Recent Articles
An action plan to fight unhealthy inflammation
How to treat spider bites and when you need to see your doctor
Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
Skin care for aging skin: Minimizing age spots, wrinkles, and undereye bags
Medicare versus Medicaid: Key differences
Prostate cancer: Short-course radiation as effective as longer-term treatments
Lost a tooth? What to know about dental implants
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Evidence-based uses and unproven claims
Gatorade. Liquid IV. Do you need extra electrolytes?
Sexual violence can cast a long shadow on health
Digestive Health Archive
Articles
Proton-pump inhibitors: What you need to know
Proton-pump inhibitors are the strongest type of medicine available for treating stomach acid. There is some concern about their potential side effects and interactions with other medications.
Spring cleaning? Prioritize your fridge and pantry
Food-borne illnesses are common, sickening 48 million Americans each year, hospitalizing 128,000, and killing 3,000. One way to keep food safe is to clean the refrigerator and pantry regularly to cleanse surfaces and purge dated and possibly contaminated products. The process should include taking all items out of food storage areas, washing all surfaces, checking expiration dates, assessing products' smell and appearance, marking dates packages are opened, and avoiding cross-contamination between raw and ready-made foods.
Antidepressant may help manage irritable bowel syndrome symptoms
A 2023 study suggests that taking low doses of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant also used to treat nerve pain, may be one of the best pharmacologic choices to help improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Does your gut affect your risk for Alzheimer's disease?
A 2023 study of lab animals suggests that the population of microbes in an individual's gut may influence the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that healthy lab rats developed signs characteristic of Alzheimer's disease when they were injected with gut microbe samples from people with Alzheimer's. Rats that received samples from the most severely affected Alzheimer's patients developed the greatest brain abnormalities and memory problems. Rats did not develop these problems when they were injected with samples from people who had no signs of the disease.
Why does coffee help with digestion?
For some people, drinking coffee has a laxative effect. Coffee triggers colon contractions and stool movement, a process heightened by its caffeine content. Women prone to constipation might find a morning cup of coffee helpful, but drinking excessive amounts may worsen the symptoms of certain health conditions.
Prebiotics in plant-based foods may help control unhealthy eating
A 2023 study suggests eating more prebiotics—compounds found in plant fiber that nourish healthy bacteria in the gut—may affect the brain's reward network in a way that helps people make healthier food choices.
Chest pain: Causes other than the heart
Most cases of chest pain don't signal heart problems. While chest discomfort of any kind should never be ignored, many conditions can trigger it. These include gastroesophageal reflux disease, gallstones, asthma, ulcers, anxiety, COVID, esophagus spasms, costochondritis, pulmonary embolism, pleurisy, aortic dissection, and pericarditis. Chest pain is likely to be unrelated to the heart if it's brief, triggered by eating, doesn't worsen with exercise, occurs only with movement, coughing, or breathing deeply, or it's localized to one spot.
Recent Articles
An action plan to fight unhealthy inflammation
How to treat spider bites and when you need to see your doctor
Gratitude enhances health, brings happiness — and may even lengthen lives
Skin care for aging skin: Minimizing age spots, wrinkles, and undereye bags
Medicare versus Medicaid: Key differences
Prostate cancer: Short-course radiation as effective as longer-term treatments
Lost a tooth? What to know about dental implants
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Evidence-based uses and unproven claims
Gatorade. Liquid IV. Do you need extra electrolytes?
Sexual violence can cast a long shadow on health
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