Cardiovascular, Vitamins
What They Don’t Tell You about Baldness and Heart Attack
A Czech proverb says, “A good man grows gray and a rascal bald”. And Thomas Dekker wrote in “The Gull’s Hornbook” in 1609, “How ugly is a bald pate! It looks like a face wanting a nose”. Now, a Japanese report says that men with baldness should be less concerned about how it affects their looks. Rather, is the lack of hair associated with increased risk of coronary attack? The Japanese findings were published online in the British Medical Journal, “Open”. The study involved 40,000 males whose hair pattern was graded as either frontal, crown-top baldness or a combination of the two. The conclusion was that not all bald men are created equal. Men with frontal baldness had a 22 percent increased...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Sex
The Big T: Could It Get Me to 95 +?
Should aging males use testosterone therapy to increase overall health and longevity? It’s a question I’ve pondered after interviewing Dr. Malcolm Crowthers, an early pioneer of testosterone therapy, in London, England, years ago. Now, Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, Clinical Professor at The Harvard Medical School, agrees the benefits of “big T” should not be denied to men, even those with prostate cancer. And would big T get me to 95 +, I wonder? I vividly remember talking to Crowther’s patients. They were happy campers, hoping to be shot by a jealous lover at age 95! But sex is only part of the big T story. Low testosterone is present in 40 percent of men over age 45. Its loss is associated...Read More
Lifestyle, Women's Health
Wired Bras, Unwatchful Parents And Summer Tragedies
An African proverb says “There is only one kind of common sense, and 40 varieties of lunacy”. Unfortunately, this summer will again prove it right. There’s also an old song, “Summer Time and the Living is Easy”. But it’s theme can be a prelude to disaster. Every summer what’s supposed to be fun turns into a lifetime as a quadriplegic, or with other severe injuries. And it happens to all ages. It is mind-boggling that every year 1,400 children drown in wading pools!!! It could not happen if parents and grandparents were watching children every minute by the water. Women can fall victim to an unusual injury while water-skiing at high speeds. The impact of a fall is like hitting a brick...Read More
Women's Health
Who Sent You These?
Years ago in my medical office I was convinced that tight jeans and panties were causing repeated pelvic infections in women. So, in jest, I wrote a column about it suggesting that Yves St Laurent should design better jeans and panties. Then I forget about the article until my wife asked with astonishment “Who sent these panties?” One day a package had arrived at my office and I tossed it into my briefcase. Later that evening while enjoying a pre-dinner drink with my wife, I opened it. To my surprise, I pulled out a pair of pink panties. They were sent by a reader who had a design solution. It was not the ideal way to start the cocktail...Read More
Lifestyle, Sports, Vitamins
Fight Infection like an Olympic Athlete
How hard would be the disappointment? You’ve trained for years to acquire a medal at the Rio Olympics. And then the unthinkable happens. You develop a respiratory or intestinal infection just before the event. It’s an unmitigated disaster of unparalleled proportions, never to be forgotten. So, how do Olympic athletes avoid this catastrophe? An article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine stresses it’s not just luck that prevents infection. Rather, according to Ida Svendsen, physiologist with the Norwegian Olympic Committee, it’s attention to detail. As Leonardo Da Vinci wrote centuries ago, “Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle”. Svendsen reports that a study of 37 elite Norwegian skiers, over a nine year period, showed that those who had won...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
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Doctor Assisted Death
It’s been aptly said that “Wars are too important to be left to Generals. I would add that assisted death is too important to be left to politicians and doctors. One of the first columns that I wrote 41 years ago was titled, “Why cab drivers are smarter than doctors”. I was convinced then that on social issues taxicab drivers had more common sense than many in the medical profession. Now, looking at the unadulterated mess surrounding assisted death, I realize I was right 41 years ago. Now I would add bartenders, plumbers and those that pick up our garbage. I also wrote years ago that the problems of society are caused by so-called intelligent people who are largely...Read More
Cancer
Has Anyone Felt Your Testicles Lately?
