What’s up with Trump?
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After consulting with doctor Google, that's about what I figured with my left rotator cuff.
My prescription is rest it, when possible, and hope it gets better eventually. Every now and then, if I move it just right, I get a jolt. But after a couple weeks it seems to be improving.
One of the many joys of reaching Medicare age is becoming familiar with this sort of thing.
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@Copper said in What’s up with Trump?:
@Jolly said in What’s up with Trump?:
I'd say stress.
A pandemic, an unprecedented economic crash and riots in the streets are sorta stressful.
Besides the Civil War and WW2, I don't see anything to equal it.
Especially since we'll soon be fighting the civil war all over again.
And WW III
And the battle for the moon
He who holds the high ground...
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@George-K said in What’s up with Trump?:
@Copper said in What’s up with Trump?:
@George-K said in What’s up with Trump?:
But the glass story is also disturbing.
I occasionally get a pain/weakness in my left shoulder.
Good point, and it's worth taking off the "neurologic problem" blinders to look at function.
About 10 years ago, I was awakened by a sudden pain in my right shoulder. Yes, the pain woke me up. The next day, I couldn't extend my right arm at the shoulder (like one would do playing the piano) and I had to sit, right hip in, to play. I did a "locker-room" consult with one of my orthopedic friends and he thought I tore my rotator cuff. He said to just watch and see what happens, for rotator cuff tears, even spontaneous, are not unheard-of in our age group.
~.Coincidentally, a lot of Donald Trump's friends and family are reportedly frequently woken by an incredible pain in the ass.
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Have any of you torn a muscle, like in the bicep?
Curious if that means surgery, or if it just takes a long time to repair itself.
I think I tore it over a year ago, pushing a bed across the carpet. I'm surprised it still hurts all the time, but not all that bad.As for Trump, jeez, you get that age, the body turns on you, you're lucky if you can keep all your marbles for many more years (sorry, Joe).
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@Rainman said in What’s up with Trump?:
Have any of you torn a muscle, like in the bicep?
I did something to a pectoral last year. I don't know what exactly, but it felt like a knife jab every time I went over a bump in the golf cart. It lasted a few months.
RICE Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation
That is one often repeated bit of advice.
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Thanks, Copper.
Yes, exactly, it's like a knife jab. It's gotten better over the past year, but I thought by now it should have totally healed.Maybe I should stop doing the 1-arm push-ups for a while.
But I hate to have the wife doing those all by herself every day. -
@Rainman said in What’s up with Trump?:
Have any of you torn a muscle, like in the bicep?
Curious if that means surgery, or if it just takes a long time to repair itself.
I think I tore it over a year ago, pushing a bed across the carpet. I'm surprised it still hurts all the time, but not all that bad.As for Trump, jeez, you get that age, the body turns on you, you're lucky if you can keep all your marbles for many more years (sorry, Joe).
Sometimes they heal themselves. Sometimes, the injured muscle is reinjured and gets worse. Sometimes, they have to have surgery.
I wouldn't have that surgery unless you absolutely have to.
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Personally, I think there was probably a little of the nerve gas shot into LaFayette Park lingering in the air when he walked over to the church. He got a whiff and is suffering the effects.
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This past weekend at West Point, President Trump had trouble drinking a glass of water and he displayed an unsteady gait when descending a ramp. It is possible these problems indicate some type of neuropathy. And while it's unlikely, one potential cause is hydroxychloroquine.
As a vascular surgeon, I am well acquainted with what we call “gait disturbances,” an abnormal walk. I am sure many of you have seen individuals who have suffered from a stroke with partial loss of their leg, which results in a walk that is less fluid.
There are many diagnostic possibilities responsible for a change in our gait. I am, unfortunately, most familiar with structural alterations, e.g., loss of a portion of the foot, or unequal length of limbs. There can be issues related to injury; think of how we might “limp” after injuring our knee. And there can be neurologic causes, related to nerve injury, that leave the muscles weaker or altering proprioception – the sense of the position of the body in space, which is sensory feedback necessary for balance.
In watching the video of President Trump walking down the ramp, he does seem to be favoring one leg. To be fair, his explanation that is was a slippery incline may indeed be true.
But let's now consider the video of him pausing his speech to drink a bit of water. In the video, the president raises a glass, but he can't quite lift it to his mouth. He tilts his head down to get closer to the glass before using his left hand to fully raise the glass to his lips. From a diagnostic point of view, that changes the differential. Because while the gait disturbance has multiple causes, the lifting of the glass suggests a problem of muscular strength.*
So now, we have issues with two sets of muscles: the legs and arms. It would be odd to have an injury that involved two areas not be reported, especially involving the president. The same holds for structural problems, and that moves neuropathy up the differential list. What could be the source of a new-onset neuropathy? I know little of the president’s medical status. That is, except for one, perhaps salient fact: he said he has been taking hydroxychloroquine.
Physicians have rightly been concerned about the cardiac effects of this medication on the heart’s rhythm. But hydroxychloroquine has some other, less frequently cited adverse effects. If you read the FDA required package insert under adverse effects, here is what you will find:
“Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders: Sensorimotor disorder, skeletal muscle myopathy or neuromyopathy leading to progressive weakness and atrophy of proximal muscle groups, depression of tendon reflexes and abnormal nerve conduction.” [Emphasis added]
Proximal muscles are those closest to our body, like the muscles of the upper arm that raise the arm and hand. Or the muscles of the thigh that are actively involved in all phases of walking. It is not an overly common adverse side effect. It is probably relatively rare, but a quick search uncovered a review of 10 cases of hydroxychloroquine associated neuromyopathy.
Again, let me emphasize that I am not attempting to diagnose an illness without performing both a careful history or physical examination. I am trying to point out a fallacy in the therapeutic use of medications. as there is always a tradeoff between benefits and risk. Always. In reporting on the president’s decision to treat himself with hydroxychloroquine on May 18, the New York Times reported, “Mr. Trump continued, explaining that his decision to try the drug was based on one of his favorite refrains: ‘What do you have to lose?’”
What indeed? It would be ironic that the drug President Trump described as a “game-changer” might instead turn out to be a “gait-changer.”
I have no opinion as to whether this is accurate or not, but that this guy says, "As a vascular surgeon, I am well acquainted with what we call “gait disturbances,” an abnormal walk" is bullshit. He probably knows nothing more about gait disturbances than you or I, other than knowing the language.
At least in this sensationalistic piece he says, "while it's unlikely." At least he gets the clickbait.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Education is extremely important.
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@Horace said in What’s up with Trump?:
I bet a lot of Trump haters masturbate to that video.
Take your opportunities as they arise.
Speaking of which, those Photo-shopped pictures of Hillary in orange have got to look like a painters radio by now.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K Not sure I understand? You are demonstrating the angle of the ramp?
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Is this what I've got to look forward to when I become a geriatric?
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@taiwan_girl said in What’s up with Trump?:
@George-K Not sure I understand? You are demonstrating the angle of the ramp?
Exactly. The video says 3 degree incline (you can see it in the lower right hand side of the pic I posted).
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If you look elsewhere you'll find photos that show the ramp is fitted with non-skid pads, so it's not the only fake thing about that whole doddering old fat-guy scenario.
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