October 16th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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Several frozen hamburger meat recalls have been issued in the past month. First it was the Cargill. Inc. plant in Butler, Wisconsin (supplying Sam’s Club) recall and now it’s the J&B Meats, Coal Valley, Illinois (supplying Tops and Sam’s Choice Brands).
So how does this meat get contaminated? As I mentioned in an earlier blog post about cows, they are kind of dirty creatures. They tend to stand around in manure and flick it all over themselves. In addition, there are certain intestinal bacteria that colonize them (including a certain type of E. coli, called 0157:H7) that are harmless to them, but are very harmful to humans. If their manure is used to fertilize veggies (or gets into the veggie’s water irrigation supply) – spinach poisoning can result. If the bacteria get into hamburger meat (as can happen during the butchering process and meat grinding) beef recalls may be in order.
E. coli 0157:H7 poisoning is scary because it can cause life-threatening illness (bloody diarrhea and kidney damage), especially in the young and immunocompromised. There are no antibiotics to treat it, and so the best “treatment” is prevention.
Keep in mind that the vast majority of meat is not contaminated with this bacteria, and that the small risk is usually associated with hamburger meat in particular. Ground beef (as you can imagine, though it’s a little disgusting to think about it) is more likely to have been in contact with the bacteria-laden intestines of the cow, since many different parts of the animal are used and ground into hamburger. It is much less likely for a whole steak, for example, to be contaminated with E. coli.
According to the USDA, one cannot rely on meat color to be sure that a sufficiently high temperature has been achieved in the cooking process. The best way to be sure that your hamburgers have been hot enough to kill any potential bacteria lurking therein is to use a thermometer and to make sure that the center of the meat reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
So the take home message is this:
- Ground beef may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, especially if it’s purchased at Sam’s Club or Tops.
- Regular beef is less likely to be contaminated.
- Don’t rely on meat color to ensure that it’s safe to eat.
- Cook all red meat to 160 degrees Fahrenheit to be sure that any bacterial contaminants are killed.
- See your doctor immediately if you have bloody diarrhea, fever, or other symptoms of E. coli poisoning.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
October 15th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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I was always taught that chlamydia (a bacterial sexually transmitted infection) could cause infertility in women but didn’t affect men at all. Now it seems that male fertility may also be affected by chlamydial infections.
New research from Spain suggests that chlamydia can damage sperm DNA as well as their swimming ability. In fact, DNA damage in sperm from men infected with chlamydia is 3 times higher than in uninfected sperm. Also, fertility rates my be reduced by as much as 73% in couples infected with chlamydia.
Fortunately for men, their new sperm (produced after antibiotic treatment for chlamydia) appears to be normal/unaffected. For women, the damage is permanent. The crafty chlamydia bacteria crawl up into the fallopian tubes and create such an inflammatory reaction that the tubes are often scarred for life. Eggs released by the ovaries may be blocked from entering the uterus from narrowed and scarred fallopian tubes. This is why one chlamydial infection can put a woman at increased risk for ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, infertility, and chronic pelvic pain.
It is estimated that as many as 1 in 10 people ages 18-25 are actively infected with chlamydia (in the US and Britain). The treatment can be as simple as one dose of oral antibiotics (1g of Azithromycin). Since chlamydia can be asymptomatic in men and women, and hard to diagnose in men in particular – I personally would recommend having both partners take a dose of Azithromycin before having unprotected sex in a monogamous relationship. Obviously, it’s always far better to have protected sex – but since 1 in 10 people have this infection, it seems pretty clear that people are not using condoms all the time. If you want to preserve your fertility – be vigilant about this infection. The good news here is that it’s easy to treat and can be prevented.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
October 14th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in True Stories
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I had dinner with a physician friend of mine who works in New York City. She told me an interesting story about her last couple of days at work…
A patient of hers was in the hospital on a fairly high dose of steroids to treat an autoimmune disorder. He was generally a very even tempered and friendly person, but was a little bit grumpy when she visited him on rounds that evening. He was complaining of slight shortness of breath and some mild stomach pain – and that the hospital food was bad. His labs from that morning were all normal, and he had no fever or abnormalities in blood pressure or heart rate.
On sheer gut instinct, my friend ordered a CT scan of his abdomen right away. Lucky she did, because this gentleman had a perforated colon (from ruptured diverticulae) with air under his diaphragm, causing shortness of breath. Because he was on steroids, the body’s usual response to early sepsis was blunted. He was rushed to the OR where surgeons corrected the problem. In this situation, if it weren’t for a gut instinct, this patient may have died.
