Cancer, Gynecology
Ovarian cancer, the one that whispers
What couldn’t I believe? Discovering that it’s been 42 years since I last wrote about ovarian cancer! During my time as a surgeon, what was my primary concern about this malignancy? And what has happened in the last four decades to bring hope to those diagnosed with this disease? Ovarian cancer is the third most common malignancy of the female pelvic organs, after uterine and cervical cancer. But it is also the most fatal pelvic malignancy. The risk of ovarian cancer increases with age. It’s also more likely to occur if close relatives have developed the disease. Also at risk are childless women and those who have had breast cancer. Vulnerable too, are those with early onset of menstruation, or a late...Read More
Diabetes
Options for Treating Chronic Disease
I wrote years ago that, “If you keep going to hell, you’ll eventually get there.” Today, half of North Americans suffer from chronic disease. One in four has several chronic diseases, and 30 per cent of children struggle with chronic illness. Chris Kresser, an integrative medicine clinician at the California Center for Functional Medicine and author of the book, “Unconventional Medicine”, reports that conventional medicine has failed those suffering from chronic disease. So, how can we prevent so many from finding their way to hell? For centuries, doctors knew the main cause of death was acute infectious disease, such as typhoid fever, tuberculosis and pneumonia. Today, they know another cause is lifestyle chronic disease, of which diet is a leading factor. Medical treatment in the...Read More
Alternate Treatments
Can Stem Cell Injections Replace Hip and Knee Surgery
What should you do if the doctor says, “You need a hip or knee replacement due to severe arthritis? The time – honoured treatment has been a major operation to replace the injured joint. This may still be the best option for some patients. But how many of these joints could be repaired by stem cell injections, thereby saving the potential complications of surgery? Today, it’s a question many people are asking. Stem cell procedure is fairly straightforward. Bone marrow and fat are extracted from the patient and placed in a centrifuge. This separates valuable stem cells which are then injected into the hip or other affected joints. Stem cells, our body’s raw material, has the ability to develop into bone, cartilage,...Read More
Infection
What You May Not Know about Vaccines
Every year readers ask me if I get flu shots. I reply, I don’t. I rely on high daily doses of vitamin C to build up my immune system. But I may be wrong. So, I’ve sought the opinion of experts in the field. Their primary message is that informed consent is vital. Most people believe vaccines would not be advised unless researchers and doctors deemed them safe. But I’ve often stressed, there’s no such thing as 100 percent safe surgery. The same is true of vaccines. That’s why 3.6 billion dollars has been awarded to families due to the complications of vaccines. Here is a typical parent’s story. “My child was healthy, was given a vaccine and then something happened.” The...Read More
Lifestyle
Healthy Lifestyle Can Add 12 to 14 Years of Life
What results in good health and longevity? I’ve said for years that it’s good genes, good lifestyle and good luck. But since we can’t choose our parents, or know what fate holds in store for us, we must treat lifestyle with tender, loving care. Now, a report in the publication, Circulation, proves that a sound lifestyle adds 12 to 14 more years to life. Two epidemiological studies of health professionals involved 120,000 men and women. This group was followed for 34 years. The study concluded that for people over 50 who had never smoked, exercised daily, had good dietary habits, a moderate use of alcohol, and maintained a healthy weight, ended up the winners. The rewards are significant. For instance, a woman,...Read More
Surgery
Gallstones: For Surgery or the Crematorium?
