Self-care

January 16, 2018

As flu season rages, please get vaccinated and take other precautions

The flu season’s roaring across the country. It’s a bad one, with the H3N2 strain afflicting millions with a severe form of illness — which also has been deadly, notably for the old and young.

If you haven’t done so, consider getting a flu shot, asap. The flu shot this year may be less than optimal in the protections it may offer. Still, as Aaron Carroll — a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine who blogs on health research and policy at The Incidental Economist — argues in a New York Times “Upshot” column, the benefits of inoculation are still clear and pronounced.

As he writes:

January 12, 2018

Safety and injury prevention should be part of our new year exercise plans

by Patrick A. Malone

Millions of Americans may be hitting the gym as part of their new year resolve to get fitter. They also need to exercise caution and common sense to avoid injuries that could leave them in worse shape.

As the Washington Post reported, the 2018 health club crush will result in “hundreds of thousands of [exercisers] stumbling on treadmills, falling off exercise balls, getting snapped in the face by resistance bands, dropping weights on their toes and wrenching their backs by lifting too much weight.”

Further, the newspaper added:

December 12, 2017

It’s clear to see: Cataract surgery can extend and improve women’s lives (and men’s too)

by Patrick A. Malone

Cataract operations, performed on more than 3 million Americans each year, not only may be the most common surgeries in the nation—they also may be life prolonging, especially for older women.

A 20-year study—published in JAMA Ophthalmology— of more than 74,000 women who were 65 and older and who had the all too common clouding of and discoloration of the eye lens found a 60 percent lower risk of death among the 41,735 women who had their cataracts removed, the New York Times has reported.

Further, older women who had cataract surgeries not only lived longer but better, researchers said. As the New York Times has reported:

December 10, 2017

For holidays, consider helping others and yourself with gifts of life and health

by Patrick A. Malone

Looking for a gift with more meaning for a holiday season of higher purpose and lasting impact? Here are some ideas:

Protect yourself and your loved ones. Pronto. If you qualify for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, sign up, immediately. Go to healthcare.gov to learn more and to launch the process. The deadline is Friday (Dec. 15). Partisans shortened up the sign-up time, publicized the program poorly, and have sought to undercut Obamacare in myriad ways. But for millions of poorer and middle-class Americans, the ACA is a solid path still to all-important health coverage.
While you’re online, go to organdonor.gov (click here) to join a national registry of Americans who have volunteered life saving and life changing parts of themselves with a post-mortem gift. More than 100,000 Americans await hearts, livers, kidneys, lungs, and other invaluable tissues, and 8,000 of our family members, friends, and work colleagues will die because suitable organs can’t be found for them. You can, of course, sign up to be a donor when you earn or renew your driver’s license. The national registry is a way to ensure further that your wishes will be followed. Be sure, too, to tell your family and loved ones you’re a donor. You also may want to think about becoming a “live” donor.

September 29, 2017

Pediatricians may be the Rx for rising tide of tats, piercings, scars in youths

by Patrick A. Malone

Could pediatricians accomplish what many parents cannot? Can they talk to rebellious youths about the body adornments that are all the rage now, and get kids to consider the health risks and long-term issues surrounding trendy tattoos, piercings, and body scarring?

In case you’ve fallen like Rip Van Winkle into a long doze or you’re senior enough to even understand the Washington Irving reference, tats and body jewelry worn in created openings and roughing up the skin to make interesting patterns all have become so common among the young that those who go without such au trendy beauty measures may now even be the outliers among their peers.

There isn’t good data on body scarring but the public opinion experts at the Pew Research Center found in 2010 that 38 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had at least one tattoo, and 23 percent had “piercings in locations other than an earlobe.”

September 27, 2017

Sound sleep for young could be an economic boon and helpful with ADHD

by Patrick A. Malone

Improve Your Sleep Quality to Maximize Your Goals

Although grown-ups may struggle with health woes caused by a lack of a good night’s sleep, a long and sound slumber, without early rising, may be even more crucial for middle- and high-schoolers. Their restful sleep may have economic benefits for us all, as well as surprising effects on attention disorders, which are one of the rising banes for the young.

