Yittz's Clinic!!

[wkeej]

ok, han, maybe my question may have been answered before.
i am helping a friend in newspaper distribution nowadays. this job requires me to wake up at about 3.30 am. i have great difficulty. i tried sleeping earlier, say about 9.30 pm, but i still have to drag myself up at 3.30am and depend on two alarm clocks.
is there a way to train my body to sleep earlier so that i have enough sleep and at the same time wake up at 3.30am?

[beansprouts]

Yo, Dr Han...

My father went for his checkup recently, he has high blood pressure for many many years. The doctor told him that his body is producing too much red blood vessels or something. I am not too sure, since my father doesn't understand English and the doctor was not too eloquent in Mandarin. Anyway, what happens when somebody has too much red blood vessels?? Does it lead to strokes? What can be done to prevent and lower the amount of red blood vessels produced?? Types of food that my father should eat less/more of??

My father exercises regularly by the way.

[susie]

what will happen when pulse rate is more than 160 pulse per minute? it happens to me almost every year, i didn't play any extreme sports, but it just happened suddenly like an attack...and it will get back to normal after few hours or the next day...what causes the increase of the heartbeat? and what should i do?

[Han Solo]

Doc!!! Long time No see!

I have been working like a dog! Thanks to that, my eyes are dry and itchy. I tend to take off my glasses and staring at the monitor because it hurts my eyes less.

Is there any suggestion to easy my eyes from working excessive amount of hours in front of computer?

Can you believe it? I even quit playing online games and I am rarely online at home.

There is 2 quick eye exercise that i find helpful.

After some period of zeroing onto the computer, take a break, look at something else that is across the room and not bright for 10 seconds or so.

Secondly, try to look at green things.

Hope that helps

Han SOlo

[Han Solo]

ok, han, maybe my question may have been answered before.
i am helping a friend in newspaper distribution nowadays. this job requires me to wake up at about 3.30 am. i have great difficulty. i tried sleeping earlier, say about 9.30 pm, but i still have to drag myself up at 3.30am and depend on two alarm clocks.
is there a way to train my body to sleep earlier so that i have enough sleep and at the same time wake up at 3.30am?

Speaking from personal experience, try not to nap too much before you start to sleep, make sure that once you start to sleep, you will sleep straight away rather than thinking about things.

Initially, you might find it hard to adjust from one waking time to another, but over time, the body will adjust and find it easy to wake up at the desired time.

Han Solo

[Han Solo]

what will happen when pulse rate is more than 160 pulse per minute? it happens to me almost every year, i didn't play any extreme sports, but it just happened suddenly like an attack...and it will get back to normal after few hours or the next day...what causes the increase of the heartbeat? and what should i do?

I think you asked this question before and i didn;t answer.

Heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute is tachycardia.

Now, is your heart beating regularly or irregularly when that happens?

And do you feel any chest pain, dizziness or shortness of breath when that happens?

any other family members with the same problem?

and have you have any investigations in the past especially ecg?




Most tachycardia is benign in nature, but some needs to be looked more into especially with those with irregular heart beats and those that causes other symptoms as mentioned above.

In addition, in a small subset of ppl, there are abberant conductions between the chambers of the heart that can be treated with radiofrequency ablation.

Han SOlo

[Han Solo]

Yo, Dr Han...

My father went for his checkup recently, he has high blood pressure for many many years. The doctor told him that his body is producing too much red blood vessels or something. I am not too sure, since my father doesn't understand English and the doctor was not too eloquent in Mandarin. Anyway, what happens when somebody has too much red blood vessels?? Does it lead to strokes? What can be done to prevent and lower the amount of red blood vessels produced?? Types of food that my father should eat less/more of??

My father exercises regularly by the way.

Dun understand about the too much red blood vessels. No such thing in the world.

Did he meant too much red blood cells?

If that's the case, polycythaemia can be caused either by a condition called polycythaemia rubra vera or by other chronic diseases such as chronic lung or kidney conditions.

If it is excessive, it can promote blood clotting which can be dangerous in the wrong places i,e, in the brain = stroke, in the heart = heart attack.

Best treatment would be to treat the precipitating condition, but u can also donate your bloods.

This website isn't too bad in fact:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/...ycythaemia.htm

Han Solo

[xcutie]

dr. han, i have a problem too.. i have a horrible, very bad sore throat!! it hurts everytime i swollow . and i'm kinda tired these days.. is it a flu or something??

[beansprouts]

dr. han, i have a problem too.. i have a horrible, very bad sore throat!! it hurts everytime i swollow . and i'm kinda tired these days.. is it a flu or something??

Me too, me too!!
I have sore throats frequently, and they do not go away for up to one week. It hurts like mad when I swallow, worse thing is, it hurts when I don't swallow too. These sore throats don't go away no matter how much water I drink, how many lozenges I suck on or how much honey I force down my throat.

Dr Han -

Thanks for the answers and link to my previous question. It is probably red blood cells and not red blood vessels.

[Han Solo]

dr. han, i have a problem too.. i have a horrible, very bad sore throat!! it hurts everytime i swollow . and i'm kinda tired these days.. is it a flu or something??

Most sore throat is due to viral infections and should clear by itself. Drink more water and also take pain killers i.e. things like ibuprofen.

Sore throat can also be due to be bacterial infections. If that is the case, you will get whitish spots/discharges from your tonsils, and your lymph nodes on your neck region will be swollen and tender. If that happens, you will benefit from antibiotics.

