Medical Lake City Council Position 1
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Ask the doctors: Plan ahead for a productive visit with the doctor
Dear Doctors: My new doctor always starts talking before I’m finished, and after that it’s hard to get another chance to speak. Sometimes my symptoms get brushed aside like they’re not important. After the appointment, I often still have questions. What can I do?
Ask the doctors: Walking pneumonia calls for thoroguh diagnosis
Dear Doctors: Can a doctor rule out walking pneumonia just by listening to your chest? My daughter and husband both have pneumonia, and I have been feeling weird. There’s no cough or fever, and my oxygen is at 99% saturation, so the doctor said I’m fine. But it’s days later and my chest still hurts, and I still feel tired and breathless. What can I do to be taken seriously?
Ask the doctors: Readers respond
Hello, dear readers! Welcome to our monthly letters column. With long days, warm nights and plenty of outdoor living, it’s time for our annual summertime reminders. Please protect yourselves from the sun, take precautions against ticks and mosquitoes, always watch children playing in water, and never underestimate the physical threats of a heat wave. And now, on to your letters.
Ask the doctors: Vegan diet causes increased intestinal gas
Dear Doctors: I am a vegan, and after a meal, I have uncomfortable and smelly intestinal gas. It has only ever eased when I took an antibiotic and after colonoscopy prep. I assume that’s because these killed my gut bacteria. Is there a fast way to reset the gut? Is this problem a health risk?
An unvaccinated child was diagnosed with measles in Eastern Idaho. What we know
An unvaccinated child was diagnosed with measles in Bonneville County, a spokesperson for Eastern Idaho Public Health confirmed with the Idaho Statesman on Friday. The health district, which covers Bonneville, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison and Teton Counties, said in a news release Wednesday that the child, an international traveler, was seen by a local health care provider …
Ask the doctors: Prehab program can lessen recovery time after surgery
Dear Doctors: I am 68 years old, and I am going to need a hip replacement. I’ve been reading about it, and some people say that you can prepare yourself physically so that you will do better after the surgery. Do you know if this works? If so, what do you need to do, and when?
Ask the doctors: Discussing radon, Parkinson’s and musty smells
Dear Doctors: My ex-husband had a certain musty smell before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Now my current husband has that same smell, and I’m worried he has Parkinson’s, too. Radon is a problem here in Tennessee, and I’ve heard it’s connected to Parkinson’s. Why isn’t this public knowledge?
Ask the doctors: New data link cannabis use and heart disease
Dear Doctors: Cannabis is legal where I live. I’m not a heavy user, but I do enjoy it now and then. I just heard about a study that ties using cannabis to heart disease. There’s not a lot of information about how using cannabis affects your health, and I would like to know more about that study.
Ask the doctors: Readers respond
Hello, readers! Welcome to a bonus letters column. We are happy to report that you are keeping our inboxes busy, so we’ll dive right in.
Ask the doctors: Exercise can improve cognition in older adults
Dear Doctors: I am 82 years old, and I have tested negative for Alzheimer’s disease. But I do have some cognitive dysfunction. Can this be slowed? I exercise 30 minutes a day. In addition to that, I walk at least 1 mile. I also bicycle vigorously for two six-minute periods a day. Do you think this is helping?
Ask the doctors: CPR training courses are available in many formats
Dear Doctors: This year our family vacation is a camping road trip. There will be a lot of hiking and outdoor exploring, so my wife and I have put together a good first-aid kit. Now I think that learning CPR is a good idea. How do you take classes? Can our teenaged kids learn, too?
Ask the doctors: Heat exhaustion and heat stroke require medical intervention
Dear Doctors: I am 72 years old and in good health. Last fall, I got weak and shaky while working in my yard. It was a hot day, so my son insisted on calling 911. They said it was heat exhaustion, and I got treated on the spot. How is heat exhaustion different from heat stroke?
Ask the doctors: Heat-related illness happens at a cellular level
Dear Doctors: I can’t get my husband and his brother to take hot weather warnings seriously. They’re in good shape and think that since they’re younger (29 and 33) that it’s OK for them to go out hiking in hot weather. Can you talk about why it’s dangerous for everyone when there’s a heat wave?
Ask the doctors: It’s crucial to use sterilized water in nasal irrigation
Dear Doctors: Whenever you talk about neti pots, you include a warning about always using distilled water. It seemed to me like an overreaction, but now there’s news that someone died from not doing that. Why would that be, when drinking water is treated and goes through testing?
Ask the doctors: Readers respond
Hello, dear readers! Welcome to our monthly letters column. Summer is here and in most parts of the United States, it has arrived in full force. Widespread heat waves are now a fixture of the season. Extreme heat, particularly when accompanied by humidity, is a health risk, so please take precautions. Stay indoors and limit exertion during peak heat, whenever possible. Be sure to stay hydrated. We have a column with more specifics coming soon. And now, onward to your letters.
Ask the doctors: New immunotherapy drug could slow Type 1 diabetes
Dear Doctors: Type 1 diabetes runs in our family. Because of that, our pediatrician asked to do blood tests with our son to check if Type 1 is beginning. She also said that if it shows up, there’s a medicine that can slow things down. I’ve never heard of any of this and would like to know more.
Ask the doctors: Stem cells being researched to help with Type 1 diabetes
Dear Doctors: I have Type 1 diabetes. I try to stay healthy and keep my blood sugar under control, but it feels like a fight every day. I read there’s a study using stem cells for a cure. Are there any updates? Does it seem like this might lead to a treatment?
Ask the doctors: Pollen counts are highest they’ve been in decades
Dear Doctors: I have hay fever, but usually it’s not that bad. This year, however, it has been awful. I’m plugged up, my eyes are itchy and by the end of the day, I have a headache. We live near Atlanta, and a lot of people here are miserable. Over-the-counter meds aren’t helping. What can I do?
Ask the doctors: Regular exercise can increase colorectal cancer survival rates
Dear Doctors: I want to know more about how exercising gives you a better chance of recovering from colon cancer. I’ve been trying to help my brother-in-law, who just got diagnosed. He doesn’t exercise, and I hope this might motivate him. He’s only 42, and we are all surprised by this diagnosis.
Ask the doctors: Sinus infections can be disguised as toothaches
Dear Doctors: I saw my dentist for pain in an upper molar, but the X-ray was normal. My nose was also plugged up, and she said it might be my sinuses. I started doing a saline rinse, and after a few days the pain had gone. Why would having a sinus infection give you a toothache?