How many women will have their breasts examined this year? I don’t know the exact figure but it will be in the millions. But how many men will have their testicles examined during 2016? Again, I don’t know the exact number but it will be miniscule compared to that of the fairer sex. Is this sexual discrimination? If so, we need a class action lawsuit to protect men’s rights or, more to the point, our testicles. But more important, an increase in TSE (testicular self examination) would increase the survival rate of this malignancy. We don’t know what triggers testicular cancer. But males at greatest risk are those between the ages of 15 and 35. There’s increased risk if the testicle...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous
How To Cure 42,000 Addicts Quickly
How could this medical and social disaster ever be allowed to happen? If authorities had told me that Ontario, just one Canadian province, was treating 400 addicts in methadone clinics, I’d believe them. But, the actual number is 42,000. But how many of these addicts need methadone? And what is the solution for this madness? Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, is not an arm-chair commentator on addiction. Rather, he’s an internationally renowned expert, a British psychiatrist, and prison doctor who has treated thousands of addicts over years. In his book, “Romancing Opiates”, he writes that heroin is not as highly addictive as claimed, and withdrawal not as difficult as treating an alcoholic. He claims, “It’s a myth that treating the heroin...Read More
Miscellaneous, Pediatrics
Guarding Against a Devastating Telephone Call
What should parents fear most when raising children? You could compile a list as long as your arm. But, while travelling in the U.S, I happened to read a column written by Bruce Feiler in The New York Times. The greatest fear, he claimed, should be that fateful call that a child has been killed while driving a car. So how can parents decrease this risk? Feiler’s article reminded me of a night I’ll never forget. I was working on a column in upper state New York. It was high school graduation time. Following one ceremony a few parents and graduates decided to celebrate. One teenage girl, a new driver, offered to drive four other girls to the event. A short...Read More
Surgery
The Perils of Being a Patient
What is one of the major health hazards today? It’s being a patient. Because there are so many pitfalls, and it’s easy to fall into them. Modern medicine has much more to offer today which makes life better for millions of people. But it can also create problems, unless you know where the traps are and how to avoid them. I’ve never forgotten an incident that happened years ago. I’d completed a successful surgical procedure and returned to the recovery room to check on my patient. But I noticed several doctors crowded around one bed, which is never a good sign. A male patient had undergone a gallbladder operation and was experiencing difficult, labored breathing. His surgeon and anesthetist were concerned. They...Read More
Diabetes
Cholesterol Drugs Linked to Type 2 Diabetes
What is the last thing our health care system needs? More cases of Type 2 diabetes. According to the Diabetes Association, more than 33 million people in North America suffer from diabetes. More millions are unaware they have pre-diabetes. This disease is associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries), blindness, kidney failure, heart attack and amputation of legs due to gangrene. But a recent study published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, indicates we are going to see more Type 2 diabetes. Finland researchers tracked 9,000 men without diabetes between 45 and 73 years of age for six years. One in four men were taking a cholesterol-lowering drug at the start of the...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous
Reading History Could Save a Child’s Life
What is a parent’s greatest tragedy? It‘s the loss of a child. Recently parents in Alberta were charged with failing to provide their 19 month old boy with the necessities of life after he died due to meningitis. So how can parents avoid such a horrendous loss? And what can doctors learn from history about this lethal disease? A loving couple believed their child had croup or the flu and treated him for two weeks with natural remedies such as garlic, onions, horseradish and smoothies with hot peppers. But he finally stopped breathing and died after being rushed to the hospital. Fifty percent of cases of meningitis occur in those under five years...Read More
Cancer, Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Can Fiber Decrease the Risk of Colon Cancer?
Humans don’t learn from history. Dr. Denis Burkitt, a British researcher, showed years ago that African natives, consuming large amounts of fiber, did not suffer from constipation, appendicitis or problems of the large bowel, such as diverticulitis (hernias of the colon). Now, a new British report states an increase in dietary fiber decreases the risk of large bowel malignancy. Being of Scottish heritage, I always consider ways to save money for our health care system. Luckily, there’s no need for expensive MRI’s to determine whether the diet contains sufficient fiber. A rectal examination that finds rock-like stools quickly provides the answer. Stools that don’t float are also a good sign more fiber is needed. Students of history may remember the World War...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
No Government Should Own Your Life
Mao Zedong, the Chinese revolutionary leader, was right when he remarked, “The power of government comes out of the barrel of a gun”. The recent Canadian law of Doctor Assisted Death guarantees that some people must still suffer before they have the right to die peacefully. Politicians have fired a merciless gun at helpless patients. And what does the Canadian Medical Association say about this inhumane decision? I agree we need a government and laws. So I agree to stop at a red light, not to rob a bank, not to kill my neighbor, not to sexually assault children, and with great reluctance even pay unfair taxes. But I will never agree politicians own my life. The government’s decision states that...Read More
Gynecology, Sex, Women's Health
STD: The Horizontal Mambo Has Hidden Hazards
A member of the Russian ski patrol was asked on TV what he did first on his arrival home from work. He replied, “I make love to my wife”. “I understand, as you’ve been away a long time”, said the interviewer. “But what do you do next?” “Oh, I make love again” he replied. Frustrated, the interviewer said, “But what do you do next?” “Oh, I take off my skis!” The elderly can only dream of this scenario. As one wise sage remarked, “in every older person there is a young person wondering what the hell happened!” But there’s evidence that more seniors have learned to do the “horizontal mambo.” Senior sex comes as a surprise to younger people. One University survey...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Miscellaneous
Did I Get My Medical License Back?
