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According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), certain medications can make people extra sensitive to sun or heat exposure. With most medications, an adverse reaction or extra sensitivity to sunlight or heat is rare, says Susan Flaker, PharmD, Mayo Clinic Health System’s director of pharmacy in southeast Minnesota. “It really is a case-by-case basis. Not everyone taking these medications will have these reactions, it’s really dependent on each separate person and their body makeup,” she says....

However, the most common cause, by far, is uncontrolled blood glucose, says Joel Zonszein, MD, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at the University Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System in the Bronx, New York. With type 2 diabetes, poor blood sugar control typically results in hyperglycemia or high blood sugar, which can cause fatigue among other symptoms. But Dr. Zonszein notes that high blood glucose isn’t the only cause....

In the past, doctors believed migraine symptoms were due to fluctuations in blood flow in the brain. But now, researchers have established that the pain and other symptoms of a migraine attack are due to a mix of chemical compounds and hormones such as serotonin and estrogen, according to John Hopkins Medicine. Here’s what gets this painful concoction brewing. The Anatomy of Migraine Migraine is more than a headache. It is a neurological disease that starts in the brain....

How MS Can Affect Your Breathing There are a number of ways that MS can lead to breathing problems, including the following: Lesions in the Brain As multiple sclerosis progresses, lesions in your brain and spine can affect almost every aspect of your physical functioning. It’s possible that brain lesions could change your respiratory function, says Zulma Hernandez-Peraza, MD, a neurologist at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System in Chicago....

If it does go away — which is the goal of treatment — you might naturally start to worry that the symptoms will come back. According to Mental Health America, more than 21 million children and adults battle depression every year, fewer than a third of whom receive adequate treatment. Consequently, many people risk a depression relapse. Dan Collins, 49, a senior director of media relations in Baltimore, knows all too well what depression feels like — the first and second time around....

For some people with Crohn’s disease, the side effects of medication or symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as nausea and abdominal pain, can trigger a loss of appetite; others lose weight because they avoid certain foods that can cause gastrointestinal distress. People with Crohn’s disease can also have trouble digesting food and absorbing its nutrients. This could lead to malabsorption, another possible culprit of weight loss, says Shawn Khodadadian, MD, a gastroenterologist, the director of clinical nutrition at Lenox Hill Hospital, and a clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City....

Omega-3s: What They Are “Omega-3s are named for the placement of the last double bond in the molecule, which is three positions from the omega tail,” explains Melissa Majumdar, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the nutrition coordinator for the Brigham and Women’s Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Boston. ALA is the precursor to EPA and DHA, which means your body can convert very small amounts of ALA into the other two fatty acids, notes Sonya Angelone, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in San Francisco....

“Back in 2015, we found that 34 percent of youth eat fast food daily, so we predicted similar numbers for adults,” says one of the study’s authors, Cheryl Fryar, a health statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington, DC. In the current report, Fryar and her team found that 37 percent of American adults eat fast food daily, with black adults eating fast food the most (about 42 percent), followed by white adults (about 38 percent), Hispanic adults (about 36 percent), and Asian adults (about 31 percent)....

RELATED: Can Calorie Counting Help You Lose Weight? The truth is that metabolism — an umbrella term for all the processes in your body that break down nutrients for energy, fuel growth, and more — is far from simple. “There is a constant ebb and flow of reactions that build or repair our body (anabolism) and reactions that break down food and energy stores for fuel (catabolism),” says Anya Rosen, RD, a virtual functional medicine practitioner based in New York City....

Alicia Romano, RD, a clinical registered dietitian at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, says it’s important to know that nutrition for Crohn’s disease can be quite individualized. “There are different recommendations for both a flare of symptoms and for maintenance,” she explains. “On top of that, there are many stages of Crohn’s disease that may require different suggestions.” Overall, she advises everyone to work with a registered dietitian to optimize their nutritional intake....

