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[ { "answer_id": 4964, "author": "shnisaka", "author_id": 3036, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3036", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are many factors that play a role in not allowing you to fill all the refills at once.</p>\n<p>1- a typical insurance will pay for your medication and will not pay again until 2-3 days before you run out. (Insurance polices)</p>\n<p>2- pharmacy systems do not allow the pharmacist to fill a medication on a patient profile more than once a day even if you do not use your insurance. (Company polices and systems)</p>\n<p>3- to track your compliance with your medication and ensure that you are taking your medication correctly. (Pharmacist decision)</p>\n<p>4- refills exist to limit the number of tablets you can take in an amount of time. Otherwise, the doctor could have given you all pills at once. (Common sense!)</p>\n<p>5- other insurance policies such as, insurance want you to go on mail order after your first 30 days supply, insurance will only pay for 30 days supply at a time, you have exceeded the maximum dose for the medication per 30 days supply (Insurance policies)</p>\n<p>Sincerely,\nPharmacist intern with 3 years of experience</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9657, "author": "Sun", "author_id": 7081, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7081", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.drugchannels.net/2015/06/the-90-day-at-retail-boom.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">90-day supplies are dominated by mail order pharmacies</a>.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TpIP3.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/TpIP3.png\" alt=\"90 day scripts 2010 vs 2014\"></a></p>\n\n<p><em>According to the <a href=\"http://reports.pbmi.com/report.php?id=10\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PBMI’s 2014-2015 Prescription Drug Benefit Cost and Plan Design Report</a>, 61% of employers allowed community pharmacies to fill 90-day prescriptions for maintenance medications.</em></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fir9N.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/fir9N.jpg\" alt=\"Page 12 from http://reports.pbmi.com/report.php?id=10\"></a></p>\n\n<p>This means that although the gap between retail and mail order is closing, there's still a restriction in being able to fill 90-day locally based on the employer's insurance policy.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4626", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/453/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4634, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It's not that they <em>can't</em> meet. Meetings can and do happen and there's no medical reason they can't. In fact, most organ procurement programs have a system in place for allowing donors and recipients to meet.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.uwhealth.org/organ-donation/frequently-asked-questions-about-organ-donation/11166\">An example policy:</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Does a donor family learn who receives the organs?</strong></p>\n \n <p>The identity of both the donor and the recipient are kept anonymous.\n If the donor family and/or the recipient wish to do so, they can\n exchange letters through UW Organ and Tissue Donation. After an\n exchange of letters, a signed release of information is required by\n both parties prior to UWHC releasing any information to the parties.\n At that point, if both parties would like, a meeting can be arranged\n at a future date. Either or both parties have the right to remain\n anonymous and the privacy of both parties is protected by Federal law.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's long been standard practice to withhold donors' and recipients' identities from each other for privacy reasons. As the above notes, telling either of them the other's identity would violate medical privacy laws in most countries since that information tells them something (perhaps a lot) about that other party's medical history. If identities are made known, it would definitely require written permission from both parties.</p>\n\n<p>But even without privacy laws, there's little or nothing to be gained by either party knowing the other's identity, and potentially a lot of conflict. For example, a family that has lost a loved one might very well not wish to be reminded of that by a recipient contacting them. And vice versa -- recipients might not want the discomfort of meeting the parents of the dead 16-year old whose organs are now theirs. It could be embarrassing, uncomfortable, and emotionally disturbing. There's also the risk of mental/emotional instability from either party. Can you imagine the nightmare of grieving parents feeling they just had to have a close personal relationship with you because you're walking around with their daughter's liver?</p>\n\n<p>Granted, marrow donors aren't usually deaths, but all the same principles still apply. In short, this is an ethics question, not a health question. There is no medical reason marrow donors and recipients can't or shouldn't meet.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 4938, "author": "kamituel", "author_id": 2823, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2823", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In the end, I decided to just ask bone marrow registry foundation, well, one of them, this exact question. </p>\n\n<p>The response I got was that if it was allowed for the donor and the patient to meet in person, a strong emotional bond could be established between the two. In case another bone marrow transplant would be needed later, the decision to donate again, or not to, that donor would need to make, would be influenced by the personal relationship with the patient, and that's something this \"no meet\" rule is trying to prevent/limit.</p>\n\n<p>The length of a common 2 year period during which patient and donor cannot meet isn't arbitrary either - it takes around 2 years from the date of the transplant to be able to confirm, with a high enough certainty, that patient is going to be healthy in the long term, which means donor will not be (probably) asked for another donation.</p>\n\n<p>That's the explanation I got from that particular person in that particular clinic. I wouldn't be surprised if that \"no meet\" rule was established for more than one reason, and the ones @Carey Gregory listed in his answer make sense too, obviously.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4630", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2823/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4662, "author": "Robin Johnson", "author_id": 2845, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2845", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>It's actually the other way around. Oil coming from your pores causes dead skin cells to clump together, blocking the pore. Acne is a blocked or infected pore.</p>\n\n<p>When your skin is oily, the oil actually comes from pores that are not clogged. So the oil you feel when you touch your pimple (which BTW is a bad idea) is probably coming from surrounding pores .</p>\n\n<p>Reference:<a href=\"https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/acne-and-rosacea/acne\">American Academy of Dermatology</a></p>\n\n<p>As for treatment, you can try over the counter acne products. If those don't work or your acne is severe, see a dermatologist. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 4664, "author": "Kai Maxfield", "author_id": 2848, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2848", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"https://health.stackexchange.com/a/4662/2848\">Robin</a> got it right, any extra oil, grease, dirt, or other foreign matter will aggravate pimples. I had a moderate acne problem through most of my teenage years, and here are some things I learned:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Keep affected areas, especially face, as clean as possible. Do this by:</p>\n\n<p>a. scrubbing them well with soap daily; and</p>\n\n<p>b. thoroughly cleansing with rubbing alcohol subsequent to soapy scrub. </p></li>\n<li><p>Avoid rubbing affected areas throughout the day; the oils and trace soils from your hands may seem negligible, but they contribute a great deal to the problem. </p></li>\n<li><p>Warm pimples pop best (what? Do you think this is gross? Well, it's not, it's life.). Right after showers are the perfect time, and be sure to follow up with rubbing alcohol. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The rubbing alcohol helps prevent new pimples and gets rid of some small ones, but doesn't touch the big ones. I tried Acne-Free Severe for a while, and although it worked fine, it irritated my skin, which would get dry, itchy, and sometimes experienced a sensation approaching tingling. I hardly used it after a while because of that. Believing that the treatment was too severe, I tried Neutrogena Daily Scrub, along with their On the Spot treatment. It worked well for me without the dryness. </p>\n\n<p>Edit: As I have mentioned, cleanliness seems to affect acne a great deal, and triggers eruptions, but it should be understood that the dirt is not what <em>causes</em> acne . I highly recommend reading the page at <a href=\"http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140717124728.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this link</a>. Among other things, it states that acne isn't caused by dirt, and gives a professional assessment of a few related factors, as well as mentioning some possible courses of treatment. For severe cases, even some antibiotics can be prescribed by physicians. (But if it's not absolutely necessary, this course of treatment should be avoided, of course. :) </p>\n\n<p>Also see <a href=\"http://www.news-medical.net/health/Acne-Causes.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this page</a>, from which I quote, \"Acne is not caused by lack of cleanliness. Although not cleaning the affected or prone areas leads to accumulation of sebum and dirt in susceptible persons raising risk of acne.\" (Sebum and dirt cause pore blockage, resulting in acne breakouts.) </p>\n\n<p>Also see <a href=\"http://www.everydayhealth.com/acne/bad-skin-habits.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this page</a>. Some of the content seems to contradict other sources, specifically, claiming that fatty foods make acne worse. While other sources refute this idea, this page points out the increased likelihood that your skin will become greasy from contact with such foods. (I would note that other health effects of avoiding fats are somewhat controversial, but since this is well beyond the realm of this discussion, I'll spare you from my viewpoint on the subject this time.) </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4655", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/753/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4760, "author": "MG_MD", "author_id": 2885, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2885", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm going to approach this from a strictly physiological stance. With all of these diets available it can be very confusing. Ketogenic, Atkins, Paleo, etc.. The body uses glucose for energy. Many, many, many compounds we eat are complex and large. Our body utilizes each of these in a very efficient manner. </p>\n\n<p>Short Answer: YES! We have a \"starvation\" mode, but it's called gluconeogenesis. When we stop eating, we use glycogen (huge chains of linked glucose) for energy. When glycogen is depleted we begin to indiscriminately (situationally) using proteins and lipids for energy. There are many molecules that contain the secret ingredient (carbon) that can be manipulated by enzymes to create the ever-important six-ringed molecule we need to live. </p>\n\n<p>To be honest 1000-1500 is not really starving; depending on sex, activity level, BMR, etc. Depending on the makeup of those 1500 calories, the body will utilize the path of least resistance. If you take in ~600 calories from carbohydrates, you will use them. If you take in 100 calories from carbohydrates, you will use those and glycogen supplementation. </p>\n\n<p>There are signaling pathways in the body that are purposefully designed to ensure a constant, steady supply of glucose in our bloodstream. Our brain alone uses about ~120g of carbohydrate per day. As long as we have carbon molecules available, our body will take them and rearrange them to make \"fuel\". That's why you see people lose weight or muscle mass -- because the body will literally eat muscle tissue to survive. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5420, "author": "BillDOe", "author_id": 2833, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2833", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I found a pretty good article <a href=\"http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/761810/the-starvation-mode-myth-again\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> that discusses starvation mode pretty intelligently and cites valid research. In short, yes, starvation mode exists, but it will not cause a person to gain weight, at least while being starved. However, once a person who has triggered their starvation reflex is allowed to eat normally and at will, they lose their sense of being satiated and not only gain their original weight back but put on much more. It takes several days of starvation (not just one or two) to trigger starvation mode. On average, people in the Minnesota study saw an average drop of metabolic rate of about 40%. This is why starvation diets are generally not recommended.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5428, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Starvation/fasting does lead to physiological changes that recently are being investigated as an adjunct to chemotherapy for cancer control.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The dietary recommendation for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, as described by the American Cancer Society, is to increase calorie and protein intake. Yet, in simple organisms, mice, and humans, fasting--no calorie intake--induces a wide range of changes associated with cellular protection, which would be difficult to achieve even with a cocktail of potent drugs. In mammals, the protective effect of fasting is mediated, in part, by an over 50% reduction in glucose and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) levels. Because proto-oncogenes function as key negative regulators of the protective changes induced by fasting, cells expressing oncogenes, and therefore the great majority of cancer cells, should not respond to the protective signals generated by fasting, promoting the differential protection (differential stress resistance) of normal and cancer cells. Preliminary reports indicate that fasting for up to 5 days followed by a normal diet, may also protect patients against chemotherapy without causing chronic weight loss. By contrast, the long-term 20 to 40% restriction in calorie intake (dietary restriction, DR), whose effects on cancer progression have been studied extensively for decades, requires weeks-months to be effective, causes much more modest changes in glucose and/or IGF-I levels, and promotes chronic weight loss in both rodents and humans. In this study, we review the basic as well as clinical studies on fasting, cellular protection and chemotherapy resistance, and compare them to those on DR and cancer treatment. Although additional pre-clinical and clinical studies are necessary, fasting has the potential to be translated into effective clinical interventions for the protection of patients and the improvement of therapeutic index.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516129\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516129</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4715", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2879/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4764, "author": "JohnP", "author_id": 64, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/64", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Basically you have a normal ECG reading according to the machine.</p>\n\n<p>Sinus rhythm (<a href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=5&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiMsZi60-vKAhUrkIMKHUYPA-UQFgg2MAQ&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.springer.com%2Fcda%2Fcontent%2Fdocument%2Fcda_downloaddocument%2F9783540008699-c2.pdf%3FSGWID%3D0-0-45-103532-p7109432&amp;usg=AFQjCNGbKBEgA2Y8mt2saLkl2kWn0N9s0Q&amp;bvm=bv.113943665,d.amc\">as explained in the first section of this book chapter</a>) is normal, meaning that the heart is depolarized by a wave starting in the sinus node. That is the first part of the message. It is worth noting, that if your heart rate had been 1 beat per minute less, it would have probably said \"sinus bradycardia\" as a normal heart rate is considered to be 60-100 beats per minute (BPM). Bradycardia is a heart rate below the 60 bpm threshold (50 bpm in some sources) and tachycardia would be a heart rate above 100 (90 in some sources).</p>\n\n<p>The \"otherwise normal\" is boilerplate by the machine. As you can see by <a href=\"http://www.nasanmedical.com/pdf/specs/simulg-s.pdf\">this feature sheet</a> for the NASAN Simul-G ECG machine, \"Otherwise normal ECG\" is one of the display options. Speaking as a programmer, it's a little bit of a shortcut, so that if there is a rhythm problem but everything else is good, they can simply put \"<em>[rhythm message here]</em> otherwise normal ECG\". Better programming would be to omit the \"otherwise\" when the sinus rhythm is normal.</p>\n\n<p>Now, realize that the machine is simply applying preformatted parameters, and that when it says normal, it just means that your readings fit into what it has defined as normal. It is possible that there is some small thing that doesn't look out of place to the machine but would to a trained cardiologist. I don't say that to alarm you, but just to show you how the machine interprets it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7439, "author": "Prodromos Regalides", "author_id": 5235, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5235", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Basically I agree with JohnP. \nThe \"otherwise normal ecg\" is an unfortunate phrase.</p>\n\n<p>Sinus rhythm is the normal rhythm of the heart.</p>\n\n<p>So the machine should interpret as:\nNormal ECG.\nRhythm:Sinus\nHeart Rate : \nPR interval:\netc etc.</p>\n\n<p>By saying otherwise normal ECG, of course creates unnecessary suspicion.Modern machines are improved in doing an automatic diagnosis(better wording too).\nNevertheless, I have deactivated the automatic diagnosis in my office, for\nsuch events exactly. They can create idiotic worries to the patients and are\na cause for wasting our time.</p>\n\n<p>P.S. I am a cardiologist.</p>\n\n<p>That sinus is the normal rhythm of the heart can be verified in millions of authoritative sources. As an example I direct.you to Guyton's.physiology, 11th edition. at the beginning of chapter.10 \"rhythmical excitation of.the heart\" one can see that the activation of the conduction system of the heart originates in the sinoatrial node. Now, there are some peculiarities in this, but for all intents and purposes and as a general knowledge it's more than enough. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4721", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 15586, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No one really knows. A high fibre diet tends, however, to be lower in the foods associated with increased cancer risk. Fibre also reduces the colon transit time so that waste carcinogens have less time to contact the bowel mucosa. High fibre diets also might reduce breast cancer by binding to estrogens, and there's now a suggestion that phytates bind to iron which is helpful since iron is thought to increase the risk for bowel cancer.</p>\n\n<p>Beans, a high fibre vegetable, also have been studied for their anticancer activity</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Dry beans contain a wide range of nutrients and nonnutrient bioactive constituents that may be protective against cancer (43,50). The nondigestible carbohydrates are all fermented by colonic microflora into butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid, with demonstrated antineoplastic (51) and anti-inflammatory actions (52,53). Furthermore, dry beans have a low glycemic index (GI), defined as the incremental area under the blood glucose curve induced by a specific carbohydrate-containing food (54), which reduces the rate of the absorption of carbohydrates and lowers the postprandial glycemic and insulinemic responses. A number of epidemiologic studies showed that a low-GI diet is associated with a reduced risk of CRC (55-57). Other bioactive constituents of dry beans that have anticarcinogenic properties and could potentially account for a protective effect include saponins, protease inhibitors, inositol hexaphosphate, γ-tocopherol, and phytosterols (49). It is also possible that the combination of several different constituents of dry beans is most effective in reducing cancer risk.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/nutrition/how-fiber-helps-protect-against-cancer\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.pcrm.org/health/cancer-resources/diet-cancer/nutrition/how-fiber-helps-protect-against-cancer</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1713264/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1713264/</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 15926, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In short: There is <strong>insufficient or conflicting evidence</strong> about the cancer-protecting effect of a high-fiber diet.</p>\n\n<p>Suggested mechanisms:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Colorectal cancer: increased stool bulk and dilution of carcinogens in the colonic lumen, reduced transit time, and bacterial fermentation of fibre to short chain fatty acids [which are supposedly protective for colonic mucosa]</li>\n<li>Breast cancer: Dietary fibre reduce the risk of breast cancer may likely by decreasing the level of estrogen in the blood circulation.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Several systematic reviews suggest that high intake of dietary fiber may protect against various types of cancer:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1.</strong> Dietary fibre, whole grains, and risk of <strong>colorectal cancer:</strong> systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies (<a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3213242/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PubMed Central, 2011</a>)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A high intake of dietary fibre, in particular cereal fibre and whole\n grains, was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>2.</strong> Dietary fibre intake and risk of <strong>breast cancer:</strong> A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies (<a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5348370/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PubMed Central, 2016</a>)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...every 10 g/d increment in dietary fibre intake was associated with\n a 4% reduction in breast cancer risk...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>3.</strong> Dietary fiber and <strong>breast cancer</strong> risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies (<a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22234738\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PubMed, 2012</a>)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...there was an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and\n breast cancer risk</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>4.</strong> Dietary fiber and the risk of precancerous lesions and <strong>cancer of the esophagus:</strong> a systematic review and meta-analysis (<a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23815145\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PubMed, 2013</a>)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Dietary fiber is associated with protective effects against esophageal\n carcinogenesis, most notably esophageal adenocarcinoma.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>BUT:</strong></p>\n\n<p><strong>5.</strong> <a href=\"http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/other-nutrients/fiber\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Linus Pauling Institute</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>...more recent findings from large prospective cohort studies and four clinical intervention trials <strong>do not support an association\n between fiber intake and the risk of colorectal cancer.</strong></li>\n <li>Observational studies on dietary fiber intake and <strong>breast cancer</strong> incidence have reported <strong>inconsistent findings.</strong></li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>6.</strong> <a href=\"http://www.cochrane.org/CD003430/COLOCA_does-dietary-fibre-prevent-recurrence-colorectal-adenomas-and-carcinomas\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Cochrane</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This review found that increasing fibre in a Western diet for two to\n eight years <strong>did not lower the risk of bowel cancer.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4765", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/43/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4829, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p><strong><em>\"How to know if (or when) I fall asleep, and not merely just lying there doing nothing?\"</em></strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.end-your-sleep-deprivation.com/retrograde-amnesia.html\">Sleep Retrograde Amnesia</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Retrograde amnesia refers to the loss of memory for things preceding a\n certain event. When we talk about retrograde amnesia in the context of\n sleep, this event is sleep onset.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You not remembering has to do with your short term memory not working during sleep. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You could video tape yourself sleeping and this would show you when you appeared to drift off to sleep.</p></li>\n<li><p>You could also monitor your pulse and Blood Pressure to see when you went to sleep. Blood pressure and <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/105256-normal-heart-rate-sleeping/\">pulse are generally lower</a> when you sleep so if you monitor your pulse when you are asleep you can possibly approximate the time you fell asleep. </p></li>\n<li><p>You could try having motion sensor lights and when you stop moving they shut off. Maybe you can remember them shutting off, maybe not.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><em>If you think you have a sleeping disorder then you should consult your doctor, she/he may order a Sleep study.</em> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/polysomnography/basics/definition/prc-20013229\">Polysomnography (sleep study)</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>used to diagnose sleep disorders. Polysomnography records your brain\n waves, the oxygen level in your blood, heart rate and breathing, as\n well as eye and leg movements during the study.......usually is done\n at a sleep disorders unit within a hospital or at a sleep center.\n You'll be asked to come to the sleep center in the evening for\n polysomnography so that the test can record your nighttime sleep\n patterns. Polysomnography is occasionally done during the day to\n accommodate shift workers who habitually sleep during the day.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 4840, "author": "Shekhar Sahu", "author_id": 2943, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2943", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you want to know the exact moment you fell asleep do the following:\nPlace a steel/metal plate on floor by the bed. \nHold a spoon in your hand lay down to sleep keeping the hand in way your palm is exactly above the plate. When you fall asleep, the spoon will drop on plate and make a sound, waking you up. </p>\n\n<p>You can check the timing before going on bed and after waking up to see how much time did you take to fall asleep. On average it takes 7 minute.</p>\n\n<p>PS: Artist Bali used this spoon-plate method to take micro naps and wake up to paint his creativity.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 4843, "author": "rumtscho", "author_id": 193, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/193", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Modern smartphone apps offer this information. A smartphone has a gyroscope built in, and when you lay it on the mattress close to your body, it picks up tiny movements. As you fall asleep, your musculature relaxes, and the app knows how to distinguish the movements of a person in deep sleep, light sleep, and lying awake. It provides you with a record of your sleep cycles for the night. </p>\n\n<p>It is probably not perfectly accurate, but I find it quite good from personal experience. It certainly can distinguish between times when I lay awake, trying to fall asleep (and not noticeably moving) and times when I am really asleep. I can't say how good it is for hypnogogic states, and it can be fooled somewhat if you are concentrating on not moving while awake (e.g. if you are doing a muscle relaxation exercise or meditating). But for normal sleep, it gives you a nice record. </p>\n\n<p>I have no peer reviewed sources on this, so will have to give you a commercial link: <a href=\"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.sleep&amp;hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sleep as android</a> is the app I use, but AFAIK there are several per platform. If you have a fitness tracker such as Fitbit, it might offer a similar functionality - there are headbands specifically for sleeping, probably more accurate than a smartphone (but also more intrusive). </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4816", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1312/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4878, "author": "rumtscho", "author_id": 193, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/193", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It means that the receptors are blocked forever. A cell is a living thing, continuously producing new proteins (including receptors) and recycling old ones. So the cell is not defective forever, it will slowly phase out its blocked receptors and replace them with new ones. </p>\n\n<p>You can read the basics of the way receptors work in textbooks on cell signalling, such as <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0815342152\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.amazon.com/Cellular-Signal-Processing-Introduction-Transduction/dp/0815342152/</a>. A topic of special interest would be ubiquitination, <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitin#Ubiquitination\" rel=\"noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitin#Ubiquitination</a>. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 4890, "author": "objc3p0", "author_id": 2972, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2972", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I’ve found a quotation that sheds some light on the topic:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The rate of termination of the action of a reversible<br>\n antagonist is largely dependent on the half-life of the<br>\n drug as well as the rate at which it dissociates from its<br>\n receptor: the shorter the half-life, the less time it takes<br>\n until the effects of the drug are dissipated. However, the<br>\n effects of an irreversible antagonist may persist long after<br>\n the drug has been cleared from the plasma. In the case of<br>\n phenoxybenzamine, <strong>the restoration of tissue responsive-<br>\n ness after extensive α-receptor blockade is dependent on<br>\n synthesis of new receptors, which may take several days</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>(Peter D. Bryson: Comprehensive Reviews in Toxicology: For Emergency Clinicians)</em></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4874", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2972/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4918, "author": "CKM", "author_id": 2636, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2636", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Water is typically pH neutral at around pH7. Sometimes you can also buy bottled varieties with a more alkaline character so something closer to pH8. Now there's a basic chemical reaction called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutralization_(chemistry)\">neutralization</a>. In essence, all you have to do is rinse your mouth with water several times to neutralize the acid.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8891, "author": "Grzegorz Adam Kowalski", "author_id": 6557, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6557", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are many possible products that can be used to restore pH. Some work faster, some have some additional properties. See this quote from \"<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21726291\" rel=\"nofollow\">Influence of five neutralizing products on intra-oral pH after rinsing with simulated gastric acid</a>\" (DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0722.2011.00841.x.):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>After rinsing with the two acid solutions (pH 1 and pH 2), the following products were used: (i) antacid tablet; (ii) gum arabic lozenge; (iii) mineral water; (iv) milk; and (v) tap water (positive control). (...) The five test products were used for 2 min after the erosive challenge. All the products produced an initially higher pH compared with the negative control. The antacid tablet resulted in the greatest and most rapid increase in pH, followed by the lozenge. In dental practice, the use of any of the neutralizing products tested, especially the antacid tablet, could be recommended in order to increase the intra-oral pH after an erosive challenge.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 19154, "author": "Ruminator", "author_id": 1268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1268", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I asked my dentist about this and he said that you don't need to add anything to raise your pH because your saliva already produces calcium bicarbonate and it protects us from acid. We just need to consciously apply it with our tongue, or push it around, routinely, or, if you chew gum after you eat, even if it has sugar, it stimulates the saliva to clean and protect your teeth!!</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4914", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2996/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4931, "author": "anongoodnurse", "author_id": 169, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/169", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You are correct that this happens. It is infrequent (there are not \"many\", as you say, compared to true deaths), but it occasionally happens that someone - even in a hospital - is thought to be dead when they are not actually dead. In one of your stories, the girl was presumed to be <em>brain dead</em>, not dead. So strike that one. Hypothermia is a beast all unto itself, and declaring a cold person dead is a bit tricky.*</p>\n\n<p>Determining death is not simple. The International Guidelines for the Determination of Death – Phase I (May 30-31, 2012) Montreal Forum Report is 46 pages long and it still doesn't have a definitive conclusion.</p>\n\n<p>For the most part (and to simplify a bit), death is determined to have occurred when someone is exceedingly unlikely (determined from experience of millions of deaths) to regain function of their heart. It can be from a very wide variety of causes, but basically it follows cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest leading to cardiac arrest.</p>\n\n<p>The procedure is to observe the patient carefully. In hospital, that usually includes electronic monitors of one sort or another. Out of hospital it's by observation. When there is no evidence of cardiac electrical activity capable of generating a pulse, the patient has not been breathing for some time, oxygenation of blood has fallen to beyond critical levels, and there is no neurological activity, they are pronounced dead.**</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How do the medical teams or doctors determine then that this person won't all of sudden get a heart beat back? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>They \"know\" because of the combined observations of millions of deaths before that one. Since it has happened, clearly it <em>might</em> happen, but once all the criteria are met, it means they are clinically dead. The exceedingly vast majority of people observed to be clinically dead are, indeed, dead (no possibility to regain function.) There's nothing else to do.</p>\n\n<p>It is roughly estimated from the <a href=\"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index2.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">WHO</a> that about 56 million people die every year. Yet it is not every day that someone who was thought to be dead is not, or it wouldn't make the news. Lets be <em>really</em> generous and say it happens once a month somewhere in the world - 12 times a year - and I think this is very, very generous (there is no known number. I'm guessing it's less in industrialized nations.) </p>\n\n<p>That would mean a death diagnostic accuracy rate of at least 99.9999786% (55,999,988 true deaths in 56,000,000 diagnosed deaths.) That is very, very accurate. It is incredibly difficult and expensive to improve on 99.9999786% of anything for a very small return numerically speaking. It sounds harsh, but it's not. It's what society accepts, including you. If you don't believe me, try to get someone to pass a law changing that.</p>\n\n<p>A better question might be <em>why does this happen?</em> It happens because sometimes a heartbeat is so weak as to be imperceptible to the touch, to sound, and even electronically. The person does not appear to be breathing <em>at all</em>. They have no reflexes to demonstrate neuronal activity (for example, the pupil size doesn't change on shining a light into their eyes.) In the days before burial, that doesn't change 99.9999786% of the time. But if someone's metabolic rate is low enough, they might just survive (being cold increases the chances of this*) and the heart might just start getting stronger and they might just wake up. But the odds of that are so extraordinarily low that the increased expense of storing the body, and checking it again in a more advanced state of decomposition, in addition to the increased risk of contagion... it just doesn't happen, because when someone is declared dead, they are dead 99.9999+% of the time. </p>\n\n<p>The whole situation is frightening to some people. But it's really an irrational fear.</p>\n\n<p>To put the \"risk\" in more understandable terms - because the difference between life and death are pretty important - in 2013 in the US, there were 16,121 homicides. About 20% of those are stranger on stranger homicides (that is, not domestic violence, gang related, etc.). That means of 316,000,000 people in the US that year, about 3,225 people were killed by someone unknown to them, or one in 97,984. That's much higher than 12 in 56 million (which is roughly one in 4,670,000). Yet, though it's more common, you probably still leave your house most days not worrying that you'll be killed in that year. It's an acceptable risk, though death by firearm at a stranger's hand is never acceptable.</p>\n\n<p>If this is an unacceptable risk to you (I'm not being sarcastic; it is an acceptable risk for me personally), you should stipulate in your will your wishes to be kept in storage and reexamined intermittently over a period of several days longer than usual for signs of life, and include the funds to do this.</p>\n\n<p>*_{In medicine, we have a saying, \"They aren't dead until they're <em>warm and dead.</em>\" It may seem callous to a reader, but it is precisely to avoid the scenario of which you speak, because someone with a decreased temperature can survive anoxic injury better. In fact, cooling someone down who is in cardiac arrest is not uncommon, and cooling after resuscitation is common.}</p>\n\n<p>**_{Often it is a nurse who discovers someone has died, but in many states, only a doctor, paramedic, or a coroner can declare someone dead. Nurses are often allowed to declare someone dead who is in a nursing home, hospice or a home care patient. Usually (but there is no law) we feel for pulses at various points on the body, we listen for heart sounds with a stethoscope, we listen for breath sounds, we look for chest movement, and I shine a light in the person's eyes looking for a neurological response. If after a few minutes of observation, nothing has been found, the patient is then pronounced.}</p>\n\n<p>_{<em>The International Guidelines for the Determination of Death – Phase I May 30-31, 2012 Montreal Forum Report</em> available in full online in PDF}<br>\n_{<a href=\"http://www.columbiamedicinemagazine.org/webextra/spring-2013/node%3Atitle%5D-11\" rel=\"noreferrer\">\"I Pronounce This Patient Dead\"</a> shows that it's not easy even for doctors}<br>\n_{<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0012557/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Cooling the body after resuscitation following cardiac arrest</a>}<br>\n_{<a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">All homicides</a> CDC}</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11813, "author": "Ritesh Singh", "author_id": 8792, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8792", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Through the collective experience of observing millions of deaths, we have arrived at the following indicators of irrecoverable death, each one a more final proof than the previous:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Respiratory arrest (no breathing)</li>\n<li>Cardiac arrest (no pulse)</li>\n<li>Pallor mortis, paleness which happens in the 15–120 minutes after death</li>\n<li>Livor mortis, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body</li>\n<li>Algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature</li>\n<li>Rigor mortis, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin rigor) and difficult to move or manipulate</li>\n<li>Decomposition, the reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>More Information: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death#Signs\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death#Signs</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11818, "author": "Narusan", "author_id": 8212, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8212", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<h2>Disclaimer</h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><code>anongoodnurse</code> has provided an <a href=\"https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4919/how-do-they-make-sure-someone-has-really-died-before-declaring-them-dead/4931#4931\">excellent answer</a> mostly based on the\n U.S. I will focus on Germany and European countries to provide you\n with a broader view of the topic.<br>\n If you should live in the U.S., this will still matter to you as the <em>medical aspects</em> behind my answer remain the same in the U.S. </p>\n \n <p><strong>Obligatory Disclaimer</strong>: I am not a lawyer!</p>\n \n <p><strong>Obligatory Disclaimer No. 2</strong>: I have a rather dark sense of humour and tried to hold it back as to not offend anyone. Feel free to point out parts that you are uncomfortable with in a comment.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<h2>Legal Aspects</h2>\n\n<p>You're not dead (yet) when you decease. It is only when a doctor declares you dead that you have officially died. In Germany, only a professional doctor (<a href=\"http://landesrecht.thueringen.de/jportal/?quelle=jlink&amp;query=BestattG%20TH&amp;psml=bsthueprod.psml&amp;max=true&amp;aiz=true#jlr-BestattGTHpP6\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">1</a>) may fill out a death certificate and pronounce you dead. </p>\n\n<p>These are well trained physicians (2) and hardly make any mistakes, especially if it comes to something as important as declaring someone dead. </p>\n\n<p>Unexperienced physicians or similar are not allowed to fill out death certificates for exactly this reason: To prevent living people from being declared dead (3). Also, any doctor making a mistake will probably lose their <em>Approbation</em> (license to be a doctor) and no one really wants to declare a person dead even though they aren't. The doctor will be extra cautious.</p>\n\n<h2>Declaring Someone Dead</h2>\n\n<p>In Germany, additional to the rather obvious check for respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest the doctor has to check for the following three signs of death:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Rigor Mortis</strong> (<em>Stiffness of Death</em>):<br>\nThis is stiffness of the corpse due to post-mortem muscle contraction.\nThe normal reaction between adenosine triphosphate and adenosine diphosphate (ATP and ADP) within the muscle fibres ceases after death and the ATP level in the muscle progressively diminishes. This is accompanied by accumulation of lactic acid and a fall of pH (increase in acidity), which leads to stiffening and firmness. (<a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/diseases-and-conditions/pathology/rigor-mortis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">4</a>)(<a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rigor-mortis-and-other-postmortem-changes\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">5</a>)(6)</li>\n<li><strong>Livor Mortes</strong> (<em>The blue color of death</em>):<br>\nOnce the heart stops beating, blood collects in the most dependent parts of the body as it is not pumped around by the heart, usually the buttocks and back when a corpse is supine. The skin, normally pink-colored because of the oxygen-laden blood in the capillaries, becomes pale as the blood drains into the larger veins. Within minutes to hours after death, the skin is discolored by livor mortis, or what embalmers call \"postmortem stain,\" the purple-red discoloration from blood accumulating in the lowermost (dependent) blood vessels. (<a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rigor-mortis-and-other-postmortem-changes\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">5</a>)(6) </li>\n<li><strong>Decomposition</strong>:<br>\n<em>Yeah, let's actually not get into that too much...</em> Basically, there is autolysis (aseptic breakdown of tissues due to the release of intracellular enzymes) and putrefaction (breakdown of tissue due to bacteria). Both are usually accompanied with a very strong odor. It's hard to be overlooked by anyone! (6)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<h2>What if I'm not sure why this person died?</h2>\n\n<p>On a German death certificate, there are three types of death (<a href=\"http://www.vordruckleitverlag.de/tmp/1602.png.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">7</a>):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Natural Death</strong>:<br>\nIf the person is 120 years old, has pulmonary embolism, cancer and multiple myocardial infarctions, their death is not too much of a surprise and can be considered natural. This is either the case if there are enough illnesses known to assume multiple organ failures or if all symptoms indicate a certain type of death (e.g. a myocardial infarction).</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Unnatural Death</strong>:<br>\n<em>First I thought he died due to stress, and then I noticed the knife in his back.</em><br>\nIf a person has multiple gunshots, is lacking a head or some limbs or alternatively has been cut into pieces, well, you're off safe to assume they have died an unnatural death. This triggers immediate call of the police and investigation by the prosecution.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Unknown cause of death</strong>:<br>\nIf the physician has, simply put, no idea why this person could have died, they will tick the field with <em>Ungeklärte Todesursache</em>. This will usually lead to medical examinations by an official medical officer and sometimes autopsy if no cause for death can be found. (<a href=\"https://www.aerztekammer-bw.de/10aerzte/40merkblaetter/30leichenschau/ungeklaert.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">8</a>)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\n<p>In Germany, death certificates will only be filled out by highly trained physicians. If they have any doubt on how you have died, why or if you are actually dead, they are forced by law to escalate the problem to the next level (i.e. call the police and a medical officer).</p>\n\n<p>Let's assume all eventualities and you actually are pronounced dead wrongly. What is the problem here? It's not like your being cremated the next day (9). Neither will you be killed to make sure that you are dead, but your body will either be left where it has been to allow relatives to have a last visit or stored somewhere. If you are not dead, you can come back to life and just joyfully announce this to your sobbing relatives. Or, in the most extreme cases, <em>just climb out of the tomb</em> ;).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<h2>References</h2>\n\n<p>(1): State Law Thuringen, <a href=\"http://landesrecht.thueringen.de/jportal/?quelle=jlink&amp;query=BestattG%20TH&amp;psml=bsthueprod.psml&amp;max=true&amp;aiz=true#jlr-BestattGTHpP6\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">§6 on Declaring Someone Dead</a> <em>[in German]</em> </p>\n\n<p>(2): In Germany, to be a professional physician one must study human medicine for 12 semesters and work 4 years as a assistant doctor before getting the <em>Approbation</em> (license to be a doctor). Only then after at least 10 years of study they are allowed to fill out death certificates. </p>\n\n<p>(3): On a lighter note, just imagine all the bureaucratic effort to revert the death of a person. The word <code>dead card</code> gets a whole new meaning here. </p>\n\n<p>(4): <a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/diseases-and-conditions/pathology/rigor-mortis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The Oxford Companion to the Body</a>, hosted by encyclopaedia.com</p>\n\n<p>(5): <a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rigor-mortis-and-other-postmortem-changes\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying</a>, hosted by encyclopaedia.com</p>\n\n<p>(6): <strong>Content Warning</strong>: Explicit Images of Corpses.<br>\n Forensic pathology - <a href=\"http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/forensicspostmortem.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">General Postmortem changes</a></p>\n\n<p>(7): <a href=\"http://www.vordruckleitverlag.de/tmp/1602.png.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">A template for the German death certificate</a> <em>[in German]</em></p>\n\n<p>(8): <a href=\"https://www.aerztekammer-bw.de/10aerzte/40merkblaetter/30leichenschau/ungeklaert.