Medical Examiner 5-6-22

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MAY 6, 2022

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ONEPLOT/TWOMOVIES A

TWO AUGUSTANS TAKE RADICALLY DIFFERENT PATHS TO MENTAL WELLNESS

t the age of 21 I was diagnosed with mild depressive disorder. That was in 2005. In retrospect, I had been suffering with it since my early teens, a time when mood issues are generally blamed on the start of menstruation.

Those assumptions were made of me too, so my parents and siblings did the best they could to tolerate me.

I had first been introduced to depression at age 14 when my father was diagnosed with severe clinical depression. For the next two years I watched first-hand the devastating affects depression can have on someone, and the ripple affect it has on their loved ones. My mother was no stranger to having to adapt to mental changes in someone she loved: she had been a caregiver for her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimers. When my father was diagnosed, I watched my mother do the same thing once again. She did a lot of research to learn how a depressed person thinks, how they act, and how to communicate with them. As she learned different tips and tricks, she would pass those along to us children. One of the lessons she emphasized was not to blame our father for his actions, but to put the blame where it belonged - on his depression. He could no more help how he felt than a diabetic’s pancreas could put out sufficient insulin. She made us understand that depression was real, that mental illness is real. While I didn’t fully understand the scope of those lessons then, they would soon become invaluable to me.

As I grew into my late teens, my mother noticed that I continued to struggle with being a “ball of emotions.” I was quick-tempered, often irritable, and withdrawn.

Due to having a family history of hormonal

M

y name is Elizabeth and I have lived an incredible life. I have the most amazing and supportive husband, family and friends, but even so I’ve been through experiences that have left me struggling with my own personal mental health. When I was young my father was absent due to drugs and alcohol, but quite frankly, that was better than being exposed to his toxic behavior. Fast forward to when I was 22 I fell in love with a man that I saw a future with. We spent three intense years together that changed my life. Unfortunately, he didn’t see a future for himself and took his own life in September of 2018. After this earth-shattering event I immediately sought help from a therapist who has been my life coach ever since.

I have dealt with typical general anxiety here and there, but in 2020, eight months into the pandemic, I had the worst attacks on my body and mind I’ve ever experienced. At that point I was living in Copenhagen, and Denmark went on its first complete lockdown. I thought it would be a good idea to break away from the cold and darkness and take a trip home to Georgia and visit my family for three weeks.

After a layover in Amsterdam, a 9-hour flight across the Atlantic, then the 2-hour drive from Atlanta, I made it back to Augusta, a place that holds both good and bad memories for me. Of course, I had jet lag. They say for every hour the time difference it takes that many days to recover. So I was expecting by the sixth day I would feel well-rested and back to normal. During the first few days of my visit I reconnected with my father. I won’t get into too many details but to sum it up, it was awful. I felt so much hurt, abandonment, neglect, low self-worth, etc. After that encounter my sleep completely stopped. I have Please see PLOT #2 page 11

Please see PLOT #1 page 11

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

THE FIRST 40 YEARS ARE ALWAYS THE HARDEST

PARENTHOOD

by David W. Proefrock, PhD

Your 5-year-old daughter has not been doing particularly well in kindergarten. She started out all right, but now her teacher has been reporting that she is having trouble sitting still and paying attention. The work she has been bringing home is usually sloppy and most often incorrect.

She doesn’t seem to care as much about her work as when she began school, and has been complaining that the work is too hard. You are worried that she won’t be ready for 1st grade next fall. What do you do?

A. Talk with her teacher about her work and whether or not she will be ready for 1st grade work.

B. She might have an attention deficit disorder. Talk to her pediatrician about prescribing medication for her.

C. Take her to a psychologist to be evaluated for school readiness.

D. Take away her television and computer privileges until the quality of her work improves.

If you answered: A. This is the best plan. Always consult with the teacher before making any decisions about your child’s education.

B. This could be what you end up doing, but don’t make any important decisions about her education without consulting with her teacher first.

C. Psychologists perform this type of evaluation and are often very helpful in making educational plans. However, don’t make an appointment without consulting with her teacher first.

D. It is best to check with her teacher before assigning a punishment. You need to have a better idea of the problem before taking any action.

Always consult with the teacher before making any decisions involving education. The teacher knows the most about a child’s performance, problems, and strengths, and is in the best position to advise about what to do next. + Dr. Proefrock is a local retired clinical and forensic child psychologist.

THANKS FOR READING!

MAY 6, 2022

PART U OF A 26-PART SERIES

IS FOR UMBILICAL

Q

uick, name an organ in the human body that’s temporary.

“A temporary organ?” some might ask. “Unless you’re talking about my ex-wife’s brain, that’s impossible.” Now, now. Calm down. There’s no need to be ornery.

As the response above might demonstrate, the typical nosuch-thing response is probably going to come from guys.

Mothers know that during pregnancy, an organ called the placenta takes up temporary residence in the uterus, and is the connection point for the umbilical cord that feeds the growing baby. The whole thing

is an absolute marvel of design and function.

There really is no direct connection between fetus and mother; the placenta acts as the staging area between the two physically separate systems of mother and child. During pregnancy the placenta acts as the lungs, kidneys, liver and intestines of the baby, sending in oxygenated blood, and removing waste products and oxygen-depleted blood.

Of course, all of this is through the umbilical cord, which has the basic structure shown below: one umbilical vein and two umbilical arteries within a tube of Wharton’s jelly.

Normally, we describe the vessels that carry oxygenated blood as arteries, while veins carry oxygen-depleted blood back to the heart. In the umbilical cord, it’s exactly the opposite: the umbilical vein carries oxygenated blood to the fetus, the umbilical artery does the opposite. The reason: in the body of an adult, arteries carry blood away from the heart, so the same term (artery) is used for what carries blood away from the fetus, even though in this case it’s oxygen-depleted.

As many brand new dads know (at least the ones who didn’t faint in the delivery room), the umbilical cord is not fragile. Cutting it, as fathers are sometimes invited to do, is like trying to cut through leather or the garden hose out in your yard. It’s tough.

The interesting thing about the entire mom-to-baby connection is how the body dispenses with it once its usefulness is over.

Within 15 to 30 minutes of the baby’s birth, additional contractions dispel the placenta, a word that stems from the Latin word for cake, a reference to its round, flat appearance. (This would be a great time to go into placenta recipes and the many beliefs about the benefits of eating the placenta, but oops, we’re running out of room.)

Before that, however, a fascinating transformation occurs in the umbilical cord.

Virtually as soon as the baby is born, the lifeline it has depended upon for the past nine months promptly clamps itself off. How? Why? It’s the aforementioned Wharton’s jelly, which collapses or constricts when it goes from 98.6° inside mom to cool, out-of-body room-temperature conditions, in effect creating a natural clamp. For the same reason, Wharton’s jelly doesn’t work as well (or as quickly) for mothers who choose water births, and the water is warm or close to body temperature.

