Overweight Gordon and Quite Possibly, Gallstone Teodoro

Health is never a priority in this country.

Only 2 out of the 9 presidential candidates running for the May 10, 2010 election showed up at the much-publicized health forum sponsored by the Philippine College of Physicians  (PCP) last Tuesday evening inside the Medical City hospital.







Who showed up? Richard Gordon and Gilberto Teodoro.

Doctors were in the audience, and so, it was expected that they will ask about the two candidates' ailments and how fit they are for the top post of the land.

Gordon complained of sore throat that time. He said he is overweight from eating too much food, but had normal blood pressure."I’m not worried about anything right now. I’m a little overweight because of all the eating. When you’re campaigning they feed you everything." Gordon said. He added that his blood pressure was normal and that his only problem was his weight. - Yahoo! News I do not know if he got away with that kind of reasoning, but doctors know that the relationship between being overweight and blood pressure is linear, and exists throughout even the non-overweight range.  An added threat of diabetes also looms around.

In my opinion, Gordon should be worried about being overweight.

Also, to begin with, he did not become overweight because of campaigning. Even years ago, he looked overweight. He should stop blaming people from overfeeding him during campaign sorties. One can always say 'no' to people. But it seems delicious food is Gordon's waterloo.

Doctors should have followed up that question to Gordon --- "How overweight are you, Senator? What is your present weight?" That way, they would have found out if he was overweight or obese already.

It is already known that risk estimates from medical reviews suggest that approximately 75 and 65 percent of hypertension  in men and women, respectively, are directly attributable to an overweight condition and obesity.

Teodoro, on the other hand, was more honest about his health condition. "For his part, Teodoro said, "I had the good fortune of inheriting a lot of things from my parents, to include hypertension, and high blood sugar for which I take maintenance medicine every day. Aside from that, aside from a gall bladder that needs to be taken out as soon I have time, I’m okay." - Yahoo! News He readily admitted that he had inherited familial health problems like hypertension and diabetes. He said he was under maintenance medication, and he was doing this religiously.

Gilberto Teodoro was honest enough. But wait! He downplayed his gallbladder problem.

He said clearly that he had "a gallbladder that needs to be taken out," as soon as he had time for it.

I bet it was his doctor who suggested that. And it is an advice not heeded well. He said he'll do it once he had time for it. What is this?!? He makes it sound like it was some trivial appointment that can be postponed.

The most common reason for gallbladder removal or cholecystectomy, as surgeons call it, is gallstones. This operation is done when attempts to treat gallstones with ultrasound to shatter them, or medications to dissolve them have all proved to be unsuccessful.

If his doctor advised it, then it must be urgent. He could postpone it alright, but he is putting himself at risk. He is probably waiting for that 'gallbladder attack' when he will experience intense and excruciating upper abdominal pains before he has it removed. This campaign is, therefore, harmful to his health.

On the issue of curbing overpopulation and the use of condoms, Teodoro said yes, in addition to providing "funding for all modern and natural family planning methods, except abortion." Gordon said no, and insisted that "not a single peso from the national coffers will be spent to procure condoms and other birth control devices." Gordon will instead promote a limit on the number of children a family can have. Preferably only two, according to him. How he will be able to accomplish that without using birth control devices is still puzzling me.

It would have been a better discussion if the other candidates showed up, especially front runners like Aquino and Villar. But they were too busy, I guess. And as I said, health is never a priority in this country. Health becomes important only when they get sick, or a national epidemic is happening. Otherwise, there are far more important things they consider important.

No To Magic Sugar

What is magic sugar? Not too many people know what it is.



What you need to know about it:

1. Magic Sugar is sodium cyclamate. Depending on the concentration, it is an artificial sweetener that is 30 to 50 times sweeter than sugar.
2. It is banned for use in the United States since 1969. It is, however, still used in Europe, and approved as sweetener in more than 55 countries
   
3. Studies have implicated cyclamate in increasing the incidence of bladder cancer in rats, and a council report has found that it accelerates the formation of tumors and cancer.
4. In dogs, a study has found that it causes testicular atrophy and infertility.
5. According to Wikipedia, "the Coca-Cola Company has began using it again for soft drinks such as Coca-Cola Zero or Nestea Light sold in countries where it isn't banned (large parts of South America, Asia, Africa and Europe)."
6. In the Philippines, because it is cheaper and many times sweeter than cane sugar, it is used by sidewalk vendors to sweeten their juice and snack products. Today, Dept. of Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral reiterated calls not to use this artificial sweetener.

Sources: Wikipedia - Sodium Cyclamate
Inquirer.net - Don't Use Magic Sugar -- Health Chief

New Clopidogrel (Plavix™) Warning

In the US, the FDA has added a warning to those patients taking clopidogrel, a widely-prescribed anti-blood clotting medication.

There is a subset of patients who are poor metabolizers of the drug. Because of this, these patients are not getting the full benefits of the medication. This particular group of patients have low CYP2C19 enzyme activity in their livers, which is necessary to convert clopidogrel into an active form which can prevent blood clotting.

In the US, there is a test available to detect if a patient has low or sufficient CYP2C19 enzyme activity. In the Philippines, however, I am not to sure. Even if it were available, I am certain it would be expensive.

The possible solution of dosage adjustment is met with the obstacle of identifying first this subset of patients who are poor metabolizers of clopidogrel. Also, an appropriate dose regimen for poor metabolizers has not been established yet in any clinical outcome trials.

The best option patients have is still to consult with their respective physicians. A possible shift to other anti-blood clotting medications maybe necessary.

More information can be found here.

Wine, Women, Weight

A prospective study published in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine involving nearly 20,000 women showed the opposite of what might be expected from drinking wine.

The researchers concluded that, "compared with nondrinkers, initially normal-weight women who consumed a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming overweight and/or obese during 12.9 years of follow-up."

The key words there might be "light-to-moderate amount of alcohol."

A half-filled wine-glass before going to bed might fall into that classification. Red wine is the preferred choice, but beer, white wine, and other spirits were also shown to provide the same result.

I can also add the added perk of a good night sleep after drinking that shot of red wine at night.