bowang0911/MedQuAD huggingface dataset:
Experts recommend that people eat a balanced diet to obtain most nutrients. More information about diet and nutrition can be found on the National Agricultural Library website at www.nutrition.gov.
                
Dietary Supplements
                
Iodine is an essential mineral for the thyroid. However, people with autoimmune thyroid disease may be sensitive to harmful side effects from iodine. Taking iodine drops or eating foods containing large amounts of iodinesuch as seaweed, dulse, or kelpmay cause or worsen hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. More information about iodine can be found in the National Library of Medicine fact sheet Iodine in diet, available at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002421.htm.
                
Women need more iodine when they are pregnantabout 250 micrograms a day because the baby gets iodine from the mothers diet. In the United States, about 7 percent of pregnant women may not get enough iodine in their diet or through prenatal vitamins.3 Choosing iodized salt salt supplemented with iodineover plain salt and prenatal vitamins containing iodine will ensure this need is met.
                
To help ensure coordinated and safe care, people should discuss their use of dietary supplements, such as iodine, with their health care provider. Tips for talking with health care providers are available through the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
- Hypothyroidism is a disorder that occurs when the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone to meet the bodys needs. Thyroid hormone regulates metabolism. Without enough thyroid hormone, many of the bodys functions slow down.  - Hypothyroidism has several causes, including      - Hashimotos disease    - thyroiditis    - congenital hypothyroidism    - surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid    - radiation treatment of the thyroid    - some medications    - Hypothyroidism has many symptoms that can vary from person to person. Some common symptoms of hypothyroidism are fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance, constipation, impaired fertility, and depression.  - Women are much more likely than men to develop hypothyroidism.  - Women with hypothyroidism should discuss their condition with their health care provider before becoming pregnant.  - Hypothyroidism can almost always be completely controlled with synthetic thyroxine, as long as the recommended dose is taken every day as instructed.
A UTI is an infection in the urinary tract. Infections are caused by microbesorganisms too small to be seen without a microscopeincluding fungi, viruses, and bacteria. Bacteria are the most common cause of UTIs. Normally, bacteria that enter the urinary tract are rapidly removed by the body before they cause symptoms. However, sometimes bacteria overcome the bodys natural defenses and cause infection. An infection in the urethra is called urethritis. A bladder infection is called cystitis. Bacteria may travel up the ureters to multiply and infect the kidneys. A kidney infection is called pyelonephritis.
The urinary tract is the body's drainage system for removing wastes and extra water. The urinary tract includes two kidneys, two ureters, a bladder, and a urethra. The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist and located below the ribs, one on each side of the spine, toward the middle of the back. Every minute, a persons kidneys filter about 3 ounces of blood, removing wastes and extra water. The wastes and extra water make up the 1 to 2 quarts of urine a person produces each day. The urine travels from the kidneys down two narrow tubes called the ureters. The urine is then stored in a balloonlike organ called the bladder and emptied through the urethra, a tube at the bottom of the bladder.
                
When the bladder empties, a muscle called the sphincter relaxes and urine flows out of the body through the urethra. The opening of the urethra is at the end of the penis in males and in front of the vagina in females.
Most UTIs are caused by bacteria that live in the bowel. The bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli) causes the vast majority of UTIs. Microbes called Chlamydia and Mycoplasma can infect the urethra and reproductive system but not the bladder. Chlamydia and Mycoplasma infections may be sexually transmitted and require treatment of sexual partners.
                
The urinary tract has several systems to prevent infection. The points where the ureters attach to the bladder act like one-way valves to prevent urine from backing up toward the kidneys, and urination washes microbes out of the body. In men, the prostate gland produces secretions that slow bacterial growth. In both sexes, immune defenses also prevent infection. But despite these safeguards, infections still occur. Certain bacteria have a strong ability to attach themselves to the lining of the urinary tract.
Urinary tract infections are the second most common type of infection in the body, accounting for about 8.1 million visits to health care providers each year.1 Women are especially prone to UTIs for anatomical reasons. One factor is that a womans urethra is shorter, allowing bacteria quicker access to the bladder. Also, a womans urethral opening is near sources of bacteria from the anus and vagina. For women, the lifetime risk of having a UTI is greater than 50 percent.2 UTIs in men are not as common as in women but can be serious when they occur.
Symptoms of a UTI vary by age, gender, and whether a catheter is present. Among young women, UTI symptoms typically include a frequent and intense urge to urinate and a painful, burning feeling in the bladder or urethra during urination. The amount of urine may be very small. Older women and men are more likely to be tired, shaky, and weak and have muscle aches and abdominal pain. Urine may look cloudy, dark, or bloody or have a foul smell. In a person with a catheter, the only symptom may be fever that cannot be attributed to any other cause. Normally, UTIs do not cause fever if they are in the bladder. A fever may mean the infection has reached the kidneys or has penetrated the prostate. Other symptoms of a kidney infection include pain in the back or side below the ribs, nausea, and vomiting.
Changing some daily habits may help a person prevent recurrent UTIs.
                
