MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on research into diabetes which posits a far more complicated picture than previously thought. Early days but it could lead to more precise targeting of individual treatment.

[Stanley]

Nothing on the web yet but a BBC report this morning on a new technique for detecting pre-cancerous cells by colour photography. Said to be very promising.

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian report on the success of the vaccination against the Papilloma virus in Australia. Eradication of cervical cancer is a definite possibility. This being the case, why not follow suit here?

[Tizer]

The anti-vaccination lobby is in full swing in Europe and the US. We're lucky, thanks (ironically) to Andrew Wakefield because his attempts to stop MMR vaccination were shown to be wrong and the issue raised awareness here of the need for vaccination to increase population immunity to serious infections. Wakefield has been promoting `anti-vax' in the US and unfortunately the authorities, scientists and GPs there haven't been as robust in response as they were here. Confidence in vaccination has been falling and is especially low in France where they've had to change the law to prompt more people to have their children vaccinated.

[PanBiker]

See THIS Guardian report on the success of the vaccination against the Papilloma virus in Australia. Eradication of cervical cancer is a definite possibility. This being the case, why not follow suit here?

I believe all teenage girls are now offered the vaccination through school with an option to opt out.

[Wendyf]

Col has had another "All clear" check up, one more to go in 12 months and he will be signed off.

[Big Kev]

Col has had another "All clear" check up, one more to go in 12 months and he will be signed off.

[Stanley]

Good news Wendy and I am so pleased for him.
I'm of the generation where we take every jab that's available without a second thought......

[PanBiker]

Excellent news Wendy.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the latest stem cell treatment for multiple sclerosis. This looks like yet another break-through in treatment and I hope it's as good as they say, it's a rotten disease!

[Tizer]

It'll be great if it works well, let's keep fingers crossed!

I'm surprised the Daily Mail has only just wakened up to the problem of plastic particles in the air contaminating food and being a danger to our health through both inhalation and ingestion: LINK

You've only got to take a jumper produced with man-made fibre and shake it in a beam of sunlight and you'll see a cloud of fibres. We've known this for ages. The real danger is when nothing is done to prevent or cure such problems. There are many other examples of such inaction and we've mentioned them often on OG.

[Big Kev]

Physio this morning (Tennis Elbow and radial nerve compression) for some ultrasound treatment and to have some pain inflicted upon the tendons in my arm. Still making good use of Ian's 'weights', up to 1.5kgs now for the wrist extensions. There must be progress as it hurts a lot more now

[Stanley]

"There must be progress as it hurts a lot more now "
There speaks a good Puritan!
Tiz, and the rubber off tyres as they wear........

[Stanley]

Armful of blood today for Dracula at the surgery..... My 6 month diabetes assessment is due next Thursday.

[Stanley]

No surprises yesterday.....
I noted THIS Guardian article on a report in the Lancet which basically says that most intervention in back pain is useless. This accords with my experience over 60 years of pain. Unless you have an acute episode, the best thing to do is soldier on and keep mobile. In the end all pain killers lose effectiveness and can even trigger pain themselves. I there is one thing that stands out above all others in my case it was attending to preserving
g the lordosis in my lower spine.

[Stanley]

I wish to register a complaint! I got a message from the surgery yesterday from my doctor saying that he wanted a separate blood and urine test in four weeks 'to check my renal function'. The result of this is that I can now worry about kidney failure for at least five weeks. Wouldn't have been just as effective asking for the test without the details? I sometimes wonder if they ever consider the patient or do they just like letting us know how clever and efficient they are? Only a small point but I can do without it. By the way, I feel fine!

[plaques]

The result of this is that I can now worry about kidney failure for at least five weeks.

Don't worry yourself over it. Some time ago I got a similar 'poor' result. After delving into the mathematics of how they arrived at these values it became evident that the value of your age was one of the functions in the equation. The bottom line being that although the chemistry numbers remained the same the fact you had become one year older multiplied the end result. A subtle way of keeping a check on us oldies.

[Tizer]

Stanley, is it following up on a previous visit or is it one of those `out of the blue' checks that are triggered simply by you reaching a certain age or because they've just got a new type of test or someone is doing a survey and they need a certain umber of participants etc?

[Stanley]

That's the conclusion I have come to P. I had already decided that they would get severely grilled if they called me in as a result. Thanks for the reassuring words, makes me feel better.
Tiz, I don't know but it is certainly a possibility.
I remember reading Illich on iatrogenic disease over 50 years ago and being shocked. I suspect it could be even worse today. They have so many fancy tests!
I found this on Wikipedia.... "Globally, as of 2013, an estimated 20 million negative effects from treatment occurred. It is estimated that 142,000 people died in 2013 from adverse effects of medical treatment up from 94,000 in 1990"

[Stanley]

Later..... As I went for my walk I realised how much P had cheered me up. Nice....
I have remembered I am due at the surgery for my Diabetes Assessment this morning. This is good!

[Stanley]

No surprises at the surgery. The reason for the recall on renal matters is a slight aberration in my sodium levels. I suppose I should be grateful they are on the ball!

[Stanley]

I heard THIS LADY on Today and went looking for this article. I like the way Barbara Ehrenreich thinks and agree totally with what she is saying. This is well worth reading, she makes eminent sense to me!

[Tizer]

Yes, that's a good article. One of the causes of all that obsession about health is the way that charities hype it up to bring in more money. I don't mean small local charities but the big ones with coffers overflowing with cash that they then spend on even more advertising to frighten us into paying up yet more.

Switching to a different concern...I know the NHS is in difficulties but, as I've noted before on OG, it's more obvious when it affects someone close to you. A neighbour was taken into hospital in the middle of the night recently with severe pain. Gallstones were diagnosed. Her GP expected her to have an operation but she was sent home with no plans for an op, no drug to try and dissolve the gallstones, not even painkillers and only the advice to eat a low-fat diet (which she already does on the advice of her GP for other reasons). The family are puzzled and stressed out and can only wait now to see if the GP can get something done.

[Stanley]

All I can offer in explanation Tiz is that the pressures on the NHS are so severe that lack of action like this is probably going to be the norm until something changes. At the moment there is no certainty what this will be.