Nuclear Medicine

Questions for Health/Fitness experts:

First, I had bet $100 with a friend that I could lose 18 pounds in 19 days. After a week now, I realised it was a foolish bet and paid him off.
What started this bet was my cholesterol was at a extremely high level of 270 and I’m only 30 years old. In the process of this bet, I have lost 6 pounds over the last 7 days and want to continue to lose those last 12 pounds in a healthy way.

My first question is, I’ve been jogging/running 2-3 miles per day five times a week. I want to slowly bring that up to 5 miles per day. Problem is, after my runs my shin’s start to act up and become sore for a few hours. I’ve only been doing this for a week, so I’m not sure if this is a normal feeling after a running a few miles. Or is it my body trying to tell me I’m doing too much too soon. Should I cut back a little on my running to maybe 4 times a week?

Second question, is my diet and nutrition. I’ve cut out all sweets and junk food from my diet. But I wanted to know if anyone had a link to a good diet/nutrition web site? Basically looking for a healthy diet that would help me lose the most stored up extra fat on my body in the quickest time. (FYI, I’m 182 pounds now and looking to drop to 165-170 range).

Final question, with two small kids at home I don’t have time to hit the gym. Outside of jogging/running, I’ve also been doing 100 situps and 40 pushups per day. Does anyone have any other exercises I could do at home to help lose weight in my waist and mid section? Thanks for any help, it’s much appricated.

Answer 1: You’ve got a case of shin splints - don’t run on a hard surface…. get new running shoes. I always thought running or walking backwards helped shin splints, but that might be just an old wives tale.

Also don’t do too much running. Combine aerobic training with some weight training other days (even just dumbells at home). There are no specific exercises to reduce waist really, just have to increase your metabolism and decrease intake.

You can’t spot reduce so no excercise will help you lose inches of your midsection(despite what the commercials say). Your midsection gets smaller from overall weightloss, not sit ups, crunches or any other core training exercise.

Answer 2: According to my doctor running intervals will burn more calories in the long run than jogging. Also, I used to get shin splints, and a buddy of mine showed me a trick he used. After running, run an ice cube up and down each shin until the cube melts. Sounds simple, but it worked for me. It also might be your shoes. Go to a real running store (Fleet Feet, Road Runners, etc), and have them identify your gait. They can then show you which shoes are best for your running style. Good luck, and keep it up!

Answer 3: If I were you I would not jump right in and run that frequently. That is probably the reason you are getting shin splints. also, running on a track or grass is much better than pavement in that regard. As far as waistline reduction, you need to just reduce calories so you burn fat. As other posters have said, you can’t spot reduce.

One great way to incorporate more exercises into your aerobic activity is with conjugate training. One circuit might be, sprint 50 yards, drop do 20 pushups, sprint another 50, do some bodyweight squats, sprint 50 do some situps.

That will work you more efficiently than running for distance and is actually more effective at burning fat. Good luck and good health.

P.S. You could also purchase a doorway pull-up bar and some dumbbells for variety.

Answer 4: Your diet is good so far - eliminate sugars and simple carbs. Be mindful that you get alot of that with what you drink, even gatorade. Try drinking only water for 2 or more weeks (no alcohol, no juice). Take a B-complex and Calcium supps to aid your metabolism and lost nutrients from working out. Consume lots of high fiber foods (mainly green veggies) and take probiotics to help your digestion.

For your cholesterol, garlic as a supplement is highly recommended. Add it to your food too. Use only regular butter or extra virgin olive oil for cooking (no margarine or substitutes). If you want to eat eggs only eat the white. Other than that, read labels and watch your calories and you could lose the weight pretty fast.

Answer 5: I do Cross fit. I started with Body for Life, then went through several iterations of sports related workouts (Hockey player, so I did hockey related workouts) Now I’m doing crossfit (see link) It’s advanced, so you have to be very careful with how you do it, but it is an intense workout. BFL will give you a good idea about how to deal with diet, and is probably one of the best diet/exorcize combo’s I’ve seen because it preaches balance, which is key to long-term results. Shin-splits: Ice them down post run. run every other day rather than stacking one day on top of another. In between days do some wieght training, or resistance training (pushups, pull ups, body-weight squats, sit ups to start) your body will adjust, but also be sure you have good shoes- watch for arch support- key to avoiding shin splits…

Also, you can help get rid of shin splints by strengthening the muscles in the front of your lower leg. The exercise movement would be the same as hanging a bucket filled with sand off of your toes and moving your foot slowly up and down. This is an easy exercise to do just by creating resistance with your other foot or using an object.