New study by the nonpartisan and nonprofit RAND Corporation not only supports the health benefits from teens getting more sleep by starting school at around 8:30 in the morning— later than many schools now—researchers say such a move could be a, “cost-effective … strategy which could have a significant impact on public health and the U.S. economy.” As they reported:

August 7, 2017

Eye safety will be a must while viewing Aug. 21 total eclipse of the sun

by Patrick A. Malone

Weather permitting, Washingtonians soon will get a good view of a full eclipse of the sun — not the whole thing but a good chunk. Here’s hoping that all viewers of this much-anticipated astronomical event take due precautions so they don’t damage their eyesight.

Residents around the nation’s capital can expect to see an 81 percent blockage of the sun at the peak of the Aug. 21 eclipse, not the full solar cover or “totality” that millions of Americans are planning and traveling to view in peak spots that fall in a 70-mile wide swath across the country from Oregon to South Carolina.

Be warned: Don’t think just because the sun overhead is mostly blocked that it is safe even then to stare upwards with unprotected eyes. That might leave a careless viewer in the district with crescent-shaped burns on the back of the eyes, says a vision expert and longtime aficionado who says he has seen 19 eclipses.

July 7, 2017

When placenta-eating mom sickens baby, has star health bunk gone too far?

by Patrick A. Malone

Mocking the vanity, self-absorption, and stupidity of the rich and celebrities may be too feckless a sport. But the tragic spin-offs of the sweeping misinformation their hype mechanisms can generate sometimes just cannot be ignored.

If you can take it, New York magazine has put out a detailed story on “The Wellness Epidemic,” a deep dive into the cult-like affectations of affluent Americans who spend way too much time worrying they might be sick—and dabbling with remedies that might make most readers with an inkling of common sense spit up a little.

Why pay a second’s attention to this hypochondria and Goop, the fantasy empire of wealthy and beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow? Because she’s the actress who’s not only selling millions of dollars in beauty supplies and vitamins and supplements of suspect health value, she’s also sharing with a sadly rapt global audience her nonsensical views on the benefits and necessities of fecal transplants and putting a $66 jade egg into one’s private parts.

November 20, 2016

Quick tips for a safe and healthy Thanksgiving

by Patrick A. Malone

As tens of millions of us set out to feast and give thanks, some thoughts about making the holiday safe and healthy:

Turn off the e-devices when driving

When driving to see friends and family, shut off the electronic devices, please, and forgo the apps on them, as long as you’re the one behind the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Administration says that, after a half century of declines, traffic fatalities in 2015 recorded their largest percentage leap in a half century—and in the first half of 2016, the figures are up 10.4 percent more over last year (17,775 road deaths). Officials say distracted driving is reaching deadly levels, especially as motorists tap devices and apps to send meaningless texts or take selfies. This already has proved fatal to innocent others, including multiple-vehicle wrecks. I deal in my practice with the tragic aftermath of the carnage that vehicles and negligent drivers can inflict. When you’re behind the wheel, you’re responsible for what can become a multi-ton missile. Be safe. If you’re under the influence—due to alcohol, marijuana, or prescription drugs— rely on a sober, designated driver. Or take a taxi or tap Uber or Lyft. Or sleep on the couch or floor. We’ll be thankful you did.

November 18, 2016

The eyes have it: Young athletes may need more protection against eye injury

by Patrick A. Malone

INGLEWOOD, CA – 1988: Kareem Abdul Jabbar #33 of the Los Angeles Lakers holds his goggles during an NBA game at the Forum in 1988 in Inglewood, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1988 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Basketball legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy donned them, as did pro football superstar Eric Dickerson, and onetime Reds third-baseman Chris Sabo. Goggles may make athletes look goofy, but new research suggests that young players and their parents and coaches might want to give these and other protective eye-wear a second look.

That’s because caregivers in emergency rooms across the country treat 30,000 sports-related eye injuries annually, a large majority of them in patients younger than 18 and a few younger than 10.