Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Pain
Cutting Back On Drugs Cured a Retired Minister
What’s the response that shocks me most during my many speaking tours? It’s the huge combination of drugs swallowed by many North Americans. Equally amazing, most people have no idea why they’re taking them. Over-medication is dangerous. It also results in staggering costs for the health care system. So can North Americans cut back on drugs? And what non-medication cured an ailing retired minister? The first question to ask your doctor is why you are taking so many drugs. This seems so logical it hardly needs mentioning. After all, these same people wouldn’t think twice about asking the car mechanic what was done to correct the noise in their car’s engine. So never accept a drug without asking why the...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Pain
Supreme Court Beheaded By Boneheaded Politicians
How can you learn to become a hypocrite? It’s easy. Take a course in Politics 101, then get elected to parliament. This will make it easy to postpone matters that demand instant attention. There’s no better example of hypocrisy than parliament’s move to delay implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision on Assisted Death until after the election. The Harper government has added insult to injury by stacking the consultation panel with those opposed to assisted death. It’s like putting the fox in charge of the hens, an inhumane despicable act for those crying out for help to end their suffering. In February, The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that assisted death should be an option for those grievously and irremediably ill, and...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Sports, Women's Health
Sarcopenia: A Needless Path to a Wheelchair
What’s the worst health problem that can happen to you? I’m sure many readers would say cancer, stroke or Alzheimer’s Disease. I agree these are all frightful diseases. But there’s another one that occurs gradually as we age. It’s called Sarcopenia ( the loss of muscle mass), and this creeping frailty forces many elderly into nursing homes because their muscles are so weak they can no longer get off the toilet. A recent report from Tufts University in Boston says, sarcopenia robs people of their independence and often leads to the risk of falls, resulting in serious injury. Visit any nursing home and you’ll see multiple examples of sarcopenia. Studies show that sarcopenia begins around age 45 and increases at the rate...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
So You Know How to Detect Poison Mushrooms?
“Are you sure you know how to identify poisonous mushrooms?” I asked my neighbour. He assured me he had studied differences in this fungus and had been picking them for years. But one night I received a call from his wife saying her husband was desperately ill. I found him lying on the bathroom floor, ghostly white, breathing heavily and in agony. I discovered he had been picking mushrooms and they had been a part of his dinner. He was rushed to the Emergency and nearly died. Now a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that foraging and eating wild mushrooms can result in liver failure and even death. And that mistaking toxic mushrooms for edible varieties is...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Burnout 101 for Caregivers
Here's a possible Trivial Pursuit question, "What's the fastest growing unpaid profession in North America?" I admit I wouldn't have known the answer. But, according to the "Family Caregiver Alliance", more than 65.7 million Americans, that's 29 percent of the population, provide care to a family member, loved one or friend who is ill disabled or aged. But when does such labour of love trigger burnout anger in the caregiver? A report from Johns Hopkins University states, "The average unpaid, or informal, caregiver is a 46 year old female with a full or part-time job who spends about 20 hours a week catering for her mother". But for those caring for a loved one older than 65 the average age is...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
Want to Be a Millionaire?
What would I do if I wanted to be rich? I'd start a class action suit against food companies for their role in creating "the perfect storm", the three major epidemics in this country. After all, a judge has recently created the "perfect guidelines" for a win/win situation. He ruled that smokers can be rewarded for ill health or death. Of course, it's not their fault they ignored health warnings for 50 years about smoking! But since obesity causes more deaths than smoking, why shouldn't food companies also reward us for our ill health? Faced with a class action suit, food companies wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court. Consider the junk they've been selling unsuspecting customers for years....Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Vitamins
Are Calcium Pills Killing us?
