I took my 6-year-old to the doctor because she had a sore throat with white patches ? strep, I assumed. So I figured the doctor would take one look at her and prescribe an antibiotic. But he took two throat swabs, did an office strep test on one ? which he said was negative ? and sent the other sample to a lab.
When those results came back, it turned out it was strep after all. Then the doc gave her amoxicillin. But I wonder, is this doctor incompetent?
? Murphy A., New City, N.Y.
Actually, quite the opposite. Your doctor was following the latest guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The last thing your daughter needed was an antibiotic to treat tonsillitis caused by a virus. (Antibiotics are designed to knock out bacteria, but are 100 percent useless against viral infections.)
The Rapid Antigen Detection Test (or RADT, which he did in his office) is usually pretty good, but it?s not 100 percent accurate. So your doctor was smart to go with the gold standard and have a lab determine if your daughter had a bacterial infection or not.
Because of the increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it?s getting more and more important for doctors to prescribe antibiotics only when they?re called for. Doctors who follow the same guidelines as your doctor cut their erroneous antibiotic prescription rate in half ? from 28 percent to 14 percent.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming a bigger health problem every day, and your doctor was doing a very good job of dispensing the proper antibiotic at the right time. Penicillin has saved a lot of lives (amoxicillin is a synthetic form of penicillin), and if it?s overused it could someday lose its effectiveness. Stay with your doctor.
When we first moved into our apartment building on a big intersection, the noise didn?t bother me. But lately every honk or passing truck makes me nuts. What can I do?
? Min-shu L., Queens, N.Y.
Maria Sharapova delivered grunts with her volleys at the U.S. Open stadium (in your neighborhood) that topped out around 101 decibels (dB), far above the average sound level of most urban street traffic (60-80 dB). But you?re talking about a negative reaction to more everyday sounds. It?s not unusual to become more sensitive to constant levels of urban sound over time; it?s kind of like becoming allergic to a food or a plant after repeated exposure.
You?re right to want to tone down your environment. Research shows that traffic and airplane sounds increase adults? risk for heart attack, high blood pressure, emotional problems, make it harder for kids to learn to read and interfere with memorization and problem solving. Environmental noise causes sleep disturbances, and that leads to health problems like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and a lousy love life. It also reduces productivity and ups emotional distress. So-called phonophobia, or fear of sound, can trigger anxiety in anticipation of noise. So here?s what you can do to find some peace:
? Quiet your bedroom. Hang heavy-duty, sound-dampening curtains over windows, or replace standard windows with sound-proofing glass. Use a white-noise machine to drown out the sounds ? in the winter, a humidifier with a fan (always a good move anyway) may do double-duty. Use earplugs, if you can find ones that are comfortable and effective.
? Reduce your stress level and lower your blood pressure by taking up meditation. It won?t make the sound go away, but it can change your response to it and reduce circulating stress hormones such as cortisol; when they?re chronically elevated, it?s bad for the heart and the emotions.
? Use noise-dampening headphones during the day.
? Get a loudness discomfort test (we didn?t make that up) from a hearing specialist. It can help identify specific sound sources that trigger your distress. You also might consider sound exposure therapies to desensitize you to noise.
OMEGA-3S ALERT
Don?t let a couple of ?fishy? reports sway you. The latest news about omega-3s isn?t good ? it?s great! We know more than ever about how these good fats keep your body and brain younger. That means getting a daily dose is smarter than ever.
TV, newspapers, radio and online media went negative about omega-3 fatty acids twice in recent months. First, a review of brain studies said good fats don?t sharpen thinking skills. But there?s plenty of other research showing that fish oil, and especially the king of omega-3?s, DHA, is good for memory and mental sharpness ? and skimping on it puts brain cells at risk. Second, a big review of heart studies concluded omega-3s don?t keep tickers in tip-top shape. But that analysis looked at people with already troubled hearts, didn?t factor in their fish oil doses, or factor out those taking heart drugs (like cholesterol-lowering statins) that may overshadow good fat?s inflammation-cooling effects.
The fact is, omega-3s are safe and packed with serious talents for slashing your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer?s disease. The latest great news:
Omega-3s cool body-wide inflammation. Inflammatory chemicals in your bloodstream ? spinoffs of your body?s efforts to fight infection, an immune-system overreaction, or even from belly fat ? put you at risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, joint pain and more. But a daily dose of omega-3s turns off pro-inflammatory genes embedded in fat cells, while giving your body the building blocks it needs to produce more inflammation-cooling compounds. Good deal!
Omega-3s keep your DNA young. Taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements daily keeps the protective ?caps? on the ends of your DNA longer. These caps, called telomeres, get shorter with age, eventually allowing DNA to fray. That raises risk for heart disease and an early death.
Omega-3s reduce free-radical damage. Rogue oxygen molecules in your body can ding your DNA in ways that increase odds for heart disease and brain decline. A regular fish-oil habit reduces this ?oxidative stress? by 15 percent.
Omega-3s pamper brain cells. Bumping up your DHA-omega-3 intake by just half a salmon filet per week could lower levels of brain cell-strangling beta amyloids in your bloodstream by 20 percent to 30 percent. Less in your blood means less in your brain ? a good thing, since they?re responsible for the tangles around brain cells that characterize Alzheimer?s disease!
Omega-3s may deliver extra protection if you?re overweight or are a smoker. Getting back to a healthy weight and kicking cigs are important, but omega-3s can help protect you from the health risks that pile on from smoking and excess body fat. Fish oil reduces the stiffness of a smoker?s arteries (that contributes to heart attack and stroke risk). If you?re extremely overweight, a daily dose of fish oil can dial down inflammation.
Ready to get your daily helping of omega-3s? Here?s how to get ?em like we do:
? Feast on omega-3-rich fish. Only two types of fish ? salmon and wild trout ? that are widely available in the U.S. and Canada are good sources of omega-3s. If you?re getting your omega-3s by eating two fist-size servings of fish per week, make sure it?s one of these. Canned salmon is one affordable way to do that.
? Pop the best omega-3 supplements. We recommend a daily 900 milligram DHA algal supplement (Dr. Mike heads the scientific advisory committee of one manufacturer). DHA is the most potent omega-3; from it, your body can make another type, EPA, which has heart-health benefits. Algal supplements are also great if you?re a vegetarian or don?t like fishy burps. Also, some fish oil supplements contain 30 percent palm oil (loaded with inflammation-boosting saturated fat), and algal oil doesn?t.
? Balance omega-3s and omega-6s. Some experts say cutting back on omega-6 fatty acids, which may increase inflammation, while increasing omega-3s is a smart balancing act. Reduce your omega-6 intake the easy way by choosing canola or olive oil instead of corn or soybean oil for cooking and drizzling over salads.
? Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of ?The Dr. Oz Show,? and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Medical Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. For more information, go to www.RealAge.com.
(c) 2012 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Source: http://onlineathens.com/health/2012-11-12/omega-3-alert-news-you-really-need
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