WEBVTT - Dr John Cameron: "We don't know how paracetamol works" 0:00:05.761 --> 0:00:18.601 You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks edboous. 0:00:16.201 --> 0:00:37.561 Any back and welcome back to the show. This is 0:00:37.881 --> 0:00:40.081 the Weekend Collective. I'm Tim Beverage. And by the way, 0:00:40.121 --> 0:00:42.481 if you missed Politics Central, our discussion around tariffs and 0:00:42.521 --> 0:00:43.681 trade and all that sort of stuff, you can go 0:00:43.721 --> 0:00:45.681 and check out our podcast where you had a chat 0:00:45.681 --> 0:00:47.721 with Oliver Hartwich from the New Zealand Initiative as well 0:00:47.721 --> 0:00:50.201 as Brad Olson, who also did quite a good explainer. 0:00:50.241 --> 0:00:53.201 I thought on you know why PPPs versus just the 0:00:53.201 --> 0:00:56.521 government funding itself. So check out out podcast on News Talks, 0:00:56.561 --> 0:00:58.721 hev website or on iHeart Radio. But right now it's 0:00:58.721 --> 0:01:02.121 time for the Health Hub and we're actually well we're 0:01:02.121 --> 0:01:04.281 gonna have a chat about a couple of things. One 0:01:04.361 --> 0:01:07.961 is about the stones in our lives and whens you 0:01:07.961 --> 0:01:10.161 should actually maybe you think, well, hang on it, I 0:01:10.161 --> 0:01:12.321 don't mean to the doctor for five years and I've 0:01:12.401 --> 0:01:14.001 hit my thirties or hit my forties, or if hit 0:01:14.041 --> 0:01:16.521 my fifties or a hit in my sixties. Is there 0:01:16.521 --> 0:01:18.281 a particular warrant of fitness I should go and get 0:01:18.321 --> 0:01:20.201 from a doctor. Should I go and get some blood tests? 0:01:20.241 --> 0:01:21.681 Every now and again, should I get your doctor to 0:01:21.721 --> 0:01:23.321 give me the give me the finger where I don't 0:01:23.361 --> 0:01:24.841 really want it? Or am I putting that off? And 0:01:24.881 --> 0:01:28.041 it's ten years later. So the milestones because it has 0:01:28.081 --> 0:01:31.801 been highlighted around the question around testing for bowel cancer. 0:01:31.881 --> 0:01:34.921 There is a tricky political question, which is cause may 0:01:34.961 --> 0:01:37.641 cause some problems for the government. But the question some 0:01:37.641 --> 0:01:39.801 people might have, we shouldn't be waiting till fifty eight 0:01:40.001 --> 0:01:42.761 to get a check for bowel cancer. Who should Looking 0:01:42.801 --> 0:01:46.321 at your own personal circumstances, when should you go and 0:01:46.441 --> 0:01:48.401 see someone about a particular issue. You might know that 0:01:48.481 --> 0:01:50.681 mum and dad both got it, or your mum had 0:01:50.721 --> 0:01:53.721 got breast cancer and her late forties or something, so 0:01:54.041 --> 0:01:56.081 obviously that would be something you'd flag with your doctor. 0:01:56.321 --> 0:02:00.201 We're going to dig into that. But also pain, because 0:02:00.241 --> 0:02:02.641 I reckon I've got a theory and I'm going to 0:02:02.681 --> 0:02:04.201 turn this Mike. If so you can't hear him laugh 0:02:04.201 --> 0:02:11.601 at my my take on it. There is anyway but pain. 0:02:11.801 --> 0:02:14.001 I've read a few things that tell us that, look, 0:02:14.081 --> 0:02:17.521 paracetamol can be useful for some things but generally useless 0:02:17.521 --> 0:02:18.881 for others. And of course we talked about it with 0:02:18.961 --> 0:02:22.081 cold medication. They're some of the cold medification was barely 0:02:22.241 --> 0:02:24.761 better than the placebo. But what are the genuinely affected 0:02:24.801 --> 0:02:29.081 pain reliefs? Pain relievers or there's a lot of it placebo. 0:02:29.201 --> 0:02:31.801 So if you've got a question around pain, give us 0:02:31.801 --> 0:02:33.121 a call as well. At one hundred and eighty ten 0:02:33.161 --> 0:02:35.521 and eighty. That's opened the floodgates wide open for my 0:02:35.561 --> 0:02:37.641 guests who like you can hear them in the back grade. 