MEDICAL MATTERS

[PanBiker]

Plea from Airedale Hospital doctors as A&E demand soars

[Stanley]

I think there is little doubt we are nearing a tipping point.
I see the Diabetes nurse at noon for my annual assessment......
THIS caught my attention later this morning. Good advice I reckon and on the whole, if you accept my early rising and afternoon sleep routine it looks as though I am doing all the right things. I well remember the bad days when I was driving 100 hours a week on the tramp and swore that I would never forget the importance of a warm bed and good sleep! Sleep was a luxury for me then.... By the way, bed socks are a brilliant idea.....

[Tizer]

We don't sleep well but we are doing everything right, according to the list, except that we `drink tea after lunch'. If I stop that perhaps I'll have to drink beer!

Or perhaps not... LINK
`Alcohol flips brain into hungry mode'
"Alcohol switches the brain into starvation mode, increasing hunger and appetite, scientists have discovered. In tests on mice, alcohol activated the brain signals that tell the body to eat more food. The UK researchers, who report their findings in the journal Nature Communications, believe the same is probably true in humans. It would explain why many people say they eat more when they have had a few drinks. Rather than loss of restraint, it is a neuronal response, the Francis Crick Institute team says."

[Stanley]

I remember it well, I always ate more when boozing but was lucky in that I was working like a horse and burning it off.
Diabetes assessment went well yesterday. As expected blood sugar up slightly but listening to Wendy, that's down to too many russets and comfort eating under stress in the last three months. I will soon get back on track, almost finished the canned new potatoes and stopped eating bread so carbs will be under control. The nurse agreed and it turned out she is a big fan of natural fats and low carbs so we got on well!
Later.... I heard news of a report that confirms that stress can increase the possibility of adverse heart events but can't find it on the web. The theory is that it increases the number of white corpuscles in the blood and this is the trigger. It grabbed me because the Diabetes Nurse and I agreed yesterday that the slight increase in my otherwise normal blood pressure was almost certainly down to the stress of the last three months and anyway isn't significant.....
By the way, when you pass 80 years old the annual assessment is changed to six monthly. OK by me....

[Wendyf]

Stress raises blood sugar as well, all to do with high cortisol levels. We think this is why Col's blood sugar levels got so out of control at the end of 2015, he was so stressed about the bladder infections following his bladder cancer. It was a vicious circle with raised blood sugar causing the infection and vice versa.

[Wendyf]

Pleased to hear that your diabetes nurse is supportive of a low carb diet. Make sure you eat plenty of green veggies!

[Stanley]

That's my weak spot Wendy but I am addressing it. Almost finished the tins of new potatoes!
If you want any strong bread flour, both white and wholemeal, call in! It is now Streng Verboten!!

[Tizer]

Make sure you eat plenty of green veggies!

He'll need them even more if he's giving up wholemeal bread.

[Stanley]

I'm doing my best.......

[Big Kev]

Pleased to hear that your diabetes nurse is supportive of a low carb diet. Make sure you eat plenty of green veggies!

Not too many peas though, general rule I follow for veg is, if it grows below ground = higher carbs, above ground = lower carbs with the exception of peas. A lot of peas puts my sugar levels up.

[Wendyf]

That's true Kev, though mange tout or sugar snap peas seem to be OK, as are green beans.
Stanley, have you never considered getting a meter and testing your own blood glucose levels? It's the only way to really be in control.

[Stanley]

No Wendy, it's never been serious enough for that, I have always been a border line case as regards diabetes and no overt symptoms. My general health is superb for the mileage so I don't worry too much, just try to be sensible and eat well. When I look at my contemporaries I am appalled by their condition, I seem do be doing much better. Genes and lots of hard work and good grub I reckon......

[Sue]

In my recent duff hospital report it said I have hypertension which I do not, and listed the drugs for it, which I do not and never have taken. The hospital is a 30 minutes walk away, so being a healthy nutter I speed walked there as it was a nice day. I never thought I would have my BP taken,which the nurse did straight away. It was high. Of course it was high I said,I had just speed walked to the hospital. I don't think she noted that down so I think the consultant jumped to his own conclusions. This week it was taken at the asthma clinic, it was normal to low as usual.

[PanBiker]

If I take my BP straight after a walk it is always around my average, pulse is elevated though as you would expect. I generally do it again 15 mins later and I'm back down to normal.

