Deborah Ross

Whether it's for pain relief, heartburn relief, diabetes care or other purposes, the many prescription and over-the-counter drugs at our disposal are usually formulated to do the trick. But ...

Perhaps the celebrity news about the 21-year-old actress from a hit TV series who just underwent a kidney transplant will raise awareness about kidney disease and the need for organ donors. ...

If you are among the legions of women facing gallbladder removal surgery, then a key question during the followup with your doctor should be, "What kind of foods can I eat?" After all, it ...

You might want to consider making pelvic floor exercises part of your daily routine, if you haven't done so already. A recent federal report indicates that the exercises -- sometimes called ...

I had one of those "Really?" moments recently while reading an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics press release. The registered dietitians of this national organization want us to watch out ...

"Breast is best" for a number of reasons, including the well-established benefits of breastfeeding in protecting an infant's gastrointestinal tract. Recently, researchers have looked more ...

For any of you wanting to simplify your management of irritable bowel syndrome, there is an easy-to-remember phrase that health experts use: the three F's, namely, fluid, fitness and ...

Say that you are shopping for something over-the-counter that will relieve constipation. In the health food aisle you notice a number of teas and capsules containing senna leaf, and they look ...

The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. Anyone who is newly diagnosed should realize that "the learning curve is steep" for leading a gluten-free lifestyle, says registered ...

Anytime you are contemplating motherhood you need to consider your overall health, including possible chronic conditions. And in the case of inflammatory bowel disease, a chronic condition ...

A recent Mayo Clinic study has concluded that rheumatoid arthritis warrants more attention regarding not just the upper gastrointestinal problems that often plague patients, but also the many ...

An article titled “Demystifying Lactose Intolerance” in the April 2012 issue of Today’s Dietitian is geared toward increasing the knowledge base of registered dietitians. At the same time, it has ...

A diagnosis of chronic kidney disease can feel like a blow to the gut. But if you've gotten this diagnosis, you aren’t alone. About 1 in 10 Americans has CKD, a disease that requires careful ...

There’s no denying that serving overseas in the armed forces can sometimes have lasting physical, mental and emotional repercussions. One of the recent national health focuses for returning ...

Grandma will probably tell you it’s one of the simplest digestive aids ever: cinnamon. You can sprinkle it on your morning latte and oatmeal, or save it for later to add spice to your soup or ...

From the National Eating Disorders Association comes a little-known fact: Up to 89 percent of patients with bulimia nervosa show signs of tooth erosion. Specifically, patients can suffer ...

A low-residue diet, sometimes accompanied by the words “low-fiber diet,” is a serious undertaking and one that is usually prescribed by a doctor for a number of digestive conditions. Instead of ...

The next time you are in the dentist’s office for a cleaning, you might want to thank your dental professional for poking around in your mouth and giving it the once-over. As awkward as the ...

In the time it takes to make a trip to the bathroom (you can thank your kidneys for sending a message to your bladder) you can learn a few things about protecting a vital organ in your digestive ...

You would think that with all the proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and other heartburn remedies on the market, that most people eventually would come upon a solution for that constant burning ...

It’s not common for lots of bacteria to live in your small intestine, but when they do, those pesky microorganisms can cause bloating, gas, diarrhea and abdominal pain. As with many medical ...

Whew! A tour of the American College of Gastroenterology’s website to learn more about colorectal cancer can be a real eye-opener! Despite the information overload, it’s a tour worth taking, ...

Let’s say it’s Monday and that too much weekend indulgence -- including trying the salted caramel pudding at a new bistro everyone is talking about (I plead guilty!) -- has left you feeling ...

A friend of mine who stays in good health through diet and exercise recently found himself with incredible pain from gallstones. A high school teacher, he missed two days of school for a hospital ...

It’s hard to be the parent of a school-age child with inflammatory bowel disease. On one hand, you are entirely sympathetic to their abdominal pain, fatigue and bathroom difficulties. But on the ...

Before the recent headlines about chocolate’s supposed ability to prevent colon cancer send you diving into that Valentine’s Day box of temptation, take a minute to put things in ...

It can be one of those “Aha!” moments when you realize that the reason for your sleeplessness is as simple as heartburn. Heartburn might strike during the day or after a large meal and then ...

If you are into trying natural treatments for digestive ailments, you might want to look into artichoke leaf extract, sometimes abbreviated to ALE when purchased at health food ...

The middle-of-the-night anxiety associated with youngsters who are still wetting their bed has a possible remedy, and it has to do with bowel habits, not urinary habits. Researchers at Wake ...

Medical researchers might need to go back to the drawing board to figure out the causes of diverticulosis, the small pouches that commonly form along the colon wall and are sometimes associated ...

If you find yourself having to reason with a loved one as to why he or she should cut down on alcohol, perhaps this will be ammunition for you: Heavy drinking can wreak havoc on the digestive ...

Don’t discount the power of the sun when it comes to the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease, namely Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. American researchers -- curious about European ...

Do you stretch out on the sofa after a big meal? Do you eat your dinner within two or three hours of going to bed? Either of those habits can strain your digestive system, and here is the major ...

One of the biggest concerns in the community of parents whose children have autism is the various gastrointestinal problems that they confront. Some estimates say that as many as 50 percent of ...

Those with irritable bowel syndrome are often at a loss to explain why their digestive system is acting up. They try taking probiotics, they try to reduce their everyday stress, they make time for ...

Here are a few things I didn’t know about constipation -- a subject I find myself reading up on as my aging parents deal with it. And come on, don’t we all deal with it sometimes? First, it can ...

Like the names for many medical conditions, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. That’s why it’s often referred to as NAFLD, and it appears that we might be ...

Among the many questions that arise when we take a serious look at modern health and medicine, there are at least two questions with no easy answers: Are we taking too many antibiotics and ...

In checking your list of New Year’s resolutions you see one item you don’t mind advertising to your friends and family and one item that you definitely will not. The first is losing weight -- hop ...

This past year has taken me down various roads of research on digestive health, and I’ve absorbed plenty of advice about keeping my own digestive system happy. So in the spirit of New Year’s ...

This figure might take you by surprise: almost 800,000 Americans a year have gallbladder removal surgery. Called a cholecystectomy, the surgery is often called for when a patient has repeated ...

A slew of questions arise when you are diagnosed with a gastrointestinal disorder such as Crohn’s disease or irritable bowel syndrome. One question might be, can I continue my exercise ...

No one wants to put a damper on your holiday parties, but the medical community does want you to be on guard for food poisoning, in particular, the norovirus infection, the most common cause of ...

Will the medical community have a much better handle on the mysteries of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) within a decade? Dr. Ellen Scherl of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York raised that ...

The obesity rate in the United States continues to alarm the medical community, and it’s not so much the effect of extra pounds on a person’s appearance but its impact on the everyday functioning ...

In light of the recent news that women multitask way more than men, here’s a wake-up call for those of you who engage in “desktop dining,” that is, eating lunch at your office desk while ...

Microscopic colitis -- one of three types of colitis -- is often confused with other bowel conditions, and although it is not as severe as other forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it ...

Recent news from the American College of Gastroenterology’s annual meeting attests to just how hard it is to manage celiac disease. Would you believe there’s a possibility that certain cosmetics ...