Archive for 4. Tips about Medical Conditions
Nov
16
Burning Tongue, H1N1 and answers to other questions
Posted by: | CommentsThis issue of Ask an Expert Anything featured questions about the cause of burning tongue and the meaning of AH1N1 among others. You can find this below or you can find these podcasts on iTunes.
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Nov
04
H1N1 – what do the letters and numbers mean
Posted by: | CommentsI received a question that a person asked me to answer on Ask an Expert Anything. The question is, “What was AH1N1?” I wasn’t sure so I looked at Flu.gov, the CDC site and PLoS.
What I found was that the A stands for influenza type A. During the initial days of the infections appearance, the CDC referred to it as AH1N1. I have also seen it written as influenza type A/H1N1. Another designation is Swine-origin A/H1N1.
The letters like H, N and the numbers correspond to proteins on the surface of the virus. H1N1 are common human influenza designations. Many of the seasonal influenza viruses are H1N1.
There have been a few more deaths than are typical among younger people (<25 years old) than would be expected for seasonal influenza. Overall though, the virus has been much milder. This is fortunate since the rapid tests for influenza are often false even when the infection seems obviously present.
In addition to getting an immunization, there are some other things you can do to protect yourself. Drink plenty of fluids and get enough rest. Take some vitamin D3 supplements. Those that do not contain any Vitamin A are recommended. Green Tea contains some chemicals that prevent the viral enzymes from affecting your cellular RNA. Drinking a cup or two per day would be wise.
After the flu, be aware of symptoms like:
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the return of fever,
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productive cough and
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signs of sinus infection
that can occur as a result of having had the flu.
What has been your experience with this infection? Have you or someone you know had this illness or have you taken the immunization? Let us hear about your experience.
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Nov
02
Tamiflu the choice for H1N1is available for children
Posted by: | Comments
I recently read a headline from a medical news feed that claimed Tamiflu was not available in a liquid form for children. It is supplied like many pediatric medicines in a powder that can be mixed with water and taken as a suspension. There have been periods of time in our community when not every pharmacy had Tamiflu in capsule or powder in stock but it was available elsewhere. It appears to be effective against the novel H1N1 virus.
It has a few side effects, most of them are effects on the digestive system, but generally it is well tolerated. I have heard stories told to some one about a friend of a friend having a horror story about taking Tamiflu, but of the prescriptions I have written, the main complaint has been nausea and vivid dreams. Since nausea is a component of the flu, it was not clear that Tamiflu is the culprit.
I do not think Tamiflu is a panacea, but it is effective when started early in the course of the flu. Other things you can do to help yourself are to stay well hydrated before you get the flu – 2 quarts of water a day. Keep your stress level down, deep breathing once or twice an hour helps with this.
Get enough sleep! Extra rest, meaning more than normal when normal for you is less than 8 hours. Don’t stress your system with lots of extra sugar or over eating.
A few supplements are recommended also. Vitamin D3 at 1000IU per day when well and 3000IU per day when sick is a reasonable idea. Ask your doctor if these amounts are OK for you. A little extra selenium in the form of a few Brazil Nuts per week can be helpful but only a few a week are needed. Other nuts supply you with Vitamin E, alpha linoleic acid and fiber. Eating a tablespoon of ground flax seed is great too. They provide lots of fiber, lignans and other good stuff.
Which of these do you do? Do you have a habit that you think protects you from illness? Share it with us in the comments section.
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Oct
27
Tick Bites, Red Meat, and Hives
Posted by: | CommentsEver heard of a sugar contained in red meat called alpha-galactosidase? I never heard much about it except to know that it existed. If you haven’t taken and advanced physiology class you probably haven’t heard about it either.
Now, if you haven’t heard about ticks and problems from tick bites, I wonder where you have been living. Everyone with a rash in the summer or a tick bite thinks they have Lyme disease. Ticks can cause so many problems and now they can cause you to have a meat allergy.
This was brought to my attention by a patient that sent me a link to this article from the Washington Post. Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills is a prominent allergist with an international reputation at the University of Virginia. He has published a study of 24 patients from the south east with sudden meat allergy triggered by tick bites.
If you have had a recent food allergy to meat – beef, lamb or pork – first avoid it. Second, read the article and ask your doctor to get you into the UVa. study on this meat allergy/tick bite problem. If you have a meat allergy, I would like to hear from you. Leave me a comment or contact me.
