People’s Pharmacy: Cough fix works instantly. 2D
HealthToday
T H U R S D A Y , M A Y 26 , 2011
SECTION D
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Staying safe on a hospital visit CHICAGO | Hospitals may be even more dangerous than previously suspected. One out of every three people admitted suffers a medication mix-up, a fall, a bed sore, or another problem related to the way care is delivered, according to research published in April in the health policy journal Health Affairs. That’s the highest estimate to date, and it’s not universally accepted. Still, a large body of evidence suggests that safety issues are widespread and of special relevance to seniors, who tend to be sicker and more vulnerable than other patients. There are many things people can do to help ensure their safety while in the hospital. The key is to be an active participant in your care. Here’s a basic checklist compiled from Consumer Repor ts, the National Institute on Aging, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Emory University Center on Health Outcomes and Quality and consumer advocates: ■ Research the hospital your doctor recommends and the procedure you’re set to have. Check Medicare’s Hospital Compare website (hospital compare.hhs.gov) for information about medical centers’ performance. Some states publish hospital report cards, another source worth checking. ■ Ask your doctor how many procedures of this kind she’s done, what results she usually achieves and how often potential complications occur (for instance, how often do people having hip replacements get infections?). ■ Ar range for a family member, friend or private nurse to serve as your eyes and ears in the hospital. Ask a doctor to serve as your care coordinator. This can be the physician who admitted you, a medical specialist, or a “hospitalist” (a doctor whose expertise is caring for people in the hospital). ■ Keep a notebook and have your advocate record the names of all the doctors involved in your care and what they said. Make sure you understand your diagnosis and treatment plan. Write down questions you want to ask a doctor in between visits. ■ Have on hand a concise summar y of your medical histor y: all medical conditions, any surgeries or other medical procedures you’ve had, and all your medications. ■ Bring contact information for your primary care doctor and a list of people you want contacted in an emergency. Make sure you have eyeglasses, your dentures and your hearing aid with you. ■ Bring a list of all the medications you’re currently taking, including over-the-counter drugs and supplements. Make sure that you note any allergies, previous adverse drug reactions, or bad experiences with anesthesia. ■ If you’re prescribed new medications while in the hospital, ask doctors to explain what they’re for and potential side effects. Write down the names and doses in a notebook. Speak up if you don’t get medication when you should. ■ Be sure you understand which drugs you’re supposed to take when you’re discharged. Have a friend or family member fill those prescriptions immediately. Ask about drugs you have at home and whether you should take them. Tell your primary care doctor about newly prescribed drugs. ■ Don’t get up without assistance if you’re told to stay in bed. Sit for a minute and make sure you’re steady before you get up. Make sure that things you need — the phone, the nurse call button — are in reach when you get back into bed. If you’re feeling dizzy or if your room is dark and you can’t see, ask for help before getting up. ■ Make sure providers check your identification bracelet each time before you get a medical treatment, test or medication. — McClatchy Newspapers
Workout recovery Tips to deal with delayed-onset muscle soreness By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz Chicago Tribune
P
ost-workout euphoria can leave you feeling pumped to conquer the world — until the next morning, when you can barely walk to the bathroom or lift an arm to brush your teeth. Such are the painful rewards of
delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, a result of microscopic tears to muscle fibers that occur when you r un faster, lunge deeper, cr unch harder or lift more than usual. The damage ignites an inflammator y response as the muscle repairs itself, causing pain that peaks 24 to 48 hours after the activity and dissipates in five to seven days, said Carol
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) occurs during the healing phase of muscle building.
Torgan, a health consultant and fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine. Contrary to popular belief, next-day soreness is not caused by a buildup of lactic acid, a normal byproduct of muscle metabolism responsible for the burn you feel during exercise, Torgan said. Lactic acid quickly leaves your muscles afterward, she said.
Building muscle
Straining a muscle during a workout causes microscopic tears to the myofibril area of the strand.
Skeletal muscle
Sarcolemma
Microscopic tears Myofibril
Hypertrophy: The body repairs the damaged myofibril, making it strong enough to withstand previously experienced strain.
Healing/ new growth
Ways of coping with the pain WORK UP, COOL DOWN There’s little you can do to prevent DOMS. Cooling down helps remove lactic acid that gives you that muscle burn during exercise, and stretching can help prevent a pulled muscle, but neither stretching nor cooling down will do anything to prevent next-day soreness, said Priscilla Clarkson, distinguished professor of kinesiology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Your best bet to mitigate soreness is to gradually build up to strenuous exercise with lighter versions of the activity over several days prior, Clarkson said.