0:02:37.681 --> 0:02:41.881 You can even recognize them by his sniggering. It's doctor 0:02:41.921 --> 0:02:42.601 John Cameron. 0:02:42.601 --> 0:02:44.161 Hello, how are you good afternoon? 0:02:44.681 --> 0:02:47.601 How are you excellent? Absolutely superse I like your arts. 0:02:47.641 --> 0:02:49.841 When I asked you before when we were caught up 0:02:49.841 --> 0:02:51.721 out outside the studio and you said, you know, I 0:02:51.761 --> 0:02:53.761 woke up this morning and that's always good news, and 0:02:53.881 --> 0:02:56.601 I actually think that that sounds like a flippant response. 0:02:56.641 --> 0:02:58.961 But you know what, you wake up and you're alive, 0:02:59.041 --> 0:03:01.121 and isn't life? You know, life's good? 0:03:01.281 --> 0:03:04.001 Yeah, for most people, life is a really great experience. 0:03:04.121 --> 0:03:06.121 Yeah, So let's take each. 0:03:06.041 --> 0:03:08.681 Day, make the most out of each day, fill it 0:03:08.721 --> 0:03:11.681 with whatever you can to make a smile on your dial. 0:03:11.721 --> 0:03:12.241 And the way we go. 0:03:12.281 --> 0:03:13.761 It's funny I thought about I was talking to you 0:03:13.801 --> 0:03:15.681 as well. I thought about my dad. I went for us. 0:03:15.721 --> 0:03:18.561 I've been trying to keep going for swims, and I 0:03:18.641 --> 0:03:20.401 know that as we get closer to winter, there's good 0:03:20.401 --> 0:03:22.281 of a day where I'm like our stuff first. But 0:03:22.361 --> 0:03:23.721 it was a beautiful day to down. I went for 0:03:23.721 --> 0:03:26.001 a swim. And my dad, when he was in his nineties, 0:03:26.521 --> 0:03:28.361 used to still go for a swim at Coe Beach 0:03:28.361 --> 0:03:30.361 and he was getting on and we used to be like, oh, Dad, 0:03:30.361 --> 0:03:32.041 you know this is a bit dangerous and what if 0:03:32.081 --> 0:03:35.321 something happens? And he said, look, if something happens, I'll 0:03:35.401 --> 0:03:37.881 just quietly slip beneath the waves and that'll be fine 0:03:37.921 --> 0:03:39.881 by me. And it's funny now every time I go 0:03:39.961 --> 0:03:42.961 for a swim, I get it because he was living 0:03:43.361 --> 0:03:46.201 life the way he wanted to. Because often our kids 0:03:46.241 --> 0:03:48.361 want us to play it safe and don't do that, 0:03:48.401 --> 0:03:50.641 and don't that's like, well, what's the point live while 0:03:50.641 --> 0:03:53.161 you can beg of the kids? Yeah, bug of the. 0:03:53.201 --> 0:03:56.321 Kids, spend your money, don't give them any inheritance, and 0:03:56.401 --> 0:03:58.841 have a great lit amount of fun doing it. There's 0:03:58.841 --> 0:04:01.401 a book called I'm Being Mortal by Uttel goron. 0:04:01.281 --> 0:04:03.081 Day I'm Being Mortal. 0:04:03.161 --> 0:04:06.961 On Being mortal, okay, And it's all about what matters 0:04:07.001 --> 0:04:08.721 to you and your life, and that's what you should 0:04:08.721 --> 0:04:10.361 aim for. And it was a similar story to what 0:04:10.401 --> 0:04:13.401 you were saying. His dad had a really nasty terminal 0:04:13.441 --> 0:04:15.961 disease and they had a procedure which they could do 0:04:16.081 --> 0:04:18.441 that might have given him some sort of extra time 0:04:18.561 --> 0:04:21.081 or something. And the question was if we do this, 0:04:21.121 --> 0:04:22.801 will my dad be able to sit up watch a 0:04:22.841 --> 0:04:26.081 football game and have a beer. And they said, yeah, okay, 0:04:26.081 --> 0:04:29.161 do the job. So you know, that was important to 0:04:29.201 --> 0:04:31.201 his dad and if it gave him that back, that 0:04:31.321 --> 0:04:31.961 was worthwhile. 