Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Need Cataract Surgery? So What Should You Know?
Do you remember the Holiday Inn ad? It stated, “There Are No Surprises at the Holiday Inn.” But, unlike Holiday Inns, there’s no such thing as surprise-free or risk-free surgery. To get an update about Cataract surgery I interviewed Dr. Raymond Stein, Medical Director of the Bochner Eye Institute, and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. Today, by age 80, half of North Americans have developed cataracts. The only good treatment when visual loss finally affects quality of life is to have a foggy lens removed and replaced with another one. Today, due to improved surgical advances, it’s possibly the safest surgery performed. But I also receive reports from people who are...Read More
Infection
Swimming In 20 Gallons of Pee!
Have you ever wondered what you’re swimming in when someone invites you to a pool party? I’ve always found it hard to turn down these weekend soirees. The weather is usually good, you enjoy cocktails talking to friends, and then a refreshing dip in the pool. Now, an eye-boggling report by Jennifer Clopton in the publication WebMD, shows there’s more lurking in the pool than you imagined. Clopton reports that Indiana Health Officials had to close a water park when two children received chemical burns from chlorine in the water! This resulted when the chlorine equipment malfunctioned. At least this is a fixable problem. But Clopton’s research also shows that fixing human behaviour poses a greater challenge. Her study shows that many...Read More
Genetics
Damn It, I was born too soon
Is it an impossible dream to find Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth? No! I’ve just attended my 67th reunion at The Harvard Medical School (HMS) and, while interviewing Dr. George Church, I discovered it is no longer science fiction. Dr. Church, Professor of Genetics at HMS, one of the world’s great scientists, predicts we are about to end the aging process. In the next five years no less! That’s why I say “Damn it, I was born too soon.” Is Church too optimistic? Maybe, but when you see his 6-foot 5 inch body towering over you, with his white beard, it’s like talking to Charles Darwin or even Jesus Christ. Just walking through his huge laboratory is an awesome experience. Church’s research...Read More
Medicine, Vitamins
What Are You Doing To Grandma?
Is Grandma’s doctor slowly harming her by over-medication? I’m being facetious here, as no doctor wants to injure patients. But remember, today is not the horse-and-buggy era of medical practice. Today, rushed doctor visits and potent drugs can be a hazardous combination. So can you protect a beloved grandparent? First, keep an eye on what grandparents are consuming. Studies show that 60 percent of those over 65 are taking five or more prescription drugs. This includes one in five who are taking 10 or more drugs and one in 20 using 15 or more. “Pillitis” has reached staggering levels in 2017 and it’s potentially harmful. Especially when natural remedies may treat Grandma better. Today there’s a 30 percent chance she’s taking a...Read More
Lifestyle
Over the Edge: An Experience I‘ll Never Forget
Why would anyone in their 94th year, without consulting a psychiatrist, agree to descend from the top of Toronto’s City Hall on a rope? My wife thought I had gone mad. Surreptitiously, I momentarily agreed with her! So what was it like descending (rappelling) from the top of a 30 story high building? And why did I do it? My son is one of many volunteer WISH Grantors for Make-A-Wish Canada. It grants wishes to children who have life-threatening illnesses. Since 1983 it fulfilled all kinds of requests for 6,800 children. And each year 600 more are granted the wish of their dreams. I discovered that my son was rappelling not only for a great cause but also for his current...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
“I Was Married By a Judge, I Should Have Asked For a Jury”
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, remarked, “There are no boy philosophers”. Fortunately, most of us do get wiser as we age. However, it’s never been a top priority of mine to rush into old age so I could be a wise, elderly, medical journalist philosopher. Could I be wrong? Consumer Reports on Health says there are several good things about aging. So I had to read on. It appears I was wrong on one point. I’ve always believed that the elderly suffered from more depression than younger people. After all, they see old friends die, illnesses become more frequent, their wife runs away with the local preacher, and it’s not as much fun to look in the mirror. But according to the...Read More
Medicine, Neurology, Vitamins
Concussion: What Surprised Me about Its Treatment
How should hockey star Sidney Crosby, or my own child, be treated if he suffered a brain concussion? To answer this question I interviewed Dr. Andrew Saul, Editor-in-Chief of the Orthomolecular Medical News Service, and a world authority on nutrition. Dr. Saul confirmed what I suspected, that bruised brains are not receiving the treatment they desperately need. Newton’s Law states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Unfortunately, our Maker didn’t use screws to anchor the human brain inside its skull. So, without this protection, sudden blows to the head toss the brain against a formidable hard skull, causing various degrees of injury. But there’s a problem. It’s easy to diagnose a fractured arm, but impossible to know the...Read More
Neurology
Suffer From Headaches, Blurred Vision and Tingling In Ear?
