You & Your Health
YOU & YOUR HEALTH*
kʌ- kayaˀtakenháhslaˀ ótyahke
Whisper n Thunder is pleased to announce the first phase of The Health Initiative Project. You & Your Health is an online Q & A page for questions around health issues. We are delighted to have Shelley Ninham-Corey, RN, writing this area for us. She is from The Oneida Tribe of Indian, of Wisconsin.
What health questions do you have? Shelley will answer questions, as well as pull in other medical specialists as needed. Whether to examine what diabetes is or what nutrition needs are best, tips for general health or how to combat depression, questions about substance abuse etc, please email your question to Shelley at: scorey_rn@rocketmail.com . The following post is from WnT RN Shelley... Day 1: He started feeling like he was getting a flu because all his muscles ached. A general feeling of malaise. (tiredness) Day 2: Woke feeling the same except his skin was pale and had a low grade fever, 99.1F. Day 3: Woke feeling like he has the flu except was very weak and skin looked pasty pale, temp of 101.1F in the afternoon. Gave extra strength Tylenol and ibuprofen for increased temp and generalized pain. Could not get his temp below 103.7 even though he had topped the dosages for both XS Tylenol and ibuprofen. After listening to his lungs, the right lower lung had signs of possible pneumonia which are diminished breath sounds in that lung field . Which is very strange due to his age, and healthy past medical history. He became short of breath very fast so we went to the hospital ER. Where he got worse very quick. Temp increased to 104.1 after 1000mg (5000mg total) Tylenol and 2300mg ibuprofen, this could indicate very serious problems occurring fast. The ER Physician ordered 2-3 breathing treatments done, blood cultures drawn, labs done. ER professionals filled our room quickly! The MD then entered our room very quick and stated that he's diagnosed my Husband with right lower lobe pneumonia; it showed up on the chest x-ray. Immediately gave IV antibiotics, IV fluids and treated the pneumonia quite aggressively. I have NEVER heard this statement from an ER DOC: "For some reason, Pneumonia is going around young, healthy adults… for some reason.” My husband is on day 9 and his right lung is not clear yet. He's seeing NP at 0830 today. I will keep you updated. This is VERY, VERY scary because this strain of Pneumonia is virulent enough to put down young healthy adult. I have some serious concerns for the mortality or morbidity of persons with respiratory problems, eg. asthma, copd, chf, heart problems ect.....Please DON’T wait to get to your Doctor! Shawano, WI to Milwaukee, WI Day 9: Family Nurse Practice wrote a note stating he has a serious acute illness and cannot work as of yet, must be seen for re-evaluation on March 4th. Another round of antibiotics started due to still being sick. My husband has been off of work maybe 3 or 4 days in the 14 years I've known him, and that was due to having surgery… ay. I hope not to scare anyone one but to make everyone very aware right now to keep your body, mind and spirit as healthy as possible ~ right now. Use proper hand hygiene and if you’re having symptoms, don't dismiss them!! See your doctor immediately! Thank You! ~ Shelley Dear Shelley, Angie, This chart reflects blood pressure categories defined by the American Heart Association. Blood Pressure Systolic Diastolic Normal__________________less than 120 ____and less than 80 __________ Prehypertension ___________120 – 139 or _80 – 89 ____________ High Blood Pressure High Blood Pressure Hypertensive Crisis You can’t rely on symptoms for detecting an elevated blood pressure. There are usually no symptoms until you are having a medical emergency. Keeping track of your own blood pressure daily would be a much better thing to do. You can buy BP kits for the wrist pretty reasonable. Remember to follow up with your Physician and ask questions! ~ Shelley Dear Shelley,
"Obesity and Native Americans: According to the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the "thrifty gene" theory proposes that African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans inherited a gene from their ancestors which enabled them to use food more efficiently during "feast and famine" cycles. Today there are fewer such cycles; this causes certain populations to be more susceptible to obesity and to developing type 2 diabetes." http://vltakaliseji.tripod.com/Vtlakaliseji/id2.html , 01/17/2010 ~ Shelley * Whisper n Thunder is not responsible for any liability associated with questions and answers or resulting actions, that appear in this column. Shelley is not repsonisible for any liability associated with her answers or resulting actions by readers. All people are asked that if you have a health concern, you schedule an appointment with your doctor and seek appropriate medical care.
Q & A - Last update: 02.26.11
Well there is something happening that usually never happens. My Husband is considered a young, healthy adult 42! Takes no meds and has a clear bill of health.
Luci Buchanan,
Are there any medical issues that might come up with hypo-thyroidism even when one seems to be keeping on top of it?
~ Shelley
What do the numbers mean for my blood pressure? I’d like to know if there are symptoms or ways to tell if my blood pressure is high?
Thanks,
Angie
There are two numbers for your blood pressure, which are measured in millimeters of mercury. A top number and a bottom number. The top number is called systolic and the bottom number is called diastolic.
Eg. 110/60 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) The top number is 110. That’s your systolic pressure. That measures the amount of pressure in your arteries, it takes to get the blood to your body. The heart is contracted, like a fist.
The bottom number is 60. The diastolic pressure. This is the amount of pressure in your arteries between beats. Your heart is resting.
(http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp) 01/25/2011.
Category mm Hg (upper #) ___________mm Hg (lower #)_________
(Hypertension) Stage 1 ___ ___140 – 159 ____or ___ ___90 – 99 ____________
(Hypertension) Stage 2 _____160 or higher _____or ____100 or higher________
(Emergency care needed)____Higher than 180 ____or ________Higher than 110_____
I've just learned I'm diabetic. What kind of diet do I have to follow? Am I stuck eating salads forever?
Dave
Dear Dave,
Make sure to ask your physician before following my advice. I know being
newly diagnosed is probably overwhelming. So, I will address only the
question regarding your diet.
Your Doctor will order a special type of diet for you to follow, that a
nutritionist will go over with you in detail. Make sure if you have any
questions, write them down and ask your provider everything you possibly
can.
The diabetic diet that is used in my area is called a low carbohydrate
diabetic diet. I know that sounds a little foreign. A good place to start
is with getting to know your own body. Every person is so very different,
so knowing yourself is very important. Diet and exercise are very
important!
A diabetic diet will generally consist of breakfast, lunch and supper with
an evening snack. It's important to eat consistently 3 meals per day with
a snack in the evening. The American Diabetes Association has a tool that
may be helpful. Its called My Food Advisor and can track what you eat, help with meal planning, tips, recipes and much more. Here's the site
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/my-food-advisor/?utm_source=WWW&utm_medium=DropDownFF&utm_content=MFA&utm_campaign=CON
One little tip to remember.
**EXERCISE can be the first and foremost thing you can do to lower blood
sugar**
Dave, you are not doomed to eating only salads forever. There are A LOT of great meals for you to enjoy.
~ Shelley
Why does it seem that Native Americans are more adversely affected by diabetes?
At nearly 17 percent, American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes among all U.S. racial and ethnic groups. (American Diabetes Association)
There are only theories and statistics that can give us an answer to this question. Now that we are aware that we are predisposed to diabetes we can take steps to prevent it. Approximately 3.3 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives have diabetes and 30% are pre-diabetic. Let’s stand together to stop this epidemic.
The advice in this column is for information purposes only, and in no way should be considered as treatment or diagnosis.
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