How do I prepare for the flu season?

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual vaccine for everyone 6 months old and up.  This is by far the most important step in preparing for the flu season.  Every year an epidemic occurs, and several thousand people die from the Influenza virus. 

The Influenza virus vaccine contains the 3 most common strains for the year.  Although many different strains can occur, the most common found strains are covered in the annual vaccine.  So it is still possible to get a “flu” if you have been vaccinated.  You cannot get the flu from the vaccine itself since the viral particles are dead.  However, the sense of illness you may get from the vaccine is your immune system just doing its job by revving up your body’s inflammation and immunity chemicals. 

This year’s vaccine is the same as last year containing the H1N1, the H3N2, and the B/Brisbane 2008 like virus.  If you remember, 2008 was a very high mortality year for the flu.  The 2008 flu had a several thousand person mortality in Europe and Asia alone just in the first 2 weeks of the season.  Approximately 1,000 people died each week from the flu.

The other things you can do of course is to use antibacterial wash or lotion often.  Do not go to the hospital if you are sick with flulike symptoms.  If you are sick go to the ER for a flu screen. 

Vitamin C can lessen the symptoms of the flu, as well as Echinacea.  Drink plenty of fluids, rest, and if needed take an antiinflammatory drug to reduce fever and achiness.

Good luck this season.  Stay healthy!

What does the Future of Medicine hold for us?

This is an interesting question, especially with how much technology is rapidly innovating.  With the increasing use of voice recognition as evidenced with use in Apple's Iphone, doctors and nurses will not have to manually input information into the computer system.  Within ten years, each office will have software that can take what nurses and doctors say, transmit into dictated orders and exam findings, and automatically send orders out to pharmacies, radiology, and lab departments.  Streamlining the registration, evaluation, and management of patients will allow for a much smoother experience for patients in the primary care realm.

Within 20-50 years, Medicine and technology may converge into a realm where patients don't even need to be seen by the physician anymore.  Imagine, as a diabetic, the 3 month follow up is due.  You wake up, go to your home medical port site, which will scan you with a laser and ultrasound, detecting the vital signs, the cell count, the liver function, hemoglobin A1c, and any other test required.  The laser can provide a 3 dimensional image of the body like a CT scan without radiation, or like an MRI.  Of course, if a face to face is desired, the patient can do so via videoconferencing.  Even if the good ole fashion face to face is required, the option is still there.  But as energy demands change, and the US finds ways to cut costs, patients will find that driving to the doctors' office maybe an energy waste.

That information is then transmitted to the Medical Home, where the patient's physician is monitoring several screens.  The physician of the near future will be able to treat more than 10,000 patients per year, averaging around 50 patients per day.  Further into the future, a physician can treat over 100 patients in a day with technology that streamlines information to his office.  The screens will have voice recognition and sensors that will be able to automatically detect abnormalities for the physician.  Prescriptions will automatically be filled via voice activation from the physician not into local pharmacies, but rather into Medication box depots, which after identifying the patients' retina and finger will dispense the medication.  These depots will be spread around such as regular pharmacies nowadays.

It may be hard to believe, but the technology for all these possibilities already exist.  Surgeons are using robots to do intricate surgery, and one day may not need to be in the actual surgery suite, or even in the same hospital.  The possibilities are endless.  I just hope that physicians and nurses never are replaced by robots.

At-Risk Drinking –Who is at Risk?

The holidays are upon us and it is time for festivities and families.  Sometimes mixed in will include egg nog, orange juice and champagne, wine and beer.  From a medical standpoint, caution should be practiced if alcohol can start to interfere with your health. 

Liver damage, high blood pressure, increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, and diabetes can result from a long history of high intake of alcohol.  So the question is, “What is too much?”

Both the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse, and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have definitions for what constitutes “at risk drinking.”  From a medical standpoint, a drink is 14 grams of pure alcohol which is 1.5 oz of liquor, 5 oz of wine, or 12 oz of beer. 

At risk drinking is more than 14 drinks a week for men or more than 2 drinks a day.  For women more than 7 drinks per week and more than one per day. 

At-risk drinking doesn’t necessarily cause health problems, but chronic and daily at-risk drinking can start to damage the organs. 

If you think you have a problem check out www.niaaa.nih.gov

Some questions to ask yourself if you feel you may be at-risk include:

1. Have you felt the need to cut down on your drinking?
2. Have you ever felt annoyed when people criticize your drinking?
3. Have you ever felt guilty about drinking?
4. Do you need to drink in the morning for an eye-opener?

Answering yes to 2 or more questions should point you in the direction to seek medical help.  If you have any questions please email runsinthewynd@gmail.com