ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 16, 1996 TAG: 9607160030
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Personal Health
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
Recently, my health insurance plan said it would no longer pay for annual physical examinations and instead opted to recommend a checkup every two years.
That decision is in keeping with recommendations from the Mayo Clinic. One of its newsletters dealt with the annual checkup issue and concluded with these guidelines:
You should get a checkup four times in your 40s.
You should get a checkup five times in your 50s.
You should get a checkup yearly after age 60.
Based on these recommendations, my company is being generous.
But even if annual physicals didn't catch a lot of problems, they made us confront our health status. That's when doctors made us deal with those irritating questions:
Do I smoke?
Am I overweight?
Do I exercise enough?
What is my blood pressure, and what can I do about it?
What's my potential for diabetes?
Do I sleep well?
And on and on.
All good questions worth paying attention to more often than even one time a year.
Misery infection
Every day I get a bundle of material from drug companies who are touting their latest products. Most of it is quite eye-catching, which is the whole point of it. The companies hope their product will get a mention.
A recent one from Uristad was especially appealing because it came complete with a surrealistic stick figure, obviously a female, to illustrate a discussion of "What Makes Women Miserable?''
Well, the list could be long, but in this case it was leading in an obvious direction because Uristad is Johnson & Johnson's cure for urinary tract infections.
UTIs. If you've had one, you know what it's like, and you might agree with the Female Misery Index concocted for this promotion.
According to it, 60 percent of women count UTIs as worse than menstrual cramps or premenstrual syndrome. At least 51 percent said they'd rather have a tooth filled, deal with their bosses or do their taxes than confront the discomfort of a urinary tract infection.
And completely unrelated, but part of the Uristad survey, was this note: 84 percent of women said they tolerate pain better than men do.
On a much more serious note, Johnson & Johnson's research suggests that these infections are the second leading cause of lost work days for women, that black women are five times more likely than white women to get the infections, and that urinary tract infections are responsible for 6 million doctor visits a year and $1 billion in treatment.
UTIs, which affect more women than men, are caused by bacterium, usually E. coli, found in the lower intestine.
Here's how you know you have such an infection:
Pain or burning on urination, dull pain in abdomen, urgent need to urinate, nonproductive urination; and in its advanced stages, lower back pain, chills, fever and bloody or cloudy urine.
How to prevent one?
* Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
* Wipe from front to back to prevent bacteria from entering the vagina and urethra.
* Empty the bladder shortly before and after intercourse.
* Wash the genital area with plenty of warm water before intercourse.
* Check with your gynecologist if you suspect a diaphragm is contributing to your problems.
* Use a water-soluble lubricant if your vagina feels dry and uncomfortable during sex.
* Change sanitary pads and tampons frequently during menstruation.
* Avoid wearing tight jeans, bodysuits and pantyhose because heat generated by tight clothing makes it easier for bacteria in your genital area to grow.
* Replace nylon underclothing with cotton underwear.
You can contact Sandra Brown Kelly at 981-3393, or (800) 346-1234 ext. 393 outside the Roanoke Valley; and through e-mail at biznewsroanoke.infi.net.oa
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