Eating, Diet, and Nutrition
                
Drinking lots of fluid can help flush bacteria from the system. Water is best. Most people should try for six to eight, 8-ounce glasses a day. Talk with your health care provider if you cant drink the recommended amount due to other health problems, such as urinary incontinence, urinary frequency, or kidney failure.
                
Urination Habits
                
A person should urinate often and when the urge arises. Bacteria can grow when urine stays in the bladder too long. Women and men should urinate shortly after sex to flush away bacteria that might have entered the urethra during sex. Drinking a glass of water will also help flush bacteria away.
                
After using the toilet, women should wipe from front to back. This step is most important after a bowel movement to keep bacteria from getting into the urethra.
                
Clothing
                
Cotton underwear and loose-fitting clothes should be worn, so air can keep the area around the urethra dry. Tight-fitting jeans and nylon underwear should be avoided because they can trap moisture and help bacteria grow.
                
Birth Control
                
For women, using a diaphragm or spermicide for birth control can lead to UTIs by increasing bacteria growth. A woman who has trouble with UTIs should try switching to a new form of birth control. Unlubricated condoms or spermicidal condoms increase irritation, which may help bacteria grow. Switching to lubricated condoms without spermicide or using a nonspermicidal lubricant may help prevent UTIs.
- Most urinary tract infections (UTIs) arise from one type of bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli), which normally lives in the bowel.  - Symptoms of a UTI in adults may include the following:      - a frequent and intense urge to urinate    - a painful, burning feeling in the bladder or urethra during urination    - feeling tired, shaky, and weak    - muscle aches    - abdominal pain    - only small amounts of urine passed, despite a strong urge to urinate    - cloudy, dark, or bloody urine or urine that has a foul smell    - pain in the back or side below the ribs    - nausea and vomiting    - Fever may indicate a kidney or prostate infection.  - Because bacteria can be found in the urine of healthy individuals, a UTI is diagnosed based both on symptoms and a laboratory test.  - UTIs are treated with bacteria-fighting medications called antibiotics or antimicrobials.
Prediabetes is when blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Prediabetes means a person is at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, as well as for heart disease and stroke. Many people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years.
                
However, modest weight loss and moderate physical activity can help people with prediabetes delay or prevent type 2 diabetes.
A major research study, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), proved that people with prediabetes were able to sharply reduce their risk of developing diabetes during the study by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight through dietary changes and increased physical activity.
                
Study participants followed a low-fat, low-calorie diet and engaged in regular physical activity, such as walking briskly five times a week for 30 minutes. These strategies worked well for both men and women in all racial and ethnic groups, but were especially effective for participants age 60 and older. A follow-up study, the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), showed losing weight and being physically active provide lasting results. Ten years after the DPP, modest weight loss delayed onset of type 2 diabetes by an average of 4 years.
                
The diabetes medication metformin also lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes, especially those who are younger and heavier and women who have had gestational diabetes. The DPPOS showed that metformin delayed type 2 diabetes by 2 years. People at high risk should ask their health care provider if they should take metformin to prevent type 2 diabetes. Metformin is a medication that makes insulin work better and can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
                
More information about insulin resistance, the DPP, or how to lower risk for type 2 diabetes is provided in the NIDDK health topics:
                
- Am I at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes?  - Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)  - Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes
                
Additional information about the DPP, funded under NIH clinical trial number NCT00004992, and the DPPOS, funded under NIH clinical trial number NCT00038727, can be found at www.bsc.gwu.edu/dpp.
                
As part of its Small Steps, Big Rewards campaign, the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) offers several booklets about preventing type 2 diabetes, including information about setting goals, tracking progress, implementing a walking program, and finding additional resources. These materials are available at www.ndep.nih.gov or by calling the NDEP at 1888693NDEP (18886936337).
People can manage their diabetes with meal planning, physical activity, and if needed, medications. More information about taking care of type 1 or type 2 diabetes is provided in the NIDDK health topics:
                
- What I need to know about Diabetes Medicines  - What I need to know about Eating and Diabetes  - Your Guide to Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2
                
