Infection, Sex
New Facts About Genital Herpes
"How could this happen to me?" Or "How can I tell my partner I have genital herpes?" I have too often heard these questions, and the despair, guilt, remorse and fear of patients when told they have genital herpes. Now, a report in the journal, "Nature", may help to decrease the spread of this disease and result in an effective treatment for what is called "herpes simples virus Type 2 (HSV-2)" Today, it's estimated that 20 percent of the population is infected with HSV-2. But of this group 80 percent are unaware they have this infection. This means that 50 million North Americans have genital herpes and that every year another 500,000 are diagnosed with it. And once people are infected, no...Read More
Genitourinary
How to Protect Yourself from AKI
Many North Americans will unknowingly fall into a trap during 2013. It results in the law of "unintended consequences". Moreover, as medical treatment progresses every year, more of such consequences are waiting to happen. This week, what you should know about acute kidney injury (AKI). The kidneys, not the bowel, comprise the body's main disposal system. Like a chemist, each day they control water balance, keeping blood neither too acid nor too alkaline, help in the production of red blood cells, and every 30 minutes filter all of our blood. A report from Johns Hopkins Hospital says that 20 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease. Kidney dysfunction can develop silently for many years. But AKI can appear suddenly and be life-threatening,...Read More
Miscellaneous
We Should Not Need a One-Way Ticket
What would you do in this situation? The patient is paralyzed, incontinent of bowel and urinary functions, unable to take nourishment and obviously in pain. I doubt that anyone, regardless of race or religion, would disagree with a lethal injection if the patient were a beloved dog. But humans in most nations are denied this right. Currently, a tennis partner of mine is in this same condition, along with Alzheimer's disease. His has been a frightful sight to watch as it progressed as surely as night follows day. He no longer knows me, stares day after day at blank walls. I know from past talks he would prefer a dignified death. Alzheimer's disease has been labelled the "Grey Tsunami", and it has...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Is it a Floater, or a Medical Emergency?
People who tend to party too much on a Saturday night are apt to see pink elephants in their vision. But others who never misbehave may suddenly notice spots, threads or cob-web-like structures floating in front of their eyes. What causes these images and when are they a medical emergency? Eye floaters are those tiny flecks, spots or cob-web-like structures that appear to drift aimlessly around in your field of vision. A few people find them terribly annoying. Others fret that they may herald the onset of a serious eye problem. Or even end in blindness. What causes these floaters? The vitreous is a large chamber in the back part of the eye. Early in life it consists of a...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Women's Health
The DNA Protection Cream : A Far Cry From Granny’s Cold Cream
Would you believe it's possible to have a DNA anti-aging cream that treats the whole range of skin problems? Would you think it's too good to be true? A small Canadian company has developed a cream called "Reversa Multi-Tasking Care. (RMTC)" Clinical studies show this new Tepronone DNA based anti-aging cream attacks wrinkles, dryness, loss of firmness, dilated pores and redness. You don't have to be a cosmeceutical expert to know that Shakespeare was only half right when he coined the phrase, "Vanity, thy name is woman". Today, reports show that men, even construction workers, are seeking ways to get rid of aging skin. And I know that on the rare occasion when I write a column...Read More
Gastroenterology, Infection
The Worm, a Sight You Will Never Forget
"Would you like ice in your drink?" To this, I normally say "yes". But there are times when I say an emphatic "no". I know, when travelling in the less affluent parts of the world, having an icy drink may result in the "Hong Kong Trots" or "Montezuma's Revenge". On an unlucky day, even hepatitis B infection. Even in some North American locations, I sometimes decline ice. Why? Because I never want to see Ascaris lumbricoides in the toilet bowel. If it ever happens to you, it's a sight you will never forget. During my time as a family doctor, a family arrived with their young frightened son. Following a bowel movement he had noticed what he described as a "garden...Read More
Alcohol, Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins
Non-Toxic Ways To Lower Blood Cholesterol
"Is a natural remedy as effective as cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs)?" Or "Is it possible to lower cholesterol by just dietary changes?" These and other questions routinely arrive in my e-mail. What everyone should be asking is, "What is the safest way to lower blood cholesterol?" Moliere, the French actor and playwright, once remarked that, "Nearly all men die of their medicines, not their diseases." This was a realistic statement nearly four hundred years ago. But, even today, in this enlightened age, many people suffer serious, and sometimes lethal ends, due to medication. So I always suggest taking drugs the way porcupines make love, very, very carefully. So can you as cautiously lower blood cholesterol? First, the good news, but only if...Read More
Gastroenterology
10 Things to Know About the Fire in Your Belly
Nietzsche, the German philosopher wrote, "The belly is the main reason why man does not mistake himself for a god." Heartburn reminds us we are quite human. It should also remind us that ignoring this common symptom can also be dangerous. So what should you know about it? One - It's common and expensive. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reports that, in the U.S., 50 million people suffer from heartburn every month. And the average person with this problem spends $3,355 a year on medication and other treatments. Two - If you have heartburn you're doing something wrong. Don't blame the restaurant for the fire in your stomach. You're obviously eating too much and often the wrong foods. This...Read More
Dental, Surgery
Antibiotics for Cleaning Teeth after Hip Replacement?
