Ask the Doctor

First off, don’t be surprised—tennis often has nothing to do with tennis elbow. Any repetitive movement or strain on the forearm—from playing tennis to painting your house to typing—can trigger the condition, but poor circulation or inflammation are most likely the underlying causes.

It sounds as though you have a condition known as rhinitis—inflammation of the mucous membranes in the nose. This inflammation leads to a runny nose, sneezing, and a feeling of being stuffed up. Rhinitis may result from a cold, allergies, or nonallergenic irritants in the environment, such as dust, cigarette smoke, or pollution.

As you know, when you eat sugar (or simple carbohydrates), your blood glucose levels rise, and your pancreas releases insulin to usher the sugar into cells. As a diabetic, however, you either don’t produce enough insulin or your cells don’t respond to the insulin (or both), and your blood glucose levels remain sky high.

Iritis is an inflammatory eye disorder that’s not caused by a viral or bacterial infection, and unfortunately, it’s one of the most dangerous kinds of “red eye” conditions you can have. A more common type, conjunctivitis (also called pink eye), is caused by either bacteria or viruses.