Last year, 193.8 million flu vaccines were distributed, and pharmacies played a large role in that record-setting effort. Roughly 54 percent of Americans got their flu shot at a drug store, an over 50 percent jump from the year before, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And pharmacies aren’t just for flu shots. Because they are often conveniently located, offer early and late hours, and typically allow walk-in appointments, drug stores are a popular option for people looking to get the COVID-19 shot or booster, as well as many other recommended vaccines....

Your discomfort is undoubtedly due to your weight. Osteoarthritis and muscle and tendon flare-ups can be caused by excess weight, as can a condition known as plantar fasciitis, which causes pain in the soles of the feet. A diet and exercise plan that would help you lose 10 percent of your body weight would improve or eliminate your symptoms. Aerobic exercise and strength training are both important in helping your hips, back, and feet feel better and in helping to strengthen your muscles so that you can exercise and walk without this pain....

“Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is not a common condition,” says David Bernstein, MD, chief of hepatology at Northwell Health in Manhasset, New York. For this disorder to set in, 90 percent of the pancreas must be damaged or diseased, which rarely happens. But some people may be more at risk for EPI than others, in part because underlying health conditions can damage the pancreas over time. These conditions include: Pancreatitis An inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatitis can be acute (sudden) or chronic (over a long period of time)....

Age 47 Title and Company CEO and founder, Diet Doctor Meet the Diet Doctor. In fact, that’s the name of his website: Dietdoctor.com. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD, doesn’t just play a physician online; he’s one in real life too, specializing in family medicine. But for the last six years he’s mostly been focusing his efforts on helping people lose weight through low-carb and keto diets. It’s not that he tired of medicine; he just wanted to do something on a larger scale....

Research published in May 2019 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology points out that the rise has been most dramatic among African Americans. Scientists calculated that the heart failure–related death rate among Americans ages 35 to 64 in 2017 was 2.6 times greater for African American men compared with white men and about 3 times more for African American women compared with white women. “More than one-half of black adults have hypertension and high rates of obesity and diabetes, which may explain a portion of the disparities in heart failure mortality,” says study author Sadiya Khan, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine cardiologist in Chicago....

“Because, as Milton Berle said, ‘Laughter is like an instant vacation,’” says Heidi Hanna, PhD, the founder and CEO of Synergy, a consulting company providing brain-based health and performance programs for organizations, as well as executive director of the American Institute of Stress, and a member of the board of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. A nonprofit international community of laughter professionals and enthusiasts, medical professionals, and social scientists, the association provides education and resources in support of humor to promote health and well-being....

There’s one potential complication of HS that isn’t so well known, though: squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). It’s a small risk, but one worth being aware of. If you’re living with HS, one of your best defenses against any complication is to learn all you can about it and use that information to fine-tune how you manage your condition. Here’s what you should know about the connection between HS and skin cancer....

The ability to earn an income and control your risk throughout a deadly pandemic should not be taken for granted, but that doesn’t mean it’s not challenging in its own ways or that you shouldn’t feel burned out, says the Vancouver-based productivity expert Melissa Steginus, author of Self Care at Work and Everyday Mindfulness. Workplace burnout isn’t a medical condition or disease, but it is widely recognized by psychologists and the medical community as a phenomenon that can very seriously affect our health and well-being....

But here’s a simple definition: “A healthy body image is a body image where you feel happy and confident and accepting of yourself,” says Drew Anderson, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York in Albany, whose work focuses on eating disorders and psychological issues related to obesity. This doesn’t mean that you’ll never have a moment of discontent about your body. This doesn’t even necessarily mean that you’ll want to celebrate or love every inch of your body....

If you’re sexually active, you’ve likely been exposed to the virus that causes genital warts, called the human papillomavirus (HPV). Genital warts appear as growths or bumps that are flesh-colored or whitish. They may be small or large, raised or flat, and appear singly or in groups. While genital warts generally do not cause such symptoms as itching or pain, many people find them embarrassing, and they can be spread from person to person....

