I hear many people using excuses for what is considered “mature age”. They say - “I’m OK.”
Or “Well you have to expect that at my age.”
Or “I’ve had a good innings really. So
I can’t complain.”
| Eight years ago I had an aging Siamese cat -
a lilac point. The Vet said “She’s getting on - 14 years.
Her kidneys are going. She needs steroid injections, as well as diuretics
and blood pressure tablets for her congestion. We can just make her
comfortable until you decide it is time to put her down.” This
went on for some months - with me struggling to get the tablets down her
and rapid deterioration.
I asked the Vet about potassium as she was on
diuretics. He replied that yes she could probably do with some potassium
but you couldn’t get Slow K into a cat. So I asked what dose she
needed, got some crushable chelated potassium tablets and slipped a quarter
tablet down her throat.
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The Vet was most surprised and my cat lived a fairly comfortable 2 more years with occasional doses of crumbly potassium. It made me wonder how many humans this might work for too.
Doctors these days are extremely reluctant to tell us to take potassium although it was quite commonly prescribed 30-40 years ago. These days some drugs like blood pressure tablets eg ACE inhibitors, are potassium-sparing - meaning you can’t take extra potassium. So you would need to look at dietary sources ie most nuts, most fruits & veg and tea.
I find extra potassium is usually needed by people who have hot flushes, urinary tract infections, swelling, muscle weakness and intolerance to heat. In fact if the hot weather drains you of energy you probably need more potassium when it is hot.
Palpitations can be a problem both if
you need more or have too much. So if you are taking potassium
and get palpitations - stop immediately.
This is what doctors are concerned about -
affecting the heart. BUT if you have palpitations and any other deficiency
symptom you are more likely to be too low.
Your doctor can order a Potassium blood level. Anything below half of the given normal range indicates you could probably do with taking a bit of Slow K. Ask for a copy of your results. Low potassium can increase muscle weakness.
FALLING OVER
For a whole page article on helping with Falls
see old WA polio newsletter - June 1998 or visit our website.
Falls are a very real risk for polios and we need to be prepared. Have the article above ready to hand for when you might need it. Bruising should be treated as soon as possible with Hirudoid or anti-bruising cream. This is quite expensive at the Chemist but a must for our First Aid box. The earlier applied, it will help stop the bruise coming out, relieves pain and decreases the swelling.
Other first aid measures include ice, strapping and elevating the injured area. Vitamin C helps with inflammation. Magnesium helps with muscle injuries and manganese with pulled or torn tendons. If there is a fracture or even chipped bones - take extra magnesium plus a lick of borax (lick one side of the top third of the index finger is your best guide. Your finger is in proportion to the rest of the body.) These 2 minerals together take the pain out of a fracture (old or new) within 2 days and helps the fracture to heal better.
Stumbling and tripping can be a sign of insufficient carnitine. Magnesium, vitamin C and carnitine should be taken to bowel tolerance. See trial-and-error regime for working out the most effect dose in the Sept 2005 newsletter.
Polios are more likely to trip over their own feet, particularly if there is any footdrop. Attention to footwear will help and maybe a review at the Orthotic Dept at RPH at Shenton Park. They look at shoes and walking gait, as well as calipers, corsets and back braces. Referral is needed by your GP for a “post polio review” if new patient or if it is 2 years since you were last seen at the orthotic clinic. Ring Polio Office for doctor to be referred to.
The Late Effects of Disability Clinic is another free hospital-based clinic that is there to help. Referral by your GP to see Dr Dade Fletcher at this clinic is needed. For a faster appointment, ask me to update your polio questionnaire and send it in with your referral, directly to Tessa not to the hospital, as Jega, the clinic physio can assess you and start exercises before you see Dr Fletcher. A thorough muscle assessment and an individualised exercise program - pool or gym, can help to prevent or treat falls, as well as them looking at pain and increasing weakness.
An OT (Occupational Therapist) referral by your GP to your local hospital for a home assessment will also look at need for and fitting of, handrails in toilets, bathrooms, stairways etc. Help can include wheelchairs, shower stools, ramps, walking frames, trolleys, chair and bed raises if you need it.
APPROACHING SURGERY
Quite a few people recently have rung for the
anaesthetic packs we have. This bundle of papers includes international
anaesthesia alerts for polios by Dr Selma Calmes MD, a UCLA anaesthetist
in California. Important points are highlighted to get your busy
doctor’s attention.
As well there is a summary of the “Cautions for Surgery for Post Polios” paper by the Chairman of the International Post Polio Task Force - Dr Bruno. He says to expect to times everything by 2 if you have had polio. There are tips for the surgeon, anaesthetist, physio and nursing staff.
Jega, our own WA LEDC physio, has written a page on preparing for surgery and this is included too. In the Sept 2002 newsletter I wrote a 2 page article called “Surviving the Doctor” with self-help tips on all the things we may encounter in the health care system - like xrays, blood tests, transfusions, radiation, chemo, fractures, pain etc and how to help ourselves and others deal with them better. This is on our website or if you no longer have your newsletter we can send you a photocopy of the article.
POLIO NEWSLETTERS
I know that some people (hopefully lots) keep
every one of our newsletters carefully filed. Others read and discard.
I can’t keep repeating the same things year after year as there is always
so many new things that could be useful to you - there is never enough
room for all we would like to put in the newsletters. SO PLEASE
KEEP YOUR NEWSLETTERS IN A SAFE PLACE. You may not need the information
now but who know what we might need in a few months or years.
Cancer, falls, surgery etc are often sprung on us and we are so frantic we don’t know where to turn. A good idea is to keep your own index of where to find the article on . . . whatever. This includes other sources you may come across too.
RECENT QUERIES FROM MEMBERS
We have had a few people with hip and knee replacements
and bowel cancer. If we have enough time to prepare we can increase
things like Vitamin C to increase the pain threshold (people report
back to me that hospital staff are amazed they have so little pain!
And don’t need large amounts of painkilling injections.)
Here is an account of “Scurvy”
“An affected person becomes weak and has
joint pain. Internal haemorrhages cause black-and-blue marks
to appear on the skin. At the first visible signs of scurvy, raised
red spots appear on the skin around the hair follicles of the
legs, buttocks, arms and back. When the tiny capillaries of the hair
follicles haemorrhage, the hair-producing cells do not receive the
nourishment needed for the hairs to grow normally. Consequently, the skin
becomes flecked with small lesions that begin to appear on the body after
about five months on a diet deficient in vitamin C. These lesions were
the "spots" that James Lind observed on the skin of his sick men. Gums
haemorrhage and their tissue becomes weak and spongy. Dentin,
which lies below the enamel and is part of the root of teeth, breaks down.
Teeth loosen and eating becomes difficult and painful.”
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Low Vitamin B1 can result in red swollen
legs (often called “cellulitis”) and contribute to leg ulcers.
Good results can occur with high doses of B1 and B6. Infections
may clear up with topical application of good quality Colloidal Silver
to ulcers and inflamed areas.
I have to keep reminding people stiffness after sitting can disappear with regular extra manganese, muscle aches and cramps need magnesium, joint aches need borax and gelatine. Stumbling and loss of balance could be manganese or carnitine. If you are not sure please ring me. The answer may be simple. OTHER QUERIES
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