How soon you reach for a cigarette in the morning is a good indication of the severity of your nicotine addiction. According to the Fagerström Test, which evaluates nicotine dependence, if you have your first cigarette of the day within five minutes of waking up, your addiction is pretty strong. If it’s within 30 minutes, it’s moderate, and if it’s within 60 minutes or later, it’s somewhat lower. Other signs that you have a nicotine addiction include:...

The Brownsville, Brooklyn, native has a particular interest in plant-based diets — a term that can mean different things, from vegetarian or vegan to pescatarian or flexitarian, depending on whom you talk to. In Adams’s case, it has been a strict vegan diet — an approach he credits with helping him put type 2 diabetes in remission. Adams was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in spring 2016. In a 2018 interview with Everyday Health, the politician discussed his diagnosis and described the diet and lifestyle changes that led him to lower his A1C, a two- to three-month average of blood sugar levels, from an astronomical 17 to 5....

— Jacqueline, Michigan Despite popular beliefs about how blood sugar levels relate to craving, there is very little if any evidence indicating this to be true. Food cravings are largely a psychological phenomenon that relates to old habits and learning. The most likely reason that we see cravings in folks like you who have developed type 2 diabetes may simply be that the history of eating patterns that contributed to the development of the diabetes is persisting....

The brain and the gut are connected and constantly in communication. In fact, more neurons reside in the gut then in the entire spinal cord, according to research published in the book Neuroscience. “Stress can affect every part of the digestive system,” says Kenneth Koch, MD, professor of medicine in gastroenterology and medical director of the Digestive Health Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina....

Along with cholesterol, high triglyceride levels are linked to heart disease and other health issues related to cardiovascular disease. The U.S. Library of Medicine notes that triglyceride levels higher than 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) may increase your risk for metabolic syndrome, which can include excessive abdominal fat, high blood pressure, and elevated blood sugar. And according to Mayo Clinic, elevated triglycerides may contribute to hardening of the artery walls, increasing your risk for cardiovascular disease....

How might an infant be exposed to cow’s milk? Some breastfeeding moms drink it, and some baby formulas contain it. Babies differ in how sensitive they are to milk proteins. Some have very few symptoms, and others might experience blood in the stools if a nursing mother adds even a splash of milk to her coffee, according to Boston Children’s Hospital. Allergic colitis isn’t common — it’s thought to affect between 2 and 3 percent of infants....

Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of arthritis that primarily affects the joints in the spine and can lead to acute back pain and stiffness, according to the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA). It can also lead to inflammation in the shoulders, neck, hips, hands, and feet, and in severe cases, it can cause sections of the spine to fuse. Ankylosing spondylitis can be difficult, and one of the biggest emotional challenges is that symptoms can come and go without warning, says Erin Brandel Dykhuizen, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist in St....

Insulin Resistance Screening Prognosis of Insulin Resistance Medication Options Alternative and Complementary Therapies Prevention of Insulin Resistance Making lifestyle changes can help reverse insulin resistance so that your body can respond properly to insulin. Prediabetes If your pancreas struggles to produce enough insulin to handle the glucose in your body, your blood sugar level can become mildly elevated and you may develop prediabetes. This means your blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes....

“When I would tell people about the classes, they would say, ‘Oh, cooking is so therapeutic for me,’” he says. That got him thinking about various therapeutic techniques used in mental health care, from art therapy to music therapy to drama therapy to play therapy. Dr. Kocet says, he thought: “Why hasn’t anyone done anything with cooking?” So in 2014, he developed and began teaching a graduate course on culinary therapy to counseling, social work, and psychology students at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts....

Each year, 60,000 Americans are newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s. While it is more common among older adults, those as young as 18 years old can get it. The disease is especially problematic because it is difficult to diagnose and treat. Although therapies can alleviate the symptoms, there is no known cure. Telltale symptoms, such as tremors and problems with balance or walking, may indicate that a person has the disorder, but an absolute diagnosis can only be made through an autopsy after a patient has died, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association....

