DR ELLIE CANNON: Could I be at risk of a heart attack by exercising too much? 

I’m 64, contemplate myself very match and am a wholesome weight. I am going to the gymnasium thrice per week and wish to push myself to get my coronary heart charge up. 

Just lately I’ve examine folks my age having a coronary heart assault throughout vigorous train. Am I doing an excessive amount of?

It’s common for folks to assume their physique is not capable of face up to brisk train as they become old. But it surely’s not strictly true.

The dangers from high-intensity train rely extra in your baseline stage of health than in your age. You probably have no medical situations or issues and are used to a excessive stage of intense exercise, persevering with on the similar tempo is completely affordable.

There are not any assessments or indicators that assure you will not fall ailing when you’re exercising, however in completely wholesome individuals who have been exercising their entire lives, it’s unlikely.

Some train is essential as we age. NHS pointers suggest that adults of 65 who’re already energetic do a minimum of one hour quarter-hour of vigorous-intensity exercise each week, or a minimum of 2½ hours of moderate-intensity exercise.

Vigorous depth means exercise that makes you breathe quicker and tougher, comparable to operating, quick biking or taking part in tennis. Average train can be driving a motorcycle, strolling or water aerobics.

Your GP surgical procedure can provide a threat rating indicating how possible you might be to have a coronary heart assault or stroke. The evaluation takes into consideration many elements comparable to weight, blood strain and household historical past, alongside together with your ldl cholesterol and blood sugar.

GPs additionally provide screening for atrial fibrillation, wherein the center beats irregularly. Victims have a better threat of stroke and coronary heart assault and should discover strenuous train makes their coronary heart race, leaving them feeling faint. Folks with atrial fibrillation can nonetheless train however would possibly have to take longer warming up and cooling down.

I maintain noticing little spots in my imaginative and prescient after I wake within the morning. I’ve no different signs, although typically a headache comes on after the spots have disappeared. They do not often last more than an hour. Is it simply exhaustion?

Little spots within the imaginative and prescient are referred to as floaters they usually’re not usually an indication of something critical. They’re sometimes brought on by a innocent course of referred to as posterior vitreous detachment, the place the gel contained in the eyeball comes away from the retina, the layer of light-sensitive cells behind the attention.

Sufferers will typically describe seeing small dots or squiggly strains, and even patterns that seem like a cobweb.

If floaters are adopted by a headache, significantly one which impacts one aspect of the pinnacle, this might be a migraine. Visible adjustments that happen at the side of a migraine are identified by medical doctors as aura.

Migraines are usually extra frequent when persons are drained and run-down, so an affiliation with exhaustion is no surprise. Floaters, coupled with exhaustion however no migraine, may point out anaemia and thyroid illness, so blood assessments to rule these out might be a good suggestion.

Floaters are extra frequent in older folks and those that put on glasses for short-sightedness.

Sudden new black dots and flashing lights within the imaginative and prescient generally is a signal of retinal detachment, when the skinny layer of cells that type the retina behind the attention turns into free.

It is vitally necessary that that is handled rapidly to keep away from everlasting sight harm.

An optician will have the ability to use particular tools to look behind the attention and inform you if there’s one thing you want to see your GP about.

My husband has had lichen planus, affecting 4 of his nails, for 9 months. A dermatologist really useful steroid cream, nevertheless it’s had no impact. Might a continuing use of hand-sanitisers have precipitated it?

Lichen planus is a reasonably frequent pores and skin situation often affecting folks aged over 40. Signs are sometimes clusters of shiny, raised, purple-red blotches on the arms, legs or physique. There could also be wonderful white strains on the blotches.

Lichen planus can even have an effect on different components of the physique together with the mouth, genitals, fingernails and toenails. Nails can turn into tough and skinny, with ridges showing on the floor. In some instances, the nails get thicker and darker and should even raise off the nail mattress. The signs can final for years.

The situation is regarded as resulting from an overreaction of the immune system. Stress and anxiousness could also be an element, and there’s some proof earlier viral infections comparable to rooster pox may spark lichen planus.

There isn’t a proof to recommend that hand-sanitisers can set off the situation, however it’s definitely potential. Antibacterial hand merchandise are inclined to irritate the pores and skin and upset each the degrees of acidity within the pores and skin and pleasant micro organism. The primary remedy medical doctors use is steroids – which suppress excessive immune reactions – in cream or ointment type. In extreme instances, tablets is likely to be supplied. If they do not work, there are different remedies together with a sort of sunshine remedy.

If nothing else helps, a dermatologist could use stronger immune-suppressing medicines comparable to methotrexate.

Specialists will not prescribe these medicine evenly as they arrive with important negative effects, together with dizziness, drowsiness, complications and even hair loss.

Thinning on prime? A GP might help you develop out of it

Hats off to actress Jada Pinkett Smith for speaking publicly about her hair loss from alopecia.

It appears as if the 50-year-old spouse of Hollywood star Will Smith has been affected by alopecia areata – patchy hair loss brought on by issues with the immune system.

There are many causes for dropping hair, and for girls particularly it may be massively distressing.

I’d encourage anybody who all of a sudden notices hair loss to go to their GP. It may be an indication of thyroid issues or associated to iron ranges. These may be flagged up in blood assessments and handled.

The menopause, and a drop within the feminine intercourse hormone oestrogen, can even trigger hair to skinny or recede. Different triggers embrace crash weight-reduction plan, stress, the shock of accidents and negative effects of medicines.

Hair loss may be upsetting. However in lots of instances there are remedies, comparable to hormone medicines, to assist it regrow.

My detox plan: Ignore daft diets

In case you’re considering of happening a detox food regimen, my recommendation is – do not.

I assumed everybody knew that the concept you may pace up the processes your physique makes use of to remove waste was a rip-off.

However I see that Twitter is awash with advertisements for detox fasting diets, detox baths and detox teas. And naturally there are the folks (largely enticing and really skinny younger ladies) suggesting a food regimen of goji berries, cacao nibs and different ‘superfoods’.

Are we critically nonetheless speaking about this in 2022?

For the document, you need not detox. In the reduction of on the booze and puddings for those who like. However your liver and kidneys do an amazing job of ridding you of stuff you do not want. If not, you want medical assist, not a smoothie.

There may be one ‘detox’ I can recommend for 2022: cease following silly food regimen and different well being recommendation on social media.