bowang0911/MedQuAD huggingface dataset:
Primary polycythemia (polycythemia vera) can't be prevented. However, with proper treatment, you can prevent or delay symptoms and complications.
                
Sometimes you can prevent secondary polycythemia by avoiding things that deprive your body of oxygen for long periods. For example, you can avoid mountain climbing, living at a high altitude, or smoking.
                
People who have serious heart or lung diseases may develop secondary polycythemia. Treatment for the underlying disease may improve the secondary polycythemia. Following a healthy lifestyle to lower your risk of heart and lung diseases also will help you prevent secondary polycythemia.
Many factors can affect the cholesterol levels in your blood. You can control some factors, but not others.
                
Factors You Can Control
                
Diet
                
Cholesterol is found in foods that come from animal sources, such as egg yolks, meat, and cheese. Some foods have fats that raise your cholesterol level.
                
For example, saturated fat raises your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet. Saturated fat is found in some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods.
                
Trans fatty acids (trans fats) raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Trans fats are made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to harden it. Trans fats are found in some fried and processed foods.
                
Limiting foods with cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fats can help you control your cholesterol levels.
                
Physical Activity and Weight
                
Lack of physical activity can lead to weight gain. Being overweight tends to raise your LDL level, lower your HDL level, and increase your total cholesterol level. (Total cholesterol is a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including LDL and HDL.)
                
Routine physical activity can help you lose weight and lower your LDL cholesterol. Being physically active also can help you raise your HDL cholesterol level.
                
Factors You Cant Control
                
Heredity
                
High blood cholesterol can run in families. An inherited condition called familial hypercholesterolemia causes very high LDL cholesterol. (Inherited means the condition is passed from parents to children through genes.) This condition begins at birth, and it may cause a heart attack at an early age.
                
Age and Sex
                
Starting at puberty, men often have lower levels of HDL cholesterol than women. As women and men age, their LDL cholesterol levels often rise. Before age 55, women usually have lower LDL cholesterol levels than men. However, afterage 55, women can have higher LDL levels than men.
Your doctor will diagnose high blood cholesterol by checking the cholesterol levels in your blood. A blood test called a lipoprotein panel can measure your cholesterol levels. Before the test, youll need to fast (not eat or drink anything but water) for 9 to 12 hours.
                
The lipoprotein panel will give your doctor information about your:
                
Total cholesterol. Total cholesterol is a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
                
LDL cholesterol. LDL, or bad, cholesterol is the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockages in the arteries.
                
HDL cholesterol. HDL, or good, cholesterol helps remove cholesterol from your arteries.
                
Triglycerides (tri-GLIH-seh-rides). Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. Some studies suggest that a high level of triglycerides in the blood may raise the risk of coronary heart disease, especially in women.
                
If its not possible to have a lipoprotein panel, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels.
                
Testing for total and HDL cholesterol does not require fasting. If your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL or more, or if your HDL cholesterol is less than 40 mg/dL, your doctor will likely recommend that you have a lipoprotein panel. (Cholesterol is measured as milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dL) of blood.)
                
The tables below show total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol levels and their corresponding categories. See how your cholesterol numbers compare to the numbers in the tables below.
                

                

                

                

                
Triglycerides also can raise your risk for heart disease. If your triglyceride level is borderline high (150199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or higher), you may need treatment.
                
Factors that can raise your triglyceride level include:
                
Overweight and obesity
                
Lack of physical activity
                
Cigarette smoking
                
Excessive alcohol use
                
A very high carbohydrate diet
                
Certain diseases and medicines
                
Some genetic disorders
Older age is a risk factor for heart valve disease. As you age, your heart valves thicken and become stiffer. Also, people are living longer now than in the past. As a result, heart valve disease has become an increasing problem.
                
People who have a history of infective endocarditis (IE), rheumatic fever, heart attack, or heart failureor previous heart valve diseasealso are at higher risk for heart valve disease. In addition, having risk factors for IE, such as intravenous drug use, increases the risk of heart valve disease.
                
You're also at higher risk for heart valve disease if you have risk factors for coronary heart disease. These risk factors include high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, insulin resistance, diabetes, overweight or obesity, lack of physical activity, and a family history of early heart disease.
                
Some people are born with an aortic valve that has two flaps instead of three. Sometimes an aortic valve may have three flaps, but two flaps are fused together and act as one flap. This is called a bicuspid or bicommissural aortic valve. People who have this congenital condition are more likely to develop aortic heart valve disease.
Major Signs and Symptoms
                
The main sign of heart valve disease is an unusual heartbeat sound called a heart murmur. Your doctor can hear a heart murmur with a stethoscope.
                
