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NECK PAIN

You don't have to be an over the road truck driver to suffer from neck pain. Zorba offers up a great link with more info on neck pain and also recommends taking time out to stop and stretch out your neck. Here's some helpful hints on how.

And here are some more recommendations.

THE ZORBA PASTER ON YOUR HEALTH MAILBAG!:

This space will be devoted to your tips, comments, and FAQ that we don't always have time to cover on the program. If you would like to join in on this forum, send us your thoughts to zorba@wpr.org.

THE "YUCCA" DEBATE CONTINUES

Zorba,

Actually the spiny "leaves" of the yucca plant make a very nice addition to salsas. They must first be "de-spined" and then boiled. We make salsa using this instead in place of tomatoes for a change of pace. Fresh yucca is becoming more easy to find in the specialty produce area of local supermarkets.

You can also purchase "ready to eat" yucca in jars. This is easier to find the US Southwest. A bit harder to find here in Maine! hahaha! Love your show!!

Luiza in Gardiner, Maine

LEG CRAMPING TIP

Dear Zorba,

I'm sure you don't want another leg cramp remedy, but after trying everything from magnesium to mustard and Quinine to soap under the sheets, my MD told me to buy soccer socks. (A)fter wearing them nightly since then, I've had only 1or 2 episodes of leg cramps. Before that I had leg cramps every night. I think it must have something to do with the compression the socks provide, but anyway, this suggestion worked for me.

Anne in St. Louis MO

PRILOSEC + RANTIDINE

I always enjoy your show. As a gastroenterologist, I usually agree with your recommendations within my specialty, but I think you might have made a mistake on a recent program.

I wasn't able to hear the complete description of this patient's particular problem, but I think it was somebody that had persistent heartburn despite taking Prilosec (perhaps it was another PPI). You suggested that she double the dose that she takes before a meal and also take ranitidine at the same time.

From a theoretical point of view, taking an H2 blocker at the same time as a PPI could decrease the effectiveness of the PPI. The PPI can only bind to the proton pump when the pump is activated. This is why they are usually much more effective when they are taken before a meal because they are in the blood stream at the time that the meal has activated the proton pumps. Once bound to the proton pump, the pump is inactivated essentially for the life of the cell (3 days). However, the H2-blocker taken just before a meal works by keeping the proton pump from becoming activated, which would not give the PPI an activated pump to bind to. This is why, when patients are refractory to PPI's and you want to add an H2-blocker, it is better to add it a few hours after the meal, or just before going to bed if the problem is night time heartburn.

William M.D. in Manitowoc, WI

SEASICKNESS TIP

I just heard the lady who was trying to avoid seasickness on her upcoming Caribbean cruise. Years ago I suffered badly from seasickness, but since 1969 when I received the wisdom of a very old gentleman aboard an Italian liner between Luanda, Angola, and Durban, South Africa, I have never once been seasick in spite of being on the sea in very rough weather.

His advice was very simple: do not drink any liquids beginning the night before one boards the ship, and continue with no liquids for the first two or three days of the voyage. When I'm going to be on a ship or long ferry trip (such as between England and Denmark), I make sure to eat a lot of fruit that has a high water content, such as pears, oranges, and apples, or canned fruits like apricots and peaches. I don't drink anything: water, juice, soup, nothing. If I can avoid putting any sort of chemical in my body, I do so and go for the more natural solution.

Gil in Queens City, TX

CHILDREN'S COUGH SYRUP

I’m a pediatrician on faculty at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine in General Academic Pediatrics. First off, I really enjoy your show. I think you do a great job of getting across complex medical issues in layman’s terms.

I was listening to your show on KWMU-FM in St. Louis today and you were commenting on the FDA’s recent statements on cough and cold meds for kids. For the most part your answer was great, but there are two points I might add:

The safety questions around these meds in kids concern, not just overdosing and multiple dosing, but the basic safety and effectiveness of these meds in any dose in children. When these drugs were approved for kids it was in the era when drugs were not tested in kids. The adult dose was just decreased to an amount that would seem proportionately correct without any real appreciation of the very different way kids metabolize drugs.

In fact all the studies I’m familiar with show that when kids are given these drugs they don’t show any greater relief of symptoms than in kids who got placebo.

As far as what parents can do, your suggestions of a cool-mist humidifier and hydration are excellent. However, I would add saline nasal drops/spray as an great way to help kids with cough and cold. Most of the parents in my practice are very satisfied with the combo of humidifier, saline, fluids and rest.

Keep up the good work.

Ken, MD in St. Louis

DENTURES OVERNIGHT?

Hi Dr. Zorba,

What a great combo service that you provide; a personal medical advisory service, entertainment, and a great attitude.

Last week you were advising someone regarding a digestive concern who had dentures. Some other possibilities were that he wasn’t able to masticate properly, or his food choices were compromised because of the dentures [both real problems ] or, by not taking his dentures out at night, a greater probability of monoliasis or bacterial overgrowth w/ the denture and adhesive.

We heard you advise the man to keep his dentures in all night for facial profile integrity, however that is contrary to most dental advisement. The facial change that you see w/ aging denture wearers occurs because the alveolar bone and eventually the basal bone diminish after the natural teeth are gone then the vertical support of the lower face decreases and the face gets a ‘caved in look.’ It is usually recommended to take dentures out at night and clean and soak, which then allows the soft and bone tissues to ‘rest’, so as to diminish ulcers or hypertrophy of the oral soft tissue.

I’m commenting as a lowly pediatric dentist. I’m sure a prosthodontist would have the same view. Many thanks.

Dennis in Kenosha, WI

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