The bird flu scare
By Rafael Castillo M.D.International health experts are closely monitoring the recently discovered new avian influenza A(H7N9) virus which has emerged into a severe, life-threatening infection.
International health experts are closely monitoring the recently discovered new avian influenza A(H7N9) virus which has emerged into a severe, life-threatening infection.
In two days, we will be electing, among others, people who will be among the honorable members of the Senate. They are tasked with an all-important role of deliberating proposed statutes and passing them in the form of laws.
Many have been asking why I have been taking a melatonin supplement nightly for around 20 years now. I started taking it in the early ’90s, not because of its sleep-enhancing benefit, but for its immune-system boosting effect.
I am frequently asked by my patients, and sometimes by other physicians, if chelation therapy helps patients with blocked arteries in the heart. Several clinics in Metro Manila and other key cities in the country are offering it as an alternative to heart bypass surgery or angioplasty, another intervention used to clear the obstruction when the heart arteries are occluded such that the normal blood flow to the heart is impaired. The patient usually has chest pains or a feeling of tightness in the chest radiating to the neck or right shoulder.
Folllowing our commentary in a previous column on the suicide of Kristel Tejada, a 16-year-old student at the University of the Philippines Manila, we received a lot of feedback from our readers on the subject.
A few weeks ago, a chubby 14-year-old teenager was referred to our clinic due to a mildly elevated blood pressure. We did some blood tests and the liver enzymes were found to be elevated. He has no history of any liver problem like hepatitis in the past; he swore he has never tasted any alcohol preparation, and I believed him. We did an ultrasound to check on the liver and it showed an extensive fatty liver.
Doctors treating heart patients usually watch out for constipation in their patients because we’ve seen quite a number of patients suddenly succumbing to a heart attack or a fatal irregularity of heartbeat or arrhythmia after straining hard to force their stools out.
We sincerely sympathize with the family of Kristel Tejada, a 16-year-old first year behavioral science student from the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, who committed suicide late last week.
Dr. Nikki Jara-Tantoco, who’s a medical resident at the Philippine General Hospital, e-mailed me to update me on the activities of the Sagip Buhay Medical Foundation or simply called Sagip.
The ordinary man on the street does not know much of Parkinson’s disease or PD. An elderly patient who was recently diagnosed to have PD thought it was a disease related to boxing.
Dr. Vic Medina III, dean of the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry, e-mailed some comments on the mandatory food labeling measure we wrote about in last week’s column. The measure is being proposed now by the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration.
It may be hard to believe that in a developing country like ours—while so many can hardly put food on the table for a decent three meals a day—many are also overweight and obese. Based on figures coming from the National Statistical Coordination Board and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Philippines, 1 out of 4 Filipino adults is overweight with 5 out of 100 considered as obese already. Overweight and obesity are also an increasing problem among our children.
