Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Medicine
Inflammation Markers Are Tools in Assessing Cardiac Risk
Inflammation is generally the indication of a health problem. But new research suggests we think differently about inflammation, especially in relation to heart disease and the prevention of atherosclerosis (thickening or hardening of the arteries). It’s prompting debate among doctors about how to determine the risk of coronary attack and how best to treat patients. Inflammation may sometimes be Heaven-sent, alerting us to infection and injury. This comes as no surprise, as acute inflammation is part of the natural immune response to bacterial and viral disasters. Inflammation produces a flow of proteins and hormones during an infection or injury that promotes healing. Sometimes this is obvious, as with a sprained finger. But inflammation may also come from Hell. There are diseases like...Read More
Medicine
Pity the Overworked Family Doctor
Everyone knows, or should know, about the many problems facing your overworked family doctor. In North America, it’s common knowledge that large numbers of individuals and families do not have one. They are a scarce healthcare commodity. Now, on top of the heavy workload these doctors carry, the pharmaceutical industry has placed another burdensome task. So, what is this problem? It happens night after night. You hear the messy and worrying news from around the world. You begin to wonder why humans continue to destroy cities and cause so much needless human suffering. Then come the equally despairing commercials reminding you about all the things that can go wrong with your health – and all the pills that can fix these...Read More
Genitourinary, Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition
Stop Killing the Kidneys with Garbage
Multiple studies have shown that a diet of fruits and vegetables reduces blood pressure. Since hypertension kills millions of people each year, the message seems clear. But this is not the first time consumers have been told that a veggie diet is superior to one of meat. Now there’s another important message that millions of North Americans have not learned. It’s that people of all ages keep killing their kidneys by eating highly processed garbage day after day. Despite the evidence, they embrace this silent killer until the doctor says they need kidney dialysis or a renal transplant to save their life. First, know the basic facts. The kidneys, like the gastrointestinal system, remove waste. These two bean-shaped organs, each the...Read More
Medicine, Miscellaneous
The Right Medicine on Hand Could Save a Life
Summer means different things to different people. But a glimpse into the Gifford-Jones archives suggests some things about summer never change. A vintage article from 1977 called on readers to pay heed to problems that can arise at the cottage. And it remains true, summertime is a dangerous season – especially for those escaping into the great outdoors. People get into all sorts of trouble during vacations. Some become critically ill and should be rushed to hospital as soon as possible. But there are other occasions when having the right medicine nearby is lifesaving. It has been said that he who treats himself has a fool for a patient. But if you're on a canoe trip or at a cottage far away...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Medicine
A Call to Care for Parents
On the growing list of health pandemics – COVID-19, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, dementia, heart disease, and stroke – there is another one. It’s called benign neglect, and it is a product of our times. It happens when children don’t make sufficient effort to help aging parents understand and manage their medications. There’s a lot of guilt to go around. But that’s not to say this is easy work. Ask your parents what medications they are taking and why. Better yet, have a close look at the medications in their possession and assess how well they are adhering to prescribed treatments. Congratulations to those who find all is well. For others, it may be a wake-up call. Over the past several decades, detrimental trends...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Infection, Medicine, Nutrition, Philosophy, Vitamins
A Too Uncommon Theory of Medicine
Are your health care providers trained in integrative medicine? It’s not an area of medical specialization, like gynaecology or gastroenterology. Think of it as a theory of medicine. Doctors practicing integrative medicine respect the roles of prescription drugs and surgery when the situation calls for these treatments. But they also study and embrace the potential for natural remedies, lifestyle modifications, nutrition, and traditional practices in both health promotion and disease treatment. Hippocrates, born in 460 BC, was the most influential philosopher of integrative medicine. He believed the human body should be treated as a whole, not as the sum of its parts. Benedict Lust, born in 1872 in Baden, Germany, is regarded as the “Father of Naturopathy”, a form of alternative medicine whose...Read More
Lungs, Medicine, Philosophy
Life in an Iron Lung Is a Test of Tolerance
Reading a recent tribute to the life of Paul Alexander brought back horrible memories for me. Paul Alexander was only six years of age when he developed polio. The result? He spent the rest of his life enclosed in an iron lung. I too had polio in my final year at the Harvard Medical School. If my fate had been life in an iron lung, I would have begged someone to kill me. It’s not just memories of polio that trouble me. It’s also some people’s long-festering misinterpretation of my stand on vaccines, including some editors who got my message totally wrong. The polio vaccine hadn’t been invented when Alexander and I contracted the disease in the 1940s. Given the consequences for...Read More
