Gastroenterology
Take a Look Before You Flush the Toilet
Readers tell me they often discuss my column at dinner parties. But at this festive time of year I doubt that will happen with this column. Today, it’s Course 101 on Poop. So, why would you want to look into the toilet before flushing it? It could save your life. But it might also scare you half-to-death. A look into the bowl after a bowel movement has this advantage. Eventually, you learn that a normal stool is generally brown, usually the shape of a banana, and soft. This means you’re eating the right amount of fiber. Stools are about 75 percent water. And fiber, by holding onto water, makes stools as soft as toothpaste. But suppose the colour changes? A black tarry...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
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Glaucoma: Could Low Blood Pressure be a Cause?
Three million North Americans suffer from glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in North America. Glaucoma has been called the “sneak thief of sight” as half the people with this disease do not know they have it. Now Dr. Patrick Quaid, Head of the Guelph Vision Therapy Centre, says that physicians treating hypertension must be cautious that blood pressure doesn’t get too low. Fluid is continually forced into the eye to nourish the lens and other structures. It normally dribbles out of the eye at a controlled rate through a narrow channel. But with increasing age the control valve of this channel has an increased chance of becoming plugged. This increases the pressure within the eyeball, squeezes blood vessels, and...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Medicine, Nutrition
Coenzyme Q10 Needed For 100 Trillion Cells
Heart failure is the fastest growing cause of heart disease in North America. What’s ironic is that the medication prescribed to prevent heart problems may in fact be causing weakened hearts and sapping energy from our 100 trillion cells. Today, with an aging population, old hearts, like old cars, can only travel so many miles before they wear out. But before this happens a car without gas comes to a sudden halt. Similarly, if the heart lacks coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), the gas that delivers energy to the heart’s muscle, it eventually develops congestive heart failure. For years doctors and the public have been told that cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) are the be-all-and-end-all to prevent heart attack. But one vital point has not hit...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
EP = a2 Has Killed More People than E=mc2
It’s been said Einstein’s E=mc2 (energy=mass x C speed of light squared) is the world’s most important scientific equation. Unfortunately it created the atomic bomb that killed thousands in World War II. But I believe my equation EP = a2 (extra pounds = atherosclerosis squared) is the world’s important medical equation. Regrettably, it’s killing more millions every year than E=mc2.Think again if you believe this is exaggerated. Consider human obesity. Nothing, including the thousands of books on weight loss and diet, has been able to stop the epidemic of obesity which gets worse world-wide every year. Nor does anyone have the solution to the problem of increasing numbers of people developing Type 2 diabetes. The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...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
Cancer, Gastroenterology
How to Prevent Dying the Tough Way
Humans are inconsistent when it comes to preventing cancer. For instance, I have often written that mammography, a popular test, is an inefficient and deceptive procedure to prevent breast cancer. Yet millions of North Americans never get the one test that can save their lives, colonoscopy. Large bowel cancer is not a rare disease. Rather, it is the second leading cause of death in this country. But it does not have to end so many lives because colon malignancy does not develop overnight. Colon cancer normally starts after a soft fleshy-like polyp forms in the large bowel. The polyp can remain non-malignant for years, but it may also develop into one that kills. Studies show that, over the age of 50, one...Read More
Infection, Vitamins
How To Protect Your Family From Ebola Infection
If it wasn’t happening I wouldn’t believe it! But night after night I’ve seen Wolf Blitzer on CNN and Peter Mansbridge on CBC news talking about Ebola, interviewing infectious disease experts about it. Yet, to my knowledge, no one in medical circles nor in the media has discussed the fact that there’s a proven way to treat viral diseases successfully, such as Ebola. What astounds me is that intelligent people are totally ignorant of medical history. Their lack of knowledge has doomed Ebola victims in West Africa and may kill others if this disease hits North America with a vengeance. 64 years ago Dr. Frederick Klenner, a small town family doctor treated 60 polio patients with large doses of...Read More
Miscellaneous, Vitamins
Health Canada and CBC Television Distort Medical Facts
Do you remember the movie, “Network?” Howard Beale portrays the evening news anchor on national TV and he’s depressed about corruption, crime, unemployment and other societal ills. So angry he decides to speak his mind during the evening broadcast, to everyone’s surprise. Finally, after raving about injustices, he shouts, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”, repeatedly. Then Beale tells listeners to go to their windows and shout, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” This week, like Beale, I’m also mad as hell. Why? Because I was commissioned to do a 30 second commercial on CBC about a product I support. It’s a high combination of vitamin C and lysine...Read More
Lifestyle, Vitamins
Losing Keys May be a Stomach, not a Brain Problem
Do you suffer from a sore mouth, fatigue, anemia, constipation, loss of appetite, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, depression, confusion and poor memory? If so, a report from Tufts University School of Nutrition says there’s a possibility you may have a deficiency of vitamin B12 which is essential for neurological function. Moreover, recent studies show this is not just a Senior problem. If a lack of B12 is producing symptoms, the cause may lie in the stomach, not in the brain. As we age, the stomach’s lining becomes thinner and decreases its production of hydrochloric acid. This vitamin firmly attaches to a protein making it hard to pry it loose to allow absorption unless adequate amounts of hydrochloric...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Genetics, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Pain, Vitamins
BioSil: A Natural Remedy Fights Arthritis and Osteoporosis
What brings millions of North Americans to their knees late in life? Today, with an aging population many people now end their lives in wheelchairs due to brittle bones (osteoporosis) or are crippled by the pain of osteoarthritis, the wear and tear type. Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, is an inflammatory condition involving the destruction of cartilage. Its gel-like nature normally acts as a shock absorber. Without cartilage, bones rub on bones causing daily pain. Studies show that one in two people will develop osteoarthritis in their latter years, and two in three obese people will suffer from it at some time during their life. Now, studies done at the Netherlands Institute of Rheumatology and other European centers found that a natural remedy,...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
What’s Red and Protects Cardiovascular Health?
