A mystery stomach bug that has sickened 275 persons in eight states in the USA since mid-June 2013 has been reported by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The infection causing prolonged diarrhea, with or without vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, and weight loss from dehydration. The Cyclospora cayetanensis one-celled parasite contamination was linked in the past to imported fresh produce (lettuce, raspberries, fresh basil) mostly from tropical and subtropical countries. The sickness is caused and spread when people eat the contaminated food or from using water contaminated with feces. The source of the bug in these current cases is still a mystery as of last Friday, according to the CDC. It is best to always wash fruits, vegetables, and all other food items well before eating or cooking them. Washing utensils with boiling water and washings hands before eating help minimize the risk for infection. Besides the standard treatment for diarrhea, a combination antibiotic (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, branded as Bactrim, Septra) may be prescribed by the attending physician. For those who cannot take sulfa, ciprofloxacin (Cipro) or nitazoxanide (Alinia) might be an option.
Smoking less still kills
Cutting down on smoking? Sorry, that’s not enough. Only totally quitting tobacco can save your life, according to new research findings.
A 40-year study conducted by Glasgow and Stirling Universities on 5200 smokers in Scotland from early 1970 to 2010 revealed that smoking less does not lessen the risk of premature deaths cause by tobacco. Quitting altogether significantly reduced mortality rate.
“Our results support the view that reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke is not a reliable way of improving your health in the long term,” according to Professor Linda Bauld of Stirling University, one of the researchers.
About 240 Filipinos die daily from tobacco-related illness. The Philippines is one of the top 20 smoking countries around the world, which is most unfortunate. Smoking causes a host of illnesses, from respiratory illnesses in adults and children, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disabilities, and cancers of various organs, not only the throat and the lungs.
“To effectively combat the toll of tobacco, we must implement graphic health warnings on packs, mandate 100 percent smoke-free environments, and impose a complete ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. These are necessary complements to the sin tax law,” stated Atty. Diana Trivino, Project Manager of the public health NGO HealthJustice.
Germiest objects we touch
Our hands are almost always loaded with germs we unknowingly collect from common items we touch at home or in public areas. The sources include money (paper or coins), our own or (worse) public bathrooms, our kitchen at home, stair or escalator handrails, doorknobs, menus and condiment containers in restaurants, toilet doors and locks, bus and train poles/holding bars, elevator keypads, grocery carts, public computer keyboard and mouse, public pens and pencils, car door handles, and all other items a lot of people touch in public. Germs, which are microscopic, are easily transferred from hand to hand (handshake) and hand to any inanimate object around us to hands. Then we touch our face and the food we eat! Hopefully, only after we wash our hands.
These germs cause virus or bacterial, or even protozoan infections, from simple cold to diarrhea and vomiting, deadly food poisoning, to tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, like hepatitis which increases the risk for deadly hepatoma (liver cancer).
Using hand sanitizer gel or solution is a helpful “instant” aid, but hand washing is still the more effective habitual means of cleaning our hands and preventing infections.
Indeed, it is no exaggeration, simple hand washing (8 to 10 times a day) can save your life.
Painful leg cramps
Nocturnal leg cramps are very common. The pain could be very severe. Whether they happen during the day or at night, one simple maneuver could be used to instantly relieve the painful (gastrocnemius) muscle spasm. When the cramps start, immediately flex your foot upward with toes pointing towards the knee of the affected leg. This simple trick stops the spasm in seconds. Taking quinine water or other herbal “cures” for leg cramps are unsafe. Those with frequent leg cramps might have a medical condition causing it. Consult your doctor if these happen often.
Skipping breakfast
It is a common knowledge that eating breakfast is good for our body. Is it true that skipping breakfast make one eat more for lunch. The recent studies from Cornell University showed that this is a myth, not eating the first meal of the day does not necessarily make one eat more later, especially those on a diet. It all depends on the person’s diet goal (calorie-control for weight reduction) and his/her personal discipline.
This issue is separate from the 16-year study on 27,000 men that revealed “those who skipped breakfast had a 27 percent increased risk of heart attack.” But those who feast on bacon, sausage, eggs, and a load of carbs for breakfast daily will obviously have a higher risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.
Those live a healthy lifestyle (diet, exercise, abstinence from tobacco and disciplined alcohol use, and stress management) who skipped breakfast and maintain their normal or desired daily caloric intake will remain healthy, with reduced risk for cardiovascular and metabolic illnesses.
Cancer from BBQ?
At least 2 types of potentially harmful chemicals are produced by barbequeing or grilling meat, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and HCAs (heterocyclic amines). PAHs are seen in smoke and burned matters. When ingested regularly and in large quantities, like burnt portions of any food type, they can cause cancer in humans. When oil drippings from the meat hit the charcoal, fats flare up, charring the undersurface of the meat. Toaster burnt bread with blackened surface also develops PAH coating. Prolonged cooking (grilling or pan-frying), especially with high heat, produces a reaction in the HCAs inside the (“well-done” or burnt) meat, which cannot be trimmed off, unlike the PAHs on the burnt surface. It is best to have low heat and to avoid flare ups when grilling. Also, cooking the meat a little by microwave first will require less grilling time. Remember, eating burnt food, meat or produce, increases the cancer risk.
Hands-free call unsafe
Phone conversation while driving, whether hands-on or hands-free (using Bluetooth or “ear buds”) are equally dangerous, according to recent studies. Countless deaths have been reported since cell phones were introduced. And, of course, as expected, texting while driving is an accident waiting to happen and maim or kill. While conversing, the driver’s attention is “induced” by the brain to focus on what the driver wants to concentrate on in those moments, and develop an almost “blind stare” at the road ahead. This inattention to driving could be a deadly few minutes, not only for the driver but for pedestrians and other car drivers. Texting and hands-on calling while driving are already against the law. So should hands-free calling while driving. The call logs on the phone, which are also on the computer file of the phone server-companies, have been used by Police as evidence, when contested by the less-than honest driver.
This and other health articles are compiled in a book listed in the US Library of Congress which you could view at www.philipschua.com.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: [email protected]
