June 21, 2026 • 40 mins
Westmere Medical Centre's Dr John Cameron joins Newstalk ZB's Tim Beveridge to talk the important of seeing your GP regularly.
They also explore the reasons why people avoid the doctor.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks
be welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is the health up on the Weekend Collective. I'm
Tim Beveridge and we get well our guest today we're
gonna I'll introduce them in just a moment, although he
needs no introduction, well though I will introduce them. Caught
out with what is it the form of the show
already normally apologize when I leave here already. Okay, John Cameron,
(00:32):
Dr John Cameron, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I'm great mate. Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
By the way, I was asking you you because you've
traveled a lot with the Black Caps and cricket. You're
a cricket doctor. You get around still a bit, I
think with the cricket teams. Isn't it just a beautiful
venue at the oval to watch cricket out and we
are doing well which does help, and the sun's shining,
you know some of those.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
English lords of course is the epitome of cricket. That
is when when you walk into the main corridor and
Lord's or down into the long room and you just
steeped in his string you come down those steps onto
the oval. It's just beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Is it quite imposing? The history is sort of like
is it overbearing? Do you think it's something that visiting
teams have to get used to.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, the English teams, the Middlesex teams play at Lords
all the time and Surry they play all the time
as well. We go there. It's almost a once in
a lifetime experience for some.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Of these boys, like going to Hogwarts.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Oh, they had this painting of the Peers boy, which
is the Peers. It's worth three million pounds and it's
just hanging in the long room.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah it is. Anyway, so you watching through the course
of the night.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We'll be up all tonight. Hopefully we wouldn't watch tonight.
I might hang in beyond lunch tonight if we don't lunch.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, now, look, one of the things that look, we're
going to have a catch catch up about check ups
and things like that and what you should do. But
the I just did. I did have a chat with
you before because I was not sure if this was
too political. But just to me as just a punter,
the biggest challenge for anyone actually as a parent. Also,
(02:10):
to be honest, the biggest challenge for most New Zealanders
is getting to see a doctor when you need to
see them. And so we've got this policy of three
free visits, which from a cost point of view as
a winner, but it is not going to help with access,
is it. Have you got any take on that? I
know you know you can climb into it as much
or as little as you like.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
That.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
This is a very personal opinion. I'm not waiving any
political ones. I'm concerned about the three free visits a
couple of reasons. One is the logistics of it's going
to be difficult, and if you look at it, cost
is one of the barriers, and it's only one of the
barriers to accessing healthcare, and it may not actually be
the best one. And if you've got three free visits
(02:50):
and you're young, you two, and you've got one left
up your sleeve, you're going to hold off coming in
and save your free until something happens where you use
it up. The other thing is being able to get
in the one thing we need in this country of
more GPS. We probably don't need meal more hospitals. We
need more primary care. Because we build the primary care,
hopefully a lot of that secredary care will go away,
but we need about two thousand GPS. And this is
(03:12):
where I go against my This is where I go
against my colleagues. How many have we got all of
my colleagues semed to bitch and moan about what it's
horrible being a GP. Oh, we're not paid enough for all? No, No,
who's going to go into the business. If that's what
we're selling it as, We've going to go out there
and trumpet the magnificent job that being a general practitioner.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Is actually would also would having more GPS YEP obviously
freeze up appointment time? Would that also improve the experience
of current practicing GPS as well, because they're just not
so I mean, you're still going to see have a
certain amount of time a lot per day for patients
in so many per hour. But will it just the
(03:51):
vibe change?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
The actual health will change. There's been some incredibly good
studies which have shown that if you have a primary
care clinician physician that you see on a that you've
got a relationship with, you've got a third percent chance
of avoiding hospitalizations, a thirty to forty percent chance of
not suffering chronic disease or getting your disease is much
better managed and it's it's X. It's it's not access
(04:17):
to healthcare, it's excess to a clinician that you know
and trust in.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
You see that, Actually, that's a fantastic thing to throw
to the audience as well. Is how important it is
you for you to have a relationship in a doctor
patient relationship that is consistent for you, where you know,
you call up your doctor, you have an appointment, you
know when you walk in that they sort of they
(04:42):
know you already. You know that they're going to understand
where you're coming from, the way you view your health issues,
where you communicate how important this is it for you?
And how much has that changed because I've I hopefully
am going to establish a relationship with a GP from
now on, But for a while I've been floating around
within the same practice of just who do I see?
(05:03):
And I've probably seen over the of a few years, one, two, three, four,
five different gps. And you can't run how many appointments.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
You can't run healthcare like that, You can't know, you
can't run good, highest quality primary care like that, because
the the longitudinal, longeritudinality of care is vital, and that's
that relationship knowing who you are what your relationship is
with this GP and you between the punter and the
(05:31):
GP both ways, just knowing it and if you're fragmenting it.
We've done that in our practice as well, you know,
the big clinics where who's who's on today? Who shall
I see?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
How hard does it make for I have wondered how
hard it makes it for GPS themselves? Because someone comes
in your room, you know, you know that you've seen
your colleague across the across the hallway and another colleague.
How difficult does it make it for GPS just simply
to digest and understand who's in front of them, as
opposed to just what's bothering you today?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
It becomes very transactional. You deal with the problem that
the punk is putting on the table. Rather, when I'm
training young GPS, the one question I always ask them
is why is this individual come to see me today
about this problem? And I know I'll know their backstory.
I'll know who their mum and their dad is, and
their aunties and their uncles and their kids and everything.
(06:23):
What's the whole picture that's going on here? If you
just deal with the transactional. But I've got this wrong
with me? Fix it? Please, you don't deal with any
of the other stuff. You may not know what's going
on behind it all.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
How important is it? I mean, a GP who's looked
after a family has in the back of their mind
you know they know dad and they know mum. But
how do they approach how do we approach the next generation?
And how much of that sort of Because you're looking
at hereditary things that are likely like of dad's mom
and dad have suffered from high blood pressure. I don't know.
(06:55):
There are certain things where you might be like, well,
there's a good chance we need to, you know, take
a look at this, or.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I'm an old fishon I've got no hair left on
my head. And I remember looking at the kids us
to do this funny loan one, let's come find the elephants.
What color elephants did you put in your ears this morning?
And I said, yeah, because it gets the kids interesting
it what's this man saying I've got elephants and wears?
And the mum turned to me and said, are you
still using that line? You used it on me when
I was that age, and.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
That just, oh my godness, who makes you sound like
you've been around.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
For four generations.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Look, I'd love to throw this sat as a talkback
question as well. How important is it for you to
have a relationship with your healthcare professional in terms of
consistency to have a regular doctor, because it does seem
to be that that is one of the casualties of
where we're at with the shortage of GPS, that you
just see who you can when you can. I eight
hundred and eighty ten eight. Of course, if you've got
(07:48):
any questions for John, he's I'm sure he's more than
happy to take it a crack at it for you.
I eight one hundred eighty ten eighty is the number.
So what do you what do you think is going
to be? How do we get more doctors? Is it
a case of more funding for health? When we spend
a truckload on health and we always well and there
will never be enough money.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But what ever, he thought, whoa, whoa back up the bus.
Where do we spend our money? What where do we
spend our money in health?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We spend a lot. I mean no, but where do
we spend it? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
We spend it at the end?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Oh okay, okay, we spend a truck question, you walk
right into it.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
The amount of money that spend in primary healthcare is
incredibly small compared to where it else goes. I was
telling you as we were off here when I first,
but general practice fees are fascinating. The original fee was
brought in by the first Labor government and it was
half a consopt fee. Consult fee was one guinea, isn't
that you're saying that beautiful word? One guinea one pound,
(08:46):
one shilling and it came in at ten and six,
so they paid for half the fee. When I started
practice in nineteen eighty seven, they were still paying ten
and six. It's half the fee, but the fee was
twenty five dollars, so it was it just degraded. It's
degraded and degraded and degraded. At the moment we are
fee frozen. There's a there's been a big negotiation just
(09:07):
going on about gppees, and that sounds.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Like it hasn't been positive. The just I got from
just digesting it as a punter, Well, we're.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Like pirates on the ship. You can neither stay on
the ship or what the plank would you want to do?
Eighty percent of people said they'd like to stay on
the ship.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Okay, it's a tough one, isn't it. And before we
go to the course, the tough thing about it seems
to be that if you want to save money on healthcare,
you've got to invest more in primary care. But of
course you've got to pick up both ends of that
barbell right now, because it's not like the effects of
good primary care are not going to kick in for
the benefits of people needing less dramatic healthcare.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
So that is, but if we don't do it, if
we don't do it now, we will never do it
and we'll be lost.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Okay, eight hundred eighty ten eighty your thoughts on that
as well, But also just how important is it for you?
And what lengths have you gone to to ensure you've
got a good relationship with your GP.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Here's a good question. Do you know the first and
last name of your usual GP? Ask yourself, yes, I do.
