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
Neurology, Pain
Magnesium: A Natural Remedy to Treat Migraine
Migraine attacks have plagued humankind for centuries and they are still a major cause of disability worldwide. During a recent reunion at the Harvard Medical School, a professor told me of an interesting study. He said that Dr. Stephanie W. Goldberg, a neurologist at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has reported that magnesium can be helpful in treating these debilitating headaches. Migraine attacks are not your typical headache. Rather, they’re associated with an intense throbbing pain, usually on one side of the head, accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and an increased sensitivity to light and sound. Patients may also complain of visual disturbances, such as flashes of light, zigzag lines or stars. It’s not surprising that Statistics Canada finds 63% of those with...Read More
Pain
The Hypocrisy of Pain Control
Why is it that patients in severe pain from serious diseases are being denied painkillers? A report from the Chronic Pain Association of Canada (CPAC) states that it’s easier for addicts to obtain painkillers than non-addicted patients in desperate need of them. You might say this does not make sense. But the lack of common sense, uncommon as it is, does not surprise. During the past fifty years I’ve seen a ton of hypocrisy that results in needless, disabling pain. The report states, “Bad and distorted research used by Health Canada leads to tragedy for many Canadian patients.” It charges that to deal with overdose deaths among illicit drug users Health Canada decided on a new tactic. The decision was to go...Read More
Pain
Chronic Pain: A Close Cousin to Suicide
He preaches patience that never knew pain.” These sage words were published in the Handbook of Proverbs in 1855. Or, as Shakespeare wrote, “They breathe the truth that breathe their words in pain.” Today, pain is the most common medical symptom that plagues humankind. But when does it kill? The number of people suffering from pain depends on the source of data. Some reports claim 25 to 100 million have some level of pain, and over 10 million suffer from considerable pain every day. Dr. Emiko Petrosky, at the U.S. Center for Injury Prevention and Control, analyzed data on 123,000 suicides. His report, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, shows that one in 10 patients with sizable pain decided to end...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Pain
Spinal Decompression? Or Back to Rum or Chardonnay?
Can stretching spinal vertebrae ease lower back and neck pain? Can it circumvent surgery? It’s a question I’ve researched for several years as I suffer from spinal pain. The first spinal clinic I sought looked at my neck MRI’s and concluded that stretching the spine was too dangerous at my age. But recently another doctor agreed to treatment. So, was this therapy more successful than a 5 o’clock rum, or glass of Chardonnay? After the cold and flu, spinal pain is the number one cause of work absence. Studies show that up to 85 percent of the North American population will suffer from back or neck pain at some time during their lives. Often it’s due to a ruptured spinal disc...Read More
Neurology, Pain, Psychiatry
Why Did Anthony Bourdain Commit Suicide?
Albert Camus, the French humanist, wrote, “There is only one true philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” Pliny the Elder had said earlier, “Admit the miseries of our life on earth, suicide is God’s best gift to man.” But what prompted Anthony Bourdain of TV’s “Parts Unknown” to hang himself? And could medical care have prevented it? Suicide rates are rising in North America. For instance, among girls 10 to 19 the suicide rate has increased a shocking 70 percent. It’s easy to understand how elderly people, dying of metastatic cancer, who are in severe pain, decide to call it a day. Or, those who have lost a loving...Read More
Heroin, Pain
Politicians Take Note – Readers Damn Opioid Summit
This week my e-mail nearly developed “Rigor Mortis” from the volume of responses to my column about an opioid summit. I recently told readers the government’s proposed opioid summit was a waste of money. I asked for their opinion. The majority agreed with me. But some labelled me barbaric, cruel and Godless for praising Singapore’s system of justice. M.P. writes, “I also saw the warning signs when entering Singapore airport. A poster showed a drug dealer hanging by a rope!” Another reader adds, “I’m glad someone has the balls to discuss the consequences of this drug problem.” From A.W., “My wife would swear I wrote your column. The only way to deal with drug dealers is death. Put them in jail and these...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Medicine, Pain
Gifford-Jones; Do I Look Like an Addict?
“But why must I give you a urine sample?” I asked the receptionist at the marijuana clinic. She replied, “Because we won’t see you without one, and each time you come back you must give us one. It’s to make sure you’re not taking illegal drugs.” So at 94 years of age, a doctor with lots of gray hair, tired after fighting Toronto traffic, and walking with a cane, I asked her, “Do I really look like an addict?” I reluctantly gave her a urine sample! But why was I there? Years ago, while in Japan, I had a Japanese massage at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. During the procedure, a petite girl suddenly struck a heavy blow on the side of...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Pain
Marijuana for Gifford-Jones?
