Alzheimer's Disease Archive

Q. My platelet count has always been on the low side — 110,000. I don't have any symptoms. But a recent lab report mentioned "giant platelets." Is this something to worry about?

A. Platelets are tiny cell fragments that circulate in the blood and help it clot. They form clots by sticking to one another and by releasing chemicals that promote other aspects of clotting, which is an elaborate, multistep process.

Q. I've tried a lot of things for a fungal infection in one of my toenails, but it just won't go away. What do you know about laser treatment for toenail fungus?

A. Two lasers using different types of laser energy have attracted attention as treatments for fungal infection of the toenails, a condition called onychomycosis (pronounced oh-nee-koh-my-KOH-sis), which can also affect the fingernails. The theory is that a precisely directed laser can eliminate the fungus without harming the surrounding nail tissue. The underlying technologies are already in use for other conditions, including cataract surgery, dental work, and hair removal. Although there is some laboratory evidence that lasers can squelch fungal organisms, clinical studies in humans thus far are limited.

Heart and lung issues are often to blame for breathlessness. But an accurate diagnosis may require advanced testing.

Like your heartbeat, the regular inhale and exhale of your breathing is something you usually don't notice — until something doesn't feel quite right. Shortness of breath can result from a range of problems, including an allergic reaction, an anxiety attack, or anemia. But most often, the underlying cause is a heart or lung condition.

"Because these two organ systems are so intertwined, one always affects the other," says Dr. Aaron B. Waxman, who directs the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. In fact, about 60% of people with heart disease also have a lung disease. As a result, it's not always easy to distinguish cardiac and pulmonary issues, he says.

On call

Q. I've had a salty taste in my mouth for the past few months. Is there anything I can do about it?

A. The salty taste could be due to your taste buds becoming more salt sensitive (often a medication side effect), or a higher concentration of salt in your saliva, which can happen if you get dehydrated. Other causes of a salty taste could include

The condition causes leg pain and fatigue that make activity difficult, but lifestyle changes can improve how you feel.

The occasional leg pain or stiffness is often not cause for concern, but if pain or fatigue develops after just a few minutes of walking or climbing stairs, it could be an early sign of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

"PAD not only interferes with an active lifestyle, but also can put you at higher risk for a heart attack and stroke," says Dr. Michael Belkin, chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "You can't cure PAD once it occurs, so you want to take measures to avoid it as much as possible."

Here's how to protect yourself from this growing tick-borne disease.

Summer is the ideal time to enjoy the outdoors, but while you're interacting with nature, you need to look out for ticks that carry Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States.

About 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC, and new research suggests that number will rise by 20% by mid-century.

In the journals

Listening to music can be relaxing, but it may interfere with your ability to create, suggests a study published online Feb. 2, 2019, by Applied Cognitive Psychology. Researchers recruited 30 people and tested their creativity through a series of exercises. Participants were shown three words at a time and then asked to add another word to create a new word or phrase. For example, "sun" could be joined to words like "dress," "dial," and "flower." The creativity exercises had three levels of difficulty: easy, moderate, and hard.

The group also did the exercises in different noise environments — silence; music with Spanish and English lyrics; instrumental music; and normal background library sounds like distant speech, typing, and paper rustling. They found that every kind of music significantly impaired the ability to complete the creativity tasks, while silence and library noises had no effect.

In the journals

A strong social life has been linked with many health benefits, like less risk of depression and longer life span. But a new study suggests that interacting with a wide range of people may offer even greater benefits.

The study, published Feb. 20, 2019, in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, found that older adults who interacted with people beyond their usual social circle of family and close friends were more likely to have higher levels of physical activity, greater positive moods, and fewer negative feelings.

Managing emotionally driven weight gain requires planning ahead.

How much and when you eat isn't driven just by hunger, which you likely already know if you've ever found yourself hunched over a bowl of ice cream after having a particularly stressful day. Stress can set off a cascade of physical reactions in your body that may not only drive you to eat more and make you crave less nutritious, fattening comfort foods, but also help you pack on extra pounds much more easily.

"Stress drives up levels of a hormone called cortisol in the blood," says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland that helps to regulate your metabolism. It also plays a role in blood sugar management and memory. When levels of cortisol rise, it can promote inflammation and may spur the body to start stockpiling fat around the midsection. "Stress might also disrupt sleep and drive people to seek out food when they wouldn't normally — such as in the middle of the night," says Dr. Stanford.

This age-old relaxation method can bring health benefits, and there are many tools to help get you started.

These days it seems like there's an app for almost everything you can do for your health, from tracking your diet and exercise to charting your sleep patterns. So, it's no surprise that there's been a surge in apps to help with meditation, an ancient practice designed to help you focus inward to promote relaxation.

In fact, Apple designated "self-care" — a category that includes meditation, mindfulness, and general wellness — as the 2018 "app trend of the year." This mirrors growing interest in meditation as an overall health strategy, a movement likely driven by a growing body of research showing potential health benefits from the practice.