These NDIC publications are available at http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/Diabetes/Pages/default.aspx or by calling 18008608747.
- Tests used for diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes include the A1C testfor type 2 diabetes and prediabetesthe fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test, and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Another blood test, the random plasma glucose (RPG) test, is sometimes used to diagnose diabetes when symptoms are present during a regular health checkup.  - Anyone age 45 or older should consider getting tested for diabetes or prediabetes. People younger than 45 should consider testing if they are overweight or obese and have one or more additional risk factors for diabetes.  - If results of testing are normal, testing should be repeated at least every 3 years. Health care providers may recommend more frequent testing depending on initial results and risk status.  - People whose test results indicate they have prediabetes may be tested again in 1 year and should take steps to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.  - Many people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years.  - Modest weight loss and moderate physical activity can help people with prediabetes delay or prevent type 2 diabetes.
Mntriers disease causes the ridges along the inside of the stomach wallcalled rugaeto enlarge, forming giant folds in the stomach lining. The rugae enlarge because of an overgrowth of mucous cells in the stomach wall.
                
In a normal stomach, mucous cells in the rugae release protein-containing mucus. The mucous cells in enlarged rugae release too much mucus, causing proteins to leak from the blood into the stomach. This shortage of protein in the blood is known as hypoproteinemia. Mntriers disease also reduces the number of acid-producing cells in the stomach, which decreases stomach acid.
                
Mntriers disease is also called Mntrier disease or hypoproteinemic hypertrophic gastropathy.
Scientists are unsure about what causes Mntriers disease; however, researchers think that most people acquire, rather than inherit, the disease. In extremely rare cases, siblings have developed Mntriers disease as children, suggesting a genetic link.
                
Studies suggest that people with Mntriers disease have stomachs that make abnormally high amounts of a protein called transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-).
                
TGF- binds to and activates a receptor called epidermal growth factor receptor. Growth factors are proteins in the body that tell cells what to do, such as grow larger, change shape, or divide to make more cells. Researchers have not yet found a cause for the overproduction of TGF-.
                
Some studies have found cases of people with Mntriers disease who also had Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. H. pylori is a bacterium that is a cause of peptic ulcers, or sores on the lining of the stomach or the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. In these cases, treatment for H. pylori reversed and improved the symptoms of Mntriers disease.1
                
Researchers have linked some cases of Mntriers disease in children to infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV). CMV is one of the herpes viruses. This group of viruses includes the herpes simplex viruses, which cause chickenpox, shingles, and infectious mononucleosis, also known as mono. Most healthy children and adults infected with CMV have no symptoms and may not even know they have an infection. However, in people with a weakened immune system, CMV can cause serious disease, such as retinitis, which can lead to blindness.
                
Researchers are not sure how H. pylori and CMV infections contribute to the development of Mntriers disease.
The most common symptom of Mntriers disease is pain in the upper middle part of the abdomen. The abdomen is the area between the chest and hips.
                
Other signs and symptoms of Mntriers disease may include
                
- nausea and frequent vomiting  - diarrhea  - loss of appetite  - extreme weight loss  - malnutrition  - low levels of protein in the blood  - swelling of the face, abdomen, limbs, and feet due to low levels of protein in the blood  - anemiatoo few red blood cells in the body, which prevents the body from getting enough oxygendue to bleeding in the stomach
                
People with Mntriers disease have a higher chance of developing stomach cancer, also called gastric cancer.
Treatment may include medications, IV protein, blood transfusions, and surgery.
                
Medications
                
Health care providers may prescribe the anticancer medication cetuximab (Erbitux) to treat Mntriers disease. Studies have shown that cetuximab blocks the activity of epidermal growth factor receptor and can significantly improve a persons symptoms, as well as decrease the thickness of the stomach wall from the overgrowth of mucous cells. A person receives cetuximab by IV in a health care providers office or an outpatient center. Studies to assess the effectiveness of cetuximab to treat Mntriers disease are ongoing. A health care provider also may prescribe medications to relieve nausea and abdominal pain.
                
In people with Mntriers disease who also have H. pylori or CMV infection, treatment of the infection may improve symptoms. Health care providers prescribe antibiotics to kill H. pylori. Antibiotic regimens may differ throughout the world because some strains of H. pylori have become resistant to certain antibioticsmeaning that an antibiotic that once destroyed the bacterium is no longer effective. Health care providers use antiviral medications to treat CMV infection in a person with a weakened immune system in order to prevent a serious disease from developing as a result of CMV. Antiviral medications cannot kill CMV; however, they can slow down the virus reproduction.
                
Intravenous Protein and Blood Transfusions
                
A health care provider may recommend an IV treatment of protein and a blood transfusion to a person who is malnourished or anemic because of Mntriers disease. In most cases of children with Mntriers disease who also have had CMV infection, treatment with protein and a blood transfusion led to a full recovery.
                
