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7 Iyar 5764 - April 28, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family


Your Medical Questions Answered!
by Joseph B. Leibman, MD

Diplomate, Board Certification of Emergency Medicine

A correction: I mentioned Israel's water is "heavy" -- that should have been "hard." Hard water has more salts in it such as calcium carbonate. Heavy water is industrial water which uses hydrogen that has an extra neutron.

Some yeshiva corrections, heard from my sons who learn in yeshiva. Shaving does not increase the thickness or response rate of hair. Genetic factors are all that matter, for both men and women. Another one that floated around yeshiva for Purim is that red wine will make you vomit, and white wine won't, so it is better to get drunk on that. No truth to that one either. They both have the same effect and vomiting after imbibing is only affected by how much and how your body deals with it.

I was sent an article on dementia by a reader. It was based on a press release published by Reuters. It highlights one study. A recent article in the BMJ noted that most of the highlighted articles looked at ten years later showed that most had been disproved.

In any case, dementia can be from many causes and very few are reversible. The most common is multi-infarct dementia, which is due to many small strokes building up to finally affect the functioning of the person. Alzheimer's is a dementia occurring in younger patients -- the cause was thought to be aluminum. The cause is truly unknown. Many diseases can cause it -- such as Parkinson's, diabetes and AIDS -- as well as many, many substances including alcohol, in excess.

Dementia patients are usually very happy people and may joke about their forgetfulness at first. They then start to get lost, have trouble doing daily activities and start to fail to recognize family members. They soon need help with hygiene and eating and may begin to be unresponsive. Some even become contracted and need to be turned every few hours to prevent bedsores.

Reversible causes of dementia are few. Thyroidism can be corrected, hydrocephalus -- water on the brain -- can also be corrected. At this point the best we can do is give new drugs that slow the process. There is some evidence that keeping the mind strong and busy may help prevent this disease. Write me in care of the Yated.

A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this column. Avandia is modern help for diabetes and works with a very low rate of complications, including the feared hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Ask your endocrinologist. It has been successful worldwide!

 

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