Tausi Insider

Photo : Alphonsine Sabine ( Shutterstock ) Having friends and family over for the holidays is stressful enough as it is, but if any of your guests have food allergies, you may be especially worried. If you’re not sure if anyone in your party has allergies, this is a great time to stop reading and send out a friendly message (individually, or via BCC so no one feels put on the spot) and ask. And if you get a yes back? Here’s what to know and do, according to Dr. Jeanne Lomas, a board certified allergist and the Director of Allergy & Immunology at WellNow Urgent Care . Make your ingredients clear As Lomas noted, there are so-called “hidden” allergy triggers that the average cook may not realize are triggers at all, like dairy and eggs, not to mention all the different kinds of nuts. Think about how much dairy or eggs you’re using in what you’re serving, from pies to cookies to mashed potatoes or mac and cheese—it’s a lot, I’m sure. Moreover, “many of these [dishes] are homemade...

Photo : Ground Picture ( Shutterstock ) This year’s flu season is shaping up to be especially bad, with the current weekly number of cases at extraordinarily high levels. Meanwhile, doctors are seeing a surge in respiratory syncytial virus , more commonly known as RSV, which generally causes mild, cold-like symptoms in adults, but can be especially dangerous for very young children and the elderly. This RSV surge has already led to an unusually high number of hospitalizations , mostly in young children. These surges in flu and RSV infections are happening at an earlier time of the year, and at higher levels than is typical. There are a lot of unknowns about why flu and RSV are at unusually high levels. However, one thing is for certain: “Just because we wore masks all this time, it didn’t mean that we hurt our immune system,” said Raywat Deonandan , an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa. “Your immune system is not like a muscle, where if you don’t use it, you lose it.” If...

Photo : Olesia Bilkei ( Shutterstock ) Kids never seem to want to dress appropriately for any occasion—or at least mine don’t. They want to wear pajamas to school, halloween costumes to bed, and summer clothes when it’s snowing out. So we say what we need to say to get them to put their hats on, right? “You’ll catch your death of cold!” But can you really catch a cold from cold weather? Colds are caused by viruses, so no. But can cold weather make you more susceptible to those viruses? Well, that’s a little more complicated. But probably still no. Colds are caused by viruses Colds are infectious diseases caused by germs—specifically viruses. So, no, chilly weather cannot cause a cold all by itself. There is more than one virus that can cause a cold, though. A “cold” is just a word we use to describe a group of symptoms that occur with common respiratory viruses: sore throat, runny nose, coughing, sneezing. According to the CDC , some of the viruses that cause colds include: rhin...

Photo : VGstockstudio ( Shutterstock ) If you have a vagina, you’ve probably been told that it’s an absolute must to pee immediately after having sex to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). But it turns out there isn’t a lot of evidence to support this idea. There is shockingly little research on the question of whether this oft-repeated advice actually works. One study in a journal called Evidence Based Practice found that, overall, it doesn’t seem to make a difference. But that’s just one study, and the results didn’t point strongly in either direction. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) does not include peeing after sex in its tips for preventing UTIs . Here’s what they do recommend: Wash the skin around the anus and the genital area. Drink plenty of fluids (including water) to flush bacteria out of your urinary system. Empty your bladder as soon as you feel the urge or about every two to three hours. They point out that factors like being pr...

Photo : Stickler ( Shutterstock ) Anyone who lives with allergies knows how deeply unpleasant they can be, knocking you out with a range of symptoms affecting you from head-to-toe. Dogs feel our pain, too, and can be allergic to a number of the same things we are. But if humans can be allergic to dogs (or, more accurately, their dander), can they be allergic to us? Here’s what to know. Can dogs be allergic to people? Like humans, dogs can be allergic to certain foods, skin irritants, and medications, as well as environmental allergens, like pollen, dust miles, mold, and animal dander, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). And yes , this includes human dander . Is this new? Even if you’ve had dogs your entire life, this may be the first you’re hearing about the possibility that they can be allergic to people . And Dr. Valerie Fadok , an AKC veterinarian specializing in dermatology, says there are good reasons for that. G/O Media may get a commission First, she says, testin...