0:04:32.521 --> 0:04:37.361 It's interesting how I think that, even though it sounds 0:04:37.361 --> 0:04:41.121 so wishy washy, the questions about your own philosophy around 0:04:41.161 --> 0:04:44.601 life become more and more important. We should be important 0:04:44.601 --> 0:04:47.001 all the time. But because I think that they are 0:04:47.001 --> 0:04:49.961 the ones that people go, they get, I would say 0:04:49.961 --> 0:04:52.281 that it's usually the dependents who care about mum and 0:04:52.321 --> 0:04:55.201 dad or granddad who get frustrated when a doctor may 0:04:55.241 --> 0:04:57.201 be like, well, hang on, your mum and dad has 0:04:57.281 --> 0:05:00.081 said that this is what they want and this may 0:05:00.121 --> 0:05:01.961 not be the treatment that's going to prolong their lives, 0:05:01.961 --> 0:05:04.441 but it's going to mean that they can live better 0:05:04.521 --> 0:05:06.961 for the way, and young ones want d Mum and 0:05:07.041 --> 0:05:08.841 dad around for as long as they can, generally just 0:05:08.841 --> 0:05:11.881 because they love them. But the question is a deeper 0:05:11.881 --> 0:05:13.601 one about for you know, how do you want to 0:05:13.641 --> 0:05:15.161 live your life? Do you want to sink beneath the 0:05:15.201 --> 0:05:17.001 waves that do you want to be stuck in your 0:05:17.001 --> 0:05:18.641 bed for two years doing nothing? 0:05:18.921 --> 0:05:21.081 I think I've spoken about this before, but there's a 0:05:21.121 --> 0:05:25.081 thing called not advas It's Advance Care directive for advanced planning, 0:05:25.801 --> 0:05:27.601 which you can do at any time, and you should 0:05:27.601 --> 0:05:29.561 be doing it at twenty and thirty and at forty 0:05:29.561 --> 0:05:30.841 and at fifty. You don't have to wait until you're 0:05:30.841 --> 0:05:33.081 seventy or eighty, and you're getting closer to that shuffling 0:05:33.081 --> 0:05:35.841 off the mortal coil. But just detailing it how you 0:05:35.881 --> 0:05:38.561 want to live your life, what's important to you? And 0:05:38.601 --> 0:05:40.881 if you do strike something which is going to take 0:05:40.881 --> 0:05:42.841 you off the planet, how would you want that to 0:05:42.881 --> 0:05:46.241 be run for you? It's not carston Stone, no change 0:05:46.241 --> 0:05:48.401 it at any time. It gets you thinking about what's 0:05:48.401 --> 0:05:50.681 important to you, and it lets other people know if 0:05:50.681 --> 0:05:52.721 you can't talk about it, if something's happened to you, 0:05:52.841 --> 0:05:54.561 they can go back to this document and see. So 0:05:55.241 --> 0:05:57.521 it's a really important thing to do. It's online where 0:05:57.561 --> 0:05:57.761 you go. 0:05:57.841 --> 0:05:59.881 What's the name of that book again, It's called. 0:05:59.721 --> 0:06:05.681 On Being Mortal atol Gorwonda. He's a surgeon, you're a 0:06:05.881 --> 0:06:07.001 neurologists in the States. 0:06:08.281 --> 0:06:10.881 You've got to be really careful. I thought you said 0:06:10.881 --> 0:06:12.921 a we we searched, and I meant he was really sure. 0:06:14.041 --> 0:06:15.521 When you're bringing up the hospital and you want either 0:06:15.561 --> 0:06:18.041 the neurologists or the neurologists, so you've got to say 0:06:18.201 --> 0:06:20.681 eurology as and we we saw neurology as and brains 0:06:20.681 --> 0:06:21.281 the other way, you end. 0:06:21.281 --> 0:06:23.121 Up talking to the long So you got to say 0:06:23.161 --> 0:06:24.881 a neurologists, and you say it wrong and you walk 0:06:24.881 --> 0:06:26.601 in the guy says, we'll drop your packs. It's like, 0:06:26.921 --> 0:06:28.241 what the hell, it's all in the head. 0:06:28.481 --> 0:06:30.481 So no, he's he was a surgeon and he's done 0:06:30.481 --> 0:06:33.121 a whole lot about surgical safety and about patient directed medicine. 0:06:33.921 --> 0:06:34.521 He's worth read. 0:06:34.641 --> 0:06:36.281 You mentioned you know, think about these things through your 0:06:36.281 --> 0:06:38.441 twenties and thirties, which does tie into that whole question. 