Seriously, we aren’t dicking around.
We teamed up with male sexual health expert Dr. Harry Fisch, board-certified urologist at New York Presbyterian Hospital and author of Size Matters, to write the ultimate quiz about dicks and balls. Good luck.
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The collection comes in sizes 0–24 and is available now.
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TheGAproject.com asked for women to submit photos of themselves for the chance to be part of the brand's launch.
This was quite the departure from other Kardashian empire products, which are usually modeled by the sisters themselves. Okay, Khloe. We're listening.
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More than 1 million Americans suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. Here’s what you need to know.
This is what over one million people experience every day with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), which is defined by the CDC as an overwhelming fatigue lasting six months or more, plus a host of other symptoms that don't get better with rest, and get worse after physical or mental exertion.
CFS is a wildly misunderstood and complex chronic disease, sometimes also referred to as “myalgic encephalomyelitis” (ME) or chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS). Many patients prefer to use the term ME/CFS, because the term “chronic fatigue” can be stigmatized. However, for the purpose of consistency with current medical literature and clarity for readers who are unfamiliar with the condition, we will use "chronic fatigue syndrome" and "CFS" in this article.
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You know that exhausted, foggy feeling you get when you have a bad flu or virus? Experts say this is how many patients describe CFS, but the difference is that this fatigue never goes away like a normal flu does.
"Besides being physically exhausted, it's also hard to think, so it really feels like your body and brain just aren't fully awake," Dr. Kevin Fleming, medical director of the Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota tells BuzzFeed Health. And sure, you can't really measure or diagnose this "fogginess" with medical testing, but that doesn't mean it isn't very real.
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Sure, we've all experienced some extreme exhaustion after losing sleep or exercising too hard. But this is different.
"Chronic fatigue syndrome causes a profound, pathological level of physical and mental exhaustion," Dr. Peter Rowe, director of the Children's Chronic Fatigue Clinic at Johns Hopkins Pediatrics in Baltimore, Maryland, tells BuzzFeed Health. It's lingering, constant, and can make it feel impossible to even get out of bed or do simple tasks like showering or cooking.
Another thing that makes this fatigue unique is that it doesn't get better after weeks or even months, Rowe says. Actually, in order to meet the diagnostic criteria, it has to occur on its own (not from another illness) for at least six months or more. This is why people really shouldn't confuse "fatigue" with tiredness, or even laziness. "The fatigue is not a choice, it's a major impairment to these peoples' lives," Rowe says.
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Unlike when you overdo it one day and feel energized after a good night's sleep, people with CFS are still exhausted when they wake up, Rowe says. Patients can sleep 10, 12, or even 16 hours each night and still not feel rested.
"Whatever sleep does to help us feel restored and refreshed, it doesn't happen for people with chronic fatigue syndrome," says Fleming. Not to mention, many CFS patients also suffer from sleep disturbances like insomnia or sleep apnea.
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Get ready to play doctor.
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*starts paying attention to every breath and freaking out*
"The easiest way to define sleep apnea is you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds more than five times an hour during sleep, and this significantly impacts your overall health," Michael Breus, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, told BuzzFeed Health. It affects over 18 million Americans, or roughly 5–10% of adults and 2–3% of children.
Before we explain sleep apnea, let's quickly break down how breathing works. When you're awake, the muscles of your throat act to keep the airway straight and open so air can flow in and out of your lungs. When you sleep, these same muscles relax and your throat gets narrower. Normally, this doesn't close the airway, it just slows down breathing during sleep.
However, during sleep apnea there's either a blockage of the airway or your brain stops telling your lungs to breathe. The result? Your throat muscles fail to keep the airway open so air can't flow in or out of the lungs and you stop breathing (apnea).
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This is the most common type, known as obstructive sleep apnea. "In this case, there's an actual blockage which causes the physical narrowing or closing of the throat," Breus says. If it's a partial blockage, it causes very shallow breaths, which is called "hypopnea."
So despite your body's effort to breathe, oxygen can no longer get inside your body. This can happen because of an anatomical problem or because there's too much tissue in the throat and windpipe. Or it can just happen randomly.
