Tick Bites

If you spend time outdoors or have pets that go outdoors, you need to beware of ticks. Ticks are small bloodsucking bugs. Many species transmit diseases to animals and people. Some of the diseases you can get from a tick bite are Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.

Some ticks are so small that they can be difficult to see. Ticks may get on you if you walk though areas where they live, such as tall grass, leaf litter or shrubs.

Tick-borne diseases occur worldwide, including in your own backyard. To help protect yourself and your family, you should

Use a chemical repellent with DEET, permethrin or picaridin
Wear light-colored protective clothing
Tuck pant legs into socks
Avoid tick-infested areas
Check yourself, your children and your pets daily for ticks and carefully remove any ticks you find

Thyroid Diseases

Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in your neck, just above your collarbone. It is one of your endocrine glands, which make hormones. The thyroid helps set your metabolism - how your body gets energy from the foods you eat.

Millions of people in the U.S. have thyroid diseases. Most of them are women. If you have a thyroid disease, your body uses energy more slowly or quickly than it should. A thyroid gland that is not active enough, called hypothyroidism, is far more common. It can make you gain weight, feel fatigued and have difficulty dealing with cold temperatures. If your thyroid is too active, it makes more thyroid hormones than your body needs. That condition is hyperthyroidism. Too much thyroid hormone can make you lose weight, speed up your heart rate and make you very sensitive to heat.

There are many causes for both conditions. Treatment involves trying to reset your body's metabolism to a normal rate.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Also called: Sexually transmitted infections, STDs
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections that you can get from having sex with someone who has the infection. The causes of STDs are bacteria, parasites and viruses. There are more than 20 types of STDs, including

Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Herpes Simplex
HIV/AIDS
HPV
Syphilis
Trichomoniasis
Most STDs affect both men and women, but in many cases the health problems they cause can be more severe for women. If a pregnant woman has an STD, it can cause serious health problems for the baby.

If you have an STD caused by bacteria or parasites, your health care provider can treat it with antibiotics or other medicines. If you have an STD caused by a virus, there is no cure. Sometimes medicines can keep the disease under control. Correct usage of latex condoms greatly reduces, but does not completely eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading STDs.

Mumps

Mumps is an illness caused by the mumps virus. Mumps causes

Fever
Headache
Muscle aches
Tiredness
Loss of appetite
Swelling of the salivary glands follows these symptoms. Swelling of the glands near the jaw line below the ears may give you "chipmunk cheeks." Serious problems are rare, but can include deafness; swelling of the brain, spinal cord, testicles, breasts or ovaries; and pregnancy loss.

You can catch mumps by being with another person who has it. There is no treatment for mumps, but the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine can prevent it. Mumps used to be a common childhood illness. Today it is uncommon, with fewer then 1,000 cases per year on average, because of the vaccine.

Lupus

Also called: Discoid lupus, Subacute cutaneous lupus, Systemic lupus erythematosus
If you have lupus, your immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues by mistake. This can damage your joints, skin, blood vessels and organs. There are many kinds of lupus. The most common type, systemic lupus erythematosus, affects many parts of the body. Discoid lupus causes a rash that doesn't go away. Subacute cutaneous lupus causes sores after being out in the sun. Another type can be caused by medication. Neonatal lupus, which is rare, affects newborns.

Anyone can get lupus, but women are most at risk. Lupus is also more common in African American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American women. The cause of lupus is not known.

Lupus has many symptoms. Some common ones are

Joint pain or swelling
Muscle pain
Fever with no known cause
Red rashes, often on the face (also called the "butterfly rash")
There is no one test to diagnose lupus, and it may take months or years to make the diagnosis. There is no cure for lupus, but medicines and lifestyle changes can help control it.

High Blood Pressure

Also called: HBP, HTN, Hypertension
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps out blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is the diastolic pressure.

Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers, the systolic and diastolic pressures. Usually they are written one above or before the other. A reading of

120/80 or lower is normal blood
140/90 or higher is high blood pressure
120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is prehypertension
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems with such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. You can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits and taking medicines, if needed.

Fibromyalgia

Also called: FMS
Fibromyalgia makes you feel tired and causes muscle pain and "tender points." Tender points are places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms or legs that hurt when touched. People with fibromyalgia may have other symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, and problems with thinking and memory, sometimes called "fibro fog."

No one knows what causes fibromyalgia. Anyone can get it, but it is most common in middle-aged women. People with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases are particularly likely to develop fibromyalgia. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, but medicines can help you manage your symptoms. Getting enough sleep and exercising may also help.