Delaying the final stage of HIV infection — called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS — is possible; for this to happen, however, you’ll have to stick to your medication regimen, communicate with your doctor, and make the right lifestyle and health choices. With Proper Treatment, HIV Doesn’t Have to Progress to AIDS In most cases, if you take ART, HIV does not progress to AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system’s CD4 cells....

Study participants shed a substantial amount of weight, helped curb their percentage of body fat, and increased their testosterone levels. “The low-calorie keto diet represents a therapeutic nutritional intervention to treat obesity with a great effect on weight loss and, consequently, on testosterone levels,” says one of the authors of the study, Angelo Cignarelli, MD, PhD, of the section of internal medicine, endocrinology, andrology, and metabolic diseases at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy....

This was the fifth surgery for my now 8-year-old daughter with special needs. We adopted Naya at the age of 3, knowing her delivery had been traumatic, knowing she was highly premature, knowing she had mild cerebral palsy and other potential complications from the early and difficult birth. She was in a NICU for four months before she went to a children’s medical care home, where we met her for the first time....

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that a period of inactivity in buildings could spur the growth of Legionella. When plumbing systems shut down, water becomes stagnant and chlorine and other disinfectants dissipate. The CDC cautions that when water isn’t in regular use, its temperature can range between 77 and 108 degrees F, which is an ideal breeding condition for bacteria. “As the cold water warms up and the warm water cools down a bit, Legionella and other bacteria have the opportunity to grow much more rapidly into higher amounts than under normal operating conditions,” says Janet Stout, PhD, the president of the special pathogens laboratory and a research associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh....

The study found that the rise in cirrhosis deaths was driven by alcohol-related liver disease, as opposed to other types of liver disease, which can be the result of genetics or various viruses. The study data revealed that between 2009 and 2016, young people had a 10.5 percent average annual increase in cirrhosis deaths (mainly due to excessive alcohol consumption), the highest of all the age groups. “This is a completely unacceptable statistic,” says study author Elliot Tapper, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor....

The Importance of an Ergonomic Workspace An ergonomically correct workspace can help ease joint symptoms and reduce fatigue from spending extended periods of time in uncomfortable positions. “Ergonomics is the science of fitting the task to the worker to maximize productivity while reducing discomfort, fatigue, and injury,” says Natalia Ruiz, a physical therapist and certified office ergonomics evaluator with Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Health in New York City. “Having an ergonomic setup ensures you work in neutral postures that reduce strain in your joints and tissues already affected by psoriatic arthritis....

Sexual problems can stem from symptoms or even ADHD treatment. Certain features of the disorder can have a direct effect on a person’s sexual function, as can side effects of medications prescribed for ADHD. Impulsivity. Adults with ADHD may impulsively pursue sexual activity. That same impulsiveness may prompt risky sexual behaviors such as unprotected sex. Adults with ADHD may find that their impulsive nature make them poor lovers, as they are anxious to move quickly to the next activity in their lives....

“Our study provides evidence for clinicians, insurers, and healthcare systems to recommend, include, and provide reimbursement for mindfulness-based stress reduction as an effective treatment for anxiety disorders because mindfulness meditation currently is reimbursed by very few providers,” said first author Elizabeth Hoge, MD, director of the anxiety disorders research program and associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, in a press release. These are exciting findings, says Neda Gould, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Anxiety Disorders Clinic, both in Baltimore....

After a very successful – albeit exhausting – weekend in Manchester, UK, for MS Life 2014 (what a GREAT event!) where, among other activities, I gave two cooking demonstrations for people living with MS, I headed home to lick my travel wounds. I was very surprised at the toll that the trip was taking. By Thursday I thought that I was in the midst of a full-blown new MS “thing....

Because of growing safety concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a ban this month on specific types of vaping products. Recent research from investigators at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore further fuels the argument that e-cigarettes are not good for you. Their analysis found that inhaling heated tobacco vapor through e-cigarettes increased the odds of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma — two conditions long associated with smoking traditional combustible cigarettes....