According to some estimates, chronic medical conditions account for 7 of every 10 deaths in the United States and have been found to severely limit daily functioning in more than 1 of 10 Americans, or 25 million people. This tremendous disease burden accounts for most of the dollars spent on health care annually in the United States. Patients with chronic medical diseases represent a population at particularly high risk for mental disorders. - Excerpted from the PsychiatricTimes.com
Alzheimer’s Disease: Caregiver Guide
Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at home is a difficult task and can become overwhelming at times. Each day brings new challenges as the caregiver copes with changing levels of ability and new patterns of behavior. Research has shown that caregivers themselves often are at increased risk for depression and illness, especially if they do not receive adequate support from family, friends, and the community. Learn more...
Alzheimer’s Disease FAQs
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. This page answers questions about two major types of Alzheimer's disease, Early Alzheimer's and Late Alzheimer's. Learn more...
Amnesia
Amnesia is a profound memory loss which is usually caused either by physical injury to the brain or by the ingestion of a toxic substance which affects the brain. In addition, the memory loss can be caused by a traumatic, emotional event. Learn more...
Atopic Dermatitis / Eczema
Atopic dermatitis is often referred to as "eczema," which is a general term for the several types of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is the most common of the many types of eczema. Learn more...
Bariatric Surgery for Severe Obesity
Bariatric surgery is an operation on the stomach and/or intestines that helps patients with extreme obesity to lose weight. This surgery is an option for people who cannot lose weight by other means or who suffer from serious health problems related to obesity. Learn more...
Behavioral Treatment for ADHD
Despite the well documented benefits of stimulant medication for treating ADHD, medication is no panacea, and some children with ADHD should not receive it.For all these children, other treatments are often necessary - and some would say, always necessary - to effectively treat ADHD. Learn more...
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, is a devastating and complex disorder characterized by overwhelming fatigue that is not improved by bed rest and that may be worsened by physical or mental activity. People with CFS most often function at a significantly lower level of activity than they were capable of before the onset of illness. Learn more...
Chronic Pain and Alternative Treatment Options
Millions of Americans suffer from daily chronic pain. Some of the common medical conditions are associated with chronic pain. Chronic pain can be defined as pain that last for 6 months or more and causes a marked diminishment in social and/or occupational activities. Learn more...
Diagnosis of Depression in Parkinson’s Disease
Almost half of all patients with Parkinson’s Disease will experience depression at some point in their illness. Depression is an illness characterized by sad mood and/or diminished ability to enjoy things and is accompanied by other symptoms such as changes in appetite, problems sleeping or excessive sleepiness, decreased energy level, slowed movements and poor concentration. Learn more...
Depression and Diabetes
Studies show that depression and diabetes may be linked, but scientists do not yet know whether depression increases the risk of diabetes or diabetes increases the risk of depression. Current research suggests that both cases are possible. Learn more...
Depression and HIV
Individuals with serious illnesses such as HIV may be at greater risk for depression. Along with treatment for HIV, depression should also be treated. Learn more...
Diabetes in Children and Adolescents
Diabetes is one of the most serious health problems facing the world today. In the United States each year, more than 13,000 children are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Increasingly, health care providers are finding more and more children and teens with type 2 diabetes, a disease usually seen in people over age forty. Learn more...
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia syndrome is a common and chronic disorder characterized by widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. Tender points are specific places on the body on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, and upper and lower extremities where people with fibromyalgia feel pain in response to slight pressure. Fibromyalgia can cause significant pain and fatigue, and it can interfere with a person's ability to carry on daily activities. Learn more...
Headache
Most headaches do not require medical attention. Headaches usually result from missed meals or occasional muscle tension and are easily remedied. If the problem is not relieved by standard treatments, a headache sufferer may be referred to an internist, a neurologist, or a psychologist. Drug therapy, biofeedback training, stress reduction, and elimination of certain foods from the diet are the most common methods of preventing and controlling headaches. Learn more...
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis A, caused by infection with the Hepatitis A virus (HAV), has an incubation period of approximately 28 days. HAV replicates in the liver and is shed in high concentrations in feces from 2 weeks before to 1 week after the onset of clinical illness. HAV infection produces a self-limited disease that does not result in chronic infection or chronic liver disease. Learn more...
Hepatitis B
"Hepatitis" means inflammation of the liver. Toxins, certain drugs, some diseases, heavy alcohol use, and bacterial and viral infections can all cause hepatitis. Hepatitis is also the name of a family of viral infections that affect the liver; the most common types are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. Learn more...
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness that attacks the liver. It results from infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person. Learn more...