Wharton’s jelly works so well in normal settings that cords can be clamped within 30-60 seconds, although studies have shown definite benefits to waiting 2 to 3 full minutes before clamping.

The umbilical cord’s point of entry leaves behind a scar nearly every human has had. We presume that Adam and Eve are the only two exceptions. +

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

MAY 6, 2022

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As you already know, it’s Drinking Water Week (May 1-7).

Have you been able to get all your Drinking Water Week shopping done yet? True, the crowds are ridiculous.

This is a topic we tend to forget about the other 51 weeks of the year, but safe drinking water is important every single day. It’s one of those things we take for granted until we don’t have it for some reason, and then we are acutely aware of the vital importance of drinking water.

What makes water so precious? It is a necessity for life itself. While water is everywhere on this phenomenal planet, fresh water is, relatively speaking, a scarce commodity; most water on earth is salt water. The water we need must be free from contamination, and that can be a tall order, since water can become contaminated in a number of ways: • at the source (such as a river) • in transit (in the pipes that convey water to us) • in storage (like water bottles, towers and tanks) As the people of Flint, Michigan, and a million other places around the world know first hand any one of the three can be the source of trouble. As Flint illustrates, contamination isn’t always from bacteria that cause immediate illness; sometimes the impurities are from chemicals.

Although privately owned wells are not subject to EPA regulations (meaning well water users are responsible for ensuring the safety of their own water), municipal water systems are heavily regulated and constantly monitored, making ordinary tap water in the United States among the safest in the world. In fact, some municipal water systems (New York City’s in particular) have repeatedly won awards over expensive bottled water brands as Best Tasting in blind taste tests, as well as in laboratory testing.

Virtually everyone plays a role in keeping water safe. We here at Medical Examiner world headquarters in Augusta once had a neighbor who faithfully changed the oil in his car and just as faithfully poured the used oil into the storm drain at the curb. Those go straight into the Savannah.

With all of this beautiful and refreshing water at our fingertips, what else do we need to do? Drink more of it. +

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www.AugustaRx.com The Medical Examiner’s mission: to provide information on topics of health and wellness of interest to general readers, to offer information to assist readers in wisely choosing their healthcare providers, and to serve as a central source of salubrious news within every part of the Augusta medical community.

Direct editorial and advertising inquiries to: Daniel R. Pearson, Publisher & Editor E-mail: Dan@AugustaRx.com AUGUSTA MEDiCAL EXAMINER P.O. Box 397, Augusta, GA 30903-0397

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MAY 6, 2022

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

#164 IN A SERIES

Who is this?

ON THE ROAD TO BETTER HEALTH A PATIENT’S PERSPECTIVE Editor’s note: Augusta writer Marcia Ribble, Ph.D., is a retired English and creative writing professor who offers her unique perspective as a patient. Contact her at marciaribble@hotmail.com

I

mages of our subject for this installment, one Benjamin Gompertz, are hard to come by. We think that’s him above, but if it isn’t, well, we’ll just have to live with it — for awhile, anyway. We’ll explain in a moment.

Mr. Gompertz was born in London in 1779 and distinguished himself as a mathematical genius although lacking any formal education. Despite that, he devised a formula known, logically enough, as the Gompertz Law. We stumbled across his name a couple weeks ago doing research about Jeanne Calment, the French supercentenarian who came within about 6 months of reaching her 123rd birthday. If you missed it, head over to issuu.com/ medicalexaminer to read about her in our April 15 issue.

By the definition established by Gompertz Law, Jeanne Calment’s survival to age 122 was nothing short of miraculous. You see, the full name of his formula is the Gompertz Law of Mortality. Its accuracy has been proved again and again for 200 years. In a nutshell, Gompertz’ equation states that starting at around age 30, our risk of dying roughly doubles every eight years.

While that may sound harrowing, it’s important to remember that the risk in early life is extremely low. Maybe it’s 0.8% at an early age, and then eight years later it’s only a little more than 1.5%. But over time the curve quickly goes from almost level to a steeper and steeper incline: 1.5, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, etc.

What’s amazing about Gompertz Law and its enduring use today is that it was developed, as mentioned earlier, by a man who was entirely self-taught. That didn’t stop him from becoming a member of the London Mathematical Society (at age 18), a founding member of the Royal Statistical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, as well as a frequent contributor of scholarly articles to various publications read by nerdy types, such as The Gentleman’s Mathematical Companion, a magazine that awarded him several prizes for solving complex mathematical problems.

The son of a wealthy and successful diamond merchant, you might be wondering why Gompertz was self-taught. He was excluded from the possibility of a university education because the Gompertz family was Jewish. He was able to obtain employment at the London Stock Exchange, but his dream occupation would combine his loves of math, statistics and financial theory into one job: an actuary, the person who computes risk for insurance companies. Once again, no firm he could find was willing to hire a Jew. Eventually, however, he was able to land that coveted dream job, but it wasn’t easy. Fortuitously, his brother-in-law launched an insurance company in 1824, and he was willing to (or had to) hire his wife’s brother. The very next year, Gompertz submitted a paper to the Royal Society entitled “On the nature of the function expressive of the law of human mortality, and on a new mode of determining the value of life contingencies.” No wonder we call it Gompertz Law today.

As everyone eventually does, Gompertz fell victim to his own calculations, dying of a paralytic seizure in 1865 at the ripe old age of 86. +

by Marcia Ribble

Perhaps it is old age, but I have been reflecting a lot lately about the past, and, in particular, about my relationships with the folks who were my elders when I was young.

I’m not sure why, but I felt a need, and even more, a responsibility to help them whether they were relatives or neighbors. I recall my mother emphasizing that we should not annoy or bother our elderly neighbors, but I don’t recall her saying that we should do things for them. Nonetheless, when I got old enough to rake leaves and shovel snow, it delighted me to get up very early on snow days and try to get their walks shoveled before they were even up so they would be surprised and not know who did it. They were often aware anyway and would pay me a quarter for my work. I had jobs which paid me, like working at the bakery and babysitting, so the quarter was an extra, not a necessity.

I would often take the bus after school and go to the nursing home where two of my elderly aunts lived, Aunt Katie and Aunt Edna. Neither had ever married and so didn’t have children or grandchildren to look after them, but they had been kind to me before they were in the nursing home. I had loved to sit on the floor next to Aunt Katie and listen to her stories about the old days when she was a child. She had gone to the nursing home after a stroke, and her entire focus became dying and going to heaven, so she repeated constantly, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” But as I sat on the floor at her knee, she would stroke my hair, so I know she

knew I was there with her, and it made her happy.

