Psychiatry
Depression : Not Only For Women
How much equality is there between the sexes? In recent years women have made strides in their struggle to gain equality with men. But surprisingly in one area men are getting the short end of the stick. Today the majority of people being treated for depression are women. The majority of men, however suffer silently from undiagnosed and untreated depression. Why the gender bias in this case? And how can wives and families recognize this problem and urge men to accept treatment? Dr. John S. Tamerin, a psychiatrist and a professor at Cornell Weill School of Medicine in New York City, says there are over six million men suffering from a depressive disorder in North America and the majority will never...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
How iPods Can Make you Rich, Rich, Rich
Anyone interested in a hot tip on how to make a lot of money without any risk? It's not my job to pass along financial advice, but in this instance I can't resist the urge. Invest in a hearing aid company, because the next generation is going deaf and they don't know it. A French proverb says, "I do not like noise unless I make it myself". This proverb must have been uttered centuries ago when someone was enjoying a glass of chardonay in a sleepy French village. Today, we're running out of quiet places to hide and escape noise. And excessive sound from MP3 players such as the iPod is a gift from Heaven for those selling hearing aids. Today iPods...Read More
Cardiovascular
Simple Test Predicts Health Risk
You may have an electrocardiogram today, but it's no guarantee you won't drop dead tomorrow. Today, in an increasingly complex electronic world, we can have a barrage of sophisticated tests done in an hour or so. But they do not ensure you will live out the day. So why not follow the rule, "keep it simple stupid" (kiss). A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reports a simple prognostic gem that helps to predict the risk of death. Dr. Michael S. Lauer, Director of Clinical Research at The Cleveland Clinic, says the heart's recovery rate is the important factor in assessing mortality. The key factor is how quickly the heart rate returns to normal following exertion. In this study...Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat
Socioacusis – The Case Speaks for Itself Against the ACC
Centuries ago, Diogenes Laertius wrote, "We have two ears and one tongue in order that we may hear more and speak less." Now an increasing number of people are having difficulty hearing more with either ear. Noise induced hearing loss (socioacusis) is primarily due to constant and excessive noise. And since it appears anyone can sue for anything these days why doesn't somebody start a class action suit against Toronto's Air Canada Centre (ACC). It's a prime example of needless, senseless and harmful noise. Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, one in three North Americans over age 60 has hearing loss. And the problem often starts during student days.The enjoyment of bread and wine along a French country road...Read More
Surgery
Is It Losing an Ear or Using Bloodsuckers?
It was August 16, 1985 and a horrendous way to start the day. Guy Condelli, a five year old boy in Medford, Massachusetts had his right ear bitten off by a dog. Dr. Joseph Upton, a reconstructive surgeon at Children's Hospital, Boston, reattached the ear during a tedious 12 hour operation. But three days later an ominous sign of impending disaster appeared. The ear had turned blue-black due to venous congestion. Blood thinners and lancing failed to restore normal blood supply. In desperation Upton telephoned Biopharm, an English company. It sent 30 leeches by air to Boston. These blood suckers were attached to the boy's swollen ear. Within minutes venous congestion diminished and normal circulation restored. The ear turned a healthy pink....Read More
Infection
Should You Sack a Doctor Who Wears a Necktie?
What happens when researchers show patients photos of doctors? Some show physicians dressed casually in open neck shirts. Others in sneakers and jeans. Still others with neckties and wearing a white coat. Then patients were asked, "Which doctor would you prefer?" The experiment showed that time and again patients chose the doctor with the tie and white coat. But is this the right choice? Researchers at New York Medical Center of Queens recently reported these interesting findings about neckties at the meeting of the American Society of Microbiology. The authors of the study revealed that although wearing a necktie and white coat provides patient confidence, it also carries a risk. To prove their point they tested the neckties worn by 42 male...Read More
Surgery
What’s The Best Day To Have Surgery?
Can you remain healthy during a hospital stay? It's not as easy as you think. This column is not intended to make you run for the woods, rather than seeking medical attention. But by being a well-informed patient you can decrease the risk of falling into hospital traps. Hospital statistics make your hair stand on end. Consumer Reports on Health states that in 1999 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) claimed that in the U.S. errors by hospital staff resulted in 100,000 deaths. In addition, 500,000 more patients were injured in hospital. Another study in 2004 of 37 million Medicare patients in the U.S claimed that hospital errors killed and hurt twice as many as found in the IOM report. Today contracting hospital...Read More
Lifestyle
Do Doctors Practice What They Preach?
