Triglycerides

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of fat. They are the most common type of fat in your body. They come from foods, especially butter, oils, and other fats you eat. Triglycerides also come from extra calories. These are the calories that you eat, but your body does not need right away. Your body changes these extra calories into triglycerides and stores them in fat cells. When your body needs energy, it releases the triglycerides. Your VLDL cholesterol particles carry the triglycerides to your tissues.

Having a high level of triglycerides can raise your risk of heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease.

Factors that can raise your triglyceride level include:

• Regularly eating more calories than you burn off, especially if you eat a lot of sugar
• Being overweight or having obesity
• Cigarette smoking
• Excessive alcohol use
• Certain medicines
• Some genetic disorders
• Thyroid diseases
• Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes
• Liver or kidney diseases

There is a blood test that measures your triglycerides, along with your cholesterol. Triglyceride levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). The guidelines for triglyceride levels are

Levels above 150mg/dl may raise your risk for heart disease. A triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher is also a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

You may be able to lower your triglyceride levels with lifestyle changes:

• Controlling your weight
• Regular physical activity
• Not smoking
• Limiting sugar and refined foods
• Limiting alcohol
• Switching from saturated fats to healthier fats

Some people will also need to take cholesterol medicines to lower their triglycerides.

Tuberculosis

What is tuberculosis (TB)?

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease that usually attacks the lungs. But it can also attack other parts of the body, including the kidneys, spine, and brain.

Not everyone infected with TB bacteria (germs) becomes sick. So, there are two types of TB conditions:

• Inactive (latent) TB infection, where the TB germs live in your body but don't make you sick.
• TB disease (active TB) where you get sick from the TB germs. TB disease can almost always be cured with antibiotics. But if it's not treated properly, it can be fatal.

TB is found in the U.S., but it is more common in certain other countries.

TB is caused by bacteria (germs) called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The germs spread from person to person through the air. People who have TB disease in their throat or lungs spread the germs in the air when they cough, sneeze, talk, or sing. If you breathe in the air that has the germs, you can get TB.

TB is not spread by touching, kissing, or sharing food or dishes.

You're more likely to catch TB from people you live or work with than from people you see for shorter amounts of time.

Anyone who is near a person with TB disease can get infected with the germs. You are more likely to be near someone with TB disease if you:

• Were born in or often travel to countries where TB disease is common
• Are a health care worker
• Work or live in a place where TB is more common, such as shelters for people without homes, jails, and nursing homes

Certain people are more likely to get sick with TB disease after they get infected. They include people who:

• Have HIV
• Became infected with TB in the last 2 years
• Have other diseases, such as diabetes, that make it hard for your body to fight TB germs
• Have alcohol use disorder (AUD) or inject illegal drugs
• Were not treated correctly for TB in the past
• Are under age 5
• Are an older adult
• Take medicines that weaken the immune system, such as medicines taken after an organ transplant, steroids, and specialized treatments for certain autoimmune diseases

Most people who have TB germs in their bodies don't get sick with TB disease. Instead, they have inactive TB infection. With an inactive TB infection, you:

• Don't have symptoms
• Can't spread TB to others
• Could get sick with active TB disease in the future if your immune system becomes weak for another reason
• Need to take medicine to prevent getting sick with active TB disease in the future

If you have TB disease, the TB germs are active, meaning that they are growing (multiplying) inside your body and making you sick. If the TB is growing in your lungs or throat, you can spread the TB germs to other people. You can get sick with TB disease weeks to years after you're infected with TB germs.

With TB disease, your symptoms will depend on where the TB is growing in your body:

• General symptoms may include:
  • Chills and fever
  • Night sweats (heavy sweating during sleep)
  • Losing weight without trying
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weakness or fatigue
• Symptoms from TB disease in your lungs may include:
  • A cough that lasts longer than 3 weeks
  • Coughing up blood or sputum (a thick mucus from the lungs)
  • Chest pain

Your health care provider or your local health department can test you to find out if you have TB germs in your body. They will give you either a TB skin or blood test.

If your test shows that you have TB germs, you'll need to have other tests to see if the germs are actively growing:

• Tests for TB disease in the lungs usually include testing samples of your sputum and having chest x-rays.
• Tests for TB disease in other parts of your body may include tests of urine and tissue samples.

You may need a TB test if you have symptoms of TB disease or if you are at high risk because you are more likely to be near someone with TB disease.

People who have HIV also need to get tested for TB. HIV weakens your immune system. So if you have both HIV and inactive TB, the TB can quickly become active TB disease. You will need treatment for the inactive TB as soon as possible to prevent active TB disease.

The treatment for both inactive TB infection and TB disease is antibiotics. To make sure you get rid of all the TB germs in your body, it's very important to follow the directions for taking your medicine.

If you don't follow the directions, the TB germs in your body could change and become antibiotic resistant. That means the medicine may stop working and your TB may become hard to cure.

