MEDICAL MATTERS

[Marilyn]

My MRI shows that the disc directly above the one I had removed is bulging further and pressing on a nerve. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it unless it ruptures. I'm told they can't operate until it ruptures, as to do so would do more harm than good. So just have to learn to listen to my pain and don't do things that are stupid...
( simple pain relief as and when needed, saving more serious pain relief for the bad times )

[chinatyke]

I hope you can keep on top of the pain, Maz. Best wishes.

[Stanley]

Hard luck. I've been there Maz. It's survivable but you have to learn fast. God cures it in the end, it shrinks as you get older....
One thing I learned early was that it's often the spasm in the muscle as it tries to protect the back that does the real damage, I took an aspirin first thing in the morning to forestall the first tiny spasm. I think it helped.

[Marilyn]

And my HBA1C was 5.5.

[Stanley]

Just a general observation, nothing specific but it may help someone. In the days when I was subject to Cystitis, quite unusual they tell me in males, I learned that one of the best defences was drinking plenty of water and peeing regularly and the habit has stuck. When I was finishing my latest bout of immunotherapy for the bladder cancer, Helen, my nurse, told me I was unusual in that I had not had a bladder infection during the course of the treatment. I told her this story which I remembered this morning.
One day when I was running Bancroft engine one of the weavers came to ask me to get a doctor as another weaver had collapsed due to Cystitis pain. They laid her on some cloth in the warehouse and told me that her doctor was Dr Love at Earby. I made the call and he arrived very shortly afterwards. He examined her, diagnosed Cystitis, and we got her home. He was very interested in the engine and wanted to have it explained to him and I took the opportunity to ask him about Cystitis, at that time I knew next to nothing about it. He said that what had caused this weaver's problem was the fact that in the endless chase for picks to get the wage up she had been ignoring calls of nature in between breaks. He said the secret was, you've guessed it, drink lots of water and pee often, never ignoring the call and holding it, I took this on board. In later years, first when I got Cystitis and second during immunotherapy it served me well. So take notice! It works.

[Tizer]

`How a wrong injection helped cause Samoa's measles epidemic' LINK
Nurses mixed the vaccine with a drug instead of water and this caused the deaths of two children. Anti-vaxxers leapt onto it and stopped people from getting their kids vaccinated. Now there's an epidemic of measles - 4000 cases and 53 deaths - as a result.

[Stanley]

Such a simple mistake Tiz and dreadful consequences. Can anyone doubt the need for well qualified nurses working under sensible conditions?

[Tizer]

It's sad to see that internet and social media allow the anti-vax noddies in the wealthy west to influence the thinking of those in less developed regions.

[Marilyn]

Wondering how you are going, China.

[chinatyke]

I'm fine thanks. I sustained some nerve damage which makes my left bottom lip droop slightly and there is some numbness under my chin. It's only been 3 weeks since the op, so I'm not expecting it to be a problem.

[Stanley]

Early days China, you're still healing up and some things take longer than others. Fingers crossed!

[PanBiker]

I am now 14 months post op and still have numbness down my right side, mainly in my shoulder and upper arm. It can spread to the right side of my neck but has no effect on facial muscles. It is considered normal for brain trauma patients and may still resolve over time but could take years and may never resolve fully.

[Tizer]

I hope you both recover as much nerve function as possible. Thank goodness we have the medical ability to treat these conditions nowadays.

This short video on today's BBC news pages brought back memories for me: `How do eggs protect us from flu?' LINK
It has the caption: Each year up to 650,000 people die around the world from flu and five million become severely ill, according to the World Health Organisation. Liverpool is home to the UK’s biggest flu vaccine manufacturing site, where 100 million doses are made using hen eggs. Seqirus provides vaccines to countries as far afield as Australia and New Zealand. Lesley Day explains how eggs are used to protect people against flu.

I spent 6 months working there in the late 1960s researching a new method of purifying influenza virus as part of my BSc degree studies. It was then Evans Medical (Speke, Liverpool) but has since passed through various hands, becoming part of an ever growing vaccine company. Evans made a wide range of vaccine products and the influenza department was small in those days. I got to know the young man who ran the influenza production unit and we remained friends long afterwards and Mrs Tiz and I shared a house with him and his girlfriend. The production of vaccine was very different in those days. Ladies in green overalls sat in lines at tables where they injected virus into the eggs before incubation and then collected the fluid from the eggs afterwards. The fluid was spun in Sharples centrifuges to concentrate the virus and then a chemical was added to kill it; the important part was the antigen on the outside of the virus that would elicit antibodies in our bloodstream. The process conditions look very different in the video!

[Stanley]

A nice illustration of the way advances in medicine help us. How lucky we are to be able to hear that from the horse's mouth so to speak! OG is a wonderful source of knowledge. And all that knowledge and dedication is as naught when the gullible are attacked by the anti vaccination trolls on social media. There is always a tiny risk, that's obvious, no process is perfectly safe. Show me a needle and I will run towards it!

