MedStar Health Blog

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition that primarily affects peripheral joints (typically the hands, wrists, elbows, knees, feet, and ankles) of about 1.5 million Americans, due to...

When the first minimally invasive surgery—also called laparoscopic surgery—was performed in the early 1900s, a surgeon would use a hollow wooden tube with a candle to look in a patient&rs...

Total joint replacement, comprised of hip or knee replacements, is one of the most common surgical procedures in the U.S. These devices have given millions of people continued or increased activity an...

A vasectomy is one way men can prevent their partners from becoming pregnant—without affecting sexual function or the ability to orgasm.A vasectomy is a noninvasive surgery that prohibits sperm from b...

Whenever we eat or drink, we’re putting the pancreas to work. The pancreas is a large gland that’s tucked behind the stomach and the intestines. It has two jobs: to produce chemicals called enzymes th...

In most women, the endometrium—the mucous membrane lining the uterus—grows inside the uterus and sheds during the monthly period. But in women with endometriosis, the endometrium starts to grow outsid...