Genitourinary, Lifestyle, Medicine, Surgery
Kidney Disease Has No Good Ending
Will humans ever learn to care for their kidneys? Or will they live to count mixed blessings – staying alive but reliant on a machine to clean the blood. This, or a kidney transplant, is the result of end-stage kidney failure. Over 40 million North Americans are living with the precursor, chronic kidney disease. Astonishingly, nine in ten sufferers are unaware they have the problem. But the body knows, and as the disease progresses, other health problems including stroke and heart attack can result. A dialysis machine can remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when kidneys stop working. Dialysis patients require treatment 3 to 7 times a week, for three or more hours per session, in a hospital, clinic,...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Medicine, Philosophy, Surgery
Have Faith in the Doctor, with Limitations
Is it wise to believe what the doctor tells you? Or are there misleading types, not entirely honest with their patients? Does the medical system place the patient’s best interests first, as commonly stated on health center posters? Or do other factors, like pressure to ease wait times for a high-demand treatments, mean that some people aren’t informed of their best options. The truth is, having implicit faith in the medical profession is risky business. There are ample reasons to place your faith in doctors and medicines. Antibiotics save people from dying of pneumonia and a host of other diseases. Cortisone enables people to be free of wheelchairs. Cardiac pacemakers add years to the lives of heart patients. Surgeons (and organ...Read More
Medicine
Are You Making Medication Errors
Winston Churchill said, “The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself.” Unreliable statistics make it hard to know how many people die each year due to medication errors. How many more are taking harmful drug combinations or the wrong doses? The numbers are elusive because medical professionals don’t want to showcase errors and consumers may not realize their mistakes. Yet, errors happen many ways and at different points. It’s like the telephone game where people take turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line. When the last person speaks the message out loud, it has changed along the way. It’s a game that teaches how important details get altered when passed from person to...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition, Philosophy, Vitamins
Government’s Good Intentions Gone Bad
Everyone wants a safe, effective, and accessible supply of the products that keep us healthy. Doctors and patients need proven drugs. People seeking to prevent illness with natural remedies also need good products. But governments trying to ensure quality are putting measures in place that will limit the variety of supplements, make them more expensive, and make it harder for smaller companies with innovative products to compete. Natural products like vitamin C, fish oil, magnesium, calcium, and many other supplements are ingredients to good health. For the cost of a cup or coffee, daily supplementation can address deficiencies in the diet, add antioxidants, reduce inflammation, support the immune system, build bone, etc. For example, vitamin C and lysine in high doses help...Read More
Medicine, Pain
Not Every Pain Needs a Pill
How we wish there were better ways to treat pain. But scientists are struggling to find them. The very nature of pain remains illusive too. Determining if pain is mild, moderate, or severe is a personal perception. Doctors and nurses ask patients to rate their pain from zero to ten. Whether the patient says 2 or 15, there’s more judgement than science in decisions about pain management. But one thing is certain, people managing pain at home are taking too many pills. Pain, at best, is an annoyance. At worst, it is all consuming. It’s been said pain can collapse the universe and concentrate the soul until only the hurt is left. Elaine Scarry, a Harvard professor and author of “The...Read More
Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Medicine, Obesity
New Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes
Albert Einstein wrote, “Everything is a miracle.” Is it possible that a new class of drugs is finally providing a miracle in the fight against diabetes? Ozempic and Trulicity, produced by Novo Nordisk and Ely Lilly, are examples of the brand-name prescription drugs gaining attention for fighting type 2 diabetes and showing success. Type 2 diabetes is among the leading killers globally. But information about these drugs is running wild. The hoped-for miracle needs a measure of grounding. Consider Ozempic, a prescription drug, injected weekly by pen. It’s approved in Canada and the U.S. to treat type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle disease linked with obesity and a major risk factor for heart attack, blindness, kidney failure, and gangrene of the legs...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cancer, Diabetes, Infection, Medicine, Philosophy
The Original Medicine of Stingless Bees
The American poet Emily Dickinson understood the profound gifts of nature. She wrote, “The lovely flowers embarrass me, They make me regret I am not a bee –” If bees could speak, they might add, “Let me do my work, so that you may live.” Bees are vital pollinators, ensuring the success of a wide variety of the world’s most nutritious agricultural crops grown for human consumption. Most people associate bees with painful stings and the tasty product of the Western honeybee. Being “busy as a bee” is a homage to the industrious nature of this pollinating insect that collects nectar in a dozen or more foraging trips each day. A small percentage of people who are stung by a bee or other insect...Read More
Cancer, Medicine, Miscellaneous
Can AI Help Fight Cancer?
