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Lung Reduction Surgery For Emphysema patients
By Dr. Gifford Jones
How would you like to be attached to an oxygen tank for several hours a day? It’s not a pleasant thought. But today thousands of patients are destined for this fate. The majority are smokers who have developed emphysema. Now, a new surgical procedure offers better quality of life to these people.
Emphysema causes the chest to become barrel shaped. This occurs because lung tissue loses it’s ability to expand and contract and begins to work in third gear. The result, air becomes trapped in dilated lung tissue thus pushing out the chest cage.
The Boston Red Sox and TuberculosisBy Dr. Gifford Jones
How close you can be and yet still so far away. A few years ago all the Boston Red Sox team needed was one more strikeout and they would win the World Series. But it didn’t happen. In the 1980’s it appeared that tuberculosis, the leading cause of death in North America at the turn of the century, was about to receive the final strikeout. But again it didn’t happen. What went wrong? And why may it be necessary to help doctors make the TB diagnosis.
Dr. Don Kopanoff, a TB specialist at the Centers for Disease Control in Bethesda, Maryland, claims we declared an armistice against TB too soon. Now we have a potential worldwide disaster on our hands.
How to kill your asthmatic child second of two partsBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Why are more adults and children dying from twitchy asthmatic airways? Last week I recorded that for years doctors believed that spasm of the bronchial tubes was the only problem faced by asthmatics. And that excessive use of “little puffs” from bronchodilators to relieve bronchial spasm could trigger serious asthmatic attacks and sometimes death. This week, what parents should know about the treatment of asthma in children. And why some parents are inadvertently helping to kill their child.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT “THE TWITCHY AIRWAY” One of two partsBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Why are more asthmatics with “twitchy airways” dying in this country? Is it that the severity of asthma has changed? Are patients doing something wrong? Or are some doctors inadvertently killing their patients? To find out I recently talked to Dr. Graham K. Crompton, a specialist in respiratory medicine at Edinburgh University.
It’s estimated that 10 million North Americans suffer from difficult, breathing or what’s called “reversible bronchospasm”. During such an attack the airway constricts, impairing the normal exchange of air. Bronchial constriction is the result of tightened bronchial muscles, swollen bronchial tissues and the accumulation of mucus plugs in bronchial tubes.
ARE YOUR LUNGS FIT FOR TRAVELLING?By Dr. Gifford Jones
Would you like to linger at a sidewalk cafe in Paris, Mexico City or Madrid sipping a cool drink? Few would turn down this offer. But before any of us accept this invitation it would be prudent to first test our lungs.
This year an asthmatic patient of mine landed by plane in Mexico City. A few moments later she was gasping for breath, and was rushed to an air-conditioned room at a nearby hospital. She was one of the over eight million North Americans who suffer from asthma and who encounter serious respiratory problems in any of the polluted cities around the world.
MEDICAL HAZARDS OF CITY LIVINGBy Dr. Gifford Jones
What is the price families pay, medically, for living in the city? Physicians and sociologists know that the rapid pace of urban life makes people more susceptible to peptic ulcers, hypertension, nervous breakdowns and physical assault. Now we are being warned of another hazard. A report from California reveals that our children’s lungs are being attacked from an unsuspected source. And what about adults who become “suddenly breathless”?
TO TREAT ASTHMA WASH YOUR CAT!By Dr. Gifford Jones
Would any sane person try to wash a cat? Particularly when he or she may come off second best? There are exceptions to every rule. And a recent report from the University of Washington brings good news to asthmatics who are allergic to Felix. Researchers claim that giving the cat a regular bath helps asthmatics.
It’s estimated that cats reside in 30 per cent of the 92.5 million homes in the U.S. This translates into 63 million cats in North America. And between 20 and 30 per cent of asthmatics are allergic to animals. No one knows why, but cats are more likely than dogs to send asthmatic patients into respiratory spasms.
THE SWEETENING OF NORTH AMERICABy Dr. Gifford Jones
How much damning evidence is needed before someone calls a halt? For several decades I’ve watched the sweetening of this country. It’s a disastrous way of living that’s causing an epidemic of diabetes unparalleled in proportion in North America. Yet Ministers of Health, Medical Associations and the Public Health Service are failing to alert the person-on-the-street to the immense dangers of this twentieth century menace.