Surgery
                
If a person has severe Mntriers disease with significant protein loss, a surgeon may need to remove part or all of the stomach in a surgery called gastrectomy.
                
Surgeons perform gastrectomy in a hospital. The patient will require general anesthesia. Some surgeons perform a gastrectomy through laparoscopic surgery rather than through a wide incision in the abdomen. In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon uses several smaller incisions and feeds special surgical tools through the incisions to remove the diseased part of the stomach. After gastrectomy, the surgeon may reconstruct the changed portions of the GI tract so that it may continue to function. Usually the surgeon attaches the small intestine to any remaining portion of the stomach or to the esophagus if he or she removed the entire stomach.
- Mntriers disease causes the ridges along the inside of the stomach wallcalled rugaeto enlarge, forming giant folds in the stomach lining. The rugae enlarge because of an overgrowth of mucous cells in the stomach wall.  - Scientists are unsure about what causes Mntriers disease; however, researchers think that most people acquire, rather than inherit, the disease.  - Mntriers disease is rare. The disease is more common in men than in women.  - The most common symptom of Mntriers disease is pain in the upper middle part of the abdomen.  - Health care providers base the diagnosis of Mntriers disease on a combination of symptoms, lab findings, findings on upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, and stomach biopsy results.  - Treatment may include medications, intravenous (IV) protein, blood transfusions, and surgery.
An inguinal hernia happens when contents of the abdomenusually fat or part of the small intestinebulge through a weak area in the lower abdominal wall. The abdomen is the area between the chest and the hips. The area of the lower abdominal wall is also called the inguinal or groin region.
                
Two types of inguinal hernias are
                
- indirect inguinal hernias, which are caused by a defect in the abdominal wall that is congenital, or present at birth  - direct inguinal hernias, which usually occur only in male adults and are caused by a weakness in the muscles of the abdominal wall that develops over time
                
Inguinal hernias occur at the inguinal canal in the groin region.
The inguinal canal is a passage through the lower abdominal wall. People have two inguinal canalsone on each side of the lower abdomen. In males, the spermatic cords pass through the inguinal canals and connect to the testicles in the scrotumthe sac around the testicles. The spermatic cords contain blood vessels, nerves, and a duct, called the spermatic duct, that carries sperm from the testicles to the penis. In females, the round ligaments, which support the uterus, pass through the inguinal canals.
The cause of inguinal hernias depends on the type of inguinal hernia.
                
Indirect inguinal hernias. A defect in the abdominal wall that is present at birth causes an indirect inguinal hernia.
                
During the development of the fetus in the womb, the lining of the abdominal cavity forms and extends into the inguinal canal. In males, the spermatic cord and testicles descend out from inside the abdomen and through the abdominal lining to the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Next, the abdominal lining usually closes off the entrance to the inguinal canal a few weeks before or after birth. In females, the ovaries do not descend out from inside the abdomen, and the abdominal lining usually closes a couple of months before birth.1
                
Sometimes the lining of the abdomen does not close as it should, leaving an opening in the abdominal wall at the upper part of the inguinal canal. Fat or part of the small intestine may slide into the inguinal canal through this opening, causing a hernia. In females, the ovaries may also slide into the inguinal canal and cause a hernia.
                
Indirect hernias are the most common type of inguinal hernia.2 Indirect inguinal hernias may appear in 2 to 3 percent of male children; however, they are much less common in female children, occurring in less than 1 percent.3
                
Direct inguinal hernias. Direct inguinal hernias usually occur only in male adults as aging and stress or strain weaken the abdominal muscles around the inguinal canal. Previous surgery in the lower abdomen can also weaken the abdominal muscles.
                
Females rarely form this type of inguinal hernia. In females, the broad ligament of the uterus acts as an additional barrier behind the muscle layer of the lower abdominal wall. The broad ligament of the uterus is a sheet of tissue that supports the uterus and other reproductive organs.
The first sign of an inguinal hernia is a small bulge on one or, rarely, on both sides of the grointhe area just above the groin crease between the lower abdomen and the thigh. The bulge may increase in size over time and usually disappears when lying down.
                
Other signs and symptoms can include
                
- discomfort or pain in the groinespecially when straining, lifting, coughing, or exercisingthat improves when resting  - feelings such as weakness, heaviness, burning, or aching in the groin  - a swollen or an enlarged scrotum in men or boys
                
Indirect and direct inguinal hernias may slide in and out of the abdomen into the inguinal canal. A health care provider can often move them back into the abdomen with gentle massage.