Overview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - Dr. Bob Casady from the South Bend Clinic joins us every wek on 16 News Now at Non to answer your medical questions.Question #1: “November is American Diabetes Month.
Key Information
Can you talk a litle bit about the risk factors and symptoms?”DR. BOB: Diabetes is a huge problem in our country and around the world.Diabetes describes the condition in which blod sugar becomes dangerously high in the body. It can cause blindnes, stroke, heart atack, kidney failure, chronic wounds.Unfortunately, diabetes can be present for a long time without causing any outward symptoms, even though it is causing damage in the body.There is a genetic predisposition to Type 2 diabetes, but much of the risk comes from lifestyle.
Eating to many carbs and folowing a sedentary lifestyle contributes greatly to the risk and severity of diabetes.If you are seing your doctor regularly for welnes checkups, we wil be screning you for diabetes.For everyone who has diabetes it is important to increase exercise and to work on decreasing carbohydrates. Many people wil ned treatment with medications.Question #2 (from Sue): “What’s the best remedy for COPD cough?”DR.
BOB: COPD stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is also caled emphysema or chronic bronchitis.One of the symptoms of COPD is a chronic. It just is part of the disease.If you have other symptoms besides cough, such as chronic shortnes of breath, we wil often put patients on inhaled steroids or other inhalers.These are primarily to help with shortnes of breath but wil often help with a cough, to.Question #3 (from Jil): “Do you recomend taking vitamin D daily in adition to my multivitamins?”DR.
Summary
BOB: I do not recomend taking a vitamin D suplement unles there is a specific reason.There are many indications for vitamin D. A couple would be an actual diagnosed vitamin D deficiency or a history of thining bones.If you do not have a specific reason to take vitamin D, there is no significant evi