Aunt Edna didn’t tell stories so much, and when I first arrived, I would need to remind her who I was. “I’m George’s daughter, Marcia,” I would explain, and she would smile. I really wasn’t sure that she knew who I was, but I had provided her with the connection she might still recall with her baby brother Georgie. As she was the oldest, he had been her responsibility.

And although he’d been mischievous and ran away to the railroad yard when he was only two, he had been much beloved by all his older siblings as their baby brother. The exact relationship may have confused her, but the feelings didn’t. I loved both Aunt Katie and Aunt Edna dearly and their being old didn’t upset or worry or frighten me. I knew that they could feel me loving them.

That was enough.

I feel that same kind of love when I am with my sixteen-month-old great-grand twins, Silas and Junior. Before they are even out of their carriers, they are already smiling to see me. They will toddle over and lift their arms, in the universal signal to be picked up. I thank God that I am still strong enough to do that. I think the joy I feel from being with them is probably the same as what my aunts felt when I saw them as a child, and then as a teenager. I hope so. My father’s family was loving and supportive of one another. I hope I am able to provide at least some of that for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

If that is the case, my life will have had purpose and value. +

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MAY 6, 2022

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

ADVENTURES IN

Middle Age

BY J.B. COLLUM

rant afterwards either. Then I was required to use some special medical wipes they provided me. I had to wipe down my entire body except for my face. The wipes were cold and had a residual sticky feeling afterwards, which isn’t the best feeling right before you put on your pajamas. Just imagine slathering up with Vaseline and slithering into some pants. Yeah, not a nice thought. Fortunately, through some mysterious process, just when you think you can’t stand it any longer and are about to jump back into the shower to rinse the icky stuff off (against their rules of course), the stickiness fades away and you are free to put on your pajamas without your skin crawling.

After that, you are supposed to get into a bed made with freshly washed sheets. I don’t completely understand why they require all this when they still require you to wipe down again on the day of surgery right before you put on the modesty-challenged backless gown they provide — for hand surgery?

Speaking of the gown, this one was different from any other one I’ve worn. It was very well insulated, which I imagine can come in handy for cold operating rooms for most folks, but I immediately felt like I was going to sweat, and I mentioned it, but they were ready for that, and they hooked up some hoses that pumped cool air into the gown. That made a world of difference and I’ve been looking all around ever since for where I can buy clothes with these hose openings and the AC to attach to them. So far, no luck. It’s just as well though, my wife would roll her eyes so much at this that they’d probably get stuck back facing her brain, and I don’t want that to happen.

The worst part about my carpal tunnel release surgery has been the recovery, but it hasn’t been as bad as I was told to expect by people who’ve had this type of surgery in the past.

{

Another month, another surgery! Welcome to middle age! Yes, the prizes keep coming, even more so for some people. I can’t complain though. My surgeries have been minor and have ended up being more about quality of life rather than being lifesaving. For others, they can be much more serious, even life or death. I really feel for those folks and their families. Happily, in my case, the surgeries went very well.

My most recent surgery was called “carpal tunnel release” for my right hand only. I plan on getting the left hand done later so I’ll always have one good hand. The surgery name may sound complicated, but it basically means that a nerve is all cramped up in a tiny jail cell. An attorney is no good for this particular kind of jail, though; you have to get a surgeon to break the nerve out.

They make an inch and a quarter cut on your palm near your wrist, cut some bone down there to free the nerve up to have enough room to wiggle around better and do its job, then they sew everything up and you wait for it to heal.

It sounds simple, but to be fair, I’m sure that it takes a lot of skill and practice to make it seem this easy.

My doctor came highly recommended, and I haven’t had any complications, so I am grateful. He was also quick. I went to the outpatient surgical center early that morning and we were heading home by lunchtime. Before long, I imagine we’ll get this stuff done in a drive-thru.

Then again, maybe not. I can’t imagine how much prep work I’d have to do to get my vehicle clean enough for surgery. The prep for these past two surgeries required a lot of work on my part, and most of it not pleasant, as I chronicled earlier this year for my previous surgery.

The prep for this one wasn’t nearly as bad. The night before, I just had to take a shower and not use anything but soap, no lotions or anti-perspi-

{

Attorneys are no good for this; you have to get a doctor.

It is evident, though, that the current methods for this surgery are much improved for both the speediness of the surgery, the recovery time, and one other very important aspect that I discovered. Some close friends had carpal tunnel surgery many years ago and in at least one case, they did something after the surgery that somehow undid the surgery. I didn’t understand the specifics, but it worried me. My surgeon alleviated that worry when he told me that nothing I did could undo the surgery. It could cause pain or prolong the healing of the wound, but nothing that would affect the ultimate outcome. That was a big relief, but I must admit that I have been a bit less careful than I probably should be because of that.

I’ll give you an example. A couple of weeks after the surgery, I decided to go through some old boxes from a previous move to better organize my office closet and throw out a lot of useless stuff that I’ve been hoarding for no good reason. I was placing a large, awkwardly shaped box on the top shelf of my closet (with my left hand doing most of the lifting) when I somewhat forcefully slammed it into place with my left hand. My un-operated-upon hand. I suppose this caused the heavy contents of the box that were already near the edge to fall forward and make the box tip and fall toward me. Just by reflex, I thrust out both hands to catch it. The resulting noise that somehow emanated from my voice box made my family and probably quite a few neighbors think that a castrati choir was in the neighborhood as the notes I hit were well out of my normal singing range. Heck, out of normal human range!

The good news was that my surgeon had provided a prescription for a strong pain reliever for my recovery time. The bad news was that I had run out. I’ll know to ration my pain meds better for when I get the same surgery on my left hand, but that will be a story for another day. Until then, take care of yourselves. + J.B. Collum is a local novelist, humorist and columnist who wants to be Mark Twain when he grows up. He may be reached at johnbcollum@gmail.com

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

grounded—and a lot of fun.”

--Science Friday, Best Science Books of 2018 “In The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities From the History of Medicine, Thomas Morris takes a delightful romp through a myriad of entertaining, arcane and obscure medical anecdotes plucked from 18th- and 19th-century newspapers,

“The vast amount of material from diverse sources will amuse readers and leave them shaking their heads… [an] informative, fascinating look at the history of medicine.”

--Library Journal “A gruesome but weirdly compelling trip through several centuries of quack cures, horrific operations, and bizarre accidents.”

--New York Daily News The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine

by Thomas Morris; 367 pages, published by Dutton in 2018. +

the blog spot — posted by Casey Krickus on May 1, 2022

WHAT IT’S LIKE WHEN SOMEONE DIES At the start of my medical school’s clinical rotations, I was prepared with new scrubs, minute facts about diabetes and kidney disease, and a stethoscope that I struggled to hear murmurs with. What I was less prepared for was the emotional toll that seeing patients would exact.

