Vitiligo is a condition that causes the skin to begin to lose its pigmentation—or color—for no apparent reason, resulting in white patches that are especially noticeable in people whose skin tone is naturally dark. If you've heard of this chronic skin condition, there's a very good chance it was in association with Michael Jackson. The King of Pop is reported to have had vitiligo—and other celebrities have it as well, including model Winnie Harlow, who has had an empowering presence of showing the condition's unique beauty and style. All in all, though, it's a fairly rare disorder: Approximately .5% to 2% of the world's population has vitiligo, according to a study in Dermatology Reports . What's behind this uncommon disease and is there a treatment for it? Here's what the experts have to say. What Is Vitiligo? What is vitiligo exactly? "Vitiligo is mainly an autoimmune disease of the skin that targets pigment-producing cells called melanocytes," s...
Tapeworms: How to tell if you have one - Fox News Tapeworms: How to tell if you have one - Fox News Posted: 14 Dec 2019 12:00 AM PST A tapeworm is a parasite that you can get if you eat the infected and undercooked meat of an animal. (iStock) Dear Dr. Manny, I ate something on a trip to Brazil and now I've been having terrible stomach issues. I've read about people who have had tapeworms and I don't know if I have one. How do you know if you have a tapeworm? What do the eggs look like? How do you diagnose a tapeworm? Will the worm die on its own? Is it common to get a tapeworm? Thanks for your question. A tapeworm is a parasite that you can get if you eat the infected and undercooked meat of an animal. So you could have gotten a tapeworm by eating something. It's hard to know if you have a tapeworm on your own, but the most common symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, unexplained weight los...
Could the next public health crisis be caused by a fungus? The threat of such an emergency is posed at the outset of the hit TV series, The Last Of Us, which begins in the 1960s with a bleak speech by an epidemiologist on the danger of fungi. "If the world were to get slightly warmer, then there is reason to evolve," warns a prescient John Hannah, referencing their potential to infect and overpower a person's mind. "Candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus: any one of them could be capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control of not millions of us, but billions." The show takes this idea and runs with it, jumping forward 40 years to when a mass cordyceps outbreak leads to a devastating pandemic which transforms people into blood-thirsty abominations. An extreme outcome with plenty of artistic licence taken - but is it entirely without scientific basis? Image: A mass cordyceps outbreak transforms...
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