DEAR DR. DONOHUE: When my daughter stopped smoking about 10 years ago, she took up chewing nicotine gum and has chewed it constantly ever since. What effect is this having on her health? I am worried. — H.M.

ANSWER: Chewing nicotine gum is a help for some to break the nicotine habit. It’s less destructive than smoking, but nicotine isn’t a health food. Nicotine causes artery constriction, and that’s just one of its less-desirable side effects.

The manufacturers of nicotine gum, who make money selling it, clearly state that people shouldn’t use it for more than three months. Your daughter should use the directions provided by the makers to get people over nicotine addiction. From week one through week six, she can chew a piece of gum every one to two hours. From week seven to nine, she can chew a piece every two to four hours. From week 10 through 12, she chews a piece every four to eight hours. On week 13, she quits. She ought to start this program immediately.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What is arthrosis?

I never heard of it until I got it. I have severe pain in my neck and have trouble turning my head. I heard this usually follows trauma.

I had a knee replacement last year. Maybe that was a trauma. I also have a bulging disk in my cervical spine.

What can I do for it? — R.L.

ANSWER: Arthrosis isn’t a much-used word. It means joint problems, specifically arthritis. The most common kind of arthritis is osteoarthritis, suffered to some degree by just about everyone over 60. It’s a wearing away of the cartilage cushion inside joints. Without that cushion, the two bones forming the joint rub against each other — painfully. Medicines for osteoarthritis include Tylenol, Advil, Aleve and a host of others. Warm compresses applied to your neck for 15 minutes will help make it more limber and less painful. Osteoarthritis is a permanent condition, but it can and should be made more comfortable.

The bulging disk in your neck might be the source of pain. Disks are placed between backbones to lessen the shock they take when we move about. The center of each disk is a jellylike material. It’s encased in a tough outer ring. With age, the outer ring deteriorates, and the inner core bulges through it — a bulging disk. Most of the time, pain from such a disk resolves in one to eight weeks.

Your knee replacement has nothing to do with your present neck problems.

Have you tried physical therapy for your neck? Ask your doctor for a referral if the doctor thinks it’s appropriate for you.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I take Coumadin. Lately the numbers have been up, down, OK and down. What can I do about this? I’m not doing anything differently. — R.S.

ANSWER: Coumadin keeps blood from clotting (“thins” the blood) by interfering with blood proteins that encourage clot formation. Those proteins depend on vitamin K for production. Coumadin blocks the action of vitamin K. If people suddenly eat large amounts of vitamin K-containing foods — leafy green vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale and spinach — they overwhelm Coumadin’s effectiveness, and lab tests show this is happening. Alcohol also can interfere with Coumadin.

If this doesn’t apply to you, see if your doctor believes that the new anticoagulant drug Pradaxa would be a suitable substitute for Coumadin. It has nothing to do with vitamin K. It doesn’t require the periodic lab test that Coumadin does.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

Copy the Story Link