Ask Dr Ellie! This week: Asthma, shingles and an underactive thyroid
Our resident GP Ellie Cannon answers your questions...
Q How do I know if my son has asthma? My husband and I both have it, so we think it’s very likely. He’s 18 months old and seems to be fine. Is there a test we can do?
Asthma in a young child is a clinical diagnosis, which means that doctors diagnose it on the basis of symptoms, history and likelihood, rather than a specific test: we can’t do a blood test or a specific X-ray to diagnose asthma in a pre-school child, and the breathing tests we can do are for over fives.
At 18 months, your son is too young to be diagnosed with asthma. We tend to diagnose once a child is older than two.
Diagnosing asthma involves firstly looking at the likelihood of him having it, so in his case there is certainly some chance because of his family history.
Other high likelihoods would come from him having other associated diseases, such as eczema and hay fever.
Asthma symptoms are very typical and a doctor will look out for these to consider diagnosing the condition. These would include a cough that has a pattern, so particularly worse in the evening or the morning, or worsened by exercise, laughing or the cold.
A wheeze is the other noticeable feature of asthma and you may hear this, or a doctor would hear it through the stethoscope.
For now, you won’t know if your son has asthma, but keep an eye on symptoms going
forward and go promptly to the doctor if he shows signs.
Q Do you think my mother should have the shingles vaccine? She is 78 and has been offered one by her GP surgery. She has not had shingles before and is thankfully pretty healthy.
This is very much a personal decision – more than 20 percent of adults will get struck by shingles in their adult life and it can be debilitating: shingles is much more common in the elderly, as the immune system weakens.
It is worth knowing that shingles is more than just a rash – it can be a
very painful illness that causes long-term issues. The rash of shingles only lasts two weeks or so, but some people go on to develop a pain condition as a result, known as post-herpetic neuralgia. This leads to permanent pain in the area of the rash and it is very difficult to treat.
Neuralgia doesn’t respond to normal painkillers and can lead to the use of very strong medication and a poor quality of life.
The vaccine boosts the level of antibodies in the blood and has been shown to prevent shingles in more than 70 percent of people who have it.
In those who do get it, having had the vaccine, the episode has been shown to be much milder and with a lower chance of developing the long-term neuralgia. The vaccine is thought to last at least four years.
The shingles vaccine has been licensed since 2006 and used here as part of the national programme for vaccination since 2013 to good effect.
Q How would I know if I have an underactive thyroid? I am always very tired.
Thyroid disease is a common condition affecting one in 50 women with an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism. The thyroid is a gland that lies over the windpipe at the front of the neck. Some people have an enlarged thyroid gland, known as a goitre, and this is seen as a swelling at the front of the neck.
The thyroid produces a hormone called thyroxine that controls how fast our bodily functions work. Because thyroxine controls these functions, an underactive thyroid causes a general slowing down of all the bodily functions. So along with tiredness, you will notice weight gain, constipation, low mood, loss of libido and even slowing down mentally. People can become aware of their hair thinning, skin becoming dry and even a deeper voice. It can be a cause of period disturbances and infertility in women, as well as general body aches and pains.
Some combination of these symptoms would usually prompt a visit to the GP and a standard blood test can be used to assess thyroid function: the results are conclusive in most cases.
If it is not your thyroid, it may be you have a vitamin D deficiency, menopausal symptoms, B12 deficiency or a lack of iron. Treatment aims to replace the thyroid hormone, which has not been produced naturally. A replacement known as Levothyroxine is taken in tablet form every day: in most cases treatment is for life.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