There you go, Bob, that's just me thinking.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I actually and the one who there was one who left.
I was like, oh, why is he gone? What a shame?
And then you've got to regroup and blah blah blah. Okay, right,
let's take some calls eight hundred and eighty ten eighty
were also going to dig into because it has been
men's health week. You know, what are the checkups you
should get and when and if you are healthy? Healthy, healthy?
I never get sick, never gets sick, never gets sick.
Next minute you hear about Bob, who've never got sick,
(10:30):
and he's six months later. Something's tragic has happened because
he's got sick, very sick. So what checkups should you
get and when? We might dig into that with John
and just a moment we can ghost makes it sounds
like we can have a fight or something. Let's go Andrea.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Hello, Oh, yes.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
Andrew, it's Andrew here. I'd like to ask the doctor
a question that really really worrying me. I did the
medical advice and the listener, and they said that the
primary fatty acid found an olive oil is con beneficial
for heart els, that man courage tune both creatic cancer.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
No, I wouldn't even go there.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
No, sorry, you're worried about olive oil.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
There's one of the continents, one of the parts of
olive oil may promote pancreatic cancer. That is such small print.
I wouldn't worry about it. As far as we know,
the poly unsaturated oils such as olive oil are much
more beneficial to your health than any other the solid fats.
Any fat that's liquid at room temperter is generally okay.
I wouldn't be too perturbed about pancreatic canceling.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
It just frightened because I read I use olive oil
on my food all the time, and when I read that,
I was absolutely horrified and frightened.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
That's maybe from heating the oil. Sometimes that will do it,
but otherwise no, great. My mum used to slather a
skin in it. She was she's marvelessly. Oh, absolutely, she
smelt like.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, it wasn't in the old days where people have
put cooking oil on before I went out in the sun.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
That was baby oil and coconutor Okay, don't worry, don't
fret about that one.
Speaker 6 (12:10):
Please don't worry and keep using the olive oil.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Please do.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Cheers, Andrew. Thank you. Actually, just remind us the words
on oil. Member, these mono unsaturated, poly saturated, fully saturated
animal fats. Yes, what are the good, bad and indifferent?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Polly unsaturated is what is good? Polly unsaturated saturated fats
become more solid. As a general rule, if you're going
to use a stick a finger in the air, any
fat that's solid at room temperature should be avoided if
it all possible.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, right, so it looks like animal.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Those lamb chops?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Did you see my eyes laser? Because I literally cooked
my first roast in ages and it was a rolled
lamb shoulder and I anyway, and some of the vegetables
sort of sat in it as it dripped down, and anyway,
as I took them out, and then I basically had
this all this liquid, and I thought how much of
this as juices and how much is fat? And I
(13:13):
sort of stuck with a spoon and just had taste.
I thought, I think that's all fat. Anyway, So I
just used a tablespoon of it to make the gravy
and I left the pan there and then then it
all solidified, and I was like, oh my god, that's
so much fat that came. But I'm thinking at least
it came out of the meat.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's how do you treat.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Fats? Animal fats and your diet? Do you worry about it?
Do you?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I try and minimize as much as I can, but
we all like nice chicken with a crispy chicken skin.
It's all nice.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Some animal fats better or worse than others. Dunk fat,
chicken fat, beef fat, lamb fat.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
They sold at room temperature.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Sounds like a song on that best best Um. Well,
they're not cooked, but they sold it for refrigerated temperature.
What's your approach to red meat and fat?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
We probably much red meat as a country. A portion
of red meat should be the size of the palm
of your hand. That's one portion.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, that's such. When you do that, it looks so stingy.
That fair enough? I actually, by the way, are you
a when it comes to your own health with eating?
Are you? If I looked at your diet, would I
be like? I think he means me to do his
ice and do as he sees not as absolutely? Oh god, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Almost really, but I don't feel guilty about it.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I realieved to hear that because bacon, I mean, why
should bacon be so tasty?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Okay, it's bacon once every couple of weeks, Yeah, fine,
every day?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Probably not fine? Probably not good? Okay, we want your
cause one hundred and eighty ten eighty You can have
your thoughts about the free doctors, visitors and visits if
you like him, and it's a bit more political for
the Health Hub, but if you've got any questions for
John John Cameron, then we'd love to hear from you.
But also I want to dig into John after the
into with John after the break. Just the question about
(15:04):
and I'm not talking about being hyperchondria call either, but
if you're just being sensible, you know, how often should
you see a doctor as you go through the years
when you're twenty you probably do it when you get
a when you need some antibiotics, maybe, and you're feeling
about croc but you know, what do you do if
you're one of those healthy people? Is there a time
where you should just go and get a check out?
I was going to put that in a very rude
(15:24):
way actually to do with tests and prostate and all
that sort of thing. But right now we'll come back
in just a moment twenty two past four News Talks
d B. Yes, welcome back. Yes, I don't know what
I'm saying there anyway, With doctor John Cameron. This is
the Health Hub and we're talking about the doctor subsidy
where you think that that's a good idea, but what
is the key to getting more GPS and primary care
(15:49):
available to New Zealanders as well? And taking your calls
on other things you might have on your mind. Sterling. Hello, yeah, yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
I'm sorry. I'm driving from Wellington Emilton, so.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
My reception that's all right, Okay, just get you speak quickly,
keep your eyes on the road.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
Yeah yeah, I'm just serious. Near wipe up the hospital.
There's a few parents at my school that are GPS,
or they come from a country where they are.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Okay, you're dropping out there, Sterling. But I'm guessing I
know what that question is. I've talked to people who've
come from other countries who are GPS but they can't
practice here. Would probably be where he is going until
they started to cut out. So accepting people's qualifications which
countries should be be a zero room for a bit
more movement on that or what.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah, there's a group of countries where there's pretty easy entry.
If you're looking about Canada, Australia, the UK, pretty straightforward.
There are not all medical degrees are the equivalent from
other countries around the world, and we need to make
sure that the quality is there as well, and there
are pathways. There are pathways for external doctors who have
(17:07):
trained elsewhere to come into the New Zealand workforce, and
that's been ramped up at the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, because even if I mean that, there are reasons
why we accept some jurisdictions other than others, I guess,
and there is still the opportunity for them to requalify
in New Zealand. I don't know how that works.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's not easy, and it's quite involved, and it's there's
costs associated with it. So it's not something which you
just turn up, sign a piece of paper and the
where you go. But you we're trying to we're in
the global market for doctors. There is a global dearth
of doctors worldwide. Okay. Yeah, and so we used to
use a lot from the Canadian market, a lot from
the UK market that's all dried up now.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah. Well actually it's funny, but we all think it's
only our problem. But if you you just google dot co,
dot UK doctor shortage or dot Com USA or whatever,
every country. We always think it's just us. No, okay,
eight hundred and eightyen just quick text before we go
to we're gonna have a chat about. There's been a
bit of Men's Health Week talk as well. This text
(18:05):
here says, my doctor retired a few months ago. I've
been given a new doctor, but I don't like him.
I want to change to another doctor in the practice,
but the receptionist told me I could not change, so
I won't go back. What do I do? Pollocks you?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Okay? It depends on the enrollment policy at their practice.
Every practice has to have an enrollment policy which sets
out which patients they will accept. If the doctor that
you would like to go to has got closed books
and is so overwhelmed that they can only manage what
they have got at that time, then yeah, that might
be difficult to do. But in general, if you if
(18:39):
you fit the enrollment policy of that practice, it's a
patient driven thing.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Who can who can the patient have a conversation with? Then,
because they don't obviously want to talk to the doctor
who they don't like.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It does get difficult. They can ask the receptionist, well,
which doctors in this practice are taking on new patients?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Okay? Which doctors are taking on new patients? Would also
do most practices have a practice manager you could talk
to you could.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Absolutely, you can do that, and that's a really important
talk to actually have. You want to feel comfortable with
the doctor that you're worth If you're uncomfortable with the doc,
we understand. I know there are people I really really annoy.
I don't know why, but yeah, there are people there
who hate my guts as the doctor.
Speaker 8 (19:21):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
That's fine, Really, what do they do? We just don't
get on right, so like for like, so I'm quite heavy.
When they said, look, I need to go and see someone,
that's that's sweet, because you need to be someone where
you feel comfortable and be able to get a good
discussion with someone.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Okay, because unfortunately, what that does raises the spectra of
the whole thing. If you look need to look for
a new doctor, and how challenging that is. I did follow. Actually,
you gave advice to talk to a local pharmacist and
I talk to. I also spoke to Luckily I've got
the not luckily for him, I guess, but my retired GP.
I actually had his number and I actually caught him
(19:56):
and he suggested a good suggestion. But the pharmacist was
pretty good too. It was he didn't want to rule
anyone out. He just ruled someone and he said this
person is great. And then I said what about such
and such and he says, this person is great.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yeah, there's some ethics in there. But you know that
the pharmacists and I think we got when we talked
about the last time here, the farmacists rang up. So
you can't do that. You can't do that. There are
ways of saying you're great or you're great.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Well, I don't say that person sucks or anything, but
you could say I really like this GP. What people say,
they like it that person. So where you go slaps,
isn't it all the time? Hamish?
