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Hypokalemia is a condition of below normal levels of potassium in the blood serum. Potassium, a necessary electrolyte, facilitates nerve impulse conduction and the contraction of skeletal and smooth muscles, including the heart. It also facilitate...
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An arrhythmia is a disorder of the heart rate (pulse) or heart rhythm, such as beating too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregularly.
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An arrhythmia is an abnormality in the heart ' s rhythm, or heartbeat pattern. The heartbeat can be too slow, too fast, have extra beats, skip a beat, or otherwise beat irregularly.
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Detailed information on arrhythmias, including symptoms, diagnostic, and treatment information
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Detailed information on arrhythmias, including symptoms, types, diagnosis, and treatment
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Detailed information on problems involving heart rhythm
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The guidelines for how long to wait before driving after having an ICD implanted have been revised, to reflect the growing number of people who receive the device preventively.
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Bowel movements normally occur at approximately the same time each day. The feces
(stool) itself should be soft enough that it can be passed without straining.
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Confusion is the inability to think with your usual speed or clarity, including feeling disoriented and having difficulty paying attention, remembering, and making decisions.
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Constipation refers to infrequent or hard stools, or difficulty passing stools. Constipation may involve pain during the passage of a bowel movement, inability to pass a bowel movement after straining or pushing for more than 10 minutes, or no bowel movements after more than 3 days. Infants who are still exclusively breastfed may go 7 days without a stool.
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Constipation is an acute or chronic condition in which bowel movements occur less often than usual or consist of hard, dry stools that are painful or difficult to pass. Bowel habits vary, but an adult who has not had a bowel movement in three days or a child who has not had a bowel movement in four days is considered constipated.
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Contrary to popular myth, it is not necessary for you to be "regular" (have daily bowel movements) for your bowel pattern to be normal. If your bowel movements are so infrequent that they cause you discomfort, or if bowel movements are an effort for you, then you are experiencing constipation.
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Detailed information on constipation, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Oncology: Controlling ConstipationConstipation(difficulty passing stool) is a common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Constipation can be caused by the medications you are taking.
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Detailed information on constipation, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Detailed information on constipation, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Detailed information on constipation, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
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Difficulty with producing a bowel movement, or infrequent bowel movements. Constipation, a condition that can affect the human digestive system at any stage of life, is rarely serious or chronic.
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Constipation is an acute or chronic condition in which bowel movements occur less often than usual or consist of hard, dry stools that are painful or difficult to pass. Although constipation is a relative term, with normal patterns of bowel movements varying widely from person to person, generally an adult who has not had a bowel movement in three days or a child who has not had a bowel movement in four days is considered constipated.
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ConstipationSymptom and DescriptionConstipation means being unable to move your bowels, having to push harder to move your bowels, or moving them less often than usual. Bowel movements will be small, dry, and hard.
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Constipation is an acute or chronic condition in which bowel movements occur less often than usual or consist of hard, dry stools that are painful or difficult to pass. Bowel habits vary, but an adult who has not had a bowel movement in three days or a child who has not had a bowel movement in four days is considered constipated.
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Lots of children suffer from constipation -- bowel movements that are hard or painful. Your child may become constipated because of toilet-training troubles or anxiety related to using the toilet. Or, he may not be getting enough fiber or liquids in his diet or may not be getting enough exercise.
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Many parents worry that their baby is constipated, which can happen for many reasons. Sometimes, however, babies are not really constipated, but just have their own way of pooping.
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Colds usually are mild illnesses that get better within one or two weeks. However, even mild symptoms can make children feel miserable.
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The most common beliefs about alleviating constipation may be myths, say some experts.
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What's the best way to relieve constipation in babies?
Claire McCarthy, M.D., is a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications. She is an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and co-director of the pediatrics department at Martha Eliot Health Center, a neighborhood health service of Children's Hospital. The author of two books, "Learning How the Heart Beats" and "Everyone's Children", Dr. McCarthy was a regular columnist for "Sesame Street Parents Magazine" from 1995 to 1998 and is currently a contributing editor for "Parenting Magazine".
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I am suffering from constipation. Dulcolax works, but it cannot be taken too often. Could you suggest a better, non-habit-forming medicine?
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Why does taking iron cause you to be constipated?
