Dr Rosemary
GETTING TO THE HEART OF MEDICAL MATTERS
your legs. The operation takes several hours and afterwards you will be moved to a highdependency ward for a few days.
Most people go home after about a week but it can take six weeks or more to make a full recovery.
Your hospital team should arrange for you to have “cardiac rehabilitation” afterwards which will introduce you to gentle exercise and also teach you how to make healthy lifestyle choices.
The British Heart Foundation has an excellent booklet about heart surgery which you can download online or order by post. Call 0300 330 3311 or visit bhf. org. uk. QAT
the age of four our grandson is still being breast fed ( including during the night). Surely this is bad for his teeth? Should we ( tactfully) bring the subject up or keep quiet?
AITis quite unusual for a four- year- old to be breast fed and certainly by this age he should be getting his nutrients from a balanced diet that contains a wide selection of foods.
As long as this is the case then there is no need to be concerned about his teeth and it’s unlikely to be doing any harm to his physical health.
The question really to be asked here is why is he still being breast fed?
Is it because his mother cannot bear for him to stop or is he using it as a means of attachment and of getting attention?
Much as you may not approve of what is going on with your grandson you will be entering an emotional minefield if you start trying to interfere.
I would suggest that you tread very carefully before saying anything about this.
I USED to suffer badly with mouth ulcers like your reader ( February 23) until a friend gave me a tip about not drinking very hot tea or
coffee. I tried waiting until they were at a cooler temperature and I haven’t had an ulcer since. S Waters, Tunbridge
Wells, Kent
WITH regard to the reader who was suffering from sticky saliva ( March 1), I have suffered from the same problem for many years ( I am now 86). My doctor suggested Kwells Kids which are normally used to control motion sickness but they work for me.
P Hubbard, Erith, Kent
If you have a health question for Dr Rosemary please write to her in confidence at The Northern & Shell Building, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN or email health@ express. co. uk. Dr Rosemary’s reply will appear in this column.
She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence and that, due to the volume of letters, she cannot reply to everyone. Find out more about Dr Rosemary at drrosemaryleonard. co. uk