Speaker 9 (20:36):
Hello, Hello, Hey.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
I've just got one question for the doctor. I I'm
having trouble over the last sort of twelve twelve months
just peen yep.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
I'm fifty four years old, yep, and I've been in
hospital about three months months ago. I hit three blood
trenchsfusions through too three too just saws coming up on
my thing and they got all that that right. But
now this is sort of getting a bit serious and
I'll sort of get a bit of pain down in
(21:15):
the absomen yep, yeah, I think I may have to
go back to the doctor.
Speaker 9 (21:23):
What do you.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
Think that is.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I would have no idea, but you definitely go I
need to talk to someone about it, and when you're going,
draw up a picture of what's actually happening. So when
do I have trouble? What do I mean by having
troubles at? Trouble starting? Is that trouble stopping? Do I
dribble afterwards? Am I getting up fifteen times at night?
Have I noticed any blood in my Yearine?
Speaker 5 (21:43):
I do?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
You've noticed what blood?
Speaker 9 (21:45):
You?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
We?
Speaker 8 (21:47):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Well? Getting up fifteen times at night? Yes, yep, Okay,
so that's something you can tell the doc. So the
classic thing, and a gentleman in the mid fifties is
the Good Lord in her infinite wisdom gave us a
thing called the prostate gland which slowly enlarges at the
base of the bladder, and the tube which takes you
in from the blood to the outside will go through
the center of that gland. And there is an aging
(22:09):
thing which is called benign prostatic hope to pertrophy, where
the prostatect land slowly closes off that gap. And that's
one of the reasons that can do that. There are
other things that can do that as well. Infections, tumors
that prostate gland can do it. Don't be frightened about
presenting it. We need to know about these things. We
can investigate, we can work out a plan and hopefully
(22:30):
resolve your problem. So don't be frightened about telling someone
about it. But give that picture. Okay, this is what
I have noticed, in very very simple words, can do that.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
God like Hamish I think sounded like Hamish knew the answer,
but he you know you scared, Well, I understand, you know, actually,
can I ask a thing? So this is you know
that what is it? That's what is it that's telling
you you need to go to the toilet, that sensation
that you need to wear normally splended distension because so
(23:05):
for instance, I'm not don't want to overshare. But you know,
the other day I thought I really need to go
to the loom, quite busting, and then I managed to
distract myself with something else and sat down and it
completely went away. And I thought, because normally, if I'm
waking up in the middle of the night, it doesn't
go away. But what is going on there?
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Lovely stories? So it's a little bit of physiology within
the within the within the muscular layer of the bladder.
There are stretch receptors, and as you're bled, your bladder
doesn't sit there like a like position and it's yeah.
So basically the ball of the bladder is slowly distending
as the urinees made. We make about twenty mills minimum
twenty mills an hour, So even when you're in bed asleep,
(23:40):
you're still making we going to keep making we, and
the blood of slowly extends. The message goes across to
the spinal cord, and then there's a reflex act that
the message also goes up to the brain saying this
is where your bladder is at.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Okay, one last question. If you're really busting to go
for a WI sometimes you go and it's just dribbling out,
and then an hour half an hour later you go
and you and all of a sudden, it's like a
fire hydrant when didn't feel that there was that much demand.
Is a bit like a balloon. That's sort of too.
It's constructing the exit because it's two full or one
(24:12):
not quite.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
You've got one though, and that the muscle layer of
the bladder has a preferential stretch where the power that
it can generate is related to the stretch on the muscle.
If you stretch it further, it has less power. So
when you get up in the morning with no overstend
to bladder, yeah, guys, my agent to sit there.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And because if you visit a urologist and do one
of those let's do it flow test, well, I'd be
like I could be busting and it would be really bad,
and I could not be busting, and I'd be like
a fireheart ripe. We know that they do.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
We know all that, and we can measure the residual
volumes and your bladder and all those sorts of things.
So it's it's the same with a lot of things.
Your heart muscle as well, that's exactly the same thing.
It's got an optimal length of fiber that gives it
the best grunt. If you overstretch it, the grunt goes down.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Okay, eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty Taking your
calls with John Cameron Francis day, Oh.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Hi, and great sort of International Men's Health week gets
even Men's Health Weekend. You're talking about it so openly
well done. You can I talk to the doctor from
a minute god, Okay, okay, because you know that the
prostrate and you know the sort of the quiet effect
(25:27):
that it has without men name for the vice minute.
But there's another one that really does worrying me. And
you know the government is now paying attention because it's
having to pay heavily for it. And that is the
sylum to Selson, and you know there's not much said
of it. And that's the kidney dying quietly until it
(25:51):
gets to a halfway measure. And you know that halfway
measure that nobody tells you. It's eyeing until it gets
to the halfway measure and then it's too late and
then you get to dialysis. Now, why is that halfway
measure brought back to CKD toes for the doctors? Because
I've got badly caught out and unlesst with half a
(26:13):
good kidney only working.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yep, okay, thanks Francis.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Chronic renal disease is a big problem. We see it
mostly in association with diabetes, and we're very very careful
with people with diabetes watching their renal function, but it
can occur on a whole range of other things. The
difficulty we've got if you've got renal disease, quite often,
what we can do is try and remove any of
the aggravating factors which are making the kidney worse. We
(26:40):
don't have a lot of ability to improve renal function
at this stage, so most of it's trying to remove
all the things which could make the kidneys worse. Yeah,
kidneys are really important. Without them, we don't function very
well and we die.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So how do you I mean, I think what Francis
was saying, you know, you sort of find out and
it's too late because you've already got the problem. Is
there any way I'm reading into.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
So there's a gradual degradation of renal function as we mature,
ny get less and less and less, and we follow that.
We're monitoring you when we do a blood test, that's
one of the standard things. We'll do a little bit
of urine creating, and quite often we'll do a urine
protein looking to see other kidneys leaky or what's happening
to the overall filtering capability of your kidney. And as
long as it's as long as we draw out the
(27:22):
line and it's going to go very low after we
think you're going to die, we go cool. If it's
going to crash, then we get really interested in trying
to remove anything that might be making it worse.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
What are the factors? I mean, it's just something that's
just you know, the way you are. But are there
external factors that you can avoid. I'm guessing alcohol and
all that sort of stuff, But what are the things
that kidneys?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Alcoholics have beautiful kidneys, so they know they do rotten livers,
rotten pincrest, but oh, okay, kidneys are great. Kidneys are great, yess,
So keeping the fluid and takeed up, not taking any
of the pharmaceuticals or chemicals that could damage your kidney.
There are a whole set of renal diseases in themselves
which quite often will swing up the blue and we
(28:05):
don't really know them. You know, Jonahalomu and people like
that had really nasty kidney disease and it was nothing
which he did or didn't do, which caused it. It
was just what was happening. Our medicines can cause kidney disease.
We've got to be very careful about the medicines that
we use. And diabetes. Diabetes is the number one kidney
killer in this country.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Okay, we're going to take some more calls in just
a moment, and I must tick off that box that
we about what checks you maybe should consider getting if
you are otherwise ordinarily healthy, because time is flying when
you're having fun. At twenty one minutes to five News
Talk z B News Talk zed B No. Just before
we go to our next caller, we're with John Cameron
and I did preview this, so we need to cover
(28:43):
it off. Are there certain checks that as you go
through life that you should see a doctor at certain
age or whatever and get you know that, get your
blood's done, get the finger up and bottom and all
that sort of thing. I mean that's a male thing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
But anyway, if you got bleeding from your bummy, okay, yeah,
but fair enough care.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Oh heck.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
We normally say there's two things that we should do
about it once every five years. It's probably not a
silly idea touch base. Doing it every year is almost
totally overkill. Before you do that, and under fifty years
of age, really you as much as you can say,
you generally reasonably bulletproof before them, at least you notice something.
(29:25):
No things will come up with. There was something in
the paper about a thirty yard year old who bowel cancer,
and we go we would never catch that in a
million years unless that we saw the centers and you
can't screen the population for that. Oh that's horrible, absolutely,
just yeah, just terrible. But you know, age fifty is
a reasonable sort of watershed if you're doing that, ring
(29:46):
up and have a talk to the practice news and say, look,
I'm coming in. I want to spend some time on
in a wellness check. Talk to the dot and see it.
Does you want to do any testing before I come
and see you. We can then do the test, and
then when you come and see us, we can actually
have a really good discussion with information relative to you.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It also helps, from what I gather, because I fronted
up once to my old GP and said, I mean,
it's men's health week. I need to get the full
in a men's health check. And he said he sort
of chuckled and sort of he said, you probably should
have let us know beforehand because we need a bit
more time for these things.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Yeah, and book half an hour please.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's the one he said. And anyway, he
did it all and everything. But he said, because he
knew that I was responding to everything I'd been learning
in my job, he said, but just give us a
heads up on if you need that check, talk to us.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Yeah, try and make you good for both of you.
