What is a hip labral tear?

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What is a hip labral tear?

A hip labral tear occurs as a result of a tear in the labrum which holds the ball part of the ball-and-socket hip joint in place. This type of injury often occurs during a sports injury or a car accident. This type of injury may also occur as a result of continuous repetitive motions on the hip joint. Some people may also be born with an abnormality in their hip that makes them more susceptible to developing a hip injury. Some people may never experience any signs or symptoms from a hip labral tear. However, other people may experience significant pain, stiffness, or a limited range of motion in their groin or hip.

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What is intussusception?

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What is intussusception?

Intussusception is a serious condition that occurs as a result of part of the intestine sliding into an adjacent part of the intestine. When this happens, the intestine becomes blocked and food and fluids are unable to pass through. Intussusception also causes the intestine that the condition is affecting to be cut off from its normal blood supply. This condition can result in a tear in the bowel (also known as perforation). It can also result in an infection and death of bowel tissue.

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Tips to Sleep Better with GERD

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Tips to Sleep Better with GERD

GERD is also another name for acid reflux. Acid reflux can affect everyday activities. Not everyone’s reflux is triggered by the same foods or drinks.  If the items listed above don’t seem to get your acid churning, keep a food journal and note the meals that brought on reflux symptoms.  Once you have identified the food that is bringing on acid reflux, you can try to avoid it. If you frequently suffer from acid reflux at night, you may find relief is as simple as avoiding big meals before bed and raising the head of your bed.  More prone to reflux when laying down or bending over. When we are standing, gravity lends a helping hand in keeping food down in the stomach.  When we lay down, we lose the effect of gravity and will often experience worse acid reflux.

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Do You Have the Mumps?

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Do You Have the Mumps?

Mumps is a contagious viral infection that affects the parotid glands. The parotid glands are one of three pairs of salivary glands that are located below and in front of your ears. When a person develops mumps, they will experience painful swelling in one or both of the parotid glands. Mumps may also be known as a parvovirus infection.

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Do you have mononucleosis?

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Do you have mononucleosis?

Mononucleosis is also known as mono, Epstein-Barr virus infection, or “the kissing disease”. Mono is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. The condition is transmitted by an infected person’s saliva. Therefore, you can catch the condition by sharing saliva with someone either by kissing, sharing a drink, sharing food utensils, or being close to someone who has mono and coughs or sneezes. Mono can last anywhere from ten days to three months. Unfortunately, there is no medical treatment for mono. Treatment often includes treating the symptoms and getting plenty of rest. Otherwise, mono usually goes away by itself.

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What is Menorrhagia?

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What is Menorrhagia?

Menorrhagia is a condition that affects women and is characterized by having very heavy menstrual periods with prolonged bleeding. Menorrhagia is more severe than just having an abnormally heavy period once in a while because with menorrhagia, women experience a heavy loss of blood during every menstrual period. While it is concerning in general for premenopausal women to experience heavy blood loss, most premenopausal women do not experience such a heavy blood loss to be considered menorrhagia. It is estimated that about 10 percent of women in the United States have menorrhagia.

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What is Laryngitis?

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What is Laryngitis?

Laryngitis is an inflammation of the larynx. Your larynx is more commonly known as your voice box. The condition occurs as a result of developing an infection, irritation, or simply overuse of the vocal cords. There vocal cords are found inside the larynx. The vocal cords normally open and close smoothly which produces our normal talking voices. However, when you have laryngitis, the vocal cords become irritated and inflamed. As a result, the vocal cords swell and this produces an abnormal talking voice which sounds hoarse. In severe cases of the condition, you may lose your voice completely.

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Signs of Kidney Disease

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Signs of Kidney Disease

Kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease, is a life-long condition in which the kidney gradually loses function. About 26 million American adults have chronic kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Millions of others are at an increased risk for developing the disease and are not aware of it. With the progression of kidney disease, wastes build up in your blood. As a result, complications can occur such as high blood pressure, high potassium levels which can impair heart health, central nerve damage, anemia, poor nutritional health, weak bones, and a decreased immune response. 

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Learning About Retinoblastoma

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Learning About Retinoblastoma

Simply put, retinoblastoma is a rare malignant tumor of the retina that most commonly affects young children.  It is a cancer of the eye that starts in the retina, and although considered an early childhood cancer, it can occur (rarely) in adults as well.  This type of eye cancer effects the retina, as mentioned, which is the part of the eye that is responsible for sensing light and sending images of what you see to the brain.  The layer of nerve tissue that makes up the retina sends signals of the light it senses through the optic nerve to the brain.  It is in the brain that these signals are translated into the images we ultimately see.

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What is Hirsutism?

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What is Hirsutism?

