Health information

QUESTION: Another player on my high school hockey team suffered an injury to
his spleen, but his doctor repaired it surgically
My father says that all
injured spleens should be removed
Is he right? Is it always necessary to
remove the spleen after an injury?

ANSWER: Fathers like the reputation of always being right, but this time
medical practice has moved beyond Dad’s knowledge
Splenectomy (the operation
to remove the spleen) was once done routinely after an injury to the upper
left quadrant of the abdomen where the spleen is located
Because doctors did
not know what, if any, function was performed by the spleen, they believed it
was not needed
That belief was substantiated by the fact that the death rate
from injury to the spleen was 90 to 100 percent before 1900, and before
surgical removal of the spleen was used as treatment
Now, however, doctors
understand that the spleen plays an important role in preventing infection.
In fact, some studies have shown that the death rate due to infection is 58
times greater than the normal population in patients who have had their spleen
removed after injury
(Postoperative infection only occurs in 0.5 to 1
percent of these patients though).
Because of the new understanding of the spleen’s function, today’s
treatment is more conservative when a patient has received a possible injury
to the spleen
A direct blow to the abdomen, a fall, and car accidents are
common causes of damage to the spleen
Children especially are at risk; for
them the spleen is the most commonly injured abdominal organ
Although in
some cases the extent of injury will make removal of the spleen necessary,
physicians often try to repair the organ surgically, or they may closely
observe the patient and let the body heal itself.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Pletal
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Pletal (Cilostazol) reduces attacks of intermittent claudication that may occur after walking.

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QUESTION: One of my tennis partners insists that the reason he regularly wins
is that he indulges in frequent massages
This, he claims, gives him the edge
he needs to beat me
My question to you: does massage do anything to improve
athletic performance?

ANSWER: This is a question that’s being debated right now by the medical
community
Some physicians are skeptical that massage has any real benefits
for athletes other than psychological
Recently, however, more doctors are
becoming proponents of massage, saying it has therapeutic value, but they must
all stop short of saying it enhances athletic performance, since this has not
yet been proven to everyone’s complete satisfaction
Therapeutic benefits of
massage include improving movement of blood and nutrients, warming the skin,
more rapidly eliminating metabolic wastes, and stretching tendons, thereby
increasing flexibility
When circulation is enhanced, it helps to promote
healing of strained muscles
When done correctly, massage can help relax a
strained muscle, and it can break down adhesions in an old injury.
Some athletes say a good massage reduces recovery time between
competitions
Recently more athletes are turning to massage
Massage
therapists regularly turn out for most major Marathons, and the U.S
Olympic
Committee made massage therapists available to the American athletes in the
Los Angeles Olympic Games
The important thing to remember, though, if you
are injured, is that a massage will not cure your injury, and a visit to a
doctor might be in order
As to improving your tennis game, well, you will
just have to test that out for yourself.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Imdur
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Imdur (Isosorbide-5-Mononitrate) is used for preventing symptoms of angina (chest pain).

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QUESTION: Both my brother and I received the same medication for the same
problem
I got great results, but my brother claims he has no relief
Why
do drugs or medications work on some people and not on others?

ANSWER: There are many reasons you and your brother may respond differently
to the same medications
Surprising variances can occur in the amount and
speed that a drug is absorbed in intestines from one patient to another
This
can be caused by the amount of food, antacids or even other medications in
your stomach
One individual’s enzyme system may inactivate a drug and his/
her kidneys then will secrete it faster than in others.
Also, drug manufacturers use different materials to coat their pills,
which can cause variations in how long they take to dissolve or remain in
one’s body
Other factors can include how acute the disease has become and
one’s psychological condition when taking a medicine
Taking several
medications, may change the body’s response to any of the drugs being taken at
once
In fact your body can respond differently to a drug today than it did
yesterday actually the difference can even occur over the matter of a few
hours
Once again we find that each of us is a unique individual, requiring
personal attention to our medical needs.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Lariam
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Lariam (Mefloquine) is used to treat and prevent malaria.

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QUESTION: I’m a young white woman with a lot of little colored blemishes
I
have been reading some scary stuff about skin cancers that I am afraid might
apply to me
Do I have to worry about the skin cancer melanoma?

ANSWER: Unfortunately, you do
Studies in Scotland of 180 subjects age 15 to
84 have shown that the risk of melanoma is strongly related to the total
number of moles on your body
(The doctors in the study counted only moles
that were larger than 2 millimeters in diameter)
Even after the researchers
adjusted their findings to include the known risk factors for melanoma skin
type, sun exposure, hair and eye color the relative risk of getting melanoma
for a patient with more than 50 moles was 53.9
(The relative risk for
subjects with 25 to 49 moles was 10.7; for subjects with 10 to 24 moles, 6.7.)
Other risk factors for melanoma include having moles that are larger than
7 millimeters in diameter, and are multicolored or irregularly shaped
Moles
that grow rapidly or seem to be changing color and shape may also be
cancerous, and require immediate attention.
So if you have a lot of moles, see a dermatologist regularly
It is one
way of keeping a careful check on yourself and relieving a bit of your natural
and understandable anxiety.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Zyloprim
Our price: $1.26
Zyloprim (Allopurinol) is used to lower blood uric acid levels.

