health

Keeping your mind and body in check - popular topics in health and medicine to maintain a long and healthy life.

The Road to a Diagnostic
September 2015 I had just started an administrative assistant class when an odd sharp pain started in my forearm. It slowly went away and it didn't came back for a while so I thought nothing about it and went on with my life. Maybe a month later, the sharp and stabbing pain came back stronger. So strong that I had to leave class and went directly to the see the doctor. He told me it looked like carpal tunnel and that he would send me for an electromyogram which is when they send you small electrical shocks to measure the electrical activity produced by muscles. And here I was on the waiting list. He also prescribed Vimovo which didn't do anything. Meanwhile, I had more and more pain in various areas of my body and they then stopped. Just like that. What was going on? I got some blood work done and everything came back normal.
By Cassie S8 years ago in Longevity
Diagnosed
So I am going to do a short writing on my process of getting diagnosed with Fabry disease. When I was around five years old (this is as far back as I can make a valid point to), I started getting these sensations in my hands and feet; a burning sensation, like I had stuck my hands and feet on the burner of the stove and cranked it to high. My parents thought I was just trying to get attention, though I never truly understood why they would think that. I was not by any means the best kid out there, but I certainly did not seek attention, because the best I got was negative. I tried my best to stay under the radar at home and at school, though neither ever worked. Anyway, they thought that in the middle of the night, when this burning sensation would happen, that I was trying to get attention. They thought this even though the pain would bring me to tears and I would be running to the freezer to find anything cold to calm the pain. It never worked except for the first five or so minutes. This happened every couple of months. I would be up for hours screaming in pain, begging to go to the hospital, but to no avail. Flash forward six years. I get sent to a children's hospital to live for three months due to my less than satisfactory behaviour.
By Kristopher Kristianson8 years ago in Longevity
10 Reasons Why Kombucha Is Good for You
Kombucha is a low cal, fermented tea alternative to sugary drinks. What separates this fizzy concoction from diet soda and seltzer is thousands of years of purported health benefits. Folk tales aren’t the only thing maintaining that kombucha is good for you—organizations like the National Institute for Health have been studying its macronutrient and probiotic content for years. Here are just ten ways that black or green teas plus probiotics may improve your constitution.
By Ben Kharakh8 years ago in Longevity
My I Don't Want to Be 600-lb Life
I am 49 years old and I am morbidly obese. Which, to put aside all of the political correctness, simply means I am old and fat. I have been this way for as long as I can remember. I am not ashamed of how I look, but I am scared about how I have been feeling. I now have three beautiful reasons to make a change, but they did not prompt my change of heart. I got my wakeup call as I sat on a gurney in the emergency room, scared because I couldn't breath and quickly realized that my size had predetermined the care I was going to get.
By Christina Gonzalez8 years ago in Longevity
Fact Versus Fiction: Tourette Syndrome
Most people have seen the gag of a person spewing profanities, unable to control themselves. They let loose a myriad of F-bombs, and ridiculous curse mash-ups for comedic relief. We laugh. It’s funny. It’s harmless.
By Hunter Delles8 years ago in Longevity
Why You Need to Add Turmeric to Your Diet
I had first heard about turmeric a few years ago while scrolling through my Pinterest feed. It was a post about turmeric tea, but I quickly scrolled past it being that I didn't know what turmeric even was. Turmeric is a spice traditionally used in the Middle East and South Asia, but has worked its way into western culture. It is most popularly sold as a seasoning or in capsules and does wonders for the body.
By Paranneting/Anne Reboa8 years ago in Longevity
A Story of Chronic Pain
For the past three years since 2015, I had spent hours and hours and hours talking to my mom and working through my feelings about having a late autism diagnosis at 22. It was a long process of recognizing behaviors and scenarios that seemed unrelated throughout my childhood and adolescence, but gradually all the pieces started popping up and coming together and with it, a profound sense of relief. Years of feeling like a fish out of water finally had an explanation and I couldn't have been happier. I had had other issues with my body for some time at that point, but for one reason or another never got around to pursuing it and just lived with the pain that eventually would cause me so much hassle that I was going to make an incredibly difficult decision. At that time, one diagnosis had distracted me from the urgency of the situation that was to come.
By Emilia F8 years ago in Longevity
Living With a Cholesteatoma, the Tumor That Destroys Your Hearing
In honor of today being "Rare Disease Day" and March being Cholesteatoma Awareness Month, I’ve decided to share my experience, as well as what I have been going through with this disease over the past year. While it is a rare (1 in 10,000) condition, more awareness is needed and support for those in the community suffering.
By Samantha Turchan8 years ago in Longevity
Things You Didn't Know Were Affecting Your Daily Health
Can you really put a price on being healthy? When you're sick, it's often the case that all you can think about is how great it was to be healthy and active. That's one of the two main reasons why people are willing to pay such exorbitant prices for healthcare. The other main reason, of course, is that the alternative means death.
By Ossiana Tepfenhart8 years ago in Longevity
I'm 36, Fit, and Don't Smoke. Of Course I Had a Stroke
Mickey Mantle once famously quipped "If I had known I was gonna live this long, I would've taken better care of myself." I don't know how old ole' Mick was when he said that, but I bet dollars to doughnuts that he was on the far side of forty. He sure as shit wasn't too young to be president of the United States like I was when I found out I had a goddamn heart condition. And I wasn't even a Triple Crown winner, a member of the Yankees, or had ever received a blow job from a fan before a game (Google it).
By Robert Eleazer8 years ago in Longevity
Age Discrimination in Health Care
Age Discrimination in the English NHS: The government claims to be against all forms of discrimination; even relatively tiny groupings have power, yet the government itself, in the form of the NHS, is discriminating against men over 70 and is killing them by doing so.
By Peter Rose8 years ago in Longevity
Life With an Invisible Illness
Let me tell you about a 12-year-old girl just starting secondary school in the UK. She was happy, healthy, making friends, and doing well in her first few weeks of early mornings and homework.
By Beth Kay8 years ago in Longevity