My first rotation was in obstetrics and gynecology, one known mostly for the happy events of newborn babies. Yet this was the rotation where the first death of my clerkships happened with a baby born prematurely at 22 weeks. I didn’t know the mother or the family well, just that they had hoped the baby would survive a few weeks longer so his lungs would be mature enough to ensure a greater chance of survival.

I moved on, and a week later in the gynecology service, I learned one of the patients we were following had required resuscitative efforts didn’t make it. I scratched her name off my list. I’d never met her. The other medical student had been assisting with her care. I asked him if he was OK, and he said he was.

We moved on. During my neurology clerkship, I was in the emergency department when a patient with an acute bleed in his brain was wheeled in. I raced to the pharmacy to retrieve a medication that would help slow the bleeding enough for a surgery to be performed. Ten minutes after getting it and returning, the family had decided the surgery was not what the patient would have wanted. He passed away.

I moved on. During my surgery rotation, a major blood vessel leaving a teenage patient’s heart ruptured. Despite a significant amount of transfused blood and efforts to fix the vessel, it was irreparable. He bled out.

I moved on. During my internal medicine rotation, I met a patient with a failing heart who was unlikely to get a transplant. He started off cracking jokes and smiling. As the days wore on and his heart started to further fail, the cardiologist informed him he likely had six to twelve months left to live. The smiles and jokes evaporated. He had a son that relied on him. He coached a softball team. He was about to become a grandfather. I had learned his backstory, his hopes, and the vision he had of his future. That future was now reduced to 6 to 12 months.

In medicine, it is common to see and hear about death.

It becomes a kind of white noise. My clinical year has been riddled with it. Every time another one happened, there was a culture of moving on and pushing past it. There’s always another patient to see, another task to complete, and another disease to study. By doing this, I’ve done myself and my patients a disservice. Each death is different, just like how each life is different. Taking the time to grieve rather than move on is just as valuable as meeting a new patient or attending a lecture. +

It’s much more than white noise.

It’s life.

Casey Krickus is a medical student.

s tha s e L +

n a million people can’t be wron g.

Advertise here s!

“[A] series of case studies from our past that will remind you that we are never as smart as we think. Morris uses images of old documents, and citations from physicians of the past, in way that makes the book both real,

journals and textbooks...

Using a panoply of colorful examples, the author artfully illustrates the frustrations, uncertainty, poorly founded confidence and frequent futility of medical practice in the prescientific age.”

--Wall Street Journal

Call us today! (706) 860-5455

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There’s nothing like a fond look back through the pages of medical history to foster appreciation for the state of the healing arts in 2022, and that is exactly what Thomas Morris has provided in the 367 pages of this extensively researched book.

Of course, a reader can’t help but wonder how ridiculous 2022 medicine will look in 2222, but that can’t be helped now. All today’s doctors can do is the same as their predecessoors did in 1722: act on the best and most accurate and up-to-date information they can find. And keep doing that as progress continues.

Here are a few comments about this book from others:

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From the Bookshelf

MAY 6, 2022

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TRYTHISDISH MAY 6, 2022

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AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

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Snap peas are so crisp, sweet, and succulent, making them one of the easiest vegetables to convince the kiddos to eat. They can be “snapped” into pieces and mixed into salads or eaten whole as an appetizer/ snack.

Snap peas and other edible pods are a good source of carbohydrates, Vitamins A, C, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin, as well as impressive amounts of phosphorus, iron and potassium. They taste good and they’re healthy!

Right. Like there’s some other kind.

Medical District WRIGHTSBORO ROAD

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Augusta Mall

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oil is hot add the onions and garlic. Sauté green onions for about 30 seconds. Add the snap peas and sauté for 2 minutes until bright green and still crisp. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Yield: 4 Servings (Serving size: ¾ cup) Nutrition Breakdown: Calories 35, Fat 1g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 75mg, Carbohydrate 7g, Fiber 1g, Protein 1g.

Percent Daily Value: 6% Vitamin A, 15% Vitamin C,

• SATURDAY: 7:30 - 11:30

4% Calcium, 4% Iron Carbohydrate Choice: ½ Carbohydrates Variations: • Lemon/Mint: Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chopped mint, ½ teaspoon lemon zest and 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

• Sesame-Soy: Omit salt and add 2 teaspoons reduced sodium soy sauce to pan during cooking. Once done, sprinkle the snap peas with 1 teaspoon sesame seeds.

This variety has 117mg sodium. +

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+8

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

ASK DR. KARP

NO NONSENSE

NUTRITION

Thelma from Thomson, Georgia, asks: “As we get older how can we help our joints and skin produce more collagen through foods, lotions or supplements?

With all the products on the market, it’s hard to know which ones are scientifically effective.”

You ask a very important question that is easy to answer. Which advertised lotions, foods or supplements are scientifically proven to increase the level of collagen in your body? None of them.

The scientifically undisputed fact is that you cannot increase the collagen in your body using lotions, foods or

supplements. Collagen does contain specific amino acids in greater abundance than found in most other proteins, such as the amino acids glycine, hydroxyproline, proline and alanine. However, all the amino acids present in collagen are found in abundance in the many protein foods you eat already. So eating certain foods, taking a supplement, or smearing lotions on your skin or over your joints will not affect your body’s collagen levels.

I am sure this question arises because you are continually bombarded with unproven claims about this supplement or that food or lotion, whether it is on TV, on the radio, on the internet, or in some other media. It is shameful that these dietary supplements, unproven and scientifically ineffective, can continue to be hawked on social media. It’s like a sideshow at a circus! This happened because the dietary supplement industry lobbied Congress to pass The Dietary Supplement Act. This act created a separate group of substances called Dietary Supplements that are not regulated either as foods by the USDA or drugs by the FDA. As a result, the dietary supplement world is like the Wild Wild West, where unproven claims run wild.

Here is the simple fact: never blindly accept nutrition, diet and food information you get from TV, ads or social media. The sad but true fact is that you cannot

increase the level of collagen in your body by taking dietary supplements. Period.

Are there medically proven ways of improving your joint health? Absolutely.

First of all, make sure that you know the state of your joints and bones. This can be assessed using recognized, evidenced-based, clinical monitoring techniques. Have your pre-menopausal baseline bone scan done and then have bone scans at regular intervals as you age. Have your blood Vitamin D level measured to make sure it is within the normal range. If it is low, it can be increased by taking supplements as recommended by your physician. Don’t self-prescribe supplements because your medical history will affect the types and levels of

MAY 6, 2022

supplements that are right for you. Finally, most studies confirm that weight-bearing, regular physical exercise is probably the most important thing you can do for your joints and bones, even more important than diet. If your joints do not permit you to regularly walk, then swimming can, at least, give you some mechanism for regular exercise, even though it is non-weight bearing.