For Nwabukwu, 70, the founder and executive director of the African Women’s Cancer Awareness Association (AWCAA), the mission is personal: When her mother, who has diabetes, came from Nigeria for a visit in 1989, Nwabukwu took her to see an endocrinologist. During that appointment, the doctor did a head-to-toe physical exam and discovered a lump in her mother’s breast. At the time, her mother had no health insurance or any knowledge of how to navigate the American healthcare system....

Sanjay Gupta, MD, a neurosurgeon and CNN’s chief medical correspondent, recently addressed these and other issues in a fireside chat with the president of Publicis Health Media, Andrea Palmer, at the PHM HealthFront event in New York City. Everyday Health, which was among the event’s sponsors, was there; the following is an edited transcript of the interview with Dr. Gupta. Andrea Palmer: What’s the most important lesson of the pandemic?...

These exams can rule out other conditions and reveal the stage of your disease. Getting an early diagnosis is important because the earlier lung cancer is detected, the better your prognosis. RELATED: Have You Been Screened for Lung Cancer? Lung Cancer Tests To get a lung cancer diagnosis, you may need to have one or more of the following tests: Chest X-Ray Chest X-rays use small amounts of radiation to take a picture inside your chest....

It’s important to keep in mind, though, that as you age, your EPI treatment plan and medication regimen may need to be adjusted. Here are five things to know about managing your EPI as you age. 1. You may be at risk for other health conditions. Because EPI can interfere with your body’s ability to absorb certain nutrients (including vitamin D, which is important for bone health), you may be more likely to develop osteoporosis than someone who doesn’t have EPI....

Learning more about why they happen — and how to be fully prepared for potential emergencies — can help you gain some control over this unpredictable condition. What to Do When You’re Having Frequent Bowel Movements If you’re having frequent bowel movements (more often than usual) for more than two or three days, call your doctor, Dr. Isaacs says. You might need to be tested for infection or change your medications....

We all know that too much stress is bad for your well-being. But even the most relaxed, type B person gets stressed out once in a while. Whether you seem to be wound up constantly or only occasionally fall victim to life’s stressors, meditation can help you moderate your worries, boost your overall mood, and so much more. In addition to the mental health benefits, there are many physical benefits to meditation as well, such as a decreased risk of heart disease, according to a scientific statement published in September 2017 in the Journal of the American Heart Association....

A study published on September 9 in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that drinking only eight alcoholic beverages per week was associated with a 60 percent higher increased risk of high blood pressure, or hypertension, in people with type 2 diabetes. The risk and the severity of the high blood pressure grew for those who drank significantly more. The findings suggest that a daily drinking habit could put an already vulnerable group for heart disease at an even higher risk....

Supporting Immunity Moringa supplies a good source of vitamin C, an antioxidant nutrient that supports immune function and collagen production, says LaVardera. She points out that the specific concentrations of nutrients like vitamin C will vary widely between brands. Because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not have the nutritional profile of moringa available on its website, you’ll have to look at the nutrition facts panel of the product that you’re using....

Morquio syndrome is a rare, inherited metabolic disorder that most often affects the skeleton. Also known as MPS IV, Morquio syndrome is part of a group of diseases called mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS). MPS is defined by the body’s inability to break down large sugar chains called glycosaminoglycans (formerly known as mucopolysaccharides). As a result, these molecules build up in the body and interfere with cell function. Prevalence It’s unknown how many people are affected by MPS IV....

Some of these people said they’d experienced migraine attacks most of their lives, while others had only gotten these monster headaches after they started having MS symptoms or were diagnosed with MS. The topic of migraine is a difficult one for medical science to explain in general, and its link to MS is also unclear. Even the National MS Society experts have a hard time quantifying MS and headache. According to one video interview created by the society, anywhere from 20 to 70 percent of people with MS experience migraine....