11ALTON HILLS OUTLOOK February Page 1 Outlook op Lifestyle DRGOTT An epidemic that just wont quit By Peter MJ1 Some of my patients are making their own diagnoses before they get to me Yes Its a fact and I am not alone Thousands of doctors ore expe riencing an Identical phenomenon Based on articles in Unpopular press from Cosmopolitan magazine to The New York Times people over the country are self diagnosing and In many cases self treating This epidemic Is so infectious that It was MAR MEG Bridetobe must share her secret By Meg DEAR MEG Three months ago something happened that not only changed my life It changed the way I POLLYS POINTERS Polly Fisher REGULAR t TIME CLEANING SILVER POLISHING CLOSETS CUP80ARDS LAUNDRY WINDOWS ETC REFERENCES We Tailor Out Services To Suit Your Needs GIFT CERTIFICATES FRF medicine a la juude by John In a recent editorial In the New England Journal of Medicine I not talking about the kind of sit faced by physicians from time to lime when patients say I think I have pneumonia or I am going to die and they have and they do Last autumn as I bent over a downed football player on the field and pre pared be said simply Its broken This was spoken before 1 laid a hand on him He was right and It needed fixing I referring to pop medicine to what Dr labeled diseases of fashion These designer diagnoses and trendy treatments exert a power influence on today doctors turat diseases such as an acid condl tlon and candidiasis have been very much in vogue but like clothing fads they tend not to last Hypoglycemia is good example Its popularity waxes and wanes Right now Its on the wane Today fashionable disease is osteoporosis probably closely fol lowed by Alzheimer disease and trltional deficiency According to and used to go out together and have great times The rape was a nightmare beyond belief But the worst part was that I never told anyone not even my boy Friend I was afraid of how he would handle Ever since then I haven t been the same I don want to go out and 1 don want people coming here I lost all trust in everyone My boyfriend realizes something happened to make me change He doesnt know what It was and pushing for answers What should I say We re both and engaged to be married in three months FRANTIC IN MONTANA DEAR FRANTIC Studies show hundreds of osteoporosis clinics arc now competing for clients episodes agerelated are incorrectly equated In the public mind with Alzheimer mega vitamin therapy is such big business that ex perts estimate that nearly percent of the population wastes money on vitamins Obviously patients do suffer from fashionable diseases and their suffer is real However priorities and perceptions do change For instance calcium supplements were the rage for osteoporosis three or four years ago Later studies showed that urn preparations taken alter meno pause were not particularly effective In preventing bone Three other factors seem to be more tant adequate calcium intake during the reproductive years particularly adolescence regular exercise and postmenopausal hormone replacement Pop medicine exerts a powerful In on doctors because we clans have to stay in style The only thing worse than prescribing out of that rape victims who don t get pro fessional help often suffer serious psychological damage So you owe it to yourself and your boyfriend to get into your feelings with a trained therapist You II also be able to discuss such Issues as whether to prosecute the rapists and bow to communicate with your fiance on the subject Victims who make the best recovery are able to confide in their lovers or husbands Call your rape crisis center for an ap pointment immediately DEAR MEG Since my husband passed away the couple who were our best friends never come near me I was always a good friend to them lending money and letting the wife use our apartment like a second home when her husband was away on business Now she has new friends and A different way to grate rinds By Polly Fisher DEAR POLLY I use a grapefruit knife to scrape the yellow part of lem on rind instead of grating It J DEAR CJ This a quick and easy way to get grated lemon rind and there no grater to clean out Your helpful Pointer earns you the Pointer of the Week award a copy of my book Pollys Pointers 1 OBI Helpful Hints for Making Everything Last Longer Others who would like Ibis book may order It for SO Make check payable to POLLYS POINT and tend to POLLYS POINT ERS PO Box Silt Cleveland Oil POLLY DEAR POLLY An attractive wail mounted rectangular mailbox with attached newspaper and maga prongs makes an attractive wall accent The mailbox can be rilled with flowers or cooking utensils and Hie prongs can hold folded dishcloths or for the kitchen The mail box with flowers and the prongs holding folded towels and washcloths is nice In the bathroom too In your desk area use the mailbox to hold mail to be answered and keep the day s newspaper in the prongs along with your keys SHIRLEY DEAR POLLY If you have a problem of oil or grease dripping from your car and leaving a spot on the dnve or garage floor use clean cat litter to absorb it Just sprinkle the greasy spots and leave It for a few days before cleaning It up This works like a charm MR DEAR POLLY Here a method for teaching a preschooler the morn routine of washing up eating breakfast brushing teeth etc On an index card draw a picture or cul out a magazine picture of the thing to be done e a smiling face to represent face washing a toothbrush and paste for brushing teeth etc Usually our to six cards arc about alt a preschooler can handle Cover each card with clear adhesive plastic to make it du rablc Punch a hole at one end of each card with a paper punch then string them on a round utility key ring yarnoragrosgralnr child has his or her to do list to follow without constant reminders from Mom BEVERLY style Is prescribing nothing at all Doctors are well aware that a dis gruntled patient Is quick seek help elsewhere When a new patient re cently came to me because she thought she bad Lyme disease though she had neither arthritis nor a rash I chose to order a blood test to reassure her Otherwise she would have found another doctor Of course I could have been wrong and been viewed as yet another arrogant in flexible practitioner painted out that the smart doctor learns to sit out controversies and await the movement of the herd However there is a tradeoff Kowtowing to fashion gives the lie to our Intellectual Integrity and may re sult In medical care that is not tifically justified and in decisions that are not in the best interests of our pa tlents All fashions in medical care are not necessarily harmful and to be condemned but all are suspect It seems to me that physicians have to walk a fine line between innovation and fad To perform this feat success- acts like she t know me I can seem to get over this rejection LEFT OUT MONTREAL DEAR LEFT Yours is a common and painful experience for widows They find themselves left out Just when they most need support and a normal social life Sometimes friends are unable to deal with grief and feel threatened by It But more often It a sad on our Noah ark society Peo ple are still supposed to come in pairs or not at all Extra men may be wel come because they round out a party but extra women are perceived as an embarrassment or worse a threat to insecure or unhappy wives Your first step is to recognize that you are not to blame Your friend it more to be pitied than censured for her shallow view of friendship Make new friends among other single men and women with broader vision fully we need help from our patients This help often comes in the form of suggestions and questions always in the form of open communication The exploitation of medical fashions is more likely to bring financial gain than good patient care Patients and doctors need to remember that what Is new always better and that do ing less Is preferable to doing barm If modern medicine Is to avoid the snakeoil mentality encouraged by the media we need to rely less on an ecdotes and place our trust in wellde signed scientific Investigation Its a process but it works SAME DAY TAX RETURNS 8772217 ASKKATHY Do You Know Whats in the Food You Eat The foment labels on trwd pack aging tell you a 1m about product Ingredients arc I net by product So product lisn sugar u the you know that there it more lugir in lie product than any elie On the other hind way down the list of or not included it ill you II know that the product font aim little or no At et Center teaching our diet en more about the they buy and eat an important part of he Program Simply being aware of what you eat is a large pact of citing property Stop by Center today and find out how we can help you learn more about food and nutrition Ic you shed those extra pound The a and could be the ever take 98 Mill SI George town hum SigCfUy Buy A Box MINION SEED HOUSE Corner of Guelph St Maple Avenue Man Thun9im Sit Mi 8772460 PICK UP YOUR FREE 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