Latest entries in Know Your Student Body
Chris Gu is a third year medical student at the School of Medicine and has served as a co-director of the MedZou Clinic. Through our Know Your Student Body Q&A blog, Chris will help students find the answers they need to their own health-related questions. To submit a question to be featured in this blog, send an e-mail to maneaterhealth@gmail.com with your name and question for Chris. Only your first name will be featured along with your question and your e-mail address will not be published.
March 15, 2011
One drink a day can keep the doctor away
Question from Sam, a reader: I've heard that drinking alcohol everyday can be good for you, especially wine... is that true?
Chris: The answer to this question is more clear-cut than most imagine. There is convincing data that shows alcohol consumption decreases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes in both men and women.
Alcohol does this by increasing you body's good cholesterol (HDL), enhancing how effectively your body uses insulin and decreasing inflammation.
Studies show light to moderate drinking has been shown to decrease your risk of heart attack by 30 to 50 percent, decrease your risk of diabetes by 30 percent and reduce your total risk of death by 18 percent.
But before you stop reading and run to the nearest liquor store -- I need to make clear what “light to moderate drinking” really means. In each of the studies that showed alcohol’s beneficial effects, the benchmark number of drinks was one daily drink for women and one to two daily drinks for men.
In fact, any amount higher than this actually increases your risk of disease. Consuming more than two drinks per day increases your risk of high blood pressure, obesity, heart attack, diabetes, stroke and a number of other diseases.
How often you drink also plays a role in alcohol’s beneficial effects. Drinking alcohol daily provides more health benefits than drinking once per week, but binge drinking increases your risk of heart attack and death.
So is there a specific kind of alcohol that is better for you than others?
The answer is no. Most studies have shown equal health benefits from all types of alcohol, including beer, wine and liquor.
University Hospital Cardiology Fellow Ashraf Al-Dadah believes in the benefits of wine.
“Two glasses of red wine for men and one glass of red wine for women per day has been shown to reduce the incidence of heart disease,” Al-Dadah said. “Studies have actually pointed towards reservatrol as the actual substance that has protective properties. It is found in the skin of red grapes and has anti-oxidant effects.”
While it’s difficult to argue with the health benefits of light to moderate drinking, it’s equally difficult to recommend drinking alcohol regularly due to the risk of alcohol abuse.
Alcohol abuse, which accounts for more than 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, can lead to increased health risks. So the key, as always, is moderation.
Feb. 22, 2011
Pinkeye or Stinkeye?
Have a health myth or question? E-mail Chris at maneaterhealth@gmail.com
As a medical student, I am constantly learning about diseases: which diseases are out there, what their symptoms are and what causes them.
In most cases, the cause of a disease makes sense. Smoking irritates your lungs and can cause emphysema. Eating foods high in fat can cause plaque buildup in your arteries and result in a heart attack.
There are times, however, when the cause of a disease is so outlandish that I can only laugh.
Last week I developed a case of pinkeye that resulted in some embarrassment at work.
During dinner that night, a buddy of mine looked at me and said, “Someone didn’t fart on your face, did they?”
After a moment of hilarious confusion, I asked him what in the world would make him think that and discovered his belief that you can get pinkeye from exposure to flatulence.
This conception was at the center of a comedic scene from the movie “Knocked Up,” in which the movie’s characters discuss getting pinkeye if someone farts on your pillow and “poo particles make their way into your ocular cavities.”
So is this conception simply a myth, or should I be suspecting foul play on the part of my roommate?
Pinkeye, also known as conjunctivitis, is the irritation and inflammation of the conjunctiva, or outermost layer of the eye, and can cause your eyes to become painful, red and watery.
Although viruses cause most cases of pinkeye, it can also be caused by bacteria, allergens or chemicals.
The most common bacterial causes of pinkeye are Staphylococcal (Staph) and Streptococcal (Strep) species, though this accounts for only 5 percent of cases. Allergies to indoor and outdoor particles like pollen, pet dander or household molds can cause eye irritation as well.
So, does flatulence, or even “poo particles” for that matter, contain the needed ingredients to cause pinkeye?
The answer lies in the composition of flatus and feces. Human flatus is mainly composed of five gases, and although the amount of each gas may vary, it is very unlikely they exist in high enough concentrations to cause eye irritation. Feces do contain bacteria and even minute concentrations have been known to cause disease in humans.
However, even if fecal particles containing the most common bacteria found in feces make their way into your ocular cavities, they are unlikely to cause pinkeye.
What about viruses? Could adenovirus, the most common virus to cause pinkeye, be transmitted through flatulence of fecal matter?
University Hospital Internal Medicine resident Anantha Vellipuram believes this is a possibility.
“While it is not likely for the natural gases found in flatulence to cause conjunctivitis, contamination of your eyes by direct contact with fecal material could, in theory, spread adenovirus,” Vellipuram said.
This means that if your eyes come in direct contact with the fecal material or flatulence of someone who is infected with adenovirus or other, more rare bacteria, you could theoretically develop pinkeye.
“Rarer bacterial causes of conjunctivitis can also be spread through aerosolization of fecal material,” Vellipuram said. “Whether or not an infected human can transmit these bacteria to another human is uncertain.”
I think it’s time to have a talk with my roommate.
Nov. 14, 2010
How much more likely are you to get an STD while studying abroad overseas?
Andrew writes: “How much more likely are you to get an STD while studying abroad overseas?"
Andrew,
There isn’t a good answer to your question, since the likelihood of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease or infection is dependent on the individual traveler’s sexual practices. However, certain areas of the world are affected by STDs more than others which increases the risk for those who choose to be sexually active. Overall, STDs are more prevalent in developing countries in Southeast Asian and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Here is a great website that summarizes worldwide STD prevalence according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report:
http://www.avert.org/std-statistics.htm
Thanks for the question,
Chris