However, many people have heart murmurs without having heart valve disease or any other heart problems. Others may have heart murmurs due to heart valve disease, but have no other signs or symptoms.
                
Heart valve disease often worsens over time, so signs and symptoms may occur years after a heart murmur is first heard. Many people who have heart valve disease don't have any symptoms until they're middle-aged or older.
                
Other common signs and symptoms of heart valve disease relate to heart failure, which heart valve disease can cause. These signs and symptoms include:
                
Unusual fatigue (tiredness)
                
Shortness of breath, especially when you exert yourself or when you're lying down
                
Swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, abdomen, and veins in the neck
                
Other Signs and Symptoms
                
Heart valve disease can cause chest pain that may happen only when you exert yourself. You also may notice a fluttering, racing, or irregular heartbeat. Some types of heart valve disease, such as aortic or mitral valve stenosis, can cause dizziness or fainting.
To prevent heart valve disease caused by rheumatic fever, see your doctor if you have signs of a strep infection. These signs include a painful sore throat, fever, and white spots on your tonsils. If you do have a strep infection, be sure to take all medicines prescribed to treat it. Prompt treatment of strep infections can prevent rheumatic fever, which damages the heartvalves.
                
Its possible that exercise, a heart-healthy diet, and medicines that lower cholesterol might prevent aortic stenosis (thickening and stiffening of the aortic valve). Researchers continue to study this possibility.
                
Heart-healthy eating, physical activity, other heart-healthy lifestyle changes, and medicines aimed at preventing a heart attack, high blood pressure, or heart failure also may help prevent heart valve disease.
During an emergencysuch as a serious accident, possible heart attack, or other life-threatening eventyou might be started on oxygen therapy right away.
                
Otherwise, your doctor will decide whether you need oxygen therapy based on test results. An arterial blood gas test and a pulse oximetry test can measure the amount of oxygen in your blood.
                
For an arterial blood gas test, a small needle is inserted into an artery, usually in your wrist. A sample of blood is taken from the artery. The sample is then sent to a laboratory, where its oxygen level is measured.
                
For a pulse oximetry test, a small sensor is attached to your fingertip or toe. The sensor uses light to estimate how much oxygen is in your blood.
                
If the tests show that your blood oxygen level is low, your doctor may prescribe oxygen therapy. In the prescription, your doctor will include the number of liters of oxygen per minute that you need (oxygen flow rate). He or she also will include how often you need to use the oxygen (frequency of use).
                
Frequency of use includes when and for how long you should use the oxygen. Depending on your condition and blood oxygen level, you may need oxygen only at certain times, such as during sleep or while exercising.
                
If your doctor prescribes home oxygen therapy, he or she can help you find a home equipment provider. The provider will give you the equipment and other supplies you need.
During an emergencysuch as a serious accident, possible heart attack, or other life-threatening eventyou might be started on oxygen therapy right away.
                
While you're in the hospital, your doctor will check on you to make sure you're getting the right amount of oxygen. Nurses or respiratory therapists also may assist with the oxygen therapy.
                
If you're having oxygen therapy at home, a home equipment provider will help you set up the oxygen therapy equipment at your house.
                
Trained staff will show you how to use and take care of the equipment. They'll supply the oxygen and teach you how to safely handle it.
                
Because oxygen poses a fire risk, you'll need to take certain safety steps. Oxygen isn't explosive, but it can worsen a fire. In the presence of oxygen, a small fire can quickly get out of control. Also, the cylinder that compressed oxygen gas comes in can explode if it's exposed to heat.
                
Your home equipment provider will give you a complete list of safety steps that you'll need to follow at home and in public. For example, while on oxygen, you should:
                
Never smoke or be around people who are smoking
                
Never use paint thinners, cleaning fluids, gasoline, aerosol sprays, and other flammable materials
                
Stay at least 5 feet away from gas stoves, candles, and other heat sources
                
When you're not using the oxygen, keep it in a large, airy room. Never store compressed oxygen gas cylinders and liquid oxygen containers in small, enclosed places, such as in closets, behind curtains, or under clothes.
                
Oxygen containers let off small amounts of oxygen. These small amounts can build up to harmful levels if they're allowed to escape into small spaces.
Oxygen therapy can cause complications and side effects. These problems might include a dry or bloody nose, skin irritation from the nasal cannula or face mask, fatigue (tiredness), and morning headaches.
                