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Oct
16
H1N1 Vaccine may not be the most important vaccine you need
Posted by: | CommentsTo remain healthy, you need healthy habits. That is the foundation of health. There are other things you can do to help yourself remain healthy in addition to habits. Vaccination against certain diseases can be very helpful in preventing them. Not all vaccines recommended right now are proven effective by long term use. One I especially am concerned about is HPV which is costly, and which might not do what is advertised and that is prevent cervical cancer.
It might surprise you to know that there are 50,000 deaths per year that are considered to have been preventable by vaccines. If that statistic holds up to close scrutiny that would mean more deaths from this cause than from Breast Cancer, AIDS or Traffic accidents. I don’t know about Mortality but Morbidity – preventable serious illness – would be greatly reduced.
What vaccines do you need and how can you find out? Go to the CDC vaccine information site to get more information than you probably need. To help you I have uploaded two PDFs at the end of this article. One is a blank immunization form and the other is a schedule of recommended adult immunizations.
What diseases are preventable by immunization? The list of entirely preventable diseases are Tetanus, Polio, Diptheria, Pertusis (Whooping Cough), Mumps and both types of Measles (Rubella and Rubeola). The Hepatitis Vaccines for type A and B are very effective in most individuals. Influenza vaccines, especially if you have received it more than twice, give year to year immunity but an annual booster is needed to maximize the immune response effectiveness. This is true if the person is young (under 18) or older (over 65). This is also true of many vaccines that have to be “boosted” to retain levels of immunity. Tetanus and Diptheria need to be administered every 10 years. After a childhood series of 4 immunizations, Pertusis or Whooping Cough Vaccine needs to be administered once during your adult life. Consult the vaccine schedule here that is attached as a PDF and the CDC site if you found this post over 2 years after it was written.
Questionably effective vaccines are those for Varicella, Zoster and HPV. Of the previous 3, Zoster gives the most protection for the cost. It is one I will likely take myself when I leave medicine and quit bieing regularly exposed to patients with Zoster. You can ‘t catch Zoster but Zoster does cause Varicella (Chicken Pox) in susceptible individuals and regular exposure does remind your immune system about Varicella virus. When I no longer have this advantage, I will take the vaccine.
In a healthy child, Varicella is not particularly harmful. The problem is from secondary infection due to scratching. With the appearance of MRSA, a resistant type of Staph germ, all those open sores on the skin of a child with varicella represent a problem. For this reason, the vaccine may be beneficial for healthy children as well as the child from circumstances that create greater susceptability to complications because of lack of care, ignorance and poor nutrition.
HPV has not proved itself yet. If it does not provide life long immunity with the series of 3 immunizations, it will not be a cost effective public health measure it is touted to be. The length of immunity is as yet unproven. If the vaccine was less expensive and if it ws being used to immunize people of the age group on whom it was tested (women age 16-25), I would be less hesitant. I have to believe that calling it an anti-cancer vaccine instead of a wart vaccine makes it seem life saving. In reality, cervical cancer is probably better prevented by regular pap smears. Men almost never get any cancer from HPV. I think it needs more research before it is legislated.
If you travel extensively, then you need special vacines, depending on where you go. Get a travel consult and see the Travelers section of the CDC Immunization site linked above for more information.
The two PDF files are included below.
adult-immunization-schedule
blank-vaccine-record
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Oct
12
Women, Death, Breast Cancer, Heart Disease
Posted by: | CommentsOctober is Breast Cancer Awareness month. The term cancer is scary for all of us and breast cancer causes over 40,000 deaths per year. Only forms of skin cancer are more prevalent in women and most of them do not cause death. For instance melanoma, the most serious form skin cancer causes 15 cases per year per 100,000 women. The STATS for breast cancer are 117.7 cases per year per 100,000 population.
The recent ability of scientists to identify the DNA sequence of one form of Breast cancer will eventually make it possible for them to better treat and cure Breast Cancer in all its forms. There is still much work to be done and that is the purpose of having an “AWARENESS MONTH”.