Mary Pickett, M.D., is a lecturer for Harvard Medical School and an assistant professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, OR. At OHSU, she practices general internal medicine and teaches medical residents and students.
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Excessive thirst is an abnormal feeling of always needing to drink fluids.
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Fatigue is a feeling of weariness, tiredness, or lack of energy.
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Fatigue is physical and/or mental exhaustion that can be triggered by stress , medication, overwork, or mental and physical illness or disease. Everyone experiences fatigue occasionally.
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Boosting Your Energy provides information on the causes and treatments of persistent fatigue. Includes information on aging and energy, eating for energy, and boosting your energy.
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Fatigue may be defined as a subjective state in which one feels tired or exhausted, and in which the capacity for normal work or activity is reduced. There is, however, no commonly accepted definition of fatigue when it is considered in the context of health and illness.
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If you regularly feel weary after waking from a good night’s sleep or for no apparent reason, it’s time to find out why.
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Fatigue: TreatmentIf the fatigue is related to a decrease in hemoglobin, or oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, then replacing the red blood cells by transfusion or taking erythropoietin can help reduce fatigue. If the fatigue is not related to...
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Introduction Fatigue may be defined as a subjective state in which one feels tired or exhausted, and in which the capacity for normal work or activity is reduced. There is, however, no commonly accepted definition of fatigue when it is considered in the context of health and illness.
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Fatigue is physical and/or mental exhaustion that can be triggered by stress , medication, overwork, or mental and physical illness or disease. Everyone experiences fatigue occasionally.
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Fatigue is a feeling of exhaustion or loss of strength. The duration of fatigue for a patient with cancer has been found to last from one to two times the length of time between diagnosis and completion of treatment, so it is common for fatigue to persist beyond a patient ' s treatment regimen.
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Fatigue: ManagementIf the person on chemotherapy has decreased hemoglobin, or oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, and it seems like the low hemoglobin level will last for a while, then a medicine called PROCRIT® (Epoetin alfa) may be prescribed...
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Fatigue: CausesWe currently understand some of the causes of fatigue but not all of them. Fatigue may be related to physical changes caused by cancer or its treatment (chemotherapy, biotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery).
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Fatigue: DefinitionFatigue is a vague feeling of being tired, weak, or exhausted. It is often a symptom of cancer, when cancer is first diagnosed, or when cancer progresses (Ferrell et al, 1996).
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Many people experience late-in-the-day energy lags, but you can take steps to prevent them.
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Oncology: Managing FatigueFatigue is a common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It can be caused by worry, lack of sleep, and poor appetite.
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Frequent urination means needing to urinate more often than usual. Urgent urination is a sudden, compelling urge to urinate, along with discomfort in your bladder. A frequent need to urinate at night is called nocturia. Most people can sleep for 6 to 8 hours without having to urinate. Middle aged and older men often wake to urinate once in the early morning hours.
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Urinary tract infections, kidney stones and prostate problems can all produce these symptoms. Frequent urination without pain also can be a side effect of certain medications, or a symptom of diabetes.
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Is frequent urination a sign of kidney dysfunction?
Diana Post, M.D., is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
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Muscle cramps are involuntary and often painful contractions (movements) of the muscles.
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Muscle cramps -- involuntary muscle contractions -- are common. But even though they can be quite painful, they don't cause damage.
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Cramps do not mean there is a problem with the muscle itself; rather, experts believe they happen when the fluid and electrolyte imbalance catches up to you or when a nerve overstimulates a muscle.
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Muscle spasms and cramps are spontaneous, often painful muscle contractions. The rapid, uncontrolled muscle contraction, or spasm, happens unexpectedly, with either no stimulation or some trivially small one.
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Muscle spasms and cramps are spontaneous, often painful muscle contractions. Most people are familiar with the sudden pain of a muscle cramp.
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True muscle weakness means that full effort does not produce a normal muscle
contraction or movement. A voluntary muscle contraction is generated when the brain
sends a signal through the spinal cord and nerves to a muscle.
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Being tired is the familiar aftermath of physical exertion, prolonged labor or lack of
sleep. When does being tired become a symptom of a condition? Fatigue, malaise,
lassitude, exhaustion are all subtle variations of the same subjective feelings of not
having enough energy to meet the demands of one's life.
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Weakness is a reduction in the strength of one or more muscles.
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