By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at http://www.dcp.ca/
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. There more than 100 different types of human papillomavirus (HPV) just waiting to cause warts on you! Okay, the viruses that cause warts aren’t all that scary, and warts are usually just annoying and not all that pretty bumps on the skin. Let’s look at what warts are.
Warts are a viral infection in the top layers of the skin. Children and young adults are most commonly affected. Handlers of meat, poultry and fish also have a high incidence of warts. It has been estimated that up to 25% of the population will have a wart at some time. Warts are usually spread from direct skin-to-skin contact with an infected person. It can also be spread with contact with surfaces like communal showers and swimming pool decks. It can take 2 to 6 months from time of infection until the wart appears. Although there is limited proof, some experts think it could take up to 3 years between exposure and wart development.
There are a wide variety of warts, but here’s a look at some of the most common types:
Common warts: These small, raised growths with a rough surface affect five to 10 percent of school-aged children, but adults may also be affected. They are most often found on the fingers, around the fingernails, on the back of the hands or on the face, knees and elbows.
Flat warts: Also known as plane or juvenile warts, these are seen mainly in children, often beginning where a skin break has occurred. The warts are small, slightly raised flat growths that are usually pink or brown and may appear in large numbers.
Genital warts: These are the most serious kind of warts and the most common of all sexually transmitted diseases. They can be smooth or flat, or more raised and rough. Genital warts found on the cervix are a major risk factor for developing cervical cancer. There is a vaccine called Gardasil available now to prevent genital warts. However, this subject will require a whole article itself.
Plantar warts: This less common wart is found on the sole of the foot and sometimes on the palm of the hand. It is fairly flat, mainly because the pressure of standing forces it to remain in that shape. Plantar warts look like large calluses and can be quite painful.
When should you see a doctor and when can you try to treat them yourself? If you have warts on the face or genitals, or if you have flat warts you should get them checked out by your family doctor. People with diabetes or circulatory problems should also not self treat because these people are more likely to have healing problems.
Non-prescription products-which contain salicyclic acid and lactic acid-are available to treat certain warts. Because most over-the-counter (OTC) products contain an acid, they can harm the skin around the wart if not used as instructed. For the salicyclic acid products, which are the most common type, here is how to use them. First soak the wart in warm water for 2-5 minutes. Dry off the wart and the area around it. Then gently remove the top layer of skin from the wart with an emery board, pumice stone or rough wash cloth. If you make the wart bleed, you rubbed too hard, and may actually cause the wart to spread. Apply the salicyclic acid product only to the wart and not to the healthy skin around it. If you are concerned you might not be able to apply the salicylic acid compound only to the wart, protect the health skin with some vaseline ahead of time. Every day you will have to repeat this wart removal process, so most people choose to soak, rub, and apply at bedtime. The wart will turn white and soft over time and you will rub off more and more of it until it goes away.
Recently, freezing products became available over the counter. Two common trade names are Wartner and Compound W Freeze Off. It is not liquid nitrogen like your doctor uses, but accomplishes the same thing. If you remember way back to highschool physics (and you thought you didn’t need physics anymore), and what happens to an expanding gas. When a gas expands, it cools. When a gas expands rapidly, it cools rapidly. These over the counter products allow liquids similar to lighter fluid exand into a gas within an applicator like a Q-tip end. So first warning is that these products are flammable. Second warning is the applicator gets cold. It can get below -55 C. Follow the instructions in the package carefully. Most importantly, don’t freeze the skin around the wart. It will damage your skin.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine
By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
I have two children. Emily is six and Eric is three. I am very lucky that they are both healthy. Some parents, especially some celebrities, blame their children’s illness on childhood vaccines. The affliction that gets mentioned most often is autism. I don’t know what causes autism. From the reading I have done, though, I don’t think vaccines are to blame. Yes, you can start sending your hate mail now. I had my own children immunized. As a parent and a healthcare professional, I firmly come down on the side of vaccinating children, unless the child’s doctor has a valid medical reason not to do so such as an allergy to the vaccine. The evidence I’ve read comes down overwhelmingly on the side of vaccines having a great many benefits and very few risks. I’ll talk briefly about why I don’t think the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine causes autism, and then let’s talk about what the MMR vaccine actually does.
Back in 1998 there was a study published in the Lancet by Dr. AJ Wakefield and colleagues. They looked at 12 children that had lost acquired skills like language. These children ranged in age from 3 to 10 years old and 11 were boys. So these children could have had Autism Spectrum Disorder, depending on how that is defined. Of these 12 children, eight of them had developed symptoms after the MMR vaccine as determined by the parents. So the controversy began.
What was wrong with people questioning MMR vaccine after those reports? Nothing, but the media didn’t pick up on the answers to those questions. The answer is at least a dozen studies looked for a connection between MMR and autism and found none. I’m not saying looking for the cause of autism isn’t important, but MMR seems to be a dead-end and scientists should look elsewhere.
The MMR vaccine prevents three different diseases, which are all caused by viruses. These three diseases have no effective treatments once a patient has the disease, but can be prevented by getting a vaccine before exposure to the virus.