What should you do if a dentist or dental hygienist says, "I won't clean your teeth unless you agree to take antibiotics following surgical hip or knee replacement?" Today, over one million hip and knee replacements are done every year in North America. It's estimated that by the year 2030 this number will escalate to four million annually. But should dentists paint every joint implant patient with the same brush? The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (ACOS) is adamant about this question. They claim that during the last 20 years the number of post-operative hip and knee infections has markedly decreased due to the use of antibiotics during surgery and the immediate post-operative period. Anyone scheduled for these procedures can shout "hallelujah"...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Vitamins
Adrenal Exhaustion The 21st Century Disease
Are you tired for no reason? Having a hard time getting out of bed? Or feel run-down and stressed all the time? If so, you may have the first symptoms of adrenal exhaustion and must learn to "adapt" before it becomes a steady habit that causes more than heartburn. As Charles Darwin, the British scientist remarked. "It's not the fittest that survive, nor the most intelligent, but those who can adapt to their environment." Or, as is often said, "It's not the work that kills, it's the worry". The thumb-sized adrenal glands are situated on the top of both kidneys and have been called the body's primary "shock absorbers". They produce a number of hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and DHEA....Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary, Surgery
Cooking the Prostate Gland
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? No one knows. Nor has anyone, to this point, found the answer to treating prostate cancer. Now, a treatment called high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is available. So could this procedure be the ultimate way to cure prostate malignancy? In North America, every three minutes, a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer and every 15 minutes a man dies from it. The major problem has always been, which men should be treated, and when should doctors follow a wait-and-see policy? Waiting to see what will happen has never been a logical move anytime cancer is diagnosed. The result is normally the spreading of the malignancy and eventually death. But prostate malignancy, unlike...Read More
Medicine, Vitamins
Health Canada : Where Are The Dead Bodies?