• For inactive TB infections, you need to take medicines for three, four, six, or nine months, depending on the treatment plan. Treatment helps make sure you don't get TB disease in the future.
• For active TB disease, you usually need to take medicines for four, six, or nine months, depending on the treatment plan. Treatment will almost always cure you if you take your pills the right way.
• For TB disease in your lungs or throat, you'll need to stay home for a few weeks, so you don't spread disease to other people. You can protect the people you live with by:
  • Covering your nose and mouth.
  • Opening windows when possible.
  • Not getting too close to them.
• For drug-resistant TB disease, which means that the TB germs are resistant to certain TB medicines, you will need to take special medicines. Treatment may take a long time, sometimes months or years. The medicines can cause side effects. Your provider will closely monitor your treatment to make sure the medicines are working.

By following medical advice for TB testing and treatment, you can keep yourself healthy and help stop the spread of TB.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Turner Syndrome

What is Turner syndrome?

Turner syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects a girl's development and appearance. It can also cause health problems such as infertility and heart problems.

Turner syndrome can cause many different symptoms. The symptoms may be mild for some people. But for others, Turner syndrome can cause serious health problems.

Some of the symptoms of Turner syndrome affect a person's appearance. Most people with Turner syndrome are shorter than average. They may also have physical features such as:

• A neck that is short and has extra skin (a "webbed" neck)
• A low hairline in the back
• Low-set ears
• Swollen hands and feet

People with Turner syndrome may be born with heart and kidney defects. They usually don't have typical sexual development and are infertile. They are also at risk for other health problems such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and thyroid problems.

Health care providers diagnose Turner syndrome based on symptoms and a genetic blood test called a karyotype test. Sometimes it is found in prenatal testing.

There is no cure for Turner syndrome, but there are treatments for some of the symptoms:

• If they are started in early childhood, hormone injections can often increase adult height by a few inches
• Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) can help start sexual development. It also protects against bone loss
• Assisted reproduction technologies can help some women with Turner syndrome get pregnant

People who have Turner syndrome need regular health checks. It's also important for them to have a care team that includes specialists who can treat the health problems caused by Turner syndrome.

NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Urethral Disorders

The urethra is the tube that allows urine to pass out of the body. In men, it's a long tube that runs through the penis. It also carries semen in men. In women, it's short and is just above the vagina. Urethral problems may happen due to aging, illness, or injury. They include:

• Urethral cancer - a rare cancer that happens more often in men
• Urethral stricture - a narrowing of the opening of the urethra
• Urethritis - inflammation of the urethra, sometimes caused by infection

Urethral problems may cause pain or difficulty passing urine. You may also have bleeding or discharge from the urethra.

Doctors diagnose urethral problems using different tests. These include urine tests, x-rays and an examination of the urethra with a scope called a cystoscope. Treatment depends on the cause of the problem. It may include medicines and, in severe cases, surgery.

Uterine Cancer

What is uterine cancer?

Uterine cancer is a cancer that forms in tissues of the uterus, which is sometimes called the womb. The uterus is the place where a fetus grows during pregnancy.

There are two types of uterine cancer:

• Endometrial cancer is the most common type. This type of cancer begins in the cells lining the uterus, known as the endometrium.
• Uterine sarcoma is a rare, more aggressive cancer that is harder to treat. This type of cancer begins in muscle or other tissues in the uterus.

Uterine cancer usually happens after menopause. The cause is unknown. However, some factors and conditions that change the balance of hormones in your body may increase your risk. These can include obesity or metabolic syndrome (a group of risk factors for certain health problems).

Other factors and conditions that may increase your risk for:

Endometrial cancer

• Taking estrogen-only hormone therapy after menopause.
• Having type 2 diabetes
• Starting menstruation at an early age or menopause at a later age
• Having never been pregnant
• Taking tamoxifen, a medicine used to prevent or treat breast cancer
• Having polycystic ovary syndrome
• Having a mother, sister, or daughter who has had endometrial cancer
• Having certain genetic conditions, such as Lynch syndrome
• Having endometrial hyperplasia (thickening of the uterine lining)

Uterine sarcoma

• Having had past treatment with radiation therapy to the pelvis
• Taking tamoxifen, a medicine used to prevent or treat breast cancer

The most common symptom of both endometrial cancer and uterine sarcoma is abnormal vaginal bleeding. Both types of uterine cancer may also cause pelvic pain or pressure, unusual vaginal discharge, or an enlarged uterus or pelvic mass.

Less common symptoms may include urinating (peeing) often, having trouble urinating, or pain during sexual intercourse.

If you have symptoms of uterine cancer, your health care provider may:

• Ask about your medical history and family health history
• Do a pelvic exam
• Order imaging tests
• Suggest a biopsy or a minor procedure called dilation and curettage (D & C) to check the lining of your uterus

Treatment may depend on your health, how much cancer you have, and whether it has spread. The most common treatment is having a hysterectomy, which is surgery to remove the uterus. Sometimes the surgery also removes the ovaries and fallopian tubes.

You may have more than one type of treatment. Other treatments may include:

• Hormone therapy
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy

There is no sure way to prevent uterine cancer. But you can do things that may help lower your risk such as aiming for a healthy weight, getting regular physical activity, and talking to your provider about the benefits and risks of hormone therapy.

NIH: National Cancer Institute