MEDICAL MATTERS

[Big Kev]

The 'messaging' service, on The NHS app, is working well. I sent a message to Barnoldswick Medical Centre yesterday afternoon, asking for some testing strips and lancets for my blood glucose meter. Received an email just now from Chemist-4-U telling me they had received the prescription. Good stuff

[Tizer]

The 'messaging' service, on The NHS app, is working well.

I agree. I placed an order online last Friday and it was in the Well pharmacy this Tuesday.

[Tripps]

Big Pharma is at it again.

Last night on Sky News was an item about a new injection for children agains a condition called 'RSV' which I find means
'Respiratory Syncytial Virus'. The actual drug I find is called 'palivizumab'.

It implied that all children would benefit and showed a mum, who had been a nurse, with her little boy wholeheartedly recommending it. They said it led to 30,000 hospitalisations and 30 deaths per year.

A swift google reveals that the illness is just like a mild cold in nearly all children, and in fact it is only recommended for babies that were premature and had a low birth weight. The benefit doesn't last long, and involves monthly injections during the winter season.

None of that as I recall, was mentioned.

Make of it what you will.

[Stanley]

Peter, the way the news was given makes it sound like the answer to their prayers.... I suppose we'll have to wait and see.
I've just got back from the surgery where Dracula took an armful of blood. She tells me they want to check on one of the readings connected with kidney function. I shall be informed in 3 weeks when the Diabetes Nurse calls me at home..... So it's nothing serious, just that I don't quite fit into their template.....
Nobody has asked me how I feel. All they are interested in is their computer screens.....
I suppose I should be grateful that they are looking at something!

[Big Kev]

The 'messaging' service, on The NHS app, is working well.

I agree. I placed an order online last Friday and it was in the Well pharmacy this Tuesday.

Email notification received, it's been despatched
I suspect it'll be Tuesday before it gets here, unless it comes tomorrow...

[Tizer]

The actual drug I find is called 'palivizumab'.

That's the old vaccine - the new one is called nirsevimab.

The benefit doesn't last long, and involves monthly injections during the winter season.

Again, that's the old drug. One dose of nirsevimab protects infants for at least 6 months, the length of an average RSV season. Nirsevimab is recommended for infants younger than 8 months of age if the mother has not had the vaccine.

[Tripps]

Thanks for that. It was very late when I saw the piece, and googled it. Is that recommended for all children, as the news item implied, or still just prems?

I hesitate to say it, but because of 'lived experience' - I'm currently suspicious about the whole pharmaceutical industry.

Am I imagining it - or is the word immunisation being used more now, in place of vaccination. I looked it up and a degree in Englsih Language would be helpful to understand the difference?

[Stanley]

Indeed! Thanks from me as well Peter, that makes things much clearer.
David, I always had the impression that the use of 'immunisation' fell out of favour because it implied that the treatment conferred immunity and was infallible. That of course can't be right, no drug is 100% effective.
Perhaps thinking has changed.......

[Tizer]

The two words tend to get used interchangeably in the media but vaccination is when you get a vaccine by injection, drops in the mouth, or swallowed. Immunisation is the process of both getting a vaccine and developing immunity to a disease as a result. So vaccination is the first part of the immunisation process.

[Big Kev]

The 'messaging' service, on The NHS app, is working well.

I agree. I placed an order online last Friday and it was in the Well pharmacy this Tuesday.

Email notification received, it's been despatched
I suspect it'll be Tuesday before it gets here, unless it comes tomorrow...

Royal Mail delivered at 14:30 today

[Stanley]

I'm avoiding medical matters until I am nabbed by the diabetes nurse on the 15th of January.....

[Stanley]

I spoke too soon. When I shut my phone down last night there were five messages of 'Missed Call' from a Dr Philip Davis at Barlick Med Centre. He says my blood sodium levels are down and if I ring the surgery they will give me a same day appointment which seems to imply some urgency. Deep Joy!!
However I can report that I feel fine and when I see the good doctor I will tell him so. Do they expect perfect results 100% of the time at my age?

[Stanley]

I have rung the surgery and find that the reason why he called me five times with no reply was that he was calling my landline even though a few months since I was asked which number I preferred and told them there was only one, my mobile.
The urgency of the call seems to have abated, I am now excused going out in the rain and a 'nurse practitioner' Will call me sometime this afternoon. It appears I may live at least one more day....

[Tripps]

I don't put much personal medical information on here - I'm not comfortable with it - but I had my eyes tested yesterday. I was having trouble reading the small print on TV quiz shows and the odds in the betting shows on ITV, - so time for action. Last time I was tested I'm told was in 2013. Tesco at Baldock, (easy access and parking) have handed over to Vision Express, but they still had my records.

I wasn't looking forwards to it all but it went well. The test was free (air puffs and everything) but I declined the 'advanced test' for £30 extra. The young lady (of Indian origin), optician said my eyes were healthy, with just a hint of cataracts but considering my age, she'd have been surprised if there wqsn't, and it wasn't a problem. That was a relief.

As last time, she prescribed two pairs of glasses for near and distance. Being of the 'Kuripot tendency' I checked out the ''free' range but they looked a bit flimsy so I gritted my teeth, and picked the strongest looking ones from the £45 group. It's been ten years after all.

