Nutrition
Salmon, To Eat Or Not To Eat?
Will the hazards ever end? Mad Cow Disease has made consumers cast an anxious eye at meat. Trans fats are everywhere in our food and harming us all. Now, a report warns us that farm-raised salmon contain excessive amounts of hazardous PCBs. So how polluted are the salmon and how dangerous? PCBs were used in the 1950s in plastics and several other substances. They were banned in 1977 due to the fear that they might cause cancer. But PCBs linger in water supplies, soil and food long after being used. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a U.S. organization, reports that 70 per cent of the salmon examined were contaminated with PCBs. But how contaminated? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S....Read More
Cancer, Gastroenterology
Laws of Physics Cause Esophageal Cancer
Do you suffer from a hot fire beneath the breastbone following a heavy meal? One that's often accompanied by belching and regurgitation of bitter fluid? If so, you're most likely suffering from heartburn. This common problem can be the forerunner of serious disease. But there are several ways to decrease the risk of developing one of the deadliest cancers. Heartburn is triggered by several factors. Like other muscles, the lower esophageal sphincter muscle (LES) at the lower end of the food pipe (esophagus), can become weak and inefficient. And if you eat "the whole thing" the laws of physics cause heartburn. Large meals trigger more gas and something has to give. Then the LES opens and gas, along with the stomach's...Read More
Cardiovascular
Who Should Take a Baby Aspirin?
A reader writes, "I've been taking a baby aspirin daily for years to prevent a heart attack. Now, I've read that not everyone should take this pill." She then added, "Is there a natural way to decrease the risk of coronary attack?" Acetylsalicyclic acid (ASA), commonly known as aspirin, has been extolled for years (also by this journalist), as a way to prevent heart attack. But new research suggests that this common practice needs to be reexamined. Dr. Colin Baigent, at Oxford University, recently reported their findings of a study in the British journal "Lancet", involving 95,000 patients. The authors concluded that, for apparently healthy individuals, there is questionable benefit from taking ASA. But that patients who had already had a heart...Read More
Cardiovascular, Vitamins
Vitamin C Prevents Heart Attack
Why would I travel to snowy England in January? I had the chance to spend a week studying with Dr. Sydney Bush, a distinguished English professor of optometry. This week why I believe his research on the cause of coronary artery disease deserves a Nobel Prize and how you can benefit from his research. What causes coronary attack? Authorities say it's due to increased blood cholesterol. But I've always questioned this theory since interviewing Dr. Linus Pauling (the only person to receive two Nobel Prizes). Years ago Pauling told me animals manufacture vitamin C, but humans do not. For instance, goats produce 13,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily! Humans lost this ability during the course of evolution. That's why cats survived voyages...Read More
Cardiovascular
How Fruit Juices Affect Medication
What would you think of somebody who poured himself a vodka Martini for breakfast every day? No doubt you would believe he was on a rocky road to medical hell. But how many readers are aware that a large glass of grapefruit juice in the morning is also a health hazard? Studies show that downing a glass of fruit juice can have a powerful effect on medication. In 1991 Dr. David Bailey, an expert on clinical pharmacology at the University of Western Ontario, was the first scientist in the world to discover that grapefruit juice had the ability to increase the level of certain drugs in the blood. At the time it was considered a mere academic curiosity. But what Dr....Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Trained Monkeys Should Attend Hockey Games
Do you know what I'd do if I owned a trained monkey? I'd give him my season tickets to hockey games at the Air Canada Center (ACC) in Toronto. It would save me from incessant, ear-splitting noise. Besides, it would also save me from repeatedly asking, "What did you say?" To combat noise and prevent deafness, the European Union recently announced it's capping the volume of iPods and other portable music players. The top level is to be 80 decibels. So how does 80 decibels compare with other routine levels of noise? Studies show normal talk is about 40, city traffic 80, subways emit 100 and rock concerts assault the ear with 130. I'm a long-standing hockey fan. But if anything were...Read More
Neurology
What You Should Know About TBIs
What would I worry about if my children were playing hockey and football? In two words, brain injury. Earlier, this year actress Natasha Richardson fell and struck her head while skiing on a beginners slope at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. She walked away apparently without injury. But what shocked the world was the headline news 24 hours later. She had died following this accident. What had happened? Our brains arn't firmly attached by screws inside the head. So a sudden hit to the head throws the brain against the skull. But Richardson's death shows that, if we have an unlucky day, this impact may cause rupture of blood vessels that surround the brain. When bleeding begins, continues and is not diagnosed,...Read More
Surgery
Head Injuries Sustained In Sports
"Do you know of anyone who could help my child?" a long-standing friend of mine recently asked me" Their young child had sustained a head injury while playing hockey had been left with severe headaches and various medications had failed to relieve his suffering. Today, head injuries can occur in a variety of sporting activities. So what should about even minor blows to the head? Earlier this year actress Natasha Richardson fell and struck her head while skiing on a beginners slope at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. She walked away apparently without injury. But what shocked the world was the headline news 24 hours later that she had died from this trivial injury. After all, she was not racing down a...Read More
Infection
What was The Diagnosis?
