Viva For Your Health

Archive for July, 2011

All men over 40 need a yearly checkup (this goes for the ladies, too). For those who are overweight or those with a family history of heart disease, diabetes or early deaths, you need to see a doctor even if you’re not yet 40. Listed here are the 10 most important health tips for men.

1. Stop smoking. Almost 60 percent of Filipino males smoke. And many start at 13 to 14 years of age. This explains why lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the Philippines. Studies show that 80 percent of lung cancers are due to smoking. Smoking can also cause cancers of the oral cavity, throat, and prostate. Smoking kills. And it kills painfully. So I urge everyone to find a way to quit smoking.

2. Check your prostate. If women worry about breast cancer, then men should be concerned about their prostates. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in males. To help detect prostate cancer, you may check the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, especially for those over 40. In addition, your doctor can insert a finger in the rectum to see whether your prostate is enlarged. This sounds uncomfortable, but it’s part of the checkup. In men over 60, it is common to have urinary problems, such as straining and frequent urination due to an enlarged prostate.

3. Get a cancer checkup. A complete cancer checkup includes checking your thyroid, lymph nodes (nodules under the armpits), oral region, skin (look for black marks), and testicles for any suspicious masses.

Colon cancer is another common cancer. You should watch out for changes in your bowel habits, stool consistency, such as stools becoming smaller or thinner than usual. Blood in stools always needs a quick checkup. A CEA test can help detect bowel cancer.

After 50 years of age, a stool occult blood test is done yearly. To better visualize the colon, a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is recommended after 50.

4. Limit or avoid alcohol. Red wine is good for the heart, right? But not if you drink the whole bottle. A teeny-weeny sip of wine is just fine. Too much wine can destroy your liver and brain cells. You become forgetful, moody, and dependent on alcohol. Alcoholics are also prone to falls and fractures. And if you’ve never had an alcoholic drink, I will definitely not advise you to start the habit.

5. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. Engage in aerobic exercise 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. Lessen your salt and fat intake to maintain your ideal body weight. Practice proper dental care with regular tooth brushing and flossing.

6. Know your BP. Checking your blood pressure regularly is a simple way to care for your heart. If your BP is greater than or equal to 140 over 90 mmHg, you have high blood pressure. If your BP is higher than 160 over 100 mmHg, you are at serious risk for a stroke or heart attack. Please get a checkup now. For those with BP below 140/90 but higher than 120/80, you should be careful and monitor your BP. Maintain a healthy lifestyle to attain an ideal BP of 120 over 80 mmHg.

7. Limit work stress. It’s been proven that chronic stress harms the body. Tension elevates the blood pressure and makes the blood thicker. Although we don’t want to endorse a lazy lifestyle, too much stress can hurt your body organs like the heart, brain, and stomach. Take it easy sometimes.

8. Resolve family and relationship issues. Stress does not only come from work. Family stress, guilt, anger, and conflict can lead to sleepless nights and high blood pressure. Too much jealousy and hate poison the mind and cause sickness. Some experts believe that cancer arises from these negative emotions, too.

9. Get vaccinated. For persons above 50 and those with chronic medical conditions, influenza (flu) and pneumonia vaccinations are lifesaving. Just like infant vaccinations, the recent advances in medical science now offer protection for adults. Pneumonia vaccine is given every five years while the flu vaccine is given yearly.

10. Get a basic laboratory exam. These are the basic laboratory exams:

• Blood exams: Complete blood count, creatinine (check the kidneys), uric acid (check for gout), cholesterol (high-fat diet), fasting blood sugar (check for diabetes), and SGPT (check the liver).

• Urinalysis: Check for urinary infections and kidney problems.

• Electrocardiogram: Check for heart problems.

• Chest X-ray: Check for lung and heart problems, particularly for smokers.

Checkups are done yearly. Statistics show that regular checkups can add an average of three years to your lifespan.

Life is short — let us not make it shorter by our stubbornness and fear of doctors. I sincerely hope I have convinced you to visit your favorite doctor.

By Shelly Najjar

Summer means school is out and children have more free time. Two Green Lake-area healthcare specialists give advice for keeping children, and their free time, as healthy as possible.