There was a pleasant surprise at the till as they have a 'buy one get one half price' offer. So £67.50 should get me sorted for another ten years or so. . . . I'll settle for that.

[Big Kev]

That's good value for money, I thought I did well spending just over £300, at Specsavers (for one pair), still £200 less than I paid 3 years ago at an independent optician though.

[Stanley]

That's extremely good value David, you did well!
I got the call from Nurse Helen and all she wanted to know was whether i was suffering from any of the side-effects noted with low sodium. When she found I wasn't we agreed I would use slightly more salt in my cooking and dr4ink slightly less water. She will arrange for another blood test in about six weeks just for a check even though I asked why that would be necessary when a slightly low reading had no effects on me.
She agreed with me that the conformity of the results with the accepted average was more important to the doctors than how I feel..... Remember that the doctor who initiated this kerfuffle was someone who had never met me and knew nothing about me, evidently Hassan is away at the moment.
I can remember a time when doctors relied on face to face diagnosis not what some screen and a set of averages told them. Unfortunately those days are gone.....

[Tizer]

We often get advice about sodium but almost never about its close relative potassium. So here's a story...

OG members will have seen my stories about being breathless and suffering severe leg pain when walking up a slope. I had tests 10 years ago including angioscopy and no cause was found. I got the usual `you'll have to live with it' advice. Recently I went through another series of tests focusing on my lungs and it revealed 25% pulmonary fibrosis. So that accounts for the breathing problem and satisfied my GP. However it didn't help with the leg pain and I suspect that's due to a problem with muscle function or nervous control of the muscles. The advice was again live with it.

Now a coincidence has helped me. I've had some constipation and wanted something to help deal with that but I can't eat more fibre, it irritates my gut, so I looked for something natural with a laxative effect. I found a lot of people have benefited from prune juice so a visit to Tesco saw me coming home with `Sunsweet' prune juice. This has solved the constipation - besides having `mild' fibre it contains sorbitol, a natural laxative. But when I started drinking prune juice it had another effect - I could walk much more easily, even on slopes and with much less pain.

Some research showed me that the juice is relatively rich in potassium (250mg/100ml, shown on the label). When I looked at the effects of potassium deficiency I found muscle cramps and severe muscle weakness at the top of the list. Some of the others mentioned are also relevant to me: feeling faint, excessive urination and excessive thirst.

`Sunsweet' Californian prune juice is now permanently on our shopping list!

NB. We've always taken a multivitamin tablet every day as an insurance against any nutritional deficiencies. After the above experience I looked at the composition of the tablets. A long list of vitamins and minerals but no mention of potassium!

[Stanley]

You are good at timely reminders Peter. I checked and my multivits don't have Potassium either! I have taken the message about prune juice on board!
Surgery are on the3 ball, just had a message and an appointment for a check blood test 4 weeks today on 2 February.

[Tripps]

Or perhaps as an alternative -

A medium-sized banana will provide around 320-400 mg of potassium, which meets about 10% of your daily potassium needs. Potassium helps your body maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure. In addition, bananas are low in sodium. The low sodium and high potassium combination helps to control high blood pressure.

When I see prune juice I thnk Jewish.
Here's a reference from the Jewish Chronicle. Spicy prunes for Passover

I like the humour -

The ritual consumption of matzah may bind us together as a people, but it is also a cross we have to bear (you should forgive the reference).

[Tizer]

I eat small amounts of canned prunes and bits of banana but anything more (or dried) prunes and I get bloated and very uncomfortable. I envy people who can eat large amounts of fruit and vegetables! (Mrs Tiz eats lots of fruit and veg - her motto is `bring it on!'

[Stanley]

I've just been to the Cathedral of Choice and they have failed again. Canned prunes in apple juice but no prune juice so I got two cans. I will report..

[Tripps]

Take care Stanley - rubs side of nose with index finger wisely. . . .

[Stanley]

I have experience David.....
Many years ago whilst in California with Susi we decided to go to Laguna Beach for a walk and a swim. It was a warm day even for Southern California and just before we went I had a drink of fruit juice out of the fridge. Later, while walking along the beach which at that point was narrow, we were hemmed in with a low cliff on the landward side, I realised that all was not well, I had a very sudden call of nature and I could only see one solution. I was in bare feet and so I dropped my shorts and swam out into the Pacific Ocean. I experienced a complete evacuation, discarded my knickers and when all had calmed down I swam back in and put my shorts back on. Susi of course was puzzled but when I explained she burst out laughing, the fruit juice was Syrup of Figs, I was in the home of Syrup of Figs!
I can recommend it as therapy, very effective, complete and hygienic!
(We may be poor but we do see life!)
PS. Yes David I knew about bananas and potassium but had forgotten it. Thanks for the reminder!

[Sue]

Or perhaps as an alternative -

A medium-sized banana will provide around 320-400 mg of potassium, which meets about 10% of your daily potassium needs. Potassium helps your body maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure. In addition, bananas are low in sodium. The low sodium and high potassium combination helps to control high blood pressure.

Fine if you like bananas!

[Wendyf]

Or perhaps as an alternative -

A medium-sized banana will provide around 320-400 mg of potassium, which meets about 10% of your daily potassium needs. Potassium helps your body maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure. In addition, bananas are low in sodium. The low sodium and high potassium combination helps to control high blood pressure.

Fine if you like bananas!

And you aren't diabetic.