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">An official guidance</a> to doctors how to fill out a death certificate and what options there are by the state of Baden-Württemberg <em>[in German]</em>. </p>\n\n<p>(9) Interestingly enough, in the U.S. you can actually be <a href=\"http://www.us-funerals.com/funeral-articles/understanding-cremation-laws-and-how-they-affect-arranging-a-cremation.html#.WOO5pRhh2fc\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">cremated after a minimum waiting period</a> of 24 hours or 48 hours (depending on state law).<br>\nIn Germany, there <a href=\"https://www.bestattungen.de/ratgeber/bestattungsarten/feuerbestattung.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">has to be a second <em>Leichenschau</em></a> (basically going through the list and checking whether all signs of death are present) at least 48 hours after the official death time.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4919", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/447/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4974, "author": "Mick", "author_id": 3032, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3032", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The book \"<a href=\"http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F3-7643-7440-3\" rel=\"nofollow\">Clinical Pharmacology of Sleep</a>\" says \"A light carbohydrate snack before bed may promote sleep, but avoid eating large fatty meals before bedtime\".</p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> If getting to sleep is not an issue, then perhaps what you want is food that will keep you satiated for longest. I think it is well established that, of all the food groups, it is protein that is best, but I'm afraid I don't have a reference for that.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5001, "author": "cloudnyn3", "author_id": 2675, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2675", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>High-protien meals or snacks will curve hunger. It can be a real nuisance waking up hungry. It takes a bit longer to digest, so the body and stomach don't feel the need to eat often. Avoid this though if you're hypoglycemic or diabetic, or have circulatory issues. Eating and sleeping before an hour of sleep is usually not a good idea if you have any of the above illnesses. </p>\n\n<p>The reason I say that is because it can cause early onset of stomach ulcers, and gastroperesis which basically means your stomach does not release its contents into the upper intestine quick enough. Your stomach stays full of food and stomach acid. It will make you feel icky. Avoid heavily acidic food as well. Chili's, tomatoes, dairy. Nine hours is also a very long time for the stomach to be full. If you have the right diet, you can eventually get rid of that feeling.</p>\n\n<p>That aside, bread is also something that can curve appetite. You could try a chicken sandwich. Lean cut beef sandwich. Black bean soup.</p>\n\n<p>You should be able to Google more high protein meals. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features/foods-that-curb-hunger\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features/foods-that-curb-hunger</a></p>\n\n<p>That basically sums it up ^</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5005, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you have problems sleeping due to hunger then either you are not eating enough, or there is a metabolic problem like diabetes or a thyroid problem that needs to be addressed by your doctor. If we assuming that there is no medical problem, then this means that you need to eat a lot more during the day. The best way to do that is to eat more at dinner, more during lunch and if needed eat another full lunch a few hours later. If you start to eat a meal just before sleeping that you are not at present eating, that may interfere with sleep; instead of waking up from hunger, you may wake up more frequently to go to the toilet.</p>\n\n<p>My own routine to deal with having to eat a lot is as follows. I eat breakfast twice, when I wake up and two hours later. I eat lunch a few hour later. I'll eat lunch a second time 3 hours later. At dinner time I will eat a very large meal of around 1700 Kcal. Before I go to bed I'll eat a small meal. The total energy intake is around 3700 Kcal, this allows me to do my daily one hour of running while still having plenty of energy and not feeling hungry all the time.</p>\n\n<p>What you should eat depends on your exercise routine. I do a lot of cardio exercise, that's why I take in a large chunk of my energy from carbs. Out of the 3700 Kcal, around 2300 Kcal comes from carbs, the rest comes from fats and protein.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11602, "author": "Paula", "author_id": 8588, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8588", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I found out this week why hunger is waking me up - my stomach is extra long almost twice that of average. I just got it sleeved.</p>\n\n<p>Here is a list of biodegradation of food. Pennington Biomedical Center has a scandinavian paper on that site that lists food satietis. White potatoes are tops.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.unani.com/digestion_time_of_foods.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.unani.com/digestion_time_of_foods.htm</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4958", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3029/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 4960, "author": "Forest", "author_id": 6741, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6741", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Removing veins impairs blood flow to that area, but since the varicose veins aren't really getting blood efficiently to their locality anyway, I wouldn't call the lack of perfusion from removing them a drawback, <em>per se</em>. </p>\n\n<p>Some complications can arise following surgery to remove varicose veins. Some of them are pretty innocuous, like skin discoloration, but some can be more serious, \nsuch as deep vein thromboses or even nerve damage. Even then, the incidence of post-op complications is pretty low.</p>\n\n<p>This <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3578615/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">paper</a> describes a long-term reptrospective study of a cohort of patients who had a certain surgery to remove varicose veins and gives a nice, brief description of the complications that they experienced (there weren't many). </p>\n\n<p>This <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25535637\" rel=\"noreferrer\">paper</a> is much more comprehensive, if you're interested. </p>\n\n<p>I would say that the bottom line is that there aren't really drawbacks to removing varicose veins, but that there could be post-op difficulties to watch out for. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12003, "author": "Rodrigo", "author_id": 3037, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3037", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are some small drawbacks associated with surgery, that all doctors are going to tell you. And there are some big drawbacks (like death or amputation risk), that not all doctors are going to tell you.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, one of the greatest Brazilian female singers, Clara Nunes died some 30 years ago in one such operation, at the peak of her energy. Some people say this is old news, so here are more recent ones:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.folhavitoria.com.br/geral/noticia/2013/11/costureira-morre-apos-cirurgia-de-varizes-e-familia-denuncia-negligencia-em-guarapari.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Woman dies after varicose veins surgery.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.cmjornal.pt/sociedade/detalhe/amputada-apos-cirurgia-a-varizes\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Woman has her leg amputated after varicose veins surgery.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3102674/Husband-woman-died-needlessly-varicose-vein-surgery-awarded-six-figure-sum-hospital-accept-failed-carry-basic-test.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Another woman dies because hospital failed to carry basic test.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/coroner-s-court/new-hospital-arrangements-after-patient-s-death-following-vein-surgery-1.2641365\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Yet another woman died due to a blood clot in the lung following vein surgery.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.thatslife.com.au/article/real-life/vein-treatment-varicose-leg-loss\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Life-threatening infection almost costed woman her legs.</a></p>\n\n<p>I should mention that probably the biggest risk lies with the anesthesia. Several other news relate people dying because of the anesthesia in other common surgeries, some of them purely aesthetic (like liposuction). <a href=\"http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/04/under-the-knife-study-shows-rising-death-rates-from-general-anesthesia/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This article</a> is shocking:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(...) after decades of decline, the worldwide death rate during full\n anesthesia is back on the rise, to about seven patients in every\n million. And the number of deaths within a year after a general\n anesthesia is frighteningly high: one in 20. In the over-65 age group,\n it’s one in 10.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763076/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Other studies</a> bring numbers way higher than seven in a million:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Brazilian and worldwide studies demonstrated a similar decline in\n anesthesia-related mortality rates, which amounted to fewer than 1\n death per 10,000 anesthetics in the past two decades. Perioperative\n mortality rates also decreased during this period, with fewer than 20\n deaths per 10,000 anesthetics in developed countries.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's 1 death in 500 anesthetics. I'd prefer to keep my varicose veins, at least until I know the numbers about the risk they represent.</p>\n\n<p>Also, when you look for information in doctor's and medical clinics websites, they don't explicitly mention all the risks involved. <a href=\"http://www.steticlin.com.br/cirurgia-varizes-e-perigosa-anestesia.asp\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Here</a> and <a href=\"https://drauziovarella.com.br/entrevistas-2/varizes-2/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> are two Brazilian examples. In English, we have other examples. The respected <a href=\"http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/test_procedures/cardiovascular/laser_varicose_vein_surgery_135,28/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Johns Hopkins</a> tells nothing about the biggest risks. Their <a href=\"http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">\"About\" page</a> clearly states their <em>measure of success</em>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Johns Hopkins Medicine (...) is an <strong>$8 billion</strong> integrated global\n health enterprise and one of the leading health care systems in the\n United States.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.veincentre.com/about/Risks/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This website</a> puts it clearly:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Surprisingly perhaps most vein clinic websites fail to highlight\n potential risks giving the impression that all treatments are\n perfectly safe with nothing at all to worry about.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's understandable: they want the patient's money, not to scare them away.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, sometimes having varicose veins may also be risky, like <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2587201/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this report</a> suggests.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, I have found no studies comparing which risk (to keep or to remove varicose veins) is higher.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, someone asked me about a source for my claim that medical error is now the third cause for death in the USA. Here it is:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/192908\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Is US Health Really the Best in the World?</a></p>\n\n<p>In case you don't want to pay US$30 just to have 24-hour access -- yes, they call it <em>buying</em> this sort of vital information -- you may try <a href=\"http://sci-hub.cc/10.1001/jama.284.4.483\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">sci-hub</a> instead. The relevant information is on (non-free) second page:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>These total to 225 000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes. (...)\n [these estimates] are lower than those in the IOM report. (...) In\n any case, 225 000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause\n of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and\n cancer.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225187/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Here</a> you have some more information.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/4959", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5151, "author": "enap_mwf", "author_id": 837, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/837", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The simplest answer is that <strong>both types of systems are more or less equal</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Long answer:\nIt's actually the dentist that needs to be aware of a few concepts:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The angle of the bone in which the implant is placed relative to the position of the crown that will be on top of it. they are not always in line. The ideal scenario is second from left, while the worst one is 3rd from the left. Nobody wants a screw to show up in the front of the crown! To remedy this problem it is possible to use the second stage in a 2-piece system to reangulate the crown.\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/9TONv.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/9TONv.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPQ1F.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/CPQ1F.jpg\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p></li>\n<li><p>Amount of gingival tissue between the bone and the mouth. If the gingiva isn't very thick, it might be advantageous to remove the intermediate step, so that as little as possible metal shows through the gingiva.</p></li>\n<li><p>Ability of the bone to endure immediate loading of the implant. If both the implant and the platform come in one piece, the implant will be exposed to forces in the mouth immediately after being placed, while the two piece option permits us to temporarily bury and avoid putting immediate stress on the implant, thereby enabling it to better integrate the bone, especially if the later is of poor quality. </p></li>\n<li><p><strong>To address your concern about a micro crack appearing between the two pieces, it is most often due to the insufficient tightening of the screw</strong>. At least 15-25 Newtons need to be applied, using an implant screw, to sufficiently tighten the the pieces to avoid the appearance of a micro crack and further of the screw.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>My source, excluding professional formation:</p>\n\n<pre><code>http://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/the-one-piece-implant-design-prospective-case-report/\n</code></pre>\n" }, { "answer_id": 24422, "author": "Alexandre", "author_id": 20206, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/20206", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Today, there is a trend to go for two-piece restoration. One pice (base) is placed on the day of surgery on the implant and remains there. the second piece (abutment with crown, or one-piece implant-crow) comes o top.</p>\n<p>The recent scientific evidence shows that keeping the biological barrier around the implant and base intact. This limits the chances to see bacteria migrating along with the prosthesis towards the implant - often cause of mucositis/peri-implantitis. See an illustration here: <a href=\"https://www.teeth4all.org/getting-treated-with-dental-implants/complications-with-implants/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.teeth4all.org/getting-treated-with-dental-implants/complications-with-implants/</a></p>\n<p>With regards to the crown, a one-piece solution where the abutment and crown are 'merged' together present better longevity and less need of repairs (due to porcelain chipping). This option is esthetic enough for prosthesis not too visible when smiling (i.e. posterior region).</p>\n<p>For the anterior region, visible when smiling, two-pieces solution offers the flexibility to the dental technician to produce highly esthetic prosthesis. In the anterior region, as the chewing forces are lower, the problem of chipping is less frequent.</p>\n<p>See an illustration here: <a href=\"https://www.teeth4all.org/all-about-dental-implants/dental-prosthesis/#Prosthesis-type\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.teeth4all.org/all-about-dental-implants/dental-prosthesis/#Prosthesis-type</a></p>\n<p>Overall the one-piece solution is cheaper than the two-piece one, but the level of aesthetics might be lower while its strength is higher.</p>\n<p>The explanation above was for the restorative part. For the implant part, the trend is to use the two-piece part. The rationale is the following:</p>\n<p>Having an implant at the bone level and the restoration screwed on top, through the gingiva offers flexibility. Always consider the future development of the patient condition: if there is some gingiva recession, then the restoration can then be swapped for a shorter one and the implant will not show up. New implants/prostheses might be added and, and, being bone level offers more flexibility if the prosthesis must be changed (insertion angle, implant height,...).</p>\n<p>With regards to the trans-gingival implant (tissue level implant) thew offer through the assurance that the peri-implant soft tissue will never be disturbed, and thus, the biological seal around the implant limits the risk of bacteria navigating along with the implant towards the bone (cause of mucositis and peri-implantations). this is tough dependent on many other factors as well (implant surface, patient hygiene,...).</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5023", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3072/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5104, "author": "jiggunjer", "author_id": 282, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/282", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No. The infrared light is not intense enough. If it was, the controller would be labeled with a warning sticker. </p>\n\n<p>I've been criticized for giving a short argument. But it was a choice between recommending a method to measure the IR intensity or giving a credible argument from a design perspective.</p>\n\n<p>There are just logical barriers that make a dangerous intensity highly improbable; legislation and power efficiency are in 99.99% the prime reasons why it should be safe. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5145, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Even looking directly into a 1 mW infrared laser beam would be safe. <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/111/50/E5445.full\" rel=\"nofollow\">This article</a> reports about the results of an experiment where volunteers looked into an infrared laser beam. They were able to perceived the infrared light as if they were looking at light with half the wavelength. This is caused by single photoreceptors absorbing two infrared photons at once, which then leads to the same result as when it would absorb a single photon with half the wavelength. Needless to say, the required intensity of the infrared light needed for this (safe to perform) experiment is massively larger than the infrared light emitted by your remote control.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11915, "author": "user8890", "author_id": 8890, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8890", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Infrared light is invisible and in remotes it is not as intense the sun's rays or welding, so there is no immediate danger. Over exposure (long period) to intense Infrared penetrates inside the eye and damages the retina and can cause cataracts (an opaque retina). </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5053", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3134/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5083, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Let's consider common diseases that a healthy 30 year old can have without noticing any symptoms. E.g. it is known that many people have undiagnosed diabetes, many people have undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Also kidney function can be impaired quite a bit (e.g. due to diabetes) without that leading to symptoms. If we focus on these issues then you could choose to the following test: Glucose and HbA1c to see if the person has diabetes, TSH and T4 to detect hypothyroidism, and creatinine, urea, sodium, potassium to detect problems with the kidneys. Also, measuring HDL and LDL cholesterol can be useful as quite a few young people have too high cholesterol levels.</p>\n\n<p>Now, to make the question better defined, one can ask how to choose some given number of blood tests such that some chosen health criterion, say, the survival probability after ten years is optimized. This can in principle be calculated from the known statistics. To see how to set up this calculation, consider doing just one blood test for disease X.</p>\n\n<p>The patient is in this case selected from a pool of people who do not have any significant symptoms of disease X. So, if X represents diabetes, the patient is currently not complaining about excessive thirsts, feeling tired etc. If X represents kidney disease then the patient is not at the stage where the kidney function is so low that it causes symptoms. This means that the probability that the patient will be found to be suffering from X should be derived from the appropriate conditional probability that conditions on the patient not having any significant symptoms (the symptoms are mild enough for it to be compatible to having no complaints).</p>\n\n<p>For any chosen X you can then calculate the health criterion (e.g. survival after ten years) in the event of a positive test compared to not doing the test. So, this depends on the known effects of early treatment, the probability for detecting X will then yield the expected improvement for this health outcome.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 23228, "author": "Zac", "author_id": 19234, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/19234", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The best place to find this answer is the <a href=\"https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">US Preventive Services Task Force</a>. They are an \"independent, volunteer panel of national experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine\" who make recommendations for what kinds of routine care are <em>worth doing</em> (in other words, do more good than harm) for what sorts of people (e.g. which age, sex, etc.). They give their recommendations <a href=\"https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/grade-definitions\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">grades</a> based on how strong the evidence is and how substantial the benefit is. </p>\n\n<p>They created an <a href=\"https://epss.ahrq.gov/PDA/index.jsp\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">app</a> to filter the recommendations based on someone's age, sex, pregnancy status, tobacco use, and if they are sexually active. For a 30 year old male, here are the <em>blood tests</em> that are recommended (and the answer to your question).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Grade A (recommended with substantial benefit/certainty):</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>HIV screening </li>\n<li>Syphilis screening if at increased risk</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Grade B (recommended with moderate benefit/certainty):</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Hepatitis B screening if at high risk</li>\n<li>Hepatitis C screening</li>\n<li>Tuberculosis screening if at increased risk</li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5054", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/43/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5139, "author": "Jason Shweky", "author_id": 3198, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3198", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Yep. It is actually. Look at this time lapse. \n<a href=\"https://media.giphy.com/media/l2JJLwLjtZVnhuKKA/giphy.gif\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://media.giphy.com/media/l2JJLwLjtZVnhuKKA/giphy.gif</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5141, "author": "JohnP", "author_id": 64, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/64", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/bleeding-under-nail\" rel=\"nofollow\">Yes, this is normal behavior</a> for a bruise underneath the nail. (<a href=\"http://www.nursingtimes.net/selecting-a-treatment-option-in-subungual-haematoma-management/201396.fullarticle\" rel=\"nofollow\">Corroborating information</a>, located near the bottom of the article.)</p>\n\n<p>Most bruises under a nail are caused by a crush type injury. In severe cases, there may be enough blood to separate the nail from the nail bed, or it may need professional drainage and treatment (Such as suturing and/or removing the nail).</p>\n\n<p>If it is a small spot, then as the nail grows, the hematoma will move with it as the blood is trapped between the bed and the nail. If you have a bruise appearing spot underneath the nail that is unrelated to any injury, or does not move outwards with the growth of the nail it is best to get it checked out, as those are warning signs of it being a tumor.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5055", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1638/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5071, "author": "cloudnyn3", "author_id": 2675, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2675", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you need an alternate source of gelatin, arginine may help you. It's found in many fats of animals and plants as well. It's a very prominent amino acid that can replace a meat eaters diet if needed. Although there is no medical backing that it can help what you have, it is commonly taken by people that have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chemo Therapy. Many people say it helps them. It's not something that could hurt you. If you have liver issues or cardiovascular problems though, be careful as this may speed up any illnesses you have already. There are many compounds in gelatin, but this is actually supported by the CFS community. It's the most prominent amino acid within gelatin. </p>\n\n<p>I'll post a link, and you'll have to read through the whole thing, but if you google Arginine and CFS, you'll find that many people say it helps them. \nWe haven't done any in depth studies on what causes CFS, it's a very sketchy area of the medical community; This is just something that seems to work.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arginine\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arginine</a></p>\n\n<p>Hope this info helps you out. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5805, "author": "jfunk", "author_id": 3680, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3680", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If you are experiencing cravings as a vegetarian you might try supplementing some of the most <a href=\"http://www.veghealthguide.com/vitamins-minerals/\" rel=\"nofollow\">common deficiencies</a> in the unplanned vegetarian diet. Such as:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Vitamin B12</li>\n<li>Omega 3 (2 supplements - DHA (algae) and ALA (flax seed oil)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00H7SH1SC\" rel=\"nofollow\">Vegetarian protein</a> with a complete amino acid profile </li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5062", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3147/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5115, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Please see the ACC/AHA guidelines (<a href=\"http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/99/17/2345.full.pdf+html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">non-updated 1999</a>, <a href=\"http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/130/19/1749.full.pdf+html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">most recent &quot;update&quot; 2014</a>) on this matter. You are asking a very good question. This is an excerpt from the 2014 update:</p>\n<p><strong>GDMT = guideline directed medical [drug] therapy</strong></p>\n<p><strong>SIDH = Stable ischemic heart disease</strong></p>\n<p><strong>Coronary revascularization = cardiac catheterization + procedure to open up arteries</strong></p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Invasive Testing for Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients\nWith Suspected SIHD: Recommendations (New Section) See Online Data\nSupplement 1 for additional information.</p>\n<p>Class I</p>\n<ol>\n<li>Coronary angiography is useful in patients with presumed SIHD who have unacceptable ischemic symptoms despite GDMT and who are amenable\nto, and candidates for, coronary revascularization. (Level of\nEvidence: C)</li>\n</ol>\n<p>Class IIa</p>\n<ol>\n<li>Coronary angiography is reasonable to define the extent and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with suspected\nSIHD whose clinical characteristics and results of noninvasive testing\n(exclusive of stress testing) indicate a high likelihood of severe IHD\nand who are amenable to, and candidates for, coronary\nrevascularization.7–12 (Level of Evidence: C)</li>\n<li>Coronary angiography is reasonable in patients with suspected symptomatic SIHD who cannot undergo diagnostic stress testing, or have\nindeterminate or nondiagnostic stress tests, when there is a high\nlikelihood that the findings will result in important changes to\ntherapy. (Level of Evidence: C)</li>\n</ol>\n<p>Class IIb</p>\n<ol>\n<li>Coronary angiography might be considered in patients with stress test results of acceptable quality that do not suggest the presence of\nCAD when clinical suspicion of CAD remains high and there is a high\nlikelihood that the findings will result in important changes to\ntherapy. (Level of Evidence: C)</li>\n</ol>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Essentially, the goal is to find patients that are more likely to benefit from the intervention (cardiac catheterization). The above are simply indications for angiography in the said setting (stable angina). Other indications that are not covered therefore would include ST-elevation ACS, as well as non-ST elevation ACS, sudden cardiac death, heart failure +/- reduced ejection fraction, and pre-surgery routine cardiac catheterization (only for specific surgeries...).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5138, "author": "rncardio", "author_id": 1477, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1477", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Guidelines from different medical societies are available on this subject: </p>\n\n<pre><code>2011 NICE guidelines: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg126\n2012 ACCF/AHA/ACP/AATS/PCNA/SCAI/STS Guideline : http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1391404\n2013 ESC guidelines: http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/ehj/early/2013/08/28/eurheartj.eht296.full.pdf\n2014 ESC/EACTS Guidelines: http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/08/28/eurheartj.ehu278\n2014 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines: http://www.onlinecjc.ca/article/S0828-282X%2814%2900356-0/abstract\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Briefly, medication are the first line treatment for stable angina. </p>\n\n<p>Angiography and revascularization (angioplasty or coronary bypass surgery) are needed only for patients whose angina is resulting in a moderate to severe limitation of daily activities despite adequate medication. </p>\n\n<p>For patients with mild symptoms, a stress test (such as stress MIBI scan) should be performed and angiography + revascularization may be helpful if > 10% of myocardium (heart muscle) is showing signs of ischemia. </p>\n\n<p>Persons whose angina is controlled on medication as well as persons who have a negative stress test are not at high risk of heart attacks and death and hence do not need angiography and revascularization. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5077", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1043/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5122, "author": "Lydia", "author_id": 3179, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3179", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Protein shakes and bars can actually be EXTREMELY healthful, but you have to get the right ones. You will find the best at health food stores, not general vitamin stores. Steer clear of whey as there are negative aspects of that and I along with others suspect its popularity is only due to industry trying to find a way to profit off of whey, which is left over from processed animal foods, namely greek yogurt, in such an excess that it is very hazardous to the environment. So, not only do they have to find a responsible way to get rid of all this excess whey, but they try to find ways they can simultaneously profit off of it. I personally noticed seeing a lot of whey supplements as greek yogurt became popular so I feel that's something to take into account.</p>\n\n<p>You want pure, preferably organic ingredients with no hidden msg or other unnatural ingredients. And you want one that is WHOLE FOODS BASED. That is very important. Raw is best. I highly recommend Garden of Life's Raw Fit as it has every essential amino acid, probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins and many minerals. 1 scoop provides 28 grams protein and 90% daily value of magnesium which the western world is extremely deficient in. </p>\n\n<p>Same goes for bars... look for bars in health food stores. I would look for seed and nut bars as opposed to very processed bars with long lists of ingredients. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5221, "author": "YviDe", "author_id": 1830, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1830", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>What you are asking about is called <em><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioavailability\" rel=\"noreferrer\">bioavailability</a></em>, which is the term for how much of a consumed substance is actually taken up by the body, and <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioequivalence\" rel=\"noreferrer\">bioequivalence</a>, which is about whether two products are used the same way in the body.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>Protein</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>For protein, bioavailability is also called <a href=\"http://www.food-info.net/uk/protein/bv.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Biological Value (BV)</a>. The BV of an egg, for example is <a href=\"http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC854T/AC854T74.htm#chII.I.7\" rel=\"noreferrer\">somewhere around 93</a> (see column 5). For cooked chicken, <a href=\"http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC854T/AC854T74.htm#chII.I.6\" rel=\"noreferrer\">a bit over 70</a>. </p>\n\n<p>It's hard to find sources for protein powder/shakes that don't seem biased (being from the manufactors of the protein, or bodybuilding sites), but here's a study from the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine: <a href=\"http://www.jssm.org/vol3/n3/2/v3n3-2pdf.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Protein - Which is best?</a>. It uses an adjusted scale, where a whole egg has a biological value of 100. In that scale, since whey protein has a higher BV than whole egg, it comes out as 104. Soy protein and casein have BVs in the mid-70s, a bit lower than beef.</p>\n\n<p>As for whether they have the same effect, well, what's different betrween different sources of protein is <em>composition</em>. Proteins are made from building blocks called amino acids, of which there are 20 in food. Many of those can be converted from one to the other or made from other things we eat, but <a href=\"https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002222.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">9 amino acids are called 'essential'</a> and have to be eaten. Different foods, including protein powders differ in what amino acids they have. Usually, protein powders will contain these. How much they contain will depend on the product. </p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that no source of is 'perfect' in that regard, either. A bean does not have the same amino acid composition in its proteins as a human body does. Neither does whey protein. Deficiency in essential amino acids isn't pleasant, <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234922/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">but it is rare in people who aren't generally malnutritient and consume enough protein overall, from more than one source</a>.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>Vitamins</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>Basically, a lot of the same applies for vitamins. They aren't perfectly bioavailable when digested from food <em>or</em> from a multivitamin, sometimes one is better, sometimes the other. Answering this for all vitamins is way too broad, and it probably also depends on the product. The paper <a href=\"http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/1/269S.full\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Multivitamin and multimineral dietary supplements: definitions, characterization, bioavailability, and drug interactions</a> goes into a few of the problems and general concepts. </p>\n\n<p>For example, it looks like the bioavailibility of folic acid taken up from dietery supplements <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17284745\" rel=\"noreferrer\">is higher than that from food</a>, and especially outperforms <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15447898\" rel=\"noreferrer\">spinach and yeast</a> (warning: low number of subjects in study...). For vitamin C, <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3847730/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Synthetic or Food-Derived Vitamin C—Are They Equally Bioavailable?</a> summarizes:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In contrast, all steady state comparative bioavailability studies in humans have shown no differences between synthetic and natural vitamin C, regardless of the subject population, study design or intervention used. Some pharmacokinetic studies in humans have shown transient and small comparative differences between synthetic and natural vitamin C, although these differences are likely to have minimal physiological impact</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>And goes on to say:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Although synthetic and food-derived vitamin C appear to be equally bioavailable in humans, ingesting vitamin C as part of a whole food is considered preferable because of the concomitant consumption of numerous other macro- and micronutrients and phytochemicals, which will confer additional health benefits. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So whole foods are preferable, but the vitamin C that you get from the supplements itself isn't any better or worse than the vitamin C an apple contains, and certainly isn't unhealthy. </p>\n\n<p>For some people, getting all vitamins they need from their diet is either impossible or very hard (vitamin D and iron deficiencies are rather common) and that's where supplements like the protein bars you use come in. As pointed out by Atl LED in the comments, though, for vitamin supplements to work it's important to take care of how the multivitamins need to be taken. If they need to be taken with food for maximum absorption, that's important or else you won't get the full benefits. </p>\n\n<p>If protein bars are judged as 'unhealthy' it should be because of things like their sugar content, but it's certainly not true that the proteins or vitamins in them are unhealthy or that we can't use them at all.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5079", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3158/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5089, "author": "Chris", "author_id": 3162, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3162", "pm_score": -1, "selected": true, "text": "<p>In essence there is a very good answer already provided here:\n<a href=\"https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/28942/does-taking-birth-control-pills-make-you-99-9-protected-from-pregnancy\">https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/28942/does-taking-birth-control-pills-make-you-99-9-protected-from-pregnancy</a></p>\n\n<p>The effectiveness of the \"pill\" in terms of birth control will depend largely on how accurately you are following the advice given by your doctor / pharmacist on how and when to take it.</p>\n\n<p>Technically, if you are following the procedure correctly, it should be a very effective method of birth control and works in up to 99.9% of cases:\n<a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-pills\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-pills</a></p>\n\n<p>Now, that is not 100% and certainly there are different studies out there, which will provide different results. Essentially, what this means is that you can still get pregnant this way. I don't want to scare you and the probability is low, but you should know that it is still possible. If you forget to take it one day, the probability obviously increases ...</p>\n\n<p><strong>Important:</strong></p>\n\n<p>You also absolutely need to know that the \"pill\" does not protect you from any sexually transmittable diseases! I trust you know this and your partner knows this, too.</p>\n\n<p>A little off-topic:</p>\n\n<p><em>If either of you hasn't gotten a HIV test - don't be naive - go and get it done! You need to know that it can take 3 months before this blood test may reliably detect HIV, so if either of you had a different partner in the last three months, it's not worth it - don't risk it!\nYou need to be sure about this. The number of new HIV infections is actually <strong>increasing</strong> in the western world, even though free HIV tests are available to many. This is true all across the US, Australia and Europe: <a href=\"http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2015/11/highest-number-of-new-hiv-cases-in-europe-ever\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2015/11/highest-number-of-new-hiv-cases-in-europe-ever</a></em></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5096, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If by \"I waited a week\" you mean you waited <strong>seven days</strong>, you should be fine. However, seven days is the bare minimum so if you mean anything less than a full seven days then it depends on when you began to take them relative to your menstrual cycle. <a href=\"http://www.upmc.com/patients-visitors/education/contraception/Pages/birth-control-pill-instructions-combined-oral-contraceptives.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">These</a> are typical instructions for beginning birth control pills:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>Start your first pack of pills on the first day of your menstrual period. Use a backup method of birth control (such as condoms with\n spermicide) until you start the pill. The pill will start working \n right away for birth control if you start on the first day of your\n period.</li>\n <li>Start your first pack of pills on the Sunday after you start your menstrual period. You should use a backup method of birth control\n (condoms with spermicide) until you start the pill. You also will\n need to use a backup method of birth control (condoms with\n spermicide) during the first 7 days of the pill package.</li>\n <li>Start your pills today. If you start your pills today, you should use a backup method of birth control (condoms with spermicide) during the first 7 days of the pill package. Birth control pills will start to protect you from pregnancy after the first week, if you take them correctly.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Effectiveness</strong></p>\n\n<p>Another answer cites a source that gives a very high effectiveness number. <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-pills\" rel=\"nofollow\">WebMD</a> states that \"when taken correctly, it is up to 99.9% effective\". However, there are a couple of problems with that number:</p>\n\n<p>First, WebMD doesn't provide a source for the number, and given that an ad for Bayer birth control pills appears directly next to it, I would have to assume that the number came from Bayer's advertising department rather than an objective scientific source. </p>\n\n<p>Second, the language WebMD uses is very important here. They state that it is \"<strong>up to</strong> 99.9% effective\" when \"<strong>taken correctly</strong>.\" Well, that's quite a bit like the gas mileage numbers automobile manufacturers state for their cars. They obtain those figures using professional drivers under strict laboratory conditions and, while accurate, virtually no consumer will ever achieve those same results because they are real people driving on real roads, not professionals driving on closed tracks. Likewise, <em>in the real world women do not achieve 99.9% effectiveness with birth control pills</em>. According to the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/unintendedpregnancy/pdf/family-planning-methods-2014.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">US Centers for Disease Control</a>, the effectiveness of birth control pills actually observed in the real world is 91%. Other authoritative sources such as the <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/opa/reproductive-health/contraception/birth-control-pills/\" rel=\"nofollow\">US Department of Health &amp; Human Services</a>, Planned Parenthood, et al. cite the same 91% figure. The 99.9% figure cited by WebMD is in fact obtained from <a href=\"http://www.contraceptivetechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CTFailureTable.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">perfect compliance during clinical trials</a>. (And yet it's still incorrect -- the actual figure is 99.7%.) As you might imagine, patient instructions and supervision of compliance during clinical trials is much stricter than it is in the real world of medicine. Perfect compliance in the real world is actually a rare thing. So you should assume going forward that you have about a 1-in-10 chance of becoming pregnant over the course of a year if you use birth control pills as your sole source of protection.</p>\n\n<p>If you would like to consider alternatives to the pill in the future, the CDC has published <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/unintendedpregnancy/pdf/family-planning-methods-2014.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">a very simple comparison of the effectiveness of various options</a>. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Other Facts I Need to Know</strong></p>\n\n<p>Some drugs reduce the effect of the pill and can cause an increased chance of pregnancy. It's probably a good idea to consult your doctor or the pharmacist who fills your prescription when you're given a new prescription. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5088", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3169/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5220, "author": "Nicow", "author_id": 3239, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3239", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As you pointed out, your bowl contains many many types of bacteria, the biodome. They live in harmony, balanced. No bacteria can overwhelm the other. These are commensal bacteria. \n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commensalism\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commensalism</a></p>\n\n<p>If, through whatever reason like antibiotics, some bacteria are wiped out then sometimes there is no way to restore the balans. A fecal transplant can reintroduce the missing bacteria, which then take back their place and reduce the c. difficile colony to a size where it is useful instead of harmful. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779307\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/779307</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5229, "author": "YviDe", "author_id": 1830, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1830", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It seems to be unclear and likely some kind of combination of several factors. </p>\n\n<p>The paper <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491681/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fecal microbiota transplantation in relapsing <em>Clostridium difficile</em> infection</a> mentions two theories as to why it works (and works very well):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The introduction of bacteria able to compete with <em>C. difficile</em> rebalances the fecal microbiota - under normal circumstances, CD is outcompeted by other bacteria (not always enough to vanish, it can be found <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/clostridium-difficile/pages/introduction.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">in about 1 in 30 healthy people</a>, but enough to not be problematic), and it can only thrive after the use of antibiotics. A FMT reintroduces its competitors </li>\n<li>The introduction of the 'new' bacteria leads to an immune response that helps eradicating <em>C. difficile</em></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The first mechanism is what I found mentioned in a few other sources as well, for example on <a href=\"http://www.openbiome.org/about-fmt/\" rel=\"nofollow\">OpenBiome</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Though the mechanism has yet to be determined, it is believed that FMT works by repopulating the patient’s microbiome with diverse microorganisms that competitively exclude <em>C. difficile</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Another hypothesis is that the acid composition in the feces is significantly altered and inhibits growth of CD, see <a href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147210\" rel=\"nofollow\">Changes in Colonic Bile Acid Composition following Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Are Sufficient to Control <em>Clostridium difficile</em> Germination and Growth</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 14691, "author": "LаngLаngС", "author_id": 11231, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/11231", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As an updating addendum to <a href=\"https://health.stackexchange.com/a/5229/11231\">YviDe's answer</a>:</p>\n\n<p>While still very far from being completely understood fecal matter transplants are more than just the commensal <em>bacteria</em> that are beneficial to gut health and able to \"just outcompete\" Clostridium difficile (CD).