Measles is not a deadly disease in most people. It causes a rash, fever, runny nose and cough that lasts one to two weeks. Why vaccinate against it then? Because large outbreaks of the disease usually happen in children. In a small percentage of these children an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord can occur and cause headaches, seizures, coma and/or long term brain disorders. In rare cases it can even cause death.
Mumps is an uncomfortable condition. It can cause painful, swollen saliva glands (usually in the cheeks) and fever. Painful inflammation of the testicles can occur in about 1 out of 4 boys beyond puberty and painful inflammation of the ovaries in out 5% of girls beyond puberty. Inflammation of the lining around the brain can happen in 10-30% of cases. Again brain lining inflammation (or meningitis) is a rare but serious possibility.
Rubella is an important disease to avoid during pregnancy, as it can damage the unborn baby. Rubella can cause brain damage, an unusually small head, deafness, heart defects, blindness, small eyes, diabetes or death in the unborn child. About 90% of women infected with rubella during the first trimester will have babies with problems. So it is important to try to protect all children at a young age from rubella so they don’t contract the disease when they get pregnant later in life or give the disease to a pregnant mother.
The MMR vaccine is very effective. It protects 94% of those immunized verses rubella, 81% verses mumps and 88% verses measles. Measles protection goes up to 99% after two vaccinations. Protection is believed to be lifelong in most people for all three diseases.
Anyone with a weakened immune system or has an allergy to any of the components of the vaccines shouldn’t be given the shot. These concerns should be discussed with your doctor.
Common side effects from the MMR vaccine include local reactions where the shot is given like redness, and swelling which goes away on its own. Pain and fever are also possible, but if they are mild they can be treated with Tylenol.
The MMR vaccine is usually given to children at age 1 and again at age 5.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
I have two children. Emily is six and Eric is three. I am very lucky that they are both healthy. Some parents, especially some celebrities, blame their children’s illness on childhood vaccines. The affliction that gets mentioned most often is autism. I don’t know what causes autism. From the reading I have done, though, I don’t think vaccines are to blame. Yes, you can start sending your hate mail now. I had my own children immunized. As a parent and a healthcare professional, I firmly come down on the side of vaccinating children, unless the child’s doctor has a valid medical reason not to do so such as an allergy to the vaccine. The evidence I’ve read comes down overwhelmingly on the side of vaccines having a great many benefits and very few risks. I’ll talk briefly about why I don’t think the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine causes autism, and then let’s talk about what the MMR vaccine actually does.
Back in 1998 there was a study published in the Lancet by Dr. AJ Wakefield and colleagues. They looked at 12 children that had lost acquired skills like language. These children ranged in age from 3 to 10 years old and 11 were boys. So these children could have had Autism Spectrum Disorder, depending on how that is defined. Of these 12 children, eight of them had developed symptoms after the MMR vaccine as determined by the parents. So the controversy began.
What was wrong with people questioning MMR vaccine after those reports? Nothing, but the media didn’t pick up on the answers to those questions. The answer is at least a dozen studies looked for a connection between MMR and autism and found none. I’m not saying looking for the cause of autism isn’t important, but MMR seems to be a dead-end and scientists should look elsewhere.
The MMR vaccine prevents three different diseases, which are all caused by viruses. These three diseases have no effective treatments once a patient has the disease, but can be prevented by getting a vaccine before exposure to the virus.
Measles is not a deadly disease in most people. It causes a rash, fever, runny nose and cough that lasts one to two weeks. Why vaccinate against it then? Because large outbreaks of the disease usually happen in children. In a small percentage of these children an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord can occur and cause headaches, seizures, coma and/or long term brain disorders. In rare cases it can even cause death.
Mumps is an uncomfortable condition. It can cause painful, swollen saliva glands (usually in the cheeks) and fever. Painful inflammation of the testicles can occur in about 1 out of 4 boys beyond puberty and painful inflammation of the ovaries in out 5% of girls beyond puberty. Inflammation of the lining around the brain can happen in 10-30% of cases. Again brain lining inflammation (or meningitis) is a rare but serious possibility.
Rubella is an important disease to avoid during pregnancy, as it can damage the unborn baby. Rubella can cause brain damage, an unusually small head, deafness, heart defects, blindness, small eyes, diabetes or death in the unborn child. About 90% of women infected with rubella during the first trimester will have babies with problems. So it is important to try to protect all children at a young age from rubella so they don’t contract the disease when they get pregnant later in life or give the disease to a pregnant mother.
The MMR vaccine is very effective. It protects 94% of those immunized verses rubella, 81% verses mumps and 88% verses measles. Measles protection goes up to 99% after two vaccinations. Protection is believed to be lifelong in most people for all three diseases.
Anyone with a weakened immune system or has an allergy to any of the components of the vaccines shouldn’t be given the shot. These concerns should be discussed with your doctor.
Common side effects from the MMR vaccine include local reactions where the shot is given like redness, and swelling which goes away on its own. Pain and fever are also possible, but if they are mild they can be treated with Tylenol.
