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26 Cheshvan 5765 - November 10, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family

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

Head of Emergency Medicine Department of Bikur Cholim

I have been asked to write on Alzheimer's disease and I have written on it in the recent past. Alzheimer's usually affects people who often do not recognize necessarily that they are becoming more confused. Often they get lost on the way home and can't remember where they live. They may forget articles of clothing. Those who recognize the decline in function may suffer from depression.

Older people can get confused as well and it is normal to become more forgetful as the years go by. Multiple strokes, mini-strokes, Parkinson's and excessive drinking can all also cause earlier dementia. I wouldn't worry about forgetfulness at an advanced age. As a senator in the USA once said, "Three things come with age: One is that you forget, and for the life of me I cannot remember the other two."

What about the silent killer: high blood pressure and obesity. If you are fat you will have high blood pressure, and this can even be at an early age. Salt intake may make blood pressure worse but not all people are salt "responders." We do tend to be addicted to salt. Let's face it. Salt makes food taste really good, and there are some times I think you should use salt. For example, I prefer you to use salt on corn on the cob instead of butter or margarine.

But I think the problem of obesity is more serious, and exercise and dropping weight will go a long way to lowering blood pressure. If you need to take medication, most will not meet with success without taking two different drugs. High blood pressure can cause heart disease and stroke, so it is best to measure this regularly, but not to get alarmed if one or two readings are high. Keep in mind that the elderly need higher blood pressure in general.

Obesity causes Type Two diabetes, and you do not want that. It can cause poor circulation with resultant amputations of legs. The bottom line: think about losing weight today. Write me in care of the Yated.

A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this column. Avodart is the new Glaxo drug for prostate problems and is very effective in shrinking the prostate. This is one of the new generation of drugs for this problem and may save you from an operation!

 

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