Why would I, at my age, want to start smoking pot, when I’d much prefer a glass of chardonnay? It’s because I’ve suffered annoying neck pain for years due to an old injury which happened in Japan. Besides, my experience with the plant may help others who suffer from chronic pain day after day, and find no relief from other painkillers. My interest in marijuana dates back many years. At that time several readers asked for my support to obtain medical marijuana. Some patients had found that marijuana decreased nausea while undergoing chemotherapy. Others with spinal cord injuries, accompanied by painful muscle spasm, also reported relief. But many could not find a doctor to prescribe marijuana. So I argued in my...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Pain, Philosophy
Sudan, Will Humans Ever Learn?
What a sad, thought-provoking photo, published in the Globe and Mail newspaper. It shows Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, unable to stand. You can see the terrible frustration and pain on his face. Veterinarians, at the Pejeta Kenyan Conservancy, decided that since there was no quality of life left for Sudan, only unsolvable pain, the best treatment was a lethal injection. It’s ironic that veterinarians are so compassionate about the end of life for dying animals. Yet some physicians, who often see the agony of human death, can be so lacking in compassion, and are outright cruel. We could ask why ending Sudan’s life did not trigger the usual cries that only God can decide this issue. Or argue that...Read More
Heroin, Pain, Psychiatry
Readers Say “Cancer Patients Deserve Better”
Several weeks ago I wrote that Canada’s Federal Minister of Health had announced 100 million dollars would be available to fight the opioid crisis. In addition, it would now be easier for addicts in treatment centers to obtain heroin. But I argued there was no such easy access to heroin for terminal cancer patients in agony. I’ve received tons of mail from angry readers. From E.D. “I watched my Father die a horrible death due to cancer. He lost all dignity, begged doctors for heroin, as morphine did not help. A vet of the Korean war should not have suffered this way.” J.F., an English nurse, says, “When I came to Canada I couldn’t believe heroin was not available. I was told...Read More
Cancer, Cardiovascular, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Neurology, Pain, Vitamins
What Did You Learn From Me in 2017?
I hope my columns during 2017 have helped readers live longer and healthier. So which of the following are true or false? There’s evidence that regular activity lowers the risk of dementia. Also a suggestion that high daily doses of vitamin C can decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at The Harvard Medical School report the magical ingredient in fish to decrease the risk of heart disease is omega-3 fatty acids, which like Aspirin, add oil to the blood making it less likely to clot. The survival rate of cancer of the prostate has little to do with the type of treatment. Rather, it’s related to the biological nature of the malignancy. Some cancers are pussy cats, others raging...Read More
Cancer, Heroin, Pain
Heroin for Opioid Addicts, None for Cancer Patients
Where is the common sense and compassion in this country for cancer patients who suffer in agony? I write this because drug addicts, who largely seek pleasure from opioid drugs, are now getting better pain control than cancer victims. And these patients and their families should be enraged by what is happening. The Federal Minister of Health (MOH), Ginette P. Taylor, has announced a 100 million dollar fund to fight the opioid crisis. She reports “This situation keeps me up at night.” I should remind her that cancer pain keeps many patients in agony 24 hours a day! What is more galling is that the government wants to reduce barriers that limit access to heroin for addicts in drug-treatment programs. Yet there...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Pain
“Dying, I Don’t Want To Be There When It Happens.”
Woody Allen, when asked for his opinion about death, replied, “I don’t worry about dying, I just don’t want to be there when it happens!” Unfortunately, Allen will be there and so will the rest of us. This week, why I have a personal interest in the end of life. And what can we all do to provide the best of care to loved ones near death? Years ago I conducted a five year battle to legalize heroin to ease the agony of dying cancer patients. Readers, at that time, sent me funds to help with costs. Finally, when heroin was legalized in 1998, $450,000 was left in the kitty which I donated to the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine,...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Miscellaneous, Pain
How Can Hospitals and Doctors Be So Cruel?
