News

Just for the Health of it!!

April 2008

SPRING HAS SPRUNG , SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE
Most of you managed to survive the Easter bombardment with colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, stuffed life-sized animals and enough jelly beans to build a battleship. Now we can move on to lovely spring weather and the all the allergies that accompany the explosion of blooming plants.

It is obvious as you drive around your local streets that a lot of “stuff” is blowing in the wind, much of it flowers loaded with pollen from your yard plants and trees. Proceed directly to your local Leader Pharmacy and load up on antihistamines, sinus medications, and tissues, in order to prepare for what could be a long allergy season. There are numerous antihistamines available these days, both in the older drowsiness-inducing products and the newer generation of non-drowsy antihistamines. You will also find combinations of antihistamines, decongestants, pain and fever reducers, cough suppressants, expectorants, nasal steroids, inhaled bronchodilators, and even mucolytics and allergy eye drops. There are sinus irrigation devices in the form of plastic squeeze bottles, little teapot-shaped gadgets, and electric-powered irrigator pumps. Most of the above list of items are available without prescription, so you may need some Leader advice on which would be appropriate for your particular condition and set of symptoms.
We recommend that you begin gathering information now, rather than waiting until you are heavily sneezing and wheezing. A little pre-planning could make your allergy season considerably more tolerable.

NATIONAL SARCOIDOSIS MONTH
Sarcoidosis is a condition resulting from a type of tissue inflammation that can affect almost any body organ, but most commonly affects the lungs or lymph nodes. Its cause is unknown, can appear suddenly and disappear, or can produce symptoms that last a lifetime. As the disease progresses, there may be microscopic lumps of inflammation called granulomas in the affected tissues. The majority of these clear up with or without treatment. If the granulomas do not heal, the tissues may remain inflamed and become scarred.
Symptoms of sarcoidosis may include shortness of breath and a persistent cough. Skin symptoms can also show up suddenly with the appearance of rash or red bumps on the face, arms, and shins. Eye inflammation is also a possibility. More general symptoms include such things as weight loss, fatigue, night sweats, fever, or just an overall feeling of ill health.
Treatment most commonly will be with steroids (like prednisolone), either oral, inhaled, or injected. Other drugs may include methotrexate, azathioprene, chlorambucil, or chloroquine, depending upon the location and severity of the involvement. Sarcoidosis requires sophisticated testing to make the diagnosis, so routine physical exams are the best place to start in detection of this condition.

CANCER CONTROL
While on the subject of routine physical examinations, cancer control is highly dependent upon early detection and diagnosis. Skin cancers would appear to be the most obvious and easy to detect, yet are frequently ignored or simply missed because of their location (how many of us frequently check between our toes or the bottoms of our feet?). If you live alone, you most likely don’t get a good look at your back very often. Skin cancers can also appear on the scalp, hidden by hair.

Simple do-it-yourself tests for blood in the stool are now available, making early detection of colo-rectal cancers a reality. You may have blood in the stool from hemorrhoids, polyps, or other sources, so a positive test means only that you should have a conversation with your doctor about further testing procedures to find out the source of the blood.

We all know the connection between lung cancer and smoking, yet the alarming statistic is that more and more new smokers are young females. If you are or observe a young female (or male) smoking, you have my permission to tell them that smoking is not “cool”. It is nasty, deadly, and expensive. There are many smoking cessation products and programs available to help smokers stop. Ask your Leader pharmacist for a recommendation. Your lungs will thank you.

FIRST AID KITS MAY NEED SOME FIRST AID
It is time to pull out your first aid kit and take inventory, with the weather getting warmer and the kids anxious to bruise or cut something. Check for outdated products (aspirin, antibiotic creams, analgesic rubs), for bandages or dressings used last season and never replaced, and to make sure your kit covers the types of possible injuries in your family situation (ball players, bikers, runners, hikers). Also add bug repellant and sunscreen.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

  “The trouble with life in the fast lane is that you get to the other end in an awful hurry"
     - John Jensen