Orthopedics
Baby Bommers: Medical Problems Waiting To Happen
Interested in another sure way to make money? Several months ago I suggested investing in hearing aids. I predicted that today's teenagers would be tomorrow's deaf from the excessive noise created by I Pods and rock bands. Now there's another sure-fire way to become rich, rich, rich. Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a Philadelphia orthopedic surgeon, has added a new word to the English language. Baby boomers, he said, are the first generation to preach the virtues of staying active and also to practice what they preach. But being obsessed with exercise has come at a price. Large numbers have developed "Boomeritis". They've become banged up baby boomers. The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics reports that baby boomer injuries provided 488 million hours of...Read More
Orthopedics
Sharks Take A Bite Out of Joint Pain
Every year in coastal regions of the U.S. 1,500 people are killed by lightning and only 12 by sharks. During that same time worldwide, more people are killed by elephants, crocodiles and insect stings than sharks. Yet, sharks get the scary headlines. So it's time to give sharks some credit when they're responsible for a medication that's taking a big bite out of bone and joint pain. Today it's refreshing to see a Canadian company surviving when many are lost to international corporations. But Technologies Inc of Edmonton has bucked this trend by innovative research. Now, they've developed a new remedy CELL-fx" to help fight the onset of osteoarthritis and relieving symptoms of bone and joint pain. CELLl-fx is an extract of...Read More
Orthopedics, Pain, Sports
It Was A Pain From Hell
Have you ever had to crawl on your hands and knees because of severe back pain? It's not a dignified position. But it recently happened to me. What caused this problem and how did I finally get relief? We all love our mothers and I dearly loved mine. But unfortunately she had scoliosis of the spine and passed this genetic problem along to me. Then in my final year at The Harvard Medical School I awakened one morning with the worst headache of my life. A lumbar puncture revealed poliomyelitis. Scoliosis and poliomyelitis is not a good combination to maintain a healthy spine. As a result over the years I've suffered from occasional attacks of sciatica, usually appearing for no apparent reason. But...Read More
Orthopedics
A Doubled-Barreled Treatment For Osteoporosis
Charles de Talleyrand, the noted French diplomat, once remarked to Napoleon Bonaparte, "Sire, worse than a crime you have committed an error." Today tens of thousands of North Americans have developed a crippling disease, osteoporosis (brittle bones). They too have committed a major error that could be prevented. Hip, spine and wrist injuries are the most common fractures associated with osteoporosis. And broken bones can strike with the speed of lightning. A forceful hug can suddenly break a rib. Picking up a heavy load of groceries or sneezing can also lead to a fractured bone. Or osteoporosis can result in chronic pain and life in a wheelchair. The figures are frightening and place a huge financial burden on our health care system....Read More
Medicine, Orthopedics
Helpless Without Epinephrine Kit – Anaphylaxis
Years ago Superman escaped from the explosion of the planet Krypton in the Superman movie. But few know that micro cinematography of an exploding human mast cell was used to depict the planet's end. Humans are not as lucky as Superman. Every year thousands of Canadians suffer anaphylactic reactions due to exploding mast cells and many die from the massive allergic eruption. Planning ahead can prevent this tragedy. This deadly reaction may result from the venom of a bee, yellow jacket, yellow hornet or wasp sting. Each year more North Americans die from insect bites than poisonous snakes. Others die from an antibiotic, or after eating shellfish, eggs, soy, or milk. All told 200 foods have been implicated in causing this...Read More
Cardiovascular, Orthopedics
Natural Ways To Ease The Arthritis Pain of Aging
"Why are you taking drugs when you haven't tried natural ways to ease the pain of arthritis?" Thus I remind patients they're not taking M and M candy, but powerful drugs that can cause major complications. Moreover, they forget that many natural drugs can be used to not only treat, but also prevent wear-and-tear arthritis (osteoarthritis) that comes with age. Vitamin C is the most overlooked natural remedy. Osteoarthritis is chiefly an impairment of cartilage and when it's diminished with age bones grind against one another causing pain. The secret is to keep cartilage healthy. A prime way, is adequate amounts of vitamin C, which is needed to manufacture collagen, an important ingredient of cartilage. Researchers at Boston University Medical Center studied...Read More
Orthopedics, Pain
Single Injection Relieves Arthritis Joint Pain for Months
