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No screening for pancreatic cancer … yet

October 31, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My husband’s parents both died of pancreatic cancer. Is there any test my husband and his siblings could get during their regular checkups to screen for this cancer?

DEAR READER: Pancreatic cancer is a quiet, fast-spreading disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2010, about 43,000 people will be diagnosed and just under 6,000 will survive. Often, symptoms are not present until very late, when it has spread to other areas and surgical removal is impossible. Those who are diagnosed early have about a 22.5 percent five-year survival rate compared to those with late-stage disease at the time of diagnosis who have a less than 2 percent five-year survival.
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Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , , , ,

Another remedy for cluster headaches

October 31, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I saw your column about cluster headaches and wanted to tell you about my husband’s experience. He suffered with these for many years. He was on medication, hospitalized, and even had sinus surgery, but nothing worked. I began researching and found that he was most likely suffering from cluster headaches, something his doctors hadn’t told us. I also found that ginseng might help. He now takes ginseng tablets daily and has not had a headache since. The only kind that doesn’t seem to work is American ginseng, and the brand doesn’t seem to matter, either. I hope this helps some of your readers.

DEAR READER: Thank you for writing. I have printed your letter in the hopes that it will in fact reach those readers who need it most. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , , ,

Reducing the spread of germs

October 30, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: A few years ago, my mother read something in your column that led her to believe that because urine is sterile, she doesn’t need to wash her hands after urinating.

Not having read that particular question and response, I don’t know what information you conveyed. The problem for us now is that she is clinging to that “advice.” She lives in an assisted-living community, and the hygiene issue affects many other people. So, between whatever it was she gleaned from your column and a false claim to being allergic to soap, we have a real problem.
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Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , ,

Reader wants past article

October 29, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: You had a recent article in my paper on chronic vaginal inflammation and repeated yeast infections. I’ve been battling this problem for the past six months and have been on Premarin cream for years. Can you tell me when the article was written or how to find out if the “delivery system” was ever corrected?

DEAR READER: Newspapers don’t always run my column on the same day, but you can go to www.AskDrGottMD.com and hit the search button. Type in “yeast infection” to view the complete column or columns on the same topic. The search button and a key condition or phrase works well. Good luck.

Filed Under: Daily Column Tagged With: , , ,

Depression linked to medication

October 29, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I’m 20 years old and have been on birth control from the time I was 13. I’ve been depressed all my life. I think the medication causes my depression to worsen. I also have polycystic ovary syndrome. I tried metformin instead of birth control. It made me sick but less depressed. Can you tell me of a birth-control medication that will not cause depression?

DEAR READER: Medications can definitely cause feelings of sadness, despair and discouragement. All are feelings commonly associated with depression.
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Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , , ,

Vitamin C keeps a 60-something looking young

October 28, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: In a recent column, you suggested vitamin C for collagen synthesis. Would a C supplement be helpful to prevent skin wrinkles, which I understand are associated with collagen breakdown? I take 500 mg a day of vitamin C and have relatively few wrinkles at age 66.

DEAR READER: Three years ago, CBS News reported the findings of a study to determine the impact of nutrients from foods rather than supplements for skin aging. It was found that people who ate vitamin C-rich foods had fewer wrinkles than did people who ate substantially fewer foods containing C, proving that we are what we eat. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , , ,

Polymyalgia is a pain

October 27, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My doctor diagnosed me with polymyalgia. I have pain in the back of my head, shoulders and lower back that usually occurs at night and goes away when I get up in the morning. I’m 78 years old, in generally good health with no diabetes, heart or other problems. I go to physical therapy three times a week for my back problem and have traction treatment as well, which seems to be working. Is there any help for me?

DEAR READER: Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disorder that results in widespread muscle aches, pains and stiffness of the hips, shoulders, thighs, upper arms and neck, fatigue, anemia, malaise and unintentional weight loss. Symptoms experienced are the result of mild inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissue. Stiffness can worsen following periods of inactivity, such as after a night’s sleep or sitting for too long.
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Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Nail polish for liver spots

October 27, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: You recently wrote about liver spots. Two years ago, I used clear nail polish to get rid of my liver spots. I had two big ones on my face, and the nail polish worked like a charm.

DEAR READER: Folk remedies include apple-cider vinegar combined with orange juice; castor oil; lemon juice; grated onion; and green (unripe) black walnuts. Then there are vitamins C and E and zinc. So what more can I say? If clear nail polish worked for you without side effects, it may have to be added to the list of possibilities. Before using home remedies, have a doctor examine the lesions to ensure that they are not cancerous.

Filed Under: Daily Column Tagged With: , ,

Avoiding whiplash and how to treat it

October 26, 2010 By

Last week I almost hit three deer on two different occasions while driving to work. I have also driven through torrential rain and witnessed a van hitting and cracking a telephone pole.

Accidents happen all the time and while modern cars can often withstand quite a bit of “injury”, the human body often can not.

Your head weighs 8 to 10 pounds; if your seat belt is fastened, the force of a collision can cause your head to whip forward and back or side to side. Accidents are at times unavoidable, but there are things you can do to decrease the chance of sustaining a whiplash injury.

  • Always fasten your seat belt.
  • Position your head rest to “catch” your head, which means it should be right in the center of your head. Positioning it too high or too low can actually cause or worsen a whiplash injury.
  • Position your seat properly. You should be sitting up straight and the seat should be as close to your head as possible to lessen the distance between your head and the seat upon impact.
  • Be aware of your surroundings — which means no calling, texting, eating, putting on makeup, etc.

If you do sustain a whiplash injury, get checked out by a medical professional. Some of the symptoms of whiplash: blurred vision, dizziness, jaw, shoulder or neck pain, headaches, vertigo, memory loss, irritability, sleeplessness, fatigue.

Most pain associated with whiplash is caused by tense muscles. When the neck is forced back and forth in a jarring motion, such as the type caused by a car accident, muscles and ligaments in the area are stretched beyond their normal limits. In severe instances, the supportive muscles of the spine are torn. Muscles in the surrounding area then tighten to try and support the injured tissues. This limits range of motion and causes strain on those muscles which are not being used to bearing the extra load. This causes more pain.

Muscle pain is your chiropractor’s specialty, so get checked out. And be careful out there.

Monica S. Nowak, DC
The Chiropractic Center of Canaan
176 Ashley Falls Road
Canaan, CT 06018
860-824-0748

Filed Under: Guest Column Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Disorder causes cloudy vision

October 26, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My mother-in-law is 70 years old. She never had a need to see an eye doctor until last week, when she scratched her eye. She found a local ophthalmologist who told her that she has Fuchs’ disease, something she had never heard of before.

As a coincidence, I decided since I turned 50 recently that it was time for me to have my eyes checked. Lo and behold, and hundreds of dollars later, I had an exam and was told that I needed glasses. When I asked my eye doctor about Fuchs’, he told me briefly about the condition. Can you tell me more?
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Filed Under: Daily Column, Leading Letter Tagged With: , ,
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