Archive for the 'General health' Category
What is it?
Wounds (cuts, abrasions, ulcers in the bowel, surgical incisions, and so on) heal naturally, restoring the surface or lining of the body to its undamaged state. The time taken for a wound to heal varies from place to place on the body from a few days to several weeks. Unfortunately, many people, especially those having operations, heal far less quickly than they should.
What causes it?
• Poor nutrition generally, especially a shortage of protein.
• Too little vitamin Ñ in the diet.
• A shortage of vitamin A.
Prevention
• Animal research shows that malnourished individuals suffer twice as many complications during healing, and that twice as many of them die from their wounds, as do normally nourished ones. The most common complication in human wound healing in hospitals is infection-in fact this is the single most common reason for postoperative patients to stay longer in hospital than they should have to. From this and other evidence it is clear that the person with a wound needs good-quality foods high in protein. Protein is the vital supplier of the raw materials necessary to rebuild damaged tissue. It does not, of course, have to be animal protein.
• Eat more vitamin Ñ. Numerous studies have shown how valuable this vitamin is in normal wound healing. One study of over 1,000 patients with wounds found that wound infections worsened as blood vitamin Ñ levels fell. Some of the people had white-blood- ‘ cell levels of vitamin Ñ that were as low as those in people with scurvy. Similar studies have been done in patients with bed sores. Two 500 mg tablets of vitamin Ñ a day healed the sores twice as fast as expected.
• Eat more vitamin A. Even minor wounds, it seems, increase the body’s need for this vitamin. Animals fed vitamin A have stronger wounds (artificially created in a laboratory). Some severe burn or accident victims develop what are called ‘stress ulcers’ in their intestines. A study in Arizona found that giving such people 50,000-100,000 IU vitamin A twice daily reduced the stress ulcers to less than a third of what would be expected in an un-supplemented group.
Vitamin A is also valuable for anyone taking steroids for the relief of arthritis or other inflammatory conditions. Anti-inflammatory drugs and even aspirin retard open-wound healing, and vitamin A can help restore the balance. Zinc can also be protective against these effects of cortisone.
• Eat more zinc and zinc-containing foods. Zinc works alongside vitamin A in wound healing and helps mobilize stores of the vitamin. It is also essential for the production of new proteins and connective tissue. In a UK study, zinc accelerated the healing of leg ulcers, for example.
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Any consideration of cancer, be it from a preventive or curative point of view, is extremely difficult because cancer is a family of conditions, not a single disease. At present only about a third of all cancers have identifiable causes, and opinions vary as to whether all cancers will eventually be found to have an environmental, and therefore preventable, cause.
Worldwide, the six most common cancers in men are of the: lung; stomach; colon and rectum; mouth and pharynx; prostate; and oesophagus. In women the most common cancers are of the: breast; cervix; stomach; colon; rectum; lung and mouth; and pharynx. These, together with those of the brain, bladder and lymphatic tissues, and leukemia, account for three-quarters of all new malignancies. Stomach cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, closely followed by that of the lung.
The considerable variations seen from country to country, and the patterns of cancer emergence in migrant populations as they move to live in westernized countries, strongly suggest that many, if not most, cancers are linked to lifestyle and environment. Some experts claim that as many as 80-90 per cent of all cancers will eventually be preventable. Having said this, it would be easy to give the impression that only western countries have large burdens of cancer. They do not-they just have different cancer patterns.
Although the exact way in which the following are implicated in cancer causation is none too clear they have all been definitely connected with one type or another.
• Tobacco smoke.
• Alcohol and alcoholic mouthwashes.
• Obesity.
• Poor personal hygiene.
• Too much sun.
• Food additives.
• Pollution.
• Medicines and medical procedures.
• Certain infections.
• Exposure to radiation.
• Lack of vitamins, especially À, Ñ and E.
• Hot drinks and food.
• Too little dietary fibre.
• Viruses.
• Sexual behaviour.
There are, of course, many other factors involved in producing cancer but these are the main ones.
Although there are so many different types of cancer, more than 80 per cent of all cancers in men are caused by ten types. More than 75 per cent of those in women are caused by a different list of ten types. Six are common to both lists so there are only about fourteen types of cancer that are common and they cause between them four-fifths of all cancer deaths. Of these fourteen the half is sufficiently well understood to be able to give at least some preventive guidelines. Here are a few thoughts on those which are not yet preventable.
