To Your Health Newsletter

Youth baseball season is in full swing. However, it now seems that the competitive nature of the sport drives young baseball players to compete year-round. The result? An increased risk for overuse injuries — especially in baseball pitchers.

Your teenager has a new habit – e-cigarettes. Over the past few years, a new generation of American teens has taken up these battery-powered smoking devices who see them as fashionable accessories and a clean, “safe” way to indulge in a grown-up habit. Are e-cigarettes a harmless fun fad or a teen health risk?

It can happen to any woman. Your symptoms included heavy or irregular bleeding and pressure in the lower abdomen. On exam your doctor detects an enlarged uterus and further tests (ultrasound, MRI or CT scan) shows uterine fibroids. You may even be anemic, with low blood counts.

Many people have bunions – the unsightly and sometimes painful bump on one or both big toes. Most people can live with bunions pain-free, but for others, bunions are progressive and can lead to excruciating pain.

Vaccinations against life-threatening diseases are one of the greatest public health achievements in history. Yet, even today, one in four children in the United States is not fully vaccinated.

Bright red blood in your stool, on the toilet paper, or in the toilet water can be alarming, and may well be due to hemorrhoids, but other conditions may be the cause, some potentially serious. About half the United States population has experienced problems with hemorrhoids by age 50, but because other anorectal problems have similar symptoms, it is important to see your doctor any time bleeding from the rectum occurs.

A concussion is an injury caused by a blow or jolt to the head that disrupts the function of the brain. It can cause irreparable damage to anyone – changing a life forever. Washington University now has a specialized clinic for evaluation and treatment of concussions.

Your son thought the stiffness in his hip would go away, so he kept playing competitive soccer. After several weeks, it was even too painful for him to flex his hip beyond a right angle. What could cause a healthy young athlete to be so disabled with hip pain? His orthopedist suspected your son might have hip impingement, a condition that commonly affects active adolescents and young adults.

You’ve had a stress electrocardiogram (EKG) and now your doctor wants you to get a stress echocardiogram (echo). You’re wondering about the difference between the two tests and why you need both.

The doctor says you are a candidate for home dialysis and would like you to consider it. In-home dialysis provides many advantages to traditional outpatient dialysis treatments.