The short answer is yes – cancer and other health problems too. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a game-changer. Not only can this rapidly advancing technology improve the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis and treatment, it has enormous potential to predict health problems, allowing for far more effective prevention programs that target at-risk populations. Take, for example, children born with congenital heart defects. This fate currently falls to about 40,000 babies born in the U.S. each year, and about 1.35 million newborns worldwide. What causes defective heart structures in the developing embryo is open to debate. But genetics, diet, environment, medications, and smoking are all on the list. But what if AI could analyse vast quantities of data and learn from patterns...Read More
Cancer, Medicine, Obesity
For Men, Don’t Disregard a Lump in the Breast
Few findings cause women as much fear as discovering a breast lump and wondering if it’s cancer. But what about men who notice a mass and pain in the breast? Male breast lumps are not commonly discussed in the locker room. But confusion and embarrassment can delay diagnosis of a malignancy. Breast cancer is not entirely a woman’s disease. Although it occurs in males in less than one percent of cases, diagnosis tends to be late. In 2022, of the 2,710 American men expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, about 530 will die. But male breast lumps are not always dangerous. There’s a condition called “gynecomastia” derived from the Greek root for female and “mastos” for breast. In fact, studies of...Read More
Medicine, Miscellaneous
Grandma Took the Wrong Pill
Unintentional poisonings are on the rise. Deaths from poisoning occur at double the rate of motor vehicle deaths. It’s a heartbreaking fact that many deaths and injuries are completely avoidable, especially when young children are the victims. Yet, it may be surprising to know this: while children under age 5 account for about 40% of poison exposures requiring contact with emergency services, preventable poisoning deaths are near entirely within the adult population. Many factors are contributing to these tragedies. The opioid crisis is one of the problems. But there are other issues arising from increased isolation and the impact this is having on overall well-being, including among older adults. Changes in age, health status, and many other considerations can make adjustments to prescriptions...Read More
Infection, Medicine, Vitamins
The Case for Vaccination is Clear
What helped to shape my career? As a small child I became spell bound when I read Paul de Kruif’s book “Microbe Hunters”, published in 1926. It offers a sweeping history of the earliest microbiologists and immunologists, dating back to the discovery of microbes in the 17th century. Louis Pasteur features prominently as the researcher who discovered how to make the vaccine that neutralizes the microbe that causes rabies. Scientists were producing vaccines to treat many other viral diseases. It became my burning desire to be a doctor. Vaccines have saved countless lives. This is clear. Three years ago, my column discussed vaccination. I explained that, as a surgeon, I could never guarantee that operations were 100 percent free of complications. I...Read More
Medicine
Are You Taking Too Much Medication?