Answer 6: Running first thing in the morning is a plan, but be advised if you have any possibility of cardiac problems this can have a fatal outcome. I forget each and every physiologic reason but something to the effect of the tendency of clots to form and spread to the heart is significantly increased in exerciseing on a empty stomech in the morning. A running guru of the eighties Jim Fixx was thought to have this as a contributory factor in his death of cardiac arrest during a early morning no breakfast run.

Answer 7: To maximize caloric burn relative to what your body can handle use a form of circuit training. I know this because, as a type II diabetic, my goal is often to burn as many carbs as I can in a given time period, in order to drop my blood sugar. I test before and after, so I know what works.

The way to do this is to 1)get your heartbeat up to your target range and keep it there; 2) use as many different sets of muscles as you can; and 3) minimize the risk that you will suffer an overuse injury relative to what your body can handle, as you obviously just did.

So, do a broad series of exercizes, without too severe pressure on your body, and no more than 30 seconds of rest in between. This can include intervals on the treadmill, pushups, abs/gluts on the exercize ball, no weight squats agains a wall, light dumbells, Therabands, etc. Several days a week, you can add somewhat heavier weights as well.

Stretch before and after. Since you aren’t straining any specific body segments, this type of routine can be done more than once a day. A half hour of this twice a day can work wonders. A link below to one example. (Btw, when you first posted and talked about what you intended to do with jogging to win your bet, my first response was: tendonitus. No one can go from zero to that much training overnight.)

Great article here on some exercises and stretches you can do to avoid injuring (prehab) your shoulder. A lot of people end up with damaged shoulders as they continue exercising due to focusing too much on the bigger lifts and not enough on the support muscles.

I especially like the 3 stretches. Admittedly I haven’t tried the exercises yet, but I will now after reading that doing pullups without working on the shoulders can lead to injury since shoulders are active on your way down.

I have never had a root canal before. I was told it may take three to four hours. I wish. Five hours, 45 minutes in the chair. I have toxic levels of novacaine and nitrous oxide coarsing through my veins.

I went in for my six-month visit last week. I wasn’t experiencing any pain. I was told I would need two fillings at best and possibly root canal. Once the dentist got in there she said the decay had reached the roots and they were infected. If the roots were infected why didn’t I feel any pain?

Is there any risk with using nitrous oxide for an extended period of time? I had the mask on for a LONG time. Initially they must have had the concentration turned up high because I was starting to go bonkers like I was on drugs (although, I have never done drugs so I have no idea what it feels like). There was someone monitoring the system but she did’t seem to know what she was doing. Someone else walked by and said ‘I think we should turn it down.’

I’m on antibiotics and motrin. My head is pounding right now. Does this sound like a typical root canal experience?

Answer 1: Whoa - 4 hours? I’ve had two and one took about an hour and a half total and the other might have taken 2 max.

The first one I had little or no pain during the actual procedure but had a lot of pain the next few days but they prescribed me vicodin (score!). The second one I had some pain during the procedure and absolutely none afterwards.

Answer 2: Depends who you talk to. Some root canals seem to go a lot smoother than others. I’ve had a few myself and was sore for a few days. Warm tea bags on the area you hurt helped as it served as a healing agent. Try it and feel better!!

Answer 3: I’m guessing a 1st molar & a relatively new general dentist. Tooth # 3/14 can have 4-5 roots to obturate. 5 hrs 45 minutes is not normal-she should have scheduled you for 2 appointments.