</p>\n\n<p>Humans are not only human dna-derived cells and many many bacteria. One part often overlooked is that the human microbiome is also populated with a an abundance of viruses that are surprisingly beneficial for the host's health.</p>\n\n<p>Healthy subjects may be hosts to viruses that not only eat away the food of CD or produce substances that are a bit harmful to CD's metabolism. A healthy gut contains some viruses called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">bacteriophages</a> that actively seek and destroy CD.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><a href=\"http://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2017/05/24/gutjnl-2017-313952\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><strong>Bacteriophage transfer during faecal microbiota transplantation in Clostridium difficile infection is associated with treatment outcome:</strong></a><br>\n _{(<a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2017-313952\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2017-313952</a>)}</p>\n \n <p><strong>Results:</strong> Subjects with CDI demonstrated a significantly higher abundance of bacteriophage Caudovirales and a lower Caudovirales diversity, richness and evenness compared with healthy household controls. Significant correlations were observed between bacterial families Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Caudovirales taxa in CDI. FMT treatment resulted in a significant decrease in the abundance of Caudovirales in CDI. Cure after FMT was observed when donor-derived Caudovirales contigs occupied a larger fraction of the enteric virome in the recipients (p=0.024). In treatment responders, FMT was associated with alterations in the virome and the bacterial microbiome, while vancomycin treatment led to alterations in the bacterial community alone.</p>\n \n <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> In a preliminary study, CDI is characterised by enteric virome dysbiosis. Treatment response in FMT was associated with a high colonisation level of donor-derived Caudovirales taxa in the recipient. Caudovirales bacteriophages may play a role in the efficacy of FMT in CDI.</p>\n \n <p><strong>Discussion:</strong>\n Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is highly effective for the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).</p>\n \n <p>Studies have shown bacterial colonisation after FMT, but data on viral alterations in CDI and the association between viral colonisation and treatment outcome are largely unknown.</p>\n \n <p>CDI was characterised by a high abundance of Caudovirales bacteriophages and a low Caudovirales diversity, richness and evenness compared with healthy household controls.</p>\n \n <p>Donor-derived Caudovirales taxa occupied a significantly larger fraction of the enteric virome in CDI subjects who responded to FMT compared with those who did not.</p>\n \n <p>FMT was associated with alterations in the enteric virome and bacterial microbiome, while vancomycin treatment was associated with alterations of the bacterial microbiome only.</p>\n \n <p>Recipients infused with donor faeces consisting of a higher richness of Caudovirales than that of recipient were all cured with FMT. CDI subjects who had restoration of bacteria community only were found to have disease recurrence.</p>\n \n <p>The restoration of virome community is as important as that of bacterial microbiome in FMT.</p>\n \n <p>Donor selection based on virome characteristics should be considered in FMT practice.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This means that the explanation models given in the first answer are not wrong, but likely incomplete. </p>\n\n<p>Further links:<br> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://jcm.asm.org/content/17/6/1148.short\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Bacteriophage and bacteriocin typing scheme for Clostridium difficile.</a><br>\n<a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075996499901920\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Prevention of Clostridium difficile -induced ileocecitis with Bacteriophage</a>(Hamster model)<br>\n<a href=\"http://jb.asm.org/content/190/20/6734.short\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Molecular Characterization of a Clostridium difficile Bacteriophage and Its Cloned Biologically Active Endolysin</a><br>\n<a href=\"http://jb.asm.org/content/188/7/2568.short\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Genomic Organization and Molecular Characterization of Clostridium difficile Bacteriophage ΦCD119</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5215", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/64/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5227, "author": "YviDe", "author_id": 1830, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1830", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>This is a really interesting question, because it really isn't as easy as people being a bit more susceptible in the winter. There's no definitive answer yet.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://jvi.asm.org/content/81/11/5429.full\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Influenza Seasonality: Underlying Causes and Modeling Theories</a> says:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In temperate climates, flu infections at whatever level of intensity are characterized by a flu season. In these areas, the disease is thought to exist at a low level throughout the year but exhibit a marked seasonal increase, typically during the winter months. Influenza epidemics and outbreaks occur in tropical areas as well, although the timing and impact are not as well defined</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The exact reason why this flu season happens are not known, but a few things come together that are good for influenza:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.plospathogens.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.0030151&amp;representation=PDF\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Dry, cold air favors transmission</a> - especially <a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163445315001061\" rel=\"noreferrer\">dry air</a> is good for it, both for transmission and survival on, for example, surfaces. Heating during the winter decreases humidity inside, while the cold air outside is always less humid.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870528/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Vitamin D is thought to help against infection</a> - during the winter, vitamin D production by the body is lower. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Things that are debated:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Crowding and being inside more might be a factor, with people being closer together because they spend a lot of time indoors.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As for the second question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If nobody was sick before winter, where are the viruses coming from?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Well, there's a whole different hemisphere \"down\" from where you probably are, where they have the flu season while the Northern Hemisphere is mostly healthy :) <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3145127/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Air travel is convenient for influenza.</a> Even without it, we'd still have influenza during the winter, though - as mentioned above it <em>does</em> occur in tropical areas and can spread from there. Also, humans aren't the only species to carry around influenza - <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/viruses/transmission.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">wild birds are one of the primary sources of influenza</a>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do people with a constantly weakened immune system (e.g. AIDS) catch flu in summer too?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Well, everyone can - it's unlikely, <a href=\"http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/4/595.full\" rel=\"noreferrer\">but it does happen</a>. And as flu season passes, there just aren't many people around that you can catch it from.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 23660, "author": "Bipasha", "author_id": 19610, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/19610", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Well, since you already have a well-written answer, I just wanted to add this as another possible cause:</p>\n\n<p>Research done by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 2008 found that the influenza virus has a butter-like coating. The coating melts when it enters the respiratory tract. In the winter, the coating becomes a hardened shell; therefore, it can survive in the cold weather similar to a spore. In the summer, the coating melts before the virus reaches the respiratory tract.</p>\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https://zenodo.org/record/1233359#.Xr9iDmnhUzQ\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://zenodo.org/record/1233359#.Xr9iDmnhUzQ</a></p>\n\n<p>Really cool question, by the way!</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5226", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3269/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5284, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Answer: 1 Kilocalorie equals 1 Calorie. Note the capital \"C\". 1 kilocalorie equals 1000 calories. Note the lowercase \"c\". So Calories and kilocalories are pretty much the same thing.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Kilocalories</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It's easy to get confused about calories and kilocalories since, in a\n nutrition context, values are actually given for the number of\n kilocalories in a food, but referred to simply as calories.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>1000 calories= 1 Kcal</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nutrition.gov/whats-food/commonly-asked-questions-faqs\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Nutrition.gov</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The \"calorie\" we refer to in food is actually kilocalorie. One (1)\n kilocalorie is the same as one (1) Calorie (upper case C).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/energy/1-cal-to-kcal.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Rapidtables.com</a></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>1 Cal = 1 kcal</li>\n<li>1 small calorie (cal) is equal to - 1/1000 small kilocalorie (kcal):</li>\n<li>1 cal = 0.001 kcal</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.caloriesecrets.net/how-many-calories-should-i-burn-a-day-to-lose-weight/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">May help you understand the relationship between them.</a> </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5285, "author": "supersarenka", "author_id": 1911, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1911", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Generally speaking, 1 kilocalorie = 1000 calories (<a href=\"http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calorie\" rel=\"noreferrer\">definition here</a>).</p>\n\n<p>But the confusing part is explained here:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The energy used in physical activity and the energy stored in foods is actually given in kilocalories (the heat energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius). Often kilocalories are referred to as kcals or as large calories or as Calories, where the capital ‘C’ indicates kilocalories. However, because a calorie is such a small unit of energy the word ‘calorie’ to define a small calorie is mainly used in scientific literature. <strong>Most of the time ‘calorie’ spelled with the small ‘c’ actually refers to the kilocalories provided in food and used during exercise.</strong> (<a href=\"http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/remarkablecalorie.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">you can read about it more here</a>)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So, the answer is, in your case, \"calorie\" means the same as \"Kcal\" or \"Kilocalorie\".</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5282", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3305/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5311, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It applies to you. You have a history of seizures for the rest of your life.</p>\n\n<p>Check out this <a href=\"http://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/hw108757\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">basic Medical History for Epilepsy list of questions</a> as a reference.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5313, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>You would have a history of seizures even if they occured 5 years ago.</strong> Histories of disorders go back decades(your lifetime), especially if there is risk of recurrence as in cancer or seizures.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B019TH6SSM\" rel=\"nofollow\">Amazon.com</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Use cautiously</strong> in patients with history of seizures, based on reports\n of seizures due to gingko seed ingestion.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Since you need to use it cautiously know that the FDA didnt evaulate any of their statements by the manufacturers own admission in the legal part of the label. </p>\n\n<p>Gingko may have links to seizures as the conpany said. Further references on that are below:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16419414\" rel=\"nofollow\">ncbi.nlm.nih.com</a></p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2010/acs-presspac-april-14-2010/ginkgo-herbal-medicines-may-increase-seizures-in-people-with-epiy.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">acs.org</a></p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong><em>Knowing this and based on your risk factors you should consult a physician to answer your questions especially for possible other medications and how pertinent your history of seizures is.</em></strong> </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5308", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3336/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5442, "author": "Ben Cannon", "author_id": 3362, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3362", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Anything high in sulfur compounds (brassicas and alliums, particularly garlic, mustard, and horseradish) or high in vitamin C can help boost the immune system, although I can't tell you off-hand about the technicalities of why they help in the case of an over-active immune system when it comes to allergies, but from personal experience in improving my own hayfever symptoms it works.</p>\n\n<p>As for adaptation, there has been a lot of recent experimental interest in the role that particular intestinal flora can play in allergies (among other things). So a diverse, balanced, diet high in unprocessed fibre could help.</p>\n\n<p>And sometimes avoidance can be a good remedy. You can usually find pollen forecasts (dry windy days are the bad days). So maybe don't plan a picnic on those days, or mowing the lawns using a dust-mask and goggles (although the payoff there is that you overheat much more quickly!)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5443, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Local honey.</p>\n\n<p>There's no science to support it as far as I can find, but there are many people who swear by it. (I know several personally.) Considering that's its harmless, cheap and tasty, it's probably worth a try. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5557, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<ul>\n<li>Nettle-Peppermint Tea: Based on the mechanism of action, it should be noted that plain peppermint or used other ways should help. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://everydayroots.com/allergy-remedies\" rel=\"nofollow\">everyday-roots.com</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>peppermint contains a type of flavonoid called luteolin-7-O-rutinoside\n which can help inhibit the activity and secretion of anti-inflammatory\n enzymes, such as histamines, and greatly reduce the dreadful\n discomfort that comes along them.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Bee Pollen. This is said to work if local honey doesn't. Basically you take the allergens before the season to help build a immunity. The honey must be clean and free from insecticides. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This study from 2013 showed a improving in allergy symptoms after honey in high doses over 8 weeks: <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24188941\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ingestion of honey improves the symptoms of allergic rhinitis: evidence from a randomized placebo-controlled trial in the East coast of Peninsular Malaysia.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://everydayroots.com/allergy-remedies\" rel=\"nofollow\">everyday-roots.com</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>make sure you are not anaphylactic or severely allergic to bees, or so\n allergic to pollen that you experience anaphylaxis.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>2011 study about Birch Pollen Honey between November and March helped reduce 60% of allergy symptoms. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Citrus is suppose to help due to the fact that it nourished your immune system. But due to this <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1578094\" rel=\"nofollow\">ncbi article</a>, it does not appear to be that effective.</p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://Lavender%20essential%20oil%20inhalation%20suppresses%20allergic%20airway%20inflammation%20and%20mucous%20cell%20hyperplasia%20in%20a%20murine%20model%20of%20asthma.\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lavender oil inhalation</a>: </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Lvn inhibits allergic inflammation and mucous cell hyperplasia with\n suppression of T-helper-2 cell cytokines and Muc5b expression in a\n murine model of asthma. Consequently, Lvn may be useful as an\n alternative medicine for bronchial asthma.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://healthyfocus.org/essential-oils-for-allergies/\" rel=\"nofollow\">healthyfocus.org</a> also lists some other oils that may help, such as eucalyptus, lemon and peppermint.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Onions are supposed to contain <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-294-quercetin.aspx?activeingredientid=294&amp;activeingredientname=quercetin\" rel=\"nofollow\">Quercetin</a> which is supposed to work similarly to anti-histamines to inhibit inflammation and secondarily bronchodilate. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/best-natural-antihistamines\" rel=\"nofollow\">healthline.com</a> supports research for onions helping relieve some allergy symptoms. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5309", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3014/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5350, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Unfortunately, you can't make a probabilistic estimate if you will contract heart disease or some form of cancer - there are too many variables to consider. How big is the room? How many people are smoking? Some people smoke all their life and die without cancer or disease - though poor lung function. But I found some interesting information, we can use it to make an estimation:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It is estimated that only 15% of cigarette smoke gets inhaled by the\nsmoker. The remaining 85% lingers in the air for everyone to breathe.</p></li>\n<li><p>If a person spends more than two hours in a room where someone is<br>\nsmoking, the nonsmoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes. </p></li>\n<li><p>Secondhand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of disability\nand early death (after active smoking and alcohol) in the United<br>\nStates. For every eight smokers who die from smoking, one innocent<br>\nbystander dies from secondhand smoke.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Enclosed smoking areas are far more toxic than exposure to second-hand smoke from bystanders outside. Anti-smoking campaigns (rightfully) tend to exaggerate a bit, if there's one person smoking one cigarette, you won't absorb four cigarettes... So my estimate is that within your 4 hours you will absorb 1-5 cigarettes worth of toxins, depending on how many people are smoking, how large the room is, and how well ventilated it is.</p>\n\n<p>A one-time exposure for four hours is definitely statistically negligible, but it sounds like you want to do this regularly. 4 weeks in a month are equivalent to 4-20 cigarettes smoked. In a year that's exposure equivalent to 48-240 cigarettes. Let's say you will not go to the casino three months of the year, and we take the average of that estimate. That puts you in the ballpark of 120 cigarettes a year, or 1/3rd of a cigarette per day. Clinically, smoking is estimated in pack years <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year</a> and this estimate is far below a pack year - there are no studies concerning such a low amount of consumption I could find.</p>\n\n<p>But it still boils down to regular exposure to carcinogens, which one way or another raises your risk. Smokers go through much more tobacco, so studies are hard to find for such a low exposure, but it is definitely significant. If you go to the casino once a month for 4-5 hours you will be fine. But if you're concerned about long-term health I wouldn't go every week. Also gambling can be more addicting than tobacco. ;)</p>\n\n<p>Hope this estimate helps you.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Sources:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>This article will be very helpful to you:\n<a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke</a></p></li>\n<li><p>Also I found this interesting factsheet on secondhand smoke from<br>\nuniversity of Minnesota, though it looks quite dated, there's no date\nof publication. (the three factoids)<br>\n<a href=\"http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html</a></p></li>\n<li><p>Whats a pack year: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year</a></p></li>\n<li><p>I am a recovering stupid smoker myself.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5571, "author": "Klaus K", "author_id": 3508, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3508", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Maybe this quote from a scientist who did secondhand smoke studies himself is more truthful than the first answer in the thread, which is grossly misleading. Secondhand smoke is highly diluded, by one-thousandth (1:1000) compared to the smoke inhaled directly from the cigarette by a smoker:</p>\n\n<p>\"The most careful studies that have evaluated the actual exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke in the home, at work, and in other settings indicate that the average exposure of a passively exposed non-smoker is roughly equivalent to smoking about 10 cigarettes PER YEAR. </p>\n\n<p>This is approximately one-thousandth the exposure of the average smoker. These studies were conducted in the 1990s, when smoking restrictions were much more limited than they are today. In view of this level of exposure, it is hardly surprising that even the best epidemiologic studies show a weak, inconsistent, or no risk.\"</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreykabat/2013/12/21/the-passive-smoking-issue-is-a-rorschach-test-for-the-ability-to-think-scientifically/#6efbf54b646d\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreykabat/2013/12/21/the-passive-smoking-issue-is-a-rorschach-test-for-the-ability-to-think-scientifically/#6efbf54b646d</a> </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5572, "author": "Klaus K", "author_id": 3508, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3508", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Q: \"How much risk (heart disease, lung cancer, etc.) am I at exactly? Is it a negligible amount or more serious. If it is possible to calculate or estimate, how can I do this? A source would be much appreciated.\"</p>\n\n<p>A: You are at no risk of serious diseases from average exposure to secondhand smoke. According to Roger Jenkins, PhD, retired expert at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Chemical Sciences division, the average non-smoker who lives in a house with indoor smoking, inhales a little less smoke than one-thousandth of the amount of smoke inhaled by the avarage smoker: </p>\n\n<p>\"According to Jenkins, the typical smoker inhales 480 milligrams of smoke a day and 32 milligrams of nicotine per day. In a home where smoking is unrestricted, the typical nonsmoker will inhale the equivalent of 0.45 milligrams of smoke particles and 0.028 milligrams of nicotine.\"</p>\n\n<p>It means that while the average smoker inhales 30 cigarettes a day, 30 days a month = 900 cigarettes a month, the \"passive smoker\" inhales 0.9 cigarettes or roughly one (1) cigarette per month. And that level of smoke is not going to do you any harm, according to studies in smokers.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020405/med_280798.shtml#.VxmGA-aSAud\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020405/med_280798.shtml#.VxmGA-aSAud</a> </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5336", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3354/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5350, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Unfortunately, you can't make a probabilistic estimate if you will contract heart disease or some form of cancer - there are too many variables to consider. How big is the room? How many people are smoking? Some people smoke all their life and die without cancer or disease - though poor lung function. But I found some interesting information, we can use it to make an estimation:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It is estimated that only 15% of cigarette smoke gets inhaled by the\nsmoker. The remaining 85% lingers in the air for everyone to breathe.</p></li>\n<li><p>If a person spends more than two hours in a room where someone is<br>\nsmoking, the nonsmoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes. </p></li>\n<li><p>Secondhand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of disability\nand early death (after active smoking and alcohol) in the United<br>\nStates. For every eight smokers who die from smoking, one innocent<br>\nbystander dies from secondhand smoke.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Enclosed smoking areas are far more toxic than exposure to second-hand smoke from bystanders outside. Anti-smoking campaigns (rightfully) tend to exaggerate a bit, if there's one person smoking one cigarette, you won't absorb four cigarettes... So my estimate is that within your 4 hours you will absorb 1-5 cigarettes worth of toxins, depending on how many people are smoking, how large the room is, and how well ventilated it is.</p>\n\n<p>A one-time exposure for four hours is definitely statistically negligible, but it sounds like you want to do this regularly. 4 weeks in a month are equivalent to 4-20 cigarettes smoked. In a year that's exposure equivalent to 48-240 cigarettes. Let's say you will not go to the casino three months of the year, and we take the average of that estimate. That puts you in the ballpark of 120 cigarettes a year, or 1/3rd of a cigarette per day. Clinically, smoking is estimated in pack years <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year</a> and this estimate is far below a pack year - there are no studies concerning such a low amount of consumption I could find.</p>\n\n<p>But it still boils down to regular exposure to carcinogens, which one way or another raises your risk. Smokers go through much more tobacco, so studies are hard to find for such a low exposure, but it is definitely significant. If you go to the casino once a month for 4-5 hours you will be fine. But if you're concerned about long-term health I wouldn't go every week. Also gambling can be more addicting than tobacco. ;)</p>\n\n<p>Hope this estimate helps you.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Sources:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>This article will be very helpful to you:\n<a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke</a></p></li>\n<li><p>Also I found this interesting factsheet on secondhand smoke from<br>\nuniversity of Minnesota, though it looks quite dated, there's no date\nof publication. (the three factoids)<br>\n<a href=\"http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html</a></p></li>\n<li><p>Whats a pack year: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pack-year</a></p></li>\n<li><p>I am a recovering stupid smoker myself.</p></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5571, "author": "Klaus K", "author_id": 3508, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3508", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Maybe this quote from a scientist who did secondhand smoke studies himself is more truthful than the first answer in the thread, which is grossly misleading. Secondhand smoke is highly diluded, by one-thousandth (1:1000) compared to the smoke inhaled directly from the cigarette by a smoker:</p>\n\n<p>\"The most careful studies that have evaluated the actual exposure of non-smokers to tobacco smoke in the home, at work, and in other settings indicate that the average exposure of a passively exposed non-smoker is roughly equivalent to smoking about 10 cigarettes PER YEAR. </p>\n\n<p>This is approximately one-thousandth the exposure of the average smoker. These studies were conducted in the 1990s, when smoking restrictions were much more limited than they are today. In view of this level of exposure, it is hardly surprising that even the best epidemiologic studies show a weak, inconsistent, or no risk.\"</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreykabat/2013/12/21/the-passive-smoking-issue-is-a-rorschach-test-for-the-ability-to-think-scientifically/#6efbf54b646d\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreykabat/2013/12/21/the-passive-smoking-issue-is-a-rorschach-test-for-the-ability-to-think-scientifically/#6efbf54b646d</a> </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5572, "author": "Klaus K", "author_id": 3508, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3508", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Q: \"How much risk (heart disease, lung cancer, etc.) am I at exactly? Is it a negligible amount or more serious. If it is possible to calculate or estimate, how can I do this? A source would be much appreciated.\"</p>\n\n<p>A: You are at no risk of serious diseases from average exposure to secondhand smoke. According to Roger Jenkins, PhD, retired expert at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Chemical Sciences division, the average non-smoker who lives in a house with indoor smoking, inhales a little less smoke than one-thousandth of the amount of smoke inhaled by the avarage smoker: </p>\n\n<p>\"According to Jenkins, the typical smoker inhales 480 milligrams of smoke a day and 32 milligrams of nicotine per day. In a home where smoking is unrestricted, the typical nonsmoker will inhale the equivalent of 0.45 milligrams of smoke particles and 0.028 milligrams of nicotine.\"</p>\n\n<p>It means that while the average smoker inhales 30 cigarettes a day, 30 days a month = 900 cigarettes a month, the \"passive smoker\" inhales 0.9 cigarettes or roughly one (1) cigarette per month. And that level of smoke is not going to do you any harm, according to studies in smokers.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020405/med_280798.shtml#.VxmGA-aSAud\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020405/med_280798.shtml#.VxmGA-aSAud</a> </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5337", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5369, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>That the saliva has anti-bacterial compunds in it? It also maintains a certain pH in the mouth.</p>\n\n<p>Anyways the lack of bacterial build up and odor says more about the person's diet though.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5371, "author": "anongoodnurse", "author_id": 169, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/169", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Nothing out of the ordinary, unless it is subjected to testing. Anything proposed outside of what is known about oral health and saliva is simply hypothesis. </p>\n\n<p>Oral health could be influenced by diet (eating certain foods are less likely to feed oral bacteria), fluid consumption, salivary flow, or any number of things.</p>\n\n<p>_{<a href=\"http://www.thejpd.org/article/S0022-3913%2801%2954032-9/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow\">A review of saliva: Normal composition, flow, and function</a>}</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5366", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1696/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5369, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>That the saliva has anti-bacterial compunds in it? It also maintains a certain pH in the mouth.</p>\n\n<p>Anyways the lack of bacterial build up and odor says more about the person's diet though.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5371, "author": "anongoodnurse", "author_id": 169, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/169", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Nothing out of the ordinary, unless it is subjected to testing. Anything proposed outside of what is known about oral health and saliva is simply hypothesis. </p>\n\n<p>Oral health could be influenced by diet (eating certain foods are less likely to feed oral bacteria), fluid consumption, salivary flow, or any number of things.</p>\n\n<p>_{<a href=\"http://www.thejpd.org/article/S0022-3913%2801%2954032-9/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow\">A review of saliva: Normal composition, flow, and function</a>}</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5380", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3367/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5435, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The rapid ingestion of ice cold water can cause <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10208334\" rel=\"nofollow\">death or syncope</a> so it would seem sensible to drink those more slowly. If there are no neuromuscular issues that might cause inhalation of the water, then for most people drinking slowly or quickly is a matter of preference. However, Contrary to your last list item, uncontrolled drinking can cause water intoxication which can lead to <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1770067/\" rel=\"nofollow\">death</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5455, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 5, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I don't see a lot of difference between drinking few sips and 1 cup (8 oz, 237 mL) of water at once.</p>\n\n<p>If you drink a large amount of water at once, for example, 500 mL (2 cups, 16 oz), all this water will be quickly absorbed and will expand the blood volume. Volume receptors in the heart will detect an increase of blood volume and will trigger excretion of some water from the blood through the kidneys before the water could reach the body cells. This way the drinking will be less efficient than drinking smaller amounts, like 1 cup at the time.</p>\n\n<p>This can be true even when you are dehydrated and you, for example, miss 2 liters of water in your body (you can know that by weighing yourself). When you drink 1 liter of water at once (still only the half of the amount you miss) you may observe that you will need to urinate shortly after that (because of mechanism described above). If you drink smaller amounts, like 1 cup (237 mL) at the time, for example, 30 min apart, you have a better chance to keep a greater percent of water in your body.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Water intoxication</strong> is not studied by experiments, from obvious reasons, so the most knowledge about this comes from case reports and newspaper news.</p>\n\n<p>According to one report, a woman who was on a low-calorie and hence low-sodium diet for about a week, drank 4 liters of water in 2 hours and later died in hospital from water intoxication (hyponatremia).\n<a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bradford/7779079.stm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bradford/7779079.stm</a>\nThis is the lowest amount to cause water intoxication in adults, I've heard of.</p>\n\n<p>One US military source recommends drinking only up to 1.4 liters of water per hour, when you drink it for several hours in a row.\n<a href=\"http://hprc-online.org/nutrition/files/current-u-s-military-fluid-replacement\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://hprc-online.org/nutrition/files/current-u-s-military-fluid-replacement</a> </p>\n\n<p>More cases of water intoxication:\n<a href=\"http://www.ehealthstar.com/conditions/water-intoxication\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.ehealthstar.com/conditions/water-intoxication</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5429", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/13/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5454, "author": "julien", "author_id": 3395, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3395", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Permanent sleep deprivation will you in less than a week.</p>\n\n<p>Short naps seem to be associated with cognitive benefits.</p>\n\n<p>If you think of metabolic disorders, resarch shows that it is rather the <em>feeding</em> at night-time that triggers the disorders, not the sleep pattern in itself.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5457, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11872199/Why-power-naps-may-be-bad-for-your-health.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this article</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Scientists from the University of Tokyo are unsure whether it is the napping itself or an underlying condition which makes people more sleepy, that is driving the effect.</p>\n<p>After examining more than 200 studies involved 261,000 participants, they found that severe daytime fatigue was associated with a 56 per cent increased risk of developing diabetes.</p>\n<p>And taking a regular daytime nap for an hour or more was found to increase the risk of developing the condition by 46 per cent.\nAuthor Dr Tomohide Yamada, from the University of Tokyo, Japan, said: &quot;Excessive daytime sleepiness and taking longer naps were associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, with a short nap not increasing this risk.\n&quot;Daytime napping might be a consequence of night-time sleep disturbance such as obstructive sleep apnea.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>So, according to current knowledge, the link to adverse health effects may well be mediated via other medical problems such as sleep apnea causing excessive sleepiness during the day. There is no evidence for a causal link between sleeping more during the day and a higher risk of adverse health effects.</p>\n<p>To get to such evidence, one could try to correct for a higher incidence of conditions such as sleep apnea in the group of people who sleep more during the day. But the problem with this is that not enough is known about all such risk factors which also influence sleep, so any residual effect that is left may then be due to missing some factors, or having underestimated the effect the known factors have. Also, if you find that sleeping more during the day has a positive effect, that result could be an artifact of having overcompensated for effects such as sleep apnea.</p>\n<p>A better approach would be to do an intervention study where people are asked to sleep during the day. But then one would face other problems. Many people who are not used to sleeping during the day may find it difficult to do so. Also, any negative health effects may not arise until many decades of being subjected to sleeping more during the day. The effect you end up measuring after a few years may not be consistent with long term health effects. E.g. what if sleeping during the day helps you to lower the chances of a heart attack if your arteries are clogged, but the same habit over decades increases the chances of getting such clogged arteries?</p>\n<p>That's why it's better to stick to what is known about a healthy lifestyle such as getting a lot of exercise, and going to the doctor if there are issues that prevent one from doing that. If you feel so tired and sleepy during the day that you have to sleep, then that is in itself a good reason to visit the doctor.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5452", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3433/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7159, "author": "nelomad", "author_id": 479, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/479", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No one likes CVS, and computer glasses are <a href=\"http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/computer_glasses.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">said</a> to increase contrast and decrease glare to alleviate eye stress. If you are sure you will be using the computer in the future for prolonged periods and have <em>considerable</em> discomfort, it will be worth the investment for eye strain relief and ultimately less magnification.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11237, "author": "kenorb", "author_id": 114, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/114", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>According to eye care providers, computer glasses designed for digital screens which can help alleviate many of the factors which cause eye strain symptoms, although do not completely prevent it.</p>\n<p>For example they may help the eye to adjust to intermediate-distance objects such as computer screens. There are some with an antireflective coating which may help with eye strain by softening the glare of harsh indoor and outdoor lighting and improving the contract of digital content. There are also lenses that can absorb harmful blue light (they're infused with melanin or use a blue-light filtering coating.</p>\n<p>Here are the type of lens designed for computer screens:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>Single Vision Lenses</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A prescription lens that is optimized for individuals’ computer screen working distance. This is\nthe least flexible lens option as the extent of vision (depth of field) is very limited.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n<li><p>Progressive Lenses</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A solution for your everyday visual needs that addresses far, intermediate and near vision.\nThese lenses are a good solution for those with limited computer use. Due to a limited intermediate vision width of\nfield, they should not be worn for prolonged computer time.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n<li><p>Computer Lenses</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>A work station solution for those that are on a computer for more than two hours a day. With a\nwide intermediate and near area, these lenses have limited room-length viewing distance.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>And type of treatments and tints:</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>Anti-Reflective Coating</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Reduces reflection and glare from indoor and outdoor lighting sources in addition to ghost\nreflections from light sources that can contribute to visual noise and potential visual distractions.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n<li><p>HEV Coatings</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Reduces reflection while blocking out potentially harmful HEV light. Some fluorescent light and\nbacklit LED devices produce a lot of light at the blue end of the spectrum.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n<li><p>Color Filters</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>May filter out harmful blue and violet light that is emitted by many digital devices. These filters may\nalso be prescribed to reduce harsh office lighting and balance colors.</p>\n</blockquote>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p>To determine whether you need such glasses and they would work in your case, it is best to schedule a comprehensive eye exam to determine whether such prescription is needed.</p>\n<hr />\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https://www.thevisioncouncil.org/sites/default/files/TVCDigitEYEzedReport2013.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Digiteyezed - The daily impack of digital screens on the eye health of Americans</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 26264, "author": "John David", "author_id": 22066, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/22066", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From my experience with chronic eye strain and subsequent recovery, computer glasses didn't help, because the blue light was not the reason for strain (<a href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30570598/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">ref1</a>, <a href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32007978/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">ref2</a>). Eye drops and all the other methods suggested by people didn't help either. The strain was caused by lack of rest for the intraocular and extraocular muscles. So there were three things that cured the strain:</p>\n<ol>\n<li>Getting 8 hours of <strong>uninterrupted</strong> sleep each night.</li>\n<li>Closing the eyes after 20 minutes of computer use, and relaxing the neck muscles and face muscles.</li>\n<li>Getting a well balanced diet of properly cooked food. Food that's not properly cooked or burnt will cause stomach discomfort, leading to sleep loss (and sleep loss is one of the major reasons for fatigue-related strain). Also, get sufficient protein in your diet. Muscles need protein. A well balanced diet is necessary.</li>\n</ol>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5466", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3446/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5475, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The intestinal and luminal protozoa are normally identified in stool specimens, the blood protozoa by examination of blood films with microscopy (malaria), and lymph node biopsy and serological testing (toxoplasmosis), nematodes, cestodes and trematodes by identifying eggs/larvae in stool/sputum/urine specimens. Advanced disease states might require imaging such as MRI of the central nervous system in <a href=\"http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ipid/2009/180742/\">neurocystercicosis</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Treatment is specific for the parasite in question.</p>\n\n<p>You can read textbook chapters on <a href=\"http://www.microbiologybook.org/book/parasit-sta.htm\">parasitology</a> online.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5476, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Intestinal parasites can be detected by stool tests (and additional blood tests if necessary). Note that these tests are often false negative, which means they may not detect parasites even if you have them, so if you still suspect you have parasites, you need to repeat the tests. Treatment is with antiparasitic drugs dependent on the type of parasite.</p>\n\n<p>When parasites invade other body organs, CT, MRI or organ biopsy can be used.</p>\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http://www.aafp.org/afp/2004/0301/p1161.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Common Intestinal Parasites (American Family Physician)</a></p>\n\n<p>On <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/az/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Centers of Disease Control and Prevention</a> you have an extensive A-Z list of parasitic diseases with links to detailed descriptions of the symptoms, tests and treatment.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5470", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/114/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5480, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The amount of radiation exposure you get from RAI treatment is small - statistically safe, but it is still not negligible (and certainly safer than not getting treatment). By maintaining distance from other people for a few days you are guaranteeing 100% that this radiation will not harm them (no matter how small the probability).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5484, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The main risk is to children and pregnant women associating with the person receiving I-131 treatment. Since I-131 is excreted in bodily fluids and taken up into the thyroid, those susceptible populations are at increased risk for thyroid cancer if they ingest contaminated bodily fluids. The person receiving the treatment is not because the cells that might become malignant are destroyed by the treatment.</p>\n\n<p>I-131 is a major product of nuclear fallout, and is thought to have contributed to significant thyroid cancer in the USA from Nevada weapons testing.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In 1997, NCI conducted a detailed evaluation of dose to the thyroid glands of U.S. residents from I-131 in fallout from tests in Nevada. In a related activity, we evaluated the risks of thyroid cancer from that exposure and estimated that about 49,000 fallout-related cases might occur in the United States, almost all of them among persons who were under age 20 at some time during the period 1951-57, with 95-percent uncertainty limits of 11,300 and 212,000. The estimated risk may be compared with some 400,000 lifetime thyroid cancers expected in the same population in the absence of any fallout exposure.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2006/1/fallout-from-nuclear-weapons-tests-and-cancer-risks/99999\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2006/1/fallout-from-nuclear-weapons-tests-and-cancer-risks/99999</a></p>\n\n<p>I presume that distance is advised to avoid gamma radiation emitted by the I-131 in the patient's body rather then the beta radiation which would be largely confined to the thyroid gland, and to emphasize a practical distance to minimize the ingestion of any contaminated fluids.