MEDICAL MATTERS

[Stanley]

Very true David. America is not a good place to be ill especially with a long term condition. People like Trump know this but they call free care socialism because they know that they would have to pay for the poor. The big laugh is that if they had the NHS like us it would eventually be cheaper than the insurance they pay at the moment. I thank God for the NHS and will defend it to the death!

[plaques]

and I read last week that half a million Americans go bankrupt every year due to medical bills

The pharmaceutical industry like any other manufacturing industry exists to make a profit. The bigger the profit the better the shareholders like it. They are not really interested in totally curing illnesses its much more profitable to ameliorate the symptoms then you can sell the drug over and over again. Should the odd individual drop off their gravy train by dying its considered a loss but it barely alters the bottom line profit. But if we take Iain Duncan Smith's advice he should have worked harder, more hours or a better paid job then he would be able to afford the better insulin. So its his fault.
And we are looking forward with trade deals with America which will in all likelihood include the NHS. We must be mad.

[Tizer]

They are not really interested in totally curing illnesses its much more profitable to ameliorate the symptoms then you can sell the drug over and over again.

Add to that the fact they aren't much interested in developing drugs to treat the ailments of the `third world' because people there can't afford them.

[Stanley]

Or treatments for rare complaints, not a big enough market.
Later .... see THIS Huffington Post report on the rise in deaths from asthma. Worrying stuff.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of some success in the development of two new treatments for Ebola. Not a cure but a big increase in the ability to improve survival. Both companies producing these drugs say that large stocks are available immediately. Sounds good!

[Tizer]

This is the unintended consequence of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency finding bacterial contamination in the production area of the company making the food replacement...
`Patients who cannot eat food 'fear for lives'' LINK
`Patients who cannot eat have told BBC News they are petrified and fear for their lives after problems making their replacement nutrition. They are completely dependent on bags filled with a liquid that contains everything their body needs and is infused directly into the bloodstream.

[PanBiker]

I mentioned way back in February that I had discovered a couple of depressions or dents in my head. I have since learned that these are the original drilling points for access to the skull and there are usually three. After accessing the skull, the surgeon drills the holes then joins them up with the cranial saw like dot to dot. This removes a triangular section of skull where they need to access the tumour. I have found my third one now which is the smallest of the trio but the latest development head wise is that at some times I can feel the shape of one of the screw heads that they use when they reattach the section of bone. Like the dents, It doesn't hurt or cause me any irritation it's just there. I still think it's amazing what these surgeons can do and am very thankful that they have the skills.

[Stanley]

Tiz, what a terrible predicament for these people. Bad enough to be dependent on this method of nutrition but even worse in a situation like this. I can't imagine the effect on them and will have a completely different attitude when I eat my dinner today! It reinforces what I say so many times, I am so lucky to have survived an eventful life and not have to face something like this. Given the choice of cancer or this situation I shall keep the cancer thank you!
Ian, you're right. It's a miracle what can be done. I remember many years ago seeing a set of surgical tools for dealing with bone and commented that it was exactly the same as a very high class cabinet makers tool chest.
The same surgeon did hip replacements and I asked him how it was that the joint didn't come out of the socket and he told me that if I saw the position they had to put the leg in to make the connection I would be amazed but understand why it was safe!
I sent Hassan an update on my condition and he told me that I was a textbook case but then spoiled it by saying I should consider stopping smoking. He keeps trying!

[Tizer]

I suspect this fungus might have been the cause of a large growth in the lung of Mrs Tiz's uncle in Canada. Doctors thought he had a lung cancer tumour but after several investigations they found it was a fungal growth. He was fortunate and they were able to get rid of it. This was some years ago and perhaps the Candida hadn't developed resistance at that stage.

`Candida auris: The new superbug on the block' LINK

[Stanley]

That reminds me of Farmer's Lung Tiz. It was an incurable respiratory complaint caused by breathing in spores from the mould that forms on badly harvested hay. It can be very debilitating. My mate John Henry at Yew Tree Farm had it and in the end he had to give up farm work and go into building. Shortly after he retired it was made an industrial disease and when John claimed compensation he was told he hadn't got it, he had asthma. Very convenient! However, later his doctor pinned down the real cause. For years he had been suffering from bleeding piles but had never told anyone about it. He was anaemic and evidently the symptoms can be very similar to both farmer's Lung and asthma as both caused difficulty breathing.

