Diseases & Conditions Archive

Q. My doctor says I need more potassium in my diet. However, I have diabetes, and orange juice and bananas have too much sugar. What foods can I eat to get potassium without too much sugar?

A. You can obtain potassium from a number of vegetables that provide potassium with fewer carbohydrates (sugars) than orange juice and bananas. Some examples include asparagus, tomatoes, and green leafy vegetables, such as spinach. Fruits with the highest potassium content (bananas, melons, and apricots) are also high in carbohydrates, but there are some that supply potassium with fewer carbs, such as strawberries and nectarines. For a complete list of the potassium in different foods, go to www.health.harvard.edu/100.

Women who walk every week are less likely to have a stroke than women who don't.

Here's another reason to start walking: recent research shows that women who walk at least three hours a week have a 43% lower stroke risk compared with women who are inactive. Women walkers also have a lower stroke risk than women who do other high-intensity exercise. "Walking is a more consistent, gradual training program, as opposed to high-intensity exercise that can result in sudden increases in blood pressure, which can be dangerous," says Dr. Michael R. Jaff, chair of the Institute for Heart, Vascular and Stroke Care at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

A bunion is a deformity of the foot that causes the big toe to turn inward toward the other toes. This can result in damage to the other toes, calluses, and trouble walking.

Common causes of cold feet include clogged arteries in the legs (peripheral artery disease), low body fat, Raynaud's syndrome, and nerve damage.

Q. I am 68 years old, and recently I was diagnosed with my first urinary tract infection. Why did this happen, and could I have prevented it?

A. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are less common in men than in women. When UTIs occur in men over age 50, they often trace to an underlying problem with bladder emptying resulting from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In BPH, the prostate gland enlarges, and can eventually compress the tube that drains the bladder.

A bulging abdominal aortic aneurysm can be deadly, but only certain men should be checked for it with ultrasound.

The aorta is the Amazon River of arteries. It rises from the heart to feed a multitude of lesser vessels that branch through the chest and abdomen. Over a lifetime, the portion that plunges downward toward the kidneys and legs—the abdominal aorta—can become weakened by disease in the vessel wall. Gradually it may bulge outward, forming an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). If the bulge ruptures like the wall of an old tire, the result is often fatal.

Being tested for the bacteria that cause many ulcers and having the infection quashed with antibiotics can prevent ulcers in many people who take daily aspirin for heart protection, suggests a study in Gastroenterology.

Daily low-dose aspirin can prevent a heart attack, but it may also put you at risk for peptic ulcers—sores in the stomach and upper intestine. Two factors that predispose aspirin users to this kind of trouble are a history of ulcers and infection with Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes most peptic ulcers.

Q. I feel tired all the time. How do you know if it's a sign of something serious?

A. Boy, is that a tough question to answer in a short space. First of all, each of us feels tired if we push ourselves too hard physically, mentally, or emotionally, or if we don't get enough sleep. People in the United States are working longer hours than ever before, so lots of people feel tired a lot of the time. So the first thing to ask yourself is if your fatigue has an obvious explanation: have you been working harder or sleeping less over the past several months?

Why it's vital to know the causes and symptoms of urinary tract infections and how to treat and prevent them.

Unrecognized and untreated urinary tract infections (UTIs) can quickly turn into more serious conditions. Among young and middle-aged adults, UTIs are more likely to strike women than men. But UTIs also occur often in older men. In both older men and women, the symptoms of a UTI may not be so obvious as they are in young women.

These "floaters" are not just bothersome. They can be signs of potential retinal disease.

Floaters, those tiny specks that drift across your field of vision, are usually harmless and often disappear or become less noticeable on their own. But sometimes they indicate a condition that can lead to vision loss. "A new onset of floaters may herald retinal disease," says Dr. Jeffrey Heier, director of the retina service at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and clinical instructor in ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.