I have had an itchy bottom for months, especially at night. Scratches only seem to make worse. I was regularly the area and tried hydrocortisone cream, but it didn’t help. What can the cause be?
Dr. Ellie answers: This can be a sign of parasitic wire worms that are found in poop and lay eggs around the anus.
They are more common in young children, but can also spread to adults who are in close contact with them, such as parents or kindergarten workers.
Wire worms can usually be seen in poo – and look like pieces of white wire.
Treatment includes taking a tablet called Mebendazole.
Other causes of itching in this area are fungal and fungal infections. Because the soil is often moist and warm, it can be an ideal place for them.
It can be treated normally with an antifungal cream called Clotrimazole in addition to hydrocortisone, which helps to calm down the skin inflammation and reduce itching.
An itchy bottom can be a sign of parasitic wire worms that are found in Poo (file image)
To prevent further infections, it is important to keep the soil dry. One way to do this is with a barrier cream, such as Sudocrem, which is the opposite of a moisturizing cream – it keeps the skin dry and has the extra advantage of preventing chaff.
Some patients also find that an antihistamine, an allergy tablet, can help to reduce itching.
An examination by a general practitioner would be useful because they can help elaborate the cause of the itch. A pharmacist can help recommend freely available treatments.
I have just discovered that I have a high cholesterol – my score is 7.4. But because I am otherwise healthy, my doctor says I don’t have to take statins. I’m afraid I could get a heart attack. What should I do?
Dr. Ellie answers: High cholesterol increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance that builds up in the blood vessels and eventually causes life -threatening blockages.
Since high cholesterol is often linked to a poor lifestyle, general practitioners will usually recommend that patients get more exercise and improve their diet – avoid red meat and processed foods, and instead eat more vegetables, fruit, pulses and fish.
If these measures fail, doctors usually recommend a statin – daily tablets that are very effective in lowering cholesterol levels.
Statins are very safe and have few side effects, although in rare cases they cause muscle pain.
In the past, everyone with high cholesterol would have received a statin. However, there is a growing concept that this should not be the case because it can be found in people who are not overweight, eat healthy, regularly exercise and have no underlying problems.
These people tend to have a genetic form of high cholesterol – which means it is inherited from their parents – who does not respond to food and exercise.
If they do everything they can to stay healthy, they run a low risk of heart conditions, regardless of their cholesterol score. However, this does not mean that they cannot take statin. Everyone with an elevated cholesterol – which is a score of more than five – who is worried about it, has to talk to their doctor.
Although it would not be a standard practice to give these patients a statin, the drug with a low risk and cheap is that doctors can offer it to those who worry about their score.
I have had the stomach acid drug omeprazole for 15 years. In the past two weeks, however, my symptoms have become worse. But my diet has not changed, so what can it cause?
Dr. Ellie answers: Everyone who uses Omeprazole for a long period must be regularly seen by a doctor to ensure that it is still needed.
Omeprazole is the type of tablet called a proton pump inhibitor or PPI, which suppresses the acid produced in the stomach.
It is an effective treatment for heartburn – also known as acid reflux – where acid in the stomach rises in the wind pipe and causes uncomfortable symptoms, including coughing, bad breath, an unpleasant acid taste in the mouth and a burning sensation in the chest.
Hearture acid is often activated by overweight, smoking, pregnancy, stress, stomach ulcers, anti-inflammatory tablets, a bacterial infection in the stomach or a hiatus hernia-where part of the stomach pushes through the diaphragm and up in the chest.
However, Omeprazole is not designed to be taken in the long term, because there is a number of worrying side effects, including kidney problems and the osteoporosis of the bone -thinning disease.
If the symptoms of the stomach acid seem to get worse, this can suggest that the underlying problem that stimulates the problem also progresses. For example, a hiatus hernia may have grown or a stomach infection may have returned.
That is why it is important to talk to a doctor about a long -term omeprazol recipe. They can not only decide whether patients should continue to take the tablets, they can identify the cause of the stomach acid and to treat it instead.
The new documentary by TV chef Jamie Oliver is investigating his own non -diagnosed dyslexia
Diagnosted with dyslexia as an adult, such as Jamie?
I was moved by the new documentary by Jamie Oliver about his own non -diagnosed dyslexia and how thousands of children with the learning problems are not diagnosed.
Dyslexia is a common condition, which means that patients struggle with reading, writing and spelling. In the case of Jamie, the dyslexia of the TV chef meant that he does not read a book until the age of 33.
Although the condition cannot be cured, a diagnosis means that children can get specialized help to improve their learning skills.
But as the new highlights of Channel 4 shows, dyslexia is often missed at a young age -which means that not -diagnosed children are written off as just not intelligent.
In the past decade I have seen a major rise in patients coming to my operation who believe they have ADHD – the attention deficit – but I rarely see those who believe they have dyslexia, although studies show that it happens more often.
I wonder how many patients have lived with no -diagnosed dyslexia for decades. Have you discovered that you have dyslexia late in life? Has a diagnosis helped? Write and let me know.
A supplement with real success
I have always been skeptical about health supplements that claim to perform miracles, but I believe that I may have found an exception: they have been designed to help combat urinary tract infections (UTIs).
The bladder infections are often painful and cause a sensation that is called urine frequency, with patients feeling the need to always pee.
For many patients, Uti’s can become chronic, which means that they keep returning, even after treatment with antibiotics.
A health supplement is a freely available product that, although it can have some advantages, its effects are not strong enough to be considered a medicine.
But it seems that some of my UTI patients see real improvements that use products, such as D-Mannose, a daily tablet that contains a sugar that is thought to combat the urination frequency.
Although these supplements will never be a replacement for medicine, it is good news that some Uti patients seem to benefit from it.
Have you tried bladder supplements to help combat UTIs? Did it help? Let me know via my e -mail.
Do you have a question for Dr. Ellie Cannon? E -Mail drellie@mailonsunday.co.uk. Dr. Cannon cannot enter into a personal correspondence and its answers must be taken in a general context.
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