As terrifying as the thought of cancer is, there is a much bigger killer of women on the loose. Heart disease causes the death of more than 454,000 women per year, all forms of cancer took the lives of 268,890 women. It is reported that Breast Cancer affects one in eight women during their lifetime, but heart disease affects one in THREE. Many more women than men die of heart disease. Deaths in women are 278 per 100,000 women per year.
Cardiovascular disease is more preventable and more treatable but both Clinicians and Women have to be more aware of its presence in women and of the way the symptoms present in women.
Download a PDF of statistics on the effects of Heart Disease in women:
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Oct
11
H1N1 Vaccine Information
Posted by: | CommentsThere are currently 4 vaccines licensed for novel H1N1 or “Swine Flu”. These are coming to the market now and are available through Health Departments. Visit the site Flu.ogv for more information linked to your local HD. 
The four licensed companies are CSL Biotherapies, GSK (soon), Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur – these are the injectable type vaccines. MedImmune has the nasal mist with is a live vaccine approved for patients ages 2-49 years old. All the single dose vials and syringes, except the Novartis brand, do not contain a mercury preservative. I do not believe this represents a risk as some do, but if you like me are allergic to that preservative, you have to take the injection from a single dose syringe or vial. All multi-dose vials contain a preservative. This is true of just about every vaccine.
The usual seasonal flu vaccination is not likely to provide any protection against novel H1N1 influenza. The priority groups recommended to receive the “Swine flu” vaccine are:
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Pregnant women but only the inactivated injection not the nasal mist
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Persons caring for infants less than 6 months old
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Health Care workers and Emergency Services Personnel
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Children 6 months – 4 years old but less than two years must receive the injection
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Adolescents 5-18 Y/O with medical conditions that put them at risk for complications
Infants less than 6 months old should not receive the injection but if Mom was immunized they probably enjoy immunity also.
The injection can be expected to provide protective antibody levels within 14 days in adults. In unpublished studies, a single injectable dose provided immunity to 76% of children aged 10-17 and 36% of those aged 3-9 years old and 25% of those aged 6-35 months old.
Pregnant women and people with lung disease like asthma and COPD should only take the injectable vaccine.
I have heard members of the CDC vaccine committee say that 300 milliondoses of vaccine will be produced. That should meet all demand for vaccine injections by everyone who wants it, but the availability of the vaccine will be staggered as it becomes available and according to orders placed by the states. Visit your state Health Department (HD) site and gain further information. You can find that site by visiting the Flu.gov site linked above.
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Oct
06
Prostate Cancer – interesting facts
Posted by: | CommentsI am a member of the National Wellness Institute and as a result receive lots of wellness information. In their member publication area were some facts 
about prostate health and prostate cancer.
The tips I took away were these:
- Get to an ideal weight through diet and exercise and stay there
- Eating foods high in anti-oxidants like green tea, reservatrol, lycopene and others are beneficial
- minerals that are not in balance i.e. Zinc and Copper, Selenium, Calcium and others can harm and not help. There is no magic bullet, be conservative.
- Vitamin E has been harmful in high doses when it is artificially produced and not multi-tocopherol
Here are the pearls gleaned from a prostate health letter attributed at the end of the information.
Prostate Facts
With prostate cancer gaining in occurrence in westernized and modernized countries, studies are increasing in number to try to figure out what the cause is and how to increase the survival rate for those with prostate cancer. Negative correlations found:
- Previous studies have led researchers to believe increasing selenium consumption may decrease prostate cancer occurrence. New studies may bring selenium into the light as having the opposite effect in some men. For example: a large study called SELECT, done by the National Cancer Institute, now shows that selenium as a benefit to men may be genetically dependent to help some and harm others. Enough research has not yet been done to identify the importance genotype testing for men with prostate cancer
- Vitamin E was previously viewed as a benefit to the prostate. The same SELECT study has shown that large amounts of vitamin E, 400 IU a day, may actually increase prostate cancer risk. Previously, studies with men given 50 IU of vitamin E a day was proven to be beneficial.
- Men with large intakes of calcium and dairy, 1,500 mg to 2,000 mg of calcium a day had a higher risk of fatal prostate cancer than those men consuming 750 mg of calcium a day. The link between dairy, calcium, and prostate cancer is still being analyzed.
- Vitamin D has recently been in the spotlight of product claims as being supporting prostate health. To date, there are no studies which have shown a link between vitamin D and the prostate. Obesity and being overweight are linked to an increased risk in prostate cancer, and are more likely to have an aggressive form of the cancer.