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Abnormal anatomy can include very large tonsils or a large tongue that obstructs the airway, Breus says. It could also be excess tissue in the mouth or throat, the shape of your palate (roof of your mouth), or the bone structure of your head and neck. These anatomical differences make it harder for the throat muscles to keep the windpipe open, or they can create blockages when someone sleeps.
Additionally, having a BMI over 30 can increase someone's risk of obstructive sleep apnea or the severity of the apnea, says Breus. According to the NIH, the primary reason is because extra soft tissue can thicken the walls of the windpipe, making it narrower and harder to keep open. Also, when you sleep the extra weight on the neck can get pushed down by gravity onto the throat, which forces it to close, Breus says.
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Having a BMI over 30 doesn't mean you'll definitely develop sleep apnea; it can just significantly increase your risk of getting it or worsen the severity of an anatomical problem.
"People of all weights can get sleep apnea, even small children," Breus says.
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Get ready to show off your brain game.
*goes on webMD* *writes will*
Because labor is no laughing matter.
It's called labor for a reason, right?
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Imagine a nurse or midwife rolling up a little cart with a tank of gas, connected to a hose with a mask at one end. Whenever you feel a contraction, you grab the mask and breathe and relax into a little cloud of bliss. According to a recent report from NPR, this exact scenario is becoming increasingly popular among women in the US.
So BuzzFeed Health reached out to Dr. Michelle Collins, professor and director at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and member of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, to find out more about this labor pain alternative — which, according to Collins, is now offered in over 300 hospitals and 50 birth centers in the US (compared to just a few hospitals back in 2011).
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Yep, we're talking about that gas that tastes kind of sweet and makes you feel totally comfortable despite having a bunch of sharp metal tools in your mouth.
Nitrous oxide doesn't knock you out but it has anesthetic and analgesic effects, so it can decrease sensation and pain while you remain awake. "The name is a bit of a misnomer — it doesn't actually make you laugh, you just feel very relaxed and the pain doesn't bother you as much," Collins says. There can be side effects like nausea and vomiting, but women are notified about these before they give consent.
Collins explains that the nitrous oxide used for labor doesn't make you as loopy or out of it like it does during dental procedures. That's because the kind given to adults during dental procedures has a higher concentration of nitrous oxide as compared to the 50–50 nitrous oxide and oxygen mixture given fo childbirth. Additionally, the nitrous oxide at the dentist is usually free-flowing in a mask strapped to the patient's face so they breathe it in constantly. During labor, people actually use the nitrous oxide intermittently, Collins says.
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"The woman controls everything — they hold the mask or mouthpiece up to their face and breathe in the gas when they need it," Collins says. Nobody else can hold the mask to the patient's face or assist them in inhaling. A bedside physician or nurse will train them on how to use the mask or mouthpiece properly, Collins says, and monitor how they're using it throughout labor.
Plus, the masks have a built-in safety control to prevent you from breathing in too much of the gas. "There's a demand valve inside so it only releases gas when you create a tight seal around your mouth with the mask or mouthpiece and breathe deeply to create negative pressure," Collins says. When you've had enough laughing gas, it's pretty difficult to operate the equipment properly.
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*starts wearing more and going out less*
It's cold AF outside, but you're sweating the second you walk into a party or bar. Then you have to find somewhere to stash your jacket where it a) will not get spilled on and b) will not get stolen. And even if there is a coat check, you have to wait in a long line and pay money and everyone always loses that tiny paper ticket anyways, right? It's the worst.
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You know, that warm feeling you get from drinking lots of alcohol. The idea is that even if you don't have a real jacket on, the warmth from alcohol will keep you from feeling frozen.
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BuzzFeed Health reached out to two experts to find out: Kenneth Warren, PhD, advisor to the director at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and Dr. David Raslau, an internist at the Mayo Clinic.
FYI: We're talking about getting drunk — not just having one drink. So that's typically at least three to five drinks, the experts say, or a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08. Obviously that's way above the NIAAA's definition of moderate drinking, so — to be clear — we're not condoning this. But consider this a friendly PSA anyway (*cough* college students, we're looking at you.)
