Diseases & Conditions Archive

About one in three adults has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, an often-silent condition closely linked to heart disease.

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The largest organ inside your body, your liver performs hundreds of vital functions. It converts food into fuel, processes cholesterol, clears harmful toxins from the blood, and makes proteins that help your blood clot, to name a few. But an alarming number of Americans have a potentially dangerous accumulation of fat inside their livers. Known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), this condition is a leading cause of chronic liver disease in the United States—and an increasingly recognized contributor to heart disease.

"NAFLD increases the risk of heart disease independent of other traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol," says Dr. Kathleen Corey, director of the Fatty Liver Disease Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. Among people with NAFLD, heart disease is the top killer, accounting for more than 25% of deaths.

Droopy eyelids, known as ptosis, are often a normal occurrence of aging although some neurologic conditions also can cause the condition. Ptosis is not a serious problem unless it interferes with your vision. If this happens, or if your droopy eyelids are bothersome, you can opt for cosmetic surgery to repair your eyelids.

Long-term risks are associated with proton-pump inhibitors, but there are other options for treating acid reflux.

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Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), which reduce the amount of acid produced in the stomach, are so effective at treating heartburn and ulcers that they've been among the world's top-selling drugs for 25 years. Initially available only by prescription, PPIs, which include omeprazole (Prilosec), lansoprazole (Prevacid), and esomeprazole (Nexium), have been sold over the counter for several years. However, now that millions of people are taking PPIs, the drugs have been linked to an increasing number of health risks, such as fractures, kidney problems, vitamin B12 deficiency, low magnesium, and—most recently—dementia and heart attack.

"These studies—especially those suggesting a relationship to dementia and heart attack—are concerning," says Dr. Jacqueline Wolf, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Stomach: Taking Control of Your Digestive Health.

Forgoing drugs that slow bone loss to avoid rare side effects can be the wrong decision for your hips and spine.

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A front-page article in the June 1, 2016, edition of The New York Times carried this headline: "Fearing drugs' rare side effects, millions take their chances with osteoporosis." The article described a situation all too familiar to doctors. Women are declining prescriptions of bisphosphonates—drugs that slow the rate at which the body breaks down bone—or discontinuing the medications far earlier than recommended. In fact, according to a 2015 report in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, the rate of bisphosphonate use fell by half between 2008 and 2012. That article documented a wave of media coverage of scientific studies that reported two rare side effects—osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw and atypical fractures near the top of the femur (thigh-bone)—and suggested that the reports had kindled fears that had led women to abandon bisphosphonates.

"The perception of risk is so much greater than the actual risk," says Dr. Meryl LeBoff, director of the skeletal health and osteoporosis center at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. Compared with many other common diseases, we are fortunate that we have good therapies to reduce the risk of osteoporotic fractures by 70% at the spine and 40 to 50% at the hip. She points to statistics referenced in the New York Times article: for every 100,000 women taking a bisphosphonate, fewer than three will have osteonecrosis of the jaw and one will have an atypical femur fracture, but 2,000 will have avoided an osteoporotic fracture.

Transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs, can signal an impending stroke, but prompt care can minimize damage.

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Have you ever experienced a brief episode when your body seemed to be a little off—your vision was blurry, your speech slightly slurred, or one side of your body felt weaker than the other? If so, you may have experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), says Dr. Natalia Rost, a neurologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. She notes that many women may assume they have suffered a migraine and get back to life as usual once the episode has passed. In fact, a TIA is a serious medical issue and warrants getting immediate treatment.

Why white matter really matters

A pessary and pelvic floor exercises can improve symptoms of pelvic floor prolapse. 

The FDA is warning that over-the-counter antacids with aspirin in them can cause stomach bleeding in rare cases. 

People who are more physically fit in their mid-to-late 40s may be less likely to have a stroke after age 65 than those who are less fit.

Often referred to as a ministroke , a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, often lasts only minutes, but acts as a warning for a potential full stroke.

Stumble walking across the room? You simply aren't watching your step. Forget a name or can't get out the right words? It's just a fuzzy senior moment. Feeling a little dizzy? You only need to sit down for a second.

Research has found that people with high levels of the oral bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis had a 59% greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer. It is too early to say whether this specific bacterium directly contributes to the disease. However, one theory is that since inflammation is related to cancer, the bacteria could cause inflammation in the pancreas. Another possibility is the bacteria are simply a marker for cancer-causing inflammation.