What about your skin? Are there proven ways of protecting your skin health and decreasing wrinkling as you age? Absolutely. Protect your skin from the sun by wearing protective clothing. Use sunscreens. And, if you smoke, your skin will be wrinkly and leather-looking as you age. No food, supplement or lotion will stop that. Want

to see what your face would have looked like if you had totally protected your skin from the sun? Simply check out your butt skin the next time you take a shower.

What is the “No-Nonsense Nutrition” advice for today?

Your body is not a simple sieve that works by passive diffusion. What you eat or drink does not simply diffuse into your body and influence the levels of compounds in your body, The biological control mechanisms in your body are complex. Your body is controlled by active biological processes which are carefully regulated. Stick to the known, scientifically-proven ways of protecting your joints and skin and ditch the supplements, lotions and special foods. +

Have a question about food, diet or nutrition? Post or private message your question on Facebook (www.

Facebook.com/AskDrKarp) or email your question to askdrkarp@gmail.com If your question is chosen for a column, your name will be changed to ensure your privacy. Warren B. Karp, Ph.D., D.M.D., is Professor Emeritus at Augusta University. He has served as Director of the Nutrition Consult Service at the Dental College of Georgia and is past Vice Chair of the Columbia County Board of Health. You can find out more about Dr. Karp and the download site for the public domain eBook, Nutrition for Smarties, at www.wbkarp.com Dr. Karp obtains no funding for writing his columns, articles, or books, and has no financial or other interests in any food, book, nutrition product or company. His interest is only in providing freely available, evidencedDr. Karp based, scientific nutrition knowledge and education. The information is for educational use only; it is not meant to be used to diagnose, manage or treat any patient or client. Although Dr. Karp is a Professor Emeritus at Augusta University, the views and opinions expressed here are his and his alone and do not reflect the views and opinions of Augusta University or anyone else.

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9 +

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

IS COMPLICATED HOW TO SPEAK SOUTHERN LIFE Death doesn’t have to be.

Even If You’re Not

Here in the South, we have unique sayings. Other people borrow from us. We don’t mind. They need all the help they can get. So as my good deed for this year, here is a short collection of Southern terms. Use them for free.

• Every man deserves two good dogs and one good woman.

• I feel plumb pukified.

• Last time I felt this bad, I died.

• If your brains were dynamite, you couldn’t blow you nose.

• She had her hair fried, dyed, and laid to the side.

• I know what stick shift, three on the tree, and four on the floor means.

• You could hang meat in here, it is so damn cold.

• Faster than a scalded house cat.

• Looser than Moody’s goose. (Nobody knows exactly what that means.)

• Tighter than Dick’s hat band. (That either) • Quicker than a duck on a June bug.

• Good Yankees visit and go home. Damn Yankees visit and stay.

• She’s pretty enough to make a foot-washing preacher run away from home.

• As pretty as you are, if you ain’t married, you must know a lot of really stupid

BASED ON A TRUE STORY (most of the time) A series by Flatwoods Frankie

men.

• You cook so good, I’m going home and slap my mama.

• Her shorts are so tight it looks like she was born in them.

• Her shorts are so tight if she had a dime in her pocket you could tell if it was heads or tails.

• Ugly as a stick.

• Uglier than the south end of a north-bound bull.

• She’s so ugly her face hurts.

• She is so fat, when she walks, the dirt shakes.

• She’s so fat, when she stops walking, she jiggles for three more minutes.

• Nervous as a long-tailed cat in room full of rocking chairs.

• So quiet you could hear a grasshopper burp.

• There were people there from no-teeth to no-teeth.

• An armadillo is possum on the half shell.

• Religion is important, but football is serious.

• Her mouth is so big, when she burps, it echoes.

• Who needs a grill? Given me a hubcap and some

charcoal.

• Anything over a C+ in college is wasted effort.

• Fixin’ to go over yonder (Pre-planning Southern style) • My get up and go, done got up and went.

• Meaner than a junkyard dog.

• Fell out of an Ugly Tree and hit every limb on the way down.

• Ain’t no cobwebs on them bloomers.

• Got more (fill in the blank as the need arises) than the law allows.

• Quit school because recess was too short.

• He’s so lazy, dead lice fell off him.

• I ain’t broke, but I’m bent.

• He stays in the bathroom longer than Smokey Bear stays in the woods.

• She’s got more shoes than a 1,000 legged worm.

• My house is funeral ready.

(Cleaned perfectly.)

• You would be acting stupid if you were acting.

Just knowing these few phrases means you got a little South in your mouth. +

We know how to help.

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{

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braking time and distance, factors that need to otorcycle safety is a completely different be accounted for while riding. animal. Drivers in cars are presumably One of the special pleasures of owning a strapped in safely and surrounded by a steel motorcycle is participating in a group ride, orgacage. Motorcyclists are out in the elements, obvi- nizing a group of other riders to head to some ously not belted in, and protected only by their special event or destination. clothing and a helmet.

Every now and then there is a terrible news For that reason, they need the additional story of some tragic accident involving a group protection of operating their bike as safely as of bikers. There are unique safety risks associatpossible. Most bikers are highly ed with group rides. experienced and know the unique There can be a tendency for a risks of operating a motorcycle group of bikers to ride in a tight Safety on and how to minimize them. cluster, but that’s as unsafe as it Two Wheels In this article, we’re going to fois for a group of cars (more so, cus on group settings: biking with actually). The best way to travel a passenger, and in groups. Both is in staggered fashion, with the present special circumstances that need special lead bike in the left third of the lane, the next attention. bike a few seconds behind but in the right third, Even experienced bikers may remember their the third rider a few seconds behind the lead first time driving a motorcycle, and maybe that rider in the left third, and so on. first turn especially. It isn’t a matter of simply For safety, motorcyclists need to protect their turning the front wheel in the direction of the lane from incursion by cars, so when riding in turn. Do just that alone and you may very well the right-hand lane, stay in the left half of that crash; every turn requires the driver to lean in lane. It makes the bike more visible and estabto the turn, and therein lies the problem when a lishes its presence in the lane. passenger is on board.

The group should not be so tight to be conAn inexperienced passenger may not know sidered tailgating, nor so spread out that cars inthey’re an important past of balancing the load trude into the group. Riders should keep an eye in turns. They may even instinctively lean in on their mirrors to make sure no one gets left the opposite direction in an effort to maintain behind; not every rider may be as comfortable at “balance.” Sometimes they’re just enjoying the higher speeds, so the group’s speed should coinscenery gliding by and a turn catches them by cide with the slowest rider’s safe comfort level. surprise; they momentarily think the bike is tipSometimes trailing bikes can be stopped by ping and try to lean away from the turn to help a red light that the rest of the group made it bring the bike back to vertical. through on green. There can be a tendency Such a passenger may realize their mistake to speed to catch up with the group, possibly within a second, but sometimes that’s all it takes weaving through traffic, which is one more reato start a chain reaction wobble that results in a son for the lead riders to always keep an eye on loss of control. the following bikes.