This week, how about letting me relax, and you play doctor? I'll just pass along pertinent facts about a patient. Then you can see how smart you are in making a diagnosis. First, a couple of clues. The final diagnosis was made by common sense, not by fancy hospital tests. And it's also possible that any of us could arrive home from vacation with this distressful problem. Drs. Jane Pritchard and Stephen Hwang report in The Canadian Medical Association Journal the interesting case of a 62 year old man who complained of generalized fatigue. It was apparent from looking at this man's medical history that you didn't have to be a graduate of The Harvard Medical School to know there were...Read More
Sex, Women's Health
Testosterone for Sexually Frustrated Women
Three weeks ago my column, "Do you want better sex?" struck a resounding note with female readers. But also with many husbands who want their wives to have fewer headaches! The general response was, "Please write more about testosterone and how it can increase female libido". Testosterone, the male hormone, has been called "the hormone of desire". In males the "Big T" builds muscle for boys and ultimately turns boys into sexually well-functioning men. Women also produce testosterone during puberty, about one-tenth as much as males. Later in life they produce less, and this is why some authorities believe women lose interest in sex. How do women learn whether they have less testosterone and therefore "less tiger in the tank"? There's a...Read More
Diabetes
Don’t Become A Diabetes Statistic
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 noticed a train coming from the west at 100 mph. The trains were 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 said simply, "Because my brother's never seen a train wreck." Today, diabetes and its complications make the perfect medical train wreck. It's destroying tens of thousands of lives and will eventually decimate our health care system. Every...Read More
Orthopedics
Why Would I Write About a Lame Racehorse?
How would you like to own a racehorse who won hundreds of thousands of dollars? I'm sure we'd crack open the champagne after each race. But how would you feel when the horse develops arthritis and chip fractures in the knee? Then, four veterinarians and two trainers say, "This horse could not and should not run again". This is when we start crying in our champagne. But what has a racehorse to do with our aches and pains? In one word, plenty. Dr. Fred Kahn, Founder of MediTech Laser and Rehabilitation Clinic in Toronto, told me he inherited this horse in an "exchange ownership" in lieu of paying an outstanding account. But when the horse became lame he decided to see...Read More
Dermatology
Reversa :A New Eco-Friendly Skin Cream
What's the latest eco-friendly product? It's not a new discovery to run your car or get rid of your garbage. Rather, it's an eco-friendly skin cream that contains green tea extract. I thought green tea was for drinking. But a report in the American Academy of Dermatology claims that 150 studies prove green tree is beneficial to skin in several ways. Dr. Stephen Hsu at The Medical College of Georgia, says a five year study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health. The purpose was to find a non-toxic method to prevent the increasing number of people developing skin cancer. Every year one million Americans are diagnosed with this disease. A shocking report from the U.S. National Cancer Institute indicates a...Read More
Neurology
Vitamin C and Alzheimer’s Disease
What causes Alzheimer's Disease? No one knows the answer. But a recent report in the journal, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, claims there is an important link between heart disease and Alzheimer's Disease. The link is atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries). What amazes me is that since it's been shown that vitamin C can reverse atherosclerosis in coronary arteries, why isn't any one advocating its use in trying to prevent Alzheimer's Disease? Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center in Oakland, California, and the University of Kuopio in Finland, tracked 10,000 people for 40 years. They found that high blood cholesterol was associated with a 66 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's Disease. More worrying was that those with borderline levels of blood cholesterol...Read More
Infection
Super Mushrooms Fight Swine Flu Virus
"What's the best natural way to boost immunity against the swine flu virus (SFV)?" a reader from Winnipeg inquires. It's a good question, as currently this virus is killing small numbers of people. But some researchers believe 1N1that H1N1 will return in a few weeks with a vengeance, killing thousands of North Americans. If this happens, can it be possible that a group of powerful medicinal mushrooms can decrease the risk of succumbing to this virus? But first, during an epidemic, never forget these basic precautions. Bow like the Japanese rather than shaking hands, which has always been an unhealthy habit. Handshaking is a prime way to spread infection whether or not there's an epidemic of SFV. Get further protection by...Read More
Infection, Surgery
Surgery Without Any Complications
Would jump at the chance of back surgery that has zero risk of post-operative complications, is free of pain and provides relief of all your symptoms? Or do you choose a back operation that provides the same result, but has none of these guarantees? This first choice may sound like being sold swamp land in Florida. But a recent study shows this is not science fiction. Dr. Rachelle Buchbinder of Monash University in Malvern, Australia, recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine an operation called vertebroplasty. During this surgery medical "cement" was injected into a fractured spinal bone to provide extra strength to it. The surgeons hoped that this approach would relieve back pain as compression fractures of the...Read More
Orthopedics
Spaceflight – No Calling 911 In an Emergency
Have you ever dreamed of being an astronaut? Walking in space and looking back at our small planet must be one of life's greatest experiences. But whether you're a star hockey player, mountain climber or astronaut, a healthy price must be paid for the experience. Dr. Robert Thirsk, a Canadian astronaut, reports in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the health hazards and other dangers that lurk in the harsh environment of space. We all complain about jet lag after a flight to Europe. But astronauts orbit the earth once every 90 minutes. This means in 24 hours they see 16 sunsets and sunrises. This is big-time jet lag and it can have a major effect on their sleep pattern, increasing fatigue. Decompression sickness...Read More
Gastroenterology
Don’t Let Your Dignity Kill You – Colonoscopy
"Why in the name of Heaven do I submit to this procedure every five years? To be forced into such an undignified position makes me wonder each time if there's a God." My answer remains conclusively the same. I'd rather face15 minutes of immodesty to months of dying slowly from cancer of the large bowel. So don't be fooled by a recent newspaper headline stating that colonoscopy isn't 100 percent foolproof. If you use this report as an excuse for not lying on the colonoscopy table it could be a fatal error. The gold standard for diagnosing colon cancer has always been colonoscopy. But scientists with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and the Universities of Toronto and Western Ontario recently reported...Read More
Orthopedics
Build Muscle Strength From a Bottle?