If these problems persist, tell your doctor and home equipment provider. Depending on the problem, your doctor may need to change your oxygen flow rate or the length of time you're using the oxygen.
                
If nose dryness is a problem, your doctor may recommend a nasal spray or have a humidifier added to your oxygen equipment.
                
If you have an uncomfortable nasal cannula or face mask, your home equipment provider can help you find a device that fits better. Your provider also can recommend over-the-counter gels and devices that are designed to lessen skin irritation.
                
Complications from transtracheal oxygen therapy can be more serious. With this type of oxygen therapy, oxygen is delivered through a tube inserted into your windpipe through the front of your neck.
                
With transtracheal oxygen therapy:
                
Mucus balls might develop on the tube inside the windpipe. Mucus balls tend to form as a result of the oxygen drying out the airways. Mucus balls can cause coughing and clog the windpipe or tube.
                
Problems with the tube slipping or breaking.
                
Infection.
                
Injury to the lining of the windpipe.
                
Proper medical care and correct handling of the tube and other supplies may reduce the risk of complications.
                
Other Risks
                
In certain people, oxygen therapy may suppress the drive to breathe, affecting how well the respiratory system works. This is managed by adjusting the oxygen flow rate.
                
Oxygen poses a fire risk, so you'll need to take certain safety steps. Oxygen itself isn't explosive, but it can worsen a fire. In the presence of oxygen, a small fire can quickly get out of control. Also, the cylinder that compressed oxygen gas comes in might explode if exposed to heat.
                
Your home equipment provider will give you a complete list of safety steps you'll need to take at home and when out in public.
                
For example, when you're not using the oxygen, keep it in an airy room. Never store compressed oxygen gas cylinders and liquid oxygen containers in small, enclosed places, such as in closets, behind curtains, or under clothes.
                
Oxygen containers let off small amounts of oxygen. These small amounts can build up to harmful levels if they're allowed to escape into small spaces.
Taking action to control risk factors can help prevent or delay heart disease in people who have diabetes and in those who don't. Your risk of heart disease increases with the number of risk factors you have.
                
One step you can take is to adopt a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle should be part of a lifelong approach to healthy living. A healthy lifestyle includes:
                
Following a healthy diet
                
Maintaining a healthy weight
                
Being physically active
                
Quitting smoking
                
Managing stress
                
You also should know your family history of diabetes and heart disease. If you or someone in your family has diabetes, heart disease, or both, let your doctor know.
                
Your doctor may prescribe medicines to control certain risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. Take all of your medicines exactly as your doctor advises.
                
People who have diabetes also need good blood sugar control. Controlling your blood sugar level is good for heart health. Ask your doctor about the best ways to control your blood sugar level.
                
For more information about lifestyle changes and medicines, go to "How Is Diabetic Heart Disease Treated?"
Endocarditis (EN-do-kar-DI-tis) is an infection of the inner lining of the heart chambers and valves. This lining is called the endocardium (en-do-KAR-de-um). The condition also is called infective endocarditis (IE).
                
The term "endocarditis" also is used to describe an inflammation of the endocardium due to other conditions. This article only discusses endocarditis related to infection.
                
IE occurs if bacteria, fungi, or other germs invade your bloodstream and attach to abnormal areas of your heart. The infection can damage your heart and cause serious and sometimes fatal complications.
                
IE can develop quickly or slowly; it depends on what type of germ is causing it and whether you have an underlying heart problem. When IE develops quickly, it's called acute infective endocarditis. When it develops slowly, it's called subacute infective endocarditis.
                
Overview
                
IE mainly affects people who have:
                
Damaged or artificial (man-made) heart valves
                
Congenital heart defects (defects present at birth)
                
Implanted medical devices in the heart or blood vessels
                
People who have normal heart valves also can have IE. However, the condition is much more common in people who have abnormal hearts.
                
Certain factors make it easier for bacteria to enter your bloodstream. These factors put you at higher risk for IE. For example, poor dental hygiene and unhealthy teeth and gums increase your risk for the infection.
                
Other risk factors include using intravenous (IV) drugs, having a catheter (tube) or another medical device in your body for long periods, and having a history of IE.
                
Common symptoms of IE are fever and other flu-like symptoms. Because the infection can affect people in different ways, the signs and symptoms vary. IE also can cause problems in many other parts of the body besides the heart.
                
If you're at high risk for IE, seek medical care if you have signs or symptoms of the infection, especially a fever that persists or unexplained fatigue (tiredness).
                