Answer 4: WTF kind of dentist did a 5 hour root canal??????? I’m in the field and there is NO WAY it takes that long, even if completely calcified. Here’s a lil something for all you folks who need RCT. Your General dentists are NOT endodontists. IF they choose to do a root canal, it’s usually on a cuspid or incisor. Easy for them, because only one canal. If it’s a molar they should send you to a specialist. General dentists take ONLY a weekend course here or there to learn how to do Root Canals. Endo’s specialize and NEVER EVER take 5 hours. Even if it’s 2 teeth.

As for the N2O on for that long? Maybe a lil nausea might be a side effect, but that would be immediate. Might take longer then 20 mins to wear off. I’m not too sure. I’ve never had a patient on it longer then 45 mins.

IMO, unless you’re a dental phobe, it’s not necessary and just a money maker for the doc. Also, your jaw is gonna be sore for a few days. Avoid using those teeth for about two weeks and use anti-inflammatories and you’ll be OK.

Answer 5: I had to leave disney to find a dentist on a family vacation. Then spent the remaining part of the day riding “Everest” over and over with my kids. You haven’t suffered until you subject a freshly carved up nerve to the G-forces of a roller coaster. I was actively praying for my death.

I hope I don’t need self hypnosis because I’m pretty sure I don’t have the patience for it. This article says it helps cancer patients relax before they get their tests. Apparently it also helps some people reduce the pain of childbirth.

A search turned up some Youtube videos that claimed to banned. Soundslike a load of crap to me but maybe the following video (for example) really was banned:

This site has some hypnosis downloads which may be better than what you find on Youtube.

Anyway, I could benefit from lower anxiety. The problem is that they say it takes practice I haven’t got the patience to endure more than 1 minute of any self hypnosis things I’ve seen on Youtube.

At first I was suspicious of this weight loss stuff but it turns out that it’s really food craving control hypnosis. I’m not saying that works but it is less suspicios because the only way you’re gonna lose weight is to eat fewer (healthy of course) calories than you burn. Eating less and working out more are the keys.

A message / warning from one of our readers: I had a mild (of course, that’s my observation, considering I now feel mostly fine) heart attack 2 weeks ago. I’m 38. This came out of nowhere, though I have a hideous history of heart disease in my family (all males on my father’s side), so it shouldn’t have come as such a shock. The shocker is that I’m only 38, otherwise healthy, with normal blood pressure, not overly overweight, eat right, and am an ex-smoker.

I had a stress test last year and passed with flying colors. My cholesterol, however, was way out of control. I modified my diet over the past year and dropped it 100 points without the aid of medication. So I thought I was doing right by myself. I guess not.

I was having mild cold sensation running into my left pectoral and down my left arm the Wednesday before last. I wasn’t too concerned. I thought I might have had a stitch in my side. My day progressed normally. When I got home after my commute, it suddenly turned into dull, radiating pain and I knew something wasn’t right. I immediately downed 2 aspirin and drove myself to the E.R. The EKG confirmed a heart attack and they airlifted me to Jersey Shore in Neptune where they immediately catheterized me, did an angioplasty and inserted a stent. I felt great the following day but wasn’t discharged until 5 days later. I took last week off from work and I’m back to work today (against my doctor’s instructions — he wanted me to take a month off, but I sit down all day and see no reason why I can’t go to work).

Let this be a lesson to you young guys like me: Being young does not preclude you from heart disease or the risk of having a heart attack. Be sure to get yourself checked out. Monitor your cholesterol.

Now the trick is doing something about what happened. Given the fact that I’ve had a cardiac event, the latest recommendations are an LDL (bad cholesterol) under 70. Chances are you will need to take a statin to achieve that level (and statins have other benefits not strictly related to cholesterol).

I would also like a good cholesterol (HDL) greater than 45. Not so easy to do this if you’re not there already, because statins don’t really raise cholesterol very much. Exercise and alcohol (in moderation: 1-2 drinks/day) can produce modest increases, as can consumption of stanol esters (i.e. Smart Balance margarine). There are medications that can raise HDL modestly, most prominently niacin, but niacin is a little hard to take (flushing, GI symptoms).

Fish oil and niacin are both excellent help. When on statins you should also supplement with CoQ 10,the statins deplete you body and can cause serious muscle problems. Also your homocysteine level is at least as important as your cholesterol level.