HEALTH

Ask The Doctor

FROM THE CAMPAIGN: WEIGHT DISCRIMINATION—PUBLIC FAT SHAMING

One of the candidates brought to light that many have a bias against those who are overweight. Making fun or bullying of someone overweight happens frequently at schools. Sadly, gays know about shaming! Shaming can harm other people but accepting them can help them mentally and physically. Many can perform their jobs as well or better than others and are valuable employees. Do you treat others poorly because they are overweight? There are complex reasons someone is overweight: from genetics, parental and societal influences, advertisements bombarding us—even when we were children. Will power only goes so far.

NEW FACIAL FILLER AVAILABLE FOR SUNKEN CHEEKS

Juvederm has been shown to be safe and helpful in preliminary trials for filling facial defects from fat loss due to HIV and the older medications. If you or a friend have this condition, I suggest you check each month starting January 1st) on www.clinicaltrials.gov for Juvederm trials. These filler medications cost thousands of dollars and work well. Tom Cruise seems to have had a filler put in. His smile isn’t as endearing but he has less wrinkles J.

MAGNETS FOR DEPRESSION?

There have been multiple studies showing that Transcranial (across the skull to the brain) Magnetic Stimulation can help major depression that hasn’t been helped by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (specialized counseling). Thousands of patients have had significant improvement that is long-lasting and is cost effective. If you want this, go to www.clinicaltrials.gov to find a place that does this. I don’t recommend you answer an advertisement for this from someone trying to make money.

REMOVING GUNS FROM DEPRESSED PATIENTS PREVENTS SUICIDE.

A law in Connecticut since 1999 has prevented 72 suicides. This law allows the police to temporarily confiscate firearms from people thought to be at risk of harming themselves. Another person can report the risk and a detailed hearing and procedure is set in motion to determine if it is a good idea to confiscate the firearm. You might encourage your depressed friends to keep their guns at another’s house temporarily.

UNCLES: PLEASE HELP REDUCE CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO GUNS

If you know that a child or teen can access a gun, please take steps to limit access to this danger. By doing so you will prevent death and disability. This message was emphasized at the recent meeting of the American Public Health Association. Nearly half of the houses that have guns are storing them improperly and unsafely.

WHAT IS BRAIN DEATH?

This is a term that confuses the public. It is when the person’s brain cannot function: they cannot think, respond, there is no breathing or heart beat function coming from the brain. Vegetative state is when the body may function but the person can’t respond meaningfully, they can’t think or process or respond well. Coma is loss of any sign of a thinking brain function, they seem deeply asleep. Stuporous is when the person seems to be on drugs, like when they are in a deep sleep and cannot wake up fully. Sedated is sleepy but can respond correctly, e.g. we give medication to sedate people for procedures such as a colonoscopy.

YELLOWNESS FROM REYATAZ® MAY BE HELPFUL TO YOUR HEART

Reyataz® can harmlessly raise the yellow pigment in your blood which comes from recycling red blood cells. A new study showed that markers for stress which cause accelerated hardening of the arteries are lower if the patients are taking Reyataz® vs. Sustiva® (in Atripla®). This may be a hidden benefit of those taking Reyataz.®

18 MILLION ARE ON HIV TREATMENT

This is 1.2 million more than last year. Woo Hoo! In a report on the AIDS pandemic, which has infected 78 million people and killed 35 million since it began in the 1980s, UNAIDS said the consistently strong scale-up of treatment has seen annual AIDS-related deaths drop by 45 percent to 1.1 million in 2015 from a peak of about 2 million in 2005. Only a million die from HIV a year now………We have a long way to go.

TREATMENT AS PREVENTION NEEDS PEOPLE TO STAY ON TREATMENT

A decade ago, the majority of new HIV cases could be traced to people living with HIV who did not know it. Today, the vast majority of new cases in the United States come from people who know they are infected with HIV but who are not in care. If you have HIV you may notice there is a person calling you and helping you get back into care when you take too long a break.  These workers are under Linkage to Care (LTC) grants and that money is well spent, preventing those who are negative from catching HIV from those who are not on medications. People can miss their medications due to the fault of the clinic, insurance, pharmacy, or patient. Each of these links has a group of problems causing their failure. LTC people try to fix the weak links before they break or fix them as soon as possible if they do break.

Daniel Pearce, D.O., FACOI, AAHIVS

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine

Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine and HIV, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine and Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic                      Medicine

HIV Specialist, Assistant TB Physician, Riverside University Health System, Public Health

REFERENCES: Medscape®