How can young people prevent being in a wheelchair later in life? Visit any nursing home and you see examples of "Sarcopenia", a loss of muscle strength, that robs the elderly of their independence. But can you stop this creeping frailty and build up muscle strength from a bottle? Or is a steak a day, jogging or weightlifting the best way to prevent sarcopenia? I've had many interesting talks with Dr. John Morley, an expert on endocrine therapy at St. Louis University. He describes how the public is often mislead by Madison street ads for snake oil therapy. So I asked him to give me a run-down on what had merit in the prevention of sarcopenia, and what is best tossed...Read More
Women's Health
A New Computerized Technique To Detect Breast Cancer
What would I do if I were a woman and worried about breast cancer? I would hope that someone would devise a way to improve the accuracy of mammography. Now, a new computerized ultrasound technique can help to determine what breast lumps are benign or malignant. The result? Fewer sleepless nights waiting for biopsy results. Mammography has always been a questionable procedure. Dr. Peter Gotzsche, a leading Danish researcher, claims there is no convincing evidence that annual mammograms decrease the risk of death from breast cancer. To reach this conclusion Gotzsche and his colleagues analyzed international studies of half a million women. The cruel truth is that the benefits of mammography are modest. Experts say that 2,000 women have to be screened...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
A Unique Way To Lose 100 Pounds
"Would you like to see a picture of me taken two years ago?" a patient asked me. I was curious and said, 'Yes". But I was surprised when she produced a photo of a short, plump 200 pound woman She was now half that weight. I asked the obvious question, "How did you do it?" She replied that her lifelong ambition had been to be a jockey, and the following day she would be riding a horse at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. You may not want to ride a racehorse, but she proved there are several ways to lose weight. One Motivation is a huge factor in success, so find a motive. Why not save money in these trying financial times...Read More
Gynecology, Women's Health
What Partners Should Know About Wrong-Way Births
What's one of the worst things a baby can do to a mother (and her partner) at the time of delivery? It decides to be born feet or bottom first, rather than head first. Wrong-way birth is called breech birth, and it can have major health consequences for the baby and for family, lasting a lifetime. So women and their partners should never, ever make a hasty or emotional decision on whether or not to have a Cesarean section. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC) recently stated that doctors should no longer opt for cesarean section for breech birth. They claim there is no difference in the complication rate between a right-way and wrong-way delivery. This decision is adding...Read More
Gynecology, Women's Health
Hey Guys! There’s Another Kind of Headache
"Not tonight dear". We all know what that message means. But there's a type of pain that isn't at all questionable and 99.9 percent of males haven't a clue about it. But can you blame them when so many people have no idea of their own anatomy? A recent report in the British journal BMC Family Practice is hard to believe. King's College researchers asked 722 patients where certain anatomical organs were located. Only 46 percent knew the location of the heart, 31 percent the lungs, 42 percent kidneys, and 38 percent had no idea where the stomach was located. Both sexes scored the same! No one apparently asked where the vagina was located. But in view of this report, it's...Read More
Nutrition
Calcium Causes 64 Percent Increase in Hip Fractures
How many of us are not taking calcium supplements today? Not many if my patients are a good sample of what's happening. But do you know that calcium supplementation may cause an increased number of hip fractures? And can meat help to make stronger bones? Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari, Professor of Clinical Research at the University Hospital in Zurick, Switzerland, is a world authority on calcium metabolism. She's also visiting professor at Tufts University in Boston and says the science behind calcium is not as simple as most people believe. Bischoff-Ferrari reports in Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter that two major studies have come up with contradictory findings. The first study analyzed 19 different trials and found no overall benefit to taking greater than average...Read More
Miscellaneous
The Error that Ended James Bond’s Life
Can you prove anything you want by statistics? You bet. But here's one case where there's no need to manipulate figures to prove a point. It's a straight, simple, indisputable fact that women live 5.4 years longer than men. So was the Almighty just unkind to men or is this problem the result of their own stupidity? Male vulnerability starts early. The pregnancy of a male fetus is more likely to end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Even as infants the mortality is higher among premature boys. They have a higher rate of developmental disabilities and autism. And are more likely to be born colour blind. They also die more often than women from almost all of the leading killers, coronary attack, cancer,...Read More
