A nickel allergy occurs when a person has an adverse reaction to a food or object containing nickel. Allergic contact dermatitis occurs when a red, itchy rash develops on skin that has touched an allergen. An allergy to nickel is among the most common causes of this reaction. Rashes often occur on the earlobes or wrists, because...
Category: <span>Patient Education</span>
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Study finds brain differences in athletes playing contact vs. non contact sports
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A study from researchers at Indiana University in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical has found differences in the brains of athletes who participate in contact sports compared to those who participate in non-contact sports. The differences were observed as both groups were given a simple visual task. The results could suggest that a history of...
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Practicing Tai Chi helps improve respiratory function in patients with COPD
Finding ways to help patients with COPD improve their functional status is an area of interest for pulmonary healthcare providers. Currently, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is used where available to improve exercise capacity and quality of life, but the treatment requires access to trained staff and specialized facilities. A new study in the journal CHEST looked at Tai Chi as...
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Resistance exercise improves insulin resistance, glucose levels
A new study suggests that resistance exercise may improve indicators of type 2 diabetes by increasing expression of a protein that regulates blood sugar (glucose) absorption in the body. The paper, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism, was chosen as an APSselect article for April. People with type 2 diabetes...
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Do probiotics actually do anything?
The supplement aisles of most grocery stores and pharmacies in the United States are bursting with probiotics. These billions of bacteria stuffed into once-a-day capsules claim to provide digestive relief, among other benefits. They’re extremely popular, with sales of $36.6 billion in 2015. And for good reason. For many people, various gastrointestinal issues come and go pretty...
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Home Genetic Tests May Be Riddled With Errors, And Companies Aren’t Keeping Track
Before you sign up for a home DNA test, learn more from this couple’s story. COURTESY OF JULIE KENNERLY-SHAH AND SUMMIT SHAH. Julie Kennerly-Shah and Summit Shah. Julie Kennerly-Shah and Summit Shah were dating back in 2016 when they decided to buy kits from 23andMe, the popular consumer DNA health and ancestry company. Like many...
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Immunotherapy—cancer’s new frontier
Dr. Daruka Mahadevan (left) and Eric Weterings examine cancer cells in a petri dish. Mahadevan is director of the UA Cancer Center Early Phase Clinical Trials Program. Your immune system never sleeps. Every moment of the day, immune cells monitor your body for disease, calling for backup when they detect a threat. It’s a...
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When you lose weight, your fat cells don’t just let go of fat
Every January, fat’s in the crosshairs of health columnists, fitness magazines, and desperate Americans. This year, PopSci looks at the macronutrient beyond its most negative associations. What’s fat good for? How do we get it to go where we want it to? Where does it wander when it’s lost? This, my friends, is Fat Month. Deposit...
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Why people with insomnia don’t know they’re asleep
When you can’t get to sleep at night, you might explain it to someone as your brain not being able to shut off. While your brain never truly shuts off, when you do fall asleep, your brain sends inhibitory neurons that help reduce conscious awareness to get to a point of deep sleep. Normal sleepers often feel like...
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Meditate regularly for an improved attention span in old age
Regular and intensive meditation sessions over the course of a lifetime could help a person remain attentive and focussed well into old age. This is according to the most extensive longitudinal study to date examining a group of meditation practitioners. Published in Springer’s Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, the research evaluates the benefits that people gained after...