THE SWEETENING OF NORTH AMERICABy Dr. Gifford Jones
How much damning evidence is needed before someone calls a halt? For several decades I’ve watched the sweetening of this country. It’s a disastrous way of living that’s causing an epidemic of diabetes unparalleled in proportion in North America. Yet Ministers of Health, Medical Associations and the Public Health Service are failing to alert the person-on-the-street to the immense dangers of this twentieth century menace.
I normally dislike quoting statistics, but it’s impossible to ignore these awesome figures. It’s estimated that every 60 seconds a new diabetic is diagnosed in North America. That every year 600,000 additional people become victims. That five per cent of the population are diabetic. And that one child in five born today will become diabetic in North America.
Should your cholesterol level be tested?By Dr. Gifford Jones
Thank God there are still researchers like Dr. John Frank on this planet who challenge popular medical practices. Doctors who prove it’s wise to take a look at the total picture rather than jump on bandwagons. Who remind physicians that before patients are routinely screened for cholesterol they should be aware of the implications of being told,"Your cholesterol is high and you need medication for this problem.”
The research community doesn’t always applaud when Dr.John Frank, an assistant professor in preventive medicine and biostatistics at the University of Toronto rejects routine screening for cholesterol. There are several traps for both unwary physicians and patients when this test is done.
The Twin EpidemicsBy Dr. Gifford Jones
I experienced a terrible tragedy upon visiting an old friend. He failed to recognize me. All the past history of our years together vanished into the night. And as I drove home the question recurred; what had caused this mental disaster. Could he be victim to what’s been called the “Twin Epidemic”? Had his long-standing diabetes played a factor in this condition?
Marilyn Albert, an expert on Alzheimer’s Disease at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says that “when it comes to keeping the brain healthy adding extra pounds may be a double-edged sword. That it’s not only a risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes, but also a trigger for Alzheimer’s Disease.”
The Restless Leg SyndromeBy Dr. Gifford Jones
A 25-year-old university student from Winnipeg writes, “My legs are driving me crazy. I have the feeling there are thousands of ants marching in them. It’s a creepy-crawling sensation that keeps me from sleeping and it’s affecting my studies, not to mention my social life. What can I do?”
The restless leg syndrome (RLS), as this letter indicates, is not just an old age problem. In fact, it’s a common disorder affecting about 10 per cent of the population, slightly more common in women and tends to increase with age. It also has a genetic component tending to run in families.
Bell’s Palsy: The Mona Lisa SyndromeBy Dr. Gifford Jones
“How could it happen so quickly?” a patient asked me. A day earlier she could smile, open her eyes and showed normal facial countenance. Now, her face drooped on one side due to a paralysis of the facial nerve. The cause? A condition known as Bell’s Palsy.
Sir Charles Bell, a 19th century Scottish physician, first described this upsetting malady that distorts the face, often freezing the mouth making it difficult to eat and the speech slurred.
“Unroofing” The Spinal Column To Treat Spinal StenosisBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Ask most people what causes back pain and you get a variety of answers. Many mention sciatica, lumbago, a slipped disk or chronic back strain. But few mention or have ever heard of a condition called “spinal stenosis”. Yet it’s a disease that we will hear more and more about with an aging population.
Years ago spinal stenosis was called creeping paralysis. It was accepted that if you lived long enough you would eventually get it and learn to live with it.
Go Fast, Fast, Fast To Survive Brain AttackBy Dr. Gifford Jones
Why did one person die from a stroke while stroke destined another to spend the rest of life disabled? And why did still another return to a normal life following a life-threatening stroke. The reason is that some people are “stroke smart”. They know that speed can often mean the difference between a return to walking, or being confined to a wheelchair for life.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada and the U.S. But it’s the # one cause of adult disability. Dying is not a good thing, but being severely disabled from stroke may be a worse disaster. Unfortunately, only three percent of stroke victims are treated within the first crucial three hours of attack.
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