DR. ELLIE CANNON: If the assessments say all the pieces is ok, then why am I so windy and dropping lots of weight?

I undergo terribly from wind – and what looks like air bubbles in my abdomen. I had limitless assessments all displaying unfavorable outcomes. I’ve misplaced about 5 kilos within the final three years with out attempting, and I am in all probability underweight nowadays. Assist please!

It’s distressing to undergo disagreeable signs when no trigger will be discovered. Dropping pounds for no motive generally is a warning signal of one thing ominous like most cancers. However after intensive testing, this may usually have been established, or it could have turn out to be so critical that it could be apparent.

If fuel, or trapped wind because it’s generally referred to as, is an issue, it would really feel like there is not a lot room for meals.

If this persists, your GP or a dietician may also help with dietary dietary supplements, resembling high-calorie dietary drinks, to maintain your consumption low.

I undergo terribly from wind – and what looks like air bubbles in my abdomen (file photograph)

Extra fuel within the digestive system typically outcomes from swallowing lots of air with meals. This will occur when a affected person has issues with their tooth, resembling: B. ill-fitting dentures, that means it takes a very long time to eat and chew, or if he drinks too many fizzy drinks.

It might probably additionally occur when fuel from the intestines enters the abdomen. This could not occur as a result of there’s a closing ring of muscle on the junction between the 2 organs that stops reflux. However in some individuals, this muscle is weak and fuel builds up.

One check that’s generally not accomplished is for small bowel bacterial overgrowth, or SIBO.

This situation happens when micro organism within the intestine that create lots of fuel migrate to the small gut the place they should not be.

We all know this results in weight reduction and extra fuel and bloating.

SIBO will be examined with an endoscopy or a hydrogen breath check within the hospital and is handled with a particular course of antibiotics.

Are you able to assist me with a wierd downside? It looks like each time I flip round I hear a wierd noise like a automobile going over gravel. I’ve skilled this for a few years – however there is no such thing as a ache. Ought to I be involved? i’m 68

Listening to noises whenever you transfer your head and neck shouldn’t be a typical downside. Nevertheless, it isn’t essentially a priority. The neck joints are made up of the neck bones, the vertebrae, stacked one on prime of the opposite with intervertebral discs in between.

The joints that transfer when the neck rotates are referred to as the aspect joints.

Lubricating fluid and ligaments are additionally concerned to permit for easy, simple actions.

It looks like each time I flip my neck I hear a wierd noise like a automobile going over gravel (file photograph)

When joints make noise, docs name it crepitus — and it may happen in any joint within the physique, with or with out ache.

If it is the neck, it is most probably resulting from tough spinal bones rubbing in opposition to one another or ligaments rubbing in opposition to the bones. As we age, the discs between our bones shrink, which inspires rubbing and put on and tear on the joints.

Additionally, air bubbles within the lubricating fluid can burst and make a wierd noise. Though this will occur in any joint, we will clearly hear it within the neck as a result of it is near the ears.

If this continues for a very long time with out different signs, then there is no such thing as a must do something about it. Most definitely there may be arthritis or put on and tear within the joints. Because it progresses, issues with ache or stiffness might come up.

At this stage, it is perhaps value wanting into preventive neck remedy to keep away from future issues, resembling: B. strengthening workout routines, massages or osteopathy.

I’m prediabetic and obese and my GP says I must train to enhance my well being. However each time I run for 5 minutes, I get so out of breath I’ve to cease. I discover it very troublesome to construct stamina. I’ve tried sports activities like tennis however I believe I want one thing extra intense to shift the burden.

GPs typically advise sufferers to train with out contemplating what sort of bodily exercise is greatest for them or the way it suits into their each day routine.

When sufferers are informed to train, they’re typically tempted to start out one thing dramatic. However that can be very troublesome to take care of in case your health is poor to start with.

Sufferers rapidly turn out to be demoralized, making it troublesome to proceed.

I’d begin in another way.

You could possibly begin by strolling a minimum of 30 minutes or 10,000 steps day by day.

You do not have to stay to this actual quantity, however it’s a good benchmark. It will get the physique transferring day by day and improves endurance and health.

This consists of climbing stairs, procuring and home tasks. Utilizing a pedometer would assist.

Most untrained individuals will not be capable to run repeatedly for greater than 5 minutes, however cardio train is necessary to start out weight shifting.

YouTube gives many simple at-home workout routines that may be accomplished 3 times every week.

There’s additionally some reality to the phrase “poor vitamin would not go away” on the subject of shedding weight. It’s totally troublesome to drop extra pounds via train alone – so change your weight loss program.

A low GI weight loss program works effectively for prediabetes, as does any low-calorie consuming plan.

Is the physician visiting you now? I want to know

When was the final time you noticed your physician in particular person? After the difficulties that sufferers have confronted in recent times, the scenario appears to have nearly returned to regular.

In July there have been 26 million appointments, 65 % (17 million) face-to-face and 11 million same-day consultations. Earlier than the pandemic, round 80 % of appointments have been in particular person.

When was the final time you noticed your physician in particular person?

Covid has helped us get higher at determining who actually must be seen, however I am conscious that is not a constant image.

Final week a good friend informed me that her mom within the Midlands, who has difficult well being points, hasn’t seen her GP since 2019.

Letters to the editor paint an analogous image. In case you have had such issues or usually are not glad with the assist offered by your GP I’d love to listen to from you. Electronic mail me on the deal with under.

Go away Doomsters behind to surf safely

It is pretty universally accepted that social media can have an effect on well being, whether or not via dodgy recommendation from “influencers” or the oblique psychological impact of scrolling via ominous information and ranting on Twitter.

So I used to be delighted that Past, a youth psychological well being charity, launched a brand new marketing campaign: #SurfSocialSafely. It has some nice recommendation that I am already following: mute or block accounts that do not encourage or encourage, and set scrolling cut-off dates.

The charity suggests carrying a watch and charging your telephone exterior of the bed room so you are not tempted to maintain checking.

Add to that the truth that I deleted Fb and my two teenagers left the putrid cesspool of TikTok. Mainly, the extra you restrict these things, the higher you will really feel. Belief me.