The Road to Recovery?

AUGUST 9, 2019

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

3

+ROAD TO RECOVERY?

Lord knows, we need a new road. Desperately.

Consider this: since January 2000, more Americans have died on our highways than in World Wars I and II combined. Read that sentence again. And the numbers aren’t even close. Some 535,000 American soldiers were killed during the two World Wars. Our highway death toll so far this century exceeds 624,000. Read that sentence again. Consider for a moment the implications of those figures. The 2ist century death toll covers only the years 2000 through 2017, the most recent year for which statistics are available.

During the roughly 8-year combined duration of both World Wars, millions of combatants were actively, deliberately trying to kill one another using machine guns, tanks, bombs, flamethrowers,

hand grenades, torpedoes, and any other lethal weapons they could get their hands on.

Despite the global scope of those two wars and their intense focus on killing, their death toll falls far short of the highway fatalities in just this country.

By another yardstick, there has been outrage aplenty about the opioid epidemic, which

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killed almost 100,000 people between 2006 and 2012.

But during those same years, road wrecks where speeding and drunk and distracted driving were the cause (one or all) killed 190,455 people.

Sure, go ahead and reread that sentence too. Let the numbers sink in.

Obviously we’re heading the wrong way down the road to disaster at breakneck speed. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 94 percent of car crashes are due to human error. That means as many as 94 percent of all car crashes could be avoided.

Does that sound like an unreachable goal? It isn’t. Consider that the last crash of a commercial passenger plane in the United States was more than ten years ago.

The 94 percent figure also means that our collective priorities may be seriously skewed. There is absolutely no point in improving our diet, getting exercise, quitting smoking and generally being the poster child for salubrious living, and then texting while we drive. Or speeding. Or driving under the influence. Those actions make all of our other health pursuits pointless.

It’s not like unsafe driving is rare either. It’s as common as fatal accidents, and there are roadside crosses all over the CSRA marking deadly wrecks. Seeing people running red lights, speeding, and illegally using their phones while driving (which means even so much as touching your phone) is an everyday event.

No wonder the Medical Examiner is launching a new feature in this issue called “Crash Course.” Read it! Then live it! It’s on page 10. +

CRASH

COURSE

CELLULITIS VS CELLULITE

These two words are about as close in meaning as brews and bruise. In other words, not a lot. They may be mistakenly used interchangeably by people sometimes, perhaps the same people who refer to vanilla folders and vowel movements.

When it comes to cellulitis and cellulite, one is a potentially serious medical condition — that would be cellulitis — and the other (cellulite) is a cosmetic issue rather than a medical one.

That doesn’t mean cellulite is an unimportant thing. Ask any woman, since it affects females far more than males. Among women it’s practically universal. One medical journal estimated that 80 to 90 percent of post-adolescent females have cellulite; another journal put the estimated range between 85 and 98 percent.

What is cellulite? It is dimpled or lumpy skin that is most common on thighs, buttocks and abdomen. At its worst it is described as looking like cottage cheese. Its cause is fibrous cords that attach skin to underlying muscle tissue, like the cords that pull the fabric down on a tufted couch or ottoman. In the case of skin, as more fat cells accumulate under the skin, it is pushed up, but wherever a cord is attached the skin doesn’t move. Hence the uneven, dimpled effect.

Although there are plenty of products that claim to banish cellulite, most are scams designed to relieve you of your money. Ask your doctor or dermatologist for their advice.

Cellulitis, on the other hand, is not a cosmetic issue. Its -itis ending advertises that it involves inflammation, in this case of the skin or subcutaneous tissue. As a bacterial infection, cellulitis will result in pain, redness and swelling. Sometimes the affected site can feel hot to the touch. Cellulitis can worsen and spread, so it’s important to seek medical treatment promptly, especially if you develop a fever. Other risk factors for people with cellulitis include having a weakened immune system due to diabetes, HIV/AIDS, leukemia, chemotherapy, and some medications. A past history of cellulitis makes people more susceptible to repeat occurrences too.

Prevention includes cleaning, treating and covering ports of entry like cuts and scrapes. Treatment of cellulitis is usually with antibiotics. +

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