Tips

3 March 2005

Head injury

It’s a good thing you can’t see me at the moment – I have a large bandage on my upper right temple – no good way to hide that. But it has given me reason to think a little about head injury. My 9 month old son had a fall this week too. What are the signs that someone is seriously injured? When is medical treatment needed?

There are two basic kinds of head injury. Obviously, if something has actually broken through the skull, that’s serious! But it’s harder to tell when someone’s head is just banged.

If someone actually loses consciousness, or if there’s memory loss, they should be checked out right away. Other than that, the person should be watched closely over the next 24 hours for the following symptoms:
seizures
paralysis/weakness
difficulty speaking, smelling or tasting
vision problems
severe headache or stiff neck that doesn’t improve
dizziness
vomiting after the first 2 hours
extreme sleepiness, or trouble waking up
unusual behavior (in kids specifically)

These things apply to people of any age. Deal with the bleeding, check for injuries, apply ice, and watch for any of the above symptoms. If in doubt, call the ambulance or hospital, or call 911 if it’s available in your area.

Thanks to MedLine Plus and WebMD for these tips.

17 February 2005

Scuba diving and migraine

James Tips 0

It’s time to escape the winter doldrums and fly to Mexico for a holiday (if you already live in Mexico, insert another country here!) – great idea. But have you planned ahead? Specifically, have you planned how you’re going to minimize your risk of headaches?

This site is packed full of ideas to avoid headaches when you travel. But if you’re planning to take some scuba-diving lessons while you’re there, there are some specific problems that you’ll have to deal with. It’s not just the change in pressure – there are other issues when it comes to headaches, including some of the medications you take. Some medications that you may take could increase the risk of nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen narcosis is caused by high levels of dissolved nitrogen in your blood, and it can cause confusion. Also, think twice before you take that cold or flu medicine, or something for nausea, and so on.

So before you go to Mexico (or Belize or Australia or South Africa or…) be sure to talk to a doctor and let her know what you intend to do. Better yet, talk to a doctor who is specifically trained in the issues surrounding diving.

Thanks to the blog at Dive South Africa for this reminder.

16 February 2005

Questions raised by the Cox-2 inhibitor frenzy…

James Medications, News, Tips 0

Cox-2 inhibitors continue to be at the forefront of the news, partly because of the huge economic impact that pulling them will have on some drug companies, partly because of the impact it will have on patients (they were generally prescribed for arthritis, but sometimes for headache), and partly because of the chance it gives us to look into the inner workings of how drugs are tested and promoted.

Many countries around the world have put out warnings about Cox-2 drugs as a class, restricted their use and or enforced new rules regarding what warnings must be on the labels. It may be that in some places they will be banned altogether. It will be interesting to see in the United States, for example, what the FDA decides.

Now that concerns have been brought to light, important questions are being asked that hopefully will not die out after this particular class of drugs is dealt with. How does advertising effect the sale of a drug? How and why should specific drugs be promoted to doctors? How can drugs be trusted when so many studies are funded by the drug companies themselves? What further testing should be required?

For us humble consumers, it highlights the need to be cautious about new drugs, to do our research, to ask questions, and to take warnings seriously. Almost every drug has its drawbacks, and the same goes for many so called natural or non drug treatments.

For a little balance on the topic of Cox-2 inhibitors themselves, read this article from Dr Jasjit S. Bindra [link no longer available]. True, he himself is a former employee of the drug company Pfizer Inc., but he still makes some excellent points about the current state of research.

5 February 2005

Genetics and the stroke migraine connection

James Discoveries & Stats, Tips 0

You want to know more about the genetics of migraine? So does Lyn Griffiths. Lyn and her team have been studying migraine for over 9 years from a genetic standpoint. If you want to read a really good article on her research, check out this one from July (link no longer available). It gives a great summary of some of the methods used, and where Lyn believes the research is heading.

One interesting thing that is not mentioned in the article is their research into the link between stroke and migraine. Of course you’ve heard a lot about that recently, but way back in September 2003 Lyn’s team discovered a genetic link. Interestingly, the biochemical imbalance that this genetic flaw causes may simply be treatable through diet. “By increasing folate levels in the diet, such as eating green leafy vegetables, this biochemical imbalance decreases, which consequently may reduce the risk of stroke and possibly migraine.”

Everybody’s telling us we’re not eating enough leafy greens anyway, here’s another good excuse. Folate has been in the news again for other reasons – a January issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on a study that showed heart benefits from folate (a B vitamin). Excellent sources include oranges, dark leafy greens, wheat germ and legumes. Of course, we’ve known about vitamin B for a long time – it’s in the successful natural supplement for migraine, Migrelief.

Read the 2003 press release from the Genomics Research Centre where Lyn Griffiths works [link no longer available].

4 February 2005

Sinusitis

James News, Tips 0

It may be more common than you think – or, perhaps, less common. The culprit? Sinusitis. There has been concern in Central Florida recently about the number of sinusitis cases showing up in hospitals. It has been estimated that as many as half the people who believe they have sinusitis or sinus headache may actually have migraine. Migraine often has similar symptoms, such as congestion and facial tenderness (see this article on migraine and sinus headache)

Though often related to allergies, bacteria and viruses, researchers in 1999 began theorizing that sinusitis may actually be an immune response to fungus. In fact, there are a number of very similar problems with similar symptoms that are often confused. It’s wise to talk to a doctor and get more than one opinion if you’re not comfortable with her diagnosis or treatment. For more on sinusitis, read this new article.