Studies shows that just giving antibiotic to anyone without the signs for bacterial sore throat may minimally changes patients pain or fever or sore throat symptoms.

Han SOlo

[susie]

I think you asked this question before and i didn;t answer.

Heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute is tachycardia.

Now, is your heart beating regularly or irregularly when that happens?

And do you feel any chest pain, dizziness or shortness of breath when that happens?

any other family members with the same problem?

and have you have any investigations in the past especially ecg?




Most tachycardia is benign in nature, but some needs to be looked more into especially with those with irregular heart beats and those that causes other symptoms as mentioned above.

In addition, in a small subset of ppl, there are abberant conductions between the chambers of the heart that can be treated with radiofrequency ablation.

Han SOlo

dr han!

thank you for the explanations...well, to tell you more details about my situation....
my normal heart beat rate around 80-90 per minute....is it still very fast?

when its over 160, i don't feel dizzy, chest pain or shortness of breath, i just feel my heart pumping very very fast as if after running a few rounds......

this only happens about 1-2 times yearly and there's no signs when it will attack me...it happen suddenly and after few hours it'll get back to normal 80-90 per minute....

i went to the doctor once, she told me it might be because of cafeine and unusual sleeping habit....im a regular coffee drinker and usually sleeps very late at night or very early in the morning.

is it related to high blood pressure?

[xcutie]

dr han!

thank you for the explanations...well, to tell you more details about my situation....
my normal heart beat rate around 80-90 per minute....is it still very fast?

when its over 160, i don't feel dizzy, chest pain or shortness of breath, i just feel my heart pumping very very fast as if after running a few rounds......

this only happens about 1-2 times yearly and there's no signs when it will attack me...it happen suddenly and after few hours it'll get back to normal 80-90 per minute....

i went to the doctor once, she told me it might be because of cafeine and unusual sleeping habit....im a regular coffee drinker and usually sleeps very late at night or very early in the morning.

is it related to high blood pressure?

hey, that happens to my brother too. he went to the hospital for all these blood checks and everything. the doctors said that they cant find nething wrong with him, other than the fact that he had low blood pressure cause he's tall and underweight.

[Han Solo]

susie and xcutie,

The only thing that i can say is that although caffeine and alcohol can precipitate tachycardia and atrial fibrillation, it is less usual in the young healthy ppl.

The best way is oviously to get an ECG to find out the rhythm of the heart when that happens.

Because there are certain things like paroxysmal supra-ventricular tachycardia etc that can be effectively treated.

Han SOlo

[Encaitar]

To Dr Solo,
Lately I am suffering from tiredness and fatigue, as well as a slight depression due to stress. I am also suffering from a slight back pain. Please be aware that my blood count is a little low and I am jut 18 years old. What can I do about it?

Beside's that, one of my relatives had recently been diagnosed positive for hepatitis B. Are there any cures for that?
Please advise.

What about my question, doctor? I think you forgot to answer that.

[Han Solo]

Oops, sorry Encaitar.

Regarding hepatitis B, most of it (80-90%) will be acute hepatitis B with the body curing it themselves, and only a small proportion becomes chronic hepatitis B (10%). Of those 10%, there are medications such as Lamivudine and peg-interferon that offers good outcome for most ppl (32% seroconversion at 6 months). Below is a landmark study from this year in the NEJM.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hepatitis/b/Lau.pdf


Now, regarding your other question:

Major Depressive Disorder is classed as a disease entity of lasting at least 6 weeks with you having changes in your sleep, eating, energy, weight or having decreased mood, anhedonia (lack of enjoyment of things), feelings of guilt or suicidality.

If that is the case, then treatments from a psychologist/psychiatrist/general practitioners in terms of anti-depressive medications or counselling have nearly equal efficacy.

If you do not meet that criteria, or your mood was lowered for a shorter period, treatments with medications will not really be helpful.

No matter what the stress is, it is wise to either identify the source of the stress and work towards resolving it, or air out your feelings to other ppl. Get them involved.


Thirdly,

Regarding back pain. Most acute back pain resolves over 1 month period. Take your pain killers, do exercises to strengthen the back muscles, and try not the bend your back too much when lifting heavy objects.

Fourthly,

You did not specify which component of your blood tests are abnormal. Is it the red cells, or the white cells or the platelets?

Post the FBE results and then i can comment on it.

Thanks,

Hope it helps although it is late,

Han SOlo

[HookOnRice]

dr han

A friend of mine step on a rusty nail.

Is there a chance that it get infected and he goes into seizure (not sure if it myth or truth). If true, is there a way to prevent that?

[Han Solo]

tetanus immunization.

[Fallen Angel]

Dr Han,

Someone told me that prolonged use of Nurofen can be harmful! I usually take it for migraine/tension headache and sometimes (once/twice a week) take it before exercising to prevent dizziness when I don't get enough sleep! Can this be harmful to me.....what's the side effect?

[Han Solo]

Dr Han,

Someone told me that prolonged use of Nurofen can be harmful! I usually take it for migraine/tension headache and sometimes (once/twice a week) take it before exercising to prevent dizziness when I don't get enough sleep! Can this be harmful to me.....what's the side effect?

Nurofen or its generic name is Ibuprofen is a class of anti-inflammatory called non-selective COX inhibitor. The 2 main side effects are 1) peptic ulcers disease causing ulceration of the stomach and duodenum, causing bleeding etc. and 2) nephropathy or renal diseases.

Han Solo

[xuelian]

For a heart case, i.e. someone with a pacemaker, is 2 litres of sodium water too much for one day?