The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, published by the National Center for Transgender Equality, for instance, found that a third of trans respondents who’d seen a specialist in the previous year reported a negative experience related to being trans and that 23 percent of respondents had not gone to the doctor when they needed one in the previous year because they feared being mistreated as a trans person. What’s more, healthcare providers are not generally well trained in issues that affect trans patients....

The extent of your memory loss can depend on how old you are, the severity of your stroke, where your stroke occurred, and even the support you have from family and friends. “Memory deficits after a stroke can vary,” says Melissa (Muller) Meyers, an occupational therapist at MossRehab in Philadelphia. Memory loss can take the form of aphasia, suddenly forgetting words and losing the ability to verbally communicate, forgetting stories or conversations, or not being able to recognize formerly familiar faces or routes....

“Breath work is the foundation for stress management,” says Alistair Hawkes, a licensed professional counselor and certified Clarity Breathwork practitioner in Lakewood, Colorado. What Is Breath Work? Breath work refers to deep, diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, which research suggests may trigger relaxation responses in the body, according to a study published in June 2017 in Frontiers in Psychology. Breath work encompasses a range of breathing exercises designed to enhance physical, spiritual, and mental health, according to Yogapedia....

Crohn’s is a complex and chronic inflammatory bowel disease that affects the entire digestive tract. Medications address painful symptoms, like intestinal ulcers and inflammation. Other therapies can put the disease into remission. If Dr. Hermon-Taylor’s research is successful, a simple — and cost-effective — cure may be on the horizon. The retired physician and molecular scientist has devoted a great deal of his career to studying the microbiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)....

Personal hygiene habits such as washing your hands and brushing and flossing your teeth will help keep bacteria, viruses, and illnesses at bay. And there are mental as well as physical benefits. “Practicing good body hygiene helps you feel good about yourself, which is important for your mental health,” notes Donald Novey, MD, an integrative medicine physician with the Advocate Medical Group in Park Ridge, Ill. People who have poor hygiene — disheveled hair and clothes, body odor, bad breath, missing teeth, and the like — often are seen as unhealthy and may face discrimination....

A low-fiber diet can help reduce your most stressful symptoms of ulcerative colitis, such as abdominal pain and cramping. While a low-residue diet isn’t intended for the long-term, it can help the bowel heal during active flare-ups of this inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Advantages of a Low-Residue Diet “One reason people with an active flare of colitis go on a low-residue diet is to reduce symptoms in addition to trying to treat them,” says David T....

Thankfully, there are several ways to treat an existing breakout and prevent new pimples from developing. “The medications one uses for acne depend on type and severity,” says Adelaide A. Hebert, MD, a professor in the dermatology department at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School. Some treatments are directed toward removing the dead skin and oils that clog pores and create acne, while others target the cystic formation typical of severe acne....

When you talk to Jim, you cannot help but feel his enthusiasm for the sport of bodybuilding, but even more so for his desire to help educate others with MS on how exercise, fitness, nutrition, and the proper mindset can put them on a path to success in battling our disease. Jim proves this every day at the Total Fitness Clubs in Swansea, Massachusetts, where he is changing lives. Here’s what Jim has to say about MS and the roles fitness and bodybuilding have played in his life: David Lyons: When were you diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and what were your symptoms?...

Likewise, says Mark C. Jacobson, MD, an expert in allergy and immunology and the medical director of Allergy and Asthma Physicians in Hinsdale, Illinois, and a past president of the Illinois Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, allergies occur when a portion of your immune system overreacts after exposure to antigens such as pollen from trees, grass, ragweed, and weeds, and mold from various sources such as decaying plants and leaves in the environment....

Following your treatment plan is the first step. But there are other self-management approaches that may work to help relieve symptoms as well. Mindfulness meditation is one such approach, according to the Arthritis Foundation. What Is Meditation? Meditation is an ancient mind-body practice that can be used to promote relaxation, decrease stress, cope with illness, and improve overall health, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)....