Diseases & Conditions Archive

Warts are an unsightly nuisance that can take a year or more to go away on their own. Several effective, noninvasive treatments are available.

There are a lot worse things than kidney stones. But, oh my, they can cause a lot of pain as they pass through the ureters, the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder. And the number of Americans getting kidney stones is increasing, perhaps because of the increasing prevalence of obesity. Once you get kidney stones, the chance of getting them again is high, and much of the prevention advice is aimed at fending off a recurrence, but it may also help some with avoiding kidney stones in the first place. Here are a few pointers:

Keep your fluid intake up. Kidney stones form when certain minerals concentrate in the urine and form into crystals. Drink plenty of fluids (water is the safest bet) and you'll increase the amount of water in the urine, so those mineral concentrations don't get too high. This is old advice: recommendations to increase fluid intake to prevent kidney stone recurrence go back to the time of Hippocrates.

Q. I often feel like I have a lump of mucus in my throat. In the morning I spit some of it up, but the sensation doesn't go away. What can I do about it?

A. Doctors sometimes use the term "globus sensation" for the feeling of a lump in the throat. It's one of those minor maladies about which we know only a little, since medical research focuses mainly on the diseases that are disabling or fatal rather than the symptoms that constantly aggravate us.

Niacin, also known as vitamin B₃ and nicotinic acid, is an essential nutrient. We need a small amount of it to ward off a disease called pellagra.

But like many vitamins these days, niacin has gotten more attention lately because of the benefits it might have when consumed in large amounts. Daily doses of 1,000 milligrams (mg) or more increase "good" HDL cholesterol and also reduce triglycerides. Many people, including quite a few doctors, view niacin as a useful, inexpensive — and perhaps more natural — way to bring about desirable cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Research going back to the early 1980s has shown that to be the case. Drug companies have sensed an opportunity and are selling products like Advicor (niacin plus lovastatin) and Simcor (niacin plus simvastatin) that combine high doses of HDL-raising niacin with statin drugs that lower "bad" LDL cholesterol.

Also called painful bladder syndrome, this frustrating disorder disproportionately affects women.

Interstitial cystitis is a chronic bladder condition that causes recurring bouts of pain and pressure in the bladder and pelvic area, often accompanied by an urgent and frequent need to urinate — sometimes as often as 40, 50, or 60 times a day, around the clock. Discomfort associated with interstitial cystitis can be so excruciating that, according to surveys, only about half of people with the disorder work full-time. Because symptoms are so variable, experts today describe interstitial cystitis as a member of a group of disorders collectively referred to as interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome. (In this article, we'll call it interstitial cystitis, or IC.)

Among the one to two million Americans with IC, women outnumber men by as much as eight to one, and most are diagnosed in their early 40s. Several other disorders are associated with IC, including allergies, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia (a condition causing muscle pain), chronic fatigue syndrome, and vulvodynia (pain or burning in the vulvar area that isn't caused by infection or skin disease).

Q. I have chronic sinusitis and nasal polyps. I switched doctors and the new specialist suggested trying oral steroids, something that my previous doctor never mentioned. What do you think?

A. I think a short course of five to seven days of oral steroids is worth a try, particularly if your sinusitis isn't getting any better.

In the largest randomized trial comparing treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome, British researchers have found that graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — when added to medical care from chronic fatigue specialists — are each better than specialist medical care alone at reducing fatigue and improving physical function. In the trial, called PACE, these strategies also worked better than specialist medical care combined with adaptive pacing therapy (APT), in which patients are taught how to reduce fatigue by adjusting their lifestyle and activity levels.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by otherwise unexplained debilitating fatigue that lasts for six months or more and isn't relieved by bed rest. Other symptoms are poor sleep, problems concentrating, and muscle or joint pain. There are no diagnostic tests for the disorder, and its cause is unknown, although laboratory and other studies have suggested that a virus or other infectious agent may be involved.

The radiation exposure is extremely small, and the cancer risk has been called "truly trivial."

Safe is a tricky, eye-of-the-beholder word and concept. If safe means absolutely zero risk, then the answer to the "Are they safe?" question for scanners that use low-level x-rays is probably no. But if safe means a very small increase in risk — so small that a reasonable person shouldn't be seriously concerned about it — then the answer seems to be yes, they are safe, according to a persuasive article published in 2011 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Hyperhidrosis can dampen your social life and interfere with work. Fortunately, there are several ways to manage it.

Excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, can take a serious toll, making handshakes unpleasant, intimacy difficult, and some types of work impossible. People with hyperhidrosis may have to change their blouses or shirts two or three times a day. Although the underarms, palms, feet, and groin are most often involved, any part of the body may be affected. The condition is also associated with certain skin problems, including atopic dermatitis. And it's not rare — 2% to 3% of the population suffers from hyperhidrosis.

Q. I think I may have cataracts. I heard somewhere that they need to be ripe before I get surgery. Is that true?

A. The lens of the eye is normally clear and has a consistency that is a bit stiffer than Jell-O. A cataract is a clouding of the lens caused by degradation and clumping of various proteins in the tissue. When that happens, the lens also gets stiffer, and in extreme cases, a lens can get as hard as a rock.