The MMR vaccine is usually given to children at age 1 and again at age 5.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Folic Acid
By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
Folic acid is a B vitamin. Like most vitamins and mineral, it is best to get it from the food we eat. Folic acid is in whole grain products, legumes and dark green vegetables. Folic acid is important for your blood, some people on an arthritis medication called methotrexate need extra, but maybe the most important group of people that should watch their folic acid intake are women of child bearing age. While planning a pregnancy, before becoming pregnant, it is important for women to start taking folic acid because it can prevent certain birth defects from occurring.
Birth defects, or congenital defects, can be defined as physical abnormalities that are present at birth. About 3 to 4 percent of babies are born with a major birth defect, and some may not be discovered until a child grows. By age five, 7.5 percent of all children are diagnosed with a birth defect, although many of these are minor. The type of birth defect that is associated with not enough folic acid is called a neural tube defect. Neural tube defects (NTD) include such conditions ancephaly and spina bifida. Ancephaly is when the child is born with most of its brain missing, or the brain does not develop at all. The infant cannot survive and is either stillborn or dies within a few days of birth. Spina bifida is where one or more of the vertebrae fail to develop completely leaving a portion of the spinal cord unprotected. Spina bifida is strongly linked with folic acid deficiency in the diet, especially early in pregnancy. Symptoms can vary, where some children have few or no symptoms, whereas others are weak and paralysed in all areas reached by nerves below the level of the defect.
To prevent neural tube defects, folic acid supplements should be taken before becoming pregnant, and continue throughout the first trimester. The neural tube forms and closes in the first four weeks of pregnancy. This is often before pregnancy tests can tell if you are pregnant, so that is why we want you to start before you are pregnant. A minimum of 0.4 mg of folic acid daily is recommended for women who are planning to become pregnant, and higher doses are recommended for women who already have a child with a neural tube defect. Prenatal vitamins, such as Materna, contain as much as 0.8 to 1 mg of folic acid, and these vitamins should be used in pregnancy rather than regular vitamin formulations.
A couple of years ago there was a lot of excitement about older people taking folic acid, vitamin b6 and vitamin b12 to reduce their homocysteine levels and reduce heart attacks. You see it was found that people with heart disease had high levels of homocysteine. So it was thought if you reduced their homocysteine, their heart disease would go away. So the researchers gave a bunch of people the folic acid, b6 and b12 and another bunch placebo. The folic acid, b6 and b12 group did have their homocysteine levels drop, but their heart disease levels stayed the same. So, unfortunately I can’t tell you that inexpensive B vitamins are an effective heart disease treatment. However, from the ashes of the heart disease trials, some researchers think that folic acid, b6 and b12 may reduce incidence of stroke. Stay tuned!
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
Folic acid is a B vitamin. Like most vitamins and mineral, it is best to get it from the food we eat. Folic acid is in whole grain products, legumes and dark green vegetables. Folic acid is important for your blood, some people on an arthritis medication called methotrexate need extra, but maybe the most important group of people that should watch their folic acid intake are women of child bearing age. While planning a pregnancy, before becoming pregnant, it is important for women to start taking folic acid because it can prevent certain birth defects from occurring.
Birth defects, or congenital defects, can be defined as physical abnormalities that are present at birth. About 3 to 4 percent of babies are born with a major birth defect, and some may not be discovered until a child grows. By age five, 7.5 percent of all children are diagnosed with a birth defect, although many of these are minor. The type of birth defect that is associated with not enough folic acid is called a neural tube defect. Neural tube defects (NTD) include such conditions ancephaly and spina bifida. Ancephaly is when the child is born with most of its brain missing, or the brain does not develop at all. The infant cannot survive and is either stillborn or dies within a few days of birth. Spina bifida is where one or more of the vertebrae fail to develop completely leaving a portion of the spinal cord unprotected. Spina bifida is strongly linked with folic acid deficiency in the diet, especially early in pregnancy. Symptoms can vary, where some children have few or no symptoms, whereas others are weak and paralysed in all areas reached by nerves below the level of the defect.
To prevent neural tube defects, folic acid supplements should be taken before becoming pregnant, and continue throughout the first trimester. The neural tube forms and closes in the first four weeks of pregnancy. This is often before pregnancy tests can tell if you are pregnant, so that is why we want you to start before you are pregnant. A minimum of 0.4 mg of folic acid daily is recommended for women who are planning to become pregnant, and higher doses are recommended for women who already have a child with a neural tube defect. Prenatal vitamins, such as Materna, contain as much as 0.8 to 1 mg of folic acid, and these vitamins should be used in pregnancy rather than regular vitamin formulations.
A couple of years ago there was a lot of excitement about older people taking folic acid, vitamin b6 and vitamin b12 to reduce their homocysteine levels and reduce heart attacks. You see it was found that people with heart disease had high levels of homocysteine. So it was thought if you reduced their homocysteine, their heart disease would go away. So the researchers gave a bunch of people the folic acid, b6 and b12 and another bunch placebo. The folic acid, b6 and b12 group did have their homocysteine levels drop, but their heart disease levels stayed the same. So, unfortunately I can’t tell you that inexpensive B vitamins are an effective heart disease treatment. However, from the ashes of the heart disease trials, some researchers think that folic acid, b6 and b12 may reduce incidence of stroke. Stay tuned!
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
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