Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
Don’t Become A Diabetes Statistic In 2013
When a man applied for a job at the railway station, he was asked, "Suppose you saw a train coming from the east at 100 miles an hour. Then, you noticed a train coming from the west at 100 mph. The trains are both on the same track and just a quarter of a mile apart. What would you do?" The man replied, "I'd run and get my brother". "Why would you ever do that at such a critical time?" he was asked. The man replied, "Because my brother's never seen a train wreck". Today, diabetes and its complications make a perfect medical train wreck. According to The World Health Organization every 40 seconds a new diabetic is diagnosed in North...Read More
Alcohol, Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Sports
The Perfect Pass, Self Destruction, then Recovery
What would it be like to be the highest paid athlete in the world, the toast of Boston, the winner of two Stanley Cups, the rich devil-may-care playboy? Then to find yourself broke, alcoholic, drug addicted and sleeping under bridges? In the space of 12 years this all happened to Derek "Turk" Sanderson. I recently interviewed Derek Sanderson, the NHL hockey player, in Toronto during a dinner sponsored by Healthy Minds Canada. I was interested in his story as I had attended the same school, lived on the same street and watched Sanderson as he started his hockey career with the Niagara Falls Flyers. I knew his loving parents, who tried to instill the right virtues in their son. Multiple...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Preventing Sugar Bellies at Christmas and 2013
"Look at that beer belly!" is an often heard remark. But are beer drinkers getting a bad rap? There's good evidence that may be the case as some beers contain a mere 60 calories. This is why a recent study from the Harvard Medical School says it's about time we renamed this problem, the "Sugar Belly". So can you fight this universal problem during the holidays? Vasanti Malik, a researcher at The Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, reports in Nutrition Action Health Letter that the average North American consumes at least 15 teaspoons of sugar daily. This is mostly from sucrose (table sugar), fructose and glucose. Malik says these calories are contributing to the sugar belly. It's not just...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
The Hazards of a Well-Made Bed
What do you sleep on? Of course, the normal reply is the mattress. But few people realize they're also resting on millions of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinuscan (dust mites). So how can you decrease the risk of these crawly creatures in your bed? And why should you also think twice before quickly making up the bed. Dust mites are related to spiders and will never win a beauty contest. They're ugly, menacing, microscopic in size, have eight legs and you can put either 1,000 mites or 250,000 of their fecal pellets in half a teaspoon. Hardly exciting bed mates! Dust mites accumulate in rugs, fabrics, and furniture. But they prefer warm beds, pillows and blankets where they live along with vast amounts...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Neurology
Using the Marshmallow Test to Predict Jail Time
When was the last time you said, "Let's roast some marshmallows"? Since I'm not sweet sixteen it was a lot of moons ago for me. Now, a report from Stanford University shows marshmallows are good for more than enjoying them around a fire. It seems how you handle a marshmallow can tell how you handle other things later in life. In fact, it may even decide if you end up in jail. Walter Mischel, professor of Psychology at Stanford University, carried out a number of interesting experiments on marshmallows. He tested 653 young children four years of age who all loved marshmallows. The four year olds were placed one at a time in a single room containing only a desk and chair....Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
What I Learned From Sitting in a Bar
Where do I get ideas for this column? It's usually from long hours of reading medical reports, talking to researchers, searching the net and various sources. It's tedious and tiring. But this week I got lucky. I was having a drink at my favourite watering hole when a friend said to me, "You should write about a problem I know that kills people. It also makes them ill and they don't realize the cause of their poor health". He then told me some tragic stories. He went on to say, "A child vomited and appeared to be having a seizure. No one knew why. In another case, two women, swimming in a cluster of boats, suddenly lost consciousness and nearly drowned....Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
What Does North America Offer Immigrants?
For years citizens of the United States have enthusiastically welcomed millions of immigrants to their country. But what do they offer them as they sail or fly past the Statue of Liberty? They claim their country provides Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. But what do immigrants actually receive after arrival in the U.S? And would it have been wiser for them to have stayed in their own country? Researchers at Ohio University studied 24 men and women who moved to the U.S. from countries all over the world. They discovered that after ten weeks, the new residents had already gained two pounds each. Then, after 20 weeks, they had put on another pound. But this was only the average...Read More
Cancer, Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Women's Health
Sorry, But What We Told You Is Wrong
Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime Prime Minister, once remarked, "To every question there is a clear, concise, coherent answer that is wrong". In medicine there are also many questions, and all too often the answers from experts are found years later to be wrong, sometimes with devastating consequences. A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 13 percent of research articles published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine in 2009 reported reversals in medical findings involving drugs, screening tests and invasive procedures! For example, for years we've been told that increasing good cholesterol is a prudent move. But new research shows it does nothing to protect against heart attack, strokes and early death. Here's another hummer. Doctors have urged...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Immuno-Care To Fight Seasonal Allergies
Why do so many people suffer from seasonal allergies? Some cough and wheeze, others fight joint pain and stiffness. Is it due to just too much pollen in the air? Or is it also the result of a badly stressed and depleted immune system? Studies show that a natural remedy, Immuno-Care, that contains plant sterols, can be the answer to seasonal allergies and other disorders when the immune system is running out of gas. Years ago, in my teens, I knew the exact day that watery itchy eyes, runny nose, and fatigue of hay fever would plague me. It was also the time that my summer job of picking peaches started. I had no idea at the time that my immune...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle
Will I Get My Wish on The Second Post-Operative Day?
