Healthy Living

A PET scan of the brain in Alzheimer’s disease shows patterns of brain activity and, with certain tracers, the buildup of specific proteins. It reveals areas where brain cells are using less glucose than normal, and it can detect amyloid plaques and tau tangles — the two hallmark proteins linked to Alzheimer’s. These images help … Read more

No. You should not drink alcohol after a concussion. This is one of the clearest pieces of advice in head injury care, and it holds whether your symptoms feel mild or severe. Alcohol can make your brain injury harder to assess, slow your recovery, and raise the risk of a second injury while your thinking … Read more

Constipation in the first trimester is common, and the first-line approach is usually not a medication at all. It is more fiber, more fluids, and more movement, plus a fiber supplement if diet alone is not enough. If that fails, polyethylene glycol 3350 is often the laxative clinicians reach for first, followed by other options … Read more

Feeling drunk when you have not had a drop of alcohol is a real and recognizable experience. The medical term for it is vertigo — a false sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving. It happens when something disrupts the delicate system that keeps you balanced, and that system has several parts … Read more

A 3-year-old who will not sleep is usually not being difficult. At this age, sleep problems most often come from a mix of normal developmental changes, shifting sleep needs, and habits that have become hard to break. Understanding what is actually driving the wake-ups or the bedtime battles is the first step to fixing them. … Read more

A pregnancy test can be positive with an ectopic pregnancy. In fact, a positive test is expected in most ectopic pregnancies, because the test detects a hormone the body makes once a fertilized egg implants — and in an ectopic pregnancy, implantation still happens, just in the wrong place. What a pregnancy test cannot do … Read more

Spongiotic dermatitis is not a disease you catch or a rash with one single cause. It is a pattern that a pathologist sees under a microscope when fluid builds up between the cells of the outer layer of skin. That fluid separates the cells and creates tiny gaps, and the tissue looks like a sponge. … Read more

Most people can lose between 4 and 16 pounds in two months. Where you land in that range depends on your starting weight, how big a calorie deficit you can realistically maintain, and how much of the loss comes from fat versus water. A person with more weight to lose can typically lose faster than … Read more

Corned beef is a fatty meat, but whether it makes you gain weight depends on how much you eat, how often, and what you eat with it. A typical serving of corned beef is high in calories, fat, and sodium, so eating it often can work against weight control. That does not mean you have … Read more

Shingles is a painful rash caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Red light therapy is sometimes promoted as a way to ease that pain and speed healing. The evidence for using it specifically for shingles is limited, and no major clinical guideline currently recommends it as a … Read more