There are things that we can do in fifteen minutes.
There are things which take longer, and we may charge
you for doing it longer. But hey, when you take
your car and you get the warrant done with the
get it serviced, that's got a cost too. But you
like to do that.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Just a quick one before we go to Beryl. Is
prostate cancer something that if it's been in your family
and a granddad, uncle, dad.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Yes, it will. It will increase your risk and especially
if it's younger onset. If your dad was eighty five
and had prostate cancer, no great impact on you if
he was fifty five.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yep, okay, right, Bearyl High.
Speaker 8 (31:05):
Hi doctor just got to acknowledge Timfest Hi Tim, just
your favorite listener calling them Hi doctor Listen. I'm going
to start mine off of only a possibility because you
won't really know. Daughter had abscesss in the ears at
eighteen months because the doctor said the milk had not
(31:30):
gone down. Some of the milk had gone down her throat,
most of it had gone down other channels, causing the absences.
She is now fifty four, she recently thought she was
leaving anybody here in one of her ears and what
they did with the audiologists said that they didn't think
it was connected to old age, but connected to something else,
(31:50):
and she might eventually need a hearing aid in that
ear on a possibility. Do you think what happened to
her were the abscesss of eighteen months now she's fifty
four would have probably had anything to do with that
particular air that she is lost by the hearing them.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Okay, firstly, it had nothing to do with the milk. Okay, okay,
It's a genetic thing. It's the size and functioning of
the estation tube which drains the middle a cavity in
the back of the nose. Some kids who've got really
small estation tubes they block off, leave her enclosed cavity
in the middle of a cavity and it fills up
with puss. That's unfortunate what happens. It's it is a
possibility that it because hearing loss later on in life.
(32:30):
The biggest thing is if there's been damage to the
actual ear drum and the small bones in the middle
air cavity rather than in the organ that takes the
vibration and turns it into electricity, so that what we
call the sensory neural versus a conductive hearing. Conductive hearing
may have been affected by the previous middle air infections
and abscesses. The sensory neural the electronic park probably not
(32:53):
so now, don't blame yourself. And there's almost certainly nothing
that you could have couldn't have done in between time. Nowadays,
what we would do for someone with that situation has
put the little ventilation tubes in, as the caddies called grommets,
and how per rate the middle a cavity, and that
normally settles things down.
Speaker 8 (33:08):
Okay, they did tell it's got nothing to do with
old age, so yet no, thank you very much. That
has enlightened me a lot, and I'll be able to
pass that back to here that it may be small
the smaller channels in the air or whatever.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Thanks thanks very much. Thanks very And by the way,
if you hear something on this that you've missed, you
can go after six o'clock go and check out the
podcast and iHeart radio and it should be all there
for you. Hang on a minute. It's thirteen minutes to
actually tell you what we might have a clean run
to the news. I don't want to try and cram Nigel,
and so we'll take the break now and come back
(33:43):
with a bit more correspondence and cause. In just a moment,
News Talk said B. News Talk said B with Tim Beverage.
Let's go toll by the way. Just quick one from Dave.
How can fatty red meat, which is the oldest food
there is, be responsible for modern disease?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
It's always been causing disease. We just didn't live long
enough beforehand.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Ah, good point, because we used to cart it before
we win forty forty five, that was it. Next that
sounds old compared to what I think looking backwards very
quickly is blimey. Time flies doesn't when you're when you're
having fun.
Speaker 9 (34:14):
Nigel, Hello, yeah, hi, Hi doctor you were talking before
about Kenney disease. Were prompted to give you a call.
And I'm sixty and approximately steven maybe eight years ago.
I developed high elevated blood pressure through try to get
it down blah blah blah and accordant. So I went
(34:36):
back to the doctor and he prescribed me blood pressure medication.
That was fine, and I started taking that medication and
then probably about three months after starting that medication, I
started to develop gout. So I walked back to the doctor,
the same doctor, and he said, I probably something needs
(34:57):
to diet here. Every time your gout fear is up,
here pop one of these that was diclosing anti inflamatory.
So I said fine, And of course it wasn't long
and I was popping three four, die close and next
a day going along sang doctor reknew my prescription. But
then it's just it just sat a getting beyond a joke.
(35:18):
So I went back to the clinic and I saw
a different doctor. And anyway, he looked at my history
and he said, he said, I couldn't. He said, I
can't understand why I haven't had any blood tests done.
I said no. He said, well, you should have had
blood tests done before you went on your blood precent medication,
and you said it certainly when you started developing symptoms
(35:39):
of gout. So anyway, he not blood tests and he
phoned me up as soon as he got the results
and he said, stop taking your medication. Your kidney function
is crash and your borderline diabetic. So I went in there.
He changed my medication around. I had to go on
a course of prenia zole and now on our puranoal
for life. Yep, those pren results were absolutely shocking, and
(36:03):
of course I can't take forms of anti inflammatory at all.
So I watched my diet. I had very little red meat,
maybe red meat once a fortnite chicken blah blah blah,
reduced salt, no sugar, et cetera, et cetera. Now, what
does wanted to know? As my genfr EGFR is sitting
(36:28):
in the mid thirties range, and it's been sitting in
there for the last gosh, since we're doing the bloods,
which I had get the bloods done once a year,
it's been setting in the mid thirties for about the
last sort of four years, maybe fight So what I
was wanted to know because my kidney's crash due to
(36:52):
inappropriate medication and not a disease, my would my EGFR
being in the mid thirties is that kind of now
my norm? Or will my they continue to deteriorate?
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Okay, So there's a couple of things there. Firstly, we
don't know what your ETfr was before you went on
the medicine, so it's hard to comment hypertension per se
is something that can cause kidney damage and a drop
on your ETfr. Certainly, anti inflammatory medicines can again dramatically
affect your kidney function, so we're very very careful anyone
(37:28):
who's got dicky kidneys with anti inflammatories. We're very careful
about that. From a gout perspective, I'm not sure. One
of the things that can sometimes fire that off is
if we use a blood pressure medicine called a diuretic.
Size diuretics, because they will they can precipitate gout by
raising a uric acid, So it might have been a
whamy around that. Certainly, taking current courses of pregnant zone
(37:49):
is not a good idea unless you really are up
against the wall. But ala puranole brilliant. We undertreat gout
in this country and we should be using it a
hell of a lot more. And we've got another medicine
call for box a stat which we can also use
if ala perinole's not working for you. So what we're
gonna do for you is protect the kidneys that you've
got thirty GFR, you've lost a significant amount of renal function,
(38:15):
but as long as it's stable while you're doing everything
you can. That's good news.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Hey, thanks for your call, Nigel. I hope for that.
Hopefully that helps. Sorry, we're getting a little short of time.
I just think you, by the way, is the season
for getting your flu jabs?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Are you leaving it a bit late?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Sort of now getting actually? So that would be what
would be the sort of recommendation on flu jabs is
I mean who should get one?
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Definitely and basically everyone?
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Ye, yeah, I always get it.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
It's very safe and okay, you do not get influenza
from the influenza vaccine. There are no infectious particles and
I'm not even going to unundate me last time.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
We leave it to the end. It's all bollocks.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
It's all bollocks. The influenza vaccine has got no live
particles in it and cannot cause influenza. So you get
it done now. And COVID. We're changing on COVID about
once a year and now for people at risk run
every six months. But those are simple things that you
can do. Bell screening, please, do you bow screening, skin checking,
watching your skin.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Actually, by the way, what's the technique someone was talking about.
They've got the they've got the kite and they haven't
really done it yet. How do they do it? How
do they actually you.
Speaker 6 (39:23):
Know the end?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
But the pooh goes into the water.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
You can play dodgems if you like, bobbing for no problem.
While you can do any of those sorts all we want.
It's a bit of poo and we're looking at feek
and could blood.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
I think I know the singer who does that. I'm
pretty sure I know who it is, a guy I've
worked with in the past, and I actually have been
meant to get in touch thing. I just love the
way you're swinging, you know, just such and such than
the exactly Anyway, Look, if you have got one of
those kits, by the way, leave it. Don't leave it
sitting on the draw. It's just one, you know, simple
(40:01):
test and there you go. Just take it off the paper.
There you go. Okay, that one for someone. Anyway, Hey,
thanks John, pleaseure, great to see you, mate, and good
luck with watching that cracket Tonight we'll go to the BC.