The key to safely riding with a passenger is The lead biker(s) should be the most extraining and education. That doesn’t have to perienced. They have a responsibility to set a mean a formal lecture; it could take the form safe pace and to establish a way to communiof a short and simple conversation before the cate with riders behind them so that everyone ride begins. Make sure they are paying attention knows, for example, if there is an object on the as you travel, and know that they are a living, road ahead. Their hand signals should be repeatbreathing part of the steering system. ed by the riders behind them so everyone gets The operator needs to keep safety in mind the message. too. The extra weight of a passenger decreases Riding a motorcycle is fun, and keeping safety the bike’s normal responsiveness and increases as a top priority keeps it that way. +

MAY 6, 2022

WIN A MUG!

I LOVE THE MEDICAL EXAMINER! ACTUAL READER

Boys & Girls, Moms & Dads!

Are you a Medical Examiner reader too? Send us your selfie (preferably showing a copy of the paper) and maybe you too can be seen on our pages!

Embrace your celebrityhood!

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THE MONEY DOCTOR

The Mystery Word Contest winner will be sipping coffee from one of these babies!

Additional details on page 14

IN EVEN MONTHS SIX TIMES A YEAR

MAY 6, 2022

PLOT #1… from page 1

issues, she thought it best that I see a gynecologist to see if being on a birth control pill would alleviate the problem. I don’t recall much of what was discussed on that visit, but I do remember leaving the visit with a prescription in hand for a promising little pill of hormones.

The birth control pills helped some. My mom noticed a slight improvement, so she remained hopeful that in time things would sort of straighten themselves out on their own and all would be fine. In the meantime, I was busy graduating high school, enrolling at Augusta Technical College and starting my first job at the age of 18 in the medical field. Life was good!

Once I settled in to a job and life, suddenly the emotions that were briefly masked by the highs of change were exposed again.

I was struggling with friendships and relationships. I was overly sensitive, I took things entirely too personally, and I was generally unhappy. I felt like things that occurred during the years of my fathers depression began to weigh on me. I was angry at what I perceived were things that I was robbed of during those years because of his depression and other family circumstances. I had become profoundly negative in my thinking. Once again, I was withdrawn. I was at a breaking point.

One evening my mom and I talked.

She skillfully asked me questions to draw me out. She suspected I was depressed. It was not the hormones after all! She had missed it because my depression presented very differently than my father’s. It made sense that it could have been hormones due to my age, but we never put together what was actually happening.

With this epiphany, we booked another appointment with my gynecologist. (I didn’t have a primary care physician at the time.) I had my mom come with me for moral support. She also came because she had taught me that when you have depression, you’re not always able to be objective about yourself. You need other people’s insight into how you are on a daily basis for a better overall picture. I agreed.

At the appointment we bypassed all the exam rooms and were directed into

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

the physician’s private office. He was a relatively fresh out of med school. He was very kind and soft-spoken in his demeanor. He greeted us, sat down, and then asked me the reason for the visit. He asked me a series of questions relating to how often I felt down, depressed, or hopeless. Mixed in the conversation were questions about my appetite, sleep habits, and if I had experienced any thoughts of suicide.

I answered each question through tears to the best of my ability. I was often down, depressed, and hopeless.

I wasn’t eating well and had been losing weight because of it. I had an

insatiable desire for sleep, which I usually gave in to. And while I didn’t feel as though I had suicidal thoughts, I confessed to just wishing I didn’t exist. He then asked if it would be okay with me to ask my mom some question, to which I agreed. She gave him insight into my vacillating moods.

She explained that my dad suffered severely with depression, though it was being well managed with medication by then. She said she was convinced that I had depression.

My doctor listened intently to what we were saying and agreed with our assessment of the symptoms. I was clinically depressed. He discussed with me the option of taking a medication that had been out on the market for some time and was reputable. Based on the symptoms I had described and my age, he felt it was a suitable option for me. I knew that no matter what he recommended by way of a pill, I would accept it. I knew I needed help fast and I have never been one to be afraid of taking medication. So he wrote the prescription and arranged to see me back in one month for a check-up.

In the years since that initial diagnosis, I have continued to be maintained on medication for my depression.

I continue to have a good support system and I’ve been given the tools needed to successfully live with my mental illness. Thank goodness for my “happy pills!” +

NOW HEAR THIS! You can read the Examiner any time 24/7 at www.AugustaRx.com (the current issue) or at www.issuu.com/medicalexaminer for issues going back more than ten years.

PLOT #2… from page 1

never dealt with insomnia in my life!

I kept thinking, okay, tomorrow I will get better sleep, but no, it got worse and worse. I would lie in bed with my heart racing. I couldn’t relax my mind no matter how hard I tried. I listened to guided meditations, took melatonin, and even thought weed might help, but it had the opposite effect. At 4 am I had a full-on panic attack. I felt out of my mind as if I had taken psychedelics and I was on a ”bad trip” that wouldn’t end. It was terrifying. My body was in full panic mode and I couldn’t shut it off. The stress I was undergoing even made me look like a different

person. It had been two weeks without my husband and all I wanted to do was go back home to him. Finally, I reached a breaking point and rescheduled my flight back to Copenhagen two days early because I truly thought I wouldn’t be able to make it if I didn’t. The morning before my flight my anxiety was so bad that some of my friends in the medical field told me that I shouldn’t even board the plane because I could create a mid-air emergency. I felt trapped. I knew that I had to find any power that was left in me to just make it through this journey home. My mother was kind enough to book a full-body massage for me before we drove to Atlanta to catch my flight.

When I arrived at the spa my mother emphasized to the masseuse that I was in bad shape and needed help calming down. After my treatment the massage therapist said that she has felt only one other person more tense than me and he was a surgeon.

I make it to the Atlanta airport where I would be alone for the next 14 hours.

I remember waiting to board and feeling so afraid. When I found my seat on the flight I felt sheer panic. I was so claustrophobic I thought I would have to get off. But, I knew I had to get through this to make it home. I told the flight attendant that I was having major anxiety but I was on my way to my husband and she told me not to worry that she would check in on me to help me make it through. It was an overnight flight, but still...no sleep.

After the worst travel experience I ever had I reached Copenhagen. My husband Simon was waiting for me at baggage claim. As soon as we saw each other we both started crying. I completely melted into his arms, as if my body finally gave up. He practically carried me to the car and told me ”you made it baby, you are so strong.”

He took me home and built a fire. I showered and immediately laid in bed.

He held me so tight that I finally fell asleep. I was home in loving arms. My inner child finally could be soothed.