[Tizer]

This is good news, especially with the failure of so many antibiotics due to microbial resistance...
`Typhoid vaccine 'works fantastically well'' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard that report also Tiz and was so glad that for once we have a good example of an advance that will help some of the poorest children on earth. That's where the real tragedies are. Thank god for dedicated scientists! (Every time I say something like that my thoughts inevitably go back to Hartley!)

[Tizer]

More good news...
`Bug busters: The tech behind new vaccines' LINK

[Stanley]

Wonderful link Tiz. It's Star Trek medicine evolving in our time. I wish them well!

[Whyperion]

Noting Plaques Langroyd Hall (ex Hotel) notes I did a bit of a look around the net
Colne LDs noted that some work was going on pre any idea of Planning Permission http://liberaldemocratspendle.co.uk/201 ... -in-colne/

Historic Englands notes https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/ ... ry/1073380

A bit behind the curve but found in the Burnley Express. Langroyd Planning permission is to be submitted to house vulnerable adults in four extra units to create 33 flats. This would require part of the hall to be demolished.

I can see some of the nearby residents not being happy with this proposal.

Definition of an adult at risk: Aged 18 years or over; Who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation.

To some extent if there is no feasible use for a building just because it is old then new build done well could be an improvement. I hope that the planning does follow relevent guidelines on transport accessibility, One assumes that older parts of building retained would have a benificial effect on the intended residents and I hope gives space and varied activities , e.g. Gardening opportunities, for some well-being development where appropriate. I note the building and appropriate land is reported by Zoopla at selling at £80,000 in Feb 2019 , I assume this might have some kind of restriction on the use of the building for the social purchases, or really reflected with required work to bring it up to any kind of occupational or use standard.

[plaques]

Langroyd Hall. The current agreed planning permission covers demolition of 40 cubic metres of building, reinstatement of original staircase and replacing internal walls. The vulnerable people bit is new. We all tend to think the worst when we here this term but with Downs syndrome children now outliving their care parents there is a growing need for this type of care. Perhaps some clarity on the subject will settle the issue.

[Tripps]

From your shopping correspondent -

Just been to Tesco . Wanted a packet of own brand generic Ibuprofen. Last time I bought them they cost about 30p for a pack of 16 x 200 mg caplets.

Last week I tried to buy some, and their space on the shelf was empty - sold out. Today was much the same except for one last pack. Didn't have my specs and the package was not as I remembered it but I put it in the trolley. Got home to find I had paid £2 for them. The pack had in large font "Rapid Pain Relief" and in far smaller font "Ibuprofen 342 mg as Ibuprofen Lysene. Contains 200mg Ibuprofen."

I bought them because I needed a pack for my drawer, but I had read somewhere that generic ones were hard to get now. Looks like that may be true. Anyone got a good conspiracy theory?

PS - seems they should still be available at 45 p for 16 caplets. Ibuprofen

[Tizer]

This sounds like a repeat of the trick that the companies pulled in Australia 4 years ago. There's information here about the Aussie issue but it also describes pricing etc in UK...
`Painkiller rip-off: Pills for migraine, period pain, backache 'are identical'' LINK

[Whyperion]

From your shopping correspondent -

Just been to Tesco . Wanted a packet of own brand generic Ibuprofen. Last time I bought them they cost about 30p for a pack of 16 x 200 mg caplets.

Last week I tried to buy some, and their space on the shelf was empty - sold out. Today was much the same except for one last pack. Didn't have my specs and the package was not as I remembered it but I put it in the trolley. Got home to find I had paid £2 for them. The pack had in large font "Rapid Pain Relief" and in far smaller font "Ibuprofen 342 mg as Ibuprofen Lysene. Contains 200mg Ibuprofen."

I bought them because I needed a pack for my drawer, but I had read somewhere that generic ones were hard to get now. Looks like that may be true. Anyone got a good conspiracy theory?

PS - seems they should still be available at 45 p for 16 caplets. Ibuprofen

I'm finding it difficult to get some generics, not only Ibuprofen. Some in Co-op, Lloyds (where you might be able to get bigger pack sizes at pharmacy counters ), and Superdrug/Savers seem to be the best places, I suspect supermarkets are deleting due to lack of shelf profit on the lines (morrisons at present an exception last time I looked in the larger stores). Mum is over 80 and gets means tested benifits so qualifies for free monthly prescription.

[Stanley]

The prices being charged for common analgesics is ridiculous particularly in pharmacies. I always said the policy of limiting pack sizes was more to do with price than safety. Remember when you could get bottles with 500 in them?

[Tizer]

`Many at risk of flu this Christmas, experts say' LINK
Bad news that there's not enough uptake but good news that `Current evidence shows vaccinations available this year are well matched to the main strain of flu circulating.'
I don't agree with the article's statement that: `For most people, flu lasts for just a few days and gets better after some rest at home.' That's not real flu (influenza), that's a bad cold. With real flu you feel like you won't survive!