Vitamins
What You Don’t Know About Magnesium
“Doctor, am I taking enough or too much calcium?” It’s a question I’m often asked by patients. But I can’t recall a single instance when a patient has asked the same question about magnesium. It’s ironic as studies show that many North Americans are not obtaining sufficient amounts of this important mineral. In some cases this can be a fatal error. Now there’s a simple, natural way to prevent this. Calcium has always enjoyed star status for good reason. Without sufficient calcium bones develop osteoporosis in which a minor fall, or a big hug, can snap a bone. But few realize that magnesium is required for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. For instance a magnesium deficiency can result in...Read More
Cardiovascular, Obesity, Pediatrics
Niagara’s Grass Roots Approach Targets Childhood Obesity
What will it take to eliminate the current obesity epidemic in children? There’s no easy answer and every year children are putting on more pounds. So why not try a new approach? The one veteran politicians use to get elected, the grass roots approach? This is what Dr. Stafford Dobbin, a wily Irishman and family physician, decided to try in the Niagara Region. It should set a standard for the nation. Dr. Dobbin, graduate of Queen’s University in Belfast, and a family doctor, has a hero. He’s Professor Frank Pantridge, a cardiologist in Belfast, who invented the cardiac ambulance. Pantridge was the first to realize that if ambulances carried defibrillators, countless lives of coronary victims would be saved in Northern Ireland...Read More
Cancer
The Devil You Know? Or The One You Do not Know?
Lately many of the e-mails I’ve received have been from men. Why?” Because a panel of U.S. experts recently reported that healthy men should say “No” to the PSA test that diagnoses prostate cancer. To many this is like damning motherhood and apple pie as thousands of men routinely get this test every year. Several cancer specialists in Canada have openly criticized this report. They argue that the PSA test, although not perfect, does save lives. But the U.S. panel claims it has no significant effect on the number of deaths, and often the end result is serious complications from treatment. So who is right? ...Read More
Heroin, Miscellaneous, Pain
Who Says That Heroin is an Illegal Painkiller?
The Globe and Mail was wrong in a recent column about the insite heroin clinic in Vancouver, when it stated that heroin was an illegal drug. Its editors have forgotten that when I wrote for The Globe and Mail, I spent thousands of dollars placing ads in the newspaper during a campaign to legalize heroin. And that Jake Epp, The Minister of Health, announced on Dec 4, 1984 that heroin would be legalized to treat terminal cancer pain. But what happened after that? Obituary columns daily report that loved ones “passed away peacefully”. But this is a downright lie. Most people still die in pain. More palliative care centers are desperately needed in this country. In 1979 I wrote that English doctors had...Read More
Lifestyle
PGX Fiber Fights Obesity
What’s the best way to fight the battle of the bulge? It’s not by buying books or starting fad diets that rarely work. Rather, it’s shocking that most people are unaware of the huge role fiber plays in combating obesity. Now there’s an easy, natural way to lose weight by adding PGX fiber to the daily menu. Several years ago I wrote that there was a simple way to determine if patients were consuming sufficient fiber. Just look at their stools. If they failed to float, or were not as soft as toothpaste, these patients were lacking fiber. Some readers accused me of giving them a stiff neck trying to...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Genitourinary, Infection, Nutrition
How NEO40 Fights Multiple Health Problems
Feeling tired? Falling asleep in the afternoon? Losing your keys or interest in sex? Are you concerned about cardiovascular disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, diabetes and its complications? Or want to limit the pain and swelling of arthritis, calm the inflammation of asthma and assist the immune system in fighting infection? If so, you may need a new revolutionary natural remedy NEO40 to increase your level of nitric oxide (N0). My initial reaction to this news was, “It’s too good to be true!”. But three researchers received the prestigious Nobel Prize for this discovery. Louise J. Ignarro, one of the prize winners, says, “There may be no disease process where this miracle molecule does not have a protective role.” Dr. Nathan S....Read More
Miscellaneous, Surgery
The Best Time to Have an Operation
A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says it’s much safer to time your sickness. If not, there is a good risk of ending up with inferior medical care. So when should you get ill? And what is the prime time to have an operation? Jesse Gruman, president of the Washington, DC. based non-profit Center for Advancing Health, says, “Anybody who’s been in hospital knows that it’s a kind of banker’s hours after six o’clock. You feel really vulnerable if something happens at night because of the sparseness and responsiveness of the night staff.” But is this also a problem in Canada? Dr. David Wilson, president of the Canadian Society of Hospital Medicine, isn’t reassuring. He says, “In comparison with...Read More
Genitourinary, Pain
Think Twice About Hernia Surgery
A reader asks, “Is it necessary to get a hernia repaired quickly?” The time-honoured tradition has always been to fix it. But is this approach always the right one? Or is “tincture of time”, namely watchful waiting, the best way to treat this common condition? A hernia is a protrusion of bowel through a weak spot in the abdominal wall near the groin. But there is no sexual fairness in this condition. As one of my surgical professors used to say, “Sometimes you get the big brown egg”. In this case the egg goes to men, as 90 percent of hernias occur in males. In the past, surgeons believed that failing to return the bowel to its natural location inside the abdomen was...Read More
Orthopedics, Pain
Billie Jean Says So. Really?