[Stanley]

My cystoscopy has been changed from 16 September to the 23. Pity as all the transport arrangements were arranged....

[Stanley]

I'm reading Jack Drummond and Anne Wilbraham's book on five centuries of English food and was reminded of something I had forgotten. In the 17th and 18th centuries there is evidence of 'wet nurses' not only being used for undernourished babies but surprisingly for old people as well. Funnily enough the evidence cites only men. They suckled direct from the nurse's breast. It sounds bizarre but mother's milk was regarded as the most easily digested nourishment available closely followed by Ass's milk.

[Cathy]

That makes me feel seriously weird.

[Stanley]

It's a bit bizarre to our modern sensibilities isn't it but very well researched and confirmed from old documents and publications. Definitely a true account of what was accepted treatment in those days.

[Marilyn]

I'd tell the old men they could suck on an Ass!
What is wrong with Beef Broth?!

[Pluggy]

Its only a fluke in our genes that allows us to process milk as adults in the first place. Half the humans in the world are lactose intolerant. Thats the normal state of affairs for mammals that are done weaning.

[Tizer]

Desmond Morris says we humans are evolving into big children so perhaps maintaining the ability to digest lactose is part of that. (I wonder what Morris would make of Donald Trump?).

[Stanley]

I only discovered that when I was working with a Japanese Professor teaching the Carleton kids.
THIS report caught my attention this morning for obvious reasons. It reinforces another report that any kind of exercise is good, even washing up. I believe that Rob Newton is correct about the benefits for cancer patients. I have no scientific evidence, only how I feel and what is reported to me by the people treating me. So far so good and I shall keep up with the exercise!

[Tizer]

That's timely - yesterday we met the young lady doctor I've mentioned before who has had a brain tumour yet goes out to South America regularly to spend time working with local doctors there. She was just going out on her bicycle to travel across to the far side of town and babysit for a friend. She's only recently got back from one of her trips and has also just done a 14-mile walk with her mum along the Devon coast. She's a good advert for exercise helping cancer patients. And if it helps her, it's indirectly helping poor kids in South America.

[Stanley]

Laura commented on the fact that my feet and legs are only 16 years old and I told her I put that down to lots of long distance cycling in my youth and a life full of hard work. I am convinced that what keeps me straight now is walking with Jack. That early morning walk is better than all the pills in the world. If someone could bottle it it would sell. And it costs nothing...

[chinatyke]

Laura commented on the fact that my feet and legs are only 16 years old and I told her I put that down to lots of long distance cycling in my youth and a life full of hard work. I am convinced that what keeps me straight now is walking with Jack. That early morning walk is better than all the pills in the world. If someone could bottle it it would sell. And it costs nothing...

Why is it that some people are "old" at 60 and others are like spring chickens? Is it hard work and exercise or have some of us just been lucky enough to have the right genes? I see people here who are cream-crackered at 60 and you can't say these people didn't work hard, in fact, I'd say it was hard work that made them that way. Perhaps their diet was poor when times were hard, is that the answer?

[Marilyn]

Don't diabetics get free chiropodist on the NHS?

[Tripps]

Epsom salts.

I had a couple of attacks of labyrinthitis a few years ago. It involves the inner ear and giddiness. I read in the Telegraph that a small dose of Epsom salts was beneficial. I tried it and thought it might be true. I got mine from Tesco, though I had to ask at the pharmacy to get it. You only need about half a teaspoon so the tub lasted for ever. I eventually gave it away to the poet next door when she had the same problem.

You can get it from Home Bargains in a kilo bag quite cheap. I got one, but it remained unopened so I've chucked it out. Now seeing how good it is for feet, maybe I shouldn't have?

After extensive research I find that Epsom Salts is one of the ingredients of Andrews Liver Salts, so I keep a tub of that for emergencies. Not used for a long time now. Take care though there are side effects.

I bet this is the only chat site in the world (universe?) discussing this subject. . . .

[Tizer]

How long do you leave it in your ear?

[Stanley]

Only in cases where you need it Maz and you have to go to Colne.
In days gone by another use of Epsom salts was if a woman had to go from breast-feeding to bottle for any reason a dose of Epsom salts or two stopped breast milk forming. Vera had to do that once and it is very efficient.
China, I think the main factor is genes, exercise and diet but that's only from my own experience.