11 +

I slept that night for 15 hours. When I woke up I felt so strange. My sugar levels were low and I was extremely dizzy. I started to cry because I just wanted to feel like myself again so badly. The next night I step 11 hours.

When I woke up, my sugar levels were again so low I was shaking. Another side effect I was experiencing was I had to pee every 15 minutes, like my body was in hyper-speed. Luckily Simon was working from home, so he was able to take care of me through all of this. I felt so weak and broken and it was breaking him too to see me like this. It still brings him to tears when we talk about this time.

The third day back in Denmark Simon took me to the hospital. We wanted answers how to fix this! When the doctor saw me I told her all of my symptoms. She put a flashlight in my eyes and she said my pupils were two different sizes. She said I needed to have an MRI right away because I could have a brain tumor. For a split second I felt relieved: I may have answer to why all of this was happening.

Another doctor told me all of my test results came back negative. I asked, then why is this happening to me?

Should I be prescribed Xanax to help manage? He said ”No, you’re perfectly healthy.” That scared me even more. I was losing my mind. Would I have to check in to a mental institute?

When we returned home I felt so defeated. I decided to call my life coach back in Augusta and I am so happy I did. He gave me the best advice of any other practitioner I spoke to. He suspected the amygdala in my brain was causing a symptom called ”derealization” where you feel like you’re in a dream. He said the best things to help me would be yoga, breathwork, meditation, art, and sleep. He said he knew I felt scared, but he reassured me that in about two weeks I will feel okay again. He encouraged me to give my mind and body time to recover and heal from all of the trauma. He said that taking prescription drugs are not the answer and could make my situation worse. I knew I would have a long road ahead of me, but I told myself I WILL BE OKAY. I CAN DO THIS. A few months later I had finally regained control over my mind. I stopped looking at my phone when I first wake up, started taking more walks in nature, practicing stillness, eating healthy foods that truly nourished my body, journaling, creating, listening to podcasts... so many small but important things that shifted my mental health on a daily basis. It’s almost like a muscle you have to exercise every day.

Unfortunately, from this traumatic episode I do feel more susceptible to anxiety, but I now know the tools to control it. I am so grateful for talk therapy; it truly has changed my life. +

+ 12

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

The Examiners

MAY 6, 2022

THE MYSTERY WORD

+

Excuse me, sir.

Can I help you?

by Dan Pearson

I hope you can give me some directions.

I’m trying to find the Could I also suggest a James Brown Marina. hearing aid provider?

Certainly. What are you looking for?

The Mystery Word for this issue: TRIVANA

© 2022 Daniel Pearson All rights reserved.

Simply unscramble the letters, then begin exploring our ads. When you find the correctly spelled word hidden in one of our ads — enter at AugustaRx.com

EXAMINER CROSSWORD

PUZZLE

ACROSS 1. Field in Augusta 5. Former occupant of 15th St at Walton Way 10. Job 14. Jessye Normal highlight 15. Travel around the earth 16. Division word 17. Clothes 18. Magna cum _______ 19. Sharp twinge of pain 20. County in central England 23. Heavy book 24. Belonging to us 25. Biblical land of promise 28. Energetic; enthusiastic 33. Vein support 34. Shoulder bone, familiarly 35. Before, to a poet 36. Common office intro 37. WBBQ’s founder George 38. Ink stain 39. Stinging insect 40. Takes home 41. Monetary unit of India 42. Young bird 44. Mitsubishi model launched in 1973 45. Pale 46. Alecia Beth Moore’s stage name 47. Unfair, unforgivable 54. Word for lowest high tide 55. Russell of Hollywood 56. Hawaiian honeycreeper 58. Voodoo, for one 59. External 60. Suggestive look 61. Solely 62. Former Russian rulers 63. Entice

BY

2

3

4

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6

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8

9

10

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

26

28

33 36

30

37

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32

38

40

41

43

48

E X A M I N E R

35

44

45 47

29

34

42

13

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39

12

22

23 25

11

46

49

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We’ll announce the winner in our next issue!

53 57

8 2 6 4

3 8 1

6 9

4 5

9 4

2 1 6 7

1

S 7 U 8 D 6 O 3 K U

8

6 8

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved.

DIRECTIONS: Every line, vertical and horizontal, and all nine 9-square boxes must each contain the numbers 1 though 9. Solution on page 14.

QUOTATIONPUZZLE

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved.

DOWN 1. EMT shorthand for giving artificial respiration 2. European mountain range 3. Respectful term of address to a male soverign 4. Resident 5. Dignified; somber 6. Remove 7. Adjoin 8. Sit on 9. Body builders?

10. First month of the Jewish calendar 11. Bacterial beginning sometimes 12. Taylor Swift or Brad Pitt 13. 6th-largest city in Japan 21. Painter’s addition 22. Certain 25. Washington channel 26. Make amends 27. Fits together, like bowls

5

28. Toss 29. Enact, as a law 30. Tending to a definite end 31. Uneven 32. Remove the black goo from 34. Capital of Switzerland 37. Wooden panel on the lower half of a wall 38. Bank note 40. Braselton’s Chateau ____ 41. Sonic starter?

43. Charmin, for example 44. Sharp baseball hits 46. Strength 47. Reverse, as your last computer action 48. Tetra in many aquariums 49. ____ center 50. Shank (anat.)

51. Very small quantity 52. Stead 53. Pitcher 57. Anger

E N F T N S T M E T I I H I I H O B H T O T T I G G T F A S S E O

R I N E H T

A O T S G A R G M N — Author unknown

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved

DIRECTIONS: Recreate a timeless nugget of wisdom by using the letters in each vertical column to fill the boxes above them. Once any letter is used, cross it out in the lower half of the puzzle. Letters may be used only once.

Black squares indicate spaces between words, and words may extend onto a second line.

Solution on page 14.

Solution p. 14

Use the letters provided at bottom to create words to solve the puzzle above. All the listed letters following #1 are the first letters of the various words; the letters following #2 are the second letters of each word, and so on. Try solving words with letter clues or numbers with minimal choices listed. A sample is shown. Solution on page 14.

H 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 W H D 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1 2

I 3

2 1

4 O 2 3

L 1

1 2

5 4

5

1 2 3

2

3 W 1

4 2

5

N 1 2

3

H 5

4

1 2 3 4 1

2

I 1 2

1 2 3 4

1.WCTTTTTBBHAIWILL 2.HHHHAOOORRNNISEU 3.IOIFARIEDIR 4.CCNNREDDS 5.GGHHENS 6.SE 7.T

SAMPLE:

1. ILB 2. SLO 3. VI 4. NE 5. D =

L 1

O 2

V 3

E 4

I 1

S 2

B 1

L 2

I 3

N 4

D 5

by Daniel R. Pearson © 2022 All rights reserved

WORDS NUMBER

1

Click on “MYSTERY WORD” • DEADLINE TO ENTER: NOON, MAY 16, 2022

MAY 6, 2022

AUGUSTAMEDICALEXAMiNER

THEBESTMEDICINE ha... ha...