A friend recently asked, “Giff, what’s happened? You’ve lost weight!” He was wrong, as my weight has remained the same for years. But this is not the first time this has happened. It’s because I’ve never liked dress shirts with tight collars. Loose collars exposing the neck convey the impression of weight loss. But surprise! They also help to protect wearers from glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in North America. While a student at the Harvard Medical School, I heard this story. A 55 year old businessman complained of headaches, blurred vision and a tingling sensation in the right ear. Harvard professors were not able to make a diagnosis. So he consulted doctors at The Mayo Clinic and famous...Read More
Philosophy
Needed: A Taxi Driver, Garbage Collector and Veterinarian
I wrote years ago, “The problems of society are caused by supposedly intelligent people who are largely fools.” It’s worth repeating due to what has happened to Canada’s new law, Medical Aid in Dying (MAID). The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that “Anyone with a grievous and irremediable condition should have the right to (MAID)”. It did not say that death need be imminent, nor did it exclude mature minors, nor those with mental illness or dementia. So what’s happened now? And how can you help? Trudeau’s government, after months of delay, has asked The Council of Canadian Academics to review these three contentious issues. The Council then appointed 43 people for this task. My God! 43 people? For such a...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous
A Damning Verdict; We Are a Nation of Wimps
I recently wrote that our ancestors endured great hardship when they landed in America. They hacked down forests and tried to survive in the new land. Now, they would roll over in their graves if they knew North Americans had become a nation of wimps. Readers of my column confirmed my damning verdict. J.W. from B.C responded, “Thanks for your refreshing honesty, calling a spade a spade. We do take a pill for every damn ache and pain. I don’t think you have ice-water in your veins, hope you keep up the good work, and maybe politicians will deal with drug abuse in an intelligent way instead of pandering to bleeding hearts.” D.M. of Courtenay, B.C. replied, “Your columns are inspirational...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
Can Six Million Readers Help Answer This Question?
Several weeks ago I reported that autopsies of the brains of people diagnosed with dementia reveal damage to small arteries, which may cause tiny strokes and brain injury. Researchers also discovered that mice with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), when treated with vitamin C, showed that typical amyloid plaques associated with this disease disappeared! And since high doses of vitamin C can decrease the risk of heart attack by providing oxygenated blood, could it also prevent AD? So I asked readers “Do you know anyone who has used high doses of vitamin C (4,000 to 6,000 milligrams) for several years, then developed Alzheimer’s Disease?” MM replied, “I believe Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize winner, was right that low amounts of C cause tiny cracks...Read More
Medicine, Psychiatry
We’ve Become A Nation of Wimps
What’s wrong with North Americans? Plenty! Long ago, Immigrants landed on our hostile shores. They had no shelter, food or medical care. They hacked down forests and tried to survive. Many didn’t. They developed colds and sore backs. But they had more to do than swallow pills. Nor did they have social agencies to pamper them. Today, their offspring have become wimps, part of a drug-infested society dependent on a chemical solution for every pain. What’s happened would make our ancestors roll over several times in their graves. Is there any hope for us? Recently, the increasing cost of drugs to treat opioid abuse hit North American headlines. It’s madness that Canada has spent 300 million dollars to treat addicts! In one...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Infection
I Hated Picking Peaches
Do you remember the line in the musical “Showboat”, the one that says, “It’s summertime and the living is easy”? Maybe it is for some people. But the worst summer I ever endured was during World War II. We all had to contribute to the war effort and my job was to pick peaches on a farm. But for years I had suffered from Hay Fever! Peaches and their fuzz were a perfect storm! Could I have avoided this allergy today? It’s estimated that 40 million North Americans now suffer from mild to severe allergies. Worse still, for some people, the allergy season never ends. And although there are several factors that trigger these allergic reactions, the main cause is pollen. The...Read More
Neurology, Vitamins
Can Six Million Readers Answer This Question?