0:06:38.681 --> 0:06:42.081 Did I have a reasonable crack at talking at giving 0:06:42.081 --> 0:06:45.161 a summary about the question of approaching milestones as that 0:06:45.241 --> 0:06:48.201 of course it's always individual and summing people up by 0:06:48.641 --> 0:06:51.721 age or whatever. It takes you so far. But in 0:06:51.761 --> 0:06:53.681 the end, if you know you've got a family history 0:06:53.721 --> 0:06:57.241 of something, then you're going to be getting bow cancer 0:06:57.241 --> 0:07:00.761 screening earlier than others, or breast cancer screening whatever. When 0:07:00.801 --> 0:07:02.281 should are there milestones? 0:07:02.321 --> 0:07:02.481 Though? 0:07:02.481 --> 0:07:04.801 Because should I turn up when I should? I have 0:07:04.801 --> 0:07:06.681 turned up as I did to my doctor and when 0:07:06.681 --> 0:07:10.681 I hit forty and I said, I said I need 0:07:10.761 --> 0:07:12.761 a fall on men's health check and he said, did 0:07:12.761 --> 0:07:14.681 you just book them for fifteen minutes? You should have 0:07:14.761 --> 0:07:15.561 warned me about that. 0:07:16.721 --> 0:07:18.881 Anyway, it's warning and we can do a lot of 0:07:18.921 --> 0:07:21.761 the laboratory work before you come, so it makes it 0:07:21.801 --> 0:07:23.681 a hell of a lot more sensible to sit down 0:07:23.681 --> 0:07:26.241 and talk you through your results. Otherwise you do two visits, 0:07:26.361 --> 0:07:29.841 waste your time, waste my time. So pre plan. Talk 0:07:29.921 --> 0:07:31.961 to the nursing team at the practice, say, look, this 0:07:32.001 --> 0:07:33.481 is what I wanted to be doing. Will the doc 0:07:33.561 --> 0:07:35.881 be okay to set me up some screening blood so 0:07:35.921 --> 0:07:37.321 that I can bring them in and we can sit 0:07:37.361 --> 0:07:39.281 down and have a talk. So is there a specific time? 0:07:39.321 --> 0:07:42.121 What we're talking about, you are screening for health, so 0:07:42.161 --> 0:07:45.001 you're starting with someone who's got no disease, no symptoms, 0:07:45.001 --> 0:07:49.001 no science, no nothing. It's always dangerous because you're always 0:07:49.001 --> 0:07:51.441 do on the risk of making them worse. So you're 0:07:51.441 --> 0:07:54.761 starting with someone who is totally well, and some people. 0:07:54.521 --> 0:07:56.441 If you do this first to do nor. 0:07:56.241 --> 0:07:59.241 Investigate investigation on them, you will actually make them worse. 0:08:00.041 --> 0:08:03.521 So it's called NH Numbers needed to treat versus numbers 0:08:03.521 --> 0:08:06.161 needed to harm. If we had to do this to 0:08:06.201 --> 0:08:08.561 a thousand people, how many of those thousands we have 0:08:08.601 --> 0:08:10.881 to do this too to save one life? If we 0:08:10.881 --> 0:08:12.681 did the same thing to that thousand people, how many 0:08:12.681 --> 0:08:15.441 people would be harmed. As long as you're helping more 0:08:15.441 --> 0:08:18.081 people than you're harming, it's probably okay. But you have 0:08:18.121 --> 0:08:22.401 to explain to people that screening is a very inexact science. Okay, 0:08:22.921 --> 0:08:25.201 everyone believes that if I go and get screened, it's 0:08:25.201 --> 0:08:26.601 going to tell me yes or no. If it's no, 0:08:26.721 --> 0:08:28.801 I'm fine. If it's yes, I will be cured. 