</p>\n\n<p>The question then arises as to what is the safe dose of gamma radiation for a person in whom there is no therapeutic benefit. The answer has to be extrapolated from biophysics and the effect of higher doses since looking at low doses in a population requires too large a number of subjects.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In summary, given our current state of knowledge, the most reasonable assumption is that the cancer risks from low doses of x- or γ-rays decrease linearly with decreasing dose. In light of the evidence for downwardly curving dose responses (see Figs. 2 and 4), this linear assumption is not necessarily the most conservative approach, as sometimes has been suggested (63, 64), and it is likely that it will result in an underestimate of some radiation risks and an overestimate of others. Given that it is supported by experimentally grounded, quantifiable, biophysical arguments, a linear extrapolation of cancer risks from intermediate to very low doses currently appears to be the most appropriate methodology. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/100/24/13761.full\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.pnas.org/content/100/24/13761.full</a></p>\n\n<p>Since these are assumptions, the precautionary principle applies. Since the gamma radiation from the body of the treated patient can travel several meters through air, and beta radiation from excreted I-131 <a href=\"http://www.oseh.umich.edu/radiation/I131.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow\">1.65 m</a>, then restricting the contact to outside these areas would limit unnecessary exposure.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5478", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3452/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5480, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The amount of radiation exposure you get from RAI treatment is small - statistically safe, but it is still not negligible (and certainly safer than not getting treatment). By maintaining distance from other people for a few days you are guaranteeing 100% that this radiation will not harm them (no matter how small the probability).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5484, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The main risk is to children and pregnant women associating with the person receiving I-131 treatment. Since I-131 is excreted in bodily fluids and taken up into the thyroid, those susceptible populations are at increased risk for thyroid cancer if they ingest contaminated bodily fluids. The person receiving the treatment is not because the cells that might become malignant are destroyed by the treatment.</p>\n\n<p>I-131 is a major product of nuclear fallout, and is thought to have contributed to significant thyroid cancer in the USA from Nevada weapons testing.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In 1997, NCI conducted a detailed evaluation of dose to the thyroid glands of U.S. residents from I-131 in fallout from tests in Nevada. In a related activity, we evaluated the risks of thyroid cancer from that exposure and estimated that about 49,000 fallout-related cases might occur in the United States, almost all of them among persons who were under age 20 at some time during the period 1951-57, with 95-percent uncertainty limits of 11,300 and 212,000. The estimated risk may be compared with some 400,000 lifetime thyroid cancers expected in the same population in the absence of any fallout exposure.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2006/1/fallout-from-nuclear-weapons-tests-and-cancer-risks/99999\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2006/1/fallout-from-nuclear-weapons-tests-and-cancer-risks/99999</a></p>\n\n<p>I presume that distance is advised to avoid gamma radiation emitted by the I-131 in the patient's body rather then the beta radiation which would be largely confined to the thyroid gland, and to emphasize a practical distance to minimize the ingestion of any contaminated fluids.</p>\n\n<p>The question then arises as to what is the safe dose of gamma radiation for a person in whom there is no therapeutic benefit. The answer has to be extrapolated from biophysics and the effect of higher doses since looking at low doses in a population requires too large a number of subjects.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In summary, given our current state of knowledge, the most reasonable assumption is that the cancer risks from low doses of x- or γ-rays decrease linearly with decreasing dose. In light of the evidence for downwardly curving dose responses (see Figs. 2 and 4), this linear assumption is not necessarily the most conservative approach, as sometimes has been suggested (63, 64), and it is likely that it will result in an underestimate of some radiation risks and an overestimate of others. Given that it is supported by experimentally grounded, quantifiable, biophysical arguments, a linear extrapolation of cancer risks from intermediate to very low doses currently appears to be the most appropriate methodology. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/100/24/13761.full\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.pnas.org/content/100/24/13761.full</a></p>\n\n<p>Since these are assumptions, the precautionary principle applies. Since the gamma radiation from the body of the treated patient can travel several meters through air, and beta radiation from excreted I-131 <a href=\"http://www.oseh.umich.edu/radiation/I131.shtml\" rel=\"nofollow\">1.65 m</a>, then restricting the contact to outside these areas would limit unnecessary exposure.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5501", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5512, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Since you have not been rendered blind, you can follow this <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/3048.aspx?CategoryID=118\" rel=\"noreferrer\">link</a> which states that it is not intrinsically unhealthy unless it starts to interfere with the way you function socially or at work. In some people it intrudes into their public life and so then might considered an illness. Another form of harm is when it displaces normal sexual activity and some people find that they are then not able to engage in normal sexual activity with a partner due to habituation.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11687, "author": "Narusan", "author_id": 8212, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8212", "pm_score": 6, "selected": true, "text": "<h2>Let's get a few things out of the way...</h2>\n<p>Sex is normal (<a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_5370\" rel=\"noreferrer\">1</a>). Sexual desire and arousal are normal (<a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160217-what-is-a-normal-sex-life\" rel=\"noreferrer\">2</a>). Asexuality is normal (<a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3965446/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">3</a>). Masturbation is normal (<a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_261\" rel=\"noreferrer\">4</a>),(<a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_565\" rel=\"noreferrer\">5</a>). There is no problem whatsoever with these three things, although everyone blushes when they talk about them.</p>\n<h2>Is Masturbation healthy?</h2>\n<p><strong>Downsides</strong>:</p>\n<p>Masturbation is not risk free. It is about as dangerous as <em>chewing or walking</em> (<a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/men/guide/male-masturbation-5-things-you-didnt-know#1\" rel=\"noreferrer\">6</a>). Some side effects are irritated skin and ruptured penis, but only if you really, really, really overdo it (Once or twice a day is by far not overdoing it!).</p>\n<p><strong>Upsides</strong>:</p>\n<p>While masturbation does not have the health benefits sex has (<a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/men/guide/male-masturbation-5-things-you-didnt-know#1\" rel=\"noreferrer\">6</a>), there are some advantages to it:</p>\n<p>a) You get to know how your penis/vagina works. This will greatly benefit you when having sexual intercourse!</p>\n<p>b) Masturbation can help you relax and improve your mood; it won't resolve clinical depression but it can help you feel better if you're having a bad day, and it can help you forget about stressful events of the day and improve sleep.</p>\n<p>c) Masturbating can provide pain relief. Reports indicate that masturbation can help relieve menstrual cramps.</p>\n<p>d) Masturbation can help strengthen muscle tone in the pelvic and anal areas, which can reduce the chances of incontinence and uterine prolapse. (<a href=\"http://www.webmd.boots.com/sex-relationships/guide/women-masturbation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">7</a>)</p>\n<p>e) Masturbating men are less likely to develop prostate cancer. (<a href=\"http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/health-and-sexual-benefits-of-masturbation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">8</a>)</p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion</strong>:\nUnless it <em>hurts</em> and <em>as long as you are comfortable with it and feel the desire</em>, masturbation is actually a good thing.</p>\n<h2>How much is too much?</h2>\n<p>As pointed out before, one can overdo it.\nThis article (<a href=\"http://sexuality.about.com/od/masturbation/a/masturbation1.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">9</a>) sums everything up quite neatly though:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>There is no amount of masturbation that is healthy or unhealthy. Masturbation isn’t like candy or eggs, there isn’t a &quot;recommended daily allowance&quot;, it means different things to different people, and we all use masturbation differently, in positive and negative ways. So this question needs to be answered on an individual basis, keeping in mind that very few of us actually masturbate in ways that are harmful to ourselves or others.</p>\n<p>Having said that, there are people whose masturbation is causing them distress and even pain (physical, emotional, psychological), and for those people it may make sense to talk with someone and sort our whether they are masturbating too much or whether they can adjust their feelings about masturbation to allow them to enjoy it more.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<h2>References and Sources</h2>\n<p>(1): <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_5370\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Encyclopedia of Neuroscience</a> - Sex<br />\n(2): <a href=\"http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160217-what-is-a-normal-sex-life\" rel=\"noreferrer\">BBC Future</a> - What is a 'Normal' Sex Life?<br />\n(3): <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3965446/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">PLOS One</a> - Asexuality Development among Middle Aged and Older Men<br />\n(4): <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_261\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Women Health</a> - Masturbation<br />\n(5): <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4419-1695-2_565\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Encyclopedia of Adolescents</a> - Masturbation<br />\n(6): <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/men/guide/male-masturbation-5-things-you-didnt-know#1\" rel=\"noreferrer\">WebMD</a> - Five things about male masturbation<br />\n(7): <a href=\"http://www.webmd.boots.com/sex-relationships/guide/women-masturbation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">WebMD</a> - Women Masturbation<br />\n(8): <a href=\"http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/health-and-sexual-benefits-of-masturbation\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Men'sHealth</a> - Masturbation<br />\n(9): <a href=\"http://sexuality.about.com/od/masturbation/a/masturbation1.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Sexuality.com</a> - Worried About Too Much Masturbation</p>\n<p>Might also be worth another look: <a href=\"https://health.stackexchange.com/a/11676/8212\">This great answer</a> by Chris on a very similar question.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 22904, "author": "WinEunuuchs2Unix", "author_id": 17751, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/17751", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I'm somewhat surprised stopping or drastically reducing your, um... fantasies, can lead to <a href=\"https://www.prostatitis.org/prosfaq.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Monk's Disease</a>.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5503", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3466/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5698, "author": "Vandroiy", "author_id": 3599, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3599", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Since there aren't many details on your situation, this is a shot in the dark, but I guess the question is broad enough that there's no single best answer anyway.</p>\n\n<p>It seems that unhealthy eating is often influenced by at least one of two things: a lack of variety in food or unconsciously (or only semi-consciously) following bad routines.</p>\n\n<p>Here are some ideas:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Increase the time it takes you to reach food that you know you are eating in excess. During the time it takes you to reach it, reflect upon your choice, reconsider, and only continue if you can think of no better option. <em>Conversely, have a variety of healthy low-energy food always available and easier to reach than any high-energy food.</em></li>\n<li>When eating, especially when overeating, be in the moment and pay attention on the effects and how you feel afterward. Are you maybe only focusing on the immediate taste, and not giving your body the attention it needs to remember what is good and bad in the longer run? Or is there maybe something in the food that you really need, but could get elsewhere? <em>For example, I've been eating sweet chocolate in huge amounts until I got to know a certain type of 85% black chocolate. Eating one or two pieces of this hugely reduces my craving for other chocolate, usually for the rest of the day. I guess it wasn't the excessive sugar that my body really wanted!</em></li>\n<li>Increase the variety of food and the amount of vegetables you eat as much as possible. Additionally, try vitamin supplements. You don't want to get hungry from lacking some specific ingredient/mineral/vitamin. Also, pay attention to what <em>exactly</em> you're craving to eat, and what is the best choice to get it. The availability of groceries inversely correlates with obesity, strongly enough that government programs tried to push grocery stores into poorer neighborhoods mainly for this reason. You can eat quite a lot of (pure) vegetables before it's any issue for weight, and maybe you'll find the ones your body was really looking for.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>When it comes to self-control, it seems that awareness is a much better tool than willpower. Willpower is limited; you can only force yourself to do so much. But with a deeply ingrained experience of what is good for you and what isn't, it's unlikely that you'll have some craving to overdo it time and again. That's why it can help to do things consciously and to try many different options.</p>\n\n<p>While not literally food, note that drinking may also be an important factor. Drinking tap water (or pure bottled water if tap water is contaminated with anything in your area) is an important difference; if you're usually drinking anything with significant sugar/energy in it, or in fact anything that's not effectively water, I'd recommend to switch to water in a similar way to the food change: always have a glass of water at the ready; if you choose to drink something else, make sure you take time to get it and drink it consciously every time.</p>\n\n<p><em>While I've never been overweight, I've applied changes similar to the above because of other health reasons, and I'm quite happy with the result.</em></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5714, "author": "Refractor", "author_id": 3613, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3613", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is just a short answer as most suggestions have been covered. </p>\n\n<p>You could try a diet such as ketogenic diet. It has been approved by scientists and health care workers last time I checked. You may get into it. </p>\n\n<p>This one is a no brainer: try substituting unhealthy snacks for fruits and vegetables.</p>\n\n<p>Don't have lots of unhealthy foods in house. If you can't fight the urge to go to shop, only buy single items and not 5 chocolates, even if it works out much cheaper to do so.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5519", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3472/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5535, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There's a bit of error involved in using those meters so the different recordings may be within the manufacturer's published range for that particular model. Whether you have a glass of water or two is not going to materially affect the blood glucose level.</p>\n\n<p>The important thing to note is that diabetes is diagnosed on <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/basics/tests-diagnosis/con-20033091\" rel=\"nofollow\">blood testing</a> and not finger prick testing.</p>\n\n<p>Excessive alcohol consumption is <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/tc/high-triglycerides-overview\" rel=\"nofollow\">one cause</a> among many of elevated triglycerides.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5553, "author": "DavidERD", "author_id": 3497, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3497", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>What you may be experiencing is what is commonly referred to as the \"dawn phenomenon\". This is where blood sugar becomes elevated between 2-8am. This happens when your blood glucose goes low in the evening. The body compensates by releasing stored glucose from the liver. In people without diabetes the body would simply produce more insulin and regulate their blood sugar. In a person with diabetes the insulin is ineffective or insufficient and blood sugar remains high. </p>\n\n<p>One way I had clients treat this is to have a small snack an hour before bed that had about 30g of carb, and 15 g of protein (to slow the rise of blood glucose). This was enough to prevent the overnight low in the middle of the night and rebound high in the morning. </p>\n\n<p>The more accurate gauge of how your blood sugar is doing is taking it first thing in the morning. Hydration can affect blood glucose but not as quickly as you are describing. </p>\n\n<p>Exercise however can drop blood glucose as much as 50 points depending on how high levels were before activity, duration of activity, and intensity. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5533", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3477/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5538, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Yes. It is possible to remineralize teeth without cavitation. I am unsure what you mean by corroding, but cavities cannot be fixed by remineralization. Products can inhibit damage and harden intact and decalcified enamel.</p>\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10686854\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Remineralizing tooth paste.</a></p>\n</li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14700079\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Xylitol</a></p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18517060\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Low Cariogenic diet</a></p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Initial caries lesions without cavitation of the surface can\nremineralise (heal) under conditions of low cariogenic diet and good\noral hygiene. However, once the surface has broken and cavitation\noccurred, there is no alternative to restorative dental therapy\nbecause remineralisation is no more possible.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Avoiding things like some beverages that break down teeth is a good thing to remember when prevention teeth problems.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5546, "author": "John Spence", "author_id": 3465, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3465", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>This is only my personal experience, not solid evidence.</p>\n\n<p>I have had holes in my teeth for 10 years without any worsening. I try to eat a balanced diet low in modern refined processed foods, with natural meats like wild game. </p>\n\n<p>Also I listen to my body, if I get pain in my teeth, it is a reminder to clean better and stop eating sugar, the pain goes away if I do this.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5536", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3478/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5585, "author": "Coma", "author_id": 3339, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3339", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Testosterone might have some indirect influence in this, but the bottom line is that your change in weight is decided by your caloric intake versus how many calories you burn.</p>\n\n<p>That's really all you should focus on. If you want to lose extra weight, you either need to increase your physical activity (how many calories you burn) or reduce how much you eat (how many calories you intake) or both.</p>\n\n<p>A little routine cardio exercise (running) will help you achieve this easily.</p>\n\n<p>Hope this helps!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8808, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Recalculate your TDEE, adjust your calories required per day to keep losing weight, a deficit of 300-500 or so, depending on your preference. </p>\n\n<p>Losing weight is all about making sure you take in (eat) less calories than you use. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10364, "author": "Kate Forsyth", "author_id": 7478, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7478", "pm_score": 1, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Your weight will not be 74kg from 77-79 KG maybe because you don't exert much effort to reach it? You don't have that kind of determination to achieve it. I know you will tell me that you do everything to lose weight but I think it's not enough because you're still struggling.</p>\n\n<p>I understand, it's not easy to lose weight that much because it requires you to be serious and focus on your goals. You need to <a href=\"https://behealthy.today/healthy-weight-loss-diet-and-exercise/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">change your lifestyle starting from the way you eat, sleep and exercise</a>.\nBeing healthy starts really in the kitchen, you should avoid alcoholic drinks, pizza, burgers and eating in fast food chain. Start eating healthy foods or make your own healthy recipes and have fun.\nIf you are planning to go to the gym I suggest you get a gym instructor, in that way he/she can monitor on your improvements. \nYou need also to <a href=\"https://behealthy.today/water-weight-loss-effects/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">drink more water every day</a> before you start eating and every before and after your workout. Have a good sleep and everything will be fine.\nI know you can do it. AJA!!</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5583", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3392/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5593, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The FODMAP hypothesis was first proposed in 2005 in this <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15948806\" rel=\"nofollow\">paper</a>. The second author appears to maintain a website where she lists some <a href=\"http://shepherdworks.com.au/disease-information/low-fodmap-diet\" rel=\"nofollow\">foods</a> though it's an incomplete list. Grapefruit would classified in this group if it has a high fructose level in comparison to the glucose level (frutose:glucose ratio > 1) and this likely varies on the variety. This Stanford site suggests restricting yourself to <a href=\"https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=12&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwje7J_ng6TMAhWHHKYKHbjVA7YQFghNMAs&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fstanfordhealthcare.org%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2FSHC%2Ffor-patients-component%2Fprograms-services%2Fclinical-nutrition-services%2Fdocs%2Fpdf-lowfodmapdiet.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">half a grapefruit</a> if you have problems.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5598, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There is no \"correct\" low-FODMAP diet chart, because there is no clearly defined amount of FODMAPs that would cause problems. There are foods that contain high, moderate or low amount of FODMAPs and various authors may put the moderate ones either in the high or low category.</p>\n\n<p>Also, sensitivity to FODMAPs varies greatly from person to person, so everyone needs to make a personal list appropriate for him/her -- from the trial/error experience.</p>\n\n<p>Here is <a href=\"http://www.nutrientsreview.com/carbs/fodmaps.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">another list</a> with a detailed explanation how a low-FODMAP diet works.</p>\n\n<p>100 grams of <a href=\"http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1905/2\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">grapefruit</a> (NutritionData) contains just a little bit more fructose than glucose: 1.7 g F : 1.6 g G, so the F:G ratio is practically 1 and not problematic. Also, 100 grams of grapefruit contains only 2 grams of fiber, which also does not sound a lot.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10581, "author": "Javide", "author_id": 7723, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7723", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I found the Monash University mobile app, available for both iOS and Android, to be very helpful in identifying the low and high FODMAP products. Low and high are relative terms that do not mean anything until they refer to a quantitative scale. The apps does a very good job in defining \"low\" and \"high\" based on a serving expressed in cups, grams, millilitres or typical size.</p>\n\n<p>According to this app grapefruit should be avoided as 1 medium sized grapefruit contains high amounts of oligo-fructans, but half medium grapefruit contains moderate amounts of oligo-fructans, which means it might be tolerated by some individuals. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/gastro/fodmap/iphone-app.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/gastro/fodmap/iphone-app.html</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5591", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/13/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 15088, "author": "Graham Chiu", "author_id": 3414, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3414", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>If post gastric bypass patients can eat solid food they can eat <a href=\"https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bariatric-surgery/in-depth/gastric-bypass-diet/art-20048472\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">soft fruit</a>. And before that they can puree food with fruit juices. As for supplements, <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4616370/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">vitamin tablets are recommended</a> for most patients after surgery. Most vitamin tablets contain about 60 mg of Vitamin C with the RDA being 90 mg for men.</p>\n\n<p>And if they don't consume nutritious food after surgery, and take their supplements, then the outcome can be a <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3320124/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">devastating case of scurvy</a> which can nevertheless be treated by enteral vitamin C.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 15091, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Certain cooked foods, for example, sweet potatoes, will still have some vitamin C (1 cup potatoes, 328 g = 42 mg vit C) (<a href=\"http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2668/2\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">NutritionData</a>).</p>\n\n<p>Vitamin-enriched cereals are available.</p>\n\n<p>Vitamin capsules and enteric-coated tablets should not irritate the esophagus and stomach.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5656", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/613/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 10387, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Stomach acid does not react with foods in the way that it would form harmful chemical complexes. The acid affects pepsinogen - it helps to convert it in its active form pepsin, which is the enzyme that breaks down proteins.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.reference.com/science/pepsinogen-converted-pepsin-3f6a6755935d1c0f\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.reference.com/science/pepsinogen-converted-pepsin-3f6a6755935d1c0f</a></p>\n\n<p>If your question is about acid reflux and how to prevent damage of the esophagus by acid, you may want to know which foods decrease the tonus of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and thus allow reflux of the acid. Examples of such foods are chocolate, fatty foods in general, and foods with peppermint. Other things that irritate the esophagus include spicy and acidic foods, tea, coffee and smoking.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.gicare.com/diets/gerd/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.gicare.com/diets/gerd/</a></p>\n\n<p>So, in case you have acid reflux, the above foods may be unhealthy for you, even if they are not unhealthy by themselves.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10408, "author": "Kate Forsyth", "author_id": 7478, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7478", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Yes, there is a big difference, it differs in our <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">metabolism, the number of enzymes and the time of digestion</a>. Why?\n<strong>Let's break it down.</strong> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Stomach acid</a> is a digestive fluid, formed in the stomach and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCl) .05–0.1 M (roughly 5,000–10,000 parts per million or 0.5-1%)<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">2</a> potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl).\nThe acid plays a key role in the digestion of proteins, by activating digestive enzymes, and making ingested proteins unravel so that digestive enzymes break down the long chains of amino acids.</p>\n\n<p>Since we now know the meaning of stomach acid, let's categorize healthy foods and unhealthy foods. So by doing that let's give an example; fruits and vegetables are considered as <a href=\"https://behealthy.today/healthy-foods-weight-loss/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">healthy foods</a>, right? and junk foods, noodles, and some processed foods are unhealthy.\nSo here's the thing, healthy foods like <a href=\"https://saveourbones.com/stop-bad-digestion-and-poor-nutrient-absorption-with-these-3-easy-tricks/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">fruits and veggies contain enzymes</a> that will help the process of digestion meaning, these enzymes plus the enzymes produced by our body can digest and break down these foods easily. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Whereas according to <a href=\"http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/04/29/junk-food-metabolism.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Mercola.com</a>, the instant-noodle consumers\n had a significantly lower intake of important nutrients like protein,\n calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, vitamin A, niacin, and vitamin C\n compared with non-consumers.7 Those who ate instant noodles also had\n an excessive intake of energy, unhealthy fats, and sodium (just one\n package may contain 2,700 milligrams of sodium).</p>\n \n <p>Not to mention, refined carbohydrates like breakfast cereals, bagels,\n waffles, pretzels, and most other processed foods quickly break down\n to sugar in your body. This increases your insulin and leptin levels\n and contributes to insulin resistance, which is the primary underlying\n factor of nearly every chronic disease and a condition known to man,\n including weight gain.</p>\n \n <p>Not only that but remember… when you eat junk food you are not just\n feeding yourself… you’re feeding your microbiome, too, and in so doing\n altering its construction for better or worse. Your body’s diverse\n army of microbes is responsible for many crucial biological processes,\n from immunity to memory to mental health, so feeding it wisely, with\n fresh unprocessed and naturally fermented foods is crucial to your\n overall health and well-being.</p>\n \n <p>\"Research published in the Journal of Nutrition found that women who\n consumed more instant noodles had a significantly greater risk of\n metabolic syndrome than those who ate less, regardless of their\n overall diet or exercise habits.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Study shows that processed foods are harder to digest than healthy foods like fruits and veggies.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Check these:</strong></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://foodbabe.com/2012/08/01/theres-proof-processed-foods-are-harder-to-digest/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://foodbabe.com/2012/08/01/theres-proof-processed-foods-are-harder-to-digest/</a>\n<a href=\"https://www.liverdoctor.com/the-best-and-worst-foods-for-a-fast-metabolism/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.liverdoctor.com/the-best-and-worst-foods-for-a-fast-metabolism/</a></p>\n\n<p>By the way regarding with:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The endpoint is that I'm trying to find out will stomach acid combined\n with healthy food make less damage to the esophagus</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is only possible if you have <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroesophageal_reflux_disease\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">acid reflux</a>.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5708", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5736, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A symptom of GERD is <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heartburn/basics/symptoms/con-20019545\" rel=\"nofollow\">heartburn</a> which is characterized by burning pain in chest.</p>\n\n<p>Heart Burn is usually chronic in GERD and can include: </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/diagnose\" rel=\"nofollow\">WebMD</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Burning in the throat -- or hot, sour, acidic or salty-tasting fluid\n at the back of the throat.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The heartburn <a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/guide/understanding-gerd-symptoms\" rel=\"nofollow\">doesn't always occur</a> in GERD as a symptom immediately, but can develop after a time. </p>\n\n<p>Exercise(moderate, vigorous can aggravate it) can help reduce GERD symptoms and <a href=\"https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000381.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">PPI's</a> decrease stomach acid produced. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/features/heartburn-concern\" rel=\"nofollow\">What is happening:</a> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Heartburn, also called acid indigestion, is a symptom of\n gastroesophageal reflux (GERD). It can occur when acid or other\n contents from your stomach \"back up\" into the esophagus. That’s the\n tube food passes through going from your mouth to your stomach.</p>\n \n <p>The problem stems from a muscle that may be weak or may relax at\n inappropriate times. It’s called the lower esophageal sphincter or\n LES, and it’s located between your stomach and your esophagus. If it\n doesn't close quickly enough, it can’t prevent the acid backwash. That\n results in heartburn.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7406, "author": "Debbie D'Amelio", "author_id": 5067, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5067", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You could be experiencing what's known as esophageal spasms<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esophageal_spasm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">1</a>, which can cause considerable pain. The food doesn't go down or acid coming up doesn't move smoothly like it should. Instead the esophagus kind of hiccups and the food gets stuck temporarily. I've had it for years. It can mimic a heart attack and if you're concerned about it there are tests available to diagnose it. One treatment is with nitroglycerin tablets that dissolve under your tongue--the same rx given to those who have angina.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5722", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7166, "author": "Magnus Smith", "author_id": 4983, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4983", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I have read (and tested) advice that says to drink a glass of hot water with a slice of lemon in, when you wake up in the morning. The water should not be as hot as tea/coffee, but not just 'warm'. Do this before breakfast - on an empty stomach - and it should trigger a bowel movement with 30 minutes. I suppose if your bowels are utterly empty it won't work at that time.</p>\n\n<p>If you got into this habit, you could get your body into the routine of going every morning. I don't think a normal/everyday bowel movement should be 'urgent' enough to wake you too early, though I know that the body will naturally try to wake you in more extreme situations.</p>\n\n<p>You can seriously train your body to get into a 24 hourly habit. For my daughter, the mere act of sitting on the toilet every evening before her bath, and just waiting there for a while, was enough to eventually turn a very irregular bowel into a regular one.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 17356, "author": "PCARR", "author_id": 238, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/238", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The body loves rhythm.</p>\n\n<p>You may find that you are able to obtain some regularity in your bowel movements if you maintain a strict regularity in your other essential daily actions - i.e sleeping, eating - and patterns of activity.</p>\n\n<p>By maintaining a standard you give your bowels the opportunity to fall into line. You can also expect periodic variation as transit times can change with stress, diet and season.</p>\n\n<p>My own bowel movements were like clockwork until a certain BBQ messed things up. \n I must say that obtaining regularity has been a challenge for me ever since!</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest avoiding barbecues.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5761", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3652/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5792, "author": "user2824371", "author_id": 3676, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3676", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I'm an Electrical Engineer not a doctor but I've some knowledge about IR. Although you can not see it, IR is electromagnetic waves and it carry heat to your eyes. So, The eyes is negatively affected without your knowledge (If there is too much Infra red).\nIt is similar to ultraviolet that damage the skin although it is invisible rays.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know the cause of your headache because I'm not a doctor. But high power IR is dangerous for the eye. Don't look at it for long time.</p>\n\n<p>This question is similar to yours: <a href=\"https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/13691/is-it-safe-to-look-at-infrared-leds\">https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/13691/is-it-safe-to-look-at-infrared-leds</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5796, "author": "user2361", "author_id": 2361, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2361", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Normally IR should not cause any troubles. However its all power-dependent. What is the overall power output of the LED you are using? I suggest you to compare it with the power output in similar existing eye-tracking devices on the market (you can contact the manufacturers, tell them you use their device and ask for specs due to safety concerns). I guess it wouldn't be nice to blast your eyes with even 5 mW.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5762", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3653/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5781, "author": "TheEnvironmentalist", "author_id": 11, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/11", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>First of all, know that you regularly consume protein and have been all of your life. If you did not, you would be in quite terrible health.¹ That being said, IGF-1 is involved in bone growth, muscle growth, connective tissue growth, motor neuron growth, and so on. It's also <em>produced within the body</em>.² Your body uses it for growth and healing, and this has nothing to do with whether or not you drink protein shakes or work out.</p>\n\n<p>The human brain has an incredible capacity to make connections where they're not obvious; one could argue this is the source of human intelligence, but sometimes it gets these connections wrong. I'm telling you definitively that IGF-1 was not the cause of your breakout, and neither was protein. Most likely you just so happened to break out at the same time you were drinking protein shakes. Feel perfectly comfortable drinking them now.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, your body relies on the amino acids in protein to rebuild itself, and <em>keep you alive</em>. The fact that you're breathing right now means that you consume protein regularly. When you work out, you are causing tiny amounts of muscle damage, and the muscle building basically results from the body overcompensating as it heals the muscle.³ This healing relies on these amino acids, which are taken from protein as it is broken down in digestion. You can't heal (and therefore grow) muscle without protein, just as you can't live without protein.</p>\n\n<p>Moral of the story: Drink protein shakes if you like, eat plenty of meat and fish if you don't. It won't cause acne.</p>\n\n<p>Sources:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/73310-happens-dont-enough-protein-diet/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.livestrong.com/article/73310-happens-dont-enough-protein-diet/</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://thinksteroids.com/steroid-profiles/igf-1/\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://thinksteroids.com/steroid-profiles/igf-1/</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/musclesgrowLK.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/musclesgrowLK.html</a></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 27423, "author": "Nagev", "author_id": 22216, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/22216", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You could try replacing whey based supplements with plant based protein sources instead, to see if it solves your acne problem. It's also reportedly <a href=\"https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/replacing-animal-protein-plant-protein-lowers-risk-mortality-0\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">healthier</a>. Just search online for &quot;plant based protein supplements&quot; or ask at your local health store. There are also documentaries like &quot;The Game Changers&quot;, and vegan bodybuilders such as Nimai Delgado on social networks, which can provide more information or inspiration.</p>\n<p>Personally, I recall gaining weight some years back, without any supplements whatsoever. I just felt more hungry from intensive workouts and therefore ate more overall, and also remember eating peanuts more frequently but in moderation.</p>\n<p>I think it's just common sense that if the body is going to repair muscle and build extra mass, it needs extra nutrients, protein being a fundamental one. I'd <em>guess</em> that a balanced diet, is even more important. One theory/speculation of mine is that if one eats more of a balanced diet, one would naturally get more protein, but whether that would be enough to be build the desired level of muscle is another story. I remember doing some research on this and even Thomas L. Tadlock recommended getting extra protein in his free book.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5779", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/881/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5800, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Pregnancy is not a disability!</strong> </p>\n\n<p>Other than avoiding things known to be bad for a developing fetus such as alcohol, smoking and certain drugs, there really aren't many limits on what you can do. Until a doctor tells you otherwise, feel free to walk those 10-15 kilometers if you want. Or ride a bicycle. Or drive a car. All are perfectly fine.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10536, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Typically, a pregnant woman can travel without most limitations even until the day of birth. The key considerations as the pregnancy progresses is to make sure that accessibility to clinical care is not impeded. For example, I don't recommend going into deepest darkest Africa when you are nine months pregnant.</p>\n\n<p>With that said, pregnant women are at special risk for developing some conditions. One risk is for deep vein thrombosis, which is a life-threatening clot in deep veins that can lead to death. Due to the weight of the fetus, it can compress some deep veins in the pelvis and impede circulation. As a result, I highly recommend that pregnant women (and all people in general), take breaks every hour, get up and stretch, and walk around a little bit.</p>\n\n<p>With this advice, you should be able to drive a few miles or even a few hours - as long as you periodically take breaks and get the blood flowing.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10540, "author": "Jagan Mohan", "author_id": 7186, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7186", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Short Answer: No. </p>\n\n<p>Short Distance Travel is not contraindicated in early pregnancy / first trimester. The embryo is safely implanted in the womb and does not get affected by physical exertion or travel. </p>\n\n<p>I understand your anxiety, but Obstetricians advise that pregnant women go about doing whatever they normally do every day without as much as possible till the third trimester where one needs to adjust for weight and lower physical dexterity. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5797", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3659/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5835, "author": "Blue_Elephant", "author_id": 3268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3268", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>About nutritionists, at least in France (I suppose it varies by country) it is a medical specialty that comes after having completed six years of medical studies. </p>\n\n<p>Alternative practitioners who did not complete medical studies are called dietitians (in France); which doesn't mean they are less competent.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5842, "author": "sheepdontswim", "author_id": 3718, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3718", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In the US, anyone can claim to be a nutritionist. <a href=\"http://www.eatrightpro.org/resources/about-us/what-is-an-rdn-and-dtr/what-is-a-registered-dietitian-nutritionist\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN)</a> undergo pretty extensive training.</p>\n\n<p>An RD may suggest herbal remedies, which would be alternative medicine, but typically they are helping people manage chronic conditions like diabetes, crohn's disease, or cancer.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5849, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>In medicine we aim to base everything on solid scientific results. We call this practice \"evidence based medicine\" (EBM). What we call \"alternative medicine\" are all the alternative approaches where such standards are not or insufficiently implemented. The way medicine used to be practiced centuries ago is a good example of alternative medicine, we usually refer to this as <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_medicine\" rel=\"nofollow\">traditional medicine</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous or folk medicine) comprises knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines traditional medicine as \"the sum total of the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.\"<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_medicine\" rel=\"nofollow\">1</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Now nutrition, while an integral part of the regular medical discipline (if you get diagnosed with diabetes, your endocrinologist may well refer you to a dietitian) fits in well within traditional medicine in the following sense. The knowledge we have about the food we eat has been passed on from generation to generation long before modern science came into existence. Basically, you've been told to eat your vegetables by your mother who was told the same by her mother etc. etc, you could probably trace this back to the time before modern humans even existed. When applying rigorous scientific standards to nutrition we then face a problem. How do we even define the problem when evaluating foods we eat? E.g. broccoli is not some drug designed to solve some specific medical problem, so you don't have a well defined end point that you can test.</p>\n\n<p>It's of course, not a problem in principle to study some particular health effects of certain foods. In practice this can already be difficult, you can't perform double blind tests, so you need to resort to observational studies or controlled experiments that typically won't last very long. But the real problem is then the choice of the end point for health outcomes and the choice for what to compare the food item to. You can't e.g. simply look at all cause mortally. Suppose e.g. that <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140401/ncomms4557/full/ncomms4557.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">calorie restriction</a> would prevent prevent cancer and heart disease, if you stick to that diet you'll live a lot longer (assuming it would really work). But then it turns out that you'll have a lack of energy, you'll end up sleeping 12 hours a day. So, the end point of all cause mortality which looks to be a good criterion, could well lead to totally worthless result.