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For every of the previous two years I’ve misplaced a few stone in weight. I am maintaining a healthy diet meals, with loads of fruit and greens, hen, fish and eggs. I used to be a bit chubby a number of years again however I actually do not need to lose extra – however there’s by no means any recommendation for individuals who must put weight on. I am almost 80. Are you able to assist?
‘Wholesome meals’ is an fascinating time period with none actual definition.
For anyone who wants to cut back their threat of coronary heart illness or has diabetes, it could imply a weight loss program that helped preserve a wholesome weight that is low in sugar, with loads of fibre from recent veg. However this won’t be ‘wholesome’ for everybody. As an illustration, folks with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) must keep away from sure fruit and greens. And other people with diverticulitis – a painful but frequent bowel downside – must avoid sure fibres. If anyone wants to achieve weight, fruit and veg is not going to do a lot.
As folks age they will undergo weight reduction on account of a discount in muscle, and customarily older folks do have much less of an urge for food.
To place weight on a dietician might advocate rising the quantity of protein and carbohydrates with every meal, alongside including higher-calorie meals resembling cheese or cream into recipes.
To place weight on a dietician might advocate rising the quantity of protein and carbohydrates with every meal, alongside including higher-calorie meals resembling cheese or cream into recipes (Inventory Picture)
In the event you battle to eat you should purchase fortified drinks which are fairly a small quantity – roughly the scale of a carton of fruit juice – however include a excessive variety of energy.
It’s not all the time attainable to see a dietician on the NHS because of this, however it’s value asking the GP for a referral. Unintentional weight reduction is all the time a crimson flag to a health care provider, notably within the aged as it may be a warning signal of most cancers.
A physician would normally need to carry out an examination and run some checks to rule out any sinister causes of weight reduction. This may embrace blood checks alongside stool examinations and even perhaps an ultrasound scan.
I undergo from excruciating ache now and again which passes from the again of my throat to my chest. I can go months with out an episode after which it may occur two or thrice in succession. The ache is so extreme – it looks like I am attempting to swallow a tennis ball – that I’m rooted to the spot and may’t transfer. What’s it?
It might be shocking however throat ache in girls can originate from the guts.
The signs of a kind of coronary heart situation often known as angina trigger chest ache predominantly, however girls also can undergo neck, jaw and throat ache.
As folks age they will undergo weight reduction on account of a discount in muscle, and customarily older folks do have much less of an urge for food (Inventory Picture)
These warning indicators are sometimes missed till there is a full-blown coronary heart assault, so extreme throat ache ought to all the time warrant a go to to the GP for checks.
As soon as coronary heart illness is dominated out, it is value contemplating acid reflux disease. That is when acid from throughout the abdomen travels again up the gullet, which may happen after a heavy meal or in sure postures. This will irritate the throat and will trigger some ache. It ought to settle very simply with an over-the-counter antacid. There are much less frequent causes of this ache, resembling a facet impact of most cancers therapy, the yeast an infection candida and, seldom, blood illnesses.
Ache throughout the again of the throat and right down to the chest might even be a facet impact of medicines or a big thyroid gland urgent on the throat. A digital camera check known as a nasoendoscopy, carried out by an ENT specialist to view the throat, larynx and buildings round them, may additionally be thought-about.
A yr in the past I used to be recognized as having a Baker’s cyst behind my proper knee. It’s extremely painful however my GP stated that nothing can be finished to deal with it until it grew to become contaminated. Is there something extra I can do because the discomfort is all the time there.
A baker’s cyst, additionally known as a popliteal cyst, is a small fluid-filled lump that kinds in the back of the knee. They are often associated to arthritis in older age or simply happen spontaneously.
The signs of a kind of coronary heart situation often known as angina trigger chest ache predominantly, however girls also can undergo neck, jaw and throat ache (Inventory Picture)
A swelling at the back of the knee ought to all the time be assessed by a health care provider to rule out critical circumstances. This may increasingly embrace a deep vein thrombosis, which is a blood clot within the leg veins.
In most individuals a Baker’s cyst doesn’t trigger issues, so no therapy is required – however they are often painful. They will additionally enhance the danger of blood clots due to the stress they placed on the remainder of the leg.
If somebody does undergo ache, then physiotherapy and over-the-counter painkillers are typically advisable. A GP or pharmacist ought to have the ability to advise. But when this has not helped, a specialist orthopaedic surgeon or neighborhood musculoskeletal workforce could possibly supply aspiration of the cyst – drawing out the fluid after which injecting steroids.
Surgical procedure to take away the cyst is normally solely utilized in somebody with important ache or poor motion, as in lots of instances after going below the knife the cyst comes again once more.
A candy approach to beat a foul cough
The outcomes are in from my reader survey on what you employ to appease an irritating cough – and it is excellent news for these with a candy tooth as quite a few you lauded consuming chocolate.
Well being chiefs earlier this month moved to ban codeine linctus, an efficient cough syrup that sadly grew to become extremely abused by addicts. I perceive the motive, however questioned what else I might counsel to sufferers.
And I am happy to disclose that there’s some scientific backing for chocolate as a aid. Research counsel that theobromine, a by-product of cocoa, may very well be simpler than codeine in easing cough signs. Within the analysis, volunteers took capsules containing 300mg of theobromine – the equal to a few squares of very darkish chocolate.
However the research have been small, so these attempting this method won’t achieve success. And but I am unable to consider a greater approach to contribute to ongoing analysis…
Well being chiefs earlier this month moved to ban codeine linctus, an efficient cough syrup that sadly grew to become extremely abused by addicts. I perceive the motive, however questioned what else I might counsel to sufferers (Inventory Picture)
Cease branding HRT as a menopause must-have
Once I raised considerations two years in the past that the ‘menopause revolution’ – backed by TV’s Davina McCall and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, above – was horrifying girls into taking HRT they did not want, I used to be accused of belittling girls’s life experiences. Naturally, that is garbage.
My level was that remedy is nice IF you want it. However the majority of issues confronted in the course of the menopause aren’t on account of hormones – and so HRT is not a treatment.
The scare-mongering appeared to emanate from personal medical doctors and celebs who profit financially from the difficulty.
So I used to be to learn articles in medical journal The Lancet saying the identical factor as me. Prime feminine well being consultants hit out on the ‘over-medicalisation’ of the menopause that appear to falsely model it a illness.
They pursue an method by which HRT just isn’t seen as a panacea – and I could not agree extra.
Do you’ve a query for Dr Ellie Cannon? E-mail DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk
Dr Cannon can not enter into private correspondence and her replies needs to be taken in a common context.
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