This week, would readers help me answer a perplexing question? Their answers could be helpful to millions of people. I’m sure that very few in Canada and the U.S. have not witnessed a friend or loved one develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD). First, some of the facts about this crippling malady. Then I’d appreciate my readers’ response. Fact # 1- Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center in Oakland, California, and the University of Kuopio in Finland, followed the health of 10,000 people for 40 years. They found that high blood cholesterol was associated with a 66 percent higher risk of AD. And even those with borderline levels of cholesterol, were 52 percent more likely to develop AD. Fact # 2 – The brains...Read More
Lifestyle, Neurology, Vitamins
Strokes; Not Just For the Elderly
How could it happen to Kris Letang, the Pittsburgh Penguin hockey player? He was young, in excellent physical condition, yet a victim of stroke. Today, stroke is not just a senior problem. So, why don’t learned professors know why this is happening? Professor Valery Feigin is Director of the National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences at Auckland University, in New Zealand. He reports in the journal, The Lancet, that every year over 80,000 children and youth are affected by this sudden medical crisis. Strokes affect 50,000 people a year in Canada and of this number up to 10 percent occur in those under 45 years of age. In the U.S., strokes affect 800,000 people causing one in every 20 deaths. Worldwide...Read More
Surgery
Informed Consent: Are You Really Informed?
If I were a patient, what would I want to know about the risk of treatment? Since I’ve been one a few times, let me tell you what I worried about before past medical procedures. And will there ever be truly informed patients? Let’s start with the major fear, death. Never forget that death lurks in the background, ready to strike. Surely, anyone who is scheduled for coronary bypass surgery realizes there’s a greater risk of dying in this case than when treated for an ingrown toenail. But never underestimate the hazard of even minor surgery. There’s always the possibility, though rare, of death from anesthesia. It’s usually what we call an “Act of God”, in which neither the surgeon nor anesthetist...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Are Your Eyes Mismatched?
Leo Durocher, the fiery win-at-all-costs baseball player, and later manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, once remarked, “I never question the integrity of umpires. Their eyesight? Yes!” Durocher would have questioned their eyesight more if he had known they were suffering from aniseikonia. So, should anyone care about this condition? And why do so many suffer this visual problem when it can be corrected? To find out about aniseikonia I interviewed Dr. Peter Shaw who has been researching this condition for over 25 years. He mentioned one thing we know, that we are all born with a number of anatomical mismatches. For instance, one ear may be larger than the other. Or, one foot longer than its counterpart. But shouldn’t...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Vitamin K2: How It Helps Heart and Bone
Ask people what they know about vitamin C and some will reply it’s good for preventing common colds. Maybe they’d add heart attack, if they’ve read my column. But ask the same question about K2 and most people will give you a blank stare. Now, Dr. Dennis Goodman, cardiologist and Director of Integrative Medicine at New York University, says ignoring vitamin K2 is dangerous. In 1929 Danish scientist, Dr. Henrik Dam, discovered vitamin K. Since then researchers have discovered two types of K, K1 and K2. Leafy green vegetables are rich in K1. It plays a vital role in blood clotting. But K2 isn’t easy to obtain in the diet, placing many at risk of being deficient of this vitamin. Goodman, in...Read More
Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
There’s more to Constipation than Grunting.
