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Pregnancy problems may foretell future heart disease

Women who develop health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes while pregnant face an increased risk of heart disease later in life.

Is your vision impaired? Tips to cope

Living with low or impaired vision comes with many challenges. Accessibility features on computer hardware and software, special devices, and adaptations to your home can help make daily life easier when living with a vision impairment.

What's the relationship between diabetes and dementia?

It has been known for many years that type 2 diabetes increases a person’s risk for stroke and heart disease, and more recent studies have shown that diabetes also increases risk of dementia. But new research examined the association between when a person first is diagnosed with diabetes and their risk of developing dementia later.

What exactly is a hernia?

A hernia is an area of weakness in the abdominal wall muscles that allows contents of the abdomen to push through the wall and form a pouch. A small hernia may follow a "watch and wait" approach, while a larger and more painful one often requires surgery to repair.

Which disease starts first?

Among atherosclerosis, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes, which are all related, cholesterol deposits start first.

High-glycemic diets could lead to big health problems

A diet consisting primarily of foods high on the glycemic index—those with high amounts of quickly digestible carbohydrates—can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease and early death, suggests a study that looked at almost 138,000 people around the world.

5 important blood tests beyond the basics

Five blood tests beyond basic blood work may be worth pursuing for older adults. For example, a test to determine one’s vitamin B12 level might be helpful, since older adults sometimes have trouble absorbing that vitamin. Likewise, older adults have less ability to absorb sunlight through the skin, which may lead to less production of vitamin D. Other blood tests to consider include those for HIV or hepatitis C infection, and a test to measure fasting blood sugar.

Pick up the pace for better walking with peripheral artery disease

A small, randomized trial published online April 6, 2021, by JAMA found that people who took part in a high-intensity walking program for one year covered more ground in six minutes than people who’d taken part in a low-intensity walking program.

Man's best friend — and medicine's too?

Scientists are studying whether medical detection dogs can sniff out and identify disease in humans, such as cancer, infection, and Parkinson’s disease. Dogs might be useful because their noses have 60 times the number of scent receptors as human noses; that might make dogs able to detect scents given off by bacteria or diseased human cells. But it’s hard to get solid evidence about the accuracy of medical detection dogs. Scientists are also studying whether technology can replicate the same kind of detection.

Advice about daily aspirin

The heart-protecting benefits of a daily low-dose aspirin have to be weighed against the risk of bleeding, a common side effect that is usually minor but sometimes serious. The calculation depends on age and whether a person has cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or a condition that raises risk of bleeding.

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