- A recent study of 29,000 men has shown that those men eating at least 2 � ounces of well done meat in a week have a 40% higher chance of getting prostate cancer than those men eating no well done meat in a week.
- Zinc has previously been thought to be beneficial to lower the risk of prostate cancer but studies are inconsistent. In fact, some recent studies have shown that men taking 80-100 mg of a zinc supplement daily were more likely to get prostate cancer or experience prostate complications.
Positive correlations:
- Lycopene has been found to decrease the likelihood of men being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. Lycopene is the red carotenoid found in carrots, tomatoes, watermelon, and papayas. Most studies on lycopene revolve around tomatoes as tomatoes are higher than most other fruits and vegetables in lycopene. Some recent studies show that men eating three tablespoons of flaxseed daily had slower growing prostate tumors than men who did not eat flaxseed.
- Green tea was a spotlight in the large study of 50,000 Japanese men and was linked with a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer. The study compared men drinking 5+ cups of green tea daily versus men drinking less than one cup of green tea daily.
- Diet, exercise, and well lifestyle changes were one treatment in a study of men who had early stage prostate cancer. The other treatment was “usually care” from their doctors. Between the two treatments, over two years, the usual treatment group had 13 men undergo surgery versus 2 men in the lifestyle change group. The reduction of surgeries in the lifestyle change group could be attributed to a change in the men’s attitudes or to a slower progression of the disease.
- Men with lower fat diets and an increase in fruits and vegetables show a lower risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
- More studies are in the process to determine if soy foods can lower the risk of prostate cancer as there have been hopeful recent results in a study done on 82,000 men in the United States of America.
- Remember, it is important to not exceed the recommended amounts of selenium (55mcg), vitamin E (33IU), calcium (1,200 mg), or zinc (11 mg).
Source: Prostate Cancer: First Do No Harm. Nutrition Action Health Letter, September 2009, 3-7. Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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Sep
23
H1N1 Flu – what is the incubation period – how to protect yourself
Posted by: | CommentsI borrowed this graphic illustration from Wikipedia. It was included in an article there on Influenza. It demonstrates one theory that explains the mutation and transmission of these viruses to man.
Incubation of H1N1 is some where between 1 and 7 days and is thought by scientists at the CDC to be more like 1-4 days but is is actually unknown.
Transmission of H1N1 Flu
It is thought but not confirmed that transmission of the flu is like that of other influenza viruses. Coughing and sneezing spray viral particle containing fluid droplets into the air for short distances. Usually these must be inhaled but there is a possibility UNCONFIRMED that contact with mucus membranes of the eye, nose mouth and lung may also transmit H1N1. It is possible that unlike regular Human Flu, H1N1 may cause vomiting and diarrhea and these fluids are potentially infectious. Wearing a mask and still covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing will greatly reduce air borne transmission of viruses. Good hand sanitizing is excellent also. If you have any body fluid like mucus on your hands you need to wash them with soap and water but if not 60% Alcohol based sanitizers are excellent.
The flu may also be spread by droplets on inanimate objects (called fomites) like keyboards, phones, counters, doorknobs and other areas that are regularly touched by large numbers of people.
Protect Yourself
Have infected persons in your home wear a mask. Practice very good hand washing and sanitizing techniques. Sanitize surfaces with wipes that contain a germicidal compound. Stay very well hydrated and if you aren’t getting lots of sunshine (winter time in North America) take a Vitamin D supplement that is made from sheep lanolin or that says contains no Vitamin A. Eating adequate non-soy based protein and a little (25-50 grams= 100-200calories) saturated fat (animal or coconut oil) each day helps boost the immune system. Making sure you get a good source of omega 3 fatty acids several times a week and avoid trans fats, artificial sweeteners, MSG and excess consumption of grain products or animal meat that was produced with a high grain diet. (excess = more than 15-20% of calories)
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Sep
21
H1N1 Influenza – What do the experts say about symptoms
Posted by: | CommentsDr. Joe Bresee of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) Influenza division talks about the symptoms of Swine (H1N1) Influenza in this YouTube.com video
Another video from Dr. Joe Bresee on how to avoid getting the H1N1 flu. He talks about what individuals and organizations can do to prevent the spread of Swine flu.
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