</p>\n\n<p>But to even get such results, you must make a decision to compare one type of diet to another diet. In older statistical studies dating back from the 1980s and earlier the mistake was made to just correlate intake of nutrients to health. As explained <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3521261\" rel=\"nofollow\">in this article</a> this often leads to spurious results, as total energy intake is a huge confounding factor. Modern studies do the statistical analysis in such a way that total energy intake is taken into account. But there may be other confounding factors lurking which may not be as easily identified and dealt with.</p>\n\n<p>Now, the fact remains that if you today stick to what passes for a healthy diet, then you would be eating a diet that your great great great grandmother would probably also consider to be a healthy diet. So, even if we today know a bit more than your great great great grandmother (take e.g. vitamins), the information that describes what you would be eating still largely derives from ancient knowledge. Modern science has had only a limited impact here. E.g. we now know that saturated fats may not be very healthy. On the other hand, a mistake was made when we wrongly thought we could produce healthier fats, trans fats were made as a healthier alternative to saturated fats, but this turned out to be much more damaging to our health.</p>\n\n<p>So, at the end of the day, the patient who gets referred to a dietitian will end up being put on a diet that has its origins in what we could call traditional medicine. The healthy foods the patient would be eating like carrots cauliflowers, broccoli were created not as a result of moderns scientific efforts but they were cultivated more than 3000 years ago. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5818", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/299/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5839, "author": "Amanda R.", "author_id": 3704, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3704", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Cooling a burn will reduce swelling and help with pain.</p>\n\n<p>(I am first aid / CPR / AED certified. I am also certified to teach first aid / CPR.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12952, "author": "Tami", "author_id": 9814, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/9814", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Cooling burn-injured skin has a benificial effect on the extent or depth of the wound. This cannot fully be explained by only \"taking away the heat\". We know this, because delayed cooling still has a beneficial effect, even if the intradermal temperature has already fully normalized.<br> \nCooling a burn wound influences important cellular and humoral mediators involved in the inflammatory respons that develops in the burning skin. However, the mechanisms are still not fully understood. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305417915000054?via%3Dihub\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This review</a> gives some interesting background information.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5825", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2363/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5839, "author": "Amanda R.", "author_id": 3704, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3704", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Cooling a burn will reduce swelling and help with pain.</p>\n\n<p>(I am first aid / CPR / AED certified. I am also certified to teach first aid / CPR.)</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12952, "author": "Tami", "author_id": 9814, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/9814", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Cooling burn-injured skin has a benificial effect on the extent or depth of the wound. This cannot fully be explained by only \"taking away the heat\". We know this, because delayed cooling still has a beneficial effect, even if the intradermal temperature has already fully normalized.<br> \nCooling a burn wound influences important cellular and humoral mediators involved in the inflammatory respons that develops in the burning skin. However, the mechanisms are still not fully understood. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305417915000054?via%3Dihub\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">This review</a> gives some interesting background information.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5830", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3705/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5863, "author": "Blue_Elephant", "author_id": 3268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3268", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Low potassium in blood is a condition called <em>hypokalemia</em>. Your doctor can possibly recommend you potassium intake.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypokalemia\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a> article about it is fairly well documented.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5877, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Low potassium is on average below 3.5 and is termed <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/low-potassium/basics/when-to-see-doctor/sym-20050632\" rel=\"nofollow\">hypokalemia</a>. Signs and symptoms:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Weakness Fatigue Muscle cramps Constipation</p>\n \n <p>Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) are the most worrisome\n complication of very low potassium levels, particularly in people with\n underlying heart disease.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Severely low potassium can result in death. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21264075\" rel=\"nofollow\">Ncbi</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/242008-treatment#d10\" rel=\"nofollow\">Medication, surgery and diet can be used to treat hypokalemia.</a> However. Medications are not always use s to treat unless you consider potassium supplement. Treatment depends on cause, as well. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Medications</p>\n \n <p>Usually, oral potassium chloride is administered when potassium levels\n need to be replenished, as well as, in patients with ongoing potassium\n loss (eg, those on thiazide diuretics), when it must be maintained.\n Potassium-sparing diuretics are generally used only in patients with\n normal renal function who are prone to significant hypokalemia.</p>\n \n <p>Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which inhibit renal\n potassium excretion, can ameliorate some of the hypokalemia that\n thiazide and loop diuretics can cause. However, ACE inhibitors can\n lead to lethal hyperkalemia in patients with renal insufficiency who\n are taking potassium supplements or potassium-sparing diuretics.</p>\n \n <p>Surgical care</p>\n \n <p>Generally, hypokalemia is a medical, not a surgical, condition.\n Surgical intervention is required only with certain etiologies, such\n as the following:</p>\n \n <p>Renal artery stenosis Adrenal adenoma Intestinal obstruction producing\n massive vomiting Villous adenoma Decreasing Potassium Losses Measures\n to identify and stop ongoing losses of potassium include the\n following:</p>\n \n <p>Discontinue diuretics/laxatives Use potassium-sparing diuretics if\n diuretic therapy is required (eg, severe heart failure) Treat diarrhea\n or vomiting Administer H2 blockers to patients receiving nasogastric\n suction Control hyperglycemia if glycosuria is present</p>\n \n <p>Because of the risk associated with potassium replacement, alleviation\n of the cause of hypokalemia may be preferable to treatment, especially\n if hypokalemia is mild, asymptomatic, or transient and is likely to\n resolve without treatment. For example, patients with vomiting who are\n successfully treated with antiemetics may not require potassium\n replacement.</p>\n \n <p>Replenishment of Potassium Replenishment of potassium is the second\n treatment step. For every 1 mEq/L decrease in serum potassium, the\n potassium deficit is approximately 200-400 mEq.</p>\n \n <p>Bear in mind, however, that many factors in addition to the total body\n potassium stores contribute to the serum potassium concentration.\n Therefore, this calculation could either overestimate or underestimate\n the true potassium deficit. For example, do not overcorrect potassium\n in patients with periodic hypokalemic paralysis. This condition is\n caused by transcellular maldistribution, not by a true deficit.</p>\n \n <p>Patients who have mild or moderate hypokalemia (potassium level of\n 2.5-3.5 mEq/L) are usually asymptomatic; if these patients have only minor symptoms, they may need only oral potassium replacement therapy.\n If cardiac arrhythmias or significant symptoms are present, then more\n aggressive therapy is warranted. This treatment is similar to the\n treatment of severe hypokalemia.</p>\n \n <p>If the potassium level is less than 2.5 mEq/L, intravenous potassium\n should be given. Maintain close follow-up care, provide continuous ECG\n monitoring, and check serial potassium levels.</p>\n \n <p>Higher dosages may increase the risk of cardiac complications. Many\n institutions have policies that limit the maximum amount of potassium\n that can be given per hour. Hospital admission or observation in the\n emergency department is indicated; replacement therapy takes more than\n a few hours.</p>\n \n <p>The serum potassium level is difficult to replenish if the serum\n magnesium level is also low. Look to replace both.</p>\n \n <p>Oral potassium is absorbed readily, and relatively large doses can be\n given safely. Oral administration is limited by patient tolerance\n because some individuals develop nausea or even gastrointestinal\n ulceration with enteral potassium formulations.</p>\n \n <p>Intravenous potassium, which is less well tolerated because it can be\n highly irritating to veins, can be given only in relatively small\n doses, generally 10 mEq/h. Under close cardiac supervision in emergent\n circumstances, as much as 40 mEq/h can be administered through a\n central line. Oral and parenteral potassium can safely be used\n simultaneously.</p>\n \n <p>Take ongoing potassium losses into consideration by measuring the\n volume and potassium concentration of body fluid losses. If the\n patient is severely hypokalemic, avoid glucose-containing parenteral\n fluids to prevent an insulin-induced shift of potassium into the\n cells. If the patient is acidotic, correct the potassium first to\n prevent an alkali-induced shift of potassium into the cells.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5853", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3728/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8947, "author": "TheChinBurglar", "author_id": 6558, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6558", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Couldn't find anything definitive about what it is, but the monograph approved by the FDA only allows Omeprazole as the active ingredient. So it can't be anything that is designed to have an active effect on the body. Also magnesium is not listed as an inactive ingredient anywhere, so we can count that out. If I were to bet I'd say it's just lactose and filler (which is listed under the inactive ingredients and there's basically no volume for it to be in the granules) to give the capsule weight and aid in swallowing/handling. With just the granules the capsule might not have much weight and make consumers think it's empty or not filled correctly or get stuck in the throat more easily.</p>\n\n<p>The enteric coated granules definitely contain the active drug according to every source I could find. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10413, "author": "Don_S", "author_id": 7166, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7166", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I also tried to search for any formal information about the product's contents and composition, but couldn't find anything, probably because it is a generic product sold at a supermarket.\nAt any rate, this kind of composition (capsule, pellets and tablet) seems to form the mechanism for the 'delayed release' of Omeprazole, as written on the package.\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" alt=\"Omeprazole Magnesium package\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Omeprazole is a drug with a rather short half-life (0.5-1 hour according to <a href=\"https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00338\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Drug Bank</a>). This means that without any intervention in its pharmacokinetics (absorption, elimination time), it will start working in reducing stomach acid rather quickly - Immediate-release Omeprazole should be taken shortly (about 30 minutes) before eating, in order to reduce stomach acid prior to or during eating.</p>\n\n<p>Now, although Omeprazole's effect is in the stomach, it needs to be protected from the acidic content of the stomach, where it passes before it is absorbed into the blood. After passing the stomach, it is absorbed into the blood and then reaches the parietal cells of the stomach lining and exerts its effect.</p>\n\n<p>In order to make Omeprazole more friendly to the patient, and remove the need to take it only half an hour before eating (thus imposing limitations on the patient and increasing the risk of improper use that might lead to heartburn), delayed-release formulations have been developed. Their main difference and advantage is that the patient does not have to take the capsule only before eating - once he takes the capsule, its contents are <strong>slowly</strong> released in the body (more slowly than the immediate release formulation), thus providing a delayed effect throughout the day. That is why delayed-release Omeprazole should only be taken once a day (usually in the morning).</p>\n\n<p>The delayed release mechanism is comprised of the pellets and the tablet. The pellets, being smaller, start to disintegrate and release the active ingredient Omeprazole before the tablet (but only after passing through the stomach, since they are enteric-coated as mentioned before). Meanwhile the tablet starts to dissolve, disintegrate and release the active ingredient, but this happens more slowly. After many calculations, it was possible to formulate the capsule and its contents in such a way that one capsule covers an entire day (24 hours). This enables the patient to take one capsule in the morning and act as usual, without worrying about getting heartburn after eating.</p>\n\n<p>As I said in the beginning, I was unable to find formal documentation for this mechanism of delayed release, but the <a href=\"https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Omeprazole-Magnesium-Capsules-20.6mg-42ct/14706053\" rel=\"noreferrer\">consumers' questions</a> in Walmart's website seem to point in that direction (see page 7; please note that these answers are most probably not provided by professionals, but by customers and others). See also definition no. 2 <a href=\"http://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=513&amp;sectionid=41488035\" rel=\"noreferrer\">here</a>, which also seems to apply for this capsule's composition.\n <a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" alt=\"Q&amp;A from Walmart&#39;s website\"></a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5861", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3738/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8947, "author": "TheChinBurglar", "author_id": 6558, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6558", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Couldn't find anything definitive about what it is, but the monograph approved by the FDA only allows Omeprazole as the active ingredient. So it can't be anything that is designed to have an active effect on the body. Also magnesium is not listed as an inactive ingredient anywhere, so we can count that out. If I were to bet I'd say it's just lactose and filler (which is listed under the inactive ingredients and there's basically no volume for it to be in the granules) to give the capsule weight and aid in swallowing/handling. With just the granules the capsule might not have much weight and make consumers think it's empty or not filled correctly or get stuck in the throat more easily.</p>\n\n<p>The enteric coated granules definitely contain the active drug according to every source I could find. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10413, "author": "Don_S", "author_id": 7166, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7166", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I also tried to search for any formal information about the product's contents and composition, but couldn't find anything, probably because it is a generic product sold at a supermarket.\nAt any rate, this kind of composition (capsule, pellets and tablet) seems to form the mechanism for the 'delayed release' of Omeprazole, as written on the package.\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" alt=\"Omeprazole Magnesium package\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Omeprazole is a drug with a rather short half-life (0.5-1 hour according to <a href=\"https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00338\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Drug Bank</a>). This means that without any intervention in its pharmacokinetics (absorption, elimination time), it will start working in reducing stomach acid rather quickly - Immediate-release Omeprazole should be taken shortly (about 30 minutes) before eating, in order to reduce stomach acid prior to or during eating.</p>\n\n<p>Now, although Omeprazole's effect is in the stomach, it needs to be protected from the acidic content of the stomach, where it passes before it is absorbed into the blood. After passing the stomach, it is absorbed into the blood and then reaches the parietal cells of the stomach lining and exerts its effect.</p>\n\n<p>In order to make Omeprazole more friendly to the patient, and remove the need to take it only half an hour before eating (thus imposing limitations on the patient and increasing the risk of improper use that might lead to heartburn), delayed-release formulations have been developed. Their main difference and advantage is that the patient does not have to take the capsule only before eating - once he takes the capsule, its contents are <strong>slowly</strong> released in the body (more slowly than the immediate release formulation), thus providing a delayed effect throughout the day. That is why delayed-release Omeprazole should only be taken once a day (usually in the morning).</p>\n\n<p>The delayed release mechanism is comprised of the pellets and the tablet. The pellets, being smaller, start to disintegrate and release the active ingredient Omeprazole before the tablet (but only after passing through the stomach, since they are enteric-coated as mentioned before). Meanwhile the tablet starts to dissolve, disintegrate and release the active ingredient, but this happens more slowly. After many calculations, it was possible to formulate the capsule and its contents in such a way that one capsule covers an entire day (24 hours). This enables the patient to take one capsule in the morning and act as usual, without worrying about getting heartburn after eating.</p>\n\n<p>As I said in the beginning, I was unable to find formal documentation for this mechanism of delayed release, but the <a href=\"https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Omeprazole-Magnesium-Capsules-20.6mg-42ct/14706053\" rel=\"noreferrer\">consumers' questions</a> in Walmart's website seem to point in that direction (see page 7; please note that these answers are most probably not provided by professionals, but by customers and others). See also definition no. 2 <a href=\"http://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=513&amp;sectionid=41488035\" rel=\"noreferrer\">here</a>, which also seems to apply for this capsule's composition.\n <a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" alt=\"Q&amp;A from Walmart&#39;s website\"></a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5876", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3609/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8947, "author": "TheChinBurglar", "author_id": 6558, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6558", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Couldn't find anything definitive about what it is, but the monograph approved by the FDA only allows Omeprazole as the active ingredient. So it can't be anything that is designed to have an active effect on the body. Also magnesium is not listed as an inactive ingredient anywhere, so we can count that out. If I were to bet I'd say it's just lactose and filler (which is listed under the inactive ingredients and there's basically no volume for it to be in the granules) to give the capsule weight and aid in swallowing/handling. With just the granules the capsule might not have much weight and make consumers think it's empty or not filled correctly or get stuck in the throat more easily.</p>\n\n<p>The enteric coated granules definitely contain the active drug according to every source I could find. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10413, "author": "Don_S", "author_id": 7166, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7166", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>I also tried to search for any formal information about the product's contents and composition, but couldn't find anything, probably because it is a generic product sold at a supermarket.\nAt any rate, this kind of composition (capsule, pellets and tablet) seems to form the mechanism for the 'delayed release' of Omeprazole, as written on the package.\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/lPM2B.jpg\" alt=\"Omeprazole Magnesium package\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Omeprazole is a drug with a rather short half-life (0.5-1 hour according to <a href=\"https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00338\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Drug Bank</a>). This means that without any intervention in its pharmacokinetics (absorption, elimination time), it will start working in reducing stomach acid rather quickly - Immediate-release Omeprazole should be taken shortly (about 30 minutes) before eating, in order to reduce stomach acid prior to or during eating.</p>\n\n<p>Now, although Omeprazole's effect is in the stomach, it needs to be protected from the acidic content of the stomach, where it passes before it is absorbed into the blood. After passing the stomach, it is absorbed into the blood and then reaches the parietal cells of the stomach lining and exerts its effect.</p>\n\n<p>In order to make Omeprazole more friendly to the patient, and remove the need to take it only half an hour before eating (thus imposing limitations on the patient and increasing the risk of improper use that might lead to heartburn), delayed-release formulations have been developed. Their main difference and advantage is that the patient does not have to take the capsule only before eating - once he takes the capsule, its contents are <strong>slowly</strong> released in the body (more slowly than the immediate release formulation), thus providing a delayed effect throughout the day. That is why delayed-release Omeprazole should only be taken once a day (usually in the morning).</p>\n\n<p>The delayed release mechanism is comprised of the pellets and the tablet. The pellets, being smaller, start to disintegrate and release the active ingredient Omeprazole before the tablet (but only after passing through the stomach, since they are enteric-coated as mentioned before). Meanwhile the tablet starts to dissolve, disintegrate and release the active ingredient, but this happens more slowly. After many calculations, it was possible to formulate the capsule and its contents in such a way that one capsule covers an entire day (24 hours). This enables the patient to take one capsule in the morning and act as usual, without worrying about getting heartburn after eating.</p>\n\n<p>As I said in the beginning, I was unable to find formal documentation for this mechanism of delayed release, but the <a href=\"https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Omeprazole-Magnesium-Capsules-20.6mg-42ct/14706053\" rel=\"noreferrer\">consumers' questions</a> in Walmart's website seem to point in that direction (see page 7; please note that these answers are most probably not provided by professionals, but by customers and others). See also definition no. 2 <a href=\"http://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=513&amp;sectionid=41488035\" rel=\"noreferrer\">here</a>, which also seems to apply for this capsule's composition.\n <a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AmaMr.png\" alt=\"Q&amp;A from Walmart&#39;s website\"></a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5884", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3755/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5904, "author": "Blue_Elephant", "author_id": 3268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3268", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From a chemical point of view, no. Vitamins are fairly stable molecules, so they can live into acidic media (like lemon, vitamin C) or other life media which are generally not prone for chemical species stability.</p>\n\n<p>Avoid heating though, this <em>will</em> alter them.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10556, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Only a study in which someone would put different vitamins in a blender and measure the eventual changes in their activities could answer this question. Everything else is just a guess or estimation.</p>\n\n<p>Next, the question would need to be for a specific vitamin in a specific chemical form and in a specific tablet.</p>\n\n<p>My estimation is that nothing significant would happen. Some vitamins could be partly destroyed by heat, but blending alone does not produce much heat, anyway. Crushing of the tablet could affect the physical composition of the tablet and result in either slightly decreased or increased absorption of the vitamin. </p>\n\n<p>On <a href=\"http://nutritiondata.self.com/topics/processing\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">NutritionData</a>, there is a chart with estimated effects of drying, cooking and freezing on the vitamin content of foods. For example, cooking (it does not say for how long) can destroy 25% of vitamin A, 50% of vitamin C and 70% of folic acid.</p>\n\n<p>I think, in general, blending would not do nearly as much damage as cooking.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5887", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1473/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5911, "author": "Othya", "author_id": 830, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/830", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Going on such a diet (one that is void of fat) for sustained periods of time is simply not possible. Fat is an <strong>essential</strong> macronutrient your body needs. Never go on a diet that is void of fat.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Fat is mandatory for the digestion and absorption of fat soluble micro nutrients (Vitamin A, D, E, and K).</li>\n<li>Fats are also sources of EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids).</li>\n<li>EFAs play an important role in the life and death of cardiac cells.</li>\n<li>EFA deficiency results in a dermatitis similar to that seen in zinc or biotin deficiency.</li>\n<li>EFAs are modified to make:\n\n<ul>\n<li>the classic eicosanoids (affecting inflammation and many other cellular functions)</li>\n<li>the endocannabinoids (affecting mood, behavior and inflammation)</li>\n<li>the lipoxins from ω-6 EFAs and resolvins from ω-3 (in the presence of aspirin, downregulating inflammation)</li>\n<li>the isofurans, neurofurans, isoprostanes, hepoxilins, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and Neuroprotectin D</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>EFAs form lipid rafts (affecting cellular signaling)</li>\n<li>EFAs act on DNA (activating or inhibiting transcription factors such as NF-κB, which is linked to pro-inflammatory cytokine production)</li>\n<li>Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function.</li>\n<li>Fats also serve as energy stores for the body, containing about 37.8 kilojoules (9 calories) per gram of fat. They are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy.</li>\n<li>Fat also serves as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance, whether chemical or biotic—reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute—or at least maintain equilibrium of—the offending substances by storing it in new fat tissue. This helps to protect vital organs, until such time as the offending substances can be metabolized and/or removed from the body by such means as excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion, and hair growth. </li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7203, "author": "chris", "author_id": 5020, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5020", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>We have evolved to eat meat, vegetables, dairy etc. The closer these ingredients are to their original form, i.e. less processed and chemically amended purely for marketing purposes, the better. We also evolved to eat fermented foods, including (sourdough) bread and pickles of various kinds. We need protein, vitamins, minerals and various trace elements. Our bodies are pretty good at self-regulating and sometimes even filling in some deficiencies in diet, but the diet must not be synthetically limited or deficiencies can develop into problems. Our digestion and processes that feed all our cells are highly complex intertwined chains of processes. Just as you can't feed plants with large dose NPK fertilizers and expect healthy plants, you can't feed humans with a large dose of protein + one or two other thing and expect healthy humans.\nThe often used analogy of an engine is much miss-aligned with biological processes.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5910", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3769/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5919, "author": "Amanda R.", "author_id": 3704, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3704", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/iron-deficiency-anemia/basics/symptoms/con-20019327\" rel=\"nofollow\">Iron deficiency</a> or <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dehydration/basics/symptoms/con-20030056\" rel=\"nofollow\">dehydration</a> can both make a person fatigued. Try drinking more water, and eating more <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/diet/iron-rich-foods?page=1\" rel=\"nofollow\">iron rich foods</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5940, "author": "a25bedc5-3d09-41b8-82fb-ea6c353d75ae", "author_id": 3800, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3800", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are over a hundred medical conditions with the symptoms you have described, so be aware for any new symptoms and tell him if they are any.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind any changes that have occurred before development of your symptoms (e.g: Did you get a new pet?, Did you go travelling?). </p>\n\n<p>One thing that you could ask your Doctor is about your vitamin D levels. We create <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/vitamin-D-sunlight.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Vitamin D</a> from sunlight. Deficiency is linked with <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/tiredness-and-fatigue/Pages/winter-tiredness.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">fatigue and exhaustion</a></p>\n\n<p>Get well soon. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5918", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3609/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5931, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There are 2 types of blood thinners anticoagulants and antiplatelets. Simply:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Anticoagulant-medicines/Pages/Introduction.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">Anticoagulants</a> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Anticoagulants work by interrupting the process involved in the\n formation of blood clots. They're sometimes called \"blood-thinning\"\n medicines, although they don't actually make the blood thinner</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/patient_education/drug_nutrient/coumadin1.pdf&amp;q=how%20does%20coumadin%20work%20nih&amp;ved=0ahUKEwilvp_p8_fMAhWNdSYKHfp5CxkQFggaMAA&amp;usg=AFQjCNHspcUllIe74wCYjz4dfErkUV5Scg\" rel=\"nofollow\">NIH</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Vitamin K is essential for those reactions. Warfarin (Coumadin) works\n by decreasing the activity of vitamin K; lengthening the time it takes\n for a clot to form.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodthinners.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Antiplatelets</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin, prevent blood cells called\n platelets from clumping together to form a clot.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A deeper understanding can be derived from looking up the individual medications: <a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-5190/clopidogrel-oral/details\" rel=\"nofollow\">Clopidogrel</a> (Antiplatelet) and <a href=\"https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682277.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Coumadin</a>(Anticoagulant). I don't know which type your refering to, but they:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.healthline.com/health/anticoagulant-and-antiplatelet-drugs\" rel=\"nofollow\">Dont actually thin the blood</a>. They really just interfere with processes to stop and prevent blood clots. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs work by stopping platelets from\n adhering to one another and clotting proteins from binding together.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Blood thinners can cause <a href=\"http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/mobileart.asp?articlekey=100173&amp;page=2\" rel=\"nofollow\">thrombocytopenia</a> (low platelets). However, the platelets have to be severely low beneath 100,000 to cause spontaneous and uncontrollable bleeding that may cause death usually. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Many medications can cause low platelet count by causing immunologic\n reaction against platelets, called drug-induced thrombocytopenia.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So basically on this stuff it takes you longer to clot and therefore increased the time you bleed. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 26170, "author": "Peter Bernhard", "author_id": 21148, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/21148", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As far as I know, the only blood thinner that is known for its potential to reduce platelet count is Heparine. See e.g. Wikipedia, HIT - heparin induced thrombocytopenia, <a href=\"http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heparin-induced_thrombocytopenia\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heparin-induced_thrombocytopenia</a></p>\n<p>&quot;If someone receiving heparin develops new or worsening thrombosis, or if the platelet count falls, HIT can be confirmed with specific blood tests.&quot;</p>\n<p>Some other link on &quot;HIT&quot;: <a href=\"https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulationaha.106.632653\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulationaha.106.632653</a></p>\n<p>For a popular blood thinner that seems to be based on heparin see <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoxaparin_sodium\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enoxaparin_sodium</a></p>\n<p>For several other substances of the same category see e.g.\n<a href=\"https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulationaha.106.632653\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circulationaha.106.632653</a></p>\n<p>The question says: &quot;creation&quot; of platelets. There is not known any &quot;blood thinner&quot; that prevents the creation of platelets. Typically, Vitamin K which is blocked by certain blood thinners, is needed for the creation of factors of the coagulation cascade. Thus, blood thinners interfering with vitamine K do not prevent the &quot;creation&quot; of platelets/thrombocytes (which medication blocking cell division does, cp. cancer medication), but the creation of coagulation factors.</p>\n<p>Creation of platelets is different from &quot;creation of blood clots&quot; and its prevention. The question is not coherent in respect of its explanatory text. The answer to the question reformulated in the explanatory note &quot;...platelets are used to prevent ... blood loss from the wound, so how do Blood Thinners prevent this?&quot;:</p>\n<p>They inhibit the aggregation of platelets by interfering with the thrombocyte's signaling hormone thromboxane.</p>\n<p>See <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thromboxane#Inhibitors\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thromboxane#Inhibitors</a>\n&quot;The widely used drug aspirin acts by inhibiting the ability of the COX enzyme to synthesize the precursors of thromboxane within platelets.&quot;\n<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thromboxane#Inhibitors\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thromboxane#Inhibitors</a></p>\n<p>There are blood thinners that do not directly act on platelets but on the coagulation cascade.The question does not seem to refer to these. What's more, they do not lead to low platelet count and do not interfere with cell devision i.e. creation of platelets. However, for some dispute on Thrombocytopenia in the context of novel blood thinners see e.g. <a href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3219062\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3219062</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5924", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/461/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7571, "author": "StrongBad", "author_id": 55, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/55", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Headphones are just a \"small\" speaker that is close to your ear. In terms of acoustics, it doesn't mater if a sound is generated by headphones, a speaker, or someone talking/yelling/singing/banging pots. What does matter is how loud the sound is, the frequency content, and the duration you listen.</p>\n\n<p>There is no reason to stop using headphones. In fact, hearing aids are just fancy headphones. There is some evidence that you should limit your exposure to loud and prolonged sounds, but that is a different question.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9022, "author": "MattCrow", "author_id": 6622, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6622", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>If you have sensorineural hearing loss and regularly use headphones, you might be listening to a louder volume than if you did not have hearing loss. This may mean you could be subjecting your hearing apparatus to potentially damaging thresholds. </p>\n\n<p>Hearing aids are not just fancy headphones. They are sophisticated aural rehabilitation devices that are tuned to an individual's hearing loss. New, digital hearing aids also have other advanced technologies such as directional sound detection, filtering, among many others.</p>\n\n<p>Credibility: I am an ENT. The above post does not constitute medical advice.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5929", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3789/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5954, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.drugs.com/sfx/tetracycline-topical-side-effects.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Unlikely.</a> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Tetracycline topical is generally well tolerated. Side effects\n reported with systemic administered tetracycline such as\n gastrointestinal complaints, vaginitis, hematologic abnormalities,\n dental, and skeletal disorders have not been reported and are unlikely\n to occur with topical administration.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>However,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A faint yellowing of the skin has been reported, especially around the\n hair roots</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This <a href=\"http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/tetracycline.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">link</a> agrees with the above. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11685, "author": "Jon Bear", "author_id": 8672, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8672", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>When taken orally tetracycline can cause discolouration in developing teeth and should be avoided - when possible - in young children.\nSystemic tetracycline will have no effects on the colour of fully erupted teeth. So not something an adult needs to worry about !</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Discolouration of the teeth occurs in a high proportion of children undergoing antibiotic therapy with drugs of the tetracycline group during the time of tooth development.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Oral Diagnosis 2nd Edition W R Tyldesley page 69</strong></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5951", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/866/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5972, "author": "TheEnvironmentalist", "author_id": 11, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/11", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Headaches in general are quite poorly understood, and there are a number of different types of headaches, with a very large number of conditions known to cause them.¹ A common denominator though seems to be blood flow,² which makes sense considering the importance of keeping the brain properly oxygenated. Too little blood to the head and you can lose consciousness (which evolutionarily is very bad, because an unconscious monkey can't defend itself or its kin). Too much blood and you risk improper brain function in the best case, and hemorrhaging into the delicate brain tissues in the worst. For this reason and others, blood vessels in and leading into the head are often covered in nerves. Major changes in blood flow putting pressure on these nerves can cause headaches.²</p>\n\n<p>Glyceryl trinitrate patches work so well for angina because nitroglycerin is converted in the body to nitric oxide, one of the body's own primary vasodilators, and vasodilators serve the role of causing blood vessels to widen.³ In the chest, this widening helps the heart to function. In the head — which the nitroglycerin eventually reaches as it is systemically absorbed — vasodilation allows blood vessels to hit these nerves, and there's your headache.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Sources:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>[1]: <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/headache/basics/causes/sym-20050800\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/headache/basics/causes/sym-20050800</a></li>\n<li>[2]: <a href=\"http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-headaches/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-headaches/</a></li>\n<li>[3]: <a href=\"http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/heart-and-blood/a7124/minitran-patches-glyceryl-trinitrate/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/heart-and-blood/a7124/minitran-patches-glyceryl-trinitrate/</a></li>\n</ul>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5973, "author": "md nth", "author_id": 3823, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3823", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>From my understanding of the pathology for headache,\nSome headaches pathogenesis come from vasodilation of blood vessels, \nGlyceryl trinitrate cause vasodilation, so this could be the cause,\nAlso hypotension caused by vasodilation can cause headach.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5958", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/43/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 10282, "author": "Lakshmi Balan", "author_id": 6747, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6747", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>There is ill effect if the water contains germs. Boiling water kill the germs, and mixing them with cold water will result in a temperature low enough for the germs from the cold water to survive. That's why in some part of the world, there is some believe not to mix hot and cold water for drinking. It can really cause sickness if the water is not clean.</p>\n\n<p>Reference : \n<a href=\"https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-ill-effects-if-you-drink-a-hot-and-cold-water-mixture\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-ill-effects-if-you-drink-a-hot-and-cold-water-mixture</a></p>\n\n<p>Thus, its better you to take hot water and keep it for sometime and then drink it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16079, "author": "Joseph", "author_id": 13565, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/13565", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>both hot and cold water comes from the same distilled water can fitted on a water dispenser .Normally a water dispense has both the options.It is true that both the taps give extreme temperatures, one is very cold and and the second is really hot (may be for making tea). Hot water doesn't boil in the dispenser. Since both are coming from distilled water can, mixing them should not be a issue. </p>\n\n<p>It is always preferable to drink warm water after a meal. It can easily dissolve fats.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5959", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3541/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5962, "author": "Shona", "author_id": 3815, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3815", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Tell her to breath deep every day for atleast 5 to 10 minutes she can start by doing for 2 minutes it will calm her down and she would worry less as her mind would relax . You can make a comfortable and loving environment for her so that she always know that you are there whatever happens . These easy things can be done at home . It would be hard to be patient with her but when she would see you are there every time it happens to console her , may be she realise its all her imagination . Or you can go with Count Iblis's answer and contact a psychologist .</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 5966, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>A psychologist could help her, e.g. using <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy\">Cognitive behavioral therapy</a>. It's likely that whenever she feels that something doesn't feel quite right and the idea that this could be cancer crosses her mind, she doesn't have enough knowledge to dismiss such thoughts on their merit. If she is taught about this, then she can start to suppress such thoughts.</p>\n\n<p>But it will then still take some time before these negative thoughts will stop to cross her mind. This is because such thoughts originate at the subconscious level, the brain parts involved can flag that something seems to be wrong even if you at the conscious level know that there is no problem and that this is false alarm. The alarm will then still be there but she can ignore it, as long as she knows that it is indeed false alarm. The reason why this is going on is because by believing in what she felt she amplified the signals which have had the effect of programming certain brain parts to act this way. These brain parts don't know that this is a bad thing. If she had been learning a new skill then the same sort of processes would have led her to become better at performing that skill.</p>\n\n<p>Since the wrong programing is still present, this means that even when she knows that simply feeling something somewhere in her body does not mean she has cancer, the signals she perceives will still be amplified and felt in an exaggerated way. She needs to appreciate this effect in order to continue to be able to dismiss the idea that she may have cancer. But lowering stress levels simply by not believing that she has cancer and also relaxation methods as mentioned in Sona's answer will already go some way to reduce whatever abnormality she is perceiving.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7357, "author": "Weezy", "author_id": 5142, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5142", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>She has something called hypochondria which is the same disease I suffer from. Hypochondria means excessive health anxiety. Let me tell you some key points. If she is worried too much she'll start producing <strong>REAL SYMPTOMS</strong> in her body. I was worried about a spot in my mouth for 2 years and had misdiagnosed it as leukoplakia using google. As a result I developed chronic neck pain. Never let her do that. Google often provides links to websites with <strong>INCOMPLETE</strong> information about a disease intended for the general public and NOT proper medical websites. A lump in the throat is actually normal as lymph nodes are present there. If it was cancer indeed, 5 years would have been ample time for the tumor to grow in size and cause fever and all other cancer symptoms. Health anxiety is not something you can completely get rid off. It's only a moment of time before you discover some new virus over the internet that spreads through touching/sneezing and start obsessing about it. You need to tell her to relax and make her believe that the human body is more complex and well suited to fight infection and diseases than she knows. Just google the placebo (also nocebo) effect and tell her read about it. It proves how powerful can human psychology be when it comes to physical well-being. To a hypochondriac repeated reassurance is required because they tend to fall into a cycle of constant worrying and re-analysing the cause of their worry. The key to overcome this is to break this cycle. Practicing meditation on a daily basis helps calm the mind and allows it to think more clearly. Also meditation helps you to analyse yourself in a quieter way. That way you learn to control your anxieties. I will strongly recommend <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelSealey\" rel=\"nofollow\">Michael Sealey's YouTube channel</a> for video-guides to meditation and hypnosis. Begin with <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vx8iUvfyCY\" rel=\"nofollow\">this one</a>. These definitely helped me more than anti-anxiety medication ever did. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>You can't cure anxiety but you can definitely learn to ignore it.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10938, "author": "EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine", "author_id": 8021, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8021", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As other people have indicated, what you're describing is definitely a mental illness. In the DSM-IV this was called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochondriasis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">hypochondriasis</a> and is also sometimes called health anxiety.