Sir Willam Osler, former professor of medicine at McGill and John Hopkins Universities once remarked, “A doctor does not fully understand a disease until he suffers from it.” Due to a recent illness I couldn’t agree more. During Arthritis Month, I wrote a column about osteoarthritis, how it is possible to decrease the risk by losing weight, taking vitamin C to manufacture collagen, the major component of cartilage, and using your two legs to pump nutrients into damaged cartilage. It’s ironic that a few weeks later I suddenly developed increased pain in one hip. Then one morning I could hardly walk, even with the help of a cane. Osler was right. You have to experience pain to know how...Read More
Lifestyle
There is More to Boston than Baked Beans
This fall the mention of Boston brings the Stanley Cup to mind. But there’s more to Boston than hockey and baked beans. I recently visited 711Washington Street in downtown Boston. Why? Because it’s the address of the world’s largest research center on nutrition and aging. 300 scientists there are studying a disease that affects everyone, Sarcopenia. No whiz kid in Latin, I assumed the name was a Latin word. My wife informed me it’s Greek, meaning “poverty of flesh”. (It’s wise to marry a smart woman). Today everyone fears cancer, heart attack or Alzheimer’s Disease as they age. But it’s also important to think about the poverty of flesh, a slow creeping fragility that robs people of their independence. If you...Read More
Miscellaneous, Pain
BioSil: The Natural Way to Prevent and Treat Fragile Bones
What causes the holes in Swiss cheese? I’m sure the Swiss know the answer, but I don’t. But I do know what makes holes in bones, causing osteoporosis. Today millions of North Americans are taking prescription drugs to treat this devastating disease. But there’s a safer, natural remedy, BioSil tm, to prevent “holey” bones. The figures are frightening. Studies show that one in four women and one in eight men over age 50 have osteoporosis. And with an aging population we can expect more cases in the years ahead. Who develops this crippling disease depends on several factors. Genetics plays a role in certain families. So does being thin, small boned and of white or Asian ancestry. Smokers, those who take three...Read More
Vitamins
Think You Know Everything About Arthritis?