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Lexapro
Our price: $0.5
Lexapro (Escitalopram) is used for treating depression and anxiety.

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QUESTION: When my father returned from the hospital after a recent, severe
illness, he was not himself
We have noticed that he has lost a great deal of
his memory, and that it might have been starting before his sickness
Can
proper care do anything to help him regain his lost memory?

ANSWER: Possibly, depending on the cause of his problem
And there are many
possibilities
A careful evaluation is most important at this time
And the
doctor who cared for your dad during his illness is a perfect resource.
By reviewing the complete history before and after the illness and
conducting tests, the physician can tell if your father’s memory loss can be
regained or stabilized.
Most frequent causes of reversible memory loss are medications (for
various illnesses); thyroid conditions and other metabolic disorders; alcohol
abuse; infections; and depression
Because of publicity, many people think of
Alzheimer’s disease whenever someone begins to experience memory loss
Some
elderly people do have that disease but most do not
Often, a diagnosis that
shows the problem is NOT from Alzheimer’s disease will, in itself, relieve
anxiety and cause a patient to notice memory improvement rapidly.
During evaluation, these are among the questions that should be
considered:

- Has he recently lost a loved one, or moved to unfamiliar surroundings?

- Did he tell you that his memory is failing? Self-reporting, and
embarrassment about the condition, often mean that the trouble can be
successfully treated.

- What is the nature of the memory loss?

- Does he have a history of alcohol abuse, depression, or other
psychiatric problems?

- What medications is he taking?

- Did he develop physical symptoms such as skin coarsening, hair
losses, or general disinterest about the time his memory began failing?

- What was the reason for his hospitalization, and what treatments did
he receive?

Whatever the cause, please do NOT test him or try to train his memory
yourself
Try to build on his strengths and keep tension as low as possible
until you can begin to unravel this common problem.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Risperdal
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Risperdal (Risperidone) is used for treating schizophrenia or bipolar mania.

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QUESTION: There are times when I know that I am going through a change of
life similar to the one my wife experienced
She just laughs and says that
men can’t get hot flashes any more than they can have babies
I maintain that
men can get hot flashes too
What do you say?

ANSWER: They most certainly can
In both men and women hot flashes are
caused by the decreased production of sex hormones
In women, hot flashes are
controlled most often by the biological clock and begin when menopause sets
in
In men, however, the biological clock does not play as much of a role.
Hot flashes usually occur in men who have had a testicle removed, usually
because of cancer.
A report published in the Western Journal of Medicine said many men
mistake the symptoms of hot flashes for those of heart attacks
The symptoms
of hot flashes are intense sweating, heart palpitations, fainting spells, and
a flushed color for the face, neck and chest
These are the same symptoms as
women get, only women experience them in greater numbers than men.
Typically men who experience hot flashes are middle-aged or older
Since
this same group of men is at highest risk of heart attack, doctors should ask
possible heart attack victims if they’ve ever had a testicle removed or had
many hernia operations, which also can lead to hot flashes
Such an inquiry
at the initial stages of treatment could help prevent a possible misdiagnoses.
This may not be the cause of your particular episodes, but it seems likely to
me that it is reasonable to believe that your experiences, while not as common
as in women, may be experienced by many men, in modified forms.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Imitrex
Our price: $8.58
Imitrex (Sumatriptan) is an antimigraine medicine.

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QUESTION: I have heard of a disease that causes a rosary to form on the
patient’s chest
It is not common and I can not even recall the reason for
this, but my mother used to warn us about this when we were children
Can you
help me recall why?

ANSWER: I will bet it was when you refused to take your daily dose of cod
liver oil
Just writing the words makes me recall the horrible taste, but
both our mothers were trying to prevent us from developing a disease known as
rickets, which is caused by a lack of Vitamin D
Fish livers contain large
quantities of this valuable vitamin, and so oils produced from their livers,
particularly cod, were used to prevent the bone malformations that come with
rickets
And it is rickets that produces the “rosary” you remember, because
the cartilage connection of the ribs to the sternum (chest bone) fails to
develop properly, forming a bead-like effect in young infants who suffered
from Vitamin D deficiency
Other signs of faulty bone growth could be seen in
deformities such as bowlegs and spinal curvature
While rickets is rare in
this vitamin conscious country, it is still seen where malnutrition and
vitamin deficiency continue to exist.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Nexium
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Nexium (Esomeprazole) is in a proton pump inhibitor (PPIs) which blocks the production of acid by the stomach.