</p>\n\n<p>Technically it's now split into two separate conditions as of the adoption of the DSM-V but it's still worthwhile to look at the diagnostic criteria from the DSM-IV:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A. Preoccupation with fears of having, or the idea that one has, a serious disease based on the person's misinterpretation of bodily symptoms.<br/>\n B. The preoccupation persists despite appropriate medical evaluation and reassurance.<br/>\n C. The belief in Criterion A is not of delusional intensity (as in Delusional Disorder, Somatic Type) and is not restricted to a circumscribed concern about appearance (as in Body Dysmorphic Disorder).<br/>\n D. The preoccupation causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.<br/>\n E. The duration of the disturbance is at least 6 months.<br/>\n F. The preoccupation is not better accounted for by Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, a Major Depressive Episode, Separation Anxiety, or another Somatoform Disorder.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As others have indicated, CBT and possibly medication are effective treatment for this.</p>\n\n<p>You've probably gathered as much but merely reassuring her really isn't an effective solution.</p>\n\n<p>As a disclaimer, I don't personally suffer from this particular condition (so someone correct me if I'm off base here), but based on my experience and reading on other anxiety disorders it's also very important to find a way to interrupt the associated behaviors (e.g. unnecessary medical visits, receiving unnecessary treatments, etc.) as those just serve to perpetuate the anxiety. (This is analogous to obsessive-compulsive disorder; compulsive hand-washing may reduce your anxiety in the short term but in the long term it keeps you trapped in the disorder). This is definitely something that she can work with a therapist on though.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5961", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3814/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 5984, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>What is bad is not vegetable oil but making decisions based on pseudoscience. There is no evidence that low carb diets will do you any good except if you are (pre)diabetic. It's not good science to do studies on prediabetic obese people, put them on a low carb ketogenic diet, measure the improvement in insulin sensitivity and then conclude that carbs are bad. That's as stupid as saying that strenuous exercise is bad for the heart because the condition of heart failure patients worsens when put on a strenuous exercise routine.</p>\n\n<p>The real evidence on carbs and fats points to the complete opposite direction. A high carb, low fat diet actually improves insulin sensitivity and has many other health benefits, particularly for the cardiovascular system. <a href=\"http://nutritionfacts.org/2014/11/11/we-can-end-the-heart-disease-epidemic/\" rel=\"nofollow\">We can read here</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Maybe the Africans were just dying early of other diseases and so never lived long enough to get heart disease? No. In the video One in a Thousand: Ending the Heart Disease Epidemic, you can see the age-matched heart attack rates in Uganda versus St. Louis. Out of 632 autopsies in Uganda, only one myocardial infarction. Out of 632 Missourians—with the same age and gender distribution—there were 136 myocardial infarctions. More than 100 times the rate of our number one killer. In fact, researchers were so blown away that they decided to do another 800 autopsies in Uganda. Still, just that one small healed infarct (meaning it wasn’t even the cause of death) out of 1,427 patients. Less than one in a thousand, whereas in the U.S., it’s an epidemic.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>These Ugandans only got about 20% of less of their energy from fats, they were eating mostly a plant based diet. Human physiology is adapted to get most of the energy from carbs. Our ancestors living in Africa had to do without butter and oil, they would be filling their stomachs with energy from starches and fruits. You only need a small amount of the essential fatty acids Omega-6 and Omega-3, of the order of a few grams per day.</p>\n\n<p>There is plenty of other evidence for this. E.g. Evidence from autopsies on US soldiers killed in action in Vietnam shows that 80% had the early signs of atherosclerosis, while only about 3% of the North Vietnamese killed in action showed such signs. The main difference is the diet, the North Vietnamese were eating a plant based diet where most of their energy came from carbs. An intervention study by Dr. Esselstyn done on heart patients who could not be operated and were deemed to be terminally ill, resulted in most of these patients reversing their symptoms and living for many more years without symptoms, <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6pLRdawBw0\" rel=\"nofollow\">see here for details</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The opposite claim that a low carb high fat diet is good for health has arguably been falsified in a huge trial. The North American population has put itself on this diet, decreasing the amount of carbs relative to the amount of fats ever more. The result? <a href=\"http://www.mywebtimes.com/news/illinois_ap/extreme-obesity-is-ballooning-in-u-s-adults/article_a3085ab8-4b99-5285-a338-e566948ef2fc.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Americans are not just getting fatter, they are ballooning to extremely obese proportions at an alarming rate.</a> People in their 40s are dying from heart disease, teenagers are getting type 2 diabetes.</p>\n\n<p>So, to conclude, what's bad for you is the ketogenic diet itself, not so much the oil you want to use for this diet.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7022, "author": "Agent_L", "author_id": 929, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/929", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p>The general recommendation against vegetable oil has nothing to do with the oil source. The usual complain is that vegetable oils are perceived as \"highly processed\" and thus \"not natural\". Which of course is not true. You can't treat extra virgin olive oil same as margarine (aka \"hardened vegetable oil\"). There are many crappy products made from unspecified \"vegetable oil\", but it doesn't mean that all oils coming from plants are bad.</p>\n\n<p>Just make sure the oil is a high quality, cold pressed one.</p>\n\n<p>Sorry I can't cite any sources, but when something is a made up misconception, there are no sources to prove it's not real : /</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 19632, "author": "niyas moideen", "author_id": 16460, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/16460", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Many people think vegetable oils are healthy. The word vegetable might have something to do with it. Or maybe it’s the American Heart Association — a group that’s endorsed soybean oil, corn oil, and the rest of the vegetable oils as “heart healthy” for nearly half a century[*].</p>\n\n<p>Whatever the reason, what’s certain is that vegetable oils have made their way into more and more foods (especially processed foods) over the last 50 years, while fats like butter and coconut oil have been phased out.</p>\n\n<p>Vegetable oils have no place on a healthy ketogenic diet. The trouble is that vegetable oils are rich in linoleic acid and other inflammatory and easily oxidized omega-6 fatty acids.</p>\n\n<p>Vegetable oils are bad for your metabolism, inflammation levels, oxidative stress, weight regulation, and cancer risk.</p>\n\n<p>This article will cover the science behind vegetable oils, the top seven vegetable oils to avoid, and what to use instead of vegetable oils.</p>\n\n<p>For the last half-century, the American Heart Association has maintained that saturated fat is a driving cause of heart disease and that for the sake of your heart, you should replace saturated fats like butter and coconut oil with “heart healthy” vegetable oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids.</p>\n\n<p>However, more and more research is coming out that suggests the exact opposite. In the last decade, several large, independent reviews of the research have found thatdietary saturated fat is not associated with heart disease[<em>][</em>].</p>\n\n<p>The data actually suggests the opposite. Saturated fat intake is inversely correlated with stroke incidence, and may protect against alcohol-related liver disease[<em>][</em>].</p>\n\n<p>And foods high in saturated fat — eggs, palm oil, and coconut oil — are rich in beneficial nutrients like choline, carotenoids, and medium chain triglycerides (MCTs).</p>\n\n<p>When you store (or eat) fat, you store it in triglyceride form. When it’s time to use that fat for energy — on a ketogenic diet, for instance — the triglyceride is broken down into fatty acids.</p>\n\n<p>Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat. There are a few different types, each with unique effects on your health.</p>\n\n<p>Here are the four major types of fatty acids:</p>\n\n<p>Saturated fatty acid (SFA)Monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)Trans Fatty Acid (trans fat)</p>\n\n<p>You already learned about SFA. SFAs are satiating, resists oxidation, and is stable at high heats, which makes it great for cooking. Contrary to popular wisdom, SFA is healthy.</p>\n\n<p>Next come MUFAs. High MUFA intake correlates with lower blood pressure, lower blood glucose, and lower cardiovascular risk[*].</p>\n\n<p>You won’t find many folks bashing monounsaturated fats. They’re the main type of fat in olive oil and avocado oil, and are prevalent in the Mediterranean Diet, which is one of the best-studied diets for longevity.</p>\n\n<p>Then there are PUFAs. PUFAs can be divided into anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids like the ones you find in fish, and pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids like the ones you find in vegetable oil.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, artificial trans fats — or hydrogenatedPUFAs. Artificial trans fats are by far the worst type of fat around. Luckily, researchers have shown how bad they are, and at this point, trans fats are illegal in most parts of the world[*].</p>\n\n<p>Omega-6 PUFAs aren’t as bad as trans fats, but they aren’t great for you either. Let’s talk about why.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/5983", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2638/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7065, "author": "Blue_Elephant", "author_id": 3268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3268", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No, drinking cold water will not freeze the \"oil\" (?) in your body, and will not cause any blockage. </p>\n\n<p>However, freezed ultra cold water (salted water or alcohol can reach -15°C and stay liquid), can cause cold \"burns\" (not sure of the word, but it harms your skin anyway), just like winter burns on your hand if you play too long with snow.</p>\n\n<p>This is part of the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoregulation_in_humans\" rel=\"nofollow\">human thermoregulation process</a>, which is done (in part) by the hypothalamus (a part of the brain, grossly).</p>\n\n<p>Concerning your stomach, I cannot say if it will produce more acid or anything due to cold water consumption. However, any water consumption will tend to dilute the secretions, making digestion a bit longer. </p>\n\n<p>If you want to know how your body can produce heat, it can simply be by burning fat or activating muscles (this is also the reason why you shake tooth in freezing cold outside temperature).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7083, "author": "Phate01", "author_id": 155, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/155", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It is said that drinking cold water right after a meal can lead you to indigestions. </p>\n\n<p>This happens because the body focuses the majority of our blood to the digestive system. Then as a consequence there is less blood in the brain during this process, and that's why we are tired and sleepy after we ate.</p>\n\n<p>Drinking cold water can dramatically block the digestive process by shrinking the abdomen vessels, thus blocking the whole blood flow, causing you to faint.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9334, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p><strong>1.</strong> Freezing cold (4 °C) beverages do not increase the secretion of the gastric acid more than lukewarm or hot beverages, according to this study:</p>\n\n<p><em>McArthur KE et al, Gastric acid secretion, gastrin release, and gastric emptying in humans as affected by liquid meal temperature (<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2912011\" rel=\"nofollow\">PubMed</a>).</em></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Coffee (360 mL) was infused into the stomach through a nasogastric\n tube at 58 (steaming hot), 37, or 4 degrees C (ice cold). Intragastric\n temperature, measured by an intragastric temperature sensor attached\n to the nasogastric tube, returned to body temperature 16.7 +/- 2.7 min\n after the hot meal and 23.8 +/- 1.1 min after the cold meal. Gastric\n acid secretion increased after hot, warm, and cold coffee but <strong>the\n initial temperature of the meal had no effect on gastric acid\n secretion.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>2.</strong> Cold beverages slow down stomach emptying, that is passing of food from the stomach into the small intestine, according to this study:</p>\n\n<p><em>Collares EF et al, 1981, Gastric emptying in children. I. Influence of the temperature of a hydration solution for oral use (<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7340752\" rel=\"nofollow\">PubMed</a>)</em> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Each baby had measured its gastric emptying for two different\n temperature solutions, approximately 27 degrees C and 4 degrees C,\n room and cold temperature...The results showed a <strong>significant larger\n gastric retention for low temperature one.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This suggests that drinking cool water after the meals can slow down the digestion a bit and possibly cause an uncomfortable feeling of prolonged stomach fullness. This could be what the OP's parents referred to as \"blockage.\"</p>\n\n<p>As mentioned in the first study above, freezing cold (4 °C) coffee changes to the body temperature in about 20 minutes after it reaches the stomach, so it should not \"freeze\" the fats in the same sense as it can on the plate.</p>\n\n<p>In conclusion, from the limited evidence presented above, it seems that cool water drunk with meals might cause some stomach discomfort after the meals. Someone would need to be quite observant to become aware of such feelings.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/6988", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3835/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7065, "author": "Blue_Elephant", "author_id": 3268, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3268", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No, drinking cold water will not freeze the \"oil\" (?) in your body, and will not cause any blockage. </p>\n\n<p>However, freezed ultra cold water (salted water or alcohol can reach -15°C and stay liquid), can cause cold \"burns\" (not sure of the word, but it harms your skin anyway), just like winter burns on your hand if you play too long with snow.</p>\n\n<p>This is part of the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoregulation_in_humans\" rel=\"nofollow\">human thermoregulation process</a>, which is done (in part) by the hypothalamus (a part of the brain, grossly).</p>\n\n<p>Concerning your stomach, I cannot say if it will produce more acid or anything due to cold water consumption. However, any water consumption will tend to dilute the secretions, making digestion a bit longer. </p>\n\n<p>If you want to know how your body can produce heat, it can simply be by burning fat or activating muscles (this is also the reason why you shake tooth in freezing cold outside temperature).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7083, "author": "Phate01", "author_id": 155, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/155", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It is said that drinking cold water right after a meal can lead you to indigestions. </p>\n\n<p>This happens because the body focuses the majority of our blood to the digestive system. Then as a consequence there is less blood in the brain during this process, and that's why we are tired and sleepy after we ate.</p>\n\n<p>Drinking cold water can dramatically block the digestive process by shrinking the abdomen vessels, thus blocking the whole blood flow, causing you to faint.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9334, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p><strong>1.</strong> Freezing cold (4 °C) beverages do not increase the secretion of the gastric acid more than lukewarm or hot beverages, according to this study:</p>\n\n<p><em>McArthur KE et al, Gastric acid secretion, gastrin release, and gastric emptying in humans as affected by liquid meal temperature (<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2912011\" rel=\"nofollow\">PubMed</a>).</em></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Coffee (360 mL) was infused into the stomach through a nasogastric\n tube at 58 (steaming hot), 37, or 4 degrees C (ice cold). Intragastric\n temperature, measured by an intragastric temperature sensor attached\n to the nasogastric tube, returned to body temperature 16.7 +/- 2.7 min\n after the hot meal and 23.8 +/- 1.1 min after the cold meal. Gastric\n acid secretion increased after hot, warm, and cold coffee but <strong>the\n initial temperature of the meal had no effect on gastric acid\n secretion.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>2.</strong> Cold beverages slow down stomach emptying, that is passing of food from the stomach into the small intestine, according to this study:</p>\n\n<p><em>Collares EF et al, 1981, Gastric emptying in children. I. Influence of the temperature of a hydration solution for oral use (<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7340752\" rel=\"nofollow\">PubMed</a>)</em> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Each baby had measured its gastric emptying for two different\n temperature solutions, approximately 27 degrees C and 4 degrees C,\n room and cold temperature...The results showed a <strong>significant larger\n gastric retention for low temperature one.</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This suggests that drinking cool water after the meals can slow down the digestion a bit and possibly cause an uncomfortable feeling of prolonged stomach fullness. This could be what the OP's parents referred to as \"blockage.\"</p>\n\n<p>As mentioned in the first study above, freezing cold (4 °C) coffee changes to the body temperature in about 20 minutes after it reaches the stomach, so it should not \"freeze\" the fats in the same sense as it can on the plate.</p>\n\n<p>In conclusion, from the limited evidence presented above, it seems that cool water drunk with meals might cause some stomach discomfort after the meals. Someone would need to be quite observant to become aware of such feelings.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/6991", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4841/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7005, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Bones are held together by <a href=\"http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Cartilage.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">cartilage</a>, and cartilage decays and vanishes along with the other soft tissues. So no, skeletons don't hold together by themselves. Skeletons in museums and such are generally held together by wire and glue.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11728, "author": "Jon Bear", "author_id": 8672, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8672", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Bones are connected to each other by ligaments which are composed primarily of collagen. After a sufficient period of time the ligaments will decompose and the skeletal remains will be reduced to individual bones.\nFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia\nLigament\nLigamentum (Plural: Ligamenta) </p>\n\n<p>TA\nA03.0.00.034 </p>\n\n<p>FMA\n21496, 30319 70773, 21496, 30319 \nAnatomical terminology \n[edit on Wikidata]</p>\n\n<p>In anatomy, a ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua,[1] fibrous ligament, or true ligament.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7000", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4851/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7023, "author": "Ceylon_17", "author_id": 4869, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4869", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I had the same problem, except my go-to was hard candy! The more challenging or exciting the project, the more candy I crunched. Can you say tooth decay, boys and girls? Not to mention the issues that come with ingesting all that sugar!</p>\n\n<p><strong>Try mouth exercises! They are no cost, no calorie, easy on your teeth, and may help strengthen some of your many facial muscles!</strong></p>\n\n<p>This works best, of course, if you spending this time at your PC at home ... or if at work, hopefully it is within the privacy of your cubicled walls or office.</p>\n\n<p>Easiest</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Silently stretch your entire mouth to form the vowels (A, E I, O, U) in succession. Be sure to exaggerate your silent pronunciation to engage your entire mouth and to stretch as much of your face as possible. When you get to the letter \"U\", your lips should be pursed to their farthest extension and your chin should be jutted as far forward as it will stretch.</li>\n<li>Opening your mouth as long and as wide as you can, as you would for a dentist visit, and silently mouth the word \"La\" over and over <em>using only your tongue</em>. You must keep your mouth opened as wide as you can and remember only your tongue can be used to form the word \"La, la, la, la, la ...\".</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Perform each exercise for 1-3 minutes at a stretch. You will find with engaging all of these mouth, lip, and face muscles you have managed to fulfill the need be \"orally engaged\" without adding calories or tooth decay!</p>\n\n<p>Hope this is helpful!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7178, "author": "DwightJD", "author_id": 4993, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4993", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You have to be proper in your daily routine which has to include your diet, what you eat what you not. You have to take care of it any how for both teeth and your body.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7002", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4853/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7040, "author": "Pearu", "author_id": 4883, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4883", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No. We'll go through two examples of why not.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Dermal application of medicine. If the main goal of this is to get the medicine circulating in your blood for systemic applications, and the drug is absorbed well through the skin, then the skin route will provide a stronger effect, for a short time. Why? Because the liver metabolizes anything that's entered your bloodstream. No matter how it got there (orally, dermally, rectally).</p></li>\n<li><p>Alcohol. If you inject alcohol, it will affect you much, much more quickly than if you took it like any normal person would. But remember, it's in your bloodstream. Your liver WILL eventually process it, but it might have a harder time because it's entered your bloodstream much faster than if it had had to have entered through your mouth and stomach first.</p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12596, "author": "Lucky", "author_id": 613, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/613", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>It seems that your friend has confused <em><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_pass_effect\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">first-pass metabolism</a></em> with overall liver metabolism. Anything that goes into your digestive tract (including the medicines taken (per)orally) goes straight to the liver, through hepatic portal vein. Once the substances reach the liver they are metabolised to a certain extent, depending on their chemical structure. Then, blood is carried from the liver by hepatic veins to vena cava inferior which leads to the right atrium of the heart. The heart pumps the blood into the whole body (including the liver) and substances in the blood go round and round being metabolised in each turn.</p>\n\n<p>If a substance enters the body in any way other than the digestive system, it gets to the heart and goes round and round through the whole body, including the liver and each time it passes the liver gets metabolised. The thing is that the substances reach the heart and enter systemic circulation <strong>before</strong> they reach the liver - the first pass effect is bypassed.</p>\n\n<p>Hence, I can't find research that supports your friend's wrong claim, but there are plenty of resources that refute it. For instance:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Although the plasma concentration-time profiles of metabolites may differ after oral and parenteral doses, <strong>the fraction of a dose eventually converted to a metabolite should be the same after each route of administration provided that the ingested drug is completely absorbed, is eliminated solely by metabolism in the liver, and has linear kinetics</strong>. Otherwise, the fraction of a dose administered that is converted to a metabolite may vary with route of administration (e.g. with isoprenaline and salbutamol).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>from: Susan M. PondThomas N. Tozer, <a href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165%2F00003088-198409010-00001\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">First-Pass Elimination Basic Concepts and Clinical Consequences</a>, Clinical Pharmacokinetics, 1984</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>A clinically significant aside: medicines that show extensive first pass metabolism sometimes cannot be used perorally. This is a case with nitroglycerin, e.g. This is why it is often used sublingually, i.e the tablet is placed under the tongue, but should not be swallowed. This way the first-pass metabolism is bypassed, but the medicine is still extensively metabolised by the liver, as soon as it reaches it. There are also intravenous and transdermal forms, but the sublingual form is interesting because although it is something you \"put into your mouth\" the effect your friend is talking about is bypassed.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/24058#PHARMACOKINETIC_PROPS\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Glyceryl Trinitrate Tablets 500 micrograms SmPC</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://sepia.unil.ch/pharmacology/index.php?id=86\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Nitroglycerin pharmacokinetics</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7008", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/59/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7037, "author": "Pearu", "author_id": 4883, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4883", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Nuts have a minimal amount of carbs, however, it is very easy to overeat them, so you will want to carefully control portions. When I feel like including healthy carbs, I eat brown rice. Eggs and avocados usually go well with brown rice too. And if it fits into your own diet plan, eating dark chocolate (>85%) wouldn't significantly set you back and hopefully help you in not losing your sanity while losing weight. </p>\n\n<p>And if you can cook, I'm sure you can incorporate a near endless combination of vegetables and oils into your diet. Low sugar fruits such as strawberries will also do you good. The fiber from fruits and vegetables will also help to fill you, keep your diet balanced, and aid your digestive system. Good luck!</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7042, "author": "Tony", "author_id": 4885, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4885", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I recommend vegan and gluten-free salads from <a href=\"http://homejuice.com.au/\" rel=\"nofollow\">HomeJuice</a>. Most salads are highly nutritious as they contain proteins, omega 3, proteins and fibre. Some raw vegetables and fruits also contain antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin A that protects against health problems like cancer and heart disease. </p>\n\n<p>You can also try juice detox. They are so refreshing and guaranteed to help you lose weight. I use <a href=\"http://homejuice.com.au/pages/melbourne-healthy-corporate-catering\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://homejuice.com.au/pages/melbourne-healthy-corporate-catering</a> for my juice cleanse. This office catering helps maintain the healthy lifestyle even when I'm at work.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7043, "author": "Lomas", "author_id": 4865, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4865", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The best way to fix your problem is to experiment and basically learn to make less exciting food more so. So buying a load of ingredients and then looking for recipes to use them up is always good.</p>\n\n<p>But for some ingredient ideas try <a href=\"http://www.ruled.me/ketogenic-diet-food-list/\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a></p>\n\n<p>For specific recipes try places like <a href=\"http://www.ruled.me/keto-recipes/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this</a></p>\n\n<p>I have been told low carb pizzas with a base made of cauliflower or sometimes chicken can be great. The toppings obviously easy to fill with low carb diets!</p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7032", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4879/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7059, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Coca-cola contains a lot of calories but very few nutrients, foods like that are called \"empty calories\". There is harm to the body due to regularly consuming empty calories alone. If the ratio of useful nutrients per consumed calorie goes down then that means that you would have to consume more calories to get the same amount of nutrients, which is then likely to cause weight gain. Even at the same calorie intake you may experience weight gain due to getting in less nutrients that the body needs for metabolism. The body also needs anti-oxidants to get rid of free radicals produced in metabolic processes and you'll get less of these per consumed calorie.</p>\n\n<p>So, the best way to think about the harm is to consider that the fundamental source of the harm is not coca cola but it's due to simply being alive. A living organism is a very complex machine that needs to repair itself constantly. To do this, it needs to have a steady supply of many different raw materials. If you feed it a lot of fuel without these raw materials then simply cranking up the metabolism to match the fuel consumption to the fuel intake would do a lot of damage. What happens instead is that a fraction of the extra fuel is stored instead of burned while the metabolism is cranked up a bit. This limits the damage, the storage would allow the extra fuel to be burned safely if you would eat more vitamins and minerals later. However, if this is a chronic situation, then you'll end up burning energy in a dirtier way on the long term.</p>\n\n<p>If instead of drinking coke you eat a large amounts of walnuts every day containing a large amounts of calories, much more than the coke you drink, then <a href=\"http://nutritionfacts.org/video/testing-the-fat-burning-theory/\" rel=\"nofollow\">you'll hardly gain weight</a> and your <a href=\"http://nutritionfacts.org/video/walnuts-and-artery-function/\" rel=\"nofollow\">health will improve a lot</a>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7409, "author": "Kaka Singh", "author_id": 5207, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5207", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Coca cola isn't good if ingest on daily basis. Artificial sugar in it is harmful for the kidneys. Regular consumption of coca cola might have a [negative]impact on your reproductive system. The chemicals that most fizzy drinks contain lead to defects in your organs that are responsible for reproduction. </p>\n\n<p>Here are my sources for the people who find this answer objectionable:</p>\n\n<p>On Artificial sugar I read it <a href=\"http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/this-list-proves-why-you-shouldnt-drink-coke-but-use-instead.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> , <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17525693\" rel=\"nofollow\">More</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7049", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3248/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7056, "author": "Pearu", "author_id": 4883, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4883", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>WebMD seems to suggest no: </p>\n\n<p>\"Atopic eczema (disorder causing skin itching)</p>\n\n<p>Vitamin E has been applied to the skin to prevent scars. However, because of a risk of allergic skin reaction, some researchers have advised against the use of this therapy. Further studies are needed.\"</p>\n\n<p>And </p>\n\n<p>\"Scar prevention</p>\n\n<p>Vitamin E applied to the skin does not appear to reduce surgical wound scarring. Because of a risk of allergic skin reaction, some researchers have advised against the use of this therapy.\"</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-e/evidence/hrb-20060476\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-e/evidence/hrb-20060476</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 24876, "author": "prosody-Gabe Vereable Context", "author_id": 93, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/93", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>I can confirm/verify that many (50+ times, 25 different people wearing medical coats with company logo) of my phlebotomists regularly advised &quot;Use Vitamin E because it prevents scar tissue.&quot; verbatim</strong> (when sitting for Vitals Check, &amp;/or during blood plasma donation process, often repeated by docs/nurses/staff if I go the full twice a week [U.S. Food &amp; Drug Administration {FDA} max allowed by law is 2 donations per week], especially if you've a noticable mark forming/developing, generally seems a kind suggestion).</p>\n<p><strong>If you're referring to the iodine er alcohol based disinfectants (to clean the area) they're applying 30 seconds before inserting the venipuncture needle, I never heard or was told that is linked/connected/effected by or with Vitamin E specifically, though of course the cleaning effect is the goal to sterilize (which would theoretically clean away the E), I think generally the advice/suggestion is just to (re)apply Vit E regularly and keep checking results to find the correct self-dosage.</strong> I've been mainly told to apply to the skin, but occassionally they'll suggest taking a few drops orally as well (as a precaution maybe, or to balance if you do not get enough from food), though direct epidermal application is the primary method.</p>\n<p>From personal experience (about a hundred donations total so far), I never bought <em>any</em> (ever) item from the pharmacies' alternative medicines isle before blood plasma donation, and then I just had to buy another vial of Vitamin-E because when I stopped the scars came back. Before now I only believed in prescription medications, so Vitamin E is impressive. <strong>Pharmacies have the concentrated form of Vitamin E which is usually what is told to find for medical purposes.</strong></p>\n<p>All said, it is interesting that <strong>there is not any clear signage suggesting Vitamin E in donation centers' heavy promotional and medical educational materials which are usually filled with pretty varied risk assessments and guidelines</strong> (&quot;Drink lots of water, eat a good meal.&quot; in funky print, or on the PA system reminder between hip/pop songs), and yet all (easily 90%, meaning the questions must be frequent about that ugly scar tissue) of the phlebotomists I've worked with knew to suggest the product (there could be a good very extremely profitable cross-promotion opportunity between donation centers and Vitamin E producers to be made), so I gather there is some formal and informal uncertaintly in line with <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486820/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486820/</a> (<a href=\"http://web.archive.org/web/20201011135835/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486820/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://web.archive.org/web/20201011135835/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3486820/</a> , <a href=\"https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=18050247519683909952&amp;as_sdt=20000005&amp;sciodt=0,21&amp;hl=en\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=18050247519683909952&amp;as_sdt=20000005&amp;sciodt=0,21&amp;hl=en</a>), generally speaking about the greater blood donation world, saying &quot;It is time to shift attention back to donor health, which is indeed no less important than insuring a safe blood supply.&quot; ...because medical science is not there yet, there is not any official word yet.</p>\n<p>I link to the US National Institutes of Health generally there <strong>because there is not any specific known Vitamin E + Blood Vessel information listed, nor for FDA guidelines apparently.</strong></p>\n<p>What does it mean if that the phlebotomists/doctors/nurses/staff make suggestions (for Vitamin E, pronouncedly) but the organizations behind them do not want to speak so clearly (pronouncedly about Vitamin E)? <strong>For us it means we might have to make the decision on our own about what to value (in terms of Vitamin E).</strong></p>\n<p><em>In terms of your question wording--I notice you wrote &quot;after&quot; in the question title, but you wrote &quot;before&quot; in the question body--do you mean Before + After then? <strong>I asked &amp; was told to apply afterwards, you were told before? So if regular, both?</strong></em></p>\n<p><strong>I apply before and after between several times a week and sometimes multiple times a day depending on the severity of the wound, which depends on who the phlebotamist is that sticks you, and the angle of the needle maybe,</strong> which varies because they're human (and if you by yourself move your muscles while needled it can tear, you're human too), so you need to be the final judge of how much you were pricked and how it's healing.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7051", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3331/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 10410, "author": "Tetramino", "author_id": 7599, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7599", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Proteins are made of twenty different amino acids. Among these, only about ten are essential amino acids, which means the body cannot synthesize them from other amino acids. This explains the difference. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16186, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>In the human body, there are 21 amino acids (AA) that can form proteins (<a href=\"https://www.britannica.com/science/amino-acid\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Britannica</a>). Only 9 of them are essential, meaning you have to obtain them from food; the other 12 can be synthesized in your body (<a href=\"https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002222.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">MedlinePlus</a>). </p>\n\n<p>Most food proteins contain most essential and nonessential AA, so to get 17.5 g of essential AA from proteins, you need to consume more than 17.5 g of them. Anyway, 65 g of protein (RDA) will probably provide more than 17.5 g of essential AA, because RDA does not include only the essential amount of protein but a bigger amount with a wide safe margin. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7146", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/307/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7175, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Surgery is not always neccesary for the first time, depending on level of damage. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000524.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">NIH</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If this is the first time you dislocated your shoulder, you will\n probably not need surgery.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>surgery</li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If your shoulder continues to partly or fully dislocate in the future,\n you may need surgery to repair or tighten the ligaments that hold the\n bones in your shoulder joint together.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/dislocated-separated-shoulder\" rel=\"nofollow\">WebMD</a>: Healing</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Ice your shoulder to reduce pain and swelling. Do it for 20-30 minutes\n every three to four hours, for 2 to 3 days or longer. Use a sling or\n shoulder immobilizer to prevent further injury until you get medical\n treatment. Then follow the doctor's advice about whether or not to use\n a sling. Take anti-inflammatory painkillers. Non-steroidal\n anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)\n or naproxen (Aleve), will help with pain and swelling. However, these\n drugs may have side effects, like an increased risk of bleeding and\n ulcers or heart attacks and strokes. They should not be used for\n extended periods of time, unless your doctor specifically says\n otherwise. Practice stretching and strengthening exercises if your\n doctor recommends them.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Surgery is a treatment for shoulders that are badly damaged. It is unlikely that this level will come after the first dislocation. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10361, "author": "Nabil Samy Yacoub", "author_id": 7559, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7559", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Surgery is not the first choise medical Interference in case of dislocated shoulder unless there is a significant damage to the joint and expectation to redislocation.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7173", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/4989/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7199, "author": "M. Arrowsmith", "author_id": 5016, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5016", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Several studies, mainly based on polysomnography, conducted among elderly participants have shown that sleep efficiency and total sleep time are decreasing with age. Quality and quantity of sleep is affected by ageing. As a consequence, elderly individuals often show excessive daytime sleepiness. </p>\n\n<p>The literature provides a very thorough list of possible cause of decreased quality and quantity of sleep with age, most common causes though seem to be related to chronic diseases such as joint diseases and chronic pains but also cardiac and pulmonary diseases. Concerning the latter, patients with pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases may suffer from sleep apnea (you can test this by answering the “Epworth Sleepiness Scale”, available on the internet). Your questions provides to few details to answer this, and maybe you should check with your family doctor. Also, some medications have been linked to sleep disturbances such as beta-blockers and diuretics (which are often prescribed in the case of heart problems). </p>\n\n<p>However, sleep disturbances may also affect elderly individuals who are in good health. In the last decades, several hypotheses have been suggested to explain the alteration in circadian rhythm in the elderly. For example, one of the organ involved in circadian rhythm synchronisation, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, shows a decline in its function with age. Also, age is associated with a decrease in melatonin, a hormone essential in the regulation of circadian rhythm.</p>\n\n<p>As you can see there are many reasons for day sleepiness in the elderly. If your daytime sleepiness impacts on your daily life (and on your social activities), you may wish to consider seeing your family doctor.</p>\n\n<p>Sources:Cooke JR, Ancoli-Israel S. Normal and Abnormal Sleep in the Elderly. Handbook of clinical neurology / edited by PJ Vinken and GW Bruyn. 2011;98:653-665. doi:10.1016/B978-0-444-52006-7.00041-1.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7202, "author": "chris", "author_id": 5020, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5020", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Lacking any obvious health related causes, it's not unusual to have a nap in the afternoon, especially when very young or as years advance. There's a general lack of recognition of the fact that we are not meant to sleep the night, the whole night and nothing but the night. Living by clocks and schedules is a general lie.\nOn the other hand if you start napping many times during the day, maybe not enough oxygen in the blood. So as long as the blood test is ok, you're in pretty good shape.\nTry sleeping without a pillow, if you like. I just tried it and had really good sleep/rest last night. Low quality night sleep is common in the western world which sacrifices truth for money. I'm not a paleo nutter or anything but, just as in religion, the sheer mass of conviction one way or another, is a brute force to be reckoned with when searching for truth.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7198", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1056/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7247, "author": "Debbie D'Amelio", "author_id": 5067, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5067", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There isn't always A test that can definitively diagnose a disease. Sometimes it takes a combination of tests and the doctor's knowledge of the possibilities for your symptoms. If your dr doesn't listen to you, find another one who will. That isn't always easy as I can attest, but it's worthwhile trying.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9392, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>As far as I know, there is NO non-human medical method for a <em>definite</em> diagnosis of diseases accepted in any well known medical center as of 27. 09. 2016.</p>\n\n<p>Medical history and physical examination are performed by doctors. X-ray, CT, MRI, lab tests or even calculations performed by computer programs are usually <strong>ordered and interpreted by doctors.</strong> It is not a CT machine that tells you a diagnosis, it is a doctor who knows how to read a CT image and make a diagnosis from it.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, you may be able to self-diagnose a disease, but this is still <em>human</em> diagnosis. </p>\n\n<p>Related terms are \"diagnostic robot,\" \"computer diagnostic tools,\" \"diagnostic software,\" \"machine learning,\" etc.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7205", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5022/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7210, "author": "nashke", "author_id": 5029, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5029", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>You can try the <a href=\"https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Harvard Nutrition Source</a>. It seems to be very science based, although outside interests are always present. I guess the best way to get scientific data is using and comparing various sources of data.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7216, "author": "Bran", "author_id": 5037, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5037", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Well, if you really want a website that offers easy to understand information that is based on scientific studies, then there is one site that I would recommend to you:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://nutritionfacts.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Nutritionfacts</a></p>\n\n<p>It's basically driven by one Guy, Michael Greger M.D., who has a team of people who constantly dig through the latest scientific papers and bundle the information into easily digestible short videos and blog posts. Each video has a small button right of it which is easily overlooked, titled \"Sources cited\", where it lists all the sources for the information listed in the video.</p>\n\n<p>Aside of these, there are longer videos at the bottom of the site titled \"Nutrition Year-in-Review\", which are recorded speeches of Mr. Greger where he summarizes the latest in nutrition science.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7245, "author": "Debbie D'Amelio", "author_id": 5067, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5067", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>NIH.gov is good for all kinds of things health, including alternative therapies and nutrition. They also have a newsletter.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7535, "author": "Count Iblis", "author_id": 856, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/856", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Good sources are review articles published in peer reviewed journals such as <a href=\"http://ajcn.nutrition.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition</a>. To apply whatever information you get from there to your own diet, you need to know the content of nutrients in your food. You can obtained detailed information from <a href=\"http://nutritiondata.self.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">this website</a>. Protein content is given in terms of all the amino acids, fats in terms all the different types of fatty acids molecules.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7545, "author": "highline7AM", "author_id": 179, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/179", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/basics/nutrition-basics/hlv-20049477\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mayo Clinic</a> website is a great source of reliable information and a place to start. If you want to dig deeper, NIH website as someone pointed out has many comprehensive resources. See <a href=\"https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/list-all/\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> for the Office of Dietary Supplements, for example. It's not just supplements btw, but info on e.g. how much of a given vitamin or mineral like iron a person needs given their background and which foods contain in (and how much per serving).