Can vitamin E supplements increase my risk of cancer?

Hello Dr. Renee, how are you? A few months ago I was prescribed medicine for high blood pressure. It has gone down a bit but it is still too high. I have noticed that I hear a pulsating sound in my left ear when it is quiet. It is a humming sound that mimics the beating of the heart. Could this be due to high blood pressure? Best regards.

Before I get to the actual question, I’ll touch on blood pressure – if your blood pressure medication isn’t bringing your blood pressure down within range, you may need to change the medication, increase the dose, or add another medication.

There’s no point in taking a pill if it doesn’t work, and there are lots of things you can do to lower your blood pressure naturally, which we covered last week, but essentially exercise, weight loss, beetroot juice and a healthy diet free of processed foods are a good start.

But the most important thing today is to address the pulsating tinnitus (PT) you are describing, which is the pulsating sound in your left ear. If it’s just in one ear it’s called unilateral PT, if it’s in both ears it’s called bilateral PT.

It’s natural to worry that blood pressure is the culprit, as it could be caused by changes in blood flow in your blood vessels, including the large arteries and veins at the base of your skull and the smaller ones in your ears.

This is why you should definitely discuss PT with your doctor, as changes in blood flow are not the only culprit. Please do so.

Problems with your ears can accentuate the sounds you hear, and this naturally includes a perforated eardrum, fluid behind the eardrum, or an ear infection.

Things that can affect blood flow and cause PT include:

• Uncontrolled high blood pressure
• anemia
• pregnancy
• exercise
• Atherosclerosis (fatty buildup in blood vessels)
• Thyrotoxicosis. Too much thyroid hormone.
• Rarely, tumors can block or increase blood flow in blood vessels, which can be heard as pulsating tinnitus.

So, taking my usual position that what’s common is what’s common, there’s a good chance that your new symptoms have a simple explanation, but they require investigation. So I’d see my doctor, who would probably do all or some of the following:

• Take a medical history, including a history of tinnitus
• Perform a physical examination of the neck, skull, and eardrums.
• Look inside the ear with an otoscope
• Conduct a hearing test
• Order a blood test
• Order a Head and Neck Scan

I hope this helps, good luck!

Hello Dr. Renee. Is it normal for a 4 year old to not speak properly? My son barely speaks and when he does he has a hard time expressing his feelings. I would appreciate your advice. Thank you.

Children’s speech is very individual and develops at different ages — for example, my son started speaking at 6 months old, while my daughter waited until 15 months — so the first thing to understand is that one size does not fit all.

That being said, they should warn you if certain milestones aren’t met and a download might be a good idea. Great app From the CDC.

Through some simple questions about your child, you can find out if they are hitting developmental milestones or not, and when to flag milestones that they are not hitting. Although it is an American service, it provides the information you need and takes into account the huge differences between children.

Your son is 4 so it is reasonable to assume he has been in contact with other children and parents at nursery or playgroups. Have they raised any issues and if so, have they been referred? Were they checked by a public health nurse at 1 and 2 years old? Were any issues raised then or is this something new?

It can be helpful to speak to a public health nurse, whose contact details your GP can give you.

There are many things to consider if your child isn’t talking much or their speech is hard to understand. For example, it’s important to consider their hearing. If your child can’t hear properly, they won’t be able to learn to speak properly, so your GP can carry out a simple hearing test to assess this. For example, eustachian tube stenosis can be a common, treatable problem that affects speech.

Problems with the jaw or tongue are rare but should be considered as they can interfere with proper speech and can be evaluated by your dentist.

More serious issues may include autism spectrum disorder and will require a more formal assessment, but it’s important to do this quickly and your GP can help.

I also wondered if your child was a victim of the corona masks and seeing caregivers wearing masks during their language and emotional development period and it is affecting their speech. It is sad but it can be improved and you can help your child reach their potential.

Overall, I don’t think it’s possible to comment individually without seeing your son, so I would suggest you speak to your GP as soon as possible and do all you can to encourage speech in the meantime.

• Help them associate sounds with pictures: see the cat and meow together, or ring the doorbell “ding dong.”
• In a give-and-take game, you give clear instructions: “Give me the car,” then back up so the other person can give you the command.
• Always talk to your child, introduce new words, demonstrate them and encourage them to use them repeatedly.
• If they use contractions, I correct them without scolding them (my 6-year-old daughter still says “Fuman” instead of “Human,” so I correct her every time).
• Read books together and name things together
• Sing a simple song.
• Listen to nursery rhymes and sing along

These may sound like simple things, but every little bit helps, and if masks have kept you from participating, you might just need a little help getting back on track.

If your child starts school in September, meet with their teacher straight away and request an assessment. In parallel with this, speak to your GP as soon as possible, even if just for peace of mind, to keep things moving forward.

Hi Dr. Rene. I have terrible IBS symptoms that make life really hard. I have frequent constipation and diarrhea and my doctor keeps telling me to reduce stress. IBS is stressful in itself. Any other advice?

I’m sorry to hear this and to know how much IBS is affecting you.

For those who don’t know, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a set of symptoms that affect the digestive system, causing abdominal pain and cramps accompanied by diarrhea, constipation, or both, and bloating that relieves after a bowel movement. The difference between IBS and IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) is that IBS does not cause tissue damage in the digestive tract and does not increase the risk of colon cancer. However, it is a chronic (long-term) illness that often needs to be managed with changes to daily routines and foods, additional medications if needed, and sometimes behavioral therapies such as CBT.

There are three main categories of IBS:

• IBS with constipation (IBS-C): Most stools are hard and lumpy.
• IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D): Most stools are watery and loose.
• IBS with mixed bowel habits (IBS-M): Stool is a mixture of the above types

Since every IBS patient is different and symptoms vary and are triggered and controlled by a variety of foods, drinks, habits and medications, the most important starting point is a proper diagnosis.

A very good test for IBS is a stool sample called fecal calprotectin. This does a good job of differentiating IBS from IBD. In addition to this, it is also important to rule out the stomach bacteria, Helicobacter pylori. If in doubt, a colonoscopy (inserting a camera into the intestine) will be done to examine/biopsy.

IBS is the most common gastrointestinal disorder seen by general practitioners and gastroenterologists and typically requires a tailored combination of treatments, which may include:

Dietary changes

• Increase dietary fiber
• Look at the FOADMAP diet and if there are any foods that cause symptoms, cut them out one at a time for two weeks to see if that makes things better. I know I’m doing the designers of FODMAP a disservice by telling you to use it as a test guide rather than following it, but there are so many foods in FODMAP that I think it’s too hard to follow perfectly if you don’t want to.
• Drink plenty of water
• Keep a food diary to track symptoms

Activities

• Exercise regularly
• Get enough sleep
• Try relaxation techniques, yoga, or acupuncture

Psychological therapy

It aims to help you manage your stress levels and symptoms that are interfering with your life.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Biofeedback Technology
• Hypnotherapy

medicine

Aims to firm up stool, relieve constipation, and ease intestinal pain and cramps
Probiotics

There is growing evidence that the gut microbiome plays a role in IBS, but more evidence is needed. There are so many probiotics on the market that it can be confusing.

Upon investigation, evidence A study has been published from King’s College on Symprove and IBS. Although the research is ongoing, it appears that taking Symprove daily, combined with lifestyle interventions, can be effective for many IBS sufferers.

I think the overall message is don’t suffer in silence, it may take time to find a solution, but combining the solution with a simple probiotic won’t hurt and could help significantly.