Dr. Troy Hull, a dentist from Greenlake Kids Dentistry (6900 E Green Lake Way N, #H), offers these tips on oral health:

First and most important, make sure you have an established oral health home.  Should anything happen, be it a fall from a bike or scooter or an injury to the face or mouth of any kind, it’s extremely important to be a patient of record in a dental practice to avoid a trip to the emergency room.  Specialists are trained in emergency care and are on-call for all of their existing patients.  Accidents happen, especially in the summertime, so be prepared.

Second, we know that ice cream is a fantastic summer snack so we encourage it in moderation, but for everyday snacking, fresh (not dried!) fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses are great choices to keep your teeth healthy.   Those foods don’t “stick” to teeth and don’t give sugar bugs the sugar they need to cause cavities.  They also get saliva flowing so your teeth are getting a good wash to help keep them clean and healthy.

Dr. Naomi Busch from Greenlake Primary Care (6800 E Green Lake Way N, #200) adds these tips on sunscreen and back-to-school readiness:

Sunscreen

Although it may seem as though the sun has not been shining this summer, our children are still exposed to UV A and UV B.  It is important to remember to always put sunscreen on your children whether it is sunny or not.  UV rays can penetrate the clouds leaving our children vulnerable to sunburns now and skin cancer later.  UV rays are strongest between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Babies younger than 6 months should be kept out of direct sunlight by covering up with cool light weight clothing or staying in the shade.  Many companies are now making clothing that has SPF ratings.

When picking sunscreen look for one that says “broad-spectrum” for both UVA and UVB, SPF of at least 15 to block UVB, look for four star rating indicating the highest UVA protection.  Some children have very sensitive skin, and they may break out in a rash from some of the chemical skin protectors.  If this happens you can use sun block with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. If you must put sunscreen on a baby younger than 6 months then try to limit it to small areas of the body, like the face and hands.  Try to remember to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before going outside so that it will have time to absorb into the skin and reapply every 2 hours.

If rash develops see you doctor – your child may have an allergy to sunscreen or even to the sun itself!

Back to School

School may be the last thing on your mind during these months of summer.  But it is never too early to start getting your child prepared to go back to school.

Is your child up to date on their vaccines?  Washington State has one of the highest unvaccinated rates.  If you were planning on getting your child any vaccines before entering back into school, don’t wait until the last minute! Learn about new vaccines such as the meningitis vaccine or HPV vaccine for both boys and girls. Talk to your doctor or nurse and set up a plan that works for you.

Does your child play sports?  Summer is a great time to think about getting your child’s physical exam out of the way.  Most practitioners will do yearly well child exams and if you provide the school’s sports physical at the time of the exam it will be covered by most insurance plans.  The sports physical form is usually good for two years.  If you do not know whether your child needs a physical, contact your provider’s office.

 

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Dr. Naomi Busch is a My Green Lake advertiser. She is a accepting new patients of all ages at Greenlake Primary Care.

 

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©Shelly Najjar for My Green Lake | Seattle’s Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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The Sudbury District Health Unit has issued a heat advisory for residents of Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, and is offering tips on how to beat the heat.

Exposure to extreme heat can result in heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and even death. The young, the elderly, people who exercise strenuously outdoors and those who work outside are most at risk.

But anyone can be overcome by the combination of heat and humidity.

“Everyone should take precautions,” says Allan McDougall, an environmental support officer with the health unit.

The health unit offers the following tips on how to prevent heat-related illness.

Stay cool by wearing light-coloured, loose-fitting, lightweight clothing.

Drink lots of water and 100 per cent natural juices. Avoid drinks with alcohol or caffeine.

Avoid going out in the sun or heat when possible.

Keep electric lights off or turned down low.

Take a cool bath or shower periodically, or cool down with cool, wet towels.

Take lots of rest breaks, preferably in the shade or in an air-conditioned area

such as a library, community centre, shopping mall or a cooler area of your building.

Avoid heavy meals and using your oven.

Place a dish of ice cubes in front of your electric fan. It has a cooling effect.

Check in at least once a day on family, friends, and neighbours who may have difficulty dealing with the heat.

Know the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness. They include rapid breathing, weakness or fainting, more tiredness than usual, headache and confusion. If you or someone in your care experiences these symptoms, contact a health care professional, friend or family member for help. In emergencies, call 911.

For more on preventing heat-related illness, phone the health unit 522-9200, ext. 398, or visit www.sdhu.com.

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Good oral health in children translates to healthy adult teeth. Here’s how to help care for your child’s pearly whites:

•Take your child to a pediatric dentist by the child’s first birthday or when the first teeth arrive, whichever comes first.