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8745, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://examine.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Examine.com</a></p>\n<p>The site does not give detailed breakdown of the nutritional values of specific foods but what it does give is arguably more useful to the Average Joe.</p>\n<p>Examine.com is an independent and unbiased encyclopaedia on supplementation and nutrition. They are not affiliated in any way with any supplement company (disclosure below).</p>\n<p>The site is run by editors who examine primary research. Users are encouraged to submit corrections and any research we may have missed.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Disclosure</h3>\n<p>Examine.com is an unbiased nutrition and supplement resource. We are\nnot influenced by commercial interests, product manufacturers, or any\nother organization, and we will not advertise products or brands.\nExamine.com does not accept donations, third-party funding, or\nsponsorship of any kind. One hundred percent of our revenue is\ngenerated through our three products: the Examine.com Research Digest,\nSupplement-Goals Reference, and the Supplement Stack Guides.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>For nutrition specifically then go to: <a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://examine.com/nutrition/</a></p>\n<p>Their top Q&amp;A's are:</p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/is-saturated-fat-bad-for-me/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Is saturated fat bad for me?</a> (Saturated fat, as an all-inclusive category, has not yet been shown to beneficially or adversely affect heart health.)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Is diet soda bad for you?</a> (There are no studies that indicate any long-term health risks from drinking diet soda)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/do-i-need-to-eat-six-times-a-day-to-keep-my-metabolism-high/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Do I need to eat six times a day to keep my metabolism high?</a> (There is no evidence to support the idea that multiple meals increases metabolic rate)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">What should I eat for weight loss?</a> (Eat less. Different diets can make this easier, so pick whichever one best fits your lifestyle. Ultimately, you need to reduce your caloric intake.)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://examine.com/nutrition/is-hfcs-high-fructose-corn-syrup-worse-than-sugar/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) worse than sugar?</a> (There currently is no good evidence to suggest that one is worse than the other; either they are both inert or they are both evil. The difference between them is too small to matter in moderate consumption, and in excess both are harmful to health)</li>\n</ol>\n<p>And my favourite hidden gem on that site is the topic on <a href=\"http://examine.com/supplements/Green+Tea+Catechins/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">green tea</a>:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It has been implicated in benefiting almost every organ system in the\nbody. It is cardioprotective, neuroprotective, anti-obesity,\nanti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-artherogenic, liver protective\nand beneficial for blood vessel health. These beneficial effects are\nseen in doses present both in green tea itself (as a drink) as well as\nfrom a supplemental form.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16052, "author": "Robert Long", "author_id": 13499, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/13499", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I use this one, mainly because of it's extensive micro-nutrient details including minerals, vitamins and fatty acids, and protein/amino acid analysis:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://nutritiondata.self.com\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://nutritiondata.self.com</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/l31EG.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/l31EG.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a>\n<a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/liCUM.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/liCUM.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 16060, "author": "Jan", "author_id": 3002, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3002", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>One way to find reliable nutrition info is to first <strong>limit your search to an exact question,</strong> for example, can high intake of potassium from foods or supplements decrease the risk of heart disease?</p>\n\n<p>Next, put some of the keywords from the question into a search engine and add \"systematic review.\" You can often find at least 3-5 reviews.</p>\n\n<p>Examples of websites with systematic reviews:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">PubMed Central</a> (A library of articles from various peer-reviewd medical journals)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.cochrane.org/what-is-cochrane-evidence\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Cochrane</a> (Strict reviews)</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Linus Pauling Institute</a> (One-page-one nutrient reviews of the effects of nutrients, mainly vitamins and minerals, about their effectiveness in the prevention and treatment of different diseases).</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://ods.od.nih.gov/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Office of Dietary Supplements</a> (Similar as Linus Pauling Institute)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>It is then good to check few reviews, because their conclusion often differ markedly from each other. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7209", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5027/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8975, "author": "Grzegorz Adam Kowalski", "author_id": 6557, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6557", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Quote from \"<a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24214851\" rel=\"nofollow\">Toxic compounds in honey.</a>\" (2014):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(...) honey may contain compounds that may lead to toxicity. A compound not naturally present in honey, named <strong>5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), may be formed during the heating</strong> or preservation processes of honey.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Also, from <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20595027\" rel=\"nofollow\">other sources</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>High concentrations of HMF in honey indicate <strong>overheating</strong>, poor storage conditions and old honey.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8987, "author": "Stphane", "author_id": 5377, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5377", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Honey might be okey as long as you go the <a href=\"http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/why-you-should-ditch-sugar-favor-honey\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>raw organic</em></a> way.<br>\nSee «<em>Why Consuming Honey Raw Is So Important</em>» section. </p>\n\n<p>This honey is much better (from the nutrients point of view) because it has not been refined and is still loaded of vitamins, minerals, etc., contrary to white sugar. For a deep analysis on raw honey versus industrial honey and how to spot artificial honey, see <a href=\"http://permaculturenews.org/2014/02/08/shocking-differences-raw-honey-processed-golden-honey-found-grocery-retailers/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this article</a>.</p>\n\n<p>You may also be interested in organic <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovado\" rel=\"nofollow\">muscvado</a> sugar which is a non refined \"sugar cane\" sugar.</p>\n\n<h3>But</h3>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>«<strong>Honey actually contains more sugar and carbohydrates per serving compared to regular table sugar.</strong> <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/471043-honey-blood-sugar/\" rel=\"nofollow\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Honey will surely and quickly raise your blood sugar too (triggering insulin secretion from your pancreas).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>«<strong>All carbohydrates</strong>, with the exception of fiber, <strong>can raise your blood sugar levels</strong>, whether they come from honey, bread, rice, potatoes, candies, fruits or table sugar. If you have a blood glucose meter, you can do an experiment.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I did the experiment twice with a friend of mine, a slim sportive guy (as I am) but who is diabetic <em>Type 1</em>. Results were barely the same.<br>\nExperiment: Prior to the tests, we made sure have the same meal in the morning ~9am. At 18pm, on an empty stomach, we ate a yogurt with 3 servings of organic honey each.<br>\nResults: 15 minutes after, his blood sugar raised up to over 200mg/dL whereas mine was between 110 and 120mg/dL (thanks to my body secretion of insulin I guess).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Honey has a low to medium <a href=\"http://www.glycemicindex.com/about.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">GI</a> value, varying between 35 and 58 (…) Honey is therefore associated with a slower and smaller increase in your blood sugar levels compared with table sugar» <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/471043-honey-blood-sugar/\" rel=\"nofollow\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Excess consumption of sugar, no matter the source it comes from, will expose one to the same kind of side effects and in the long term <em>can</em> lead to overweight or various illnesses such as Type2 diabetes.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>«Eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain, which in turn increases your risk of health conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes» <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/sugars.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Link to an interesting trial on <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26338891\" rel=\"nofollow\">«Consumption of Honey, Sucrose, and High-Fructose Corn Syrup Produces Similar Metabolic Effects in Glucose-Tolerant and -Intolerant Individuals»</a> </p>\n\n<p>Then, I would say honey is okey as long as you limit your intakes to few tea spoons a meal.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>«Honey has the same chemical backbone as table sugar, so the recommended serving size of honey is the same as it is for table sugar».<a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/410468-side-effects-of-eating-too-much-honey/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Source</a></p>\n \n <p>« Like any other sweetener, honey should be used sparingly in your diet.(…) For example, try using about 1/2 teaspoon of honey to mildly sweeten your tea, plain yogurt, … » <a href=\"http://www.livestrong.com/article/471043-honey-blood-sugar/\" rel=\"nofollow\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<h2>Heavy edit (sources added) in response to <em>Fermi paradox's</em> comment.</h2>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9007, "author": "mattia.b89", "author_id": 6615, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6615", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<ol>\n<li>Honey is made of (in weight):\n18% of water and 82% of sugars (and sugars are glucose and fructose in a fraction that depends on the honey kind, e.g. mixed honey, acacia honey, etc.) <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey\" rel=\"nofollow\">[ref.1]</a></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>this means:<br>\n<strong>a)</strong> it's anyhow <strong>almost</strong> pure sugar, with all problems related to...<br>\n<strong>b)</strong> respect raw sugar, that's pure sucrose, this is the main and the bigger difference between honey and raw sugar; I pointed out this difference because, IMHO, this is the main <em>route</em> in where looking for disadvantages or advantages! e.g. glucose VS sucrose, and, fructose VS sucrose.</p>\n\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><p>honey is <em>certainly better</em> than raw sugar because contains/is rich of vitamins and minerals <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey\" rel=\"nofollow\">[ref.1]</a></p></li>\n<li><p>HMF compound presence means <em>bad</em> honey but it's not toxic for human; instead is toxic for bees <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxymethylfurfural#Biomedical\" rel=\"nofollow\">[ref.2]</a></p></li>\n</ol>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7215", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5036/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7295, "author": "M. Arrowsmith", "author_id": 5016, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5016", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Temporomandibular disorders (TMD)</strong> represent a group of disorders involving the masticatory muscles, the temporomandibular joint and associated structures. Stress, age and gender are common risk factors for TMD.</p>\n\n<p>TMD is often characterised by aural symptoms such as tinnitus, otalgia, vertigo, otic fullness sensation, hyperacousia or hypoacousia. Current understanding of TMD suggest that temporomandibular joint pain is due to pathological contraction of masticatory muscles which stimulate the realease of inflammatory molecules around the temporomandibular joint. </p>\n\n<p>Several hypothesis have been suggested to explain the otological symptoms associated with TMD among which that the position of the joint disk during jaw movement increases pressure in the Eustachian tube, the ear structures and the auriculotemporal and masseteric nerve, which innervate the tympanic membrane, the anterosuperior part of the external ear and the tragus. Additionally, studies have reported that in TMD, the tensor tympani muscle is in a pathological hypertonic state that may lead to hypoacusia, tinnitius, vertigo, otalgia and otic fulness sensation. Finally, some studies showed that TMD peripherally sensitizes the V and VII nerve pairs, leading to tonic spasm of these middle ear muscles and to hearing loss. </p>\n\n<p>While, I could not find a study directly correlating ear pain with hearing loss, a study (see Sources) showed that hearing loss is correlated to TMD severity. Below a table representation of the quantitative hearing loss by TMD severity among the individuals included in the study.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsPdB.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsPdB.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p>In this study among 464 healthy individuals, subjects were stratified into four groups: non TMD, mild TMD, moderate TMD and severe TMD. Severity of TMD was based on the score obtained after completion of an anamnestic questionnaire composed of 10 questions. Unilateral chewing and facial pain were considered in the questionnaire. In the results section, authors report that </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>pain in the temporomandibular joint was reported by 96 subjects. It\n was experienced by 3% of the non-TMD group, 11.1% of the mild group,\n 8.8% of the moderate group and 70.8% of the severe TMD group. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Those results indirectly suggest that pain in the temporomandibular joint <strong>might be</strong> correlated to hearing loss, but this has of course to be confirmed.</p>\n\n<p>Sources:\nKitsoulis et al. BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders 2011, 11:5, <a href=\"http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/11/5\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/11/5</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8701, "author": "claire20", "author_id": 1247, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1247", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>TMJ syndrome may cause ear pain, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and hearing loss. Hearing loss begins with inflammation. With its close proximity to the ear, any inflammation in the muscles of the jaw can cause the muscles associated with the ear to become constricted. I found a <a href=\"http://www.belmarrahealth.com/tmj-temporomandibular-joint-disorder-cause-tinnitus-hearing-problems/\" rel=\"nofollow\">study</a> regarding Tmj and Tinnitus.</p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps</p>\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http://thinkbetterlife.com/hearing-problems-chicago/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://thinkbetterlife.com/hearing-problems-chicago/</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7227", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5050/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7295, "author": "M. Arrowsmith", "author_id": 5016, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5016", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Temporomandibular disorders (TMD)</strong> represent a group of disorders involving the masticatory muscles, the temporomandibular joint and associated structures. Stress, age and gender are common risk factors for TMD.</p>\n\n<p>TMD is often characterised by aural symptoms such as tinnitus, otalgia, vertigo, otic fullness sensation, hyperacousia or hypoacousia. Current understanding of TMD suggest that temporomandibular joint pain is due to pathological contraction of masticatory muscles which stimulate the realease of inflammatory molecules around the temporomandibular joint. </p>\n\n<p>Several hypothesis have been suggested to explain the otological symptoms associated with TMD among which that the position of the joint disk during jaw movement increases pressure in the Eustachian tube, the ear structures and the auriculotemporal and masseteric nerve, which innervate the tympanic membrane, the anterosuperior part of the external ear and the tragus. Additionally, studies have reported that in TMD, the tensor tympani muscle is in a pathological hypertonic state that may lead to hypoacusia, tinnitius, vertigo, otalgia and otic fulness sensation. Finally, some studies showed that TMD peripherally sensitizes the V and VII nerve pairs, leading to tonic spasm of these middle ear muscles and to hearing loss. </p>\n\n<p>While, I could not find a study directly correlating ear pain with hearing loss, a study (see Sources) showed that hearing loss is correlated to TMD severity. Below a table representation of the quantitative hearing loss by TMD severity among the individuals included in the study.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsPdB.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/KsPdB.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n\n<p>In this study among 464 healthy individuals, subjects were stratified into four groups: non TMD, mild TMD, moderate TMD and severe TMD. Severity of TMD was based on the score obtained after completion of an anamnestic questionnaire composed of 10 questions. Unilateral chewing and facial pain were considered in the questionnaire. In the results section, authors report that </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>pain in the temporomandibular joint was reported by 96 subjects. It\n was experienced by 3% of the non-TMD group, 11.1% of the mild group,\n 8.8% of the moderate group and 70.8% of the severe TMD group. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Those results indirectly suggest that pain in the temporomandibular joint <strong>might be</strong> correlated to hearing loss, but this has of course to be confirmed.</p>\n\n<p>Sources:\nKitsoulis et al. BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders 2011, 11:5, <a href=\"http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/11/5\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6815/11/5</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8701, "author": "claire20", "author_id": 1247, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1247", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>TMJ syndrome may cause ear pain, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and hearing loss. Hearing loss begins with inflammation. With its close proximity to the ear, any inflammation in the muscles of the jaw can cause the muscles associated with the ear to become constricted. I found a <a href=\"http://www.belmarrahealth.com/tmj-temporomandibular-joint-disorder-cause-tinnitus-hearing-problems/\" rel=\"nofollow\">study</a> regarding Tmj and Tinnitus.</p>\n\n<p>Hope that helps</p>\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http://thinkbetterlife.com/hearing-problems-chicago/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://thinkbetterlife.com/hearing-problems-chicago/</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7228", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/16627/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7251, "author": "Pobrecita", "author_id": 167, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/167", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The amount of blockage depends on factors that are somewhat random as they depend on many things that can sometimes be more in one artery and less in the other. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/heart-disease/clogged-arteries-arterial-plaque\" rel=\"nofollow\">WebMD - Clogged Arteries</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Plaque that accumulates on the inner walls of your arteries is made\n from various substances that circulate in your blood. These include\n calcium, fat, cholesterol, cellular waste, and fibrin, a material\n involved in blood clotting.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The amount of substances could vary per blood vessel, but more\n plausibly how they respond.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In response to plaque buildup, cells in\n your artery walls multiply and secrete additional substances that can\n worsen the state of clogged arteries.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Hypertension is a risk factor for <a href=\"http://www.m.webmd.com/heart-disease/carotid-artery-disease-causes-symptoms-tests-and-treatment\" rel=\"nofollow\">Carotid Artery Disease</a> and how hypertension damaged vessels can differ. \n<a href=\"http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/WhyBloodPressureMatters/Heart-and-Artery-Damage-and-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_301823_Article.jsp#mainContent\" rel=\"nofollow\">Hypertension and Artery Damage</a> explains how through Hypertension microscopic tears turn into scar tissue that facilitate the building of the plaque blockage. The effects of the high blood pressurw would not be the same for every artery depending on size, and other variations. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9037, "author": "DavideN", "author_id": 6640, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6640", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The randomness of these events is the first thing to be considered. In facts the question could be changed in \"why all arteries with the same calibre aren't blocked in the same way?\"</p>\n\n<p>Moreover there are anatomical considerations because there are different pressures and fluxes in different points of the circulatory system, so if there is a different fluid's motion in a point it's more probable that it'll start forming the plaque.</p>\n\n<p>Last thing to consider is that once the plaque \"building\" is started in a place (also at not detectable levels) it'll be more likely it will grow more in place that another plaque start in another place.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7243", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5065/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7250, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of an enlarged spleen include:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/enlarged-spleen/basics/symptoms/con-20029324\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/enlarged-spleen/basics/symptoms/con-20029324</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>An enlarged spleen may cause:</p>\n\n<pre><code>No symptoms in some cases\nPain or fullness in the left upper abdomen that may spread to the left shoulder\nFeeling full without eating or after eating only a small amount — this can occur when an enlarged spleen presses on your stomach\nAnemia\nFatigue\nFrequent infections\nEasy bleeding\n</code></pre>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Like many illnesses, the symptoms of an enlarged spleen are non-specific and shared with many other illnesses, so there is no single symptom or set of symptoms that identifies it. Diagnosis would require examination by a physician.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7622, "author": "claire20", "author_id": 1247, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1247", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.belmarrahealth.com/enlarged-spleen-splenomegaly-causes-symptoms-spleen-pain-and-treatment/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Enlarged spleen</a> can reduce the number of healthy red blood cells, platelets and white cells in your bloodstream, leading to more frequent infections. Anemia and increased bleeding also are possible.\nA ruptured spleen can cause life-threatening bleeding into your abdominal cavity.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7244", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5066/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7276, "author": "user1847129", "author_id": 5096, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5096", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>(ok, the text in the comment field says clearly \"avoid answering...\", but my answer is not a direct answer to your \"which fish\" question, what should I do? ^^)</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps using supplementary oil capsules is a better alternative:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>studies have found that most of the widely available supplements contain little or no mercury, dioxins or PCBs. For one thing, most companies use species of fish that are lower on the food chain, like cod and sardines, which accumulate less mercury. And many companies distill their oils to help remove contaminants.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/health/24real.html?_r=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">nytimes article</a></p>\n\n<p>Another alternative, suitable for vegetarians, would be DHA &amp; EPA containing oil extracted from algae bred in water basins (no mercury pollution).\n<a href=\"http://www.omedha.com/omega-3-pregnancy-support\" rel=\"nofollow\">Schizochytrium micro algae as an \"Excellent Source of Dietary Omega-3s\"</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 11545, "author": "Tetramino", "author_id": 7599, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7599", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Also departing from fish, hempseed oil is <a href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10681-004-4811-6?LI=true\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">known to contain the optimal ratio of omega 3 and omega 6</a> fatty acids, and does not present any health drawback to my knowledge.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7248", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/2922/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7294, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It is perfectly safe to cook food right from the refrigerator. In fact, that's the safest approach to avoid having your food spend excess time in the \"Danger Zone\":</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Leaving food out too long at room temperature can cause bacteria (such\n as Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Enteritidis, Escherichia coli\n O157:H7, and Campylobacter) to grow to dangerous levels that can cause\n illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures\n between 40 °F [4 °C] and 140 °F[60 °C], doubling in number in as little as 20\n minutes. This range of temperatures is often called the \"Danger Zone.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There is a hard limit on how long food can remain in the Danger Zone:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Never leave food out of refrigeration over 2 hours. If the temperature\n is above 90 °F, food should not be left out more than 1 hour.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>And be aware that time spent in the danger zone is cumulative. So, for example, suppose you go to the market and buy some meat and it takes you an hour to finish your shopping and get home, where you then put the meat in the refrigerator. Now when you take that meat out later to cook it, it can only spend a maximum of <em>one</em> hour at room temperature. (Or if the temperature is over 90 °F[32 °C], it has no time left and you need to cook it immediately.)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/CT_Index\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/CT_Index</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7332, "author": "user5152", "author_id": 5152, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5152", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I agree that it is dangerous, but a famous chef made the comment that he allows his steaks to come to room temperature because if the steak is cold and put into a hot pan the meat will seize up and become tough. I think the bacteria tend to grow on the surface of the meat more and that is the part that is in extreme temperature. </p>\n\n<p>Chopped meats, because they are exposed to air when going through the grinder, are a greater danger to you and should be cooked more thoroughly than steak. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10362, "author": "Nabil Samy Yacoub", "author_id": 7559, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7559", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You should leave the food in the natural room temperature to give the iced water droops inside the food to melt so when the food heated, only minimal heat is needed to heat the whole food parts and equally in temperature.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7292", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5111/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7310, "author": "Bulrush", "author_id": 5134, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5134", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I have the same issue: bacne and this is the advice I got from a doctor. This is a multi-pronged approach, one part is changing your diet. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Do not expect a pill to solve all your problems. Take personal responsibility for changing your habits. </li>\n<li>Avoid all processed sugar. For the most part this is impossible for most people. But I still give the advice and it should still be a goal. Sugar is not good for you in the quantities people eat today because there is so much hidden sugar. </li>\n<li>Change your shirt every day. Do not wear it twice. Wear it once then wash it. </li>\n<li>Get a OTC soap at the pharmacy/chemist that has 10% benzoyl peroxide. From my doctor. \nWash your back with that every day. </li>\n<li>Avoid eating greasy fried foods. Some people find this helps. </li>\n<li><p>Eat more fiber. It's critical to support the good bacteria in your gut and overall balance of the body. Google \"microbiota\" in your gut. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoyl_peroxide#Acne_treatment\" rel=\"nofollow\">Benzoyl Peroxide</a> from Wikipedia. </li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/acne/tc/acne-treatment-with-benzoyl-peroxide-topic-overview\" rel=\"nofollow\">WebMD link</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.bing.com/search?q=acne+treatment+benzoyl+peroxide&amp;qs=AS&amp;pq=acne+treatment+ben&amp;sc=8-18&amp;sp=1&amp;cvid=15B7810AA6734453846F92EDAE06AB24&amp;FORM=QBLH&amp;ghc=1\" rel=\"nofollow\">541,000 links from a Bing search</a></li>\n</ul></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7329, "author": "Othya", "author_id": 830, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/830", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Anecdotal evidence is not credible. Although other peoples' answers (on this question and elsewhere) may have worked for them, the fact is everyone is different and will react differently to different home remedies and/or medications/diets.</p>\n\n<p>Acne is studied by many and there is great controversy over root causes and cures. Some people spend their entire life trying to find a solution, whether they're diets, pills, creams, home remedies, etc...</p>\n\n<p>The best advice I have is to <strong>see a dermatologist</strong>. There is no one with more experience than them, and only they will truly be able to tell what your issue is. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7296", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5116/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7352, "author": "Dr.Fazle Rabbi", "author_id": 5164, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5164", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Welcome for human being 6 types of needed almost everyday. Among them carbohydrates,protein and Fat we consider first, Others vitamins, minerals and water. Carb or carbohydrates mostly comes from sugar like sweet,rice,wheet etc, It is imp. Cause it gives ready energy through ATP,and carb is only food for our brain. Next protein that mostly comes from anemel source partly vegetable source, It develop our body and growth next fat that also come from anemel source and some from veg.oil.It acts as a reserve energy. Other 3 elements comes from both source and also imp but need limited amount.So, your plan is possible but really hard.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7379, "author": "WYSIWYG", "author_id": 1519, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1519", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Your body needs energy and unlike cattle, horses and other herbivores, humans cannot derive energy from grasses. That is because our body cannot break down cellulose (a polysaccharide that makes up the cell wall of plants and is the main energy source for herbivores).</p>\n<p>Cellulose, like starch, is a carbohydrate made up of glucose monomers. You cannot digest cellulose but you can digest starch which is one of the main sources of energy for humans.</p>\n<p>Coming back to your question:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Can I Survive on a Mostly Grass/Leaf Diet?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>No. It is not really implementable. Some leaves (like spinach) are rich in certain nutrients but you need a primary energy source. Though fats also provide energy, carbohydrates cannot be replaced because the intermediates of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">glycolysis</a> i.e. breakdown of glucose (which in turn comes from carbohydrates like starch), are essential for many other vital processes in the body (such as DNA synthesis). There is a biochemical pathway known as <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">gluconeogenesis</a> which can produce these intermediates from amino acids and certain fats (fatty acids with odd number of carbon atoms in the side chain). Leaves won't provide these as well, in sufficient amounts.</p>\n<p>Finally you need proteins which is again poor in leaves. Herbivores consume a lot of food to meet their metabolic needs. Have a look at <a href=\"https://biology.stackexchange.com/q/40456/3340\">this post</a> in Biology.SE. Our digestive system is not really tuned for this kind of a job.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If the answer is negative, what's the easiest way to satisfy to satisfy my nutritional needs in a safe way?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This is a broad question and is also subjective. It depends a lot on the geography of your surroundings, your specific metabolic makeup etc.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7351", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5163/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7352, "author": "Dr.Fazle Rabbi", "author_id": 5164, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5164", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Welcome for human being 6 types of needed almost everyday. Among them carbohydrates,protein and Fat we consider first, Others vitamins, minerals and water. Carb or carbohydrates mostly comes from sugar like sweet,rice,wheet etc, It is imp. Cause it gives ready energy through ATP,and carb is only food for our brain. Next protein that mostly comes from anemel source partly vegetable source, It develop our body and growth next fat that also come from anemel source and some from veg.oil.It acts as a reserve energy. Other 3 elements comes from both source and also imp but need limited amount.So, your plan is possible but really hard.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7379, "author": "WYSIWYG", "author_id": 1519, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1519", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Your body needs energy and unlike cattle, horses and other herbivores, humans cannot derive energy from grasses. That is because our body cannot break down cellulose (a polysaccharide that makes up the cell wall of plants and is the main energy source for herbivores).</p>\n<p>Cellulose, like starch, is a carbohydrate made up of glucose monomers. You cannot digest cellulose but you can digest starch which is one of the main sources of energy for humans.</p>\n<p>Coming back to your question:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Can I Survive on a Mostly Grass/Leaf Diet?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>No. It is not really implementable. Some leaves (like spinach) are rich in certain nutrients but you need a primary energy source. Though fats also provide energy, carbohydrates cannot be replaced because the intermediates of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">glycolysis</a> i.e. breakdown of glucose (which in turn comes from carbohydrates like starch), are essential for many other vital processes in the body (such as DNA synthesis). There is a biochemical pathway known as <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">gluconeogenesis</a> which can produce these intermediates from amino acids and certain fats (fatty acids with odd number of carbon atoms in the side chain). Leaves won't provide these as well, in sufficient amounts.</p>\n<p>Finally you need proteins which is again poor in leaves. Herbivores consume a lot of food to meet their metabolic needs. Have a look at <a href=\"https://biology.stackexchange.com/q/40456/3340\">this post</a> in Biology.SE. Our digestive system is not really tuned for this kind of a job.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If the answer is negative, what's the easiest way to satisfy to satisfy my nutritional needs in a safe way?</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This is a broad question and is also subjective. It depends a lot on the geography of your surroundings, your specific metabolic makeup etc.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7388", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5196/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7464, "author": "Hans", "author_id": 1746, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/1746", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>You won't find any suggestions here that are better than what a doctor can determine. If you have been diagnosed with IBS, talk to the doctor who diagnosed you about the best way to manage it. If you have not been diagnosed, talk to a doctor about finding out the cause.</p>\n\n<p>No medical professional would recommend a course of treatment without an exam, so anyone you find online giving out advice is almost certainly not qualified.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8887, "author": "Noemi", "author_id": 6553, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6553", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Although the best thing to do is to go and see a doctor there are a few factors which you could work on to determine what causes your symptoms. </p>\n\n<p>It might be that some kinds of food make you feel worse, for example spiced foods, foods with lots of fats, processed red meat, foods too rich in fiber like legums or vegetables and diary products are more likely to irritate your bowel. Similarly, drinking fizzy drinks, alcohol, coffee or tea can also cause irritation. <strong>So keeping an eye on what food you consume could help improve your lifestyle.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Another thing which can cause IBS is stress along with anxiety, which can both lead to an increased mobility of the colon (the place of the bowel where thousands of bacteria like e. coli process your food). This will then cause abdominal pain, especially if gas is formed inside your bowel. There are some kind of <strong>tablets sold in pharmacies which target IBS symptoms</strong> and reduce pain due to gases. <strong>Taking on a sport activity might be helpful as it often reduces stress.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Mind that, unless you have been diagnosed with IBS, your symptoms could also describe a food intolerance. </p>\n\n<p>As of today, there is no agreement among the scientific community on the causes of IBS, and there is no known \"cure\". Moreover, there is a lot of information on the Internet regarding which foods one should eat to ease symptoms but you might find that even following a diet might not help you, especially if your condition is determined by psychological factos such as stress. <strong>Engaging in relaxing activities and taking bacteria supplements usually helps</strong>. You might need to find out on your own which foods are good and which ones are not, so <strong>keeping a diary of what you eat</strong> might be useful. </p>\n\n<p>Also, if you symptoms are affecting your life so much it would be a good idea to go talk to a doctor to ask if they can give you any tablets to reduce the inflamation. </p>\n\n<p>As for the rectum pain, it might be because the irritation has spread from your colon to the rectus or because of friction, either way you should see a doctor who then could prescribe you some <strong>lotion</strong> to apply there. </p>\n\n<p>Sources: <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Irritable-bowel-syndrome/Pages/Causes.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Irritable-bowel-syndrome/Pages/Causes.aspx</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/basics/treatment/con-20024578\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome/basics/treatment/con-20024578</a></p>\n\n<p>I have had IBS for two years now and seen more than one doctor about it. </p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7448", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3075/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7479, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<h3>Am I underweight? <strong>Yes</strong></h3>\n<p><strong>Yes</strong>, your BMI is 16.7 and so you are classified as underweight. Healthy weight range for your height: 52kg - 70.5kg (based on your age being 30).</p>\n<p>The calculation for you bmi was done using this calculator: <a href=\"http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx</a></p>\n<h3>Why can't I gain more weight?</h3>\n<p>It's impossible to say without a full breakdown of your diet and medical history. At that point any answer is attempting diagnosis for your specific case.</p>\n<p>Note: I personally would recommend you get a calorie tracking app or write down the calories and shoot for about 2500-3000 (healthy, balanced) calories per day, paired with a reasonable (3-5 days a week) exercise regime of:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>cardiovascular activity (running/rowing/biking/etc.)</li>\n<li>weight lifting (squat/deadlift/bench/etc.)</li>\n</ul>\n<p>The above advice is asserted through personal accumulated knowledge and from the <a href=\"http://reddit.com/r/fitness/wiki\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://reddit.com/r/fitness/wiki</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10363, "author": "Kate Forsyth", "author_id": 7478, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7478", "pm_score": -1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Yes, absolutely you are underweight, but don't worry we can still improve that just follow my advice:</p>\n\n<p><strong>1. Make peace and be friendly with foods</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I advise you experiment and having fun creating new dishes, you have to learn new food combinations that are healthy meals and are tasty for you.</li>\n<li>You have to start reading different kinds of foods that you think you like and know what type of nutrients they can give you.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>2. Change the way you think about foods</strong>\n* If you think that eating vegetables, fruits, meat, brown rice, tuna, cinnamon and etc. can kill you or might harm you, you have to change that; the moment you change the way you judge foods that are the time your body will accept those foods that you don't like. If ever you are eating and suddenly you stop because you don't like it, just imagine and think what nutrients and good health benefits it can bring to you before you stop. It's a matter of sacrificing what you really think about this food and reverse it.</p>\n\n<p><strong>3. Try to eat together with your friends and family</strong>\n* don't try to eat alone, eating with a team can help you improve your eating disorder because most of the time you are talking, laughing and you don't really mind on the foods that you eat.</p>\n\n<p><strong>4. Make friends with those who love cooking</strong>\n* Having friends that are good in cooking and experimenting different kinds of dishes can help you change the way you treat those foods. Aside from learning new recipes, you can improve your eating disorder because most of the time your friends talk about foods and you will like it in the long run.</p>\n\n<p><strong>5. Start moving and exercise</strong>\n* You can start walking 30 minutes a day be exposed to the sun could help you with your problem. It's simple because when you arrive at home probably the first thing that you might be looking for is water and next is food. Because you exert force while walking or jogging it depends on you.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7472", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5257/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7505, "author": "Vasilis", "author_id": 5288, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5288", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p>Yes, according to the article bellow:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>But too much brushing, with bad technique, can cause other problems. \"People think if they brush hard and thoroughly they are doing a good job, but you can wear away your gums and tooth surface. People think receding gums are a sign of gum disease, but it's often a sign of too much scrubbing.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/08/how-to-brush-your-teeth\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/08/how-to-brush-your-teeth</a></p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7506, "author": "YumYumYum", "author_id": 5289, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5289", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Bursh your teeth daily 3 times, but gently. For the front use up to down, from down to up motion, not left to right motion.</p>\n\n<p>Also, you should use daily mouth wash liquide which kills the bacteria too and keeps your mouth very fresh</p>\n\n<p>Do not eat hard food, when you become older you will lose your teeth early, eat always soft foods, fruits and avoid hard foot, sweets.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7504", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3446/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7590, "author": "asparagus", "author_id": 5352, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5352", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>So at first: Why is eating frequently (with 2-3 hour pauses) better than eating 3 times a day?</p>\n\n<p>Eating 3 times a day will clearly give you the \"Jojo-Effect\" which causes getting much fat back in a short period of time, after eating a lot of \"unhealthy\" or much foot. So the method with eating frequently will last longer because you won't get cravings (or not that much) and there is no Jojo-Effect. The metabolism doesn't stop when you're eating something (many people say this), it's always \"on\". But don't worry about metabolism that much, that makes things more complicated. </p>\n\n<p><strong>How to loose weight:</strong> eat less calories than you need (~you need 2000 calories, with 30-60min work out up to 3000 a day). But just don't take it too seriously, and have fun loosing weight.</p>\n\n<p>I recommend just to eat the right things, and don't always (or never) be hungry.\n<strong>Drink a lot of water</strong> (this should be the <strong>only thing</strong> you should drink!), <strong>eat a lot of vegetables</strong>, <strong>less fruits and sweets</strong> and go <strong>FOR A WALK</strong>. I know Elliot Hulse (a Strongman) says this and it's just true! It really isn't bad if you eat sweet once or twice a week. What most important is, that you slowly reduce the amount of sweets in order to avoid cravings. (When you are able to easily stop eating sweets than do this, it depends on you.)</p>\n\n<p>Later than (after a month or so, after you got a little bit into sports by just walking), I would do bodyweight training (Cunches, push-ups,...), just basic things, or when you are not able to do that, just begin doing some weight-training with leight weighs.</p>\n\n<p>So: Bodyweight or weight-training, it depents on you. Because YOU have to decide what's the best for your body - if you are too heavy, than do weight-training, of you are fit enough, than do bodyweight training. </p>\n\n<p>Find a partner and work out with him (or go FOR A WALK). You won't believ how much motivation a partner can give you! </p>\n\n<p>Summary: Just eat the right food, drink a lot of water and have some fun doing sports, and don't make things too complicated, <strong>it's really easy</strong>. (:</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9028, "author": "Community", "author_id": -1, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>According to a 2016 review (<a href=\"http://journals.lww.com/co-endocrinology/Abstract/publishahead/Meal_frequency_and_timing___impact_on_metabolic.99502.