Diseases & Conditions Archive

Ask the doctor

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Q. The Harvard Health Letter has often said that it is generally healthy for women to have one alcoholic drink per day. Yet I hear a recent study showed no benefit. What's the truth?

A. Before answering your question, let's define "one drink": it's 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. And it means having one drink each day of the week, not having seven drinks on Saturday night, sleeping it off Sunday, and begging off until next Saturday night. Now, despite the recent study, we stick with what we've said, which reflects the research of outstanding nutrition scientists at Harvard and elsewhere.

Sometimes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is behind issues with memory and task completion.

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You may be concerned about your memory if you notice that you're struggling to keep track of items you use each day, getting sidetracked when doing chores and other tasks, and tuning out during conversations. But it could be that you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a brain wiring difference once recognized only in children. In adults, ADHD often produces problems with memory and attention rather than hyperactivity.

"Two to three percent of people in their 60s or older have traits of ADHD that are impairing," says Dr. Craig Surman, a neuropsychiatrist and ADHD researcher at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of the Harvard Health Publishing book FASTMINDS: How to Thrive If You Have ADHD (or think you might).

On call

Q. For the past few months, I get dizzy when I turn my head quickly or bend over. What could cause this?

A. You most likely have a bothersome, but not serious, condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. The symptoms are brought on by head movement. They can be quite mild, with just a few seconds of a spinning or off-balance sensation when the head moves a certain way, but some people experience severe dizziness, along with nausea and possible falling.

There are ways to shorten flare-ups and, in some people, prevent them from recurring.

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Psoriasis is a big star on TV drug ads, but this autoimmune skin disease is something most people try to keep well hidden.

"Psoriasis is among the most common skin conditions, affecting about 2% of the U.S. population, and while the condition doesn't affect everyone the same way, the approach to treatment and prevention is often similar," says Dr. Gideon Smith, an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Vitamins don't seem to reduce cardiovascular risks, according to a new report.

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There may be reasons to take a multivitamin, but improving your cardiovascular health is not one of them, says a report in the July 10 issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The authors found that for the average person, taking a multivitamin supplement didn't help prevent cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes.

The findings were based on a review of general population studies conducted from 1970 to 2016, involving more than two million people. Researchers looked for associations between multivitamin supplementation and cardiovascular outcomes. But they weren't able to find any links.

Ounce for ounce, bone bears as much weight as reinforced concrete. However, unlike reinforced concrete, bone is a living tissue. It serves as a repository of minerals for the rest of the body to use, continuously lending them out and replacing them. Bone also gets stronger when "stressed" by physical activity, and can repair itself when injured.

The building and tearing down of bone tissue is called remodeling. This process happens continuously throughout your entire life. At first, your body rebuilds more bone than it demolishes. Typically, a person reaches peak bone mass around the age of 30. Among women, bone mass usually remains steady for the next 20 years or so until the onset of menopause, when bone is lost much more quickly than it is replaced. When bone loss is significant, the result is osteoporosis (which means "porous bone"). Bone loss generally starts later for men — typically in the late 50s — and progresses more slowly than in women. But men can also get osteoporosis.

In the journals

If you have problems sleeping through the night, you may be at risk for atrial fibrillation (afib), an irregular heart rate that may cause heart palpitations and is a leading cause of stroke.

A study published online June 25, 2018, by HeartRhythm reviewed four studies and found a link between afib and poor sleep. In one study, people with afib had more frequent nighttime awakenings compared with those who did not have the condition. In the other studies, poor sleep quality, including frequent nighttime awakenings and less REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, predicted which individuals would develop afib.

New medications add advantages to treatments that help prevent stroke, pulmonary embolism, and deep-vein thrombosis.

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The wait is over for an antidote to stop rare uncontrolled bleeding linked to some newer blood thinners. The FDA approved andexanet alfa (AndexXa) on May 3, 2018. It's the first and only antidote to reverse bleeding in people taking apixaban (Eliquis), rivaroxaban (Xarelto), or edoxaban (Savaysa).

Another newer blood thinner — dabigatran (Pradaxa) — already has an approved antidote called idarucizumab (Praxbind). A dose of vitamin K is used to reverse the action of warfarin (Coumadin), a blood thinner used routinely for more than half a century and, until recently, the only such option for most people.

Research we're watching

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About one in 10 people has eczema, a chronic inflammatory condition that leaves skin dry and itchy. People with more severe forms may experience a scaly rash or skin that cracks and oozes. These people may also be at greater risk for heart attack and stroke, according to a study in the May 23 issue of The BMJ.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from more than 385,000 adults with eczema, which was classified as mild, moderate, or severe. Each was matched with up to five people of similar age and sex who didn't have eczema.