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QUESTION: When I went to my doctor to treat an earache, we did a battery of
tests on my ears, but found no cause for my problem
My doctor has asked me
to schedule a follow-up appointment so he can examine my head, neck and
throat
Does this make sense to you? How could a possible problem in these
areas cause an earache?

ANSWER: The head, neck and throat exams are very good thinking on your
doctor’s part
Otalgia, or earache, is often caused by disease in the head
and neck region
Many of the nerves in the neck transmit sensory impulses to
the ear canal
Loss of sensation in the ear can actually be a symptom of a
lesion in one of the cranial nerves, which are the nerves that extend from the
brain without passing through the spinal cord.
An earache in a person who smokes or drinks could be a symptom of cancer
in the head or neck region
Squamous cell carcinoma often causes otalgia.
This type of cancer is usually located in the tonsil, tongue base, larynx or
hypopharynx.
Other causes of ear pain are diseases of the oral cavity or dental
infection, especially involving molars
Disease of the temporomandibular
joint (the joint between the lower jaw and temporal bone of the skull) often
causes otalgia, and, tumors or infections of the nose, sinus region, parts of
the tongue or floor of the mouth are rare causes of otalgia.
I am not trying to frighten you, but as in so many cases, a simple
symptom is only the first warning of more complicated situations
You should
make that appointment for thorough examinations of the head and neck as soon
as possible; because, as you can see, many of the diseases for which ear pain
is a symptom need prompt attention
Whatever the cause, an early diagnosis is
always a key part of treatments with successful outcomes.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Zanaflex
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Zanaflex (Tizanidine-Oral) is a muscle relaxant is used to help relax certain muscles in your body.

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Female Viagra
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Female Viagra (Sildenafil) is scientifically formulated to provide intense sexual satisfaction for women seeking ultimate pleasure.

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QUESTION: When I was younger, a good many years ago, my mother was very
determined to put enough roughage in our diet to keep us well, healthy and
regular
She raised 6 children on that philosophy, and all of us are still
around
How come I don’t hear that word much anymore when it seemed to be
just fine for us?

ANSWER: Times change, and terminology changes, but the principles your mother
put into practice concerning your diet still make good sense
In today’s new
nutritional lingo, roughage is now called “fiber”
And according to
statistics from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Americans don’t eat as
much fiber as they should
Currently most diets consumed by Americans fall
far short of the 20-30 grams per day advised by the NCI as possible protection
against colon cancer
Fiber is found only in plants, forming part of their
cell walls
Our system cannot digest fiber, so it forms a great part of the
bulk that helps the passage of solid waste products in our digestive tract.
You won’t find fiber in meats, poultry, fish, or dairy products, so you have
to increase your consumption of fruits, veggies and grain products
You can
often find the fiber content of a prepared food by reading the label, but
including 3-5 servings of whole grain breads and cereals, 3 servings of
vegetables, including cooked dry beans and peas, and 2-3 servings of fruit in
each day’s diet, will put you on the right track
Besides possible protection
against colon cancer, fiber helps ease problems of constipation, hemorrhoids
and some other bowel problems
In addition it has been shown that fiber helps
lower cholesterol blood levels and thus helps reduce the risk of heart
disease
By knowing the fiber content of various foods and making your
selections wisely, you will be getting all the benefits of “roughage” that
your mother intended you to have.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Avodart
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Avodart (Dutasteride) is used to treat symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

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QUESTION: I have a friend in the hospital who is getting transfusions, that
are not whole blood, but only some cells called “platelets”
Shouldn’t he be
getting all the benefit that a real transfusion might give?

ANSWER: The blood is an extremely complex substance, made up of many
components that serve different functions in maintaining the health of the
body
Platelets are just one of these components, along with plasma, red
blood cells and white blood cells
Individuals require transfusions of any of
these substances or a combination when symptoms indicate a drop in the
substance’s normal level or to promote recovery from trauma or surgery.
When the problem is reduced clotting, platelets may be the answer.
Platelets enable the blood to coagulate, or clot
Platelet disorders can be
either congenital or acquired; the result of either is prolonged bleeding
time, which can be life-endangering
In addition, some drugs such as
aspirin, antidepressants or antibiotics like penicillin can interfere with
the platelets’ normal functioning
The effect of these medications varies
from individual to individual.
When excessive bleeding becomes life threatening, and the lack of
sufficient working platelets seem to be the cause of the problem, physicians
choose to replace only the blood element necessary to correct the condition,
in this case just platelets
The rest of the blood elements and components
can then be used to help another needy patient, for example one who may profit
from receiving a transfusion of red cells
All of this helps make our limited
blood reserves go further, to help all the patients we can.

The material contained here is “FOR INFORMATION ONLY” and should not replace
the counsel and advice of your personal physician
Promptly consulting your
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical
problem.

Naprosyn
Our price: $0.97
Naprosyn (Naproxen) is indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis.

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