A

couple sits down in a Chinese restaurant and orders the Chicken Surprise.

The waiter brings the meal, served in a lidded cast iron pot.

Just as the wife is about to reach for the pot, its lid rises slightly and she gets a quick glimpse of two beady little eyes looking around before the lid slams back down.

“Good grief! Did you see that?” she asks her husband.

He didn’t see it, so she tells him to look into the pot. He looks over at the pot just in time to see the lid open, seemingly on its own, and he sees two little eyes looking around before the lid quickly slams down.

He calls the waiter over, explains what is happening and demands an explanation.

“Please sir,” says the waiter, “what did you order?”

“Chicken Surprise.”

“Ah, so sorry. I bring you Peeking Duck.”

Moe: Wow. Elon Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter.

Joe: That makes no sense. You can download and install it for free.

The

13 +

Advice Doctor

A couple walks in to an elegant restaurant. “Do you happen to have a table?” asks the man. “We don’t have reservations.”

“Do you mind waiting for a bit?” asks the manager.

“Not at all,” said the man.

“Great,” replies the manager. “Take these drinks to table nine.”

©

Moe: Did you hear about the cannibal who was late to a dinner party?

Joe: Uh, no. What happened?

Moe: They gave him the cold shoulder.

Moe: How’s your diet going?

Joe: Well, I started by getting all the rich and fattening foods out of my house.

Moe: I bet that was hard.

Joe: Actually, it was delicious A mosquito on diet has a better chance of survival.

Moe: I know a 5-letter word whose last 4 letters are silent.

Joe: That sounds impossible. What’s the word?

Moe: Queue.

Joe: Those letters aren’t silent. They’re waiting their turn.

Moe: I went to a temporary tattoo parlor yesterday, but the thing wouldn’t wash off this morning so I went back to complain.

Joe: And? Moe: The tattoo parlor was gone. +

Why subscribe to theMEDICALEXAMINER? What do you mean?

Staring at my phone all day has had no Effect on ME!

Because try as they might, no one can stare at their phone all day.

Dear Advice Doctor, I work in medical research and although I can’t reveal matters that are confidential, we are very close to a tremendous breakthrough that will dramatically change the face of medicine. The problem is that we’ve been at the very same “so close” point for more than a year. We have left no stone unturned looking for a solution to this impasse, but so far, everything is a dead end. How can we break this stalemate?

— Stuck Dear Stuck, I’m glad you took the time to submit your question. Nothing is more miserable than an impasse involving a stone!

The good news when it comes to kidney stones is that they are treatable — but even better news is that they are preventable. Prevention is always the best scenario in any medical matter.

Although there are a number of different kinds of kidney stones and a good handful of causes, many in both categories are preventable, and the methods of prevention are good for everyone, even people who have never had a kidney stone.

For instance, not drinking enough water every day can be a risk factor for kidney stones. We all could do better in that department. Another risk factor: certain diets that are excessively high in sodium, sugar and protein can sow the seeds for kidney stones. In a nutshell, the more sodium we consume, the more the kidneys must filter and the greater the likelihood that stones will result. Obesity has also been linked to a greater probability of developing kidney stones.

How do you know if you have a kidney stone? Oh, trust me, honey, the stone will definitely let you know. The pain can be intense, and might bring along fever, chills, nausea and vomiting, and the pain may wander around and get worse or better as the stone moves through the urinary tract. Sometimes there is blood in your urine, or difficulty urinating.

Your doctor can help get you through this situation, perhaps as easily as prescribing pain medication and instructions to drink copious amount of water to pass the stone. If that doesn’t work, or is determined to be medically inadvisable, the stone can be removed surgically or zapped with ultrasound shock waves (called lithotripsy) to break it into smaller particles that can easily be passed.

I hope this answered your question. + Do you have a question for The Advice Doctor about life, love, personal relationships, career, raising children, or any other important topic? Send it to News@AugustaRx.com. Replies will only be provided in the Examiner.

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Why read the Medical Examiner: Reason #106 BEFORE READING

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1 + 14

6 7

8

THE MYSTERY SOLVED The Mystery Word in our last issue was: BOOSTER

...cleverly hidden on the barber’s arm in the p. 8 ad for DANIEL VILLAGE BARBER SHOP

THE WINNER: AMANDA LENNON! If that’s your name, congratulations! Send us your mailing address using the email address in the box on page 6. The new Mystery Word is on page 12. Start looking!

THE PUZZLE SOLVED B U S H A R I A G A R B L E I T C A N A S T E N P O S T A N T N E S T W U N C O N E A P D O L L O N L Y

S O L C E O M A N T W E A L I A N N S C O T

E R A S E

A B U T

R I D E

S T E R O S P I B L A D E I S S R N S N G L P I C I O N R O W E U T E R S A R S

T I S S H U R R I E B P A A N N K A B I L L

A N T I

S T A R

K O B E

T E L I C

E R O S E

D E T A R

L I E U

E W I E R R E

SEE PAGE 12

The Celebrated TheSUDOKUsolution MYSTERY WORD CONTEST 9 5 7 8 1 3 6 4 2

...wherein we hide (with fiendish cleverness) a simple word. All you have to do is unscramble the word (found on page 12), then find it concealed within one of our ads. Click in to the contest link at www.AugustaRx.com and enter. If we pick you in our random drawing of correct entries, you’ll score our goodie package!

SEVEN SIMPLE RULES: 1. Unscramble and find the designated word hidden within one of the ads in this issue. 2. Visit the Reader Contests page at www.AugustaRx.com. 3. Tell us what you found and where you found it. 4. If you’re right and you’re the one we pick at random, you win. (Winners within the past six months are ineligible.) 5. Prizes awarded to winners may vary from issue to issue. Limited sizes are available for shirt prize. 6. A photo ID may be required to claim some prizes. 7. Other entrants may win a lesser prize at the sole discretion of the publisher. 8. Deadline to enter is shown on page 12.

6 3 1 8 4 5 7 2

1 8 3 7 2 9 4 6

4 2 5 6 9 8 1 3

Love to stare at your phone?

Visit issuu.com/ medicalexaminer and stare away.

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2 6 7 9 1 4 3 5

7 4 6 3 5 2 8 9

5 9 4 2 8 1 6 7

8 5 9 4 3 7 2 1

3 1 2 5 7 6 9 8

9 7 8 1 6 3 5 4

QuotatioN QUOTATION PUZZLE SOLUTION It is better to fight for something than against something.

— Author unknown

WORDS BY NUMBER The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

— David Russell

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