You think constipation isn’t important? If so, an article in the American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests you’d better think again. Annually, in the U.S., 700,000 people are seen in hospital emergency wards for this problem. Since 2006 there’s been a shocking 42 percent increase in constipation, costing 1.6 billion dollars. So what’s gone wrong, and what are the medical consequences other than grunting? Constipation can be merely a chronic annoyance affecting quality of life. But Dr. John R. Hyatt, gastroenterologist at the Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano in Texas, says, “It can also result in hemorrhoids, anal tears, fissures, rectal prolapse and fecal impaction”. Fecal impaction is no fun. It occurs when a large fecal mass cannot be passed. This can...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Miscellaneous
Fidgeting, And Magic Underwear
“Stop tapping your pencil!” my teacher called out. I didn’t. And one day he walked to my desk, threw me to the front of the class, then tossed me out of the classroom. Now, a study at the University of Missouri, shows that fidgeting has health benefits! And have you heard of “magic underwear”? Being immobile is unhealthy. For instance, sitting too long on a plane can result in a blood clot in the leg that travels to the lungs causing death. So walking 10,000 steps a day is sound preventive medicine. But what can you do if you have a physical or work condition that makes this impossible? Jaume Padilla, Assistant Professor of Physiology at The University of Missouri, conducted a study...Read More
Cancer, Surgery
Have you ever wanted To Say, “I Told You So”?
This week, a big thanks to Dr. Freddie Hamdy, Professor of surgery, Oxford University, England. Why? Because, for many years, I’ve advised readers, diagnosed with early prostate cancer, to take their time when deciding which treatment is best for them. Some authorities have disagreed with me. Now, I can legitimately say, “I told you so”. Does this mean I’m smart? No. I was just lucky years ago to interview Dr. Willet Whitmore, a world authority on prostate cancer at Memorial Hospital in New York City. At the time Whitmore remarked, “The survival rate of this cancer has little to do with the type of treatment. Rather, it’s related to the biological nature of the cancer.” In other words, how malignant is...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
Miscellaneous
Thank You for Being Our Voice
Last week, I wrote that unless we use Singapore’s solution to hang drug pushers, we will never defeat the opioid epidemic in North America. This week, a strong response from readers. A police officer in a major Canadian city writes, “Thank you for the temerity to write this column. I wonder why we have a law that says a drug is illegal, yet the law supervises injection sites to consume illegal drugs!” He adds, “Unfortunately our law makers do not have the gonads to protect citizens against flagrant abuses. Thanks for your valued columns.” A reader of the Victoria Colonist says, “I too have been in Singapore. I recently talked with a medical student who was horrified I supported hanging drug dealers....Read More
Lifestyle
Increased Activity = Greater Brain Power
What would get more people walking? This activity shows tons of health benefits. And today one person in three over the age of 85 develops Alzheimer’s disease. This statistic should get everyone out of his or her chair and walking because a report from Tufts University in Boston shows that the most active people have the largest volume of gray matter in parts of the brain typically affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Tammy Scott, at Tufts’ Neuroscience and Aging Laboratory, says, “Physical activity has consistently shown to be beneficial to brain health.” She adds, “There is increasing evidence that regular exercise lowers the risk of dementia.” Researchers report in the journal Neurology what happened to 876 people enrolled in the Northern Manhattan...Read More
Infection, Vitamins
Do I Get a Flu Shot?
Sir William Osler, one of the world’s great doctors, suggested a treatment for the common cold. He said, “Hang your hat on the bedpost, go to bed, start sipping whisky, and stop when you see two hats!” He was stressing humorously that there wasn’t any sure treatment for the common cold. Now, during the flu season, I’m often asked if I get a flu shot. But there’s a big difference between a cold and the flu. So read this column with reservation, and remember I am not your doctor. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi received the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his research on vitamin C. At the time vitamin C could only be extracted from adrenal glands and massive amounts of orange juice. Life...Read More
