Countless of you (well actually, several of you) have asked me in the last few weeks “What about the swine flu vaccine?” “Should I get it?” “When will it be available?” “Is it safe?” “Does it not herald the coming of the zombie apocalypse?” Well, your long wait for answers is finally over.
So far the H1N1 infection has caused symptoms very similar to garden variety seasonal flu, except that diarrhea and vomiting have been more common and that most hospitalizations have been in people young...
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A New Blood Thinner May Outperform Coumadin
Atrial fibrillation is a very common abnormal heart rhythm affecting 3 million Americans. The most dangerous complication of atrial fibrillation is stoke, which can happen when a blood clot forms in the fibrillating heart chambers and travels to the brain.
Blood thinners have been the mainstay of treatment for atrial fibrillation. They reduce the risk of stroke by preventing blood clots. Warfarin (marketed under the brand name Coumadin) is the most effective available oral blood thinner, but...
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The Facts on Red Yeast Rice
Many of my patients ask me whether they should take red yeast rice to lower their cholesterol. This week’s issue of The Medical Letter has a very handy review of red yeast rice which I summarize below.
Red yeast rice is a food that is produced by fermenting rice with a specific species of yeast. It has been used in Chinese cooking and medicine for centuries. It contains many molecules that are similar to statins, the family of medicines including Liptor, Zocor and Crestor. In fact one of it...
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Important Influenza Inoculation Information
Our office just received our first batch of influenza vaccines, so it’s time for the annual flu shot post.
The seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against novel H1N1 (swine) flu. Availability of the swine flu vaccine is still at least a couple of months away, and I’ll write about it in more detail when it becomes available.
This year the CDC is recommending flu vaccination for the following people:
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- Children aged 6 months up to their 19th birthday,
- Women ...
H1N1 Flu: Potential Pregnancy Problem
H1N1, the flu previously known as swine, is still in the news, but this week for a good reason.
Most of us still have little to worry about. The CDC estimates that over a million Americans have been sick with H1N1 flu as of July 24. The vast majority of illnesses were mild and resolved without incident, many without any treatment. As of that same date there have been 5,011 hospitalizations and 302 deaths. That means that getting sick with H1N1 flu caries half a percent chance of hospitaliz...
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It’s West Nile Virus Season
The news is still flooded with stories about Swine Flu, which will continue to demand the attention of public health officials, but probably doesn’t need much more attention from the public.
Meanwhile summertime brings mosquitoes which bring West Nile Virus. West Nile Virus is transmitted to people by mosquito bites. Most infected people have a very mild illness, but some develop encephalitis (brain inflammation) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord). There ...
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Travelers Troubled by Thrombosis
Prolonged immobility has long been known to increase the risk of blood clots forming in veins in the legs (the medical term for which is deep venous thrombosis). Blood clots in the legs can be quite painful and debilitating but they can also travel to the lungs which can be life threatening. So doctors use medicines or inflatable leg squeezing devices to prevent blood clots in hospitalized patients who are bed-bound. But there is a much more common time when we all are fairly immobilized – tr...
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Folic Acid: Fabulous for Fertile Females, Feckless for Fellows
Folic acid, a vitamin found naturally in green leafy vegetables and legumes, is essential for making the building blocks of DNA. And since copying DNA is an important part of what cells do before they divide, it’s critical for cell division. Developing fetuses have very rapidly dividing cells, so it’s not surprising that folic acid deficiency has been linked to birth defects, specifically brain and spinal cord abnormalities.
To prevent these birth defects, physicians for many...
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Vaccine Refusal: Turning Back Two Centuries of Progress
Vaccines have become a victim of their own success. In 1809 Massachusetts became the first state to pass a law requiring a vaccination – of smallpox – ushering a series of public health victories over a number of serious diseases. In the past 200 years smallpox has been eradicated, and measles, polio, rubella and tetanus have become so rare that they have disappeared from public consciousness.
The number of children who contract vaccine-preventable diseases today is tiny compared to the numbe...
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Swine Flu: Unlikely to End the World
I thought it might be a good idea to write my weekly post early this week since there is so much anxiety about swine flu.
The media and officials in many countries have contributed to much fear and misunderstanding which may turn out to be more harmful than swine flu itself. Let me try to shed some light without raising the heat.
The swine flu virus has been around for a long time as a cause of respiratory illness in pigs. Sporadically, it has caused illness in humans who had a lot of contac...
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