229 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
229 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
health
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healthadvice
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lifecoach
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8474512
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-----
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# Lifecoach: I'm worried about my tick bite
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## Our experts answer your questions on tick bites and repetitive strain
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injury
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![Wear long sleeves and trousers if there is a high chance of ticks][1]
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Wear long sleeves and trousers if there is a high chance of ticks Photo: ALAMY
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12:00PM BST 27 Apr 2011
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[Comments][2]
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**_Q_**_ While walking in the hills recently I got a tick bite. Should I be
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worried about catching an infection from this?_
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**A DR DAN RUTHERFORD WRITES:**
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Sheep and deer ticks can harbour the bug that causes Lyme disease (Borrelia
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burgdorferi).
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Although much more common in the United States and mainland Europe, we are
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seeing Lyme disease more often in Britain but are still a long way from
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needing to worry about every tick bite.
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Look out for a rash at the bite site appearing anything up to a month later.
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Eighty per cent of people who get Lyme disease have this rash. A flu-like
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illness is a common feature also in this time scale.
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## Related Articles
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* [Lifecoach: Is it possible for glandular fever to come back?][3]
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18 Apr 2011
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* [Lifecoach: What's your advice on the menopause?][4]
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12 Apr 2011
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* [Lifecoach: I am in pain every time I run][5]
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29 Mar 2011
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* [Lifecoach: My daughter needs help losing weight][6]
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07 Mar 2011
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* [Lifecoach: My daughter has become really stroppy][7]
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28 Feb 2011
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* [Lifecoach: How can I lower my cholesterol?][8]
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14 Feb 2011
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Blood tests can help make the diagnosis more certain if there is reasonable
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suspicion of Lyme disease.Over-diagnosis and over-treatment are problems that
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we need to work on as there is a fair bit of unnecessary worry going around
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about Lyme.
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Prevention is better than cure, so one should wear long sleeves and trousers
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if walking in moorland or wooded areas where deer may roam. One should also
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check carefully for ticks at the end of the day.
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If removed within 24 hours, the likelihood of an infected tick passing the
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organism to the host is much less. You can buy a small tick hook from outdoor
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shops and pharmacies that make complete tick removal much easier.
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**_Q_**_ Should people with repetitive strain injury avoid using weights?_
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**A TONY GALLAGHER WRITES:**
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Repetitive strain injury (RPI) is a term similar to "sports injury", since it
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says more about how the injury was sustained than what it actually is.
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"Musculo-skeletal disorder" is probably more accurate and is used to describe
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conditions such as tendonitis, tenosynovitis (inflammation of the lining of
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the sheath that surrounds a tendon) and carpal tunnel (pressure on the nerve
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in the wrist).
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Common symptoms are numbness, tingling, throbbing, tightness and/or
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hypersensitivity to touch. In these cases your body will tell you very quickly
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that having to struggle against weight is not what it wants.
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Weight training for those without RPI is useful as a preventative measure but,
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once you have it, pain will alert you to potential worsening of the situation.
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More likely to work for you is a combination of stopping the task that caused
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the problem, if possible (or you risk it turning it into a chronic condition),
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physiotherapy, painkillers, massage and improving the work environment.
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Having said that, it is not clear why some people develop RSI and others, who
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do the same repetitive tasks, do not. It may be that stress increases muscle
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tension, and/or affects how the body feels pain. For more information see:
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**[www.rsi.org.uk][9]**.
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**SECOND OPINION **Dr James Le Fanu
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**Repairing the survival statistics**
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Some time ago in this column I described how a Devon farmer owed his life to a
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nasty attack of belly ache. Retiring to bed, he was rubbing his stomach in the
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usual fashion when he noticed a curious pulsation just under the rib cage -
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like a balloon thumping away in time to his heart beat.
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He dithered for a few months before consulting his family doctor, who
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organised for him to have an ultrasound scan. This revealed his pulsating
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balloon to be an aneurysm of the major artery, the aorta, running the length
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of the abdomen.
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It was, by all accounts, a whopper, and while the operation to repair it with
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a Teflon graft was not pleasant, it was, he observed, "much preferable to the
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alternative".
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That "alternative" could have struck at any time - when his ballooning
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aneurysm would have burst with predictably dire consequences. Indeed there is
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a memorable simplicity about the relevant statistics: 95 per cent of those
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with a leaking aortic aneurysm succumb, while 95 per cent of those in whom it
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is repaired in time will survive.
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That case was almost 10 years ago. Since then, things have moved on in a
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couple of ways directly relevant to my Devon farmer's experience. First, and
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self evidently, it is sensible to catch an aneurysm - if at all possible -
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before it bursts, and here it now appears it is advisable for all men over the
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age of 65 (women are, for the most part, exempt) to have a single "screening"
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ultrasound test in anticipation of detecting an aneurysm early enough for
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effective treatment.
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Next, the treatment itself has become vastly less traumatic thanks to a new
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technique that allows the aneurysm to be repaired from the inside, without the
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need for a major operation. This procedure has increased the chances of
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surviving this potentially lethal condition to a staggering 99 per cent.
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][11]
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* Share: [Share][10] [ ][12] [ ][13]
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[Tweet][14]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthadvice/lifecoach/8474512/Lifecoach-Im-
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worried-about-my-tick-bite.html
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Telegraph
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## [LifeCoach][15]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][16]
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* ### [Health »][17]
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* ### [Health Advice »][18]
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* ### [James LeFanu »][19]
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[![Telegraph Medical Insurance][20]][21]
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### [Telegraph Medical Insurance][21]
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In health
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[!['Picky eating' can be common in childhood, but most grow out of it][22]
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][23]
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### [Lifecoach: My son won't finish his meals][23]
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[![The side-effects of medication can feel as bad as the original illness][24]
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][25]
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### [Lifecoach: I'm fed up with feeling ill][25]
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[![Changes to diet and exercise can give you more energy ][26] ][27]
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### [Lifecoach: How to spring clean your diet][27]
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[![Best of all when you have a cold is to keep up a high fluid intake and keep
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the illness to yourself ][28] ][29]
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### [Lifecoach: Cold and flu cures][29]
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[X][10] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][11]
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Share:
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][12]
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* [ ][13]
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* [Tweet][14]
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* Advertisement
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![][30]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][31] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][32]
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Advertisement
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[TELEGRAPH MEDICAL INSURANCE »][33]
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* [Calculators][34]
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* [Advice][35]
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