"What can I do to relieve the pain in my knee?", a patient recently asked me. She had been treated by cortisone injections, Celebrex and others medications and it was still impossible to walk without pain. But there is a less known way to treat this disabling condition. A recent report from the World Health Organization claims that osteoarthritis of the knee is the fourth cause of disability in women and the eighth most important one for men. Currently this disease affects 10 percent of those over 55 years of age and 25 percent suffer severe disability. And it's no fun to suffer from osteoarthritis, to know that every step of the day will be painful. Or become impossible. Osteoarthritis goes back...Read More
Nutrition, Orthopedics
It’s “Calcium Balance” That Causes Osteoporosis
Why would I give my wife a new cook book when she's often threatened to turn the kitchen into a den? I took a calculated risk that I wouldn't end up stirring the pot. But I believed that she would see the benefits of "The Everyday Calcium Cookbook". It's loaded with sound advice on calcium-rich nutrition for whole-body health. And why normal amounts of calcium in the blood is causing an epidemic of osteoporosis (brittle bones). Helen Bishop MacDonald is Assistant Professor at the Universite de Moncton and nutritionist for the Calgary Flames hockey team the year they won the Stanley Cup. She says, "It's no secret that most Canadians do not get enough calcium for optimum bone health". TV talk shows,...Read More
Orthopedics
The Dangers of Cosmetic Foot Surgery
How should a surgeon react when asked to do this operation? A woman wishes to purchase a pair of fashionable shoes. She has no bunions or hammer toes and her feet don't hurt. But there is a problem. She's unable to wear fancy pumps because her toes are either too long or too wide. Rather than purchasing a shoe that fits she insists on cosmetic foot surgery. Dr. Sharon Dreeben, Chairwoman of the American Foot and Ankle Society, recently held a press briefing to outline a new and dangerous trend in cosmetic surgery. She reported a survey revealed that half of the members of the Society had been asked to perform cosmetic surgery on normal feet. Moreover half had also treated...Read More
Neurology, Orthopedics, Pain
Course 101 In Back Pain
Ask me about Economics 101 and I'll flunk the question. But what about course 101 in back pain? In this case I have some answers. Ones that will help readers who ask "What is the best treatment for my aching back?" Many years ago while in Hawaii I suddenly coughed and an excruciating pain shot down my leg. There was no doubt about the diagnosis, a ruptured spinal disk, and the pain was so severe I desperately needed a place to lie down. Fortunately I was near an old historic church on a quiet back street. I walked in, in agony and stretched out on a not-so-comfortable wooden pew. But fate was not kind. Five minutes later a group of tourists entered...Read More
Orthopedics
How Much Sarcopenia Do You Have?
"What in the devil is Sarcopenia?" I wondered. But this ignorance didn't bother my psyche. After all, I knew I wasn't a whiz kid in Latin. So I asked my literate wife who loved Latin what it meant. She just shook her head and replied, "Dummy, it's not Latin. It's Greek." This gaffe did scar my psyche a bit. But it didn't stop me from learning more about this common condition. And why even joggers are not immune to developing sarcopenia. A report from Tufts University claims we must all start thinking about sarcopenia. It states that everyone is concerned about heart attack, cancer and Alzheimer's Disease as we age. But the one disease that robs many elderly people of their...Read More
Medicine, Orthopedics
Fighting Arthritis With Exercise And Pennsaid
"Why are you using, Celebrex a oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), to treat arthritis of your knee when a safer medication Pennsaid is available? There's also a report from Boston that will also help to ease your pain." It's advice I recently gave to my tennis partner. Several years ago in my book, "The Healthy Barmaid" I told the story of a patient whose arthritic fingers were improved by playing the piano. For years I've been convinced that many people would not require hip and knee replacements if they used their legs more. But a report from Boston claims that once arthritis sets in, walking isn't the entire answer. Dr. Ronenn Roubenoff, a rheumatologist at Tuft's University, says it also depends on...Read More
Orthopedics
Pennsaid, A New Local Treatment For Osteoarthritis
Elephants normally win when fighting a mouse. But for once the mouse has won. A Canadian company has beaten the U.S. and achieved an historic first. Dimethaid Research has developed a non-oral NSAID" (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) to treat osteoarthritis. And since it's locally applied it dramatically reduces the risk of stomach complications associated with oral NSAIDs. It's estimated that three million Canadians suffer from osteoarthritis. It's the wear-and-tear type of arthritis which presents a challenge for patients day after day. Some people have had to give up a favourite sport, gardening or taking their daily walk. Others find it increasingly difficult to navigate the stairs or carry out household chores. Today, with an aging population, there's a huge need for this...Read More
