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21 Adar I 5765 - March 2, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family

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

Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital

There is more information on migraines that makes it seem that they are not disorders related to the spasm of blood vessels but rather changes in the chemicals in the brain. Therefore it is easy to understand how the drugs like Imitrex work to resolve migraines despite lacking any anti-spasm components.

Chest pain is always tricky, and to give advice for when it is safe and when not is very hard. Better to be safe than sorry and do not take chances. Even a recent normal stress test does not guarantee that this is not the heart. The heart just gives no warning.

As we go to press, all hospitals in Israel are bulging at the seams with patients. It has been a hard winter with lots of pneumonia. One must be patient with hospitals, as the government will not allow more beds or intensive care beds or more manpower. In some places an incoming patient may need to stay in the emergency department all night or in a corridor in the ward.

Crib death is always a scary thing. Right now the risks that we know about are: placing the baby in the prone — that is face-down — position and smoking near the baby. What I would recommend all parents to do is learn CPR, including how to do it for babies. If there is an episode where there is no breathing for a short time, the baby needs to be on a monitor.

Advice to young smokers? Be smart — don't start. If there is someone in the house who smokes, the children will probably smoke even after seeing the damage it causes. There is a lot of peer pressure, and we as parents must take a stand. Write me in care of the Yated.

A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this column. This column spoke about migraines and smoking. So let's note the effectiveness of Zyban against smoking, and Imitrex against headaches. It can be given as an injection or a fast- acting nasal spray.

 

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