For years we've been told that the Mediterranean diet, full of vegetables, is the way to guard against heart attack and stroke. But George H.W. Bush, former president of the U.S., admitted he didn't like broccoli. And angry farmers dumped a load of it on the White House lawn. I share his view. So I'm grateful now that the red tomato is believed to be the main vegetable for decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. So what is the magic ingredient in tomatoes that fights heart attack and stroke? Researchers at Cambridge University say that the lycopene in red tomatoes keeps the endothelial lining of the human artery (the inner part) healthy, decreasing the risk of blockage. We all know what...Read More
Infection, Surgery
How to Stay Safe in Hospital
Luckily, I've only been admitted to hospital for surgery on two occasions. But when it happened I had serious concerns. The big one was, will I develop a complication during my hospital stay that I didn't have on arrival? So, what can be done to prevent this from occurring? First, I choose my surgeon like porcupines make love, very, very carefully. This choice can have a major impact on outcome. I realize the best of surgeons can encounter a problem that is largely "an act of God". But chances are slim that an unforeseen event will occur with a first class technical surgeon. So the surgery is the least of my worries. I know some may say, "Yes, but you have the...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Pain
Not All Lunatics Are in the Asylum
I'm often asked, "What have you learned as a medical journalist?" In one word "Plenty". After writing a column for 38 years you would have to be an imbecile not to learn something about medicine, human personality and hypocrisy. But above all else I've concluded that common sense is an uncommon commodity, and not all lunatics are in the asylum. Let's start with the Supreme Court of Canada. It's composed of legal experts who, having reached this exalted position, you'd expect to be the "crème de la crème" of this country. But how much horse sense do they possess about medical matters? How much understanding of their fellow men? And why are they so out-of-tune with the wishes of the populace? I'd bet...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
From 1600 T0 400 Calories in 40,000 Years!
How can we help to improve the health care system in this country? Politicians and others continue to debate this issue. They always conclude that more money is the answer. But this approach is doomed to failure. How can it work when it's taken 40,000 years for humans to get into such horrible shape? How did it happen? And is there a solution? Dr. Barry Bogin is a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. He says we all envision our Paleolithic ancestors as being short, bent- over people with small brains. Actually, they were a tad taller with brains as large as ours. And if alive today they would not require hospitalization for so much degenerative disease. Admittedly, most stone-age...Read More
Cardiovascular, Genitourinary, Medicine, Sex
Mae West Knew When Men Were Men
As a male, have you lost the "tiger-in-the-tank"? Possibly you are more irritable, suffer insomnia, have problems at work, lost height, lack energy and lack erections? Now you wonder if testosterone therapy is what’s needed to restore your male vigour? Mae West, the movie sex queen of long ago, knew what made men, men. She greeted them with a sultry voice, "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?" I first became interested in what’s often called "The big T" years ago when I interviewed Dr. Malcolm Carruthers at a Conference on Aging in London, England. Carruthers, a distinguished Harley Street specialist, was one of the early pioneers in testosterone therapy. During the interview with Carruthers,...Read More
Vitamins
Are West Africans Needlessly Dying From The Ebola Virus?
"Those who do not remember history are destined to relive it", is an often quoted saying. But the great tragedy is that by failing to read history, researchers and doctors have, in the past, condemned millions to die from viral disease. Now it is happening again in West Africa. So what will happen if a case of Ebola disease occurs in this country? Currently Canada and other nations are scrambling to send untested drugs and vaccines to West Africa. Yet, in all the headlines and media stories surrounding this epidemic, not one word is spoken of the proven intravenous use of vitamin C as a cure. I find it deplorable that, in my travels, I have yet to find one North...Read More
Lifestyle
Death In The Electronic Age
Do you want to die at an early age? I doubt that many people would be willing to say "Yes" to this question. But a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says this is going to happen unless North Americans learn about the dangers of the electronic age. Fortunately there is a solution. But are people willing to accept the advice? Dr. Kirsten Patrick, in an editorial in the CMA Journal, paints a dismal picture of what is happening to those who have become addicted to the pleasures of the electronic age. Patrick says the ownership of modern conveniences such as television, computers and cars has dramatically decreased the amount of time that we move. After all, we can now even...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Is It ADHD, or a Problem With The Eye?
