Blog Archive
Your skin is a multilayered barrier that prevents harmful threats from damaging your internal organs and tissue, allows you to touch and feel, and helps control your internal temperature. It consists of three main layers, but between those are important sublayers (as many as 10) that help retain moisture, allow...
As the largest organ of your body, your skin plays many roles, including helping to regulate temperature, protecting your body from external threats, and allowing you to touch other objects. It is a part of how we see ourselves and how others see us, and many conditions can affect its...
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered dramatic changes throughout everyday life — and in the medical community as well. Not only are providers across the country postponing elective procedures, but many are also encouraging people to avoid in-office appointments to reduce their risk of exposure to this highly contagious coronavirus.But what...
Solar radiation is literally the only way we have life on Earth, traveling 149 million km (93 million miles) to reach us in about 8.5 minutes and making up the visible light we see all around us. The solar energy we get from the sun is responsible for photosynthesis in...
When you look in the mirror and see a blemish on your skin, whether the related condition is serious or not, you tend to feel bad about how people will see you. After all, people will notice your skin because it’s all over your body, and research shows that skin...
Breathing is a necessity for living; the act of taking in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide is essential to everything our bodies do to survive. Your respiratory system is the part of your body that makes this possible through your airways (nose, mouth, throat, trachea), lungs, and blood vessels,...
Your ears, nose, and throat are not just parts of your head and face. They are part of many important ways your body functions, through your sense of hearing and smell, your ability to breathe, and how you digest food. Conditions that affect these parts of your body are very...
Your skin is the literal protective armor of your body, a complex framework of layers, nerves, glands, and cells composed of fats, protein, water, and minerals to guard your body against injury and disease. With so many different things trying to get through your skin to do you harm, there...
Your skin is a complicated organ (and the largest one you have as it covers your entire body) composed of water, lipids, proteins, minerals, and numerous other chemicals. Your skin weighs about six pounds, regenerates every 27 days, and protects your body with three layers that perform different functions like regulating...
Our bodies are constantly changing from the moment we’re born, developing into maturity from childhood and eventually into old age. These changes occur everywhere, but when it comes to aging, few places are as obvious as your face regarding how aging affects you. As we get older, our hairlines retreat...
Your skin is a remarkable organ that handles a lot of work but needs maintenance to stay healthy. Your three layers of skin (epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis) are mainly composed of water, fats, minerals, and proteins. While it helps you regulate body temperature, avoid disease, and touch objects, it’s also...
Our skin is the first line of defense against illnesses and foreign bodies doing us harm, which also means it frequently comes in contact with things that can harm it. Acne is one of many skin conditions you can get and a very common one, with an estimated 50 million people in...
Your ears are important to interact with the world for two major reasons: hearing and balance. They translate the sound waves you hear into signals that are translated into coherence by your brain, and they transmit signals to your vestibular nerve to your brain, which then sends signals to your...
Some form of radiation exists all around us, and a lot of it is fairly harmless and often used to power our modern world. Radiowaves, microwaves, X-rays, natural light, and infrared all play important roles in some facet of our lives and exist naturally in the environment in some capacity....
Warm weather is coming quickly, and no doubt, many of us will be out in the sun enjoying the bloom of spring. But with the budding plants and pleasant warmth of the season comes the flare-up of seasonal allergies for 50 million Americans every year. This means plenty of people...
Your throat, also called the pharynx, is the connecting tube between your head and shoulders and contains your esophagus (food tube) and trachea. It’s about five inches long, and we use it to speak, breathe, and pass food down to the rest of our digestive system. Throat problems are fairly...
We rely on our skin for so much; without it, we could not touch things, regulate the temperature of our bodies, grow hair, get protection from bacteria and viruses, or sweat. As the main source of protection from bacteria, viruses, germs, and other environmental threats, it’s important that we keep...
The largest organ of your body is the skin. It covers you from head to toe and is the primary source of defense against external threats, regulates body temperature, allows you to sweat, and renews itself monthly. The 19 million skin cells, 650 sweat glands, 1,000 nerve endings, and 20 blood...
Your skin is your largest organ (covering your whole body), and it is designed to be elastic and flexible but firm because of proteins like collagen and elastin. These chemicals are present in many different body areas and help provide structure, support, and elasticity. As you age, your body stops producing large amounts...
Your body changes your life, growing into your teens from childhood, into an adult from your teens, and into old age in adulthood. One area those changes become more apparent over time is your skin, as your body loses the chemicals it needs to maintain flexibility and elasticity as you get...
Allergies are an overreaction of your immune system that results in foreign substances your body is exposed to (which are called allergens), and millions of Americans deal with it. Over 50 million people struggle with allergic rhinitis (an allergic condition that affects your sinuses, also called hay fever), and up...
Your ears are essential for hearing and balance and consist of three main parts: : the outer, middle, and inner. The outer ear collects sound waves and sends them through the middle ear and into the inner ear. Next, the signals are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain to...
Your sinuses are a series of cavities located in your head, in areas around your eyes and nose, and lined with soft tissue called mucosa. There are four different sinuses connected in this network and while we don’t quite know the exact purpose of them, they are thought to help you humidify...
Sleep is an essential function of your body, making it something you cannot do without. A healthy night’s rest allows you to recharge, and can even help your body fend off diseases. On average, a healthy night’s rest is about 7-9 hours, but there are several types of sleep disorders that...
Sinusitis is the term for inflammation or swelling of your sinuses, and it is incredibly common. It causes fluid buildup and blockages in your sinuses, and is often connected with a variety of conditions, such as colds, flu, and seasonal allergies. Children and adults both experience the symptoms, however, the signs of...
While many childhood illnesses, such as colds, tonsillitis, ear infections and bronchitis are a common part of growing up, the infections can be difficult for both kids and parents due to loss time from work and school and secondary complications. Tonsillitis, a condition that affects many children during the ages...
Your respiratory system is essential for breathing, and the process of taking in air starts with your nose. While you do take in air from both your mouth and your nose, your mouth has several functions (such as eating and speaking), but your nose filters debris while warming and moistening...
Many parts of your body are used to help maintain necessary function, but few are more important than the endocrine system to regulate how your body works. This network of glands and organs secretes different types of hormones throughout your body. These signals control many bodily functions, like mood, growth,...
Your ability to hear is a crucial part of communication and getting a sense of the world around you. Our ears collect sound waves and process the sounds into things we can understand by sending those signals to the brain. Any problems that affect your hearing, such as ear infections...
Hearing loss is a very common condition (third most common behind arthritis and heart disease), with 16% of U.S. adults reporting hearing trouble. Hearing loss also affects children, with 3 in 1,000 children born with some hearing loss in one or both ears, and 15% of kids and teens ages...
Tinnitus is the subjective ringing or buzzing you experience in your ears that others can’t hear, and millions of people in the United States deal with. One in every 10 Americans suffer from this condition, and it is especially common among veterans. It’s often linked to other conditions such as...
Allergies affect 30% of adults and 40-50% of children in the US. Over 50 million Americans struggle with allergic responses each year. Allergies are the 6th leading cause of illness in the United States, and over twelve-million physician office visits each year are caused by allergic rhinitis. While many allergies...