Do you know that every day 290 North American citizens are killed by prescription drugs? To kill the same number of people a jumbo jet would have to crash every day. So why are natural remedies being removed from health food stores while drugs that kill remain available? Dr. Zoltan Rona, an expert on natural remedies, recently told me that, "Health Canada has been raiding health food stores, terrorizing proprietors and confiscating natural food supplements." He asked, "Could you help to stop it?" Rona described a New York Times report that the government's primary suspect in 542 deaths was Pradax, a blood thinning agent. Moreover, when this drug causes bleeding there is no antidote to stop it. Yet Health Canada has done...Read More
Cardiovascular, Gastroenterology, Medicine, Pain
How to Decrease the Risk of Pain Relievers
"Remember, you never get anything for nothing". That's a caution I've repeated over and over to patients. Why? Because some people naively believe it's possible to get health benefit without risk. Today, millions are popping a variety of over-the-counter pain relievers while ignoring important red flags warning they may result in death. Heart and Stroke Risk The American Heart Association reports that, with the exception of acetylsalicylate acid (Aspirin) and possibly naproxen (Aleve), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin and Advil) increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is particularly true for those who have already suffered heart attack or are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, a report in the Journal "Circulation" has more disturbing news. Dr....Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Peewee Amounts of Vitamin C Won’t Stop Heart Attacks
How can the Harvard Medical School, my alma mater, be so backward about heart attack? It's apparent its researchers never heard Linus Pauling when he countered critics with, "It's the dosage, idiots," Fortunately, a new remedy allows readers to benefit from Harvard's error. The Harvard study involved 15,000 healthy male doctors. Half were given a multivitamin pill, the others a placebo. Dr. Howard Sesso of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital reports that after 11 years of study, there was no difference between the two groups in rate of heart attack, stroke, heart failure or chest pain. What amazes me about the Harvard study is how researchers could waste 11 years studying a project doomed to failure. The multivitamin used contained only 75...Read More
Cardiovascular, Medicine, Miscellaneous
New Zona Plus Device To Treat Hypertension
Why would patients choose to endure the side-effects of blood pressure pills when a new Zona Plus exercise can ease hypertension? Before you say "it's too good to be true", let me tell you about F-16 fighter pilots. These pilots have to withstand huge G-forces in combat to prevent them from blacking out. This presented a major dilemma for flight researchers. It turned out researchers solved two diverse problems at the same time. Studies showed that exercises to strengthen abdominal muscles decreased the effect of gravitational force. But they also discovered that hand gripping exercises could lower blood pressure. This has lead to the development of the Zona Plus device. A recent article in the Journal of Hypertension analyzed several clinical...Read More
Miscellaneous, Nutrition
How Safe Is Your Seafood?
"You should eat more fish" is a remark I often make to patients. But I find that recently more patients reply, "But are fish safe to eat?" They worry about the amount of mercury and PCBs that may be in fish. So today when it appears that everything has a touch of contamination, how safe are fish to eat? A report from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, published in Environmental Science and Technology, analyzed seafood inspection data from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. It states that today 85 percent of seafood used in North America is imported and much of it is farm-raised (a practice called aquaculture) in Asia and elsewhere in the developing world. One negative is that...Read More
Genitourinary
A New Treatment to Increase Urinary Flow In Men
In March 1958 The Journal of the Maine Medical Association reported, "A successful non-surgical treatment for enlarged prostate gland is cause for rejoicing among the thousands of mature men who yearly face the possibility of becoming a victim of this painful and dangerous affliction." Since that time there have been major advances in the non-surgical treatment of enlarged prostate glands (benign prostatic hypertrophy). Normally, during male urination, the size of the urinary stream is about one-quarter of an inch. But as men age the prostate gland enlarges, squeezes the urethra (urinary tube), and may reduce its size to one-sixteenth of an inch. And if it reaches zero, emergency surgery is required. Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is almost like getting gray hair. In...Read More
Lungs
New Drug To Treat a Desperate Disease
Several months ago I wrote about a tennis partner who was slowly dying of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We both knew there was no cure for this disease. Nor could I foresee any help for many years. I was wrong on that point. But I was right about my message of hope. I always tell seriously ill patients the story of the man sentenced to death by the King. Because the King was a lover of horses, the man received a reprieve by promising he'd teach the King's horse to fly within one year. His friends laughed at him, but he explained, "Within a year the King may die, I may die or the horse may die. Besides, within a year...Read More