Got to do it, haven't we? Anyway? Back with smart
Money in just a Moment, News Talks dB.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
talks edb weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks
be welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
This is the health up on the Weekend Collective. I'm
Tim Beveridge and we get well our guest today we're
gonna I'll introduce them in just a moment, although he
needs no introduction, well though I will introduce them. Caught
out with what is it the form of the show
already normally apologize when I leave here already. Okay, John Cameron,
(00:32):
Dr John Cameron, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I'm great mate. Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
By the way, I was asking you you because you've
traveled a lot with the Black Caps and cricket. You're
a cricket doctor. You get around still a bit, I
think with the cricket teams. Isn't it just a beautiful
venue at the oval to watch cricket out and we
are doing well which does help, and the sun's shining,
you know some of those.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
English lords of course is the epitome of cricket. That
is when when you walk into the main corridor and
Lord's or down into the long room and you just
steeped in his string you come down those steps onto
the oval. It's just beautiful.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Is it quite imposing? The history is sort of like
is it overbearing? Do you think it's something that visiting
teams have to get used to.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Yes, the English teams, the Middlesex teams play at Lords
all the time and Surry they play all the time
as well. We go there. It's almost a once in
a lifetime experience for some.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Of these boys, like going to Hogwarts.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Oh, they had this painting of the Peers boy, which
is the Peers. It's worth three million pounds and it's
just hanging in the long room.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah it is. Anyway, so you watching through the course
of the night.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We'll be up all tonight. Hopefully we wouldn't watch tonight.
I might hang in beyond lunch tonight if we don't lunch.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, now, look, one of the things that look, we're
going to have a catch catch up about check ups
and things like that and what you should do. But
the I just did. I did have a chat with
you before because I was not sure if this was
too political. But just to me as just a punter,
the biggest challenge for anyone actually as a parent. Also,
(02:10):
to be honest, the biggest challenge for most New Zealanders
is getting to see a doctor when you need to
see them. And so we've got this policy of three
free visits, which from a cost point of view as
a winner, but it is not going to help with access,
is it. Have you got any take on that? I
know you know you can climb into it as much
or as little as you like.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
That.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
This is a very personal opinion. I'm not waiving any
political ones. I'm concerned about the three free visits a
couple of reasons. One is the logistics of it's going
to be difficult, and if you look at it, cost
is one of the barriers, and it's only one of the
barriers to accessing healthcare, and it may not actually be
the best one. And if you've got three free visits
(02:50):
and you're young, you two, and you've got one left
up your sleeve, you're going to hold off coming in
and save your free until something happens where you use
it up. The other thing is being able to get
in the one thing we need in this country of
more GPS. We probably don't need meal more hospitals. We
need more primary care. Because we build the primary care,
hopefully a lot of that secredary care will go away,
but we need about two thousand GPS. And this is
(03:12):
where I go against my This is where I go
against my colleagues. How many have we got all of
my colleagues semed to bitch and moan about what it's
horrible being a GP. Oh, we're not paid enough for all? No, No,
who's going to go into the business. If that's what
we're selling it as, We've going to go out there
and trumpet the magnificent job that being a general practitioner.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Is actually would also would having more GPS YEP obviously
freeze up appointment time? Would that also improve the experience
of current practicing GPS as well, because they're just not
so I mean, you're still going to see have a
certain amount of time a lot per day for patients
in so many per hour. But will it just the
(03:51):
vibe change?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
The actual health will change. There's been some incredibly good
studies which have shown that if you have a primary
care clinician physician that you see on a that you've
got a relationship with, you've got a third percent chance
of avoiding hospitalizations, a thirty to forty percent chance of
not suffering chronic disease or getting your disease is much
better managed and it's it's X. It's it's not access
(04:17):
to healthcare, it's excess to a clinician that you know
and trust in.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
You see that, Actually, that's a fantastic thing to throw
to the audience as well. Is how important it is
you for you to have a relationship in a doctor
patient relationship that is consistent for you, where you know,
you call up your doctor, you have an appointment, you
know when you walk in that they sort of they
(04:42):
know you already. You know that they're going to understand
where you're coming from, the way you view your health issues,
where you communicate how important this is it for you?
And how much has that changed because I've I hopefully
am going to establish a relationship with a GP from
now on, But for a while I've been floating around
within the same practice of just who do I see?
(05:03):
And I've probably seen over the of a few years, one, two, three, four,
five different gps. And you can't run how many appointments.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
You can't run healthcare like that, You can't know, you
can't run good, highest quality primary care like that, because
the the longitudinal, longeritudinality of care is vital, and that's
that relationship knowing who you are what your relationship is
with this GP and you between the punter and the
(05:31):
GP both ways, just knowing it and if you're fragmenting it.
We've done that in our practice as well, you know,
the big clinics where who's who's on today? Who shall
I see?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
How hard does it make for I have wondered how
hard it makes it for GPS themselves? Because someone comes
in your room, you know, you know that you've seen
your colleague across the across the hallway and another colleague.
How difficult does it make it for GPS just simply
to digest and understand who's in front of them, as
opposed to just what's bothering you today?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
It becomes very transactional. You deal with the problem that
the punk is putting on the table. Rather, when I'm
training young GPS, the one question I always ask them
is why is this individual come to see me today
about this problem? And I know I'll know their backstory.
I'll know who their mum and their dad is, and
their aunties and their uncles and their kids and everything.
(06:23):
What's the whole picture that's going on here? If you
just deal with the transactional. But I've got this wrong
with me? Fix it? Please, you don't deal with any
of the other stuff. You may not know what's going
on behind it all.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
How important is it? I mean, a GP who's looked
after a family has in the back of their mind
you know they know dad and they know mum. But
how do they approach how do we approach the next generation?
And how much of that sort of Because you're looking
at hereditary things that are likely like of dad's mom
and dad have suffered from high blood pressure. I don't know.
(06:55):
There are certain things where you might be like, well,
there's a good chance we need to, you know, take
a look at this, or.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I'm an old fishon I've got no hair left on
my head. And I remember looking at the kids us
to do this funny loan one, let's come find the elephants.
What color elephants did you put in your ears this morning?
And I said, yeah, because it gets the kids interesting
it what's this man saying I've got elephants and wears?
And the mum turned to me and said, are you
still using that line? You used it on me when
I was that age, and.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
That just, oh my godness, who makes you sound like
you've been around.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
For four generations.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Look, I'd love to throw this sat as a talkback
question as well. How important is it for you to
have a relationship with your healthcare professional in terms of
consistency to have a regular doctor, because it does seem
to be that that is one of the casualties of
where we're at with the shortage of GPS, that you
just see who you can when you can. I eight
hundred and eighty ten eight. Of course, if you've got
(07:48):
any questions for John, he's I'm sure he's more than
happy to take it a crack at it for you.
I eight one hundred eighty ten eighty is the number.
So what do you what do you think is going
to be? How do we get more doctors? Is it
a case of more funding for health? When we spend
a truckload on health and we always well and there
will never be enough money.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But what ever, he thought, whoa, whoa back up the bus.
Where do we spend our money? What where do we
spend our money in health?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We spend a lot. I mean no, but where do
we spend it? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
We spend it at the end?
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Oh okay, okay, we spend a truck question, you walk
right into it.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
The amount of money that spend in primary healthcare is
incredibly small compared to where it else goes. I was
telling you as we were off here when I first,
but general practice fees are fascinating. The original fee was
brought in by the first Labor government and it was
half a consopt fee. Consult fee was one guinea, isn't
that you're saying that beautiful word? One guinea one pound,
(08:46):
one shilling and it came in at ten and six,
so they paid for half the fee. When I started
practice in nineteen eighty seven, they were still paying ten
and six. It's half the fee, but the fee was
twenty five dollars, so it was it just degraded. It's
degraded and degraded and degraded. At the moment we are
fee frozen. There's a there's been a big negotiation just
(09:07):
going on about gppees, and that sounds.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Like it hasn't been positive. The just I got from
just digesting it as a punter, Well, we're.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Like pirates on the ship. You can neither stay on
the ship or what the plank would you want to do?
Eighty percent of people said they'd like to stay on
the ship.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Okay, it's a tough one, isn't it. And before we
go to the course, the tough thing about it seems
to be that if you want to save money on healthcare,
you've got to invest more in primary care. But of
course you've got to pick up both ends of that
barbell right now, because it's not like the effects of
good primary care are not going to kick in for
the benefits of people needing less dramatic healthcare.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
So that is, but if we don't do it, if
we don't do it now, we will never do it
and we'll be lost.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Okay, eight hundred eighty ten eighty your thoughts on that
as well, But also just how important is it for you?
And what lengths have you gone to to ensure you've
got a good relationship with your GP.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Here's a good question. Do you know the first and
last name of your usual GP? Ask yourself, yes, I do.
There you go, Bob, that's just me thinking.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I actually and the one who there was one who left.
I was like, oh, why is he gone? What a shame?
And then you've got to regroup and blah blah blah. Okay, right,
let's take some calls eight hundred and eighty ten eighty
were also going to dig into because it has been
men's health week. You know, what are the checkups you
should get and when and if you are healthy? Healthy, healthy?
