Dr. Gott: Anti-Convulsant Dilantin May Cause Side Effects

Dear Dr. Gott: I have been taking Dilantin for many, many years to treat seizures. Now I’m told my cerebellum is degenerating due to the medication, causing clumsiness and dizziness. I’m now on Tegretol. Your comments.

Dear Reader: Dilantin, an anti-convulsant, has been reported to cause poor coordination, slurred speech, muscle twitching, confusion, dizziness, nervousness and headache. Fortunately, these reactions are unusual.

These symptoms can also accompany a seizure disorder, such as epilepsy. If you improve on the new medicine, which is also an anti- convulsant, you can conclude that Dilantin was the culprit. If you don’t, it wasn’t.

Your neurologist can monitor your condition. Follow his advice.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Epilepsy: The Falling Sickness.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: Please name the condition in which digestion stops in the intestine. What are the symptoms, treatment and prognosis?

Dear Reader: There is no disorder marked by such a consequence. Sometimes digestion is delayed or incomplete. Called “malabsorption syndrome,” this affliction is the result of many diseases, ranging from chronic inflammation of the pancreas (a digestive gland) to tropical sprue (an intestinal inflammation). Also, malabsorption may follow extensive surgery on the bowel.

Symptoms reflect malnutrition and include vitamin deficiencies (anemia, nerve damage), bone pain, bleeding tendencies, weight loss, fatigue, weakness and ankle swelling.

The diagnosis is made by stool analysis, X-rays and blood tests. Intestinal biopsy may be necessary.

Treatment depends on the underlying disorder. Regardless of cause, patients must be given highly nutritious diets containing abundant vitamin and mineral supplements. The prognosis is guarded because, although treatable, the malabsorption may not be curable in many cases.

Dear Dr. Gott: What is your opinion of the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables purchased at large supermarkets as opposed to those purchased at ma and pa stands?

Dear Reader: I believe that the quality is identical. If you buy imported fruits and vegetables in the winter, ma and pa probably purchased their produce from the same wholesaler who sold to the supermarket.

In the summer, roadside fruit and vegetable stands sell freshly picked produce that is probably days younger than the fruits and vegetables that are trucked to supermarkets. The nutritional value of produce is identical irrespective of where you buy it.

Write Dr. Gott c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave. 4th floor, New York, NY 10016