Category: Health Problems

Integrating Mental and Sexual Health

Effects of mental health on sexual healthSexuality and mental healthReferencesFurther reading  Sexual health refers to physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being in relation to one's sexuality. It is essential for well-being, general health, and overall quality of life. It is not solely the absence of an illness, dysfunction, or infirmity. Sexual health necessitates a respectful

How Do Your Emotions Affect Your Physical Health?

Negative emotions and physical ill-healthPositive emotions and healthEmotions and eatingThe Amygdala bridgeUnderstanding the linkEmotional regulationReferences  People have long suspected or known that the health of the body is intimately connected to that of the mind. Sayings like "died of a broken heart" or "pined away from grief" are expressive of this relationship in its extreme

Investigating the Problems Associated with BMI

IntroductionThe role of BMIEarlier measuresThe rise of BMINon-gaussian BMI distributionProblems with terminologyNon-generalizabilityIgnores visceral fatIgnores non-obesity risk factorsAlternative measuresWaist circumferenceTrefethan’s formulaConclusionReferencesFurther reading Obesity and malnutrition represent two opposite ends of the body mass spectrum. To understand both, definitions are important, as well as the genetic and environmental contributions to these conditions and the identification and monitoring

The Health Risks of Self-Diagnosing Mental Disorders

IntroductionDiagnosis and treatmentSelf-diagnosis and its risksWhy seek help from mental health professionals?ReferencesFurther reading Mental illnesses are medical conditions characterized by alterations in emotion, behavior, or thinking (or a combination of these). Distress and/or difficulties functioning in social, work, or family activities are associated with mental illnesses. Many people who suffer from mental illnesses are unwilling

What are Medical Devices?

IntroductionThe broad definition of medical devicesThe WHO response to medical devices across the worldCategories and classification of medical devices: UK case studyReferencesFurther Reading A medical device is any appliance, apparatus, software, material, or other articles, which may be used in isolation or combination (as defined by the manufacturer) by individuals for a medical purpose. Several

What is Bartonellosis?

IntroductionCauseSymptomsEpidemiologyDiagnosis and TreatmentReferencesFurther Reading Bartonellosis is a set of complex infectious diseases caused by the bacteria Bartonella bacilliformis. These diseases are transmitted by sandflies and comprise different conditions like Oroya fever, trench fever, peliosis hepatis, Carrion's disease cat scratch disease, among others. Therefore, understanding the bacteria Bartonella is vital for enhancing our knowledge about the

How is Reality Constructed in the Brain?

How the brain allows us to see an animal, know what the animal is, where it is in relation to us, and what it looks like in comparison to other things in our world is a phenomenon that is confusing to many. The neuroscience underlying this phenomenon suggests that we – or rather our brains

Importance of Raising Awareness of Chagas Disease

Scientists estimated that around 6 to 7 million people worldwide are infected with a protozoan parasite, namely, Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease. This life-threatening disease is also known as American trypanosomiasis. The annual celebration of International Chagas Day on the 14th of April highlights the impact of this disease on the global health scenario and also

Treatment Sequencing in Advanced Kidney Cancer: prioritizing efficacy when considering quality of life

By Keynote ContributorDr. Cristina SuárezVice President of SOGUG (Spanish Oncology Genito Urinary Group) Written by Keynote Contributor, Dr. Cristina Suárez. It is an exciting yet challenging time to be a treating physician in oncology, particularly in kidney cancer. The last decade of scientific innovation has brought an unprecedented shift in treatment options, and people now live

Is Lab-Grown Meat Healthy?

Many environmentally conscious people consider that lab-grown meat can be an ethical alternative to conventional meat. It may solve multiple problems at once such as the food demands of the increasing population, helping the environment, and consuming cruelty-free meat. As it is cultured in labs, its fat content can also be modified making it more

Risk of schizophrenia assessed with new screening tool

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues in Nairobi, Kenya, have shown that a screening tool developed at Washington University can help predict in about 5 minutes whether young people are at high risk for schizophrenia and may go on to develop the illness. The findings are published in the

Ross elected fellow of medical education society

Will Ross, MD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Medicine and associate dean for diversity at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been elected to the Society of Academic Continuing Medical Education’s (SACME) Academy of Fellows. Ross, also a professor of medicine in the Renal Division and a noted public health epidemiologist, was

Importance of Research into Rare Disease

According to Global Genes, around 7,000 rare diseases affect approximately 350 million people worldwide. Millions of these people are still waiting and hoping for effective treatment. As the name suggests, rare diseases only affect a small fraction of the global population, for instance, in Europe individuals with rare diseases occur in the ratio of 1

Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors

There are positive advantages to be had from spending our leisure time outdoors. Doing so has been deemed beneficial to our physical and mental health and wellbeing. This is to the extent that there is recommended guidance for the minimal amount of time we should spend time in the natural world to enable us to

The Effect of Diet on Mental Health

The brain controls and regulates most of the body’s vital functions, conscious or not. For this reason, it is essential that the brain receives a steady supply of fuel and oxygen. The fuel is obtained by metabolizing nutrients made available in the bloodstream, originating in the digested food. The brain consumes 20% of the daily

What are the Health Benefits of Cocoa?

Cocoa is most commonly associated with chocolate and has a variety of nutritional benefits that can confirm positive health attributes. The cocoa bean is an accident source of dietary polyphenols, containing more finale antioxidants than most foods. It is well known that polyphenols are associated with beneficial health effects, therefore cocoa is rich in polyphenols,

What is a Viral Mutation?

Viruses can change. They can alter their genetic make-up. When these changes occur, the virus may become more or less of a threat to the human host. Virologists are therefore interested in tracking the evolution of the viral genome. When a virus infects a host cell its goal is to replicate itself. The process begins

COVID-19 and Menstruation

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken four million lives or more, worldwide. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the respiratory and systemic manifestations of severe disease have overshadowed the other potential effects of the virus on human physiology. One such area is female menstruation. Image Credit: Peakstock/Shutterstock.com Background There