The all-American fast food, the hamburger, has been killing about 60 people a year in the United States alone. And we are not talking about the cardiovascular death toll (one person dies every 60 seconds in the USA) from heart attack and stroke, etc., from a high saturated fat and cholesterol diet. We are talking about bacteria-contaminated ground beef, and “e.coli burger” is one culprit.
More than 70,000 people get sick every year (2000 are so ill to require hospitalization) from burger-borne e.coli bacterial gastro-intestinal disease, whose incubation period is about 10 days after ingestion.
A study by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2008 showed that “one in every 200 samples of ground beef was contaminated by e.coli,” a bacteria that comes from feces (excreta). Obviously, some meat handlers did not wash their hands (well) after going to the toilet, or other mode of contamination played a role.
Since it is not practical to test each and every ounce of meat because a minute e.coli contamination is enough to make people sick, one way to virtually kill all bugs “is by radiation of the meat, the closest high tech magic bullet” for prevention, say the experts. Numerous studies have confirmed that irradiation of meat is safe and effective, in spite of public doubts. The USADA, which has approved this “magic bullet” needs to counter all myths and campaign to reassure the public once more, and save the 70,000 yearly victims of e.coli burger contamination.
In the meantime, we suggest that burgers should be cooked “well done” to 160 degrees heat, which kills most bacteria, at burger stands or at home.
Cheating death
CNN has carried a series where Dr. Sanjay Gupta, its medical correspondent, talked about “Cheating Death.” In our column a couple of years ago, we stated that medically, we use suspended animation, when doing open heart surgery, where the patient, connected to a heart lung machine, was cooled down to about 29-20 degrees centigrade and the heart immersed in ice cold saline to stop it from beating. This strategy slows down the body metabolism so the brain and all the vital organs would require less than minimal oxygen demand. Under the trained heart surgeon, the procedure has been proven to be safe and effective the past 50 years or more. This setting is similar to a situation where a person drowns in a lake or any large body of water during winter, or someone passing out or having a heart attack outside during winter, when the temperature is about 25-30 degrees Centigrade. At this temperature, the body cells will be in a hibernation state, body metabolism slowed maximally, and the oxygen demand is practically nil. This, as I stated earlier, protects all the vital organs up to a certain point in time.
The cold temperature is keeping the individual in a state of suspended animation. The person is not dead but not quite alive, either. Hence, the description cheating death. But there could be fatal complications, if timely intervention and revival is not accomplished accordingly, preferably within minutes. This is why cardiac surgeons, even at ideal and controlled settings, work as efficiently as possible to shorten the “cooling period,” rewarm the body, and revive the heart as soon as possible.
Several fictional stories have been written about the “science” (actually a scam) of cryonics, where the body (usually a person with presently incurable disease, like cancer) is frozen in a freezing capsule or cryostats, with the addition of liquid nitrogen periodically, to be “revived” 20 to 30 years later when “the cure” is already available. The cost of cryonics is usually $45,000 to about $150,000.
The fact is, freezing the human body more than 4 hours start to damage the cells of the vital organs, especially the brain. For now, cryonics is still a dream. Science still has a long way to go in this particular field. Talking about future medical progress, it would be wonderful to have a vaccine given at birth which could prevent all diseases and abnormalities known to man.
In the meantime, it all boils down to living a healthy lifestyle through proper nutrition, daily exercise, stress management, regular medical check-ups, abstinence from tobacco, moderation in alcoholic intake, and simply enjoying life fully with family and friends. And eating the desert first, as my wife would say.
Leptospirosis deaths rising
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects both animals and humans. The floods caused by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng have caused leptospirosis to exact a death toll of 890 so far, which is about 8.6% compared to 7.5% last year. The Philippine Department of Health estimated 1.7 million people are at risk for this potentially fatal illness, especially in the flooded areas. More than 3000 could possibly get the disease.
The illness is caused by a bacterium, genus Leptospira. The classical outbreaks of leptospirosis result from exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals, dogs, cats, horses, cattle, rats, wild animals, etc., as in the floods caused by the typhoons. Besides accidental water ingestion of the contaminated flood water or eating food contaminated by the flood water, the infection could also be gotten by contaminated water hitting eyes, nose, mouth or even open skin wound. From exposure, it takes about 2-4 weeks before the disease develops.
In a previous column, I also reported that soft drink cans, with rat urine, could cause the illness, when people open the can and directly drink from the can, without washing the top of the can well. No person to person spread has been reported, so it is not directly contagious.
Some infected persons, or even animals may not show symptoms, but the usual ones are high fever, chills, muscles aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, jaundice (yellow skin and eyes), and skin rash. If untreated, it could cause Weil’s disease (kidney failure, liver failure, meningitis,” respiratory failure, and death.
Confirmation of the disease by is by laboratory testing of blood and urine. Leptospirosis is treated with antibiotics, like penicillin or doxycycline, etc. For more severe symptoms intravenous antibiotics and fluid therapy may be needed.
Prevention includes not walking barefoot, wading or swimming in pool of water that might be contaminated, and taking a good shower after exposure to the flood water.
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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]
