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Hometown Health offers tips to protect, improve your health

Newswise — The Texas A&M Health Science Center is pleased to provide the latest installment of “Hometown Health” with the following tips on a variety of health issues and ways to protect and improve your health:

College of Medicine
Flu is nothing to sneeze at

Influenza, better known as the flu, is a highly contagious respiratory illness caused by Influenza A or B viruses.

Flu appears most often in winter and early spring, and this year is no different. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report every U.S. state except Florida has seen widespread outbreaks this winter.

Both the cold and flu are contagious respiratory viral infections with similar symptoms. A cold causes congestion, sore throat, coughing, sneezing and headache.

 But while the flu will cause all of these symptoms, it also can cause high fever, fatigue, weakness and body aches. The flu can even lead to pneumonia, which can be especially life threatening in children and older adults.

“The hallmark difference between cold and flu is that influenza symptoms typically occur over a few hours, while cold symptoms usually develop over several days,” said Mark English, M.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

The flu is primarily spread from person to person through respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes.

Healthy people get infected by breathing in the droplets from an infected person or first touching an infected object and then touching their mouth or nose before washing their hands.

A person is contagious a day before symptoms develop and up to five days after becoming ill, with children potentially passing the virus for more than a week. Symptoms typically appear one to four days after contracting the virus.

“Recent recommendations also now include sneezing or coughing into your flexed elbow instead of your hands to reduce the transmission from hands,” said Dr. English, family medicine physician at the Scott & White College Station Clinic.

“You should certainly stay away from others if you are running a fever greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.”

To prevent the flu, physicians recommend vaccinations for those over age 6 months and especially for small children (under 5), pregnant women, those with chronic health conditions, adults 50 and older, health care workers and those living in close proximity to others (i.e., nursing homes or assisted-living).

If you come down with the flu, Dr. English suggests seeking care within the first 48 hours of symptoms, as medications can significantly reduce their duration and intensity.

Avoid contact with others if running a fever, get plenty of rest and fluids, notify your physician if you begin to improve then relapse (may be sign of bacterial secondary infection), and plan for a flu shot around Halloween.

“For home treatment of adults without allergies or contraindications, alternate taking two tabs of naproxen (like Aleve) after breakfast, two 500 milligram pills of acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) at lunch, two naproxen after dinner and two more acetaminophen at bedtime,” said Robert Wiprud, M.D., assistant professor of family and community medicine at HSC-COM and director of family medicine at the Scott & White College Station Clinic.

“Also take a product like Mucinex D twice a day for congestion and get plenty of rest and fluids.”

College of Medicine
Save lives by donating blood

It’s a quick, easy process, but the results can last a lifetime.

Statistics show that every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood. However, while approximately 60 percent of the general population is eligible to donate, only five percent actually do donate.

Donated blood has a variety of uses. For example, cancer patients need about eight pints a week, bone marrow transplant recipients two pints a day, and car accident victims up to 50 pints. And, the need is constant, as red cells are usable for 42 days, platelets for five days.

“Giving blood is so important because there is no substitute for blood,” said Walter Linz, M.D., assistant professor of pathology at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and director of Donor and Transfusion Services with Scott & White in Temple.

“The fastest ambulance, the most skilled physician and the latest advanced technology won’t make a difference if someone needs blood and it’s not available.

"Blood donors literally save lives each time they donate. It is used for a variety of treatments, including trauma, burn victims, cancer patients, premature babies, organ transplants, surgical patients and others.”

In general terms, a blood donor must be at least age 17, a minimum of 110 pounds and in basic good health. Be sure to eat well beforehand and drink plenty of fluids, Dr. Linz added. The donation itself is approximately one pint, and blood donors can give every eight weeks (platelet donations can be more frequent).

School of Rural Public Health
Treating mental health issues with primary care physician

Mental health issues, including depression, are serious and treatable. With competent care by physicians and other mental health professionals, recovery is possible. Lack of effective treatment, though, could result in disability and mortality.

In areas without mental health professionals – particularly rural areas – most patients turn to their primary care physician to discuss mental health issues and problems. That means the quality of mental health care in primary care is critical to many patients’ lives.

Ming Tai-Seale, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, has uncovered some startling results from her recent research into the amount of time primary care physicians spend talking about mental health issues with elderly patients.

In the study, by directly observing 392 interactions between patients and physicians, Dr. Tai-Seale and her colleagues found that among patients who had serious mental health impairments, only 29 percent of their visits had a mental health discussion.

Further, only two minutes are spent on mental health, with the majority of time during the visit spent on biomedical and other topics. Last, during mental health discussions, when psychotropic medication prescriptions were given, only about a minute was used to talk about the medications.

“Mental health discussions that were brief were generally of poor quality,” Dr. Tai-Seale said.