DIAL BACK EXERTION When muscles are sore, they leak proteins from their cells into the bloodstream and can’t generate their usual force, said Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a retired physician and former professor at Georgetown University Medical School who now runs a health news site at drmirkin.com.. So you have to put far less pressure on sore muscles, or you risk injuring them and delaying recovery. Sore muscles heal faster if you just rest, but when you exert slight pressure on sore muscles, such as through light running, biking or very light weight lifting, you cause the muscle fibers to become more fibrous, so they can later withstand greater stress during your harder workouts, he said. It’s a delicate balance.
BE SMART
DIET
In some cases, what you think is soreness could be injury. See a doctor if: ■ You have acute, sharp pain as opposed to the dull burn of soreness. ■ The pain is only on one side of your body (soreness is usually symmetrical). ■ The pain gets worse during light exercise. ■ The pain hasn’t dissipated in seven days.
Eating foods with protein and sugar within an hour of hard exercise speeds muscle recovery because the spike in insulin drives protein into the cells, said Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a retired physician and former professor at Georgetown University Medical School who now runs a health news site at drmirkin.com. He suggests getting that sugar from natural carbohydrates such as potatoes.
STAY HYDRATED It’s important to stay hydrated while you’re sore to flush the kidneys and prevent protein buildup in the blood, said Patricia Clarkson, a fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine. Watch your urine to make sure it’s a light yellow, she said; if your urine turns brown, you’re on your way to rhabdomyolysis and need to get to an emergency room.
STAFF GRAPHIC | ANTHONY BRATINA
PREVENTION
STUDIES & RESEARCH
Tylenol reduces cancer risk
LOS ANGELES | Taking an acetaminophen tablet daily for at least five years reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer by 38 percent, researchers from the American Cancer Society reported Monday. Using the drug, the bestknown form of which is Tylenol, also reduces the risk of the more aggressive form of prostate cancer by 51 percent, the team reported in the online version of the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. Previous research has shown that daily doses of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, can reduce the risk of prostate cancer by a modest amount. Acetaminophen is not considered an NSAID, but it does have anti-inflammatory properties, and researchers speculated that it might also be useful against prostate cancer. About 192,000 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in the United States in 2010, making it the secondmost-common type of cancer in men after lung cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. About 27,000 men died from it last year. Epidemiologist Eric Jacobs of the society and his colleagues used data from the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, which included 78,485 men. Participants answered questionnaires about food consumption and drug use in 1992 and every two years thereafter. During the follow-up period, there were 8,092 cases of prostate cancer, but men who had been using acetaminophen daily for at least five years were less likely to have developed the tumors. Those who took it for shorter periods of time received no benefit. Jacobs cautioned men that, while use of recommended dosages of the drug is generally safe, overdoses can cause acute liver damage. He speculated that the study might yield insights into other ways in which physicians could interfere with the development of the disease. — McClatchy Newspapers
NUTRITION
New fast food not so healthy
Think you’re being healthy and saving some calories by ordering the salad or oatmeal? Don’t be so sure, says the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The group recently tested the nutritional content of some items that fastfood establishments are promoting as healthy. The group found they were far from it. Some of the items were packed with more fat, sodium and sugar than anyone should eat in an entire day. The group found the worst offenders were Wendy’s Baja Salad with almost twice the recommended amount of sodium for an entire day and McDonald’s Fruit & Maple Oatmeal with more calories than a hamburger and more sugar than many candy bars. “Your health and your waistline will thank you for saying no to these so-called healthy foods,” PCRM nutrition education director Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., said in a statement. KFC’s grilled chicken, was also singled out. Marketed to health-conscious consumers as a “better-for-you” alternative over the chain’s high-fat fried chicken, the group said the chicken contains a carcinogen called PhIP that has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer and other cancers. The five worst “healthy” fast food items are: ■ Wendy’s Baja Salad — contains 1,990 milligrams of sodium — more than should be consumed in an entire day. ■ McDonald’s Fruit & Maple Oatmeal — Contains more sugar than a Snickers Bar. ■ Subway Fresh Fit 6” Turkey Breast Sub — With standards such as cheese and mayo, this “low-fat” sandwich jumps to 24 grams of fat. Contains processed meat, which is linked to increased cancer risk. ■ Sonic Strawberr y Smoothie — Contains more sugar than five Twinkies. ■ KFC Kentucky Grilled Chicken — Contains PhIP, a chemical classified as a carcinogen by the federal government. — McClatchy Newspapers