Several weeks ago I wrote that something happened that I thought would never happen. And what was the reaction of readers? At 92 years of age I had asked the Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to reinstate my medical license which I had reluctantly given up at the age of 87. Why? Because of a shameful and despicable medical event in Alberta. A resident of Alberta was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease, totally paralyzed and close to choking to death in her own mucous. It’s a malady as close to hell as you can ever get. She had requested doctor assisted death and was granted by a judge the legal right to die if she had the...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Medicine, Philosophy
Medical Care Main Cause of Death
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, may be rolling over in his grave. Why? He preached “First, do no harm.” I recently read a report in the Journal of Molecular Medicine called Death by Medicine. It’s the most damning medical report card ever issued. It claims huge numbers of patients are being injured and killed by conventional medicine. There’s also a big surprise there. A huge, meticulous study concluded that every year in the U.S conventional medicine kills 800,000 patients. Compare this figure to 700,000 that die of heart disease and 500,000 from cancer. The report claims that 7.5 million medical and surgical procedures are unnecessary. Another 8.9 million patients are admitted needlessly to hospital and 2.2 million patients suffer adverse reactions to...Read More
Gastroenterology
Colonoscopy: What Will Trudeau and Obama Do?
How should people decide whether or not to have a colonoscopy? New guidelines for this procedure have recently been published in The Canadian Medical Association Journal. It reports that some people have a choice. Others have no choice. But what will Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama do? Large bowel malignancies are the third most commonly diagnosed cancers today and a leading cause of death. So it’s prudent to give colon cancer the sufficient thought that it deserves. The CMA committee ruled that not all people need colonoscopy. This will bring a sigh of relief to many between 50 and 74 years of age who have no prior or family history of this disease, bleeding or polyps. It’s suggested that this group should...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Child Hunger: How a Pharmaceutical Company Will End It
What has “Plant a seed and Watch it grow” have to do with a medical column? In one word, plenty! One of today’s medical disasters is that many children in this country are hungry and poor. Finally, a major pharmaceutical company has come up with a novel idea to eliminate this shameful social condition. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition is the greatest threat to public health. Canada, unlike many of its G8 counterparts, has no national child nutrition program. So, one in seven children live in poverty and hunger with increased risk of a variety of health problems. In the U.S., The Department of Agriculture says 9 out of 10 Americans are deficient in potassium, 8 out of 10 in...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
FOR SHAME
Something happened today that I thought would never happen! At 92 years of age I have asked the Registrar of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to reinstate my medical license which I reluctantly gave up at the age of 87. Why? Because of a shameful and despicable event in Alberta this week. Ms S, a resident of Calgary was dying of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Totally paralyzed and close to choking to death in her own mucus, she requested doctor assisted death. Justice Sheilah Martin of the Alberta court decided that, with the consent of two doctors and no psychiatric assessment, Ms. S was granted the right to proceed. Justice Martin has...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
How does my Diet compare with The Mayo Clinic’s?
“What diet do you follow?” is a question I’m often asked when writing about cardiovascular disease. So I was interested to read a report from The Mayo Clinic recommending ways to have a heart-healthy diet. How did mine stack up? Sometimes I threaten the waiter! I couldn’t agree more with Mayo’s. For years I’ve stressed that calories do count and the larger the portion on the plate the greater the number of calories. But our eyes are often larger than our stomachs and we ignore portion size. Moreover, in some restaurants the only way to obtain a small portion is to threaten the waiter! Remember, you can have the most nutritious heart healthy meal available on the plate, but if it’s a...Read More
Women's Health
Medical Inequality between Men and Women
Today, it’s almost heresy to say there’s inequality between sexes. Everyone is supposed to enjoy equal rights and I have no problem with this philosophy. But, in medicine, the sexes are far from equal. A report in the health publication, “Nutrition Action”, shows that a head-in-the-sands approach to sexual inequality can have a severe effect on the diagnosis and outcome of an illness. Ask anyone what causes a heart attack and they are likely to respond, high cholesterol, lack of exercise, smoking, obesity or diabetes. Some might be aware that a heart attack produces the feeling of an elephant standing on your chest. They would be right as this is what often happens when men suffer a coronary attack. But what...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Women's Health
Readers’ Response to Drinking Mothers and Brain-Injured Childre
I recently reported that in the U.S. every year 40,000 children are born suffering with fetal alcoholic syndrome disease (FASD). In Canada there are 300,000 living with this problem. I asked, “Why doesn’t this human tragedy get as much attention as drunk driving?” And “Should some of the women involved be sterilized?” I’ve received a ton of responses. SR writes, “I believe the Mothers against Drunk Driving lobby gets more attention because the media provides many dollars of free air time.” R0 responds, “Dr, you are so-o-o-o-o right. Women who drink during pregnancy need to be sterilized. Full stop. Thank you and keep up the good work”. NB wrote, “Your column should be made mandatory in every bar, liquor/beer store,...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition, Obesity
Will a Tax On Sugar Cure Obesity?
35 years ago I warned readers about the dangers of excessive sugar consumption and labelled sugar the “white devil”. The sugar industry was not amused, and complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons that I should be disciplined. I won, after a trying, difficult battle. How things change! Five countries currently have a sugar tax. Now the British are debating the merits of a 20 per cent tax on high sugar products to help fight the epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Why this change of heart? Dr Simon Capewell, UK vice-president of health policy, says, “public opinion on a sugar tax is shifting. The majority of parents are angry that their children are being made fat”. He adds, “It’s...Read More