What do I do when I arrive home after seeing patients all day? I have a pre-dinner drink with my wife. This week I’ll wish I could still do it. But on March 22 I’m scheduled for a hip replacement at The Toronto Western Hospital. So today, a column dealing with alcohol is appropriate. And will my surgeon recall Sir William Osler’s wise remark? A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims alcohol causes cancer. The prestigious Nurses Health Study followed 106,000 women for more than 25 years. This revealed that women who routinely consume three to six drinks a week are 15 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than non-drinkers, regardless of the type...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous
Rx For OxyContin Addicts:
What will happen to the 200,000 or more Canadian OxyContin addicts now that this opioid narcotic is no longer available? For years these people have embarked on a willful act of self-destruction. Isn’t it about time for society to get its priorities straight? To care more for those who have lived a good lifestyle, paid their taxes and when dying of cancer, suffer needless agony because there’s no money for more palliative centers in this country. Those who are rallying to help OxyContin addicts are making a series of illogical errors. Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin, also made a blunder. It spent needless money producing OxyNEO, an opioid version of OxyContin that resists crushing or liquefying so addicts can’t snort or...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Why Couldn’t This Woman Go To Church?
Several years ago I landed at Nairobi airport in Kenya after many hours in the air. It was an uneventful flight, but one elderly traveller had encountered an embarrassing problem. On arrival, she could not put on her shoes due to swelling (edema) of her feet. So why do legs and feet swell in flight, and when is it dangerous? Also what prevented one woman from going to church? Nearly everyone encounters swollen legs and feet following a long car or plane trip. It’s also more likely to occur on a hot day and to surgeons when standing for prolonged surgical procedures. Normally edema is prevented because our bodies maintain a delicate balancing act between the pressure inside and outside...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition
Which Do You Prefer, Heart Attack or Diabetes?
Is it getting easier for patients to make the right health decision today, compared to 50 years ago? It should be, considering the huge advances in medical knowledge since that time. But unless you’re blessed with the Wisdom of Solomon, these advances may merely help you exchange one disease for another. Or, as one wise sage remarked, “Life would be easier if there were no ‘buts’.” For instance, a study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine has depressing news for those taking cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). Researchers studied thousands of middle-aged and older women for seven years, who were taking CLDs. Their discovery? Compared to those who were not taking this medication...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
A Pool Table Or a Natural Remedy For Sleep and Snoring?
How much Tiger is in your tank as you start the day? Not much, if you’ve been tossing and turning at night due to sleep apnea. Or if your partner has shaken the foundation with his or her snoring. Insomnia and snoring affect millions of North Americans and can be associated with serious health problems. Now, a natural remedy, “Bell Sound Sleep”, helps this troubling dilemma. You’re in excellent company if you suffer from insomnia. Napoleon, Sir Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison all tried to count sheep without success. Others, such as Marilyn Monroe, used increasing amounts of prescription sleeping pills, with tragic results. Sleep deprivation can also have far-reaching consequences for our environment. It’s believed to have been a...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
Was I Wrong About Losing Weight?
Was my suggestion several years ago of ways to fight the obesity epidemic provocative? Since nothing was working, I proposed using money as an incentive, and tax the obese. After all, for centuries money has been a great motivator. In fact, those with millions sometimes cheat, steal and lie to get more. But no one thought I should be awarded the Nobel Prize for this idea. Some readers said I should go back to medical school and learn something about eating disorders. Or they wondered if I had even graduated. Others denounced me as obesophobic, and said I should get the stupidity award for suggesting such a demeaning tax. But was I a dunce, or just a trifle ahead of the times?...Read More
Cancer, Lifestyle
The Hazards Of The Closed Car
What’s the best way this holiday season to expose your child to nicotine and the cancer-causing compounds in tobacco smoke? A report in the British Medical Association Journal says it’s very easy. Take your children for a car ride, keep the windows closed and smoke cigarettes. Dr. Patrick Breysse, a researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, studied the cars of 17 smokers who commuted to work for 30 minutes or longer. He reports that nicotine concentrations were 50 percent higher than those found in restaurants and bars that permitted smoking. And that for each cigarette smoked in the car there was a doubling of the airborne nicotine concentration. This finding shouldn’t be shocking. After all, the car’s...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
A Quiz: What’s The Latest Low Carb Product?
