Tag: Health Posts

A few years ago I visited my physician here in Chilliwack with a complaint of nasal congestion that simply wouldn’t go away. It’s something that I’ve mostly always dealt with, but only started to complain about it when I realized that other people didn’t seem to have the same problem. My doctor noticed that the inside of the nose was inflamed, so he prescribed nasal corticosteroids to help me breathe better. Since that time I’ve visited many different countries around the world. In some of them my nose was just as congested as it was back home. But in many of them my nose completely cleared up, allowing me to breathe easier. When I got back home again to the Vancouver area a few weeks ago, my nasal congestion immediately returned. A friend of mine suggested that it might be somehow related to the low humidity during the cold months […]

Many people don’t realize that if they are in another country that they will often have to pay for all their medical expenses out of their own pocket. A simple visit to a doctor’s office probably won’t set you back too far in most countries, but being hospitalized can potentially bankrupt a person in certain parts of the world, such as the United States. I had a friend who got into a scooter accident in Thailand years ago, and only avoided hefty medical bills thanks to the travel health insurance he purchased before leaving Canada. So without a doubt one of the first items that should be on everyone’s to-do list for an upcoming trip is to either insure that you have adequate travel health insurance for your trip, or purchase travel insurance before leaving. Check For Pre-existing Coverage If you have a higher end credit card, often one that […]

Today was an odd day. It was the first day back to work in about two weeks now, which in itself was a lot of fun, given what we have on our plate. Prior to that though I had to go a few tests down at Chilliwack General Hospital as a final follow-up to all that garbage I went through with my c. diff. infection years ago. Thankfully everything checked out ok, and I think I can finally put that whole health saga finally behind me. That said, I got nothing but sympathy for anyone who acquires c. diff in a hospital setting like I did. After work today I went out and made a run to all of my favourite grocery stores. I’m planning on eating as healthy as I can this year, so I stocked up on veggies, meats, and pretty much everything else I was short of. […]

Most people probably wouldn’t look at aging like one, but aging is actually fairly similar to a disease, one that ultimately catches up with everyone. There’s no real smoking gun with regards to what causes us to age, but there are a few culprits: Every normal cell has within it an ultimate limit on the number of times the cell can divide before dying. This limit is known as the Hayflick Limit, and ultimately determines when cells in the body die. It is believed that this limit is a direct result of the influence of the enzyme telomerase whichs repairs the end of DNA segments. In most cells it’s turned off, meaning that the bits on the end of each DNA sequence are split in half when the cell divides. Eventually those ends fray, similarly to the ends of shoe laces, and the DNA breaks down, causing the cells to […]

Strangely enough, most people in Vancouver probably don’t remember me as ever being super skinny. For whatever reason, I’ve always had a bit of meat on my bones. You can chalk it up to a slow metabolism, or crappy genes or whatever, but there are not many times in my life where I’ve been rail thin. The first time I came close though was probably around grade 11. I was playing three sports at the same time, getting lots of rest, and for the most part, lived a pretty stress free life. I couldn’t tell you what I weighed during that period, but looking at old photos I definitely think I looked fairly athletic. For the most part, I stayed relatively skinny during university. I’ve always sort of oscillated plus or minus ten pounds fairly regularly, so I’m sure there were times I was a bit chubbier, and times when […]

The American Heart association has just gone on record as recommending that sugar consumption be drastically reduced. I should point out that this is in stark contrast to their longly held assertions that saturated fat is the primary cause of heart disease, and carbohydrates essentially are harmless. So this is a warning to everyone that you should limit your sugar intake in the interest of good health. I personally wouldn’t be surprised at all if you’ll continue to see these ongoing shifts in policy, up to the point where the policy has completely changed to recommend that refined carbohydrates be cut-out or severely limited as well. I mean, if the research ultimately shows that refined carbohydrate (including sugar) was the significant contributor to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and the official position of the AHA was that these foods should form the basis of all heart-healthy diets, there could be […]

With regards to my post from yesterday regarding c. diff. First, I want to thank my mom for the eighty or so phone calls and emails she’s sent me regarding the subject since that blog entry went up: thanks for caring, mom. Don’t worry, I’m ok. Second, I’ve decided to change my diet in the short term to see if I can find a food trigger. Pretty much the only time I’ve felt normal again for a period of time was actually when I was in Cancun in March. For basically a whole week, my stomach problems went away and I felt pretty much 100% for a while. I spent about 30 minutes today making a mental list of probable causes. Sure, it could be stress, but it’s pretty hard to stress me out so I don’t think it’s that. In terms of diet, what I ate in Cancun was […]

So I finally had an appointment down at the Vancouver Sleep Center in Burnaby. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had trouble sleeping through the night. It’s been going on for so long that I can’t even remember if there was a time when I used to sleep soundly or not. I often wake up every hour or so and feel rather anxious, and most nights it takes me at least an hour to nod off. It could be the traffic or some sound that wakes me, but I’ve never really been sure. I had a consultation with Dr. Dong and he went over my history. Then he informed me that he wanted to take a look inside of me and see what it looks like when I breathe. To do that, he used a fiber optic camera. Unfortunately, since they route it up your nose and […]

Just got back from my appointment this morning. Some lady spent 20 minutes giving me impromtu eye tests, and measuring my face and eye positions. There’s one tool they use to measure eye displacement which is actually slightly painful because they force it to sit on the edge of your eye socket and press it there. Unfortunately, my left orbital bone is slightly out of place so it’s hard to get an accurate measurement using that device. Anyways, once I finally talked to the surgeon, he basically indicated that another surgery at this stage is probably too risky. He said even though the end result isn’t completely ideal, given the magnitude of the original injury, he thinks the end result is fairly successful. There are small cosmetic revisions they can make if I want, but I really don’t think I want to go down that route. So that’s it I […]

Trans fat is the dietary equivalent of the devil. It provides no nutritional value, and reeks havoc on the body’s ability to transport fats through the blood. In terms of the different types of fat that people obtain through their diet, the following effects take place: Saturated fat raises LDL (the bad cholesterol), but basically leaves HDL (the good stuff) in tack Polyunsaturated fat raises HDL (the good stuff), so it helps you Monounsaturated fat typically raises HDL, but sometimes raises LDL, so while it usually is good for you, in excess it can sometimes be bad for you Trans fat raises LDL (the bad stuff), and lowers HDL (the good stuff), so it’s basically very, very bad for you Thankfully California has just announced that they are going to ban trans fats. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the new legislation, which will take effect in 2010, represented a “strong step […]