Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among both men and women in the United States, according to the Mayo Clinic. Should you begin displaying symptoms, such as coughing up blood, shortness of breath and a chronic cough, undergo testing as...
According to Virginia-based insurance executive Courtney Rogers, insurance is a matter of risk. The greater the risk of you dying soon, the higher you can expect a life insurance premium to be. In some cases of very high risk, your medical status...
Test anxiety is a kind of social anxiety that produces anxiety symptoms before or during tests and exams. Symptoms include heart palpitations, increased respiration, tremors, tensed muscles, racing thoughts, an inability to speak or think, nausea...
Disease treatment options and survival rates increase through early disease detection. A test measuring prostate-specific antigen (PSA) alerts your health care provider to the presence of prostate disease. Abnormal PSA levels may exist in a man...
The American Council for Drug Education reports marijuana, also known as THC for its active ingredient of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, as the most commonly used illegal drug. To help increase productivity and fight the war on drugs, many...
Drug testing, also known as toxicology screening, may be done in two ways. A way that is commonly used is to look for substances in the urine. When a urine sample is analyzed for illegal use of drugs, however, it is important to be aware that...
Whether a woman has missed her menstrual period or simply "feels pregnant," home pregnancy tests offer the convenience of testing without having to make a doctor appointment. Home tests sense the hormone hCG, which is produced by the chorion (part...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is also known as ADHD or ADD. Both conditions use the same drug treatments to control the symptoms of the illness. A common type of medication used for ADHD and ADD are stimulant medications. These...
Fats, or lipids, are necessary for the metabolic processes in your body, but too much can put you at risk for coronary heart disease. Lipid levels are determined by the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood. An increase in your...
As of 2011, the prevalence of statin use has climbed considerably. From 1988 to 1994, only 2 percent of Americans were prescribed statins. That number increased to 25 percent of Americans from 2005 to 2008. With the rate of use on the rise,...
The sneezing, itchy eyes and runny nose that accompanies allergies can be extremely frustrating. Skin prick testing is one way to diagnose allergies and to determine the specific allergen to which the patient is reacting. This test is performed...
False positive results are uncommon on pregnancy tests; false negatives are much more common. Certain medications can cause a false positive result on blood test or home pregnancy tests. Pregnancy tests measure levels of human chorionic...
Erectile dysfunction, the inability to have an erection or sustain an erection long enough to have intercourse, may cause serious problems in a relationship. Many times the problem occurs because of medical problems. Talking with your doctor will...
Ferritin is a protein found in your body, and can be thought of as a storage facility of sorts. Ferritin is needed to store iron, a nutrient required for the healthy development of your red blood cells. Normal levels of ferritin range from 12 to...
A form of depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) affects people during the winter months and eases off during the spring and summer. Individuals with SAD feel down and have little energy during the months with little sunlight. SAD is...
An egg donor is a female who allows a doctor to harvest her eggs, allowing them to be used by a woman who cannot produce her own eggs. The process requires hormone injections and an operation.
Magnesium is needed for a number of essential body activities, and its absence can cause numerous health problems. While a magnesium deficiency can be detected through medical tests, most people can identify a problem by paying attention to a...
Getting lab work done can be scary, and your anxiety may only increase when you get your results back with no explanation about what they mean. When receiving cholesterol lab work results, look for your levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol, as well...
Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest a sugar found in dairy products, known as lactose. This is due to a lack of a certain enzyme, known as lactase. You might have been born without the ability to produce this enzyme, or your body may...
Internal hemorrhaging is bleeding on the inside of the body. Internal bleeding can occur almost anywhere in the body. Common sites include the stomach, lungs and brain. Signs of internal hemorrhaging will vary depending on the location of the...
You can't tell if a man's infertile just by looking at him, but it happens more frequently than you might think. Male infertility accounts for about half of the total infertility cases, reports the American Pregnancy Association, and yet people...
Liquid diets have a variety of purposes, which include preparing for and recovering from surgery, providing you with nutrition when you cannot eat solid foods, and helping to ensure the accuracy of medical tests. On the other hand, liquid diets do...
While massage therapy feels physically good, the effects on the psyche are even more beneficial. The mind and body are inextricably interconnected, meaning that what impacts people physically can also impact them psychologically. A good massage...
Behcet's (pronounced beh-CHETS) Syndrome or Disease is a disease of the immune system causing inflammation of blood vessels that can occur most anywhere in the body. First discovered in Turkey in 1924 by dermatologist Hulusi Behcet, the disease...
The MayoClinic.com notes that signs of kidney damage may be nonspecific and mistaken for other illnesses. In many cases symptoms of kidney may not appear until irreversible damage has been sustained. Chronic medical conditions such as diabetes,...
Indigestion, also referred to as dyspepsia, is not a medical condition, but rather the name for a combination of symptoms that many people experience after eating. Indigestion most commonly includes burning and pain in the upper abdomen, premature...
The National Cancer Institute estimates prostate cancer will kill 32,050 men in the United States in 2010. Prostate cancer can develop from the cells that surround the prostate gland, or from the glandular tissue itself. As the cancer progresses,...
Medical tests are a critical part of diagnosing and treating illness and disease. Many of these diagnostic procedures require patients to undergo blood tests. These tests help to efficiently and quickly diagnose disorders and diseases such as high...
Lidocaine is a local anesthetic, meaning that it has a numbing effect on the injection area. It treats severe joint pain caused by different types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis. To do this, your doctor will inject a dose of lidocaine...
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