• Stomach. The incidence of stomach cancer is falling in all westernized countries for some unknown reason. It is much more common in Japan but the incidence is falling there too, probably as a result of good screening measures. Perhaps the worldwide fall in this disease has something to do with the way food is stored. An alternative explanation is that people are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables and consuming less salt.
• Prostate. There has been a twofold increase in male deaths from cancer of the prostate gland this century in England and no cause has been found.
• Brain. There has been a steady rise in the figures for brain-cancer mortality this century-perhaps due to better diagnosis. Many cases would have been missed before.
• Ovary. There is an increased risk of cancer of the ovary in women who have early first intercourse, have their first pregnancy by age 20, have few children and have an early menopause. Thus it would appear likely that the cancer is linked to hormonal changes in some way.
• Breast. This, the biggest cancer killer in women, is still not preventable.
• Rectum and large bowel. Dietary factors are suggested but no single one is definitely the cause.
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If you think you have tenosynovitis, you should see your doctor. The most likely prescription you’ll receive is a suggestion to rest your hand for as long as a week and take aspirin or another over-the-counter painkiller as often as you need until you ate able to move your fingers freely again. Once you return to the activity that caused the tenosynovitis, you should seek the advice of a physical therapist so that the condition does not recur. If your doctor believes the condition is caused by a bacterial infection, he will also prescribe an antibiotic such as penicillin.
If, however, you have osteoarthritis, some lifestyle changes will be necessary. Osteoarthritis can be quite fickle: some days you’ll be fine, while on others you’ll find it’s difficult to accomplish anything because of the pain. Aspirin and other over-the-counter preparations can help reduce the pain and inflammation so you can work. You should also ask your doctor about doing exercises to strengthen your hands, since toning the muscles around the joints can help prevent flare-ups. In some cases, a heating pad or a device that provides moist heat to the joints also helps. When the pain is especially severe, your doctor may suggest an injection of a corticosteroid medication directly into the hand for immediate relief. However, most of the time, it’s better in the long run to rely on less intrusive ways of dealing with osteoarthritis.
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Description and Possible Medical Problems
Sometimes, the day after a particularly intense lovemaking session, you may notice that your genitals, particularly your vaginal lips, feel sore and raw. If you examine your genitals, you’ll find that they may appear a bit redder than usual. The soreness and the redness usually disappear within a day or two.
But if a lesion or abrasion appears on your vaginal lips and doesn’t go away after a couple of days, you should see your doctor. This is usually a sign of a sexually transmitted disease. If the lesions are painful and appear in small clusters, you may have gonorrhea or herpes. If the lesion looks like a wart, syphilis may be the cause.
A sexually transmitted disease (STD) is a serious matter, because it can lead to permanent health problems. Gonorrhea, for instance, can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, which is a major cause of sterility.
The treatment for any STD will be determined by your doctor according to the culture and type of lesion. The most important thing is to seek medical attention when you first suspect you may have an STD.
And, to prevent the spread of STDs, always use a condom.
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The issue of abdominal gas and flatulence is a topic of humor from elementary school on. In people who are under age 50, gas is rarely a serious problem. However, if you’re over 50 and become constantly bloated and gassy for the first time in your life, you should see your doctor.
Part of the problem is that in our society the expulsion of gas, whether through belching or flatulence, is not acceptable. However, with the popularity of high-fiber diets and an increased intake of beans, raw fruits, and vegetables, many of us are considerably more gassy than we were just a few years ago.
If you just have gas, the change in your diet is probably responsible. If, however, you have abdominal cramps in addition to the gas, you may actually have lactose intolerance. In addition, some women find that they become gassy and bloated right before their periods. Chewing gum and smoking cigarettes can also be the cause, since you’re swallowing more air, which then travels to your intestine. You should also be aware that many sugar-free candies and gums use a sorbitol- or xylitol-based sugar substitute, which can cause severe bloating and gas pains, especially if you eat or chew more than three pieces a day.
