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12 Tishrei 5764 - October 8, 2003 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family


Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine

Let's answer some letters. From Jerusalem, we're asked a few questions, the first being on aspirin. This wonder drug has been around from the early part of the last century and comes from the bark of a South American tree. It is a good pain reliever and it reduces fever. Its most important effect is that it prevents platelets -- the clotting cells of the blood -- from aggregating and making clots. This is not good in trauma and in someone who falls a lot, but it is great for people who have arteries full of fatty deposits and cholesterol plaques who need good blood flow. A clot in a narrow artery can be the cause of a stroke and a heart attack.

Current recommendations are that everyone over the age of 35 should take one a day. Low doses are fine. Keep in mind that if you have a bleeding disorder or an ulcer, you cannot take this drug. A new drug called Plavix causes less bleeding but is much, much more expensive. Aspirin remains the only treatment for some strokes.

The letter writer also asks about cholesterol. Cholesterol comes in many forms, and if you do not eat enough of it your body will make it. The bad ones are LDL and VLDL which have a tendency to clog up blood vessels. HDL is better, but it is higher in females.

Not eating cholesterol is not the problem; eating fats -- the material needed to create cholesterol -- is the problem. You may ask: since fat is bad and carbohydrates are now considered not so good and proteins in excess turn into fat -- so what is there left to eat? The answer remains fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy and meat products. Bamba never will be considered a good food, though I hate to disappoint some people with this information.

He also asks about hypertension. There is some new information on this that we will discuss next week, iy"H.

Another correspondent from Bnei Brak complained about the lack of supervision in water parks. You cannot depend on Hatzolah people and rebbes to be on top of everything, and the lifeguard as well cannot be depended on when there are hundreds of kids. Teach your child to swim and use the buddy system: all children must buddy-up and watch each other. Report dangerous conditions to the administration of the park and if they are not responsive, then to the authorities. Try to get the cheder to send fewer kids if possible. Volunteer to help out if possible. There are no simple answers. Prevention remains the best cure. Teach your children to be as responsible as possible. Write me in care of the Yated.

A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this column. Serentide combines a lung passage opener with a steroid, the combination most recommended to keep asthma in check. Breathe easier with this tested and safe medication from Glaxo.

 

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