As temperatures begin to fall, physicians have advised the public to take preventive measures against common symptoms of fall, including overactive bladder, itchy skin and skin rashes.
Cheng Wei-ming (程威銘), a physician in the Department of Urology at Taipei City Hospital’s Zhongxiao Branch, said that, based on National Health Insurance statistics, colder temperatures lead to increased cases of “overactive bladder.”
Cheng recently diagnosed a women in her 50s, surnamed Wang (王), with overactive bladder, as she experienced the need to urinate more frequently, about once per hour, causing her to shy away from drinking water, even when she felt thirsty.
“Overactive bladder occurs more often in cold weather, because when the body is cold, nerves conduct signals to bladder muscles, causing them to contract and become more sensitive,” Cheng said. “It leads to a more urgent need to urinate, more frequently, and nocturia or even urinary incontinence.”
Cheng said the causal factors of overactive bladder have yet to be determined, but that low temperatures can make symptoms worse. Relief of symptoms is possible by keeping the body warm on cold days, avoiding drinking caffeine or liquor, or eating foods containing stimulants, as well as urinating before going to bed or leaving the house, he added.
Cheng said medical treatment — including taking anticholinergics or beta-adrenoceptor agonists, or injecting botulinum toxin into the bladder — is covered by National Health Insurance if examinations show oral medicines proved ineffective.
Chuang Chia-ying (莊佳穎), a traditional Chinese medicine dermatologist at Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, said that, according to department statistics, about 80 percent of patients sought treatment for symptoms caused by seasonal allergies in fall.
A man in his 60s, surnamed Lin (林), has suffered from skin redness, itchiness, and peeling — and sometimes cracking and bleeding — of the skin every fall and winter for the past 30 years, causing him discomfort and embarrassment, Chuang said.
She said Lin’s symptoms are caused by seasonal allergies and are treated using traditional herbal medicine, as well as by avoiding liquor and spicy food.
Chuang said that, according to traditional herbal medicine, during the dry cold season, eating white fungus (白木耳), Chinese yam (山藥), okra, lotus root, lotus sees, lily, wolfberry (枸杞) and dates can help moisten the skin, adding that people who often suffer from itchy skin in fall or winter should avoid bathing in hot springs or water that is too hot, to prevent natural skin oils from being depleted.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai