Tuesday September 2 / 2008

Tuesday September 2 /2008


12:10: The Health Roundup with Jay McQueen.

12:13: Parents are back to packing lunches for their kids in the morning. It’s all about healthy food to boost energy and brain power in your children.
Guest: Helen Van de Mark, Dietician, St. Joseph's HealthCare Hamilton.


12:20: St. Joseph's Healthcare has shut down one of its medical units after an outbreak of C. difficile worsened over the weekend.
Guest: Dr. David Higgins, Chief of Staff, St. Joseph’s HealthCare Hamilton.

12:35: Aside from perhaps being a little bit bummed out about it, there is a serious side to all this. Hitting the books again can mean stress and anxiety for students, from both the school work perspective and the social angle.
Guest: Dr. Randi McCabe, Director of Anxiety Treatment & Research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.


12:45: Rexall Pharmacy segment.
Guest: Hilton Silberg

Seasonal Allergies;

Surveys have shown that one-quarter of the Canadian population, eight million, will wheeze and sneeze through the coming months and the numbers have increased in the past two decades. The first step on getting a handle on allergies is finding out what is triggering them. Seasonal Allergies usually occur in the Spring and Fall, but you can get seasonal allergies at any time of the year, it just depends what you are allergic to. If its dust or mould, then you are most likely to first experience symptoms in the Fall when the furnace is first turned on and the windows are closed and then easing in the spring you the opposite is done. Most people think of allergies as starting in the Spring and often run through to the first frost. This is when people who are allergic to grasses and pollens have a really bad time. The symptoms of nasal congestion (rhinitis), itchy watery eyes (conjunctivitis) are more than some people can bear. Perhaps the worst system is extreme fatigue that accompanies these symptoms. Allergies occur when the immune system overreacts to a harmful substance. Your body is trying to defend itself against a foreign invader, much as it would against a bacteria or virus that could cause you an infection. Thus it is an “immune response” rallying the forces against a harmful invader. Since you are continually breathing in the substance, your loyal body continually tries to defend against it. When allergies occur the body releases histamine, causing increased secretions and inflammation which cause the symptoms that make you feel so miserable. Drugs that prevent histamine release are called anti-histamines and there are many on the market. They can reduce your systems, but can’t cure the problem. They can also produce nasty side-effects such as drowsiness and more fatigue than you already have. The newer anti-histamines on the market are less apt to cause these side effects, but not in all people. There are natural approaches you can try to reduce histamine release which may help.
• Vitamin C – 1000mg, three times daily taken through the day with meals. ( time release variety are not recommended for this purpose)
• Pantothenic Acid – one of the B Vitamins, in a dose of 250mg twice with meals ( this is often sold as Calcium Pantothenate)
• Citrus Bioflavinoids – in a dose of 500 mg three times a day with meals

All the above tend to stabilize the mast cells, those cells that react when the allergen is inhaled and produce histamine. You will need to take all of these through the whole season in which you usually get your symptoms.

Rexall Blog Reporter #0202 Nadine Janacek