Photo : RomarioIen ( Shutterstock ) You never can quite trust that a fresh raspberry isn’t hiding an essence of mold before you bite into it, but a recent recall should give you pause about the frozen variety as well.   Exportadora Copramar Ltda., a processing and shipping company from Chile, is voluntarily recalling more than a thousand cases of James Farm frozen raspberries   due to the potential the fruits are contaminated with Hepatitis A—that’s according to a report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA tests detected the presence of the contagious liver disease-causing virus in the fruits. A bout of Hepatitis A can last anywhere from a few weeks to months, and generally produced symptoms within 15 to 50 days of exposure. S ymptoms include fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, abnormal liver tests, dark urine and pale stool. In rare cases, those with a pre-existing severe illness or who are immunocompromised and contract Hepatitis A progress to liver f...

Illustration : Sam Woolley Breaking wind. Cutting the cheese. Thunder from down under. I could go on, but whatever you call it , farting is a part of life. Farting is usually caused either by swallowing air , which has to get come out somehow, or by bacteria in your guts releasing gas during the digestive process. Everything animal (human or otherwise) farts, but how you fart can actually tell you something about your health. “Passing gas is normal,” said Eamonn Quigley , a gastroenterologist at Houston Methodist Hospital . “Everyone passes flatulence on a daily basis. We pass more after meals, and we even pass through the night.” But what do your farts mean, and what might they be trying to tell you? For starters, “when a patient complains of excessive gas, one of the first things we look at is the patient’s diet,” Quigley said . Bloating doesn’t mean more gas   One important thing to understand about farting is that “there is a big distinction between flatulence and bloating,” a...

Photo : Roman Zaiets ( Shutterstock ) LASIK eye surgery is known for being a quick, convenient medical procedure—and sometimes it is. The surgery only takes a few minutes, and can correct your vision immediately so that you no longer need glasses or contacts. But not everybody gets that best-case outcome, and the FDA wants potential patients to know about the risks and side effects. What are the potential complications of LASIK surgery? LASIK surgery is done to reshape the cornea of the eye, the clear dome over your pupil. The surgery involves cutting a flap in the cornea, removing tissue with a laser, and replacing the flap. In the process, nerves are damaged and need to heal. Most patients can see clearly within a day or two of the surgery, but healing takes longer. The most common issue in the early days is dry eyes; 85% of patients still have dry eyes a week later. Dry eyes can cause blurry vision and pain, but eyedrops help. If the nerves that were cut don’t heal properly, sy...

Photo : New Africa ( Shutterstock ) It happens to a lot of people: You start to notice a pattern of unpleasant symptoms, and they seem connected to your diet, so you begin to wonder if maybe you have a food allergy . Fair enough—and good on you for paying attention to what your body is telling you. If you’re worried you might have a food allergy, the next obvious step is to see an allergist and get a test—which is not cheap. Allergy testing can cost thousands of dollars depending on a wide range of factors, and are not always covered by health insurance. So it’s a good idea to be reasonably sure that an allergist is the correct next step for you. Forget home tests First and foremost, don’t bother with over-the-counter at-home food sensitivity tests . They’re not exactly cheap either, ranging from $100 to $250, and they’re largely useless . In fact, they can cause more trouble than anything else as they can trigger for foods that aren’t actually causing you any problems, prompting...

Photo : fizkes ( Shutterstock ) If you’ve been sick with a cough and a sniffly nose for a few days, you might show up at the clinic desperate for something that will make you feel better. But if all signs point to your cold being an ordinary virus (or even a nasty virus like COVID or flu), antibiotics won’t help. Here’s why. Viruses aren’t bacteria We need a teensy biology lesson here, but I’ll keep it brief. You know how your body is made of cells? Microscopic bags of fluid that each contain DNA, a mitochondrion (“the powerhouse of the cell”) and so on? Well, bacteria are free-living creatures that each have one cell, and that cell is smaller than most of ours. (Fun fact: They have DNA but no mitochondria.) Some illnesses are caused by bacteria. Salmonella, gonorrhea, Lyme disease, and strep throat are all bacterial. But then there’s another, smaller type of germ. These are the viruses. They’re far, far smaller than bacteria, and technically they’re so minimalist in the way they...