I never get sick, never gets sick, never gets sick.
Next minute you hear about Bob, who've never got sick,
(10:30):
and he's six months later. Something's tragic has happened because
he's got sick, very sick. So what checkups should you
get and when? We might dig into that with John
and just a moment we can ghost makes it sounds
like we can have a fight or something. Let's go Andrea.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
Hello, Oh, yes.
Speaker 6 (10:46):
Andrew, it's Andrew here. I'd like to ask the doctor
a question that really really worrying me. I did the
medical advice and the listener, and they said that the
primary fatty acid found an olive oil is con beneficial
for heart els, that man courage tune both creatic cancer.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
No, I wouldn't even go there.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
No, sorry, you're worried about olive oil.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
There's one of the continents, one of the parts of
olive oil may promote pancreatic cancer. That is such small print.
I wouldn't worry about it. As far as we know,
the poly unsaturated oils such as olive oil are much
more beneficial to your health than any other the solid fats.
Any fat that's liquid at room temperter is generally okay.
I wouldn't be too perturbed about pancreatic canceling.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
It just frightened because I read I use olive oil
on my food all the time, and when I read that,
I was absolutely horrified and frightened.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
That's maybe from heating the oil. Sometimes that will do it,
but otherwise no, great. My mum used to slather a
skin in it. She was she's marvelessly. Oh, absolutely, she
smelt like.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, it wasn't in the old days where people have
put cooking oil on before I went out in the sun.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
That was baby oil and coconutor Okay, don't worry, don't
fret about that one.
Speaker 6 (12:10):
Please don't worry and keep using the olive oil.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Please do.
Speaker 6 (12:14):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Cheers, Andrew. Thank you. Actually, just remind us the words
on oil. Member, these mono unsaturated, poly saturated, fully saturated
animal fats. Yes, what are the good, bad and indifferent?
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Polly unsaturated is what is good? Polly unsaturated saturated fats
become more solid. As a general rule, if you're going
to use a stick a finger in the air, any
fat that's solid at room temperature should be avoided if
it all possible.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Okay, right, so it looks like animal.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Those lamb chops?
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Did you see my eyes laser? Because I literally cooked
my first roast in ages and it was a rolled
lamb shoulder and I anyway, and some of the vegetables
sort of sat in it as it dripped down, and anyway,
as I took them out, and then I basically had
this all this liquid, and I thought how much of
this as juices and how much is fat? And I
(13:13):
sort of stuck with a spoon and just had taste.
I thought, I think that's all fat. Anyway, So I
just used a tablespoon of it to make the gravy
and I left the pan there and then then it
all solidified, and I was like, oh my god, that's
so much fat that came. But I'm thinking at least
it came out of the meat.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
It's how do you treat.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Fats? Animal fats and your diet? Do you worry about it?
Do you?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
I try and minimize as much as I can, but
we all like nice chicken with a crispy chicken skin.
It's all nice.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Some animal fats better or worse than others. Dunk fat,
chicken fat, beef fat, lamb fat.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
They sold at room temperature.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Sounds like a song on that best best Um. Well,
they're not cooked, but they sold it for refrigerated temperature.
What's your approach to red meat and fat?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
We probably much red meat as a country. A portion
of red meat should be the size of the palm
of your hand. That's one portion.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Yeah, that's such. When you do that, it looks so stingy.
That fair enough? I actually, by the way, are you
a when it comes to your own health with eating?
Are you? If I looked at your diet, would I
be like? I think he means me to do his
ice and do as he sees not as absolutely? Oh god, okay.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Almost really, but I don't feel guilty about it.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
I realieved to hear that because bacon, I mean, why
should bacon be so tasty?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Okay, it's bacon once every couple of weeks, Yeah, fine,
every day?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Probably not fine? Probably not good? Okay, we want your
cause one hundred and eighty ten eighty You can have
your thoughts about the free doctors, visitors and visits if
you like him, and it's a bit more political for
the Health Hub, but if you've got any questions for
John John Cameron, then we'd love to hear from you.
But also I want to dig into John after the
into with John after the break. Just the question about
(15:04):
and I'm not talking about being hyperchondria call either, but
if you're just being sensible, you know, how often should
you see a doctor as you go through the years
when you're twenty you probably do it when you get
a when you need some antibiotics, maybe, and you're feeling
about croc but you know, what do you do if
you're one of those healthy people? Is there a time
where you should just go and get a check out?
I was going to put that in a very rude
(15:24):
way actually to do with tests and prostate and all
that sort of thing. But right now we'll come back
in just a moment twenty two past four News Talks
d B. Yes, welcome back. Yes, I don't know what
I'm saying there anyway, With doctor John Cameron. This is
the Health Hub and we're talking about the doctor subsidy
where you think that that's a good idea, but what
is the key to getting more GPS and primary care
(15:49):
available to New Zealanders as well? And taking your calls
on other things you might have on your mind. Sterling. Hello, yeah, yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
I'm sorry. I'm driving from Wellington Emilton, so.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
My reception that's all right, Okay, just get you speak quickly,
keep your eyes on the road.
Speaker 7 (16:12):
Yeah yeah, I'm just serious. Near wipe up the hospital.
There's a few parents at my school that are GPS,
or they come from a country where they are.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Okay, you're dropping out there, Sterling. But I'm guessing I
know what that question is. I've talked to people who've
come from other countries who are GPS but they can't
practice here. Would probably be where he is going until
they started to cut out. So accepting people's qualifications which
countries should be be a zero room for a bit
more movement on that or what.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Yeah, there's a group of countries where there's pretty easy entry.
If you're looking about Canada, Australia, the UK, pretty straightforward.
There are not all medical degrees are the equivalent from
other countries around the world, and we need to make
sure that the quality is there as well, and there
are pathways. There are pathways for external doctors who have
(17:07):
trained elsewhere to come into the New Zealand workforce, and
that's been ramped up at the moment.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, because even if I mean that, there are reasons
why we accept some jurisdictions other than others, I guess,
and there is still the opportunity for them to requalify
in New Zealand. I don't know how that works.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
It's not easy, and it's quite involved, and it's there's
costs associated with it. So it's not something which you
just turn up, sign a piece of paper and the
where you go. But you we're trying to we're in
the global market for doctors. There is a global dearth
of doctors worldwide. Okay. Yeah, and so we used to
use a lot from the Canadian market, a lot from
the UK market that's all dried up now.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Yeah. Well actually it's funny, but we all think it's
only our problem. But if you you just google dot co,
dot UK doctor shortage or dot Com USA or whatever,
every country. We always think it's just us. No, okay,
eight hundred and eightyen just quick text before we go
to we're gonna have a chat about. There's been a
bit of Men's Health Week talk as well. This text
(18:05):
here says, my doctor retired a few months ago. I've
been given a new doctor, but I don't like him.
I want to change to another doctor in the practice,
but the receptionist told me I could not change, so
I won't go back. What do I do? Pollocks you?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Okay? It depends on the enrollment policy at their practice.
Every practice has to have an enrollment policy which sets
out which patients they will accept. If the doctor that
you would like to go to has got closed books
and is so overwhelmed that they can only manage what
they have got at that time, then yeah, that might
be difficult to do. But in general, if you if
(18:39):
you fit the enrollment policy of that practice, it's a
patient driven thing.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Who can who can the patient have a conversation with? Then,
because they don't obviously want to talk to the doctor
who they don't like.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
It does get difficult. They can ask the receptionist, well,
which doctors in this practice are taking on new patients?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Okay? Which doctors are taking on new patients? Would also
do most practices have a practice manager you could talk
to you could.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Absolutely, you can do that, and that's a really important
talk to actually have. You want to feel comfortable with
the doctor that you're worth If you're uncomfortable with the doc,
we understand. I know there are people I really really annoy.
I don't know why, but yeah, there are people there
who hate my guts as the doctor.
Speaker 8 (19:21):
Cool.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
That's fine, Really, what do they do? We just don't
get on right, so like for like, so I'm quite heavy.
When they said, look, I need to go and see someone,
that's that's sweet, because you need to be someone where
you feel comfortable and be able to get a good
discussion with someone.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Okay, because unfortunately, what that does raises the spectra of
the whole thing. If you look need to look for
a new doctor, and how challenging that is. I did follow. Actually,
you gave advice to talk to a local pharmacist and
I talk to. I also spoke to Luckily I've got
the not luckily for him, I guess, but my retired GP.
I actually had his number and I actually caught him
(19:56):
and he suggested a good suggestion. But the pharmacist was
pretty good too. It was he didn't want to rule
anyone out. He just ruled someone and he said this
person is great. And then I said what about such
and such and he says, this person is great.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Yeah, there's some ethics in there. But you know that
the pharmacists and I think we got when we talked
about the last time here, the farmacists rang up. So
you can't do that. You can't do that. There are
ways of saying you're great or you're great.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Well, I don't say that person sucks or anything, but
you could say I really like this GP. What people say,
they like it that person. So where you go slaps,
isn't it all the time? Hamish?