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•Begin helping your child floss by the time their last two molars come together, which usually happens when children are 21/2 to 3 years of age. “The minute the two last molars — the first and second baby molars — come together, flossing becomes a big way to prevent that plaque formation from taking place,” says Dr. Indru Punwani, professor and head of the department of pediatric dentistry at the University of Illinois in Chicago. “The cavities tend to start in between the teeth.”

•Don’t let children brush their own teeth until around the ages of 7 to 9 — or until they’re able to tie their shoes or cut their meat on their plates.

•Curb thumb-sucking by approximately age 5 to prevent developmental abnormalities.

•Don’t allow young children to carry around sippy cups containing anything but water.

•Cut down on sugary snacks between meals. One of the major cavity-causing culprits is eating sugary foods throughout the day, says Richard Mungo, a pediatric dentist in Huntington Beach, Calif. For example, children may start out in the morning eating a sugarcoated cereal and a piece of toast with jelly on it. Mid-morning, they might snack on graham crackers; then lunchtime rolls around and they drink chocolate milk with their peanut butter and jelly sandwich. At 3 p.m., it’s a Twinkie. “It’s the number of times you expose your teeth to the sugars that’s important, not how much [sugar],” says Mungo.

•Limit sticky foods such as raisins and fruit roll-ups, which cling to the teeth. Experts note that raisins are very nutritious, but they tend to get wedged in the teeth and stay put. Encourage children to take a sip of water after eating these and other snacks. “Swish it around, make faces with them, and help get if off the teeth,” says Mungo.

• Take care of your own oral health. Research shows that the bacteria that cause decay can be passed from caregivers to infants and young children. Rinsing with anti-bacterial mouthwashes has been shown to significantly reduce the number of cavity-causing bacteria.

•Limit the sharing of spoons and bottles between caregivers and children and among children themselves.

•Let older children chew sugar-free gum. Gum increases the flow of saliva in the mouth and helps neutralize acids on the teeth. Further, studies have suggested that chewing sugar-free gum for 20 minutes after meals can help prevent tooth decay. The ADA recommendshttp://www.ada.org/5098.aspx%3FcurrentTab=1 gum containing xylitol, a naturally occurring sugar substitute, as well as gum that has the ADA seal of approval. (NOTE: Chewing gum is considered a serious choking hazard for young children.)

—Amanda Mascarelli

Healthkey@tribune.com

SUNDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) — Backyard barbeques are a big part of summer fun, but avoiding their hidden dangers is key to staying healthy and enjoying a cookout, a doctor suggests.

Barbeques can result in food poisoning from raw or undercooked foods; temperamental grills can cause burns; and charred meat may contribute to the development of certain types of cancer, according to Dr. Martha Howard, a Chicago Healers practitioner.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, Howard noted in a news release from the health care network. As the summer heats up and more people fire up their grills, Howard offers the following tips to help ensure safe and healthy barbeques:

• Keep it clean. Be sure to scrub the grill and remove old fats.
• Use wood starters for charcoal — not petroleum. Stack charcoal in a two-pound metal can with the ends cut off. Spread out the coals with tongs once they are well-lit.
• Become familiar with the grill. It’s important to know how to operate and turn off a propane grill safely.
• Use proper hygiene. Remember to wash your hands and use separate plates and cutting boards for raw and cooked meats.
• Use marinades. Marinated meat may char less. Just don’t let meat sit out while it’s marinating.
• Precook. Avoid taking meats or poultry directly from the freezer to the grill. Precooking before grilling reduces overall cooking temperature and charring.
• Cut down to size. Cut meat and chicken into smaller pieces so they cook thoroughly.
• Check temperatures. To avoid food poisoning, check temperatures with a meat thermometer: chicken, 165 degrees; hamburger, 160 degrees; pork, 150 degrees; hot dogs, 140 degrees; steak, 160 degrees for medium.
• Don’t allow meat to become charred. Charred meat contains three potentially cancer-causing chemicals: PhIP, HCAs (heterocyclic amines) and PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).
• Trim the fat. Less fat on meat and poultry means fewer PAHs.
• Try more vegetables. Vegetables can be grilled for a healthy alternative to meat.
• Turn it off. At the end of the barbecue, be sure to put out charcoal completely, or turn the propane valve off.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about barbeque safety.

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