MEDICAL MATTERS

[PanBiker]

My doc did quite a thorough examination of my shoulder joint, a lot of manipulation to narrow down the muscles affected. He has diagnosed a torn muscle at the top of the joint and put me on ibuprofen anti inflammatory, three times a day for the next week. He has booked me another slot with him a week on Thursday for a steroid injection.

[Stanley]

I have the same thing Ian but slightly different in that I can extend the arm but I get bouts of pain at rest which can be cured by changing position. Similarly, it's the same shoulder I smashed up when I wrote Richard Drinkall's new BMW off. As I have said often, the old war wounds tend to come back for a visit as you get older!
See THIS for some research which suggests that the Flu Jab is less effective for anyone taking statins. There is also a separate report that the take-up of statins is less than was expected. This is put down to GPs not prescribing because they are unclear about side-effects.

[Stanley]

I heard THIS on World Service this morning. Well worth listening to but the item that interested me most was that after investigating the affects of pollen on honey quality researchers have identified a plant in Wales that seems to result in honey which has an antibiotic effect on the MRSA organism. They have installed hives surrounded by the plant in Cardiff. An interesting piece, well worth listening to.

[Tizer]

`Abestos: Government urged to give fair compensation to ex-servicemen suffering from mesothelioma' LINK

[Stanley]

I read the article and this phrase struck me from a naval man who has the disease: "“I feel let down but not surprised. You’ve got a lot of quite young mandarins who see claims as an intellectual challenge to come up with a legal counter, rather than trying to come to something which provides a decent sense of justice.. He has them weighed up!

[Tizer]

He's got it in one...that could be applied to banks, insurance companies, energy companies, ISPs etc.

[Stanley]

And politicians making assessments of what a 'living wage' ought to be!
Completely pain free walk this morning. I have had minor pains ever since I took the Ibuprofen for my back and I think I'm getting the effects out of my system. Interfering with your prostaglandins is never a good idea unless you are absolutely forced into it. (LINK)

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS which is a report on a Swedish study into the effects of drinking Coke and other sweet drinks. On the information available it looks like a serious study and the results they come up with are quite startling. I was particularly interested in the information in the article about what the effects of a can of Classic Coke are on you and the chart showing the enormous amounts of sugar in these drinks. Two things strike me, I'm glad I never drink them and how can anyone in government justify not taking steps to alleviate what is quite possibly a problem. The power of the lobby?

[PanBiker]

I had my steroid injection last week for my shoulder, directly into the muscle at the back. He was in there quite a while but it was painless. He was putting a reasonable amount of stuff in. The injection had a built in anesthetic and after my treatment I had to sit outside for 10 minutes to make sure I did not have any allergic reaction to the jab. My mate Bob followed me for one in his knee which he did say grated a bit when he came out. A quick once over for me after Bob vacated and I was good to go. Doc said it would take a few days to kick in. Good news is that I have lot more mobility in the joint, I think increasing use will see off the rest of the stiffness and pain. I have knocked the pills on the head.

Shoulder on the mend but I picked up an irritating cough which developed and got onto my chest. Been coughing for England for a day or two but have been self medicating a Benylin off the shelf product for the last few days and I'm on the mend from that now, no more uncontrolled coughing spasms, so back in control, I cough when I want to.

[Moh]

I wish I could cough when I want to but my COPD makes it impossible - it has been worse this week so it leaves me breathless and weak - I hate getting old!!!

[Stanley]

I feel guilty Moh when I read about you and your COPD. After a lifetime of tobacco, asbestos and various other nasties my breathing is fine and I have no difficulty coughing if anything needs shifting. It's not fair is it.... Old age isn't for cissies!

[Tizer]

Two bad chest infections in quick succession kept me coughing for 6 weeks earlier this year. Perhaps it's made its way up north now!

There's plenty in the news today about vaccine to replace statins in controlling our blood cholesterol levels. As is often the case, the story has been garbled by the news media and is difficult to understand. The simple version of the story is this. A protein called LDL mops up excess cholesterol (C) from our blood to make LDL-C. When blood passes through the liver this LDL-C is trapped by receptors on the surface of the liver cells. The receptor carries the LDL-C molecule into the interior of the cell, releases it to be broken down there and then returns to the surface to catch more LDL-C. Scientists have discovered that there is a protein in the liver called PCSK9 which blocks the return of the receptor to the cell's surface and thus slows down the removal of cholesterol from the blood. People with a lot of PCSK9 thus have high blood cholesterol and those with low PCSK9 have low cholesterol. They have now developed a vaccine against PCSK9 and tested it in mice and monkeys. It brought about significant reductions in total cholesterol, free cholesterol, phospholipids, and triglycerides in the blood of these animals.

For anyone who prefers the original version: "Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a secretory protein that controls cholesterol homeostasis by enhancing endosomal and lysosomal degradation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R). Mutations that cause increased activity of PCSK9 are associated with hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis and early cardiovascular disease (CVD), whereas individuals with loss-of-function mutations in PCSK9 are apparently healthy but are hypocholesterolemic and have a dramatically decreased risk of CVD. In this study, we generated virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccines targeting PCSK9. Mice and macaques vaccinated with bacteriophage VLPs displaying PCSK9-derived peptides developed high titer IgG antibodies that bound to circulating PCSK9. Vaccination was associated with significant reductions in total cholesterol, free cholesterol, phospholipids, and triglycerides. A vaccine targeting PCSK9 may, therefore, be an attractive alternative to monoclonal antibody-based therapies." LINK

[PanBiker]

Wow! Thanks for that Tiz, there's a lot to be said for plain English.