Speaker 9 (20:36):
Hello, Hello, Hey.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
I've just got one question for the doctor. I I'm
having trouble over the last sort of twelve twelve months
just peen yep.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
I'm fifty four years old, yep, and I've been in
hospital about three months months ago. I hit three blood
trenchsfusions through too three too just saws coming up on
my thing and they got all that that right. But
now this is sort of getting a bit serious and
I'll sort of get a bit of pain down in
(21:15):
the absomen yep, yeah, I think I may have to
go back to the doctor.
Speaker 9 (21:23):
What do you.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
Think that is.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
I would have no idea, but you definitely go I
need to talk to someone about it, and when you're going,
draw up a picture of what's actually happening. So when
do I have trouble? What do I mean by having
troubles at? Trouble starting? Is that trouble stopping? Do I
dribble afterwards? Am I getting up fifteen times at night?
Have I noticed any blood in my Yearine?
Speaker 5 (21:43):
I do?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (21:44):
You've noticed what blood?
Speaker 9 (21:45):
You?
Speaker 1 (21:45):
We?
Speaker 8 (21:47):
No?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Well? Getting up fifteen times at night? Yes, yep, Okay,
so that's something you can tell the doc. So the
classic thing, and a gentleman in the mid fifties is
the Good Lord in her infinite wisdom gave us a
thing called the prostate gland which slowly enlarges at the
base of the bladder, and the tube which takes you
in from the blood to the outside will go through
the center of that gland. And there is an aging
(22:09):
thing which is called benign prostatic hope to pertrophy, where
the prostatect land slowly closes off that gap. And that's
one of the reasons that can do that. There are
other things that can do that as well. Infections, tumors
that prostate gland can do it. Don't be frightened about
presenting it. We need to know about these things. We
can investigate, we can work out a plan and hopefully
(22:30):
resolve your problem. So don't be frightened about telling someone
about it. But give that picture. Okay, this is what
I have noticed, in very very simple words, can do that.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
God like Hamish I think sounded like Hamish knew the answer,
but he you know you scared, Well, I understand, you know, actually,
can I ask a thing? So this is you know
that what is it? That's what is it that's telling
you you need to go to the toilet, that sensation
that you need to wear normally splended distension because so
(23:05):
for instance, I'm not don't want to overshare. But you know,
the other day I thought I really need to go
to the loom, quite busting, and then I managed to
distract myself with something else and sat down and it
completely went away. And I thought, because normally, if I'm
waking up in the middle of the night, it doesn't
go away. But what is going on there?
Speaker 3 (23:19):
Lovely stories? So it's a little bit of physiology within
the within the within the muscular layer of the bladder.
There are stretch receptors, and as you're bled, your bladder
doesn't sit there like a like position and it's yeah.
So basically the ball of the bladder is slowly distending
as the urinees made. We make about twenty mills minimum
twenty mills an hour, So even when you're in bed asleep,
(23:40):
you're still making we going to keep making we, and
the blood of slowly extends. The message goes across to
the spinal cord, and then there's a reflex act that
the message also goes up to the brain saying this
is where your bladder is at.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Okay, one last question. If you're really busting to go
for a WI sometimes you go and it's just dribbling out,
and then an hour half an hour later you go
and you and all of a sudden, it's like a
fire hydrant when didn't feel that there was that much demand.
Is a bit like a balloon. That's sort of too.
It's constructing the exit because it's two full or one
(24:12):
not quite.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
You've got one though, and that the muscle layer of
the bladder has a preferential stretch where the power that
it can generate is related to the stretch on the muscle.
If you stretch it further, it has less power. So
when you get up in the morning with no overstend
to bladder, yeah, guys, my agent to sit there.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And because if you visit a urologist and do one
of those let's do it flow test, well, I'd be
like I could be busting and it would be really bad,
and I could not be busting, and I'd be like
a fireheart ripe. We know that they do.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
We know all that, and we can measure the residual
volumes and your bladder and all those sorts of things.
So it's it's the same with a lot of things.
Your heart muscle as well, that's exactly the same thing.
It's got an optimal length of fiber that gives it
the best grunt. If you overstretch it, the grunt goes down.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Okay, eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty Taking your
calls with John Cameron Francis day, Oh.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
Hi, and great sort of International Men's Health week gets
even Men's Health Weekend. You're talking about it so openly
well done. You can I talk to the doctor from
a minute god, Okay, okay, because you know that the
prostrate and you know the sort of the quiet effect
(25:27):
that it has without men name for the vice minute.
But there's another one that really does worrying me. And
you know the government is now paying attention because it's
having to pay heavily for it. And that is the
sylum to Selson, and you know there's not much said
of it. And that's the kidney dying quietly until it
(25:51):
gets to a halfway measure. And you know that halfway
measure that nobody tells you. It's eyeing until it gets
to the halfway measure and then it's too late and
then you get to dialysis. Now, why is that halfway
measure brought back to CKD toes for the doctors? Because
I've got badly caught out and unlesst with half a
(26:13):
good kidney only working.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Yep, okay, thanks Francis.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Chronic renal disease is a big problem. We see it
mostly in association with diabetes, and we're very very careful
with people with diabetes watching their renal function, but it
can occur on a whole range of other things. The
difficulty we've got if you've got renal disease, quite often,
what we can do is try and remove any of
the aggravating factors which are making the kidney worse. We
(26:40):
don't have a lot of ability to improve renal function
at this stage, so most of it's trying to remove
all the things which could make the kidneys worse. Yeah,
kidneys are really important. Without them, we don't function very
well and we die.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So how do you I mean, I think what Francis
was saying, you know, you sort of find out and
it's too late because you've already got the problem. Is
there any way I'm reading into.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
So there's a gradual degradation of renal function as we mature,
ny get less and less and less, and we follow that.
We're monitoring you when we do a blood test, that's
one of the standard things. We'll do a little bit
of urine creating, and quite often we'll do a urine
protein looking to see other kidneys leaky or what's happening
to the overall filtering capability of your kidney. And as
long as it's as long as we draw out the
(27:22):
line and it's going to go very low after we
think you're going to die, we go cool. If it's
going to crash, then we get really interested in trying
to remove anything that might be making it worse.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
What are the factors? I mean, it's just something that's
just you know, the way you are. But are there
external factors that you can avoid. I'm guessing alcohol and
all that sort of stuff, But what are the things
that kidneys?
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Alcoholics have beautiful kidneys, so they know they do rotten livers,
rotten pincrest, but oh, okay, kidneys are great. Kidneys are great, yess,
So keeping the fluid and takeed up, not taking any
of the pharmaceuticals or chemicals that could damage your kidney.
There are a whole set of renal diseases in themselves
which quite often will swing up the blue and we
(28:05):
don't really know them. You know, Jonahalomu and people like
that had really nasty kidney disease and it was nothing
which he did or didn't do, which caused it. It
was just what was happening. Our medicines can cause kidney disease.
We've got to be very careful about the medicines that
we use. And diabetes. Diabetes is the number one kidney
killer in this country.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Okay, we're going to take some more calls in just
a moment, and I must tick off that box that
we about what checks you maybe should consider getting if
you are otherwise ordinarily healthy, because time is flying when
you're having fun. At twenty one minutes to five News
Talk z B News Talk zed B No. Just before
we go to our next caller, we're with John Cameron
and I did preview this, so we need to cover
(28:43):
it off. Are there certain checks that as you go
through life that you should see a doctor at certain
age or whatever and get you know that, get your
blood's done, get the finger up and bottom and all
that sort of thing. I mean that's a male thing.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
But anyway, if you got bleeding from your bummy, okay, yeah,
but fair enough care.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Oh heck.
Speaker 3 (29:02):
We normally say there's two things that we should do
about it once every five years. It's probably not a
silly idea touch base. Doing it every year is almost
totally overkill. Before you do that, and under fifty years
of age, really you as much as you can say,
you generally reasonably bulletproof before them, at least you notice something.
(29:25):
No things will come up with. There was something in
the paper about a thirty yard year old who bowel cancer,
and we go we would never catch that in a
million years unless that we saw the centers and you
can't screen the population for that. Oh that's horrible, absolutely,
just yeah, just terrible. But you know, age fifty is
a reasonable sort of watershed if you're doing that, ring
(29:46):
up and have a talk to the practice news and say, look,
I'm coming in. I want to spend some time on
in a wellness check. Talk to the dot and see it.
Does you want to do any testing before I come
and see you. We can then do the test, and
then when you come and see us, we can actually
have a really good discussion with information relative to you.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
It also helps, from what I gather, because I fronted
up once to my old GP and said, I mean,
it's men's health week. I need to get the full
in a men's health check. And he said he sort
of chuckled and sort of he said, you probably should
have let us know beforehand because we need a bit
more time for these things.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Yeah, and book half an hour please.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's the one he said. And anyway, he
did it all and everything. But he said, because he
knew that I was responding to everything I'd been learning
in my job, he said, but just give us a
heads up on if you need that check, talk to us.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Yeah, try and make you good for both of you.