Genitourinary, Sex
A Mighty Fighter’s Worst Sexual Nightmare
What does a mixed martial arts fighter (MMA) worry about before a fight? I've interviewed boxers, never an MMA fighter, but I suspect losing the match is the first concern. Or possibly breaking an arm, leg or sustaining other serious injuries. But I'd bet one MMA fighter, even in his wildest dreams, never envisioned he'd encounter this sexual nightmare. Ray Elbe, an Ultimate Fighter Season 9, was on a training tour in Southeast Asia. Like any other testosterone driven male he too realized there's more than just training all the time. So why not arrange for a little "amour"? But although his sport is dangerous, vigor in the ring provides the win. The bed has different hazards. In this case, the...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Nutrition, Vitamins
Don’t Become A Diabetes Statistic In 2013
When a man applied for a job at the railway station, he was asked, "Suppose you saw a train coming from the east at 100 miles an hour. Then, you noticed a train coming from the west at 100 mph. The trains are both on the same track and just a quarter of a mile apart. What would you do?" The man replied, "I'd run and get my brother". "Why would you ever do that at such a critical time?" he was asked. The man replied, "Because my brother's never seen a train wreck". Today, diabetes and its complications make a perfect medical train wreck. According to The World Health Organization every 40 seconds a new diabetic is diagnosed in North...Read More
Alcohol, Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Sports
The Perfect Pass, Self Destruction, then Recovery
What would it be like to be the highest paid athlete in the world, the toast of Boston, the winner of two Stanley Cups, the rich devil-may-care playboy? Then to find yourself broke, alcoholic, drug addicted and sleeping under bridges? In the space of 12 years this all happened to Derek "Turk" Sanderson. I recently interviewed Derek Sanderson, the NHL hockey player, in Toronto during a dinner sponsored by Healthy Minds Canada. I was interested in his story as I had attended the same school, lived on the same street and watched Sanderson as he started his hockey career with the Niagara Falls Flyers. I knew his loving parents, who tried to instill the right virtues in their son. Multiple...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle, Nutrition
Preventing Sugar Bellies at Christmas and 2013
"Look at that beer belly!" is an often heard remark. But are beer drinkers getting a bad rap? There's good evidence that may be the case as some beers contain a mere 60 calories. This is why a recent study from the Harvard Medical School says it's about time we renamed this problem, the "Sugar Belly". So can you fight this universal problem during the holidays? Vasanti Malik, a researcher at The Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, reports in Nutrition Action Health Letter that the average North American consumes at least 15 teaspoons of sugar daily. This is mostly from sucrose (table sugar), fructose and glucose. Malik says these calories are contributing to the sugar belly. It's not just...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
The Hazards of a Well-Made Bed
What do you sleep on? Of course, the normal reply is the mattress. But few people realize they're also resting on millions of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinuscan (dust mites). So how can you decrease the risk of these crawly creatures in your bed? And why should you also think twice before quickly making up the bed. Dust mites are related to spiders and will never win a beauty contest. They're ugly, menacing, microscopic in size, have eight legs and you can put either 1,000 mites or 250,000 of their fecal pellets in half a teaspoon. Hardly exciting bed mates! Dust mites accumulate in rugs, fabrics, and furniture. But they prefer warm beds, pillows and blankets where they live along with vast amounts...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Gastroenterology, Miscellaneous, Nutrition
A Unique Way to Stop Bean Flatus
Do you suffer from chronic abdominal pain, bloating, gas, stomach cramps, diarrhea and constipation? If so, there's a good chance the diagnosis is "irritable bowel syndrome" (IBS). This condition is one of the most commonly diagnosed problems in this country. However, most people are treating it the wrong way, destroying their bowels with laxatives. It's smarter to use natural therapy. Dr. Linda Lee, Professor of Gastroenterology at Johns Hopkins University, says that when patients complain of IBS symptoms she first rules out serious disease such as stomach ulcers, ulcerative colitis and bowel malignancies. These more serious problems are more likely to be present if patients also complain of weight loss, being wakened by pain, or seeing blood in the stool. Dr. Lee...Read More
Nutrition, Vitamins
Hell Will Freeze Over Before I Stop Eating Steak
"Are you sure you want your steak blue?", waiters often ask. I've learned the word "blue" is the best way of ensuring a rare steak. But lately I've noticed I'm the only one eating meat. Friends are ordering either chicken or a vegetarian diet. They claim this is the way to better health. But I'm a cocktail- before- dinner guy, and hell will freeze over before I give up steak. Now, I've found an ally in Professor Duo Li, Professor of Nutrition at Zhejiang University, Hangahou, China. Li reports, in The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, that my veggie friends may be lacking in iron, zinc, vitamin B-12 and essential Omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients are needed for cardiovascular health. So how...Read More
