health
Keeping your mind and body in check - popular topics in health and medicine to maintain a long and healthy life.
Living with Severe Eczema
I honestly wish there was another word for it. "Eczema" is so well-known. Almost everyone will experience eczema to some degree at least once in their lifetime. Because simply, eczema is irritation of the skin. Of course, there is so much more that goes into it, especially for those with severe cases. But it's not rare to be diagnosed with eczema. Most people you come across in your life will know what eczema is when you say you have it. Because I have such a severe form of it, which is not what the average person experiences, I wish there was a different name for what I go through.
By Maddie Dauzat6 years ago in Longevity
Out of the Ordinary
It was in the middle of summer right before I started my freshman year of high school and I was about to turn 15 years old. I can still remember when I heard the term “autism” when my parents received the news from special educational diagnosticians at Scottish Rite Hospital. At the time, neither my parents nor I really understood what Asperger’s Syndrome (high-functioning autism), or autism was or what it meant. My parents had heard of it before but never really gave it much thought. They seemed a little puzzled and devastated due to the fact that I didn’t have traditional autistic traits. I remember my parents sitting me down along with my two younger brothers, who were getting very emotional to discuss it. I kind of dozed off, cutting off reality, puzzled, and not fully understanding to what was happening.
By Victoria Leake6 years ago in Longevity
Beating Breast Cancer
My husband was the one who discovered the lump in my breast. I didn't think much of it, I was 28 years old, full of life, and breastfeeding my two-year daughter old led me to believe it was just a clogged milk duct. I went to the doctor to get it checked and to my surprise, I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. How could this be, I young and healthy, how could this ever happen to me, I thought. My whole world turned upside down, I was terrified and I automatically assumed I was going to die. I didn't know anything about cancer except becoming bald and weak was the norm for some. I was scared of the possibility of doing any treatment, with the fear of it not working. I was a nervous wreck, I prayed, I cried and reached out for any support I could find. Thankfully I was able to find a support group that helped young women like myself with resources to pay for treatment and living expenses.
By Candy Williams6 years ago in Longevity
Possible Cures for Diabetes and the Causes of Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is not as common as Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes requires insulin substitution shots to replace the hormone that a person with diabetes’ body no longer makes. Islet cells in the pancreas are what normally produce insulin and they also are made up of cells called beta cells, which analyze blood sugar levels that in full-blown diabetics are measured with a glucometer. The immune system turns traitor on islet cells when somebody becomes a diabetic. Beta cells cannot release insulin anymore when diabetes actually manifests itself. Alpha cells produce glucose. In diabetes, only the alpha cells function with glucose. Islet cells are attacked by the body’s immune system, and this makes type 1 diabetes an autoimmune problem.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in Longevity
Which Is Stronger: Muscle or Mentality?
How much can you bench bro? What's your max squat? How about your deadlift PR? We tend to measure strength only by how much we can lift over our heads. I'll admit, it takes a strong individual to be able to go into a gym and lift two to three times their body weight. It takes a even stronger individual to lift themselves up after being knocked down time and time again. It does not matter how many muscles you build or hours you spend at the gym, a strong body can still be weak if it possess a fragile or poor mentality.
By Cory Garner6 years ago in Longevity
Diagnosed with Arthritis at Age 16
I was 15 years old at the time and on a mini vacation in Lake Katrine, NY with my family when I experienced my first flare up. I sat on the couch to watch tv with my grandmother. I remember having my legs crossed for about an hour. When I got up to use the bathroom, my right hip locked up and started to hurt as I took a step with that leg. I limped, but I thought it was probably from having my legs crosses for so long. About a month later, the pain went to my wrists, and then to my right hip a couple weeks later. The pain only increased as the weeks went by. That happened to be the last flare up I had before I was taken to the hospital. My mom was scared and hurt to see me in such excruciating pain. I couldn't even walk to the bathroom by myself.
By Tiffany Ortega-Anton6 years ago in Longevity
Living With Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness is a constant fear. You don’t know what your body is going to do next, or even what your body is doing now. You don’t understand why it feels like a million time bombs are ticking and you’re just waiting for them to go off.
By Sabrina Bailey6 years ago in Longevity
Am I Going to Die?
Where It All Began... October 27, 2001. That's the day that changed my life forever. When I was five years old, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin - a hormone essential to the ability to get energy from food. It affects both children and adults suddenly and changes life as they know it forever. It cannot be prevented and there is no cure.
By Jen McBride6 years ago in Longevity
So… There’s Something I Need to Tell You. Top Story - January 2018.
One of the most violent elements within our society is ignorance. It has the capacity to shape generations, to stir cultural prejudice, and to create fear and discrimination at the expense of those without a voice. The rise of HIV and AIDS in the 1970s, at a time when little was understood about this forthcoming pandemic, gave birth to fear and recriminations against the homosexual communities and drug users. These sub-groups were the perfect target into which society could pour their fears and distrust. These communities were seen to be the corrupting influence of acceptable social norms and became the reason for this associated disease, and so stigma towards sufferers began to take root.
By Chris O'Hanlon6 years ago in Longevity