Question: This is my second letter to you. My question is about Crohn's disease, specifically about diet and foods to avoid when you have it. Is it like colitis?
- Mrs. M.S.
Answer: I can't be specific. There are two answers, one for when you're sailing along nicely, another for the stormy digestive periods.
First, not everyone knows what Crohn's disease is, so let me explain that it is serious inflammation of the digestive tract, especially the small intestine. Colitis is inflammation centered on the colon, the large intestine.
Diet answer 1: Most of the time, Crohn's patients require no special diet. When things are going well, most get by with the generally healthful diet we all need. One exception is a familiar one involving dairy products. Some patients find such foods cause trouble and exacerbate digestive symptoms. Personal experience guides.
Diet answer 2: When Crohn's disease, an unpredictably off-and-on problem, decides to act up, the patient must alter diet radically. The emphasis is on easing the digestive workload - with low-residue food substituting for the high-fiber fruit-and-vegetable kind, for example. Stay away from nuts, seeds, bran and whole grains during such times.
Another concern with a Crohn's diet applies to any restrictive diet undertaken for health reasons. Chances are that in trying to ease Crohn's symptoms by diet, some shortchanging of nutrition occurs. The patient might need to take supplements of vitamins calcium, magnesium, zinc and selenium. Check it out.
My sixth report covers colitis. For a copy, send $3 and a self-addressed, stamped (55 cents) No. 10 envelope to: Dr. Donohue - No. 6, Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077-5539.
Question: My son, now 50, has had hyperlipidemia for years. He hardly speaks about it. In fact, he is now gaining weight, and he worries me. What exactly is this condition? How does one get it? What about medicine? Is it curable?
- C.B.
Answer: A person with hyperlipidemia has high blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.
You can get hyperlipidemia by eating fatty foods and those loaded with cholesterol.
Also, some people are programmed genetically to develop the problem no matter what they eat. From your letter, it's hard to say if your son is one of those people.
In any case, your son should watch what he eats. Any gaining of weight is a red flag for a hyperlipidemic person.
Your son needs self-control, and should take you for your word when you advise him to avoid fatty and high-cholesterol foods.
Only if dietary efforts fail would drugs be brought into the equation.
In a world of uncertainty, let's celebrate the moms among us who care enough about their children to intervene, even with 50-year-olds who might be careening downhill in the face of warnings.
Tell your son he needs to improve the connection between his ears and listen to your advice.
Question: I would like to know if there is anything that can be done to get rid of bags under the eyes.
- D.B.
Answer: Surgery offers the only way to get rid of bags for good.
The bags are fat deposits that have broken through the delicate retaining tissue characteristic of the area.
Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him at P.O. Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077-5539.