Hepatitis C Management
Chronic hepatitis C is most often treated with the drug combination peginterferon and ribavirin, which attacks the hepatitis C virus. Learn more...
HIV / AIDS
Each year, 50,000 people in the United States become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Learn more...
Infertility
Infertility means not being able to get pregnant after one year of trying (or six months if a woman is 35 or older). Women who can get pregnant but are unable to stay pregnant may also be infertile. Learn more...
Medication Use and Older Adults
Researchers found that when older adults were asked to bring in the brown paper bag containing their medicines, the list of medications in the bag was more complete than their official pharmacy records. Learn more...
Migraine
The pain of a migraine headache is often described as an intense pulsing or throbbing pain in one area of the head. Migraine is three times more common in women than in men. Some can predict the onset of a migraine because it is preceded by an "aura," visual disturbances that appear as flashing lights, zig-zag lines or a temporary loss of vision. People with migraine tend to have recurring attacks. Learn more...
Multiple Sclerosis
Most people experience their first symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) between the ages of 20 and 40; the initial symptom of MS is often blurred or double vision, red-green color distortion, or even blindness in one eye. Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance. These symptoms may be severe enough to impair walking or even standing. Learn more...
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and is seen especially among older people. It is sometimes called degenerative joint disease. Learn more...
Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease belongs to a group of conditions called motor system disorders. The four primary symptoms of Parkinson’s are tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement and impaired balance and coordination. Learn more...
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease of scaling and inflammation. It primarily affects both male and female adults, equally. In its typical form, psoriasis results in patches of thick, red skin covered with silvery scales. These patches, which are sometimes referred to as plaques, usually itch or feel sore. Learn more...
Questions and Answers About Acne
Acne is a disorder resulting from the action of hormones and other substances on the skin's oil glands (sebaceous glands) and hair follicles. These factors lead to plugged pores and outbreaks of lesions commonly called pimples. Learn more...
Questions and Answers About Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases
Arthritis means joint inflammation. Although joint inflammation describes a symptom or sign rather than a specific diagnosis, the term “arthritis” is often used to refer to any disorder that affects the joints. These disorders fall within the broader category of rheumatic diseases. Learn more...
Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) causes an unpleasant prickling or tingling in the legs, especially in the calves, that is relieved by moving or massaging them. This sensation creates a need to stretch or move the legs to get rid of these uncomfortable or painful feelings. As a result, a person may have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Learn more...
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a common disorder that can be very serious. In sleep apnea, an individual's breathing stops or gets very shallow during sleep. Each pause in breathing typically lasts 10 to 20 seconds or more, which can cause serious physical problems. Learn more...
Sleep Disorders
Sleep problems frequently occur around periods of stress in a person's life. For example, it is not at all uncommon for a person's sleep to be disrupted following the death of a loved one or around the time of a major medical problem. Therefore, many sleep problems resolve once the stress is resolved or the medical condition subsides. However, some sleep disorders can begin with an acute problem and become a chronic sleep problem. Learn more...
Sports Injuries
In recent years, increasing numbers of people of all ages have been heeding their health professionals' advice to get active for all of the health benefits exercise has to offer. But for some people - particularly those who overdo or who don't properly train or warm up - these benefits can come at a price: sports injuries. Learn more...
STD Prevention: Chlamydia
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, which can damage a woman's reproductive organs. Even though symptoms of chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications that cause irreversible damage, including infertility, can occur "silently" before a woman ever recognizes a problem. Chlamydia also can cause discharge from the penis of an infected man. Learn more...
STD Prevention: Genital Herpes
Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2). Over the past decade, the percentage of persons with genital herpes infection in the United States has remained stable. Transmission from an infected male to his female partner is more likely than from an infected female to her male partner. Learn more...
Bone Health
Both men and women lose bone as they grow older. But women need to give bone health their full attention because they have smaller bones than men and they lose bone faster than men. Over time bone loss can lead to osteoporosis, which makes your bones weak and more likely to break. Learn more...
Hospice
Hospice workers concentrate on providing pain medication and relief for nausea and other symptoms, all the while working to help the patient deal with the impact their dying will have on their loved ones. Learn more...
How to Navigate the School System When Your Child Has a Disability
It is the parent's job to advocate for the best education that can be provided for their child. Parents know their child and should be their cheerleader and supporter. Parent's involvement in their education will make all the difference for their children. Learn more...
Take Five Small Steps To Prevent Diabetes
The key to diabetes prevention is taking small steps toward living a healthier life, according to the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). Everyone can benefit from the rewards of avoiding diabetes and its serious complications such as heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, or amputation of a foot or leg. Learn more...