2008 April | Ask Dr.Ismail

Why do I sweat so much?!

I sweat too much, why? and is there something I can do about it?

Excessive sweating, or Hyperhidrosis, affects 2-3% of Americans! Unfortunately in the majority of patients with this condition, a cause is never identified. There are theories that primary hyperhidrosis is caused by an overactive “sympathetic system”, but no one knows for sure.

But more importantly, what can you do about it? Treatments include over the counter or prescription antiperspirants, iontophoresis, botox, oral anti-cholenergic medications, and even surgery!

Your physician can prescribe several medications, including Aluminium chloride (hexahydrate) solution in a higher concentration than found in OTC antiperspirants.

Surgical options include Iontophoresis, an interesting procedure where a weak electrical current is passed through your affected body part while it is submerged in water. There are also surgeries that sever the nerves that cause sweating in certain parts of the body. Botox injections are also catching on now as a treatment of choice in armpits, but have not made their way into mainstream treatment of hands/feet.

Of course you should always approach your physician about this, and any medical condition, first. There is always a possibility of some underlying nastiness that could be causing your sweating, so always get it checked out!

For more information, visit : http://sweathelp.org

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2008 04 26

Questions

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Why is our urine yellow?

Why is our urine yellow?

Excellent question! Urine is yellow due to chemicals known as urobilins. These come about when bilirubin, another chemical in our body, is broken down. It’s the same chemical that makes people yellow when they have jaundice too.

Now you’re probably wondering : What’s bilirubin?

Fair enough. Bilirubin is a chemical that is a byproduct of yet another broken down chemical in our bodies : hemoglobin! Yes, the famous component of red blood cells which carry oxygen all around our bodies. So when RBCs get worn down, in roughly 120 days, they have to get degraded.

Now wrap your brain around this : A single RBC has 270 million hemoglobin molecules, and an adult may have roughly 2–3 × 10¹³ red blood cells at any given time! That’s a lot of yellow!
Interestingly enough… Alchemists in the “dark ages” thought that there was gold in our urine that turned it yellow. I can’t imagine the length that people must have gone through to try to prove that

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2008 04 24

Best Of
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Which medications/herbals interact with my xxxxx medication?

This is yet another common question that I get asked a lot…

Which of my medications could interact with such-and-such medication?

Unfortunately there is no easy answer for this, except for : You should always check!
Usually the pharmacy will run interaction checks for you, but that’s only if you get all of your medications from one pharmacy… and then again, it doesn’t check for herbal supplements etc!

My recommendation to you is to always check ALL of your medications against one another using tools like this :

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

Then of course discuss with your physician any questions you may have afterwards.