How many readers can answer this question? What kills more North Americans than anything else? I’d bet many would answer heart disease or cancer. Authorities claim heart disease is the number one killer. But I’m convinced that calories are the main culprit killing millions of overweight North Americans. Today, let’s see if the following clues help you name the latest low carb product to combat the high-calorie diet. The answer may surprise you. The first clue; this product contains no hidden sugar, a huge benefit for our sweet-loving society. Today, it’s easy to consume sugar without knowing it. For instance, how many are aware that a 10 ounce cola drink contains eight teaspoons of sugar, or realize the...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
A Natural Remedy for
How often do you feel guilty about cheating, not during a card or golf game or trying to pay less income tax, but time and again feeling guilty about cheating on how much you eat? Since readers are always asking me for more natural ways to treat medical problems, here’s one to decrease guilt on cheat-eating days. It’s so easy to “cheat eat”, particularly on special occasions. How often do you consider that there are 14 teaspoons of sugar in a piece of cherry pie? Or, have the willpower to say no to the huge amount of calories on the table? So is it possible to cheat and not gain weight when facing a meal that is impossible to resist? The...Read More
Lifestyle
PGX Fiber Fights Obesity
What’s the best way to fight the battle of the bulge? It’s not by buying books or starting fad diets that rarely work. Rather, it’s shocking that most people are unaware of the huge role fiber plays in combating obesity. Now there’s an easy, natural way to lose weight by adding PGX fiber to the daily menu. Several years ago I wrote that there was a simple way to determine if patients were consuming sufficient fiber. Just look at their stools. If they failed to float, or were not as soft as toothpaste, these patients were lacking fiber. Some readers accused me of giving them a stiff neck trying to...Read More
Lifestyle
There is More to Boston than Baked Beans
This fall the mention of Boston brings the Stanley Cup to mind. But there’s more to Boston than hockey and baked beans. I recently visited 711Washington Street in downtown Boston. Why? Because it’s the address of the world’s largest research center on nutrition and aging. 300 scientists there are studying a disease that affects everyone, Sarcopenia. No whiz kid in Latin, I assumed the name was a Latin word. My wife informed me it’s Greek, meaning “poverty of flesh”. (It’s wise to marry a smart woman). Today everyone fears cancer, heart attack or Alzheimer’s Disease as they age. But it’s also important to think about the poverty of flesh, a slow creeping fragility that robs people of their independence. If you...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine
Act Like Animals To Save Your Kidneys
Who are the master chemists that control water balance in our bodies, keep the blood neither too acid nor alkaline, rid us of dangerous waste, filter every drop of blood in our bodies every 30 minutes and weigh a mere five ounces? They’re our kidneys. But millions of North Americans are so abusing this vital organ that their lives depend solely on renal dialysis. What lethal mistakes are they making? History provides much of the answer. Fifty years ago in Australia, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, people developed a bad habit. They were using mixtures of Aspirin, codeine, phenacetin and caffeine, not only for pain relief, but also for their mood-altering qualities. In fact, at watch factories in Switzerland, workers were...Read More
Lifestyle, Sports
MRSA Infections: Razor Blades on the Floor
So you’ve decided to get into shape and join the local health club? No one can fault that idea. But remember, there are pluses and minuses to most things in life, including health clubs, that result in unintended consequences. Health clubs by necessity have a large number of hot, perspiring, less than clean bodies. So you don’t need to be an infectious disease specialist to know there’s potential infection everywhere. This means that precautionary measures must be taken seriously by the health club, its clients and, particularly, you. It’s hard to decipher the brains of some people. For instance, a female patient of mine stopped going to a fitness center in downtown Toronto. She was tired of repeatedly finding used...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Consumers Kill Campbell’s Poster Child
If your company makes soup, what’s the best way to shoot yourself in the foot? Try selling soup with a little less salt. In 2009 Campbell Soup made a brave and healthy decision. Each serving of its soup would have 32 percent less sodium to help tame one of North America’s big killers, hypertension. Now the foolish consumer has forced Campbell Soup to put the sodium back again. For years the medical profession has lambasted food manufacturers for loading our food with salt, thus stoking the epidemic of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure is the leading cause of death in the world. It’s estimated that 25 percent of North Americans have hypertension and five million Canadians suffer from it. It’s a...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle
Decrease Sugar to Sweeten Blood Cholesterol
Think you know everything on how to lower blood cholesterol? I’m sure it’s no news that excessive amounts of sugar can cause obesity, diabetes and more visits to the dentist. But a report from Tufts University School of Nutrition says this is the first study to show that too much sugar is also bad news for blood cholesterol. It appears they’ve forgotten the work of Dr. John Yudkin. North Americans love sugar because it tastes good and food companies know it. Studies show that they get 16 percent of their total calories from sugar added to foods during manufacturing. Thirty five years ago it was 10.6 percent. It’s the “silent sugar” hidden in a variety of everyday foods such as...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Two Words, Irresponsibly Permissive, Tell a Story
How did this country, and the U.S., become such drug-addicted societies? A recent report states that the pain killer, Oxycontin is now the number one drug used by addicts in North America. But whether it’s this drug, crack cocaine, crystal meth, or others, the result is always the same, wasted lives, needless deaths, crime, and tons of taxpayers’ money that should be used for productive purposes. It’s a cop-out when Ministers of Health claim there’s no easy answer. What’s appalling is how Oxycontin , so ill used, is so easily available in Ontario alone. In 2008 provincial pharmacies dispensed prescriptions for Oxycontin that were more than double the national average. Then in 2009-10 the Ontario Drug plan processed 3.9...Read More