0:08:29.121 --> 0:08:32.761 I think. And part of that's actually it's important to 0:08:32.841 --> 0:08:35.321 understand what your family's health history is, of course, because 0:08:35.881 --> 0:08:38.121 if you've had a if there's been a history of 0:08:38.161 --> 0:08:40.721 bow cancer in your family or something, then obviously I 0:08:41.001 --> 0:08:45.161 don't know actually does How does the politics play. I 0:08:45.281 --> 0:08:47.321 know we've got a bit of controversy hapening around race 0:08:47.361 --> 0:08:48.521 and all that sort of thing, But how does it 0:08:48.561 --> 0:08:51.881 play if somebody does have a history within their family 0:08:52.201 --> 0:08:55.121 with bow screening screening, do they actually get that funded 0:08:55.361 --> 0:08:56.681 at a certain age or no? 0:08:57.041 --> 0:08:59.921 As far as population based screening for bow cancer, it's 0:08:59.961 --> 0:09:04.801 age related. Yeah, totally age related to access a screening colonoscopy, 0:09:04.801 --> 0:09:08.241 which be the next step. Yes, there are provisos in 0:09:08.281 --> 0:09:11.161 there for family history and personal history and those sorts 0:09:11.201 --> 0:09:15.081 of things. So a population based screening. 0:09:14.881 --> 0:09:17.841 Oh, that's that's usually any time provider you to get 0:09:17.841 --> 0:09:21.521 a test and you mightest tests, think cold. 0:09:21.361 --> 0:09:24.201 Blood testing, which is the bowel screening that we've got 0:09:24.361 --> 0:09:25.281 in New Zealand. 0:09:25.121 --> 0:09:27.201 As opposed to someone who's got a family history. So 0:09:27.201 --> 0:09:29.081 we go and see their GP, they get referred and 0:09:29.081 --> 0:09:30.601 they get put in for a colonoscopy. 0:09:30.641 --> 0:09:32.681 Possibly possibly, yeah, depending on that. And you've got to 0:09:32.681 --> 0:09:36.281 have quite a strong family history of bell cancer to 0:09:36.321 --> 0:09:38.961 actually reach the threshold, because Belle cancer is such a 0:09:38.961 --> 0:09:41.681 common disease in this country, so for it to raise 0:09:41.721 --> 0:09:45.041 its head as a genetically running process, you need a 0:09:45.121 --> 0:09:47.081 quite strong family history to get the scope. 0:09:47.081 --> 0:09:48.921 Look just before we go to the cause, because you've 0:09:48.961 --> 0:09:51.401 mentioned that. I always think it's useful when we ever 0:09:51.441 --> 0:09:53.241 have an opportunity for people to learn something about how 0:09:53.241 --> 0:09:55.721 can they best protect themselves in these things? What are 0:09:55.761 --> 0:09:59.241 the primary causes of what are we doing wrong in 0:09:59.561 --> 0:10:02.441 our lifestyle generally? Is there? I know it's a complex, 0:10:02.601 --> 0:10:05.761 complex question. How long have we got but but are 0:10:05.761 --> 0:10:09.041 there some basics that we are doing wrong with our 0:10:09.121 --> 0:10:11.441 diets that mean that we do have this prevalence of 0:10:11.441 --> 0:10:15.201 bowel cancer? Not enough rough urgeon, not enough healthy food. 0:10:15.521 --> 0:10:17.481 I think I've told you before that we can equate 0:10:17.521 --> 0:10:19.761 the instance of oil cancer to the number of telephones 0:10:19.761 --> 0:10:23.681 at a household, So therefore it's telephones which cause bowl cancer. 0:10:24.401 --> 0:10:29.161 So being very careful, correlation does not equal causation. And 0:10:29.201 --> 0:10:31.601 that is why it is so difficult to do the 0:10:31.641 --> 0:10:34.161 cause all bit on it. We can associate it with 0:10:34.281 --> 0:10:37.761 all sorts of things. There must be some dietary post 0:10:37.761 --> 0:10:40.241 because it's part of our gasri intestinal system. But what 0:10:40.361 --> 0:10:42.961 is it? Is it we see these things associated with 0:10:43.321 --> 0:10:46.001 high meat intake? Da da da da da da. Is 0:10:46.081 --> 0:10:48.521 that the causation or is it something else that leads 0:10:48.561 --> 0:10:49.961 you to have the high meat intake that could be 0:10:50.001 --> 0:10:53.321 the actual cause of the background. So teasing that out 0:10:53.441 --> 0:10:56.641 is what we're trying to do every day, trying to 0:10:56.721 --> 0:10:58.961 learn about these diseases to see what is the market 0:10:59.081 --> 0:11:03.001 we could find. The classic one was stomach cancer. Firstly, 0:11:03.001 --> 0:11:05.241 we've got a genetic process that we know there are 0:11:05.281 --> 0:11:07.681 a group of people who genetically predisposed to stomach cancer. 