“I’ve just seen two images of the same person on the TV screen” my aging Mother complained years ago. She had developed double vision (DV). But what causes DV? And how many children suffering from attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) are being needlessly medicated when the trouble is in their eye? Dr. Patrick Quaid, an expert in double vision, is head of the Guelph Vision Therapy Centre. He says that double vision must be taken seriously as a diagnosis can range from brain tumour, concussion, inflammation of an artery, to simple dysfunction of ocular muscles. Fortunately, when adults notice DV, they know something is wrong that demands quick attention. But Dr. Quaid says children with ADHD often get either a delayed...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
Salt: Is Too Much Causing Autoimmune Disease?
What comes crashing down with excessive salt? Dr Stephen Havas, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Maryland says, "The number of deaths from excess salt is equivalent to a commuter jet crashing every day in the U.S." During a recent visit to the Harvard Medical School, I also learned that too much salt may be causing autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease and psoriasis. For years doctors have linked excessive amounts of salt to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Dietary guidelines suggest no more than 1,500 milligrams (mgs) of salt daily. But the majority of North Americans consume a whopping 4,000 mgs daily. Studies show that one in two North Americans over the age of...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Burnout 101 for Caregivers
Here's a possible Trivial Pursuit question, "What's the fastest growing unpaid profession in North America?" I admit I wouldn't have known the answer. But, according to the "Family Caregiver Alliance", more than 65.7 million Americans, that's 29 percent of the population, provide care to a family member, loved one or friend who is ill, disabled or aged. But when does such labour of love trigger burnout anger in the caregiver? A report from Johns Hopkins University states, "The average unpaid, or informal, caregiver is a 46 year old female with a full or part-time job who spends about 20 hours a week catering for her mother. But for those caring for a loved one older than 65 the average age is...Read More
Vitamins
What Critics Won’t Admit About Vitamins and Minerals
Are vitamin supplements safe? Do vitamins work? Are they necessary? Do they contain dangerous impurities? And, is what's on the label actually in the vitamin? Lately, newspaper headlines have unleashed a rash of criticism about vitamins. But as England's Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once remarked, "It is easier to be critical than right". What critics don't admit can be very misleading. A recent and valid concern is whether many of the raw products imported from China, Korea and other countries contain toxic plant material or metals such as lead and mercury. But here's what critics don't tell you. I recently spent two days at Natural Factors (NF) manufacturing facilities in Vancouver which produces vitamins and minerals for many North American companies. NF...Read More
Cardiovascular, Genitourinary, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Medical Tidbits
It's summertime and the living is easy" is a favourite expression at this time of year. But health hazards don't care what month it is. You can stub your toe at any time. And, for instance, how many parents worry that their children face a hazard simply by brushing their teeth, summer or winter? Can a roller coaster ride cause more than thrills? Can binge drinking result in more than a hangover? And, in summer, never mess around with 300,000,000 volts. Dr. Jurgen Kuschyk, a cardiologist at University Hospital in Mannheim, Germany, reports that anyone over 14 years of age should get a physical checkup before taking a roller coaster ride. This should include an electrocardiogram and, even better, an echocardiogram. Dr....Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
Defending Cows
"Don't buy any more butter", I told my wife many years ago. I was a naïve young doctor at that time and I believed my cardiologist who advised the use of margarine instead to prevent heart attack. But this dutiful switch did not last long. Later, as a not-so- naïve-medical-journalist, I questioned my cardiologist's reasoning. Now, the cows are having the last laugh. The Annals of Internal Medicine reports 27 clinical trials that involved 600,000 participants. Researchers concluded that the use of margarine, namely a high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids, did not have any beneficial effect on cardiovascular health. Hence, some nutritionists are saying "Butter is back". But the question is, should butter have ever gone away? So what is the...Read More
Dental
Lasers to Regenerate Teeth?
Over 400 years ago, Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, realized the importance of sound teeth. Don Quixote said, "For I would have you know, Sancho, that a mouth without molars is like a mill without a stone, and a tooth is more precious than a diamond." Yet many people today don't appreciate the importance of his message. Today, tooth decay affects 96 percent of the population. Two out of five North Americans over age 19 have lost teeth. And over age 65 one in five have no teeth, often due to gum disease. Dental rust, known as periodontal gum disease (PGD), is an insidious process. In its early stages the gum turns from a natural pink to red. Later, small...Read More