What should you do if you are diagnosed with gallstones? Today, 10% of North Americans share this medical problem. For some patients surgery is the prudent choice. But now, a report from the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), shows that, in some cases, leaving gallstones to the crematorium can prevent serious complications and even death. In 1991, Dr. Joacques Perissat at the University of Bordeau, in France, removed a gallbladder by laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery. This innovation provided a huge advantage for patients from a technical standpoint. But is it foolproof? The CMPA reports that during a four year period the most frequent complications of gallstone surgery were injury to the biliary duct that carries bile to the intestines, bowel injury, and hemorrhage....Read More
Infection
Debunking Travel Myths
What’s the worst of times when travelling? It’s when you’re sitting on a bus tour 100 miles from the next stop and you begin to suffer the bowel spasms of traveller’s diarrhea. If the worst scenario happens, it’s a moment you will never forget. But this common risk, and the chance of acquiring other infections, can be decreased by ridding yourself of several travellers’ myths. Myth: Only in the Amazon jungle do you have to worry about mosquito-transmitted diseases. Fact: That’s not so. In the jungle, mosquitoes spread disease to humans by biting infected monkeys. In a cafe in Paris, Rome or Istanbul, mosquitoes infect you after biting infected humans. Myth: So, to prevent this infection in a Paris cafe, you’ll have two glasses of chardonnay. Fact: I...Read More
Cardiovascular
Tune-Up Your Heart in 30 Days
Have I been missing a vital remedy to maintain a healthy heart? I wondered if that was the case when I read an article in LifeExtension titled, “The 30-Day Heart Tune-Up.” The subject, Dr. Steven Masley, is a Fellow of both The American Heart Association and The American Academy of Nutrition. He has devoted his career to heart disease and aging. So how does his treatment differ from that of other cardiologists? Masley reports that most doctors rely on lowering blood cholesterol and blood pressure to prevent heart disease. He says this is a boon for Big Pharma, but not necessarily for patients. He admits that, although statin drugs are needed in some instances, they increase the risk of diabetes. Unfortunately,...Read More
Gastroenterology, Vitamins
Constipation: There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute
Why must humans be so foolish and reach for laxatives when there’s a natural, safe, and inexpensive way to treat constipation and stop grunting? Barnum and Bailey, the circus promoters, were right when they said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” In this case, it’s the suckers who fall easy prey to T.V ads that preach health benefits of laxatives. I realize that at a dinner party one is more inclined to talk about cholesterol numbers than frequency of bowel movements. But chronic grunting with BMs is not just an annoyance. It’s also associated with increased risk of hemorrhoids and may be related to diverticulosis, small hernias of the large bowel which lead to inflammation. It’s also a sign of faulty...Read More
Obesity
Fatty Liver Disease on the Rise
Who hasn’t heard of the Mayflower – the ship that brought pilgrims to the U.S. in 1620? What is rarely known is that towards the end of that voyage, it was necessary to ration beer, and some pilgrims died as a result. In those days beer was safer to drink than water. It’s still a safe drink when used moderately, but excessive amounts can cause cirrhosis of the liver. And how many know that too much food can also cause nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in young people, that may require a liver transplant? Today, the worldwide epidemic of Type 2 diabetes is well known. But liver disease rarely gets headlines. Yet, according to the American Liver Foundation, and some experts,...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
Alternate Treatments
The Greatest Threat to Your Life
Ask anyone, “What’s the greatest medical risk of dying?” and they’ll answer “Heart attack.” The correct answer is a blood clot (Thrombosis) that occurs in the heart, brain or legs. Now, a shocking report in the health publication, “LifeExtension”, shows what can happen to our legs when we’re flying at 35,000 feet. So with an aging population, and increased air travel, what can be done to decrease the risk of a blood clot? Thrombosis can happen anytime and anywhere. But the greatest risk is a long air flight. This is when venous blood pools in the lower leg due to inactivity. But the extent of this threat has surprised researchers. Using ultrasound imaging they detected venous thrombosis in the lower legs...Read More
Medicine
“But Roosevelt Knows How To Be President!”
72 years ago I arrived in Boston. I’d been accepted as a student at the Harvard Medical School. That night a full moon shone on the school’s white marble buildings, an awe-inspiring sight I’ve never forgotten. I recently returned for a 68th reunion, attended lectures, and as a former student was interviewed by a film crew. At one point the interviewer asked, “What are your thoughts in this robotic age of medicine?” His question reminded me of a comment I’d heard years ago. A White House reporter once asked an assistant working with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Does the President really understand all of the economic bill he’s presenting to Congress?” The aide thought for a moment and replied, “Possibly not,...Read More
Miscellaneous, Philosophy
When All This Doesn’t Happen, We’re All Dead
What did I learn at my 68th medical reunion at the Harvard Medical School (HMS)? I learned, from an article written by Stephanie Dutchen, that my brilliant classmate, Melvin Glimcher, physician, engineer and professor, had created the myoelectric elbow. Dubbed “the Boston Arm”, this device is a godsend to upper arm amputees. But I learned that such a great medical achievement, and others, might be allowed to vanish in a split second. And that it’s time for the medical profession to speak up to prevent nuclear disaster. An article authored by Jake Miller, a science writer in the HMS Office of Communications and External Relations, and published in Harvard Medicine, shows how complacent we’ve become about the catastrophic consequences of nuclear...Read More
