Tag: health

Health report 2012

I’m doing OK.

Went for my annual physical last month. Actually, it was more like 15 or 16 months since the last time, and I don’t know why, since, unlike most of my doctors’ visits, it involves no copay.

She indicated that I was doing OK. I weigh too much, as though I didn’t know, but about 10 pounds less than I thought I was, which was a nice surprise. Still, my arthritic left knee always feels better with every pound lost.

I was concerned about my blood pressure. When I donated blood in April, my BP was around 90/60, which is unusually low for me; I wonder if that affected my donation difficulties. The next donation in July, my BP was 154/90, which was uncharacteristically high for me. So seeing 132/80 was rather comforting. Happy that my blood sugar was good.

There has been a lot of news on the media about whether men should still be getting PSA tests to check for prostate cancer. My doctor is a believer, especially for me, since I have a family history (father) for the disease.

We talked about my vitiligo because people with it may be more prone to diseases of the adrenal glands (Addison’s disease) or thyroid (Graves’ disease). As the NIH notes: “The course of vitiligo varies and is unpredictable. Some areas may regain normal pigment (coloring), but other new areas of pigment loss may appear. Skin that is repigmented may be slightly lighter or darker than the surrounding skin. Pigment loss may get worse over time.” This is true. Not only are some parts of my body getting a little more color, but my gray/white beard suddenly has darker hairs; very strange. I find that my skin is more sensitive, not only to the sun, but to unexplained bruises and cuts. Also, I NEED sunglasses on an overcast day.

But as I said, I’m doing OK.

Now NEXT year, I need to get a colonoscopy…

Z is for Zzzzzzz

“A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.”

 

More than almost any topic in the popular media, sleep, or the lack thereof, has been the subject of seemingly countless articles. This article from PARADE magazine is a typical example, which notes: “If you feel tired all the time, talk to your doctor. Persistent ­fatigue could ­signal a medical condition such as sleep apnea, an underactive thyroid, or ­anemia.” Here is Mark Evanier’s sleep apnea history, for example.

The Centers for Disease Control has a whole section devoted to sleep and sleep disorders, which cites diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression as being associated with insufficient sleep. According to a recent study by the National Sleep Foundation, 60 percent of men and women experience sleep problems almost every night. Harvard University research suggests that 7 out of every 10 adults do not get the quality sleep they need.

One of the great interrupters of sleep is Daylight Saving Time, which Jaquandor kvetched about. There is an increased number of accidents each time the clock goes forward.

Still, I was fascinated by a BBC article: “A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.

“In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted an experiment in which a group of people were plunged into darkness for 14 hours every day for a month. It took some time for their sleep to regulate but by the fourth week, the subjects had settled into a very distinct sleeping pattern. They slept first for four hours, then woke for one or two hours before falling into a second four-hour sleep. Though sleep scientists were impressed by the study, among the general public the idea that we must sleep for eight consecutive hours persists.”

The Beatles recorded at least two songs about sleep, I’m Only Sleeping and I’m So Tired.

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

A is for Allergies

I started on a weekly regimen of allergy injections called immunotherapy, which, ideally, will lessen or eliminate some of the ailments I had been experiencing.

 

I was feeling pretty lousy in the spring, worse in the summer, and not so great in the fall. Sneezing, scratchy throat, watery eyes, off and on for months. So I decided to visit my daughter’s allergist. After the doctor took my health history, a nurse treated my arms like pin cushions in trying to ascertain what, if anything, I was allergic to.

The good news is that I am NOT allergic to any animals or any foods; so no peanut allergy, like my daughter has. The bad news is that I am allergic to – and no, I don’t know what they all mean – ragweed, mugwort, pigweed, plantain, sheep sorrel, grass, ryegrass, timothy grass, June grass, red top, sweet vernal, ash, birch, elm, hickory, maple, oak, poplar, and willow. In other words, I am allergic to tree pollens, which begin to appear in the US Northeast in mid-March and are present into June; grass pollens, which appear in late May and are present through the summer; and ragweed pollen, airborne from mid-August through September.

One course of action would be to remain in air-conditioned buildings from late February to October; hardly practical, and boring to boot. The other option is to start on a weekly regimen of allergy injections called immunotherapy, which, ideally, will lessen or eliminate some of the ailments I had been experiencing. I started in December, because the idea is to build up the immunity over time, so when allergy season kicks in, I’ll be less affected.

I get shots in each arm once a week, with gradually increasing doses of treatment. I could do as often as thrice a week if I had the time; if it’s less often than once every couple weeks, its efficacy is lost, and I have to start the regimen all over again. The most difficult part, actually, is waiting around for 30 minutes AFTER the injections, to make sure I don’t have a severe reaction, which, as they like to let you know, could be anything from an itchy throat or runny nose, to chest tightening or hives, to, in rare instances, drop in blood pressure, shock and even death.

So far, so good.

Allergies by Paul Simon, a minor hit, #44 in late 1983

ABC Wednesday – Round 10

The Health Report

St. Peter’s Hospital had a free prostate cancer screening Thursday night, and I participated.

Albany County, NY has had the first confirmed case of West Nile virus in a human this month. It is not shocking, given the number of mosquitos I’ve seen lately, due in large part to all the rain we’ve had. There have been mosquitos in our home office, and Thursday night, the biggest mosquito I’ve seen in a while sitting on a choir member’s arm. I have bites on my arms and legs, even with long sleeves, and even on the top of my head.

I don’t think that’s what made me so sick on Friday morning while I was at work. My stomach was audibly growling, as though I hadn’t eaten, though I had. Then about 11 a.m. – well, let’s just say I spent about an hour out of the next three in the loo. I would have gone home except that I wasn’t well enough to take two buses home; I did leave a little early.

My head’s also stuffed up. It’s so bad that if I sleep on one side, my own wheezing wakes me up. I’m sure it’s allergies, though I don’t know what, specifically; the grass pollen was moderate last Friday, while the mold and weed were low, according to Weather.com, which tracks it for the contiguous United States.

I was still feeling tired on Saturday, so between vacuuming the first floor and mowing the lawn between rainstorms, I took a nap for over an hour; I just don’t nap, so this was significant.

St. Peter’s Hospital had a free prostate cancer screening Thursday night, and I participated. The urologist said I was fine, but they’ll still analyze the blood work. Since my father died of prostate cancer, and because I’m a black male pushing 60, living north of 40 degrees latitude – yes, those are all risk factors – I need to get tested every year. One of the other guys getting checked pondered, “Does EVERY disease have its own colored ribbon?”

Anyway, I’m still dragging a bit, so I’ll sign off until tomorrow when I start answering your questions; you may still submit.

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