0:11:07.921 --> 0:11:08.401 Cool. 0:11:08.641 --> 0:11:10.641 We also now know that it can be related to 0:11:10.641 --> 0:11:12.801 a bacterical t helico back to polari, which lives on 0:11:12.801 --> 0:11:15.161 our stomach lining. Wow, we only have known that for 0:11:15.201 --> 0:11:17.641 the last ten to fifteen years. Besides that, we didn't 0:11:17.641 --> 0:11:19.881 know that. So we found that people had ulcers more 0:11:19.961 --> 0:11:22.121 likely to get stomach cancer. We didn't know what the cause. 0:11:22.161 --> 0:11:23.521 If it is, we now not it seelo go back 0:11:23.561 --> 0:11:26.441 to polari. So these things are coming. We're still trying 0:11:26.441 --> 0:11:27.401 to tease all that stuff out. 0:11:27.441 --> 0:11:29.121 How much of it In the end, it spoils down 0:11:29.121 --> 0:11:30.641 to the luck of the gene pool in terms of 0:11:30.641 --> 0:11:34.681 well and number jeanes, you know, because we see plenty 0:11:34.721 --> 0:11:37.961 of examples people who abuse them themselves with smoking, eating 0:11:37.961 --> 0:11:40.801 the wrong foods. You know, I mean, and you say 0:11:40.801 --> 0:11:43.721 that funny thing is funny things. I've even heard people say, well, 0:11:43.721 --> 0:11:45.881 maybe they did diet ninety nine, but possibly they will 0:11:45.921 --> 0:11:47.201 have to a lot of lived to one hundred and 0:11:47.281 --> 0:11:48.081 nine if they haven't done. 0:11:48.521 --> 0:11:50.641 Anyway, you do the sensible things. Choose your parents, well, 0:11:51.081 --> 0:11:54.401 eat a diet which is a cross all around, get exercised. 0:11:54.521 --> 0:11:56.961 Don't be a smoker or be a non smoker. Please 0:11:57.321 --> 0:12:00.001 have as small an alcohol intake that you can have. 0:12:00.161 --> 0:12:01.841 There's all of these things which will give you the 0:12:01.961 --> 0:12:02.521 best chance. 0:12:02.601 --> 0:12:07.401 Okay, but just genuinely, but generally speaking, should people at 0:12:07.481 --> 0:12:09.921 least because some people don't get sex very often, they 0:12:09.921 --> 0:12:12.121 don't go to the doctor. Is there a sort of 0:12:12.161 --> 0:12:14.561 period where you should at least present yourself to the 0:12:14.601 --> 0:12:17.521 doctor for a chat about maybe to even just keeping 0:12:17.561 --> 0:12:21.441 up with immunizations or whatever. But how often a normally 0:12:21.441 --> 0:12:24.081 healthy person should they go and make an appointment once? 0:12:24.081 --> 0:12:25.481 It'll be what two five. 0:12:25.321 --> 0:12:29.401 Years and twenty year olds sea bulletproof it for every 0:12:29.441 --> 0:12:35.081 decade gets a little bit more bullet dangerous. So yeah, 0:12:35.401 --> 0:12:39.321 we would do a five yearly review is probably reasonable. Okay, 0:12:39.321 --> 0:12:41.961 haven't you heard about forty fifty We're in the background, 0:12:42.001 --> 0:12:45.161 we're doing cardiovascular risk screening. We're doing diabetic screening, We're 0:12:45.161 --> 0:12:48.601 doing cervical screening, We're doing brist screening, we're doing balled 0:12:48.641 --> 0:12:51.801 screen cancer screening. All of these things are happening actually 0:12:51.841 --> 0:12:53.961 in the background. It's part of our job when you 0:12:54.041 --> 0:12:57.081 enroll with a practice is to take responsibility for offering 0:12:57.121 --> 0:13:00.081 you the screening processes. 0:13:00.281 --> 0:13:01.881 Does that mean if I'm weather practice, I'm going to 0:13:01.881 --> 0:13:03.841 get a reminder for my flu jab at some stage yeap, 0:13:04.001 --> 0:13:08.161 oh god, okay, good, I'll mark that one as not 0:13:08.241 --> 0:13:11.721 to follow up on you anyway. Look, we want to 0:13:11.721 --> 0:13:13.761 take your calls on this as well, because the other 0:13:13.841 --> 0:13:15.521 question is around pain relief. We'll have a chat with 0:13:15.601 --> 0:13:17.001 John after the break about this. But this is your 0:13:17.001 --> 0:13:19.641 opportunity to get on the blower. Oh eight hundred and 0:13:19.681 --> 0:13:22.161 eighty text nine two niney two. This is News Talks. 