Orthopedics
Factured Hip – Five Days Later My Father Was Dead
Some moments in your life you never, never forget. The Sunday morning that my father didn't answer the telephone, for instance. And later findings him lying on the floor with a fractured hip. The gradual down-hill course followed surgery with long hours at his beside, and finally death five days later. Suddenly, all I had left of the father I had loved so much was a box of cinders after cremation. The disaster of a fractured hip became imbedded in my mind. Two years ago Katherine Graham, 84 year old publisher of the Washington Post, died following a fall. Recently, Robert Atkins, 72 year old protein-diet guru and 82 year old newsman David Brinkley, both died following falls. The Centers for Disease...Read More
Neurology, Orthopedics, Psychiatry
Whiplash – Demolition Drivers Could Save Us Billions of Dollars
How much whiplash pain is in the mind and how much in the neck? It's an important question because a huge amount of money is involved. And it comes out of everyone's pocket. This year the diagnosis, treatment, litigation and insurance payments of whiplash complaints will cost North Americans 29 billion dollars. Now, a fascinating report about demolition drivers separates fact from fiction. It could be of use to defense lawyers. There are over one million low-speed rear impact collisions of automobiles every year in North America. During a rear end collision the head is suddenly whipped backwards, then swiftly forward. It's believed that most of the injury results from the backward motion as forward movement is limited when the chin...Read More
Medicine, Nutrition, Orthopedics
Eating Your Way Out of Arthritis
Could the thousands of recent knee and hip replacements have been prevented by the right diet? And could millions of people suffer less arthritic pain by following more nutritious food consumption? Arthritis has been called the "chronic-care challenge of the 21 century century." It's estimated that 30 million North Americans suffer from osteoarthritis (OA). And that 70 percent of hip replacements are due to this disease. Osteoarthritis is the "wear and tear " form of arthritis. Like an aging car that starts to squeak, human joints begin to grate and scrape as we get older. But research at Tufts University in Boston shows that there's more to arthritis than the stresses associated with aging. They say, inadequate nutrition also sets the stage...Read More
Orthopedics
What Is The Best Way to Manage Osteoporosis
What a change a few weeks can make in the management of menopausal problems! For decades millions of women have been prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat osteoporosis (brittle bones). Recent studies indicate HRT can lead to an increased risk of breast cancer and cardiovascular problems. Fortunately, there are other viable options for treating this common disease. Osteoporosis is a disease of bones, which like other living tissues, are in constant change. Early in life more bone is formed than lost. Later the reverse is true making bones more fragile with increased risk of fracture. But because of the latest HRT reports many postmenopausal women will now look to other long-term therapies to fight osteoporosis. Thankfully there are options which can...Read More
Genitourinary, Orthopedics
Low Testosterone and Fractured Bones
"What makes men act the way they do?" one annoyed woman asked her friend. She replied, "It's testosterone, stupid." One of the reasons men differ from women is that they produce 10 times more testosterone. But like most things in life "10 times" doesn't last forever. There's mounting evidence that males experience their own menopause (andropause). And that the dwindling of the male hormone has far reaching consequences for males, particularly on bones and sexual drive. During the 3rd World Conference on "The Aging Male" held in Berlin, Germany, I interviewed Dr. Robert Josse, a renowned endocrinologist at the University of Toronto. Professor Josse said, "No one in the past has seriously looked at osteoporosis in men. We used to think that...Read More
Orthopedics
New Treatment For Tennis Elbow and Painful Heel
"Why has God done this to me?" a patient asked several months ago. She had developed tennis elbow and had been forced to stop playing her favourite sport. But to make matters worse she had also developed plantar fasciitis, commonly known as painful heel. And she having difficulty walking. But she learned that God hadn't totally deserted her. Due to a new treatment she's now back playing tennis and walking without pain. Tennis doesn't rival skiing down the Alps to head the list of sports causing serious injuries. But it's estimated that eight million North Americans suffer from tennis elbow. Another seven million from painful heel. And doctors have needed the wisdom of Solomon plus a little luck to ease the...Read More
