MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

See THIS for just one article amongst many hailing the beneficial effects of Metformin. Good news for those of us who take it regularly. Of course, mere mortals like us can never be sure whether this is just marketing from the manufacturers but some fairly reliable names figure in the publishers. I shall allow myself a warm glow......

[Wendyf]

The drug companies will be rubbing their hands together with glee! Watch out for suggestions that Metformin should be put in the water supply along with statins...

[Tizer]

Stanley, you could treat yourself to some Black Mamba nitrile gloves: LINK

[Stanley]

They are a lot more expensive and stronger than the ones I have Tiz. (Mine were a third of the price....) Good if you were doing a really rough job but I reckon the light ones I have (Vinyl) are just about right for the light duty I have in the shed.
Wendy, you could be right! The world is always looking for the super-pill and we all know the big pharmas are always looking for ways to swell their coffers!

[Tizer]

`Shingles vaccine 'has cut cases by a third' in England' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard that report as well. I had the jab a few years ago. I've seen cases of Shingles and it's a nasty complaint!

[Tizer]

Yes, I had it in the 1990s, a rash on my chest and a pain like a stomach ulcer.

[Stanley]

There used to be an old wive's tale that if the rash spread until it reached right round your body you died.....
My war wound is healing well, the scabs are falling off and it's looking good. However it is still swollen and painful and my adviser Paramedic Grand Daughter Laura tells me she thinks I am right when I put that down to the bone injury. I am trying a very old remedy on it, Comfrey Root Cream (And yes Maz, I have had it in the cupboard for many years!). The common name for it was Knitbone. I shall report!
About two hours later.... I'd forgotten how good Knitbone can be. The pain has gone and the swelling is less already. I shall keep it soaked in it all day. I note that the ingredients are extract of Comfrey root, Allantoin and lanolin. I looked Allantoin up and it is a natural ingredient found in Comfrey and Chestnut roots and the urine of pregnant women..... The chemical used in the cream will be a synthetic compound, I suppose pregnant women are thin on the ground......

[Tizer]

The US company Syntex was one of the first to develop steroid drugs and at the time they were made by extracting them from animal tissue. One of the sources was sheep ovaries and they needed very large quantities to be collected and brought to their factory, so much so that the ovaries came to them by rail in those long American railway vans. One day a rail van arrived but when they opened it the stench was abominable - it had been left stranded in the hot sun and the cooling system had broken down. It was so disgusting that the boss of the company, a steroid chemist, rushed off to develop a synthetic process for making the drugs. At least that's the story I was told by a scientist who worked at Syntex!

[plaques]

I suppose pregnant women are thin on the ground...

I think we should vote this 'Oxymoron' of the year.

[Stanley]

I like it!
Tiz, I like the story about the ovaries.... Very plausible I reckon!
The Knitbone treatment continues.....

[Stanley]

It struck me yesterday that perhaps the reason why the bone in my finger is so slow to heal could be that it got cracked when the accident happened. No evidence of course but that would explain why it is so long healing up and is still so tender. Otherwise all goes well and the Knitbone definitely helps!

[Stanley]

I had a hard day in the shed yesterday, see Shed Matters!I took it steady and despite all the lifting, bending and pulling I think I've got away with it, no back or joint problems. However I was in bed early last night and will have an easy day today, it takes it out of you. Another casualty was my finger, it's been coming too nicely and more than ever I'm convinced I cracked the bone. However since yesterday it has been like toothache. I think that I unwittingly did a bit too much. I shall make sure I protect it today!

[Tripps]

When I stabbed my hand with a kitchen knife last year I went to A&E, and to one who doesn't like a fuss, thought they went a bit over the top in treating me. They insisted on an Xray 'to see if there was any bone damage, or the tip of the knife had stayed in the hand'. Then four stitches. It seems now, that was absolutely the right thing to do. Gold standard treatment. I think you should consider it now perhaps. All those chips grindings swarf etc?

Incidentally who set the four hour target for A&E waiting time? For some 4 minutes would be too long, and for some four days would be more appropriate.

[plaques]

As one who is becoming a bit of a professional attendee at our Urgent Care in Burnley, they run a Triage system to weed out the wimps from the more serious cases. A couple of months ago I only had to wait 4 minutes to be seen by the Doctor. Mind you I had popped into our own health centre first so they had probably alerted them to my visit. Excellent service, the followup treatment was just as good with each nurse taking it as a personal challenge to get it better. First class all round.

[Tizer]

A few years ago Mrs Tiz got a `spell' in her hand while gardening. We couldn't get it out but it was tiny so, as we've often done in the past, she left it so it could `work its way out'. It didn't. Eventually she had a painful swollen hand and a hospital appointment was needed to dig it out. I suspect its shape made it work its way in rather than out,

[Stanley]

All good sensible pots. However, I have confidence in my bodiy's ability to manage most of the injuries and believe me, I am not backwards in going to the doc's if I think there is a problem. Bone injuries take six weeks to heal and so far my finger is giving every evidence of conforming to this timetable. Given reasonable care it's improving daily.





Here's the state of play, not bad actually. I have to say that my late discovery of disposable vinyl gloves is welcome. My hands have never been in as good condition as this!

[chinatyke]

It has healed nicely and you'll get a few more years out of it if you're careful.

[Stanley]

Thanks China.... The human body is marvellous isn't it. It's not there yet but every day it's better. Last night the problem was itching! A very good sign my old sayings tell me.....

[Tizer]

If controls are put on selling corrosive substances like acids what will they do about common kitchen bleach?

[PanBiker]

Indeed, spray bleach around £1.00 for a potent weapon along with all the other cleaning type products. the controls don't make a lot of sense anyway as only a very small percentage of these attacks are done by minors. They could just get the weapon from under the sink in most households anyway.

[Stanley]

The bottom line is that if someone is intent on doing violence there are any number of potential weapons. A sharpened screwdriver is just as effective as a knife..... My shed has enough weapons in it to qualify me for a life sentence! Same applies to any carpenter's tool box.
Finger is still tender and short of movement but it's not hampering me and is improving slowly day by day. I'm pretty certain now that it's damage to the bone.....
There was a very interesting discussion on R4 yesterday on the pros and cons off mass screening for common diseases. There is a growing movement against this as it can result in intrusive and unnecessary treatment that can actually worsen outcomes in that particular field. I think the movement is called 'Slow Medicine'. I tend to think that this is indeed the case.

[Tizer]

Our neighbour's wife, who had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance after a massive stroke, has now died. He's shocked because she was healthy and they'd just returned from a week's holiday. Fortunately he has his son and daughter to help him. If she hadn't died she would have been in a vegetative state and not able to communicate or understand what was going on around her.

[Marilyn]

How sad Tizer.

[Stanley]

It is sad Gloria but you could also say that if someone is old and fails for some reason it's perfectly natural and what is described as a good end. I don't know the circumstances with Tiz'z neighbour so I am not commenting on her death. There are downsides to survival in some cases just as Tiz says about surviving but in a bad state. That's why I have stipulated minimum intervention in my Advance Directive and LPA. If I died tomorrow I am OK with that, it's been a good innings and I am on bonus time!