I think this case illustrates how important it is to know your patients, to take their concerns seriously (especially when they’re on medicines that could minimize serious symptoms), and if something doesn’t seem right (even if lab tests and vital signs argue otherwise) you should listen to your gut. Sometimes instinct is smarter than science.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
October 12th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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The short answer is: yes. The longer answer is that Tasmanian devils (TDs), those feisty black and white Australian marsupials, are the first to suffer from it. In an enlightening story about the plight of these little guys, I learned that they are prone to a certain type of mouth cancer that they pass to one another through biting. Now, since biting is part of their mating rituals, this cancer has spread through the TD population like wild fire, even putting them at risk for extinction.
Why am I telling you this? Because it’s quite fascinating that cancer can be contagious. Sure we know that the human papillomavirus (HPV), for example, can be spread through sexual contact and may stimulate the body to produce cervical cancer cells eventually, but this is a more direct and faster method of transmission. Researchers have found that cancer cells in the mouth of the animal doing the biting slough off in the wounds on the other animal, and the cells grow into a new cancer in the injured animal.
So you may ask – can I get cancer from a TD? Not unless YOU’RE also a TD. The reason why the cancer cells can survive in the victim is because TDs have become so genetically similar to one another that foreign cells from another animal are not recognized and attacked by their immune systems. Human immune systems would recognize the TD cells as foreign and attack and kill them quite quickly.We humans can’t even accept an organ transplant from a family member without being on strong immunosuppressive medications.
Nonetheless, this case of contagious cancer is interesting – and makes me wonder if immunosuppressed humans could one day be vulnerable to developing cancer from another person’s cells. But that risk seems rather remote. For now, we should just feel sad for our furry friends down under. I know that at least Dr. Rob, the llama lover, will understand the grief.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
October 10th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Humor
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Those of you who enjoyed “Let’s Pick On Anesthesiologists” will really like this video as well. Many thanks to Dinah at Shrink Rap for pointing this one out. It’s a YouTube video of a comedian/mom singing all the things she tells her children in the course of a day, but condensed into 2 minutes. Any mom (or child of a mom) will relate. This woman must be channeling Mindy Roberts. Please click here: The Ultimate Mom Song.
Addition:Thank you, Mindy, for typing out the lyrics! Here you go ladies (and gentlemen?) if you’d like to sing along… And here’s a link to the woman who got this started: Anita Renfroe
Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepy head
Here’s your clothes
And your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now
Get up and make your bed
Are you hot?
Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where’s your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and your gloves and your scarf and hat
Don’t forget you got to feed the cat
Eat your breakfast
The experts tell us it’s the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at three today?
Don’t forget your piano lesson is this afternoon
So you must play
Don’t shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside
Don’t play rough
Would you just play fair?
Be polite
Make a friend
Don’t forget to share
Work it out
Wait your turn
Never take a dare
Get along
Don’t make me come down there
Clean your room
Fold your clothes
Put your stuff away
Make your bed
Do it now
Do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn?
Would you like some hay
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone
Get Off the phone
Don’t sit so close
Turn it down
No texting at the table
No more computer time tonight
Your iPod’s my iPod if you don’t listen up
Where you going and with whom and what time do you think you’re coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me
Makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You’ll appreciate my wisdom
Someday when you’re older and you’re grown
Can’t wait ’til you have a couple little children of your own
You’ll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now
I thank you NOT to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew
Would appreciate
Take a bite
Maybe two
Of the stuff you hate
Use your fork
Do not you burp
Or I’ll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an egg A, Get the door
Don’t get smart with me
Get a Grip
Get?in here I’ll count to 3
Get a job
Get a life
Get a PhD
Get a dose of reality
I don’t care who started it
You’re grounded until your 36
Get your story straight
And tell the truth for once for heaven’s sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff
Would you jump too?
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said at least a thousand times before that
You’re too old to act this way
It must be your father’s DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straight when you walk
A place for everything
And everything must be in place
Stop crying or I’ll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth
Wash your face
Get your PJs on
Get in bed
Get a hug
Say a prayer with Mom
Don’t forget
I love you
**KISS**
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom’s work never ends
You don’t need the reason why
Because
Because
Because
Because
I said so
I said so
I said so
I said so
I’m the Mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
Ta-daThis post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
