Doctor Game: Were you paying attention this year?

By Medicine Hat News on December 24, 2018.

How much have you been paying attention in 2018? I hope that during that time you’ve learned to live a better lifestyle, and to circumvent medical hazards that will enable you to live longer. So let’s see how well you do on this test.

1. Heroin is available for addicts at injection sites in Canada. But it is not available at hospitals for terminal cancer patients in pain.

2. NEO40 is a natural remedy that increases the production of nitric oxide by the inner lining of arteries. This dilates arteries, decreasing blood pressure and risk of heart attack and stroke.

3. A report from the University of California shows that, in the spring when we lose one hour of sleep due to Daylight Saving Time, there’s a 24-per-cent increase in heart attacks.

4. Researchers asked subjects questions while using a powerful MRI to scan the brain. They discovered that eating blueberries, a powerful antioxidant, produced a significant increase in brain activity.

5. Several airlines report that one person becomes ill in every 604 flights. Or, stated another way, there are 16 medical events for every one million flyers.

6. Dr. Maureen Brogan, at New York Medical College, reports that intense, repetitive exercise, such as bicycling, can trigger rhabdomyolysis. This can cause significant damage to the kidney.

7. Lee Kwan Yew, the former President of Singapore, claimed that North Americans are irresponsibly permissive in dealing with illegal drugs.

8. There are two types of marijuana, THC used for pleasure, and CBD that decreases pain. Sometimes, a combination of both provides better pain relief.

9. In the province of Ontario 42,000 people are being treated with methadone every week at clinics to treat addiction.

10. Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, former professor at the University of Alabama, states that vitamin C binds to calcium in the urine decreasing the risk of calcium oxalate stones. Another researcher, reports that vitamin C also increases the flow of urine, decreasing the risk of stone formation.

11. Research shows those who suffer a heart attack, and live below the third floor of a building, have an overall survival rate of 4.2 per cent. But for anyone on the 26th floor, there were no survivors.

12, Dr. Michael McDonald, at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre in Toronto, says, “If you’re over 65 years of age, heart failure is the most common reason for being admitted to hospital.”

13. Fifty per cent of obese children now suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

14. Having a long-term family doctor decreases your chance of premature death.

15. If a PSA test detects prostate cancer, it may be wrong. The elevation may be due to inflammation of the prostate, an increase in size, or having sex 24 hours before the test.

16. For some patients suffering from chronic pain, a glass of Chardonnay may produce more relief than the use of marijuana.

17. There is no case of constipation that cannot be cured by increasing doses of vitamin C.

18. A study of 3,000 British civil servants showed that chronic inflammation decreased the chance of successful aging by 50 per cent over the next 10 years.

19. The window seat of a plane is the safest seat. This is because there are fewer bacteria on a window seat than on the aisle seat.

20. Ten per cent of North Americans have gallstones. For some patients surgery is the best choice. But a report in the Canadian Medical Protective Association, shows that in some cases, leaving gallstones to the crematorium can prevent serious complications and even death.

21. A healthy lifestyle adds 12 to 14 years to life.

22. The use of stem cells can sometimes avoid surgery to replace a hip or knee.

23. Ovarian cancer is the most common pelvic malignancy after uterine and cervical malignancy.

24. From October to the end of February, if you live in Boston and anywhere in Canada, you can stand outdoors naked all day and not receive enough sunshine to produce vitamin D.

25. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you and it would be a better world for 2019.

This year the answers are all true.