[plaques]

Over 30 years ago I read that people with a deficiency in a protein were the ones who were really at risk from CVD. At that time identifying those particular people was difficult and costly. I was far easier and cheaper to give everyone statins. Times have moved on but I suspect it will be an uphill battle to change the current system.

[PanBiker]

I don't do statins, managed mine with yogurt and other tweaks in diet, 6.8 to 3.2 in 3 months. Added bonus of weight loss and lower BP, I don't do pills if I can help it.

[Tizer]

You've a good memory, Plaques! The people at most risk from blood cholesterol are those with `familial hypercholesterolaemia', gene mutations affecting the control of cholesterol levels. The most significant of these is the one affecting the production of the very receptor protein referred to in the above study. Goldstein & Brown received the 1985 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of the LDL receptor and its impact on lipoprotein metabolism. (I don't have a good memory - I looked this up on Wikipedia!)

Ian, I'm with you on the diet and exercise approach. Prevention is better than cure, but prevention unfortunately doesn't make immediate financial profits for the City whizz kids. But it cuts down our reliance on drugs, most of which have at least some bad effects for at least some of the population.

[Stanley]

He certainly has got a good memory, he often gets mystery objects right using it!
Tiz, goods to see why you were so successful editing and publishing scientific papers. I agree about avoiding the pills as much as possible. I'm not even sure about Metformin but suspect they actually are effective. You hit the nail on the head when you allude to profits for the pharmas. There is a campaign going on at the moment to try to reverse the fall in uptake for HRT after the evidence about side effects and I suspect that is for the same reason. Trouble is that it makes decision making difficult for women considering the treatment for what can be very distressing effects of the menopause.
On a more mundane note.... My right knee has been giving me trouble for a couple of days so this morning I gave it a good rub with old fashioned white embrocation. Almost certainly caused by twisting it when lifting the incredibly heavy Abwood machine vise in the shed the other day.... When will I learn?

[Tripps]

The media were full of HRT 'news' yesterday. I watched, and listened to a lot of it, and in the end was confused as whether they were promoting it, or condemning it as dangerous due to the increased risk of cancer. No doubt several PR companies made a lot of money.

Interesting that last Friday a filibuster at Westminster, talked out a private members bill to make the NHS buy generic versions of drugs. Quite shameless.

[plaques]

After years of making do with cheapo reader glasses bought from Poundland and other rock bottom price outlets I thought it was time to spend my remaining twilight years with a decent spare of specs. I must admit that the real reason wasn't to become a fashion icon but to have someone look inside the old peepers and see what else was crumbling away. Taking myself away to one of the highstreet franchise chains I was impressed by how high tech the whole business had got. The only downside being that the equipment was so good that it could hardly fail to find something wrong. Which of course it did. The final outcome was a slight drain on the wallet but happy to know that there was nothing wrong with the internal mechanics. In summary I would describe it as an interesting experience rather than an ordeal. With a bit of luck I should be back again next year as an oncore.

[PanBiker]

Did you go to the two pair establishment? I got my last readers from them and the equivalent in sunglasses, good for the puzzle book on the beach.

[Stanley]

David, I agree on both points. The power of the lobby is being used to extract money out of the public one way or another.
P, a good idea to have a proper test and you're right, most opticians can do things like retinoscopy these days. I owe my sight to good and prompt diagnosis and treatment by the optician and the surgeons, it was a long hard road but touch wood I am getting the benefits now. One warning from my experience, if you get an aberration on the periphery of your vision in one eye get to the optician immediately as an emergency, with me it was the first indication of a detached retina and prompt intervention makes all the difference. It's a bit disturbing when you lose sight completely!
By the way, the white embrocation worked like a charm. Was it the embrocation or the rubbing....?

[Tizer]

It's always sensible to get your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist regularly, It can save you getting serious eye problems as Stanley warns. And oldies like me get free eye checks anyway! The methods are very advanced now and can pick up all sorts of problem things before they get too far advanced and while you can still get them dealt with easily.

More UK valuable research work by a UK university to help those in the developed world and us when we visit those countries...
`Scientists find key to malaria growth'
"The key to malaria's rampant growth has been explained by scientists. They say it is down to protein molecules called cyclins which cause cells to divide rapidly in the malaria parasite. The study, led by a team from the University of Nottingham, could lead to new treatments for malaria, the researchers said. Malaria is responsible for nearly half a million deaths a year."
More here: LINK

[Stanley]

How much more sensible to spend money on research like that! See Politics Corner for my opinion of how we are throwing that money away.
I was thinking about my eyes the other day while I was welding.... I made sure I didn't get a single flash! Far too easy to do when you relax your guard.....

[Tizer]

I've mentioned the painkiller ibuprofen elsewhere on OG today. I've often expressed my surprise that such a strong drug with so many side effects was eventually allowed to be sold without a prescription - I wonder if it resulted from pressure by the drug companies? I'm glad to see that the NHS now warns: "Ibuprofen can cause a number of side effects. For this reason, take the lowest possible dose of ibuprofen for the shortest possible time needed to control your symptoms."

This NHS web page lists the side effects: LINK

On a related matter, something has prompted several news reports about how there has been an large increase in the number of Americans addicted to opiates. It's largely the poorer people who have been laid off work and suffered depression and other illnesses. The doctors have given them opiates for so long that they've become addicted.

[Stanley]

One thing that always struck me about Ibuprofen is that there is a very cheap way of buffering it to reduce damage, was it to the liver or the kidneys? This was a cheap coating but the pharmas charged a fortune for it so it never became widely used. To my mind it ought to have been standard. My eventual solution to the problem was to stop taking it and I have never regretted it. When I stopped taking anti-inflammatories as a prophylactic for my back pain I lost a lot of subsidiary niggling pains which had been bothering me. I only take them now for a short period if I have a severe back storm.