My daughter has been suffering from tinnitus for a long time, but the noises in her ears gradually got worse after the birth of her second child. He now often wears headphones, using music to drown out the sounds. He had MRI scans that came back normal but a recent blood test showed he was deficient in Vitamin D and iron. Is this relevant?
While MRI scans and blood tests are useful for ruling out anything serious, they don’t usually offer an answer for tinnitus, a condition that causes patients to hear of continuous noise, usually a ringing sound. Very rarely the cause is a tumor, which can be detected by MRI.
There is no strong evidence linking low Vitamin D or iron to hearing problems. But it’s very common to be low in both nutrients – and supplements can help. Otherwise, tinnitus is often associated with hearing loss which, studies show, becomes more common in people younger than 50 – likely the result of a lifetime of listening to loud music on headphones.
The condition can be very distressing. If this is the case, people should be referred to an ear, nose and throat doctor.
Many people with tinnitus find that they are more aware of the noise in their ears when they are in a quiet place. Sound therapy, which includes gadgets and wearable devices that emit constant background noise, can help. Audiology departments in some hospitals offer them.
My daughter has been suffering from tinnitus for a long time, but the noises in her ears gradually got worse after the birth of her second child (stock photo)
You can also contact the British Tinnitus Association for advice (tinnitus.org.uk).
Doctors can refer patients for cognitive behavioral therapy, either with a therapist or online. Private clinics offer tinnitus retraining therapy, which helps trick the brain into silencing annoying noises by tuning them out. It is worth asking your GP if this is available on the NHS in your area.
I suffer from various conditions – chronic migraines, neck pain and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. My symptoms are getting worse, but my GP says there is nothing he can do. Is there anything that might help?
Many people live with various conditions, which can be very difficult. It’s especially difficult if one of those problems is a chronic disease for which there aren’t many effective treatments.
In premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a particularly severe type of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), patients experience symptoms that are more severe than typical PMS, including painful headaches, muscle aches, depression and insomnia.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of clear guidance for GPs on how to treat the condition. Usually, if treatment doesn’t work, doctors offer antidepressants along with referrals for both psychological therapy and a specialist women’s health clinic.
Getting enough sleep and regular exercise have been shown to ease the symptoms of a variety of conditions, but it may also be worth trying natural remedies such as evening primrose oil or magnesium.
There is little evidence to prove that they work, but it may be worth giving them a chance for a few months.
When the NHS cannot provide answers, patients often turn to alternative medicine. This worries me because such a treatment may not be true.
So my first message is to be careful – just because a treatment is easily accessible and expensive, it doesn’t mean it’s good.
Ask the GP about a referral to a pain clinic or a specialist PMS clinic, which is within the gynecology departments of hospitals.
I have high cholesterol – at the moment it is 8.9. I take ezetimibe for this, but the drug gives me horrible leg cramps at night. I had the same issue with statins. My pharmacist suggested that injecting drugs might be a better option, but the doctor said he wouldn’t recommend it. What will I do?
When cholesterol exceeds five measurements, it is considered high. So 8.9 is incredibly high. In fact, it is likely that patients with cholesterol at this level have an inherited type of high cholesterol – hypercholesterolaemia. It runs in families with a history of early heart attacks.
Treatment is required to eliminate this risk. Doctors will further examine the children because the condition is very serious.
Patients with cholesterol this high need to be aware of other factors that can cause heart disease, such as high blood pressure, smoking and obesity. But steps can be taken to reduce the impact of these risks.
It is perfectly legitimate to seek help from a pharmacist in a condition like this. In this case, the goal of treatment is to halve low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) – also known as ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Doctors may prescribe statins or ezetimibe for this. If that doesn’t work, or brings bad side effects, other options can be prescribed at a hospital cholesterol clinic. These include drugs such as fibrates or new types of injections.
Both ezetimibe and statins cause fewer cramps than people think. More likely there is another reason.
Try not to assume that a drug causes a certain effect, as you may limit treatment options unnecessarily.
What do you want to know about menopause?
A third of the UK female population is either peri-menopausal or menopausal (stock image)
Last week I asked you to tell me which areas of women’s health you would like The Mail on Sunday to explore in an upcoming special edition, where we will draw a panel of leading experts from a range of expertise to offer advice.
We’ve had a lot of requests – and one of the most popular is about menopause. No wonder, as a third of the UK female population is either peri-menopausal or menopausal. There has been a recent explosion in interest in menopausal health, but I worry that the amount of information – not all reliable – can be overwhelming.
So we want you to tell us exactly what you want to know about menopause. Are you confused about what type of HRT to take, or whether you should take it at all? You may be interested to know if your health problems are hormone related, or if it could be something else.
Whatever it is, write and tell me at the email address here: DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk
JVT is not your vaccine villain
Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam is Dr Ellie Cannon’s favorite speaker at the daily Covid press conference.
I was completely star-struck at an event last week when I saw former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam.
JVT, as he is known, has always been my favorite speaker at the daily press conferences on Covid – communicating complex science to the public in a simple and even entertaining way.
We chatted for a while, mostly about football, but he also told me something very painful. This kind, brilliant man regularly receives rude and abusive threats from anti-vaxxers who say he ‘pushed the vaccine’ in the country. There were times when he even had to involve the police.
There is a lot of anger about how the Government is handling the pandemic, but attacking the scientists who led us out of it is a complete misfire, not to mention cruel. We have a lot to thank JVT for.