“Merely having longer time didn’t translate directly to higher quality, however. The content of the discussion and physician’s expression of empathy are important elements of care quality that need to be improved.”

“To address the public health crisis in late-life mental health care, a key prevention strategy is improved screening of depressed patients by primary care physicians and better treatment of major depression,” Dr. Tai-Seale continued.

“Effective communication between the patient and physician and timely interfacing with specialty mental health care could improve these critical mental health care processes.”

Baylor College of Dentistry
Jaw aches can indicate sinus infection

Due to allergies – mostly during seasons when ragweed, pollen, mold and the like are growing – thousands of people are miserable because of the usual symptoms associated with the reaction their immune systems have to these plants.

An additional common symptom is apparent toothaches on upper teeth, which have a dull ache and sometimes hurt more during chewing when pressure is placed on the teeth.

“The pain is due to the fact that there are large sinus cavities close to the roots of upper molars, and allergies and colds cause them to swell and place high pressure on the teeth and the sensitive nerves, making people think they have a toothache,” said Dr. Charles Wakefield, professor and director of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency Program at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry.

Dentists are aware of this condition and know when patients complain of pain in several upper teeth, allergies and colds need to be ruled out.

“Many times, the first line of treatment would be to prescribe decongestants and antihistamines rather than antibiotics,” Dr. Wakefield said.

“This will dry up the nasal passages and sinuses, relieving the pressure and pain. People with colds and allergies must always be aware of this common situation and treat it as described.”

Consult a dentist if the pain increases in severity, localizes in one or two specific teeth, or if the teeth become sensitive to other stimuli such as cold.

Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy
Consult your pharmacist when quitting smoking

If you’re looking for a successful plan to quit smoking, there’s one element you do not want to leave out – forming a partnership with your pharmacist.

From nicotine patches and gum to prescription medications, the number of smoking cessation aids available are growing. But, with the majority of these aids available over-the-counter (OTC), Barry Bleidt, Ph.D., Pharm.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, says involving your pharmacist throughout the quitting process is more crucial than ever.

“What they need is someone to help them use the dosage forms correctly,” Dr. Bleidt said. “That is the key, and that is what we train our pharmacy students to do. How do you use the patch correctly? How long should the patch be on? Can you smoke while you are on the patch? You need to ask your pharmacist a lot of these questions because that is another partner helping and encouraging you.”

At the HSC-Rangel College of Pharmacy, future pharmacists are taught methods to help them assist their patients beyond simply reading the dosage instructions printed on the boxes of OTC smoking cessation aids. Each patient’s history and behavior are also factored into the treatment plan.

“There are three different patches – which one do you use?” Dr. Bleidt said. “It does say based on the number of cigarettes you smoke, but there are other factors. How long you have been smoking, how deeply you inhale, how much of the cigarette you actually smoke.”

Communicating with your pharmacist also is key to distinguishing the side effects of your smoking cessation aid and the symptoms you will experience as the body undergoes nicotine withdrawal, Dr. Bleidt said.

“Stopping smoking can make you nauseous,” Dr. Bleidt said. “Stopping smoking can make you have bad dreams, and quitting can make you very agitated. So, it can be from the drug, or it could be from the withdrawal or a combination of the two. These distinctions can only be made by working closely with a medical professional such as your pharmacist.”

Coastal Bend Health Education Center
Be cautious when starting fad diet

Did you start the New Year off with the intention of losing weight by following the latest diet craze, and you’ve given up already?

According to Marianne Grant, R.D., L.D., with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Coastal Bend Health Education Center, the lack of commitment to a fad diet may actually be in the best interest of your overall health.

“If you start eliminating certain foods, those foods may be exactly what you need to be eating, but since that is the way the diet is designed, you follow it,” Grant said. “You don’t realize what it is doing to your body, and you end up deficient in minerals like iron or calcium.”

If you suffer from certain medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes, Grant said the impact of following high-protein diets can be especially dangerous.

“If you have renal disease or are in the early stages of developing it, high-protein diets like the Atkins diet would be a horrible diet to follow because you are just cramming your body with protein, and your kidneys are having to bear the burden of all that,” Grant said.

“You are consuming such high quantities of saturated fat and cholesterol, and you are not getting any vitamins or minerals – the recommended ones that fruits and vegetables contain. You are not getting very much fiber, and over the long term, there are effects of this, too.”

Dieticians recommend avoiding diets completely, opting instead for lifestyle changes. This includes eating moderate portions of a balanced diet (based on U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines) and exercise in your daily routine.

The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides the state with health education, outreach, and research.

Its seven colleges located in communities throughout Texas are Baylor College of Dentistry, the College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, the Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, and the School of Rural Public Health.