It’s arthritis month and millions of North Americans are suffering from osteoarthritis, the wear and tear type, associated with aging. Why does this happen, and why does one remedy never hit the headlines? A French professor started his class by saying, “This has been said before, but must be said again, because no one listened.” So it must be said again about osteoarthritis because not enough people listened! An aphorism states, “If you keep going to hell, you’ll eventually get there.” Millions of people eventually get to an arthritic hell because they’re obese. How can anyone not expect to develop painful hips and knees when they are subjected day after day to 50 or more extra pounds of stress?...Read More
Lifestyle, Medicine
Act Like Animals To Save Your Kidneys
Who are the master chemists that control water balance in our bodies, keep the blood neither too acid nor alkaline, rid us of dangerous waste, filter every drop of blood in our bodies every 30 minutes and weigh a mere five ounces? They’re our kidneys. But millions of North Americans are so abusing this vital organ that their lives depend solely on renal dialysis. What lethal mistakes are they making? History provides much of the answer. Fifty years ago in Australia, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, people developed a bad habit. They were using mixtures of Aspirin, codeine, phenacetin and caffeine, not only for pain relief, but also for their mood-altering qualities. In fact, at watch factories in Switzerland, workers were...Read More
Lifestyle, Sports
MRSA Infections: Razor Blades on the Floor
So you’ve decided to get into shape and join the local health club? No one can fault that idea. But remember, there are pluses and minuses to most things in life, including health clubs, that result in unintended consequences. Health clubs by necessity have a large number of hot, perspiring, less than clean bodies. So you don’t need to be an infectious disease specialist to know there’s potential infection everywhere. This means that precautionary measures must be taken seriously by the health club, its clients and, particularly, you. It’s hard to decipher the brains of some people. For instance, a female patient of mine stopped going to a fitness center in downtown Toronto. She was tired of repeatedly finding used...Read More
Nutrition
Styrofoam Popcorn and How to Trick a Bartender
Why do people eat more than they should? You say you’ve heard all the reasons? But I bet you’re dead wrong. Why? It’s because a report in The Nutrition Action Health Letter is written by a marketing expert, not a doctor. As well, there’s a way to get rid of unwelcome dinner guests, and trick a bartender. Brian Wansink, Professor of Marketing at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, directs the Food and Brand Lab. He asks people “When was the last time you ate to the point of regretting it?” He follows that with, “Why did you do it?” He receives the usual answers, “It was a tough day” or “I was depressed” etc, etc. But most replied...Read More
Cardiovascular
Surgery for Swinging-Door Heart Valves
What do the swinging doors of a western movie have to do with mitral valve surgery? They’re the easiest way to describe what’s wrong with the heart’s valves and what surgical procedure is needed to correct mitral valve prolapse (MVP). To get a first-hand look I watched Dr. Tirone David, one the world’s great cardiac surgeons, perform this operation at the Toronto General Hospital. The mitral valve separates the two left chambers of the heart. Each time the heart beats the valves open, like the swinging doors of a western saloon. But after opening they firmly close while the heart pumps blood to the body. The problem is that swinging doors of saloons often develop loose rusty hinges which don’t close well....Read More
Cancer, Dermatology
When In Doubt, Cut it Out
“Is it a benign mole or a malignant melanoma?” you wonder. This is an important question as the number of cases of melanoma continues to increase. It’s shocking that the incidence of new cases is now greater than the combined number of breast, lung, prostate and large bowel cancers. So how can you prevent dying from this disease? Rudyard Kipling, the English novelist, gave some sound advice when he wrote, “Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun”. Too much sun exposure is the cause of many melanomas. Remember that if your shadow is shorter than you, it’s time to get out of the sun. Dr. Allan Halpern, chief of dermatology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Consumers Kill Campbell’s Poster Child
If your company makes soup, what’s the best way to shoot yourself in the foot? Try selling soup with a little less salt. In 2009 Campbell Soup made a brave and healthy decision. Each serving of its soup would have 32 percent less sodium to help tame one of North America’s big killers, hypertension. Now the foolish consumer has forced Campbell Soup to put the sodium back again. For years the medical profession has lambasted food manufacturers for loading our food with salt, thus stoking the epidemic of cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure is the leading cause of death in the world. It’s estimated that 25 percent of North Americans have hypertension and five million Canadians suffer from it. It’s a...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle
Decrease Sugar to Sweeten Blood Cholesterol
Think you know everything on how to lower blood cholesterol? I’m sure it’s no news that excessive amounts of sugar can cause obesity, diabetes and more visits to the dentist. But a report from Tufts University School of Nutrition says this is the first study to show that too much sugar is also bad news for blood cholesterol. It appears they’ve forgotten the work of Dr. John Yudkin. North Americans love sugar because it tastes good and food companies know it. Studies show that they get 16 percent of their total calories from sugar added to foods during manufacturing. Thirty five years ago it was 10.6 percent. It’s the “silent sugar” hidden in a variety of everyday foods such as...Read More
Miscellaneous
Have A Problem With Doctors? But What About Doctors?
