People Can Be Allergic to Alcohol

There are people who are allergic to alcohol, believe it or not. There are also people who are hypersensitive to the effects of alcohol. Many people who have these problems actually can have the feelings of euphoria or depression that are associated with alcohol, and they have it at lower levels of the alcohol. The other thing is that many people could be allergic to the by-product in the distilling of the alcohol.. It’s something that a lot of people don’t think about, and the only way they know is when they relate it to the times they have been drinking.

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Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder

This is not one of those medical topics that people talk about openly, but perhaps they should.  It's called hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD.  According to its medical definition, it's the lack of sexual desire or fantasies which cause the individual to be stressed enough to have personal or relationship issues as a result.  HSDD is going to become a more widespread term over the next five years because a great deal of money is being spent studying this phenomenon in women shortly before and after menopause.  This could be a good and bad thing.  The good thing is women will be included in the conversation in much the same way men have been as a result of marketing medications for erectile dysfunction.  The negative point is it can also be embarrassing through the advertising. 

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Daily Pressures and Anxiety

All of us face anxiety but for some women it can be a particularly serious problem…especially if it causes what we call emotional paralysis. Some people become so tense and so anxious about the pressures of daily life that they aren't able to seriously evaluate the pros and cons of certain things, and they ultimately don’t make any decision. There are medications for anxiety. If you find that you are under the continuous strain of anxious feelings and anxiety, check with your doctor.  It could make a huge difference in your quality of life!

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Should Breast Cancer Patients Have the Other Breast Removed Preventatively?

We know that women diagnosed with cancer in one breast are at greater risk for developing cancer in the other breast.  One of the questions many women ask is, "Should I have the other breast removed prophylactically to avoid developing cancer in the other breast?"  It's a difficult question and very hard to predict, but according to a study of 524 women with breast cancer, there appears to be several things that increase the risk: Having more than one tumor in the same breast when the initial cancer is diagnosed, and having breast cancer that begins in the milk-producing glands.  In these situations, we strongly recommend you talk with your physician and think it over. 

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Treating Pharyngitis (A Sore Throat)

Pharyngitis is often treated with antibiotics and, in those cases, it should because we're dealing with strep or other bacteria that can cause long-term problems.  But sometimes we have a viral cause of pharyngitis and in those cases, we don't necessarily need to have an antibiotic; we actually need to counsel the patient.  In other words, when you go see the doctor, you may not always get an antibiotic for your sore throat, or your child may not.  We know that's difficult to understand because we used to give it reflexively, but now we understand that we don't want to overuse those antibiotics and in some cases, we don't have to.

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Evaluating Ear Pain

Otitis usually occurs in children, but many older women who tell physicians, "I'm having trouble with my ears, I feel pressure" and they think they have the old classic ear infection, the otitis.  Well, in many cases what they really have is not otitis.  They have a sinus infection or a problem where they feel pressure in the ears.  Obviously, in many cases we don't need antibiotics for either and in some cases we do, but they can be evaluated by your family doctor who can look at it and make a determination and talk it over with you. 

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Diabetes and the Hemoglobin A1C Test

We know the number of people with diabetes is on the rise, but according to many reports on the subject, it's estimated that 25% of people with the condition are not diagnosed.  There are many reasons for this including a lack of access to health care, the inconvenience of the blood test which can include fasting, and the fact that it's often overlooked. There is now a trend to consider the use of a test called the hemoglobin A1C test as a test to diagnose diabetes.  One of the big advantages of hemoglobin A1C is that it's more accurate of a reading over a long period of time.  Another big reason for hemoglobin A1C is that it cannot be dramatically affected by fever or illness on the day of the test.  At the present time, hemoglobin A1C is a good test to tell if people with diabetes have been consistently taking medication.  But at this point, it is still the fasting blood sugar that is the ace in the hole. 

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