“Honey, Did You See That Squirrel in the Living Room?”
Visual hallucinations can be a common occurrence in people with Parkinson’s disease. Here’s why and what to do about them.
May 14, 2021
Out of the corner of your eye, you see a small, shadowy form. You know that nothing’s really there, but you can’t deny that you saw something. For the sizable number of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who develop hallucinations, this is often the first type of false vision they’ll see.
“The earliest form [are] shadows in the periphery of your vision,” says Barbara Changizi, M.D., a neurologist who specializes in treating movement disorders such as Parkinson’s at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. “That will be the first sign that something is starting to creep up.”
How, Exactly, Does Your Heart Work?
This illustrated guide walks you through how your ticker functions and explains what can happen when its valves aren’t pumping properly.
May 5, 2021
May 5, 2021
Your heart is the beating center of your circulatory system. It pumps blood rich with oxygen and nutrients to the rest of your body, which keeps your brain, kidneys, and other vital organs functioning as they should. And, if you keep your heart in tip-top shape, you’ll have a better chance that it and you function in great form for the long haul.
“Regular exercise and a healthy diet, like the Mediterranean diet, will help keep your cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, in check,” says cardiologist Glenn Hirsch, M.D., of National Jewish Health in Denver.
Malika Fair is a new mother. She’s an African American. She’s a practicing physician. And, she’s the senior director of health equity partnerships and programs at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), as well as an associate clinical professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.
All of which gives her a pretty panoramic perspective on how Black people are treated by the healthcare system in the U.S. One common practice that deeply concerns Dr. Fair is called “race-norming,” which refers to the adjustment of medical test results or medical risk assessments based on a patient’s race. In other words, if you’re Black , you might score differently than you would if you are white with the identical or similar set of symptoms simply because of the color of your skin.
If you have high cholesterol, you’ve probably been warned: Failure to control this beast ups your odds of heart disease and can cause a heart attack or stroke. It’s a no brainer to take your meds, right? Wrong.
Remarkably, 50% of all people who’ve been prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs don’t take them even though the consequences to heart health can be dire. Blowing off your cholesterol meds can be deadly, says Guy L. Mintz, M.D., director of cardiovascular health and lipidology at Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, NY. “The stakes are high.”
So, what’s keeping folks from staying the course with a treatment plan? Some people just hate the side effects. Others say routinely remembering to take a pill (or pills) is the problem. As is failing to understanding just how important it is to take your meds.
When Lifestyle Changes Don’t Control Cholesterol
Medication may be a must to protect your heart health, even if you’re doing everything else right.
January 20, 2021
You take care of yourself. You exercise. You limit the booze, fried fare, and sweet stuff, too. So,
why, you ask yourself in the mirror with more than a little frustration, is your cholesterol so out of whack?
High cholesterol, or hyperlipidemia, drives up your risk of a heart attack and stroke. It can be a silent killer, since it has no symptoms. Scary as that sounds, you have it in your power to bring your cholesterol back down. Some people can curb high cholesterol by living healthier lives. But the truth is, if you have high cholesterol, you’ll likely need to take medication, too. The good news? Doing so can save your life.