Do doctors get better medical care? Today, patients frequently complain that doctors don’t spend enough time with them. Or never communicate after diagnosis. But at a class reunion of The Harvard Medical School I discovered that doctors who are often specialists themselves don’t always end up with adequate care from their colleagues. Several of my former classmates had undergone surgery after seeking the best surgeons and hospitals available. It was uncanny how many had suffered bad results. But high on their list of complaints was the lack of empathy from colleagues. One classmate had a long history of neck pain. Years earlier he had suffered a sudden blow to the head which had left him with a “pins and needles” feeling in...Read More
Miscellaneous
What You Should Know About Pre-Diseases
Samuel Johnson once remarked, “Nothing sharpens the wit so much as the knowledge you’re going to be hanged in the morning.” Today, doctors can predict when medical endings will happen and what can be done to prevent them. But too many patients are using the wrong prescription to treat “pre-disease” problems. In the past, doctors could inform patients they had diabetes, hypertension or a fractured bone. Today, they’ve moved a notch higher and often are able to predict these ailments before they strike. But this ability has pitfalls. What’s the negative? It’s the possibility of being over-treated for a number of common diseases. For instance, blood studies can now tell patients they have “pre-diabetes”. And studies...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Two Words, Irresponsibly Permissive, Tell a Story
How did this country, and the U.S., become such drug-addicted societies? A recent report states that the pain killer, Oxycontin is now the number one drug used by addicts in North America. But whether it’s this drug, crack cocaine, crystal meth, or others, the result is always the same, wasted lives, needless deaths, crime, and tons of taxpayers’ money that should be used for productive purposes. It’s a cop-out when Ministers of Health claim there’s no easy answer. What’s appalling is how Oxycontin , so ill used, is so easily available in Ontario alone. In 2008 provincial pharmacies dispensed prescriptions for Oxycontin that were more than double the national average. Then in 2009-10 the Ontario Drug plan processed 3.9...Read More
Miscellaneous, Nutrition
Do not Forget Double Mashed Potatoes
What shocks my friends when I order a “blue” steak? No, it’s not the fact that it’s extra rare that gets their attention. It’s the fact that I also always tell the waiter, “Don’t forget the double order of mashed potatoes!” Now, a report from the University of California shows I’m not committing a mortal, dietary sin. In fact, potatoes can even help weight loss. Critics of mashed potatoes contend they have a high glycemic index (GI). This means that potatoes are quickly broken down into sugar, triggering a rapid increase in blood sugar and production of insulin. But it’s a myth that the potato’s high GI is responsible for the epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes....Read More
Genitourinary
Darling, Did The Doctor Measure Your Anal-Scrotal Length?
How would you react if your doctor said, “Remove your pants and bend over”? Then picked up a ruler and measured the distance from the middle of the anus to the base of the scrotum, the anal-genital distance (AGD). You might decide this doctor is wacky, and quickly find another physician. Dr. Shanna Swan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester, New York, reports an unusual finding in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Swan and her colleagues discovered that pregnant rats, exposed to phthalates, commonly used chemicals suspected of having adverse effects on hormones, produced infertile offspring. But Swan obviously has a fertile brain. She also noticed that the baby rats had a decreased anal-genital distance. It’s not a...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle
More Natural Ways to Decrease Blood Cholesterol
“Should I stop taking my cholesterol-lowering drug (CLD) and switch to the natural product Sytrinol?” “Can I take this remedy along with a CLD? “Are there other natural ways to lower blood cholesterol?” These and other responses to my column about Sytrinol indicate that large numbers of people on CLDs are worried about their potential side effects, and would prefer a natural product. To recapitulate, Sytrinol consists of citrus and palm fruit extract. This is why these products are often called plant sterols as they’re found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals and vegetable oils. Sytrinol has been available for several years and passed the test of time by lowering total cholesterol 30 percent, LDL bad cholesterol 27percent, triglycerides 34 percent,...Read More