Years ago I wrote that “The problems of the world are caused by supposedly intelligent people who are largely fools.” I haven’t changed my mind as I look at the problems surrounding the new law that allows Medical Aid in Dying (MAID). I will never understand how some hospitals and doctors can be so cruel to those who cry out for mercy. Recently, an 84 year old man, a patient in a Vancouver hospital, was afflicted with failing kidneys, heart disease and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal causing pressure on sensitive cord tissue. Aware of his agonizing future, he asked his doctor to apply for MAID. But Catholic hospitals and some non-Catholic facilities do not allow doctors or...Read More
Neurology, Pain
Why I’ve Never Forgotten a Japanese Girl
58 years ago I made an unfortunate decision. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong Japanese girl. But the problem was not what you’re thinking! Rather, I was in Tokyo, travelling with my wife and her parents. My father-in-law and I decided to experience a Japanese massage at the Imperial Hotel. During the event a petite masseuse suddenly struck the side of my head with a hard blow. I swear to High Heaven I did not pinch her, and will never know why she acted this way. The following day I developed symptoms of injury to the ulnar nerve in my arm, and later neck pain. In recent years the neck pain has increased and...Read More
Cancer, Medicine, Pain
Why Cancer Patients Will Suffer to Protect the Lives of Addicts
How history repeats itself! Today, politicians are once again ignoring the pain of terminal cancer patients. At the same time, they are shooting themselves in the foot by making illogical remarks about pain. This human folly takes me back 37 years. In January 1979, I wrote a New Year’s resolution in this column to petition the government to legalize medical heroin to ease the agony of terminal cancer patients. I knew that heroin had been used in English hospitals for 90 years, so why not have this painkiller available in North America? But rather than being applauded for my compassion, all hell broke loose. One well-known cancer specialist labelled me “a misinformed headline-seeking journalist”. The Cancer Society argued that morphine was as...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Pain
How Readers Would Treat 42,000 Addicts
Eureka! Last week I reported it was impossible to write this column. I had asked readers to respond to how I believe 42,000 addicts on methadone should be treated. Then my computer developed terminal cancer and I thought all your responses had been lost. Fortunately, the “Geek Squad” resurrected them. From a Times Colonist reader, “Your suggestion that sending addicts to northern Canada to chop wood caught my eye. I was impressed by your research. The addicts I have known have no interest in getting off methadone and improving themselves. I say, enough of this nonsense. Why not have them chop wood? We all do some form of work to eat.” This reader then added, “I initially believed that the practice of...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Gastroenterology, Medicine, Pain
Risks of Heartburn Drugs
What can the stomach tell us about the state of the nation’s health? Plenty! A report in the medical publication, “Life Extension”, states that 40 percent of North Americans suffer from heartburn every month! More appalling, 20 percent experience weekly attacks! So every year doctors write 119 million prescriptions for heartburn, generating 14 billion dollars in sales. But big sales can also mean big side-effects for unsuspecting medical consumers. What can go wrong? Proton-pump inhibitors (PPI’s) such as Nexium, Prilosec and Prevacid can ease the feeling of a burning fire under the breastbone. It’s due to an over-indulgence in food and drink which pushes protein digestive enzymes and bile up into the lower end of the esophagus (food tube). This condition is...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Pain
Does Justin Trudeau Wear Short or Long Pants?
Congratulations to Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Elect of Canada. He’s young, handsome, carries a famous name, demonstrated he has an ear for what the public is clamoring for, and now has the most vital weapon of all, power. But will he deny democracy to the majority of Canadians who elected him? Or ignore the will of the Supreme Court of Canada? Soon we will know whether Justin Trudeau wears knickers or long pants. Trudeau, in his victory speech, fired a salvo when he uttered the words Abraham Lincoln delivered on the eve of the U.S. Civil War. Lincoln worried that leaders needed to appeal to the “better angels of our nature”. But will Trudeau, on the contrary, use devilish political tactics...Read More
Pain, Surgery
Wrong Site, Wrong Procedure, Wrong Patient Surgery
Are you scheduled for surgery? If so, there are ways to circumvent horrendous surgical errors. We’ve all heard stories about surgeons amputating the wrong leg. Or fixing a hernia on the side that didn’t need it. If you think this is past history, you had better think again as it happens every year in North America. During a 10 year period in Canada, wrong-site surgery happened 106 times. Each year, 6.3 cases involved a lower extremity and in 4.3 cases, an upper limb. The most common error was the use of arthroscopy (looking into the joint with an optical instrument) on the wrong joint. This misfortune happened to 24 patients. And in one case a total knee replacement was performed on...Read More
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
Cancer, Heroin, Pain
Heroin for Addicts? Or Send Them to Northern Canada?
How would I react if I were dying of terminal cancer and none of the current painkillers could ease my agony? Or if I were suffering day after day the pain of crippling arthritis and no medication relieved my misery? And then I read that addicts were granted prescription heroin to treat their addiction. I’d be damn annoyed that this painkiller was available for addicts but not for cancer victims and others dying in pain. Several years ago I wrote that I’d send addicts to chop wood in Northern Canada. That would surely solve their addiction. I thought I’d receive a ton of mail calling me a “Hard-Hearted Hannah”. But the majority of readers were overwhelmingly in favour of this suggestion! Just...Read More
Infection, Pain, Surgery
Appendicitis: It Strikes Kings and Us Mortals
Today, surgery for appendicitis takes a back seat to bypass surgery, knee and hip replacement. But every day in North America at least one person dies due to an attack of appendicitis. This week, an unusual case of appendicitis. And how did England nearly lose a King? A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal tells the story of a 15 year old Philippine boy who immigrated to Canada at age 11. For four months he suffered every week from abdominal pain. Eventually, due to increased discomfort he was seen in emergency. Physical examination and blood studies were suggestive of acute appendicitis, and ultrasound revealed the organ was swollen. Laparoscopic surgery was performed, the ruptured appendix removed and the abscess drained. The...Read More