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://journals.lww.com/co-endocrinology/Abstract/publishahead/Meal_frequency_and_timing___impact_on_metabolic.99502.aspx</a>), meal frequency has the following effect:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you're getting in less calories than you burn, then it's more beneficial to eat less frequently (two meals as opposed to six meals).</p></li>\n<li><p>If you're getting in as many calories as you're burning, then eating more frequently won't have any effect on your weight.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>All in all, meal frequency can only have a small effect on your metabolism (provided you can keep your calorie intake in check).</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 9389, "author": "Grzegorz Adam Kowalski", "author_id": 6557, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6557", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Quote from <a href=\"http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/81/1/3.full\" rel=\"nofollow\">When to eat and how often?</a> (2005) in American Journal for Clinical Nutrition:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The effect of the timing of food intake on metabolism has been the\n subject of active investigation for >40 y. Indeed, whether it is\n “better” to eat many small meals a day is one of the questions most\n frequently posed by the lay public. Comparing the potential benefits\n of nibbling and of gorging has been the focus of much animal and human\n research, but no clear consensus has emerged (1-7). Simply put, the\n question of whether there is a health benefit from the consumption of\n multiple small meals will ultimately depend on how much energy is\n consumed, as opposed to how often or how regularly one eats.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Quotes from <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4391809/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Effects of Increased Meal Frequency on Fat Oxidation and Perceived Hunger</a> (2013):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Consuming smaller, more frequent meals is often advocated as a means\n of controlling body weight, but studies demonstrating a mechanistic\n effect of this practice on factors associated with body weight\n regulation are lacking.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>And:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(...) results suggest that there is no effect of meal frequency on EE [energy expenditure] or fat oxidation under isoenergetic states, which is in agreement with results from previous results (17,19). However, hunger AUC and the “desire to eat” AUC were significantly greater during 6M compared to 3M.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We conclude that increasing meal frequency from three to six per day\n has no significant effect on 24-h fat oxidation, but may increase\n hunger and the desire to eat.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Quote from <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26226640\" rel=\"nofollow\">Metabolic impacts of altering meal frequency and timing - Does when we eat matter?</a> (2016):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>At present, there is still a perception within the general community,\n and amongst some nutritionists, that eating multiple small meals\n spaced throughout the day is beneficial for weight control and\n metabolic health. However, intervention trials do not generally\n support the epidemiological evidence, and data is emerging to suggest\n that increasing the fasting period between meals may beneficially\n impact body weight and metabolic health.</p>\n</blockquote>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7588", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5353/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7609, "author": "asparagus", "author_id": 5352, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5352", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p><a href=\"https://authoritynutrition.com/is-skipping-breakfast-bad/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">https://authoritynutrition.com/is-skipping-breakfast-bad/</a></p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Breakfast Eaters Tend to Have Healthier Habits?</strong></p>\n<p>It’s true, many studies show that breakfast eaters tend to be\nhealthier.</p>\n<p>For example, they are less likely to be overweight/obese, and have a\nlower risk of several chronic diseases (2, 3, 4).</p>\n<p>For this reason, many experts have claimed that breakfast must be good\nfor you.</p>\n<p>However, these studies are so-called observational studies, which can\nnot demonstrate causation.</p>\n<p>These studies show that people who eat breakfast are more likely to be\nhealthier, but they can not prove that the breakfast itself caused it.</p>\n<p><strong>Eating Breakfast Does Not Boost Your Metabolism?</strong></p>\n<p>Whether you eat or skip breakfast has no effect on the amount of\ncalories you burn throughout the day. This is a myth.</p>\n<p><strong>Skipping Breakfast Does Not Cause Weight Gain?</strong></p>\n<p>Higher-quality studies show that it makes no difference whether people\neat or skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast makes you eat more at lunch,\nbut not enough to compensate for the breakfast you skipped.</p>\n<p><strong>Skipping Breakfast May Even Have Some Health Benefits</strong></p>\n<p>Skipping breakfast is a common part of many intermittent fasting\nmethods.</p>\n<p>This includes the 16/8 method, which consists of a 16-hour overnight\nfast followed by an 8-hour eating window.</p>\n<p>This eating window usually ranges from lunch until dinner, which means\nthat you skip breakfast every day.</p>\n<p>Intermittent fasting has been shown to effectively reduce calorie\nintake, increase weight loss and improve metabolic health.</p>\n<p>However, it’s important to mention that intermittent fasting and/or\nskipping breakfast does not suit everyone. The effects vary by\nindividual</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p><strong>But Breakfast is Optional</strong>. The evidence is clear, there is nothing “special” about breakfast. It does not matter whether you eat or skip breakfast, <strong>as long as you are not starving and eat healthy for the rest of the day.</strong>\nBreakfast does not “jump start” your metabolism and skipping it does not automatically make you overeat and gain weight.\nThis is a myth, based on observational studies that have since been proven wrong in randomized controlled trials (real science).</p>\n<p>At the end of the day, breakfast is optional, and it all boils down to personal preference.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 12402, "author": "PCARR", "author_id": 238, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/238", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>The body <em>loves</em> a rhythm. So if you are regularly skipping breakfast, and otherwise eating healthily, there shouldn't be a problem. You will adapt.</p>\n\n<p>However, I would not recommend skipping breakfast. Depending on your daily activity, it may be wise to \"fuel up\" first. I personally ascribe to an old maxim:</p>\n\n<p><em>\"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper\".</em></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7601", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/-1/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 14624, "author": "Ludwig Wittgenstein", "author_id": 3481, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3481", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p><strong>Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)</strong> manifests in early childhood and is characterised by <em>qualitative abnormalities in social interactions, markedly aberrant communication skills,</em> and <em>restricted repetitive behaviours, interests, and activities (RRBs).</em> It is primarily considered a childhood disorder; however, it is <strong><em>not necessarily a childhood disorder</em></strong>. Autistic spectrum disorders <strong><em>can be and should be diagnosed even in adults</em></strong>, and there are always benefits of diagnosing them rather than not doing so. <strong><a href=\"http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/adults.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">The National Autistic Society of the United Kingdom</a></strong> declare, in their official website, the following information regarding the benefits of a formal diagnosis for adults:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Benefits of a diagnosis</strong></p>\n \n <p>Some people see a formal diagnosis as an unhelpful label, but for\n many, getting a timely and thorough assessment and diagnosis may be\n helpful because:</p>\n \n <ol>\n <li><p>it may help you (and your family, partner, employer, colleagues and friends) to understand why you may experience certain difficulties and\n what you can do about them.</p></li>\n <li><p>it may correct a previous misdiagnosis (such as schizophrenia), and mean that any mental health problems can be better addressed (however,\n it can be difficult to make a diagnosis of autism where there are\n severe mental health issues, or where someone is receiving treatment).</p></li>\n <li><p>it may help you to get access to appropriate services and benefits your employer will be required to make any necessary reasonable\n adjustments.</p></li>\n <li><p>it may help women, and those with a demand avoidant profile, who may not before have been recognised as autistic by others you can join\n the autism community – you don't need to be diagnosed to join our\n online community or subscribe to our Asperger United magazine, but you\n might need a diagnosis to join some social groups.</p></li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>Your question</strong> provides some important information as you describe your case with the following words:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>… someone who has a reasonably good job and who copes easily with\n day-to-day tasks of living (cooking, cleaning, travelling etc) but who\n has no friends (or very few), very little social life, and is very\n reticent about engaging in conversation beyond basic pleasantries and\n technical work conversations with colleagues …</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The person described above <em>has reasonably good job and copes easily with day-to-day tasks of living (cooking, cleaning, travelling etc)</em> <strong>despite having</strong> features that may lead to a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder. Should such a person in his adult life look for a formal diagnosis? <strong>The National Autistic Society</strong> has already answered the question: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It’s quite common for people to have gone through life without an autism diagnosis, feeling that somehow they don't quite fit in. Many people learn to cope with life in their own ways, although this can be hard work. They might be married or living with a partner, have families or successful careers. Others may be more isolated and find things much more of a struggle. </p>\n \n <p>It is up to you whether you decide to seek a diagnosis and some people are happy to remain self-diagnosed. The only way to know for sure whether you are autistic is to get a formal diagnosis.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong><em>On the information we have discussed above, I shall suggest that the person concerned seek a formal diagnosis, if he has not already been diagnosed, and receive the help that would surely improve the quality of his life with regard to social and interpersonal interactions.</em></strong> </p>\n\n<p>Autism in adults shall be an important health related issue; accordingly, the <strong>National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)</strong> has published its guideline on autism in adults: <strong><em><a href=\"https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management</a></em></strong> in June 2012, and it was last updated in August 2016. The <strong>National Health Service of the United Kingdom (NHS)</strong> follows the NICE guideline to ensure that the diagnosis and management of Autism Spectrum Disorder in adults is carried out in a regular and consistent manner across the country. Moreover, the <strong>Department of Health</strong> also issued its statutory guideline: <strong><em><a href=\"https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/422338/autism-guidance.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Statutory guidance for Local Authorities and NHS organisations to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy</a></em></strong> in March 2015 in that mission.<strong><em>There is always help for people in need.</em></strong> </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 14630, "author": "Taylor", "author_id": 8916, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/8916", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>There are many reasons as to why an individual might seek a formal diagnosis of Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome (AS). For some, it may increase self-awareness to some degree for the sake of possibly capitalizing on one's strengths and managing areas of challenge. For others who qualify, an individual may seek a diagnosis to obtain additional means of support. In order to qualify for disability benefits under most US government financial assistance programs, a formal diagnosis is also required.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10029.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Social Security disability</a> insurance program pays benefits to disabled individuals and certain family members if the individual has worked long enough and has paid Social Security taxes. The <a href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-11000.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Supplemental Security Income (SSI)</a> program pays benefits to disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources. For more information about the Social Security disability evaluation process, see: ‘<a href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Disability Evaluation Under Social Security, 12.00 Mental Disorders - Adult</a>' and ’<a href=\"https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dqualify5.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Disability Planner: How We Decide If You Are Disabled</a>'. Additionally, under the <a href=\"https://www.ada.gov/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)</a>, a diagnosis is necessary in order to request reasonable accommodations for individuals seeking employment. A publication by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission titled, ‘<a href=\"https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-ada.cfm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Facts about the Americans with Disability Act</a>,’ elaborates:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations. The ADA's nondiscrimination standards also apply to federal sector employees under section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended, and its implementing rules.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The same publication also states a relevant piece of information to take note of regarding the provision of reasonable employment accommodations for disabled individuals.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>An employer generally does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation unless an individual with a disability <em>has asked for one</em>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>AS is now widely believed to be among a group of conditions associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke's '<a href=\"https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Autism-Spectrum-Disorder-Fact-Sheet\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Autism Spectrum Disorder Fact Sheet</a>,' elaborates,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability in functioning that can occur in people with ASD. Some children and adults with ASD are fully able to perform all activities of daily living while others require substantial support to perform basic activities. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, published in 2013) <strong>includes Asperger syndrome</strong>, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) as part of ASD rather than as separate disorders. A diagnosis of ASD includes an assessment of intellectual disability and language impairment. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>By the same token, a test called the <strong>Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)</strong>, created by <a href=\"https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/people_baron-cohen\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Simon Baron-Cohen</a>, Professor of Developmental Psychopathy at the University of Cambridge was developed to measure the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has autistic traits.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/project_7_asquotient\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Autism Research Centre</a>, provides further details on the Adult AQ (Autism Spectrum Quotient).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Our studies have shown that people with a clinical diagnosis tend to score above 32 out of 50 on the AQ, first-degree relatives tend to score higher than average on the AQ, males in the general population tend to score higher than females, and scientists tend to score higher than non-scientists on the AQ. We have also found the AQ shows heritability (from twin studies) and cross-cultural stability, and that it predicts clinical diagnosis. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Moreover, The Autism Research Centre also recognizes that at best, the AQ is</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>…a screening instrument - it is not itself diagnostic.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>An article titled ‘<a href=\"http://docs.autismresearchcentre.com/papers/2005_Woodbury-Smith_etal_ScreeningAdultsForAS.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Screening Adults for Asperger Syndrome Using the AQ: A Preliminary Study of its Diagnostic Validity in Clinical Practice</a>,’ evaluates the AQ for its potential as a screening questionnaire in clinical practice on one hundred consecutive referrals to a diagnostic clinic for adults suspected of having AS or high functioning autism (AS/HFA). </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We believe our results support the AQ as a useful screening instrument in clinical practice. It provides a quick and reliable method of determining the likelihood of any individual falling on the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum and warranting further, more detailed, assessment.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>However, there may be a percentage of individuals who potentially possess many autistic traits but who do not require any clinical support and thus, do not seek diagnosis…</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>…because of a good cognitive match between their cognitive style or personality, and their family or occupational or social context. In this sense, <strong>whether a high AQ score becomes disabling may depend on environmental factors (tolerance by significant others, or being valued for contribution at work, or a place in a social network, protecting against the risks of secondary depression) rather than solely on factors within the individual</strong>. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Also, there is increasing evidence that by diagnosing even relatively late</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>…much can still be done to effectively manage the social impairments and facilitate better social inclusion.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In conclusion, results of the same study indicate that the AQ test</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>…has a good discriminative validity and good screening properties at a threshold score of 26.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In lieu of the information provided, an Asperger/Autism Network (AANE) article titled, ‘<a href=\"http://www.aane.org/resources/adults/aspergerautism-spectrum-diagnosis-adults/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Asperger/Autism Spectrum Diagnosis in Adults</a>,’ advises individuals to </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Keep in mind that the Asperger/Autism Spectrum diagnosis is not an absolute and fixed category of traits and characteristics. Everyone with this profile looks different and therefore the boundaries around this characterization can be challenging to define.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While most individuals with AS can be affected by some common traits, the intensity of each trait lies along a spectrum. Hence, the extent to which AS shapes a person’s life and experiences can vary greatly from person to person. With that being said, it is highly advisable that the individual in question consults his or her primary care physician or qualified specialist for a thorough assessment, testing, diagnosis, and treatment, if needed. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 14640, "author": "LаngLаngС", "author_id": 11231, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/11231", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Two nice answers already, but both marching into the same direction. To round off the picture, this is the advocatus diaboli:</p>\n<p>While the existence of a diagnosis in general demands its application onto some individuals, some of those might indeed benefit from receiving such a diagnosis.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X04000197\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><strong>Asperger’s disorder: A review of its diagnosis and treatment:</strong></a>\nAlthough Asperger’s disorder has a preschool age of onset, it is important to tailor treatment based on the patient’s age. Parents of children with the condition become generally aware of problems in their child’s development around 30 months of age; however, they may experience significantly longer delays and greater frustration in obtaining a confirmation of diagnosis from clinicians. The practical implications of delayed diagnosis may affect adversely the prognosis in the case of the more able children with Asperger’s disorder. […]<br>\nIn the adult years, patients with Asperger’s disorder may experience increased anxiety due to stresses associated with independence and vocational demands. Educational and behavioral inclinations can be aimed at problem-solving strategies, self-understanding strategies, and management of anxiety and other comorbidity. […] <br>\nFrom the conclusion: Awareness of Asperger’s disorder’s distinctive clinical features and understanding of its historical background, epidemiology, and course, could eventually lead to more effective evaluation and management of these patients. Although the validity and usefulness of an Asperger’s disorder-specific diagnostic concept is far from resolved, it is our hope that this review will assist clinicians in evaluating and managing patients with this lifelong disorder and subsequently improve their long-term prognosis.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>That means that the criteria for diagnosis are far from perfected and since it was already correctly noted, these imprecisions are on a spectrum with increasing difficulties to establish valid diagnostic criteria at the extreme ends of this spectrum. It is further complicated by the research focus being mainly on childhood problems and treatment. Adult Asperger's is far less researched and conclusions might be clouded by simply transposing findings from childhood Asperger's onto Adults.</p>\n<p>So, are there really &quot;benefits&quot; from being diagnosed AS as an adult? There sure are some! But benefits often come with a cost. These have to be considered in an informed decision making process.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10803-005-3300-7?LI=true\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><strong>Screening Adults for Asperger Syndrome Using the AQ: A Preliminary Study of its Diagnostic Validity in Clinical Practice:</strong></a></p>\n<p>With <strong>increasing demands on clinical services to assess for the possibility of Asperger Syndrome,</strong> as demonstrated by the large number of referrals currently received at our clinic in Cambridge, it is important to be able to identify those people who are most likely to have AS. We believe our results support the AQ as a useful screening instrument in clinical practice. It provides a quick and reliable method of determining the likelihood of any individual falling on the higher functioning end of the autistic spectrum and warranting further, more detailed, assessment. We suggest that a more conservative threshold score of 26 would ensure that false negatives are limited, and equally avoid cases ‘slipping through the net’.<br>\nHowever, if the AQ were being used in a general population screen (and the ethical case for such a use has yet to be demonstrated) the higher cut off of 32 is likely to minimise false positives. <strong>We suspect that this is because in the general population there may be a percentage of individuals who have many autistic traits but who do not require any clinical support (and are not seeking this) because of a good cognitive match between their cognitive style or personality, and their family or occupational or social context</strong> (Baron-Cohen, 2003). <strong>In this sense, whether a high AQ score becomes disabling may depend on environmental factors (tolerance by significant others, or being valued for contribution at work, or a place in a social network, protecting against the risks of secondary depression) rather than solely on factors within the individual. This impression warrants systematic research.</strong><br>\nOf importance is that seventy-five percent of the patients seen in the clinic had been referred by their general practitioner. This figure represents all suspected cases referred by primary care practitioners as no one was excluded simply based on their AQ score.<br>\nTherefore our results are also relevant in the primary care setting where, as a result of increasing awareness of autistic spectrum conditions, there is likely to be an increase in the numbers of patients seeking assessment. The GP has the difficult task of deciding who should be referred on for in-depth assessment. We believe the AQ will facilitate this process, and is particularly useful in this setting as it is a relatively quick and easy to use screening instrument. There is increasing evidence that by diagnosing even relatively late much can still be done to effectively manage the social impairments and facilitate better social inclusion.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>That seems to indicate a certain 'trend' seen in clinical settings: with increasing awareness of the existence of this 'syndrome' or 'situation' or 'condition'. This is not to say it is a fad or fashionable label to attach to someone or her behaviour. But some psychological or psychiatric diagnosis approaches clearly fell out of fashion some time ago. Recently few women were diagnosed with hysteria and officially even fewer people are now 'treated' for being homosexuals.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687590903534254\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><strong>‘How can a chord be weird if it expresses your soul?’ Some critical reflections on the diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome:</strong></a>\nThis paper questions the way in which the diagnosis of Aspergers syndrome has come to be widely accepted and used as an essentially medical category. It does so by drawing upon sociological and historical analyses of society, psychiatry and psychology, as well as the writings of service users, other practitioners in the autistic spectrum disorder field and the author’s own clinical experience. It is argued that the seeming popularity of this label within Western society may have as much to do with widespread social and cultural change during recent decades as with the supposed deficits of those who attract the diagnosis. The aims are to ask what this might mean for health and social care practice in this field and to encourage the growth of theories and approaches that are grounded more firmly in an awareness of the social environment, while also reflecting the varied experiences and standpoints of people who carry this label.<br>\n<strong>Conclusions</strong>\nAs a worryingly elastic diagnostic label, Aspergers syndrome seems to be capable of extension to a wide range of individuals who might otherwise have little in common save their isolation, their apparent interpersonal awkwardness, their dislike of change and, in a socially and vocationally competitive age, the understandable concern of their families. Of course, it has to be acknowledged that for many the diagnosis has its uses. For those who are able to negotiate the current health and social care systems acquisition of this label may open up pathways towards financial and material assistance and also towards improved personal assistance at school, college or work, all of which may be badly needed and, when made available, may make the person’s world an altogether more benign place. There may also be some advantage to being diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, where the alternatives might include the more pejorative labels of ‘psychosis’ or ‘schizophrenia’.<br>\nAnd yet this kind of intervention and support can come at a price. Erstwhile helpers can become focused upon imparting narrow psychological or social skills based ‘solutions’ at the expense of seeking a broader understanding of the social and familial roots of the individual’s problems or of trying to challenge conventional ideas of what is normal or natural (Molloy and Vasil 2002). While there are no medical treatments aimed specifically at Aspergers syndrome, the indications of high rates of psychiatric drug prescribing for people in this group is worrying. This is a situation that cannot be altogether unwelcome to drug manufacturers keen to market their wares and the suspicion that autistic spectrum disorders are being widely promoted with an eye to future developments in pharmaceutical technology, or simply as a way of finding an expanded market for currently available products, is not altogether implausible (see, for instance, D. Boyle 2003).<br>\nGiven the doubts about the coherence and validity of the diagnosis, there is the nagging thought that in many, and perhaps most, instances what we are talking about is not so much a clearly demarcated ‘developmental disorder’ as a spectrum of character traits or dispositions that fit poorly with the ethos of our current business and consumer culture. More frequently than is recognised, the ‘problems’ presented by Aspergers syndrome may lie in a world that increasingly struggles to accept any form of difference from the notional norm unless, of course, such difference can be repackaged as a form of deviancy, illness or developmental difficulty, ready and waiting to be ‘managed’ by a set of self-appointed experts.<br>\nPerhaps as health professionals and even as friends and relatives of ‘people with Aspergers syndrome’ we might, in the words of one service user, try to embrace the sentiments expressed by the singer Joni Mitchell, who is reputed to have said in defense of one of her tunes ‘How can a chord be weird if it expresses your soul?’ Such acceptance (and the ability to genuinely listen that implicitly goes with it) would surely not represent anything like a complete answer to the difficult and complex questions that have been raised here, but it might be a good place to start.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>To sum it up: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7608", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5360/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7633, "author": "Gary", "author_id": 3086, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3086", "pm_score": 2, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I would assume because it is a symptom, not virus, bacteria, condition, etc, and a symptom is not the same as a disease.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7635, "author": "S.Victor", "author_id": 5146, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5146", "pm_score": 2, "selected": true, "text": "<p><em>While I do agree with previous answer suggesting that diarrhea is a symptom rather than a disease, I would like to add the following:</em></p>\n\n<p>According to the WHO, diarrhea is defined as</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day (or more\n frequent passage than is normal for the individual).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>While, infectious causes (virus, bacteria, parasite) are the most frequent aetiologies for diarrhea, other conditions can lead to diarrhea such as</strong>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>drugs (laxatives, antibiotics) that lead to an inflammation of the<br>\nmucosa and therefore to an alteration in liquid absorption/secretion \nin the intestine</li>\n<li>inflammatory bowel diseases</li>\n<li>neoplasia (colon cancer)</li>\n<li>malabsorption diseases such as celiac disease</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><em>References:</em> </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/</a> </li>\n<li>Toronto Notes 2015, FM26, \"Diarrhea\"</li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7627", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3331/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7636, "author": "Carey Gregory", "author_id": 805, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/805", "pm_score": 3, "selected": false, "text": "<ol>\n<li><p>No, <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gynecomastia/basics/causes/con-20028710\" rel=\"noreferrer\">gynecomastia</a> is a hormonal condition in which mammary tissue develops and enlarges in a male. <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146708/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Pseudogynecomastia</a> is the word for what you're describing.</p></li>\n<li><p>How do you know what you have is only pseudogynecomastia? Have you consulted a doctor and know for sure? If not, you need to stop looking for solutions and look for the cause first. You can't solve it if you don't know for sure what it is. If you do know for sure it's pseudogynecomastia, then weight loss, exercise and surgery are your available options. Don't worry about getting bigger pectoral muscles that will make them look bigger. Developing big pectoral muscles like a bodybuilder takes a <em>lot</em> more training than most people realize. There's little danger of that, but some judicious weight training will tighten up the underlying muscle and reduce the saggy appearance.</p></li>\n</ol>\n" }, { "answer_id": 7640, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<ol>\n<li>Seconding Carey, it is most likely (not impossible) that your \"saggy\" chest is due to <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146708/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pseudogynecomastia</a>, which is caused in your case by losing weight too fast. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If male breast enlargement is caused by glandular proliferation, it is\n defined as gynecomastia. If it is caused by increased fat deposition,\n it is defined as pseudogynecomastia </p>\n \n <p>Erol S, Orhan E, Sevin A, Erdogan B. <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19915898\" rel=\"nofollow\">Trauma: a new pseudogynecomastia\n cause.</a> Aesth Plast Surg. 2010;34:404–405. doi:\n 10.1007/s00266-009-9435-8.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you truly have gynecomastia then a doctor can diagnose you with it (<a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynecomastia#Causes\" rel=\"nofollow\">usual things to look for are large, puffy nipples</a>). In that case, your are correct with asserting that adding chest muscle will only serve to highlight the condition.</p>\n\n<p>You are correct about your comment regarding poor diet causing it, but this is usually restricted to the older gentleman, excerpt from Wikipedia:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Declining testosterone levels and an increase in the level of\n subcutaneous fatty tissue seen as part of the normal aging process can\n lead to gynecomastia in older men. This is also known as senile\n gynecomastia. Increased fatty tissue in these men leads to increased\n conversion of androgenic hormones such as testosterone to estrogens.</p>\n \n <p>When the human body is deprived of adequate nutrition, testosterone\n levels drop while the adrenal glands continue to produce estrogens\n thereby causing a hormonal imbalance. Gynecomastia can also occur once\n normal nutrition is restarted (this is known as refeeding\n gynecomastia).</p>\n \n <p><em>Cuhaci N, Polat SB, Evranos B, Ersoy R, Cakir B (March 19, 2014). <a href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987263\" rel=\"nofollow\">\"Gynecomastia: Clinical evaluation and management\".</a> Indian J\n Endocrinol Metab. 18 (2): 150–58. doi:10.4103/2230-8210.129104. PMC\n 3987263free to read. PMID 24741509.</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>You severely underestimate the effort required to put on muscle, especially pectoral muscle. Once does not \"accidentally Arnold\" their way into being build like a brick-sh*t-house. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In the case of <a href=\"http://gynecomastia.org.uk/what-is-pseudogynecomastia/\" rel=\"nofollow\">pseudogynecomastia</a>, continued strength training and a continued reduction on bodyfat percentage would probably help the most. But without pictures and a proper inspection it is hard to say if it is just that you have no muscle or you have loose skin (or a combination of both).</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7630", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/3331/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7669, "author": "Tyler Durden", "author_id": 5371, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5371", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I recommend trying laser sinus therapy. This technology has been used in Russia for decades and has finally made it to the United States. Unfortunately, many U.S. doctors are still unaware of it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8700, "author": "goldengrain", "author_id": 5218, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5218", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I remember adolescents getting nose jobs for their deviated septums. I am surprised that all the doctors did not mention the deviated septum. Have you explored the realm of allergies?</p>\n\n<p>I had been, most of my life, getting head colds in which I could not breathe. My nose also got stuffy frequently. I took antihistamines and decongestants and whatever I could. I thought it was just a genetic anomaly, as my father had the same problem. </p>\n\n<p>Dr. Oz, whom I do not watch regularly, recommended a neti pot. I bought one (sold in drug stores and my local supermarket). There is probably a utube on using it. I am amazed at how well this works. I actually get fewer colds. I used this thing daily for a month and it seems to have cleared out a lingering condition because I hardly have to use it any longer. I am not kidding. This thing changed my life. </p>\n\n<p>The only caveat is that you should make sure your water has been pre boiled as a woman seems to have caught a brain ameba through the water system by using this thing. I just boil extra water in the teapot when I make tea and it's cool enough (I even use it at room temp) by the time I use it. </p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 10716, "author": "ancientcampus", "author_id": 7735, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/7735", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>To answer your question: yes, adults can receive surgery for a deviated septum. All surgeries have recovery time and <a href=\"http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/septoplasty/details/risks/cmc-20205422\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the potential for complications</a>, and this one does not resolve symptoms 100% of the time. Thus, good doctors will want to be sure you've made good, solid tries on everything else first.</p>\n\n<p>To explore surgery as an option, the following will help:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Make a list of everything you've tried (especially past medications, but also past home remedies), and for how many days you tried them.</li>\n<li>When scheduling with an ENT, ask their nurse if the physician performs surgery for deviated septum</li>\n</ul>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7657", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5280/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 7666, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 4, "selected": true, "text": "<p><strong>Yes (ish)</strong>, this meta-analysis proved a strong correlation between exposure to pesticides and likelihood of developing Parkinson's. Note, there is no direct X level of exposure leads to Y likelihood, just a strong correlation.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Although the risk of PD increased with increased duration of exposure\n to pesticides, <strong>no significant dose-response relation was established</strong>,\n and no specific type of pesticide was identified. Our findings suggest\n that exposure to pesticides may be a significant risk factor for\n developing PD\"</p>\n \n <p><em>A meta-analysis of Parkinson's disease and exposure to pesticides.\n Priyadarshi A, Khuder SA, Schaub EA, Shrivastava S. Neurotoxicology.\n 2000 Aug;21(4):435-40.</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A more recent meta-analysis reviewed the aforementioned meta-analysis and while criticising some of the limitations of the study (in particular the heterogeneity of the included trials) concluded:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The literature supports the hypothesis that exposure to pesticides or\n solvents is a risk factor for PD. Further prospective and high-quality\n case-control studies are required to substantiate a cause-effect\n relationship. The studies should also focus on specific chemical\n agents.</p>\n \n <p><em>(Pezzoli G et al. Exposure to pesticides or solvents and risk of\n Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2013 May 28;80(22):2035-41. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318294b3c8.)</em> </p>\n</blockquote>\n" }, { "answer_id": 18711, "author": "releseabe", "author_id": 14932, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/14932", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>Not directly about pesticides but I have years ago read that Parkinson's is post-Industrial Revolution disease -- that is, it started to be observed once coal started to be used in large quantities for powering industrial furnaces and engines. One could argue that the increase in life span that occurred at around the same time might be responsible for cases being observed then or simply that doctors only began to diagnose it around then but firstly, people have throughout history lived into old age and secondly, it is very plausible (to me, anyway) that anything that is neurotoxic, including particulates in coal smoke/mercury liberated by burning of coal, contributes to many neurological diseases including Parkinson's. Of course, many insecticides by design are neurotoxic to insects and were based on nerve gases developed for use on humans.</p>\n\n<p>EDIT: <a href=\"https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=97-P13-00033&amp;segmentID=1\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=97-P13-00033&amp;segmentID=1</a>\n<a href=\"https://www.poison.org/articles/2010-jun/pesticide-and-nerve-agent-commonality\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.poison.org/articles/2010-jun/pesticide-and-nerve-agent-commonality</a></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/7665", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5399/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8679, "author": "Mark", "author_id": 333, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/333", "pm_score": 1, "selected": false, "text": "<p>No.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_(nutrient)\" rel=\"nofollow\">Protein</a> isn't just a calorie source. It's an essential macronutrient that participates in a huge range of metabolic processes. The protein-free diet you're proposing is likely to cause <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein%E2%80%93energy_malnutrition\" rel=\"nofollow\">protein-energy malnutrition</a>, and possibly other deficiency syndromes never seen before -- I don't think anyone's ever made a serious study of a diet entirely lacking in protein.</p>\n\n<p>Your proposed casein-supplimented rations might get around this, but it strikes me as a rather pointless and expensive exercise -- my local food bank claims it can feed a person a varied first-world diet for $0.60 per day; other donation drives claim things like a Thanksgiving dinner for $0.78.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8690, "author": "Variax", "author_id": 5383, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5383", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>It's not feasible.</p>\n\n<p>To properly digest food, it needs to dissolve in water to be broken down into its basic components. Fat can't dissolve in water in its most part, that's why the body uses bile salts generated by the liver. Bile salts are amphipatic, meaning that they have an \"oily\" part and a \"watery\" part, and allow the formation of emulsions to mix fat and water in a way that allows the digestive system to break them down. However, the liver can't do this with any amount of fat you want, it will eventually get saturated causing some of the fat to be eliminated with stools often accompanied with awful smell, pain, cramps and funny noises (check steatorrhea). I can't tell you exactly what is the limit for a normal human being but for sure it's way lower than the recommended daily calorie intake. The body just can't take it.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8857, "author": "user6529", "author_id": 6529, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6529", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>I think they would get ill if they drank PUFAs (polyunsaturated vegetable oils) but I do know of people who have been therapeutically 100% ketogenic, eating (saturated) fat only, (which starves cancer cells, for example) and have not had ill effects. The brain needs a certain amount of glucose, but this apparently can be synthesised in the body. Instead of the oils, if the said refugees ate coconuts, it would cover most of their dietary needs. Communities in the Pacific and New Guinea have that as a staple diet. Coconuts are abundant in the world.</p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/8676", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/11/" ]

[ { "answer_id": 8692, "author": "John", "author_id": 5266, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/5266", "pm_score": 0, "selected": false, "text": "<p>While not the best evidence, with a reasonably small control group and arguably a sub-optimal method for administering pain, the Mythbusters did conduct \"scientific\" investigation into who can tolerate the most pain:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Women have a higher pain tolerance than men.</p>\n \n <p><strong>confirmed</strong></p>\n \n <p>[For the following myths involving pain tolerance, all of the test\n subjects sat in a chair and submersed one hand in an ice bath at 1°C\n for as long as they could endure.] Twenty-five members of each gender\n took part. The women lasted an average of 100.4 seconds in the ice,\n while the average for the men was 84.3 seconds.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mythresults.com/no-pain-no-gain\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://mythresults.com/no-pain-no-gain</a></p>\n\n<p>So while not a quantifiable difference, evidence suggested that the answer to your question is <strong>YES</strong>.</p>\n" }, { "answer_id": 8749, "author": "Benjamin A.", "author_id": 6412, "author_profile": "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6412", "pm_score": 3, "selected": true, "text": "<p><em>As an addendum (with some contrasts) to the previous answer (To be honest, I had the same feeling that women have definitely a different pain threshold compared to men.)</em></p>\n\n<p>According to WebMD (<a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/chronic-pain-conditions\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/chronic-pain-conditions</a>),</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It is now widely believed that pain affects men and women differently.\n While the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone certainly play a role\n in this phenomenon, psychology and culture, too, may account at least\n in part for differences in how men and women receive pain signals.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>But interestingly, studies showed that men have a higher pain threshold than women:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>male experimental animals injected with estrogen, a female sex\n hormone, appear to have a lower tolerance for pain-that is, the\n addition of estrogen appears to lower the pain threshold. Similarly,\n the presence of testosterone, a male hormone, appears to elevate\n tolerance for pain in female mice.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It seems that the pain killing system in women and men work differently, as suggested by some studies showing that some painkiller (such as kappa-opioids, which are used in labour) work better in women than in men <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8898754\" rel=\"nofollow\">1</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The exact reasons for this difference in pain perception is, however still unknown.</p>\n\n<p>Here extracts from the abstract of a study, which browsed the literature concerning pain perception in men and women:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In addition, sex hormones influence pain sensitivity; <strong>pain threshold\n and pain tolerance in women vary with the stage of the menstrual\n cycle</strong>. Imaging studies of the brain have shown differences between men\n and women in the spatial pattern and intensity of response to acute\n pain. <strong>Among rodents, females are more sensitive than males to noxious\n stimuli and have lower levels of stress-induced analgesia.</strong> (...) <strong>Research on transgenic mice suggests\n that normal males have a higher level of activity in the endogenous\n analgesic system compared with normal females</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z. Sex differences in pain perception. Gend Med. 2005 Sep;2(3):137-45. <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16290886\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16290886</a></p>\n\n<p><strong>So probably, differences in pain perception between women and men is multifactorial: psychological, cultural and biological.</strong></p>\n" } ]

[ "https://health.stackexchange.com/questions/8682", "https://health.stackexchange.com", "https://health.stackexchange.com/users/6411/" ]