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“Either their symptoms or presenting concerns are minimized, and they are not given any care, or they are given a completely different diagnosis and one where the treatment can be detrimental to the progress they need,” says Taish Malone, PhD, a licensed professional counselor with Mindpath Health in Fort Worth, Texas. For instance, people of African descent with bipolar disorder are more likely to receive an incorrect diagnosis than people of European ancestry with the condition, according to an article published in September 2018 in Bipolar Disorders....

The National Aphasia Association estimates that roughly 2 million Americans suffer from the disorder, and recovering from it is particularly challenging during the coronavirus pandemic, which has touched every corner of the world. People with aphasia are often elderly and therefore vulnerable to COVID-19. And because of shelter-in-place orders, many are unable to attend their regular speech therapy sessions. If therapy is offered online instead, there may be challenges with using the technology to access care....

“I’ll wake up with acid in my throat,” says Thomas, 33, taking a drag off his cigarette outside a shopping mall in Salem, Ore. “It’s kind of why my voice is the way it is.” He also suffers from frequent heartburn. Thomas figures his GERD comes from his diet, which is pretty lousy. Or maybe from his weight. He’s surprised when he’s told that it might come from the cigarette he’s smoking....

The CDC listed the following states where 35 percent or more of the adult residents are obese: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware (new this year), Indiana, Iowa (new this year), Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio (new this year), Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (new this year), and West Virginia. The worst states for obesity prevalence were Mississippi, (39.7 percent), West Virginia (39.1 percent), and Alabama (39 percent). But no part of America is obesity free....

What Is Stevia, and How Is It Made? Stevia, or Stevia rebaudiana, is a plant native to South America. (3) People there have been consuming the leaves as a source of sweetness for hundreds of years. (4) It became popular as a sweetener in Japan in the 1970s, but it hadn’t been a leading sweetener in the United States until a decade ago. Today, the extract is widely popular as a zero-calorie sugar alternative....

“The data was very robust,” says lead study author Alan Rozanski, MD, a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Although the association doesn’t necessarily prove that attitude caused the reduced risk, the data did show a proportional relationship, says Dr. Rozanski. “The more optimistic the person was, the more their risk of heart attack, stroke, or early death was lowered,” he says....

Because multiple myeloma has a high chance of coming back — and you may continue to see your oncologist or take medications over the long term, even once the disease is under control — a survivorship care plan can help you organize your follow-up care and either prevent relapses or catch the cancer as soon as it comes back. With other types of cancer, survivorship care plans are often used to help transition care back to a patient’s primary doctor after cancer treatment....

It happened one afternoon, not long after Hurricane Sandy had wreaked havoc on the New York City area. “We’d been without power for two weeks and suddenly the lights came on,” recalls the 55-year-old New Yorker. “My daughter, Sarina, and I started celebrating, and then we wound up collapsing on the couch with her head in my lap.” That’s when Sarina said, ‘Hey Mom, what’s that on your nose?’” Sarina was pointing to a barely perceptible, pimple-like bump....

Suddenly, Levy felt her ulcerative colitis (UC) flaring up. “I felt terrible and knew I was going to have an issue,” she says. “So I had to tell Dylan, ‘Mommy needs to use the bathroom. We really need to go.’” Levy, who was diagnosed with colitis at age 16, didn’t want to scare her daughter but admits that, at the time, she was in a great deal of pain. “I was so sick,” she says....

My aunt Asha Wollman is an Ayurvedic doctor in Mumbai, India, and a practitioner of Chinese medicine. She recommended that I spend some time with her and seek help from Eastern medicine. I was skeptical. But after considering life-altering surgery versus a more holistic approach, I decided I had nothing to lose. I packed my bags and flew back to my birth country. The scents of jasmine, sage, and sesame hit me as I marched up the long white stairs into the flat where my aunt kept her practice....

“Once you get outside the traditional bra world, you are limited to sports bras, layering, and camisoles,” said Donofree. “Looking at me, I look like a 36C but [post-surgery], I measured as a 38 F.” Traditional bras at that size “are meant to do some heavy lifting,” she says. “But I didn’t need a cup up to my collarbone.” She asked her doctors how to find bras that fit her new shape, but she wasn’t satisfied with the answers....

With things like drug-resistant superbugs in the news, it may be more concerning than usual when you or your children don’t feel well this flu season. But experts say it’s important to keep proper perspective. “Despite these concerns, most physicians would give the same basic recommendations for when you can treat your flu at home and when you should seek medical attention,” says Randy Bergen, MD, pediatric infectious disease consultant and clinical lead of the flu vaccine program for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California....

The virus got its name from one telltale symptom that isn’t seen with COVID — painful bright red blisters that spread all over the body and can gradually grow to the size of a tomato. While the virus is rare, at least 100 cases have been reported in India since the first case was identified in the state of Kerala on May 6, according to a report in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine on August 17....

Eczema is characterized by patches of discolored, itchy, dry skin, but symptoms may be different for each person. People with eczema often cycle through long periods of symptom-free remission, followed by brief flare-ups that can be severe. (1) Skin lesions may also develop on the wrists, ankles, sides of the neck, or around the mouth. Eczema typically appears red on white skin while on skin of color it may look darker brown, purple, or ashen gray....

That said, some research does suggest that eating too many sweetened foods can affect type 2 diabetes risk, and with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that 30.3 million Americans have the disease — and that millions of more individuals are projected to develop it, too — understanding all the risk factors for the disease, including sugar consumption, is essential to help reverse the diabetes epidemic. Yet carbs are processed differently in the body based on their type: While simple carbs are digested and metabolized quickly, complex carbs take longer to go through this system, resulting in more stable blood sugar....

What Is Severe Acne? The occasional pimple — no matter how big and red it is, or how terrible the timing may be — isn’t considered severe acne. Even a monthly acne breakout with a few bumps here and there that disappear isn’t typically serious enough to need the extensive treatment that severe acne requires. Severe acne is generally defined by having cysts and nodules. “However, that definition can be expanded to people who have a significant psychological impact from acne, people who have a large surface area of skin involved, even people studded with blackheads and whiteheads,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, a dermatologist and director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City....

Kenalog, an injectable corticosteroid, is a medication that reduces inflammation in the body, including inflammation related to allergies. Whenever possible, it is better to use corticosteroid medications that only go where they are needed. Specifically, corticosteroids can be sprayed into the nose for nasal symptoms, or inhaled into the lungs for allergy-related asthma, rather than injected or taken in pill form. This is preferable, because much of your body is not affected by allergies, and there is usually no reason to give a whole-body medicine....

— Michele, Massachusetts At some point in their lives, most people have heart palpitations, which are caused by a deviation from the normal heartbeat. Palpitations can range in severity from a mild fluttering to a pounding beat or even to a feeling that the heart has stopped, and they can be often linked to stimulants like caffeine (even the caffeine found in chocolate and cold remedies is sometimes problematic), nicotine use, or too much alcohol....

Now a study published on June 25, 2020, in Multiple Sclerosis Journal suggests that a video game that can be played at home may help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) maintain — and even improve — processing speed better than word games. Processing speed refers to the speed with which a person understands and responds to information. It is one of the cognitive functions most commonly affected by multiple sclerosis....

Nardini grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, went to college at the University of Washington in Seattle, and eventually landed in New York City, where she mostly taught at boutique fitness studios. She founded her own yoga studio, The Fierce Club, in 2010. She quickly achieved cult status — people loved her energy and inspiration. In 2013, she published The 21 Day Yoga Body. Not long after, she received an email from holistic wellness website DailyOM, wondering if she might want to create a written course for them on the same subject....