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The first thing alcohol will do is affect the skin, says Raslau, so you can start to feel warm pretty soon after drinking. "Alcohol is a vasodilator, which means it widens the tiny blood vessels called capillaries right under skin, so they quickly fill with warm blood," says Warren.
The result? Your skin feels warm or hot, and you can get flushed and start sweating a little bit. It usually starts in the cheeks and face then spreads to the rest of your body. So there's a big sensation of warmth, says Raslau, but it's just surface-level because it's literally only your skin that's warm.
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Do you know your nephrologist from your gerontologist?
Let’s tackle this vaginal health debate, once and for all.
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*still resentful towards the girl who was second-to-last to get her period*
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Because it’s so much more than just being “easily distracted.”
A quick note: ADD/ADHD is a neurological disorder characterized by difficulty sustaining attention, lack of self-control, and impaired working memory. It’s now more often classified in medical literature as attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but lots of people (including some doctors) still refer to it as ADD. We will refer to it as ADD/ADHD in this article.
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It affects millions of people worldwide. How much do you know?
Give a gift from all four chambers of your anatomically correct heart.
Available here for $29 in a variety of chain lengths and metals.
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Buy it here for $16 on Etsy.
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Each soap is made from goat milk and other natural oils. Buy a pack of four soaps here for $7.50 on Etsy.
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Give a gift that gives back to someone in need.
Available here for $69 in women's sizes 5-11.
Organization: Sseko, Uganda.
Impact: Sseko sandals are produced by young women in Uganda who work as artisans during a 9-month gap between secondary school and university to save money, which Sseko matches 100% with a college scholarship. Sseko also employs older women with no income so they can avoid prostitution.
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Buy this organic medium roast here for $11.
Organization: Las Diosas, Nicaragua.
Impact: Profits support an all-female community co-op that gives rural Nicaraguan women a stable income by allowing them to cultivate their own land and sell fair-trade products, a practice traditionally reserved for men.
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Because those gummy vitamins are really just an excuse to eat candy.
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You've probably heard of the 13 essential vitamins (A, C, D, E, K and 8 B vitamins) and essential minerals (like calcium and potassium). They're good for you and keep your body running smoothly. But since we don't make enough of these on our own, we need to get them through our diet, as Dr. Donald Hensrud, Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, tells BuzzFeed Health.
Each vitamin and mineral has a recommended daily allowance (RDA) determined by the USDA. That's because you only need so much of each vitamin and mineral; too much or too little can cause problems, registered dietitian Brian St. Pierre, director of performance nutrition at Precision Nutrition, tells BuzzFeed Health.
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Vitamins kind of work like gas in a car. "If your tank is empty, then you need to add more gas for your car to run properly — but if the tank is full, adding more gas isn't going to make the car run any better," Hensrud says. So, while a vitamin A deficiency can lead to vision problems, getting more vitamin A than recommended won't make you wake up with perfect vision.
In fact, your body can only absorb as much as it needs of a certain vitamin, and any extra amount won't be used. Excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins (like B-complex or C) will just come out in your urine, Hensrud says, and excess amounts of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K ) will get stored in your body's tissues.
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That's because whole foods have thousands of other compounds and phytochemicals that interact with the vitamins and minerals to give us a more complex source of nutrients. If you just get your vitamins from a pill, you miss out on all the other good stuff, St. Pierre says.
"Mother nature is pretty smart, so the concentration and combination of nutrients in whole foods is way more optimal than a synthetic supplement," Hensrud says. Population studies on people who consume mostly whole foods like veggies, fruits, nuts, and fish show a lower risk of overall mortality (death), cardiovascular disease, and cancer. But randomized controlled trials on people who take isolated supplements show little to no benefit, Hensrud says.
That said, there are exceptions where vitamin supplements are necessary — like in people with diagnosed vitamin deficiencies caused by another medical condition, or in pregnant women who need prenatal vitamins like folic acid to support embryonic development, says Hensrud.