0:13:22.161 --> 0:13:24.761 He'd be the Health Hub. It is twenty past four. Right, 0:13:24.801 --> 0:13:29.401 we're back with doctor John Cameron taking your calls and Enid. 0:13:29.441 --> 0:13:31.001 Thank you, thank you for waiting in it. How are 0:13:31.001 --> 0:13:32.721 you doing well? 0:13:32.761 --> 0:13:36.961 I'm not doing great actually, but hi Tim and Dr John. 0:13:37.721 --> 0:13:41.481 I'll try and tell you my symptoms quickly. End of 0:13:41.561 --> 0:13:45.921 last September, had a fall got checked out, everything was fine. 0:13:46.481 --> 0:13:50.561 About ten days later, while driving, I noticed my right 0:13:50.641 --> 0:13:54.801 ankle had become very stiff, and then the whole foot 0:13:54.841 --> 0:13:59.441 became stiff and heavy, and my lower leg. I've seen 0:13:59.481 --> 0:14:02.641 a neurologist. She didn't think it was anything to do 0:14:02.721 --> 0:14:05.481 with the fall. She thought it might be a stroke. 0:14:06.041 --> 0:14:10.361 I've had an MRI and an MRA and totally clear, 0:14:10.481 --> 0:14:15.321 no stroke. The next on the plan is stand on 0:14:15.401 --> 0:14:20.201 my spine and nerves. Have you come across anything like this? Please? 0:14:20.641 --> 0:14:25.401 Oh? Most mondays right, it's actually quite a qualty. 0:14:25.481 --> 0:14:26.841 Sundays is that the day. 0:14:27.041 --> 0:14:30.401 Yeah, they all come in after the weekend. I think 0:14:30.441 --> 0:14:32.441 the important thing to take from your story is that 0:14:32.921 --> 0:14:35.481 having a negative MR of your head and a negative 0:14:36.161 --> 0:14:40.121 angiography of angiography of your head that makes a decent 0:14:40.121 --> 0:14:43.001 amount of safety. So we're not worried about a stroke 0:14:43.121 --> 0:14:45.801 or transient schemic attect or any other thing nasty going 0:14:45.801 --> 0:14:48.321 on inside your head. And in trying to define your 0:14:48.361 --> 0:14:50.321 problem a little bit more, yes, it may be coming 0:14:50.321 --> 0:14:53.841 from your back as the nerves which provide power and 0:14:53.881 --> 0:14:57.401 sensation to your lower limb, they emerge from the spine, 0:14:57.641 --> 0:15:00.361 and there can be pressure points on the spine on 0:15:00.441 --> 0:15:02.401 those nerves as they emerge from the spine. So that's 0:15:02.441 --> 0:15:05.481 a nice reasonable way to going about it. How much 0:15:05.521 --> 0:15:07.401 does it affect your day to day living at the moment? 0:15:08.121 --> 0:15:11.161 Oh a lot, because it's getting worse every day. Can 0:15:11.201 --> 0:15:14.681 hardly do anything. I mean, I don't go out anymore 0:15:14.721 --> 0:15:16.481 unless it's a medical appointment. 0:15:16.761 --> 0:15:19.321 That's sad? Is that because of pain or what. 0:15:20.881 --> 0:15:23.361 I mean? When I'm sitting down, it's lovely. When I 0:15:23.401 --> 0:15:28.081 get up, it's not exactly painful, but the toe of 0:15:28.201 --> 0:15:30.721 that foot sort of drags on the ground. I have 0:15:30.841 --> 0:15:32.761 to it's almost like foot drop. 0:15:32.881 --> 0:15:34.401 You know, there's a foot drop. I think that's what 0:15:34.441 --> 0:15:36.801 you're talking about. Yeah, Now that may well be coming 0:15:36.841 --> 0:15:39.321 from your lower back, unfortunately, and. 0:15:39.561 --> 0:15:41.681 I had the feeling it might be coming from the 0:15:41.721 --> 0:15:42.801 lower back. Yeah. 0:15:43.281 --> 0:15:46.561 And unfortunately, if it's going on that long and you 0:15:46.601 --> 0:15:49.121 do have a true foot drop, they tend not to 0:15:49.161 --> 0:15:52.361 actually get better. I'm sorry, thank you, thank