MEDICAL MATTERS

[plaques]

Amyloids appear to be a major factor in many illnesses. Some years ago my brother had a total kidney failure which although a transplant was very successful he finally succumbed to dementia. I often wondered what caused the kidney failure in the first place. Currently an in-line cousin has Amyloidosis in her heart with which technically she is lucky to be alive. So even a partial advancement in treating Alzheimer's is fantastic news.

[Stanley]

I can understand David's reaction to the news about Amyloids and on the whole I agree with him. I suspect a lot of what we hear in this respect is aimed at unlocking funding or promoting the case for approving the treatment. I also agree with Wendy and can understand the relief of the researchers that at last, they have evidence of a viable way to attack the condition. However, anyone actively seeking treatment for the condition should not start clapping hands, it sounds to me as though there is a long way to go before it's of practical benefit for the vast majority.
None of the above detracts from the fact that it is a breakthrough and well done the scientists. Now for the long hard slog to get a practical treatment into everyday use.....

[Stanley]

I have just listened to the report on World at One on the crisis in the health service. The spokesman for the NHS Trusts was the respondent and he gave what I thought was a dispassionate and low key account of an absolutely catastrophic crisis. He nailed the failure of funding to keep up with demand as a major factor and pointed out that we are looking at less funding than any other health system in Europe on a per capita basis.
For a bloke like me who experienced the system before 1947 it was very painful listening. How could we, as a nation, allow such a brilliant social good to be eroded by penny pinching politicians? It is our collective fault, we voted these incompetent buggers in and stood back as they cocked up. We need a change.....

[PanBiker]

We loose the NHS at our peril.

I look in on the Brain Tumour Facebook site for those that have, or had, meningioma tumours and associated treatment. It's international of course and recently I picked up on a couple of posts from contributors from two different states over in the USA. One had just received a bill for $240,000 dollars for surgery and four days in hospital, another who's surgery costs and recovery was charged at $350,000. Both of these were relatively short stays. My treatment due to the position of my tumour impacting the motor region and loss of muscular function post operative ran to three weeks in hospital, goodness knows what that would cost over in the US! Cost me nothing of course apart from travelling expenses. Criminal how it has been underfunded to the point of collapse.

[Stanley]

Quite Ian and you make a good point about the comparison with other countries.
I have been aware of the high US charges for years and would remind you of the paper that Martha wrote about the health system 'The Gordian Knot' which is on the site HERE.
I have a friend in Hawaii and she told me that her uncle, who was very close to her and an active member of the wider family, had taken his own life. They found out it was because he had been diagnosed as having terminal cancer so he killed himself because he knew the medical expenses would be greater than his means and so the wider family would suffer. This is not uncommon Ian in the US.

[plaques]

Some years ago there were reports in America where brain tumours because of their long lasting programme of treatment often meant the patient would be able to get some of the first years treatment on their insurance but after that, usually by the time an operation was required, they were refused cover. Some of the extreme actions were. 1) Get a divorce making sure the spouse got everything. "2). file for bankruptcy. 3) Buy a revolver.

[Tripps]

The link revived good memories from a couple of years ago regarding the Keynes plaque. I enjoyed that.


I could say a lot more regarding the old age and medical issues, but this is not the place to do it. I do increasingly toy with the idea that we should all be fitted with an 'off' switch though.

[Big Kev]

Slipping on a step and landing on the sharp edge is not advised. I think I've avoided kidney and rib damage, hopefully it's just bruises. Note to self, only carry one heavy bag of shopping from the car

[Wendyf]

Oh no Kev! Fingers crossed all is OK!

[Big Kev]

I'm sure all will be OK after a good night's sleep. I've had some paracetamol and may even have a large medicinal Courvosier before bedtime.

[Wendyf]

Steady!

[plaques]

Kev, Not a clever thing to do if you're still on rat poison. Brush up on the emergency numbers just in case its worse than you think.

[Big Kev]

Kev, Not a clever thing to do if you're still on rat poison. Brush up on the emergency numbers just in case its worse than you think.

I'm on the long term 10mg thinners now so shouldn't be as bad as it could have been, got some lovely bruises coming out now. The good news is the eggs, in the shopping bag, survived intact

[Stanley]

fALLS ARE FUNNY THINGS kEV. tHEY CAN HAVE UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES SO BE ALERT AND CAREFUL. (Bugger caps lock!)

[Big Kev]

fALLS ARE FUNNY THINGS kEV. tHEY CAN HAVE UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES SO BE ALERT AND CAREFUL. (Bugger caps lock!)

There's an add on, for Firefox, to select bits of text and change the case.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefo ... ange-case/

[PanBiker]

Take care Kev, you have further to fall than the rest of us. Good news on the eggs

[Big Kev]

With the help of Google I reckon I've either cracked the bottom floating rib or bruised the surrounding tissue. Not a lot I can do about it other than avoiding being daft.

[plaques]

Kev, Seek professional medical help. You should be able to get a CT scan reasonably quickly. Avoiding being daft is a bit more problematical.

[Big Kev]

Kev, Seek professional medical help. You should be able to get a CT scan reasonably quickly. Avoiding being daft is a bit more problematical.

You're right about avoiding being daft
I'm on leave now until the 12th, if it still hurts in a few days then I'll use the 111 service and get some advice. The damage seems fairly localised and only 'bites' me if I move too quickly.

[Stanley]

The good news about cracked versus broken ribs is that they take twice as long to heal. As Arthur Morrison said when I cracked three of mine, "Go back and break them they'll heal quicker". He was right but they do stop hurting when you cough or sneeze eventually.

[PanBiker]

I know the feeling I did some of mine when I fell off my bike at Glasshouses near Pately Bridge on the second day of our coast to coast bike ride. I still had 60 miles to go and only managed popped up with paracetamol and ibuprofen. Needed to get a proper lung full on the hills, bashed my knee and elbow and forearm at the same time, proper stung in the shower at the motel in Pocklington.

[Big Kev]

Paracetamol is making a difference, coughing and sneezing is uncomfortable though. Twisting is the most painful so I'll avoid dancing for a bit

[Stanley]

Commiserations Kev. I can remember dreading a sneeze.....

[plaques]

Something we all know about. A 4 min video on NHS in crisis.. Why do we let this happen?

[Stanley]

I ask myself the same question daily Ken....