Allergy Associates - Health Alerts

George A. Sprecace M.D., J.D., F.A.C.P. and Allergy Associates of New London, P.C.
www.asthma-drsprecace.com

Health Alerts

Offerings by George A. Sprecace M.D., J.D.: (Scroll down or click here for More Relevant Offerings)

June 28, 2009

Until this year, "the Flu" was a viral disease of Fall and Winter, with occasional extension into early Spring. Thus, a "flu-like illness" occurring in late Spring or Summer produced a search for tick-borne diseases like Lyme Disease, Babesiosis, and /or Anaplasmosis (formerly known as Ehrlichiosis).

This Summer season there is another bad actor out there: Swine Flu, otherwise known as H1N1 Influenza. It can be tested for by ordering an Influenza A test which, if positive, is further tested for Swine Flu virus. But now that is not enough. Tick-borne diseases must also be sought (requiring specific testing) when the patient presents with a "flu-like illness". Please do not dismiss such symptoms and "tough it out". Consult your physician; and share this information with him or her. All of these illnesses are more or less treatable. And all of them can produce serious consequences if not diagnosed and specifically treated in timely fashion.

GS

Immunization Notice, November, 2006, GS

Bronchial Asthma, COPD, and Inflamation, GS

Here is a report with which I agree: "Doctors See Benefit From Net-searching Patients", by Tyler Chin (American Medical News - www.amednews.com - Aug. 15, 2005, p1). "As more people go online for health information, physicians are finding that research can deepen levels of conversation during visits". So, please surf the rest of this web site, in addition to the Mediterranean Diet site: This is a public service gift...that keeps on giving.

But there are risks to patients' direct access to frequently raw medical data, not yet peer reviewed, and to pharmaceutical information which is often "mere puffery", not filtered by a "learned intermediary". The recent and continuing problem with COX-2 Inhibitors, and currently the Vioxx case, are examples...with serious risks affecting both producers and consumers. SO, "ASK YOUR DOCTOR".

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, recently signed into law andalso discussed on the same page of the above reference, sounds good - but stay tuned. It may be too good to be true...and still to risky for health care providers to buy into. More to come on this.

And to finish this offering on another medical note, this year "just a cold" may not be the right attitude...considering the past and possibly continuing difficulties with getting the flu vaccine, and with the possible arrival here of Bird Flu - God forbid. Everyone, and especially people with other illnesses, should check with their physician for anything but mild symptoms. Don't try to "tough it out" this time around.

One of the most common dangers encountered by all of us who, especially in the summertime, stray to the shore, or the hills, or just to the golf course is the possibility of being struck by lightning. One can survive, but dying is often not the worst of it. A very informative article on the subject appears in this month's issue of Field and Stream" entitled "Thunderstruck", by Keith McCafferty (p32). Unless I'm wrong, you don't know all that you should know in order to protect yourself and your family from this threat from the skies, even from the blue skies.

Physicians and their patients are in tough times partly because, in a mis-guided and paternalistic effort to shield their patients from the turmoil, physicians in the 1980's and early 1990's did not keep their patients informed and did not seek their political help. They also had this quaint idea that politicians and legislators gave a damn about their points of view and input. We all learned otherwise. So, in addition to all the warnings I have been sharing since the late 1970's (see other relevant categories on this web-site), here are some more that may make a real difference to the most altruistic of your physicians.

"Pay for Performance" is one of the latest brainstorms being tested. If not structured properly, physicians' income, already discounted over 30% from what they legitimately earn, will be based - not on proper procedures - but on successful outcomes. So now your physician would be held responsible for your adherence to instructions, for your taking your medications, and for all the other stupid life-style things that you might do...in addition to having chosen the wrong genetic stream at conception.
"Cultural Competency Training". Physicians may be required to handle not only the medical problems of that patient from Haiti, but also to discuss her problem in her mother tongue and with sensitivity to her beliefs in voodoo.
There is planned a further decrease in the already borderline reimbursment for treatment of Medicare patients, stretching several years down the road.
Some States are considering taxing physicians 1% of their gross income for the permission to take care of Medicaid patients. Their care, in which most of us participate, is often the most time-consuming and always the very least reimbursed.

Patients take note: even the most caring and committed physicians may decide that they have been insulted, denigrated and marginalized once too often. These smart and energetic people have always had other options. This is not a threat. Rather, it is a call for help.

Health Alerts...June, 2006 GS
Flu Season, 2004, GS

Rules to Live By, GS

There's a Fungus Among Us, GS

WAZZUP?! - New and Notable, GS

Xolair and Bronchial Asthma, GS

Advice for Living a Long, Healthy and Happy Life, GS

How to "Winterize" Yourself, GS

Smallpox Vaccine, GS

Hygiene Theory, GS

Peanut Allergy, GS

Bio/Chemical Terrorism, GS

September 11, 2001, GS

Keeping Insects at Bay, GS

Scrombroid Poisoning, GS

Medical Abstracts, GS

The Next Allergy Season, GS

Emergency Room Treatment of Acute Bronchial Asthma, GS

Flu 2000-2001, GS

Biting Insects, GS

Flu 2000, GS

Regarding Medical Errors, GS

Lyme Vaccine, GS

More Relevant Offerings:

Sleep is Food for the Brain, Paul J. Licata, D. O.

"Might as Well Dance", Author Unknown
Good Advice For All Of Us, All The Time, As Long As We Still Have Time..."Slow Dance"

"Risks and Benefits of Gene Therapy",
        by Philip Noguchi, M.D., the New England Journal of Medicine, 348:3, Jan 16, 2003, p193
"The Real Face Of Cloning",
        by Tim Friend, USA Today, Jan. 17-19, pA1

"Sexual Healing"
        by Melissa Gotthardt, Modern Maturity (AARP), Jan-Feb. 2003, Self Care, p14.