There are things that we can do in fifteen minutes.
There are things which take longer, and we may charge
you for doing it longer. But hey, when you take
your car and you get the warrant done with the
get it serviced, that's got a cost too. But you
like to do that.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Just a quick one before we go to Beryl. Is
prostate cancer something that if it's been in your family
and a granddad, uncle, dad.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Yes, it will. It will increase your risk and especially
if it's younger onset. If your dad was eighty five
and had prostate cancer, no great impact on you if
he was fifty five.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Yep, okay, right, Bearyl High.
Speaker 8 (31:05):
Hi doctor just got to acknowledge Timfest Hi Tim, just
your favorite listener calling them Hi doctor Listen. I'm going
to start mine off of only a possibility because you
won't really know. Daughter had abscesss in the ears at
eighteen months because the doctor said the milk had not
(31:30):
gone down. Some of the milk had gone down her throat,
most of it had gone down other channels, causing the absences.
She is now fifty four, she recently thought she was
leaving anybody here in one of her ears and what
they did with the audiologists said that they didn't think
it was connected to old age, but connected to something else,
(31:50):
and she might eventually need a hearing aid in that
ear on a possibility. Do you think what happened to
her were the abscesss of eighteen months now she's fifty
four would have probably had anything to do with that
particular air that she is lost by the hearing them.
Speaker 3 (32:07):
Okay, firstly, it had nothing to do with the milk. Okay, okay,
It's a genetic thing. It's the size and functioning of
the estation tube which drains the middle a cavity in
the back of the nose. Some kids who've got really
small estation tubes they block off, leave her enclosed cavity
in the middle of a cavity and it fills up
with puss. That's unfortunate what happens. It's it is a
possibility that it because hearing loss later on in life.
(32:30):
The biggest thing is if there's been damage to the
actual ear drum and the small bones in the middle
air cavity rather than in the organ that takes the
vibration and turns it into electricity, so that what we
call the sensory neural versus a conductive hearing. Conductive hearing
may have been affected by the previous middle air infections
and abscesses. The sensory neural the electronic park probably not
(32:53):
so now, don't blame yourself. And there's almost certainly nothing
that you could have couldn't have done in between time. Nowadays,
what we would do for someone with that situation has
put the little ventilation tubes in, as the caddies called grommets,
and how per rate the middle a cavity, and that
normally settles things down.
Speaker 8 (33:08):
Okay, they did tell it's got nothing to do with
old age, so yet no, thank you very much. That
has enlightened me a lot, and I'll be able to
pass that back to here that it may be small
the smaller channels in the air or whatever.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Thanks thanks very much. Thanks very And by the way,
if you hear something on this that you've missed, you
can go after six o'clock go and check out the
podcast and iHeart radio and it should be all there
for you. Hang on a minute. It's thirteen minutes to
actually tell you what we might have a clean run
to the news. I don't want to try and cram Nigel,
and so we'll take the break now and come back
(33:43):
with a bit more correspondence and cause. In just a moment,
News Talk said B. News Talk said B with Tim Beverage.
Let's go toll by the way. Just quick one from Dave.
How can fatty red meat, which is the oldest food
there is, be responsible for modern disease?
Speaker 3 (33:58):
It's always been causing disease. We just didn't live long
enough beforehand.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Ah, good point, because we used to cart it before
we win forty forty five, that was it. Next that
sounds old compared to what I think looking backwards very
quickly is blimey. Time flies doesn't when you're when you're
having fun.
Speaker 9 (34:14):
Nigel, Hello, yeah, hi, Hi doctor you were talking before
about Kenney disease. Were prompted to give you a call.
And I'm sixty and approximately steven maybe eight years ago.
I developed high elevated blood pressure through try to get
it down blah blah blah and accordant. So I went
(34:36):
back to the doctor and he prescribed me blood pressure medication.
That was fine, and I started taking that medication and
then probably about three months after starting that medication, I
started to develop gout. So I walked back to the doctor,
the same doctor, and he said, I probably something needs
(34:57):
to diet here. Every time your gout fear is up,
here pop one of these that was diclosing anti inflamatory.
So I said fine, And of course it wasn't long
and I was popping three four, die close and next
a day going along sang doctor reknew my prescription. But
then it's just it just sat a getting beyond a joke.
(35:18):
So I went back to the clinic and I saw
a different doctor. And anyway, he looked at my history
and he said, he said, I couldn't. He said, I
can't understand why I haven't had any blood tests done.
I said no. He said, well, you should have had
blood tests done before you went on your blood precent medication,
and you said it certainly when you started developing symptoms
(35:39):
of gout. So anyway, he not blood tests and he
phoned me up as soon as he got the results
and he said, stop taking your medication. Your kidney function
is crash and your borderline diabetic. So I went in there.
He changed my medication around. I had to go on
a course of prenia zole and now on our puranoal
for life. Yep, those pren results were absolutely shocking, and
(36:03):
of course I can't take forms of anti inflammatory at all.
So I watched my diet. I had very little red meat,
maybe red meat once a fortnite chicken blah blah blah,
reduced salt, no sugar, et cetera, et cetera. Now, what
does wanted to know? As my genfr EGFR is sitting
(36:28):
in the mid thirties range, and it's been sitting in
there for the last gosh, since we're doing the bloods,
which I had get the bloods done once a year,
it's been setting in the mid thirties for about the
last sort of four years, maybe fight So what I
was wanted to know because my kidney's crash due to
(36:52):
inappropriate medication and not a disease, my would my EGFR
being in the mid thirties is that kind of now
my norm? Or will my they continue to deteriorate?
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Okay, So there's a couple of things there. Firstly, we
don't know what your ETfr was before you went on
the medicine, so it's hard to comment hypertension per se
is something that can cause kidney damage and a drop
on your ETfr. Certainly, anti inflammatory medicines can again dramatically
affect your kidney function, so we're very very careful anyone
(37:28):
who's got dicky kidneys with anti inflammatories. We're very careful
about that. From a gout perspective, I'm not sure. One
of the things that can sometimes fire that off is
if we use a blood pressure medicine called a diuretic.
Size diuretics, because they will they can precipitate gout by
raising a uric acid, So it might have been a
whamy around that. Certainly, taking current courses of pregnant zone
(37:49):
is not a good idea unless you really are up
against the wall. But ala puranole brilliant. We undertreat gout
in this country and we should be using it a
hell of a lot more. And we've got another medicine
call for box a stat which we can also use
if ala perinole's not working for you. So what we're
gonna do for you is protect the kidneys that you've
got thirty GFR, you've lost a significant amount of renal function,
(38:15):
but as long as it's stable while you're doing everything
you can. That's good news.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Hey, thanks for your call, Nigel. I hope for that.
Hopefully that helps. Sorry, we're getting a little short of time.
I just think you, by the way, is the season
for getting your flu jabs?
Speaker 3 (38:29):
Are you leaving it a bit late?
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Sort of now getting actually? So that would be what
would be the sort of recommendation on flu jabs is
I mean who should get one?
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Definitely and basically everyone?
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Ye, yeah, I always get it.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
It's very safe and okay, you do not get influenza
from the influenza vaccine. There are no infectious particles and
I'm not even going to unundate me last time.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
We leave it to the end. It's all bollocks.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
It's all bollocks. The influenza vaccine has got no live
particles in it and cannot cause influenza. So you get
it done now. And COVID. We're changing on COVID about
once a year and now for people at risk run
every six months. But those are simple things that you
can do. Bell screening, please, do you bow screening, skin checking,
watching your skin.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Actually, by the way, what's the technique someone was talking about.
They've got the they've got the kite and they haven't
really done it yet. How do they do it? How
do they actually you.
Speaker 6 (39:23):
Know the end?
Speaker 2 (39:25):
But the pooh goes into the water.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
You can play dodgems if you like, bobbing for no problem.
While you can do any of those sorts all we want.
It's a bit of poo and we're looking at feek
and could blood.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
I think I know the singer who does that. I'm
pretty sure I know who it is, a guy I've
worked with in the past, and I actually have been
meant to get in touch thing. I just love the
way you're swinging, you know, just such and such than
the exactly Anyway, Look, if you have got one of
those kits, by the way, leave it. Don't leave it
sitting on the draw. It's just one, you know, simple
(40:01):
test and there you go. Just take it off the paper.
There you go. Okay, that one for someone. Anyway, Hey,
thanks John, pleaseure, great to see you, mate, and good
luck with watching that cracket Tonight we'll go to the BC.
Got to do it, haven't we? Anyway? Back with smart
Money in just a Moment, News Talks dB.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
For more from the Weekend Collective, listen live to News
talks edb weekends from three pm, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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