Tag: Harvard Health Publications

Envision a heart attack, and you probably think of someone clutching his chest in agony, being rushed to the hospital, maybe even dying before he arrives. While this scenario does occur, the reality is often quite different. The reason is that heart attacks don’t follow a linear path. Symptoms can be severe or…

A not-so-favorite game played by many older adults is “pain of the day,” where they share what currently hurts and how much. Most often, new aches, known as acute pain, are short-term and go away on their own or diminish with a combination of rest and over-the-counter remedies. But sometimes, acute pain persists and worsens…

You were recently started on antibiotics for an infection and you are now doing well. But slowly your skin begins to itch, and the telltale signs of a rash are already popping up — first on your torso, and now spreading to your arms and legs. What do you do? Should you worry? Should you…

What is a urinary tract infection? Urinary tract infections involve the parts of the body — the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra — that produce urine and carry it out of the body. Urinary tract infections often are classified into two types based on their location in the urinary tract: Lower tract infections — These…

In the hierarchy of digestive organs, you might first list the stomach, liver, or colon. But there’s a pear-shaped sac tucked under your liver that barely gets a second thought: the lowly gallbladder. This small but mighty organ plays an important role in helping us digest food, but we often don’t acknowledge it unless something…