[Sue]

That's what I said to the nurse, and she did not make any note. It is normal to have an increase in BP after exercise, to get the blood to the exercising muscles. It returns to normal fairly quickly once activity returns to normal. Plus of course I was probably suffering from the white coat syndrome.

[Stanley]

That's why I occasionally take my BP at home with the machine Doc bought me when he had his heart bypass in 2007. I note them in a book and take it with me to the surgery. I did it last week for the diabetes nurse. The main thing is to always do it at the same time of day. I do mine when I get back from my morning walk so it's always slightly high.....(130s over 80s region which is quite acceptable)

[Marilyn]

Stanley. Hopefully Doc left you the instruction book. The unit should be placed at the same level as your heart when recording pressure...so it is no good standing at the kitchen table with your heart 2 feet above it.
You will get a different reading! ( and for people who are investigating fainting episodes it is helpful to take readings at heart level AND when standing next to the device...such as standing alongside device on table).Also, the "tubes" that come from the cuff should always be placed along the front surface of your arm, running over those veins where you expect to have a blood sample taken ( and where you can feel tense veins if the are under pressure.)
Call me pedantic....but if you aren't using the device properly you are living in a fools paradise. ( check battery level too, as it can be inaccurate if low). I have seen some shocking ways people take their own blood pressure! You would not believe it.
And I know how you love to hold on to old things like foodstuffs and medication...so I am guessing old batteries would be the same. 2007 was a long time ago!

[Sue]

People forget the percentage error too. You should take it two or three times and take the average

[Marilyn]

Yes, Sue. And if one is obese, they need a different cuff entirely.

[Wendyf]

We have got into the habit of taking ours whilst sat watching "GPs Behind Closed Doors" ...8pm Channel 5 Wednesdays. (We are addicted.) Colin bought a new meter when his BP dropped straight after changing his diet, he wanted to make sure it was accurate so got it calibrated at the surgery. Always do it exactly as you say Maz! Mine is usually 115/68 or thereabouts and Colin not much different, but we are definitely resting. Amazing to think that until last year Colin was taking drugs to lower his blood pressure.
Just another little benefit of the eating regime by the way....I was reading last night that tinnitus and frozen shoulder are two classic early signs that you have too much glucose in your bloodstream and Col, who used to be driven distracted by tinnitus, suddenly realised that his had gone.
(Carpel tunnel syndrome is another one.)

[Wendyf]

Sue, our machine takes 3 readings and gives you the average.

[plaques]

Marilyn, In truth there seems to be no 'right way or wrong way'. Some of the consultants took the pressure both standing and sitting. Then took a mean of the two readings. Patients who were lying down presented another problem. If you are looking at comparable results then any consistent method will do. I'm not sure about your battery theory. Most of these devices pump the pressure up to a point where the blood flow is cut off completely this takes the most battery power. The pressure release and measurement will be taken at lower power takeouts and should be accurate for our purposes. I have more faith in the battery type than the old hand pump sphygmomanometer which depended on how good your hearing level was.

[Sue]

Absolutely Marilyn. My friend was given one by the surgery the other day and it won't go round her arm. I told her they had given her the wrong one and to go back.


That's good Wendy, I am not sure , I can't remember if the ones we used at college when I taught BP did that. I know the error stated on the documentation was 5 % which us why I am always amazed that everyone is so precise when quoting their BP. Apart from the dact that it can fluctuate anyway depending on a number of factors. My students were amazed at how laughing could affect it.

[Marilyn]

And if you are "bursting" for a wee it can affect it too!

[Marilyn]

Plaques, BP machines may have evolved to be all encompassing, but even in my doctor's surgery, where the BP cuff is attatched to his computer, my heart is at the same level as his computer when sat in the chair next to his desk.
There are reasons to take a standing or laying BP. But as far as my knowledge goes, taken at heart level with the correct cuff for age/weight, it is quite accurate. This means that if a person is laying down the BP machine ( sphygmomanometer) is laid on the same surface. If the patient is standing, raise the machine to heart level on a tall boy or similar.
( BP shouldn't be taken on an arm in which a drip is in situ or after mastectomy on that arm where lymph nodes have been removed).

And I have to say my hubby's BP was taken last week when he had a drip in ( on that arm) and I said nothing but thought it poor practice.