Many diseases can be effectively managed thanks to therapeutic treatments involving pharmaceutical drugs. But have we gone too far in popping pills for every ache? Or even for serious health conditions, has your doctor put as much thought into how to get you off prescription medications as has gone into putting you on them? The statistics are alarming. A study of drug use among seniors in Canada in 2016 found that 2 out of 3 Canadians over the age of 65 were taking at least 5 different prescription medications and over a quarter took at least 10 different prescription medications! In the U.S., a 2018 national survey found that 48.6% of the entire population used at least one prescription drug in...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Philosophy
Why It’s Important to Sign Up at docgiff.com
What do newspaper editors do if they don’t agree with what you write? They fire you. I’ve annoyed some editors by expressing an opinion on controversial subjects. Or by stressing that natural remedies can be safer, less expensive, and more effective, than synthetic drugs. Today, drugs kill 100,000 North Americans every year and are responsible for sending hundreds of thousands to emergency departments because of adverse drug interactions. I have often said that in the next life I want to own all the newspapers, as freedom of the written word is only enjoyed by those who control the media. But I’m still alive on this planet and have been fired, basically for fighting the establishment. So editorial truth is under attack. Newspapers,...Read More
Medicine, Pain
Did you hear about the North American wimp epidemic?
How do people in other countries handle pain following various surgical procedures? It’s a pertinent question today in light of the debate on opioid usage in North America. A recent report in JAMA Network Open, published by the American Medical Association, confirms what I have argued, that North Americans have become wimps when confronted with pain. So who is responsible for this? I first became aware of what was happening to pain control many years ago. I had an impacted wisdom tooth which my dentist said must be removed. So I called a dental surgeon in Toronto, whom I had known for years, and made an appointment for this procedure. Following the tooth’s removal, he said, “Be sure to take this painkiller every...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine
Natural Remedies Could Help Finance Pharmacare
It’s soon voting time and politicians will again try buying your votes with freebies. One is universal Pharmacare. England, France, and New Zealand have varying types of free drugs. Canada and the U.S. should have the same. But the U.S. debt is $22 trillion and Canada’s $2.2 trillion. The “Debt Time Clock” shows these debts are increasing by millions every hour. If this doesn’t scare you, nothing will. But could increased use of natural remedies help make Pharmacare more affordable? The National Pharmacare Advisory Council tells us it will cost $15 billion. But we’re all suffering from chronic amnesia if we do not remember that the costs always balloon when politicians get involved. Pharmacare is not a cheap proposition. Costs will...Read More
Medicine
Incredibly Some People Even Drive Their Car
Barnum and Bailey, the circus promoters, were right saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Or, as Dr. William Osler, Professor of Medicine at McGill and Johns Hopkins University, would add, “The one thing that separates man from animals is man’s desire to take pills.” Now, a report from the University of California sites data from the Centers of Disease Control indicating this obsession with pills sends more than one million people to hospital emergency departments every year due to adverse drug reactions. So, how can you avoid them? Anyone who watches TV ads for drugs knows that the list of side-effects is as long as your arm. This warning should ring a bell to everyone. But there are those who...Read More
Medicine
Will Dr. AI Eventually Be Your Family Physician?
How much will artificial intelligence (AI) play in the future when you require medical care? Today, millions are being spent to produce cars that drive by themselves. Will the same be spent on Dr. AI, your family doctor? Ironically, this column wasn’t triggered by reading a medical report. Rather, it originates from an article written by Matt Harrison, Contributing Editor of the Park Avenue Digest, an economic news publication. Harrison writes that we’re getting closer to seeing a robotic doctor than one would think. For instance, the Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York already has a robot able to pick up pneumonia in chest X-rays, with the final diagnosis made by a human doctor. But I wonder how...Read More
Medicine
Are You Taking These Medicines Too Long?
What will be your 2019 New Year’s resolution? Losing weight? Finally deciding to get off the couch and get more exercise? Hopefully to convince yourself smoking means 20 years less life? These are all healthy ways to start the year. But I’d like to add another New Year’s Resolution. Many North Americans are taking medicines for the long run when they’re only intended for the short run. This can have a huge impact on well-being. The January Reports on Health claims that one-third of Americans over the age of 55 take too many medications. Michael Steinman, an expert on aging and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, says, “Some medicine are more effective and safest when you...Read More
