Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Archive

A healthy diet is believed to play a role in warding off chronic inflammation that can lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cognitive decline. Six types of foods that may help fight chronic inflammation are berries, fatty fish, leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and tomatoes. These foods are all found in a Mediterranean-style diet, which consists of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, and small amounts of dairy foods and olive oil.

A 2023 study suggests that taking low doses of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant also used to treat nerve pain, may be one of the best pharmacologic choices to help improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Most cases of chest pain don't signal heart problems. While chest discomfort of any kind should never be ignored, many conditions can trigger it. These include gastroesophageal reflux disease, gallstones, asthma, ulcers, anxiety, COVID, esophagus spasms, costochondritis, pulmonary embolism, pleurisy, aortic dissection, and pericarditis. Chest pain is likely to be unrelated to the heart if it's brief, triggered by eating, doesn't worsen with exercise, occurs only with movement, coughing, or breathing deeply, or it's localized to one spot.

A 2023 study suggests eating more prebiotics-compounds found in plant fiber that nourish healthy bacteria in the gut-may affect the brain's reward network in a way that helps people make healthier food choices.

For some people, drinking coffee has a laxative effect. Coffee triggers colon contractions and stool movement, a process heightened by its caffeine content. Women prone to constipation might find a morning cup of coffee helpful, but drinking excessive amounts may worsen the symptoms of certain health conditions.

A 2023 study of lab animals suggests that the population of microbes in an individual's gut may influence the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that healthy lab rats developed signs characteristic of Alzheimer's disease when they were injected with gut microbe samples from people with Alzheimer's. Rats that received samples from the most severely affected Alzheimer's patients developed the greatest brain abnormalities and memory problems. Rats did not develop these problems when they were injected with samples from people who had no signs of the disease.

A small randomized trial in 2023 found that taking two 250-mg capsules of curcumin four times a day was as effective at relieving dyspepsia symptoms as taking one daily 20-mg dose of the heartburn medication omeprazole (Prilosec, Zegerid).

Cellulitis, a skin infection that often occurs on the lower leg, develops when bacteria enter the body through a cut, bite, or other wound. A new study shows key aspects of healing typically occur within 10 days of treatment, but symptoms can linger for some time after that.