Hirsutism is a condition that occurs in women and is characterized by unwanted body hair in the male-pattern form. The condition causes an excessive amount of body hair that appears in areas on women’s bodies where men usually grow body hair such as the back, chest, and face. It is estimated that about one in twenty women in the United States has hirsutism.

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Understanding Histoplasmosis

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Understanding Histoplasmosis

Histoplasmosis is a fungal infection that is caused by inhaling fungal spores into your lungs. The spores of a fungus are often found in the fecal matter of birds and bats which is often found in soil. People are most commonly exposed to histoplasmosis when these fungal spores are airborne during cleanup or demolition projects. It is most often found in the mid-Atlantic, southeastern, and central regions of the United States. The illness can either be mild or life-threatening. Histoplasmosis most often affects your lungs. However, if the infection is severe, it can spread throughout the entire body. There are about 250,000 people in the United States who get histoplasmosis each year.

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What is Hepatitis A?

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What is Hepatitis A?

Hepatitis A is an extremely contagious infection of the liver. It is caused by the hepatitis A virus and causes inflammation of the liver which affects the liver’s ability to function. It is one of three of the most common types of hepatitis viruses: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Hepatitis A is the mildest form of hepatitis. There are about 20,000 people in the United States who get hepatitis A every year.

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Black Widow Spider Bites

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Black Widow Spider Bites

Just the thought of spiders is enough to make most of us queasy, but what about getting bit by one?  Is this bite something to be worried about? And if you are bitten, what should you do? Getting bitten by a spider is usually not something to worry about, unless it is a large spider such as a tarantula that may be able to puncture the skins surface, or a spider that produces venom.  Venomous spiders include the brown recluse spider, and the infamous black widow spider which we will describe here. 

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What is Heartburn?

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What is Heartburn?

Maybe it’s the middle of the night, you wake up coughing, choking.  Or perhaps you are at work, you have a big greasy meal for lunch, and all of a sudden you feel a burning, stabbing, insistent pain in your chest.

Sound familiar?

If these scenarios do sound familiar, you could be one of the 15 million Americans who suffer from heartburn and acid reflux daily.

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Signs of Autoimmune Disease

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Signs of Autoimmune Disease

An autoimmune disease is a disorder that arises from an unusual immune response of the body against healthy body tissue.  Essentially, it is the body mistakenly attacking and destroying itself.  This may be restricted to certain organs or involve a particular tissue.  Immunosuppressants, medications that decreases the immune response, are typically the treatment for the more than 80 different types of autoimmune diseases.  Some examples of autoimmune diseases that may sound familiar are Celiac disease, thyroiditis, fibromyalgia, Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

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Learning About Chagas Disease

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Learning About Chagas Disease

Chagas disease is a potentially life threatening disease that typically found in parts of Latin America.  It is also called American trypanosomiasis named after the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which it is caused by.  This parasite and disease is spread through a 6 legged vector, or insect dubbed the “kissing bug” which carries the parasite.  You might be asking yourself why the triatomine bug is nicknamed the “kissing bug”, and the reason is not as cute as the name might let on.  They are called “kissing bugs” because their favorite place to feed, or suck blood, is the face. 

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The Science of Whiplash

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The Science of Whiplash

Whiplash is a type of neck injury that occurs as a result of fast and vigorous movement of the neck. It is most occurs after a person has been involved in a car accident. However, many people also experience whiplash while playing sports or during some other type of traumatic accident. Whiplash may also know known as a neck sprain or neck strain.

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What is West Nile Virus?

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What is West Nile Virus?

West Nile virus is caused by a virus that is commonly spread by infected mosquitoes. Mosquitoes get infected after biting infected birds. While West Nile virus is usually found in other parts of the world such as Africa, the Middle East, India and parts of Asia, the virus is present in the United States as well. There are about 1,000 cases of West Nile virus reported in the United States each year. However, these numbers can vary.

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What is Wernicke’s syndrome?

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What is Wernicke’s syndrome?

Wernicke’s syndrome is a type of brain disorder that is caused by a long-term, inefficient amount of vitamin B1 (thiamine). It is also known as Wernicke's encephalopathy or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.  The condition most often occurs among people who suffer from alcoholism. However, it can also occur among people who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment, are vomiting chronically, have an eating disorder, or have had bariatric surgery. Wernicke’s syndrome is actually two separate conditions, Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. 

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Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

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Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is the sudden failure of the respiratory system, or breathing.  It can occur in anyone who is critically ill with a different illness or who is suffering from major injuries.  Most people who develop this syndrome are already being hospitalized for something else. The most common symptoms people experience are quick breathing, low levels of blood oxygen, and trouble getting enough air when breathing.

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