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6384. thoughtful - 1/20/2005 10:20:42 PM Skip worrying about your cholesterol folks....eat your broccoli instead.
Heart Disease No longer #1 killer
For the first time, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the top killer of Americans under 85, health officials said Wednesday. The good news is that deaths from both are falling, but improvement has been more dramatic for heart disease.
6385. thoughtful - 2/8/2005 5:11:54 PM Metaboloic syndrome or syndrome x is nothing to fool around with.
See here
The metabolic syndrome, probably caused by a fundamental malfunctioning of the body's system for storing and burning energy, is defined by having a cluster of risk factors such as elevated blood pressure, poor blood sugar control, high levels of fats in the blood called triglycerides and low HDL, or "good" cholesterol. Individually, each factor may not be highly dangerous, but together they appear to sharply boost the danger of major health problems, notably heart disease, diabetes and, possibly, certain types of cancer.
At least 64 million Americans -- nearly a third of adults age 20 and older -- probably meet the federal government's criteria for the syndrome, and the rate approaches 50 percent among the elderly. Mexican Americans and African American women appear to be especially prone. It also turns up in people who are not obese but have recently put on a lot of weight around their middles, and in an increasing number of overweight children....
Experts disagree about how much the syndrome boosts the risk of serious illness beyond that of the separate risk factors. But some estimate it may give a person five times the risk of diabetes and more than double the risk of heart disease in the next decade. Evidence has also been accumulating that the syndrome heightens the danger of colon and prostate tumors and some other cancers.
6386. thoughtful - 2/9/2005 9:45:55 PM I think i may be running into gall bladder problems...any one here have any? Anyone ever heard of or tried the gall bladder flush??? 6387. Magoseph - 2/9/2005 10:32:51 PM I had gallbladder problems year ago--what are your symptoms so far? 6388. thoughtful - 2/10/2005 3:28:12 PM My apologies in advance for the graphic nature of this post.
Well I thought I had the stomach flu..no vomiting though but lots of the other stuff, which imodium seemed to take care of and my stomach just ached. The next day I was feeling better and ate more normally all day. The following a.m. I woke up feeling like i just finished a full restaurant meal and I had some bkfst and felt full and queasy the rest of the day. Only had 3 carrot sticks for lunch. Also my stools have been getting much lighter, almost yellowish.
So now I'm trying a fat free diet to see if that makes me feel better. I'll add fat back in and if I feel a lot worse, that'll be another clue.
But I haven't had that pain the right quadrant radiating around to the back, and I don't have a fever or anything.
Both parents and all 4 grandparents had gall stones.
I've also had funny blood work results on my bilirubin over the years. My thinking is it's time to head to the doc and get it checked again. 6389. Magoseph - 2/10/2005 5:04:19 PM
So now I'm trying a fat free diet to see if that makes me feel better.
Excellent move from my point of view--when I had problems with the gallbladder, the doctor put me on a fat free diet, which, naturally, I broke a few times, only to have again the same symptoms—queasiness and nausea followed by spewing out bile. 6390. judithathome - 2/10/2005 5:21:48 PM Sounds like diverticulitis to me...have you had a colonoscopy done? 6391. thoughtful - 2/10/2005 7:30:33 PM J@h, no I haven't (not old enough yet!) but i don't think it's diverticulitis because the pain is not lower. The pain is right up by the solar plexus....now that i think about it, the other day my upper back on the right side was bothersome...felt like i had a rib out of place....
6392. thoughtful - 2/10/2005 7:33:55 PM I'm not 100%, but feeling better since I started the no fat diet...not that that's particularly tasty. 6393. judithathome - 2/10/2005 9:22:02 PM When I get diverticulitis, the pain is above the waist, right below my ribs and slightly above the belly button. It's not just me thinking I have it...the doctor who did my colon scan and removed the polyps diagnosed it. It's weird...I thought it was an ulcer. 6394. thoughtful - 2/10/2005 9:31:32 PM That's interesting...I always think of that as further down and would never have assoc that pain with the colon. Good insight. I know that's nothing to fool around with. Ex sec'y had it which out of the blue led to significant hemorrhaging. She ended up in the hospital. Not fun.
Come to think of it my bro had it at a relatively early age...they thought he had appendicitis...opened him up and found his appendix was fine but his colon had an issue. But I always assoc that with his abysmal diet and health care. 6395. wonkers2 - 2/10/2005 10:51:20 PM Study shows half of health care spending is wasted Here 6396. judithathome - 2/10/2005 11:48:53 PM Thoughtful, the tip off for me was the bloating (feeling full) and pain...my last attack came from raw broccoli. Usually it's something like nuts or raw fiberous veggies.
When I have an attack, I feel as though I've had helium pumped into my stomach and I ache like I have an ulcer. It's very painful and I also have the "trots", sometimes throw up but not every time. I immediately go on a strict bland liquid diet for 24 hours and then just really bland stuff for another two days. It's grueling for a few days. 6397. thoughtful - 2/11/2005 12:45:36 AM J@h, that's most helpful. It is very similar to what I was feeling...my stomach just ached and wouldn't let up for 24 hours. I ended up spending about 36 hrs straight in bed except for when I had to get up as I felt that sick. That is most unusual for me as usually when I'm sick I'm at least up and about the house for some of the time.
Well I see the doc tomorrow and hopefully we'll start the testing process to see what's what. 6398. judithathome - 2/11/2005 5:37:54 AM Ask about the possiblity of its be diverticulitis...sounds almost identical to what I get. And I stay in bed about that long, too...hurts too much to be up and about. 6399. robertjayb - 2/11/2005 8:27:55 AM New Flu...
Next season's influenza vaccine will be changed to protect against a new strain of the virus that was first identified in California last month and that is spreading widely, a World Health Organization official said yesterday.
The new strain has been identified in more than 20 percent of influenza viruses isolated from patients in recent weeks and is expected to be the dominant one circulating in the Northern Hemisphere next season, said the official, Dr. Klaus Stöhr.
The strain, known as A/California/7/2004(H3N2), was first identified from a specimen from a patient who had influenza in Santa Clara County in September, said Dr. Carol Glaser , chief of the California Department of Health Services' viral branch in Richmond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta identified the strain as a new one in January, Dr. Glaser said.
(NYTimes)
6400. wonkers2 - 2/11/2005 3:37:11 PM GM dumps Walgreens Here. 6401. wonkers2 - 2/11/2005 3:39:50 PM GM health costs $12,000 per employee or $1500 per car Here 6402. thoughtful - 2/12/2005 6:06:43 PM Update: went to doc and he says he doesn't think it's gall bladder but a stomach virus. He said go back to eating normally and see how you feel. If you get worse again, then come back and see him again.
Thank goodness I have an at work doc who i can see at no charge and get appointments right away. At least if something goes awry, I can go back to him with my 'i told you so' in hand! 6403. wonkers2 - 2/12/2005 6:27:00 PM Some companies are finding that providing direct workplace health clinics is less expensive and more effective than through insurance plans. This approach is common in some other countries, Spain, for example, where large employers have fairly elaborate on-site health clinics which provide comprehensive non-acute health care rather than just emergency care for on-the-job injuries. As a child I grew up getting care through Exxon's Stanacola Clinic near it's huge refinery in Baton Rouge. And I was born in a similar Exxon clinic at its refinery in Aruba. Often the waiting time to see a doctor for a sore throat or other common ailment seemed endless, and some of the doctors may not have been at the cutting edge. However, my guess is that this approach delivered a lot of competent care at much lower cost than our present system that funnels patients into the high tech world of physicians and hospitals whose bills are paid by insurance companies.
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