Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine
First I want to start off this column with a disclaimer. The
Yated publishes various health related material. I am
not privy to these articles before they are published and
some may contain information that is incorrect, misleading or
incomplete.
For example, a recent Yated had an article about the
benefits of taking potassium, based on an Institute of
Medicine report. This report neglected to mention that people
taking Ace-inhibitors for blood pressure or spirolactone for
heart failure or who have kidney failure, all can have
dangerous elevations of blood potassium and the addition of
more from outside sources can be lethal.
In the USA the latest rage is the evil carbohydrate. We
discussed this briefly previously, but since fads in the USA
often come here, be forewarned. Carbohydrates are the fast
energy portion of what we eat and do become fat if not used.
But this is just another fad. First fats were bad, and now
carbs. The truth is that all are fine in moderation and bad
in overdose.
More letters: A lady from Jerusalem recently was given a
microwave oven for a present. These ovens work by bombarding
the food with microwave energy which passes through the food.
The case that contains this device is manufactured to strict
standards, and the likelihood of danger has never been shown.
My family uses microwave ovens. It does save time.
I have been asked about acupuncture. I took a small course in
this in medical school, and was not pleased by it. It hurt.
However, it is harmless, and it may work for some folks. I
have mentioned often that pain comes in different forms, and
treating it should not be by "one size fits all." We are
learning this fast in medicine, and now have adequate pain
relievers just for cancer pain, kidney stone pain and
headaches.
Another question is about TB. This scourge of the early part
of the last century is back, but it is still not the killer
it was. Underdeveloped countries and people with poor health
are still the reservoirs for this disease. There is a vaccine
of some effectiveness. It is given in Europe but not in the
USA.
Write me in care of the Yated.
A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this
column. We spoke of specific pain relievers and Imitrex
is your answer for headaches. This drug works specifically on
the brain pain, and is the oldest and best selling of its
genre. Have I used it for my headaches? Sure have!