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Because no food is worth a nasty mouth burn — even pizza.
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We've all been there. Maybe you were deceived by the cool whipped cream topping on a boiling cup of hot cocoa, or you were too drunk to realize how hot the cheese was on that late-night slice of pizza. Maybe, like so many of us in the mornings, you were just so caffeine-deprived that you absolutely couldn't wait to take a sip of your coffee — only to have it sear your tongue like a hot knife.
No matter how you burn your tongue or mouth, it always sucks.
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We reached out to two mouth-burn experts to find out: Dr. Alison Bruce, dermatologist at The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, and Dr. Alice Boghosian, spokesperson for the American Dental Association and a dentist in Park Ridge, Illinois.
Quick note: For the purpose of this article, we're talking about burns on your mouth and tongue from hot foods or drinks like soup, cocoa, pizza, etc. We are not referring to the treatment of third-degree mouth burns from fires or other traumatic events. You definitely want to see a doctor for those.
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"Mouth burns are usually first-degree burns, and sometimes second-degree but it's less common," says Bruce. The burn damages cells in the outermost layer of skin (the epithelium) on your tongue, the roof of your mouth, or the insides of your cheeks, Bruce tells BuzzFeed Health. It basically has the same effect as a burn anywhere else on the skin, but the tissue in your mouth and on your tongue is much more delicate.
"The mouth is lined with a mucus membrane and there's no spongy or fatty layer underneath like regular skin, so it just adheres to bone," Bruce says. This means it's easier to burn the inside of your mouth and it's a lot more painful. And it explains why eating hot pizza can totally singe the roof of your mouth, while touching or holding hot pizza won't really burn your fingers.
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We apologize in advance for ruining your next soak.
Hot tubs or jacuzzis are a great way to soak and relax, especially when it's super chilly outside in the winter. But hot tubs are also known to carry a ton of germs and transmit water-borne diseases, and it's a bit of a problem in the US. In May, the CDC published the results of a 2013 survey involving about 49,000 public aquatic venues. It found that one in eight inspections resulted in immediate closure due to serious health violations.
We reached out to Dr. Pritish Tosh, infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and germ expert Kelly Reynolds, PhD, director of environmental health sciences at the University of Arizona, to find out why hot tubs get so contaminated and how they can make you sick, so that you can be more careful and stay healthy.
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When you get in a hot tub, everything on your body ends up in the hot tub, too— including sweat, dirt, oil, grime, bodily fluids. A lot of this stuff is harmless, but a surprising number of people carry pathogens, or germs that cause disease. "People are colonized with infectious bacteria on their body, meaning it doesn't harm them but it can make other people very sick," says Tosh.
Examples of bacteria carried on the skin include Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and Pseudomonas. People can also shed gastrointestinal pathogens from their feces, such as E. Coli, Shigella, Vibrio, Norovirus, and Cryptosporidium. Even the herpes virus can survive in hot tubs for up to four hours. The list of germs that love to hang out in hot tubs is unfortunately — and horrendously — long.
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Hot tubs are usually kept between 100 and 105 degrees fahrenheit, the experts say. That might feel scalding on your skin if you jump in after swimming in a cold pool or being in the cold and snow, but don't be fooled. The temperature of hot tub water is definitely not high enough to kill bacteria and other germs. The warm, wet environment actually fosters bacterial growth and survival. "Germs are perfectly happy living at those temperatures and can survive for days, even weeks," says Reynolds.
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Think about how small a hot tub is compared to an olympic-sized swimming pool. You can still transmit bacterial infections and viruses in large pools, even though the pathogens and fecal matter have more space to live. So if the same amount of germs are in a hot tub, the water is way more concentrated, and the risk of infection is even higher, experts say.
"Hot tubs are very problematic for this reason — a small volume of water filled with bodies makes the chlorine demand impossibly high," Reynolds says. One person can contaminate the entire hot tub by only shedding a small amount of feces (more on fecal shedding and how it happens shortly). Basically, soaking in a dirty hot tub is kind of the same thing as taking an intimate bath with whoever else used the hot tub.
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