Evidence-Based Supplement & Herb Guides

What Does a Low MoCA Score Mean?

A low MoCA score can suggest cognitive impairment, but it can also reflect sleep, mood, medical issues, or testing factors. Learn how doctors interpret the score and what usually comes next.

A low MoCA score means a person had difficulty with one or more thinking skills during a brief cognitive screening test. It can be...

What Does a Positive Bipolar Screen Mean?

Learn what a positive bipolar screening result can and cannot tell you, why false positives happen, how clinicians confirm bipolar disorder, and when a positive screen needs urgent follow-up.

A positive bipolar screen can feel alarming, especially if you took the test during a stressful period, after a depression screening, or as part...

What Does a Positive PTSD Screen Mean?

Understand what a positive PTSD screen actually means, why it is not a diagnosis, what follow-up usually involves, and when trauma-related symptoms need faster support.

A positive PTSD screen can feel alarming, especially if it appears on a form, patient portal, online questionnaire, school assessment, workplace health check, or...

What Happens After a Positive Mental Health Screen?

Learn what a positive mental health screen usually leads to, how follow-up evaluation works, when scores are not the same as diagnosis, and when urgent help is needed.

A positive mental health screen can feel alarming, especially if it happens during a routine checkup, school visit, workplace health assessment, online questionnaire, or...

What Happens After Abnormal Brain Scan or Cognitive Test Results?

Learn what doctors usually do after abnormal brain imaging or cognitive test results, including urgent warning signs, repeat testing, specialist referrals, and how follow-up decisions are made.

An abnormal brain scan or cognitive test result can feel alarming, but it usually does not answer the whole medical question by itself. A...

What Happens During a Cognitive Assessment?

A cognitive assessment usually includes history, daily-function questions, brief memory and thinking tasks, and follow-up planning to clarify whether cognitive changes are normal, reversible, or a sign of a larger neurological problem.

A cognitive assessment is a structured way to check how well different thinking skills are working. It may be used when someone has memory...

What Happens During a Mental Health Evaluation?

A mental health evaluation usually includes symptom review, history, observation, a mental status exam, safety assessment, and planning for diagnosis, treatment, or medical rule-outs so you know what to expect before the visit.

A mental health evaluation is a structured conversation and assessment used to understand a person’s emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical well-being. It may feel...

What Happens During a Neuropsychological Evaluation?

Learn what a neuropsychological evaluation includes, how testing is done, how long it takes, what cognitive domains are measured, and how results are used for diagnosis and care planning.

A neuropsychological evaluation is a detailed assessment of how thinking, memory, attention, language, emotions, behavior, and daily functioning are working together. It is often...

When to Go to the ER for Mental Health or Neurological Symptoms

Learn which mental health and neurological symptoms call for emergency care, which red flags should never be watched at home, and when urgent follow-up may be enough.

Mental health and neurological symptoms can feel confusing because they may overlap: panic can cause chest tightness and tingling, depression can slow thinking, seizures...

Y-BOCS Test for OCD: What It Measures and How It Is Used

Learn what the Y-BOCS test measures, how OCD severity is scored, what the numbers usually mean, and how clinicians use the scale in diagnosis, treatment planning, and follow-up.

The Y-BOCS is one of the best-known clinical tools for rating the severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. It does not simply ask whether someone...

Antidepressants and Weight Gain: Which Medications Are Most Likely to Affect Weight?

Learn which antidepressants are most likely to affect weight, which options may be lower risk, how much gain is typical, and what to discuss with your doctor if the scale starts moving.

Weight changes are a common concern for people starting or continuing antidepressants, and the concern is reasonable. Some antidepressants are more likely to increase...

Antihistamines and Weight Gain: Are Allergy Medications a Factor?

Can antihistamines cause weight gain? Learn what the research says, which allergy medications are more likely to play a role, and what to do before changing treatment.

Antihistamines can make life much easier when allergies cause sneezing, itching, watery eyes, hives, or poor sleep. But if your weight started creeping up...

Antipsychotics and Weight Gain: What to Discuss with Your Doctor

Antipsychotics can affect weight in different ways. Learn which medications tend to carry more risk, what to track, and what to discuss with your doctor before making any treatment changes.

Weight gain can be one of the most frustrating side effects of antipsychotic treatment, especially when the medication is helping with mood, psychosis, sleep,...

Autoimmune Disease and Weight Gain: When to Look Beyond Diet

Autoimmune disease can cause weight gain through inflammation, steroids, thyroid issues, fluid retention, and muscle loss. Learn the signs it is time to look beyond diet.

Weight gain can feel confusing when you already live with an autoimmune condition. You may be eating similarly, trying to stay active, and still...

Best Diet for Hypothyroidism Weight Loss

Losing weight with hypothyroidism can feel confusing because thyroid hormones affect energy use, fluid balance, digestion, cholesterol, body temperature, and fatigue. Still, hypothyroidism does...

Best Diet for PCOS Weight Loss

PCOS can make weight loss feel unusually difficult because appetite, insulin resistance, androgen levels, sleep, stress, and menstrual irregularity can all interact. That does...

Best Exercise for PCOS Weight Loss

Exercise can support weight loss with PCOS, but the most useful plan is not the most punishing one. PCOS often involves insulin resistance, higher...

Beta Blockers and Weight Gain: Is Your Blood Pressure Medication the Problem?

Learn whether beta blockers can cause weight gain, which blood pressure medications are more likely to affect the scale, how much gain is typical, and when to talk to your doctor.

Beta blockers can be very effective medications, but they can also raise a frustrating question: did the scale start moving because of the medication,...

Binge Eating Disorder and Weight Loss: What Actually Helps

Learn what actually helps with binge eating disorder and weight loss, including why dieting can backfire, which treatments work best, and when weight loss can fit safely.

Binge eating disorder can make weight loss feel confusing, frustrating, and emotionally loaded. Many people with BED want to improve their health, feel more...

Birth Control and Weight Gain: What the Evidence Says

Birth control and weight gain is more nuanced than many people think. Learn what the evidence says about the pill, IUDs, implants, and the shot, and how to decide whether your method is really affecting your weight.

Many people start, stop, or avoid birth control because they are worried about weight gain. That concern is understandable: weight is personal, it can...