRI. Before she could have the test, however, Micks got pregnant and this time it stuck, so she has pushed the testing off until after she weans her new son in the coming months....

As with any rheumatic condition, the earlier a patient with PsA gets an accurate diagnosis and begins treatment, the better. “Psoriatic arthritis can cause damage to joints through erosions of the bone. There are a number of other issues that can arise, such as an eye condition called uveitis, sausage-like swelling of the fingers or toes, and a lot of significant deformities that impair quality of life. These won’t happen in every case, but it’s important to treat early to try to prevent that in cases where it may happen,” says Jason Liebowitz, MD, a rheumatologist in Rockaway, New Jersey....

Distributed by the New Jersey–based Lakeside Refrigerated Services, the products under investigation include ground beef patties and loose ground beef sold at retailers, including Walmart and Winn-Dixie, under brand names such as Thomas Farms, Naturally Better, Nature’s Reserve, and Marketside Butcher. Several of the items are labeled “grass-fed” or “Wagyu.” All the meats subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 46841” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The complete list of products and product codes (PDF) for the beef items that are subject to recall, as well as the labels for the ground beef products (PDF) are on the USDA’s website....

Genetics and Lifestyle Play a Role Jones’s concern is well founded. Research suggests that having a parent with type 2 diabetes increases your risk of developing the disease by as much as fourfold, and even more if both parents are affected. “We know that if both parents have type 2 diabetes, there’s about a 50 percent risk that you and your siblings could have the genes passed on,” says Edward Hess, MD, an endocrinologist who leads the diabetes program at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, California....