What to Know if You Have to Take a Nicotine Test

A nicotine test is a way for some employers, insurance companies, and other institutions to test for nicotine, which is the active ingredient in tobacco products.

If you’ve ever applied for a new job, you may have had to take a drug test. Many federal, state, and private employers require this testing to ensure employees can be trusted to protect important information or even the health and safety of others.

What to Know About a Broken Condom

Condoms make oral, vaginal, and anal sex safer. Condoms are a reliable form of contraceptive that helps prevent infections and pregnancies. But sometimes a condom may break, exposing you to the risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), or the chance of becoming pregnant.

PDE-4 Inhibitors for Atopic Dermatitis

When you or your child has atopic dermatitis, your doctor might prescribe a topical medication (the kind you apply to your skin). Topical steroids are widely used. But sometimes these don’t work well enough. Or maybe you’re discouraged by the side effects.

Myths and Facts: Using a GLP-1 for Weight Loss

GLP-1 agonists are popular medications used to manage serious weight loss. They've been around for years and were originally prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes. Doctors realized that the medicines also reduce your appetite, so GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are now often used to treat obesity. Because these meds are everywhere, there are many myths about what they can and can't do.

What Are Ear Infections?

About half of kids get at least one ear infection, also known as acute otitis media, before their second birthday. Here’s why this condition is so common, and what you can do to help keep your child healthy.

How Is PCOS Diagnosed?

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common hormone disorder that can cause problems with your period, fertility, weight, and skin. It can also put you at risk for other conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. If you have it, the sooner you find out, the earlier you can start treatment.

What Is Monk Fruit Sweetener?

Monk fruit sweetener is a calorie-free sugar alternative. It’s made from monk fruit,also called lo han guo, whichis native to southern China. People have used this fruit for centuries in traditional medicine for constipation, sore throat, and coughing.

Monk fruit is about the size of a lime and looks similar to a kiwi. This fruit is naturally very sweet. Sweeteners made from monk fruit are usually 100-250 times sweeter than sugar, so only a small amount is needed when used as a sugar alternative.

What Is Morning Wood?

Morning wood is a slang term for nocturnal penile tumescence, which means waking up with an erection. It can happen in the middle of the night or the early morning hours while you’re sleeping. If you have morning wood, you may wake up with an erection often. It’s completely normal.

What Is Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a type of pulmonary hypertension. It means that you have high blood pressure in the arteries that go from your heart to your lungs. But it’s different from having regular high blood pressure.

With PAH, the tiny arteries in your lungs become narrow or blocked. It’s harder for blood to flow through them, and that raises the blood pressure in your lungs. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood through those arteries.

PAH is a progressive condition that gets worse as time goes on. After a while, the heart muscle gets weak. Eventually, it can lead to heart failure.

Treatments for Bipolar Disorder

If you have bipolar disorder , the highs and lows of your mood may feel more intense and last longer. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that involves periods of intense emotion called episodes. These episodes can last for days or weeks and interfere with your normal life. During a manic episode, you might feel extremely agitated, excited, happy, or energized. You may feel like you need much less sleep. During a depressive episode, you could feel deeply sad, hopeless, or irritable, and may not be able to experience pleasure.

How Do You Remove a Tick?

There are many methods people use to remove ticks, from burning the tick with a hot match to smothering it in petroleum jelly or painting it with nail polish. But those methods aren’t very effective.

To safely remove a tick, all you need is a pair of pointy, fine-tip tweezers and a good eye.

Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer

About 2 in 3 women with breast cancer have tumors that have hormone receptors. This means a tumor has receptors for the hormone estrogen (called ER-positive) or the hormone progesterone (PR-positive) or both. Hormone therapy blocks these hormones and fights the cancer’s growth.

When your breast cancer is hormone receptor-positive, hormone therapy is an option. But it doesn’t help when the tumors don’t have hormone receptors.

What Are the Options for Male Birth Control?

Male birth control is a way to prevent unplanned pregnancy. When you think about birth control, you may think of the birth control pill for women. That’s because the responsibility of birth control is often placed on women instead of men. Although researchers are working on a birth control pill for men, it’s not a reality yet. Still, there are options.