Outlook
                
IE is treated with antibiotics for several weeks. You also may need heart surgery to repair or replace heart valves or remove infected heart tissue.
                
Most people who are treated with the proper antibiotics recover. But if the infection isn't treated, or if it persists despite treatment (for example, if the bacteria are resistant to antibiotics), it's usually fatal.
                
If you have signs or symptoms of IE, see your doctor as soon as you can, especially if you have abnormal heart valves.
Infective endocarditis (IE) is an uncommon condition that can affect both children and adults. It's more common in men than women.
                
IE typically affects people who have abnormal hearts or other conditions that put them at risk for the infection. Sometimes IE does affect people who were healthy before the infection.
                
Major Risk Factors
                
The germs that cause IE tend to attach and multiply on damaged, malformed, or artificial (man-made) heart valves and implanted medical devices. Certain conditions put you at higher risk for IE. These include:
                
Congenital heart defects (defects that are present at birth). Examples include a malformed heart or abnormal heart valves.
                
Artificial heart valves, an implanted medical device in the heart (such as a pacemaker wire), or an intravenous (IV) catheter (tube) in a blood vessel for a long time.
                
Heart valves damaged by rheumatic fever or calcium deposits that cause age-related valve thickening. Scars in the heart from a previous case of IE also can damage heart valves.
                
IV drug use, especially if needles are shared or reused, contaminated substances are injected, or the skin isn't properly cleaned before injection.
Infective endocarditis (IE) can cause a range of signs and symptoms that can vary from person to person. Signs and symptoms also can vary over time in the same person.
                
Signs and symptoms differ depending on whether you have an underlying heart problem, the type of germ causing the infection, and whether you have acute or subacute IE.
                
Signs and symptoms of IE may include:
                
Flu-like symptoms, such as fever, chills, fatigue (tiredness), aching muscles and joints, night sweats, and headaches.
                
Shortness of breath or a cough that won't go away.
                
A new heart murmur or a change in an existing heart murmur.
                
Skin changes such as:   - Overall paleness.   - Small, painful, red or purplish bumps under the skin on the fingers or toes.   - Small, dark, painless flat spots on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.   - Tiny spots under the fingernails, on the whites of the eyes, on the roof of the mouth and inside of the cheeks, or on the chest. These spots are from broken blood vessels.
                
Overall paleness.
                
Small, painful, red or purplish bumps under the skin on the fingers or toes.
                
Small, dark, painless flat spots on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.
                
Tiny spots under the fingernails, on the whites of the eyes, on the roof of the mouth and inside of the cheeks, or on the chest. These spots are from broken blood vessels.
                
Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach), vomiting, a decrease in appetite, a sense of fullness with discomfort on the upper left side of the abdomen, or weight loss with or without a change in appetite.
                
Blood in the urine.
                
Swelling in the feet, legs, or abdomen.
Infective endocarditis (IE) is treated with antibiotics and sometimes with heart surgery.
                
Antibiotics
                
Antibiotics usually are given for 2 to 6 weeks through an intravenous (IV) line inserted into a vein. You're often in a hospital for at least the first week or more of treatment. This allows your doctor to make sure the medicine is helping.
                
If you're allowed to go home before the treatment is done, the antibiotics are almost always continued by vein at home. You'll need special care if you get IV antibiotic treatment at home. Before you leave the hospital, your medical team will arrange for you to receive home-based care so you can continue your treatment.
                
You also will need close medical followup, usually by a team of doctors. This team often includes a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases, a cardiologist (heart specialist), and a heart surgeon.
                
Surgery
                
Sometimes surgery is needed to repair or replace a damaged heart valve or to help clear up IE. For example, IE caused by fungi often requires surgery. This is because this type of IE is harder to treat than IE caused by bacteria.
If you're at risk for infective endocarditis (IE), you can take steps to prevent the infection and its complications.
                
Be alert to the signs and symptoms of IE. Contact your doctor right away if you have any of these signs or symptoms, especially a persistent fever or unexplained fatigue (tiredness).
                
Brush and floss your teeth regularly, and have regular dental checkups. Germs from a gum infection can enter your bloodstream.
                
Avoid body piercing, tattoos, and other procedures that may allow germs to enter your bloodstream.
                
Research shows that not everyone at risk for IE needs to take antibiotics before routine dental exams and certain other dental and medical procedures.
                
Let your health care providers, including your dentist, know if you're at risk for IE. They can tell you whether you need antibiotics before exams and procedures.