Is there anything sacred anymore? For years researchers have stressed that people are not getting sufficient calcium to build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis (brittle bones). But now a research report claims that calcium supplements increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, a largely unknown vitamin can prevent this tragedy. Dr. Ian Reid and his colleagues at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, studied 14,000 women who were taking 1,000 mg (milligrams) of calcium daily. They report in the British Medical Journal that these women showed a 31 percent increased risk of coronary attack, stroke and death. This means 14 extra heart attacks, 10 more strokes and 13 more deaths over a two to five year period than women not taking...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
Picky Eaters: The Terror of Being Invited To Dinner
What’s the worst fear for some people? It’s not standing before a crowd and giving a major speech. Nor is it the apprehension of being crushed in a crowded elevator, or flying. It’s the terror of having no control of what’s in food. Now, British researchers report there is a way for parents to prevent children from becoming picky eaters. So how picky can you get? The next time you’re at a dinner party do a little detective work and see if you can spot which guest suffers from this phobia. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to spot picky eaters. One clue is to keep your eye on the guest’s dinner plate. For instance,...Read More
Lifestyle
Neo40: A Natural Remedy to Treat ED
Ever heard of Stein’s Law? It states that if something can’t go on forever, it will stop. Stein’s law always wins. There’s no better example than erectile dysfunction (ED), when men who have always expected instant gratification, suddenly develop a headache at bedtime! This week, how a natural remedy, Neo40, helps this troubling disorder. And it’s available without a doctor’s prescription. It’s ironic that doctors have no trouble asking male patients if they’re smokers or abuse alcohol. But they’re uncomfortable when asking if they suffer from ED. It’s a problem that shouldn’t be ignored. Studies show that 50 percent of men develop ED during their lifetime, but 75 percent never receive treatment. Who was it that said, “These are the golden years”?...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Nutrition
How to Fight The Deadly Trio
What kills more North Americans than anything else? It’s the deadly trio of obesity, diabetes and heart attack. Each is a huge problem by itself. But when lumped together they constitute three raging epidemics completely out of control with catastrophic consequences for patients and our health care system. But there are ways for smart medical consumers to avoid becoming victims of the deadly trio. Consider what’s happened in the last 60 years. When I was a medical student 5 percent of Type 2 diabetes, better labeled as lifestyle diabetes, was due to obesity. Now, numbers have reached a shocking 95 percent. The deadly trio kills by atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries). The resulting decreased blood supply sends patients on their way to the...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Waiter, Make Sure My Steak Moos only Once!
I’ve been told it many times, “One of these days you’re going to push your luck too far”. It’s because I stress to waiters I want my steak “blue”. The worst that can happen is it arrives rare. But what is the risk of a blue steak? And can well done steak be bad for the heart? No waiter has ever said to me, “You dummy, didn’t you learn in medical school that ordering a steak rare may cause toxoplasmosis? Go back and read about parasitology.” Toxoplasmosis is not a common household term such as measles. But if the parasite is contacted, it can cause enlarged glands in the neck, fatigue, fever, and an enlarged spleen. In rare...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Do You Want a Shock? High Cholesterol for a Longer Life?
A recent medical tip to readers sparked a quick reaction. It reported a study that those with higher blood cholesterol lived longer! This is contradictory to everything we’ve been told for years. The Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care reported research that will shock millions of North Americans who ingest, faithfully, cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). Scientists analyzed the cholesterol level of 120,000 Danish adults residing in Denmark. They discovered men age 60 to 70 with high levels of blood cholesterol showed a 32 percent decreased risk of death. Women fared better with a 41 percent reduced risk of death. To add more injury to the cholesterol theory, these researchers also discovered that higher levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, was also associated...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Medicine, Vitamins
Stroke Update: What’s Missing will Cost Lives
Every year 650,000 North Americans suffer a lethal stroke, or one that leads to debilitating mental or physical problems. The American Stroke Association (ASA) has issued an important update on how to prevent this disaster for those who have not had a major stroke or a mini one. But why do prestigious university medical centers continue to make a grievous error that costs lives? Remember, you cannot change your family history of stroke, or your age. But you can change the odds, because 90 percent of the factors that cause stroke are controllable. So here are facts you should be aware of. Anticoagulants (blood thinners) to treat A Fib, an irregular heart rate, should be used more often, but have a high...Read More
Cancer, Lifestyle, Sex
“Darling, Do I Have Permission to Have Sex With 20 Other Women?”