Gynecology
What Women (and Men) Should Know About HRT
The year 2002 was a worrying year for women who were taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to combat troublesome menopausal symptoms. Bold newspaper headlines reported that a study called The Women’s Health Initiative, conducted by the National Institute of Health, showed an increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease and blood clots in the legs and lungs of those taking HRT for longer than five years. It was hardly prime time to be prescribed estrogen. But what are the facts in 2018? The passage of time often changes opinions in many areas. Treatment of menopause is no exception. Now, after 18 years, the Women’s Health Initiative says the potential harm of HRT was overstated for healthy women...Read More
Miscellaneous
Green Funerals: How We Can Help Green Our Planet
How would you react if you saw people dumping 800,000 gallons of formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance, into the earth every year? Then witness them cutting down four million acres of forests annually? I suspect the environmentalists who fight underground oil pipes would be raising holy hell about formaldehyde and rampant destruction of trees. Yet this is what it takes to bury the U.S dead every year. So why are environmentalists so silent? Now, a film called “Echo Death Takeover: Changing the Funeral Industry” has been produced by The Order of Good Death, founded by funeral owner Catlin Doughty who advocates green funerals. Some readers may wonder why I’m writing about death when I’m trained to keep people alive. But pollution of many...Read More
Cardiovascular
Heart Failure, What You Should Know About Mitochondria
Ask anyone what is the nation’s number one killer and most people will say heart attack. But how many know that congestive heart failure (CHF) is the fastest growing cause of heart disease in North America? Why is this happening? And why are mitochondria of vital importance, particularly as we all grow older? Congestive Heart Failure occurs for several reasons. A coronary attack may have destroyed cardiac muscle. Or hypertension over a period of years has weakened it. Or obesity and diabetes has resulted in hardening of coronary arteries, decreasing blood flow to the heart. So, in addition to aging, a series of events may injure the heart. As the “Gifford-Jones Law” states, one problem leads to another and another. In the...Read More
Genitourinary, Vitamins
Why Humans Get Kidney Stones and Gorillas Rarely
Do large doses of vitamin C increase the risk of kidney stones? It’s a question I’m often asked, having reported the medical value of vitamin C in decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). So is this concern fact or fiction? Or does vitamin C, by making acid urine, combine with calcium and oxalate to form stones? I asked Dr. Linus Pauling this question. Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, had for years taken 20,000 milligrams (mgs) of vitamin C daily. He said, “Not a single case had been reported in medical literature. But some people who had a tendency to form oxalate stones might do so while taking large amounts of vitamin C, or those with a rare genetic problem.” Dr....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
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
We Need Lee Kwan Yew – Not an Opioid Summit
Why don’t we learn from history when the question is a no-brainer? For instance, a recent editorial in a major Canadian newspaper states, “We Need an Opioid Summit.” One could add to this headline, “a Summit that would solve nothing and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.” What we actually need is the perspective of Lee Kwan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore. Unfortunately he’s dead. Saskatoon police recently disclosed publicly the name and telephone number of a known drug dealer. They warned people that cocaine purchased from the dealer might also contain fentanyl. It could kill them. Last year the Canadian government stated that about 4,000 citizens died from drug overdose. More bluntly, they were murdered by poison by drug dealers,...Read More
Lifestyle, Sports
Exercise Can Kill You
The Earl of Darby once remarked that “Those who don’t take time for wellness, will eventually have to make time for sickness.” Like many doctors, I too have advised patients and readers to exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. Now, Dr. Maureen Brogan, Associate Professor of Medicine at New York Medical College, reports that intense, repetitive, motion exercise can cause rhabdomyolysis. And in rare cases it can kill. Brogan explains that when muscle is damaged, it dumps myoglobin, an iron and oxygen-binding muscle protein, into blood circulation. Excessive amounts of myoglobin can obstruct the kidney’s filtration system and cause serious damage. I have mentioned in previous columns that, in rare cases, prolonged use of high doses of cholesterol-lowering drugs can cause...Read More
Miscellaneous
Is There a Doctor On the Plane?
What is it that doctors worry about when they’re flying? It’s not fear of flying. They know that travelling by air is safer than driving a car. Rather, it’s the possibility that they will hear a sudden announcement, “Is there a doctor on the plane?” This is when the brain shifts into high gear. Every time it happens to me, it reminds me of my days of internship at the Montreal General Hospital. Interns took turns riding in the ambulance on emergency calls. We never knew what we might encounter. But at least our feet were on terra firma, and we knew that on returning to the hospital specific expertise would be available. But in the air, this announcement, particularly if it...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