you, sorry 0:15:52.401 --> 0:15:55.121 about that. Yeah. But what we try and do is 0:15:55.161 --> 0:15:57.841 we try and make it so that the foot doesn't drop, 0:15:57.881 --> 0:16:00.761 and we can use sort of inserts in your shoes 0:16:00.801 --> 0:16:04.041 that hold the ankle at ninety degrees so it's not normal, 0:16:04.081 --> 0:16:06.041 but it should give you back functioning. And I think 0:16:06.361 --> 0:16:09.881 the most important thing for you is to be upright, 0:16:10.041 --> 0:16:12.921 to be mobile, to be out in the world experiencing things, 0:16:12.921 --> 0:16:15.481 because otherwise your world has got the chance of becoming 0:16:15.481 --> 0:16:18.081 really small, very narrow, and that's not good for your health. 0:16:19.241 --> 0:16:22.161 Yeah. I mean, I've got a walker. My total weight 0:16:22.441 --> 0:16:25.921 is leaning on that walker when I walk, and last 0:16:25.961 --> 0:16:28.761 Thursday I fell over on the kitchen floor because my 0:16:28.841 --> 0:16:29.681 knee gave way. 0:16:30.761 --> 0:16:34.361 Hey, look, it's not hard getting mature, is it? It's 0:16:34.401 --> 0:16:38.601 not easy exactly. Yeah, it's hard work. Well done for 0:16:38.641 --> 0:16:42.041 making ninety three. So you're on the right track. Try 0:16:42.081 --> 0:16:43.921 and what we need to do if we can't find 0:16:43.961 --> 0:16:46.441 something to fix it up completely, to try and minimize 0:16:46.441 --> 0:16:48.001 the impact of this on your ongoing life. 0:16:48.041 --> 0:16:49.481 So who would en to talk to? 0:16:49.841 --> 0:16:51.881 Which is going to have a city of a lumber 0:16:51.921 --> 0:16:52.761 spine by the sound of it. 0:16:52.921 --> 0:16:56.001 Okay, So that's thank you very much, Dr John. 0:16:56.641 --> 0:16:58.121 Good luck and thank you for your call. 0:16:59.201 --> 0:17:00.081 Ah. 0:17:00.201 --> 0:17:02.881 Yeah, that's god. Getting old does, is there? It is 0:17:02.921 --> 0:17:06.041 hard work? I mean, well, actually to find me that 0:17:06.161 --> 0:17:09.241 question around keeping yourself fit as you get older and 0:17:10.481 --> 0:17:12.401 waits and things like that and sort of exit what 0:17:12.481 --> 0:17:14.561 is the most effective form of exercise when you are 0:17:14.601 --> 0:17:17.481 getting older, Because when people say, well, especially for guys 0:17:17.521 --> 0:17:19.841 once you fifties, you should be doing some sort of 0:17:19.841 --> 0:17:21.481 resistance training and all that sort of stuff. 0:17:21.561 --> 0:17:22.401 Go out the front door. 0:17:22.481 --> 0:17:23.401 Get out the front door. 0:17:23.761 --> 0:17:25.561 It's the number one thing. It's there. You don't need 0:17:25.601 --> 0:17:27.441 a gym membership to do it. You don't need to 0:17:27.481 --> 0:17:29.561 get dressed in theker and go on two wheels. You 0:17:29.601 --> 0:17:30.841 can go out the front door and go for a 0:17:30.841 --> 0:17:32.641 walk and then put a hell into it and do 0:17:32.721 --> 0:17:34.761 some things like that for a start really important. And 0:17:34.801 --> 0:17:37.401 you're telling me about your dad who was did the 0:17:37.481 --> 0:17:38.441 round the base at what age? 0:17:38.641 --> 0:17:40.441 I'm going to check that. I'm pretty sure he was 0:17:40.441 --> 0:17:43.001 eighty eight good. I think his time was a hundred 0:17:43.161 --> 0:17:46.921 seventy two minutes, much faster than I would do. I think. 0:17:47.881 --> 0:17:50.081 I actually, I'm really glad I did this. I took 0:17:50.081 --> 0:17:54.321 a photo on my phone of his certificate, and Google 0:17:54.361 --> 0:17:56.561 photos is very clever. You can just say search for 0:17:56.601 --> 0:17:59.321 certificates and part up at pops. 0:17:59.481 --> 0:18:05.441 So being active, if you're looking at what makes people healthy, 0:18:05.601 --> 0:18:09.041 it's being in a society. So if you are alone 0:18:09.561 --> 0:18:11.401