Hmmm… Why wasn’t this study done 70 years ago when I was young with an abundance of testosterone? This was my first reaction to a report in the journal, Cancer Epidemiology. But for the Don Juans of this world, this news is better late than never. I’m sure they will be ecstatic to learn that frequent sex can decrease the risk of prostate cancer. But what will their bride-to-be say? Marie-Elise Parent is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Montreal. I have not met her, but she’s been affectionately called, for appropriate reasons, “Madame Prostate”. She also has my congratulations for her unique research. So what’s the good news for Romeos? The Montreal study questioned 3,208 men between 2005 and 2009...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Medicine, Vitamins
A Shocking Finding About Aspirin and Heart Attack
Aspirin has been called the “One Cent Miracle Drug” for good reason. It’s the most widely used medical remedy in the world and available for over a hundred years to treat headaches and other pains. Millions take it to decrease the risk of heart attack and more recently, cancer. But how effective is it? And what is the recent surprise finding? In January 2011, the journal, “The Lancet”, reported data from eight studies involving 25,570 people. It concluded that a daily Aspirin decreased total cancer deaths by 24 percent after five years of use. Moreover, after people stopped Aspirin, death rates were still 20 percent lower for 15 years, largely for cancers of the colon, esophagus and prostate. Researchers also discovered an...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Women's Health
Weight Gain Is Contagious? And Snacking Fights it?
How many people in mid-life can fit into their wedding clothes? Not too many, because predictably, most have exchanged muscle tissue for body fat and more pounds. Now, a report from Johns Hopkins University claims there are proven ways to limit and even reverse weight gain in both sexes. Women, as they start into menopause along with decreased activity, develop what’s been labelled the “Menopot”. With lowered estrogen, testosterone begins to transfer fat from the hips and other areas to the belly. It’s not just a cosmetic problem, but one that can increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems. The Women’s Healthy Lifestyle Project studied 535 women between the ages 44 to 55 for five years. One group received...Read More
Infection, Lifestyle, Medicine, Sex, Women's Health
“DILI” Is Killing More People Every Year
North Americans must rid themselves of a major misconception. Too much Cabernet Sauvignon is not the only way to damage the liver. Today liver injury is being caused by prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and some herbal supplements. More than 1,000 drugs and supplements have been associated with drug induced liver injury (DILI) which is increasing every year. Everything we consume, with both good and toxic ingredients, are eventually filtered by the liver. This organ has great regenerative powers, but it is not indestructible. Moreover, advanced age and being a woman can decrease the liver’s ability to metabolize toxic products, resulting in DILI. For example, many people take Tylenol (acetaminophen). It’s an effective pain killer if label instructions are followed, but there’s...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
An Experiment that should get everyone’s Attention
Why would any sane person drink 10 cokes a day for one month? I recently asked George Prior, a Los Angeles resident and father of two children, this question. His straight-forward answer, “I want to increase the awareness of my children and the public about the dangers of sugar”. But how is Prior proving that all these colas are bad for your health? His experiment got my attention because I’ve stressed for years that soft drinks are a devil in disguise. The thing that bothered me was seeing obese children guzzling cans of liquid candy. Years ago I was having dinner with a former Minister of Health. During our conversation I mentioned that a 10 ounce cola drink contains eight teaspoons of...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Expert Says, “It’s The Worst Dirty Trick of Aging”
In 2014, how much progress did we make in the search for sound lifestyle? Many of us know it’s better to ask for low fat milk or eat more chicken than fatty meat. Some of us see the nutritional folly of soft drinks loaded with sugar, and that we should eat more fruits and vegetables. But a report in Nutrition Action Health Letter says some messages have not shown up on our radar. One - More of us now know obesity is associated with heart disease and diabetes. But many of us have not learned that extra pounds increase the risk of cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society claims 35 percent of malignancies are related to poor eating habits, inactivity and overweight....Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition
Coenzyme Q10 Needed For 100 Trillion Cells
Heart failure is the fastest growing cause of heart disease in North America. What’s ironic is that the medication prescribed to prevent heart problems may in fact be causing weakened hearts and sapping energy from our 100 trillion cells. Today, with an aging population, old hearts, like old cars, can only travel so many miles before they wear out. But before this happens a car without gas comes to a sudden halt. Similarly, if the heart lacks coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), the gas that delivers energy to the heart’s muscle, it eventually develops congestive heart failure. For years doctors and the public have been told that cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) are the be-all-and-end-all to prevent heart attack. But one vital point has not hit...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
EP = a2 Has Killed More People than E=mc2
It’s been said Einstein’s E=mc2 (energy=mass x C speed of light squared) is the world’s most important scientific equation. Unfortunately it created the atomic bomb that killed thousands in World War II. But I believe my equation EP = a2 (extra pounds = atherosclerosis squared) is the world’s important medical equation. Regrettably, it’s killing more millions every year than E=mc2.Think again if you believe this is exaggerated. Consider human obesity. Nothing, including the thousands of books on weight loss and diet, has been able to stop the epidemic of obesity which gets worse world-wide every year. Nor does anyone have the solution to the problem of increasing numbers of people developing Type 2 diabetes. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...Read More
Lifestyle, Vitamins
Losing Keys May be a Stomach, not a Brain Problem
Do you suffer from a sore mouth, fatigue, anemia, constipation, loss of appetite, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, depression, confusion and poor memory? If so, a report from Tufts University School of Nutrition says there’s a possibility you may have a deficiency of vitamin B12 which is essential for neurological function. Moreover, recent studies show this is not just a Senior problem. If a lack of B12 is producing symptoms, the cause may lie in the stomach, not in the brain. As we age, the stomach’s lining becomes thinner and decreases its production of hydrochloric acid. This vitamin firmly attaches to a protein making it hard to pry it loose to allow absorption unless adequate amounts of hydrochloric...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Pain
Not All Lunatics Are in the Asylum
I'm often asked, "What have you learned as a medical journalist?" In one word "Plenty". After writing a column for 38 years you would have to be an imbecile not to learn something about medicine, human personality and hypocrisy. But above all else I've concluded that common sense is an uncommon commodity, and not all lunatics are in the asylum. Let's start with the Supreme Court of Canada. It's composed of legal experts who, having reached this exalted position, you'd expect to be the "crème de la crème" of this country. But how much horse sense do they possess about medical matters? How much understanding of their fellow men? And why are they so out-of-tune with the wishes of the populace? I'd bet...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
From 1600 T0 400 Calories in 40,000 Years!
How can we help to improve the health care system in this country? Politicians and others continue to debate this issue. They always conclude that more money is the answer. But this approach is doomed to failure. How can it work when it's taken 40,000 years for humans to get into such horrible shape? How did it happen? And is there a solution? Dr. Barry Bogin is a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. He says we all envision our Paleolithic ancestors as being short, bent- over people with small brains. Actually, they were a tad taller with brains as large as ours. And if alive today they would not require hospitalization for so much degenerative disease. Admittedly, most stone-age...Read More
Lifestyle
Death In The Electronic Age
Do you want to die at an early age? I doubt that many people would be willing to say "Yes" to this question. But a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says this is going to happen unless North Americans learn about the dangers of the electronic age. Fortunately there is a solution. But are people willing to accept the advice? Dr. Kirsten Patrick, in an editorial in the CMA Journal, paints a dismal picture of what is happening to those who have become addicted to the pleasures of the electronic age. Patrick says the ownership of modern conveniences such as television, computers and cars has dramatically decreased the amount of time that we move. After all, we can now even...Read More