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If you have a frail elderly relative, living either at home or in a nursing home, and she comes down with pneumonia—though the only symptom of the disease may be confusion—she’ll probably need to be hospitalized. She’ll be treated with intravenous antibiotics, oxygen, and respiratory therapy, since a case of pneumonia that’s easy to treat in a 40-year old can be life-threatening in an elderly patient.
I strongly believe that the Pneumovax vaccine, which helps prevent bacterial pneumonia, should be given to every man and woman over the age of 65, as well as people of any age who are smokers or diabetics or have had their spleens removed. Also, viral influenza can quickly turn into bacterial pneumonia in the elderly, so I recommend that all elderly persons should get a flu shot every year.
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Description and Possible Medical Problems
Though acne isn’t as common in adults as it is in teenagers, the fact is that there is a form of acne that only people over 40 can get, called rosacea. Rosacea is a type of acne that results in red skin with pimples; it usually appears on the nose, which may result in a thickened appearance to the nose. You may have only a few pimples or many that are concentrated in a small area.
To treat rosacea, your doctor will prescribe a treatment that’s similar to what she would recommend for a teenager with acne. This may be one of a variety of skin creams such as Metrogel. As with severe cases of acne in teenagers, if you have rosacea, the best person to diagnose and treat it is your doctor or dermatologist.
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Many people now take a small dose of aspirin every day or every second day to lessen their chances of getting a coronary heart attack. Aspirin helps them to do this by rendering their blood less capable of clotting (during most heart attacks, an artery in the heart that has become narrowed by deposits of cholesterol becomes completely blocked off by a clot of blood).
However, no drug, including aspirin, is without side effects of some sort, and in this case we need to be concerned that loss of clotting ability could be dangerous during surgery. In fact, Emergency Medicine (19#18:57) points out that aspirin significantly increases the incidence of complications due to blood loss after such procedures as tooth extraction, facial plastic surgery, tonsillectomy, and coronary artery bypass graft operations. Although less noticeable, this effect of aspirin could mar the result of any operation. Adequate clotting, of course, is necessary to seal off and stop oozing from blood vessels that are cut across during operations, even though they have been tied off by the surgeon.
To reduce this risk of postoperative bleeding as much as possible, aspirin should be discontinued for at least a week before surgery. When this is not possible, be sure the surgeon knows if you have been taking aspirin. He can then test the blood and decide whether something needs to be done to restore clotting to normal before he operates. Other medications that interfere with clotting include non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Advil, Clinoril, Feld-ene, Indocin, Motrin, Nalfon, Naprosyn, Nuprin, and Tol-ectin, which are used for arthritic pain, headache, and menstrual cramps, etc. Fish oil products, such as Maxepa, and vitamin E can do the same thing. Since several other drugs also have this effect, be sure to tell the surgeon about every medication that you are taking.
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Physicians at Yale University Medical School have found a lower than expected incidence of cataract (visual difficulty due to cloudiness in the lens of the eye) among arthritis patients who had taken aspirin for many years. In arthritis patients who had not taken aspirin, cataract was as common as usual. This protective effect, according to Internal Medicine Alert (2:77), was even more pronounced in patients with diabetes, a condition which greatly increases the prevalence of cataracts, but cataracts were present in seven of eight diabetics whose arthritis had been managed without aspirin.
Aspirin, taken in the high doses used for arthritis, causes many more side effects than most physicians would care to accept in a treatment used only for prevention. Long-term studies in people without arthritis are therefore needed to determine whether small, better-tolerated doses of aspirin can also prevent cataract. Because this form of blindness is so common in the elderly, the project should get priority.
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Even though babies can learn to swim quite well during their first year of life and may be relatively safe from drowning, there is a danger of water intoxication if one does not supervise them carefully when they are in the water. Pediatrics (70:599) reports the case of a 10-month-oldboy who, during a swimming lesson, swallowed nearly 10 percent of his body weight in water and, an hour later, became drowsy and had convulsive seizures.
Water intoxication, cautions Pediatrics, urgently needs treatment with intravenous injections of a special concentrated saline to “thicken” the blood, and quickly becomes life-threatening if overlooked and left untreated. So, if your children or grandchildren learn to swim when they are very small, watch them closely all the time they are in the water to make sure that they do not drink it.
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