Weakness due to hypertension
Dear Dr. Gott: I suffer from short periods of weakness and trembling that last about half an hour and may be relieved by eating. These attacks started when I stopped my blood pressure pills, which made me ill.
Dear Reader: You should return to your doctor for a blood pressure determination and blood tests to check your sugar level and thyroid.
Pending the results, I’d guess that your blood pressure has risen to unacceptably high levels that are affecting your health. If I’m correct, you will need medication to bring the blood pressure down. Even though you may not have been able to tolerate a certain antihypertensive drug, there are many others that should agree with you.
Your first priority is to check your blood pressure. Hypertension has been dubbed the “silent killer” because it can cause frightful heart and kidney damage before symptoms (especially headache and fatigue) appear. Don’t waste any time getting to your doctor for advice and therapy.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Hypertension.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
Dear Dr. Gott: I’m a 74-year-old person in good health who underwent hip replacement surgery in 1986. Now, my dentist requires me to fill a prescription for amoxicillin in order to avoid possible destruction of the replacement due to the release of bacteria from my mouth into my system. What basis of fact or research is known for this surprising cause-and-effect problem from teeth cleaning?
Dear Reader: Prosthetic devices anywhere in the body can become easily infected when bacteria invade the bloodstream and are carried to the artificial joint, heart valve or other implant.
Certain procedures are known to release showers of bacteria into the blood. Such procedures include cystoscopy (examination of the bladder), flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy (to examine the colon) — and professional dental cleaning.
Consequently, your dentist is absolutely correct: You should take antibiotics at the time you have dental work.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “An Informed Approach to Surgery.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.