How good are you at following a healthy lifestyle? This week you can compare how you rate with the faculty of The Harvard Medical School that has 15,329 faculty. Equally important, are they paragons of virtue, practicing what they preach? The faculty receives top marks for following a good diet. 82 per cent eat breakfast and study after study shows a healthy breakfast is the best way to start the day. And large numbers eat at least three servings of fruits and vegetables most days. The majority of these doctors also turn a cold shoulder to fast food restaurants. 59 percent rarely go to one and 29 per cent never darken their doors. The rest go to a fast food restaurant one...Read More
Medicine
Five Minute Wait Decreases Risk of Lead Poisoning
Civil wars and corruption helped to bring down the Roman Empire. But how much was due to mad emperors? Some authorities suspect that their brains had been so poisoned by lead that they could no longer govern wisely. Romans used cheap, easy to use lead pipes for their plumbing and wine processing. Some Romans even sprinkled lead on their food! Today lead still poses problems, but being patient when thirsty can decrease the risk. Lead is one of the deadliest of all pollutants. The good news is we've removed lead from gasoline, canned goods, paints and we no longer use lead pipes in our homes. But here's the bad news. If you're older than 45 you accumulated a lot of lead in...Read More
Surgery
Hernias – If it’s Partly Broken Should You Fix It?
Do you want to have a body free of imperfections? In an ideal world we would all say "Yes". But how important is it to be perfect?" A recent report shows that in some surgical operations it's prudent to live with a slight imperfection. Several months ago I watched one hernia after another being repaired at Shouldice Hospital in Toronto. This clinic has developed an international reputation for doing one thing very well. It's the old story that practice makes perfect whether you're a surgeon or a plumber. During the visit Dr. Casim Degani and his colleague Dr. Michael Alexander told me about a six million dollar study being conducted to determine if all hernias need to be repaired. This report, just...Read More
Medicine, Nutrition
How Much Water, Potassium and Salt Do We Need?
W.C. Fields the comedian joked, "No use for water, waters for flowing under bridges". Like Fields I've never enjoyed water unless it's with an occasional scotch. But for years authorities have said we must drink eight glasses of water daily to stay healthy. So who is right? And how much sodium and potassium do we need each day? The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine recently convened a meeting of distinguished scientists. They concluded it's a myth that we need eight glasses of water a day. Rather, all fluids must be included in calculating water intake. Fields, noted for his large, red nose would be ecstatic to hear this news. Another of his one-liners, "A woman drove me to drink and...Read More
Nutrition
An Uncensored Hot Dog: What Does It Look Like?
"How much do our kids know about sex?" is a question parents often ponder. But how many ask, "What do our children know about food?" A study conducted by the British Heart Foundation shows it's appallingly little. And the Foundation is using a shocking approach to change this situation. The Heart Foundation Study revealed that 40 per cent of eight-to-14 year olds did not know that French fries were made from potatoes! One in 10 believed they were made from oil, eggs, flour or apples. And 33 per cent were unaware that cheese was made from milk. I recall a survey carried out in New York City that children thought milk came from the corner store! To correct these misconceptions The Heart...Read More
Miscellaneous
Less Sex Dangerous? And How Safe is The Communion Cup?
"Why bother shaving today when I'm not going anywhere?" I thought. But I suddenly changed my mind. Dr. Shah Ebrahim, at the University of Bristol in England, reports that men who don't shave daily enjoy less sex and are more likely to suffer stroke and heart attack. It seemed to me that shaving is a small price to pay for increased amour and keeping alive! Ebrahim says men who shave less often are less likely to marry, smoke more, less likely to have an orgasm, are blue-collar workers and have a less healthy life style. It's been said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. But it also has an effect on beard growth. Dr. Ebrahim reports that a man in a...Read More
Cardiovascular
2006, Make It The Belly Year
What's your waist measurement? I'd bet you don't know. So let's start 2006 by putting a bit of old-fashioned horse sense back into medicine. As has been aptly said, "keep it simple, stupid (KISS). Moreover, this approach could save your life. Neither doctors nor patients take the belly seriously. They forget that not all fat is created equal. As with real estate, location, location, location makes you healthy or wealthy. So if it's increasingly difficult to see your feet, it's time to get serious about your waistline. Dr.Salim Yusuf, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, says the best indicator of heart attack is waist-to-hip ratio(WHR). The best measurement is one in which the waist is smaller than hips. This makes you pear-shaped....Read More
Alcohol
Why I’m Not A Teetotaler
What's the first thing I do after seeing patients all day? I take a 20 minute walk home, greet my wife, open up the bar and enjoy a drink while watching the evening news. Some evenings a glass of wine with dinner. There are 10 reasons why I consider this a healthy habit. One - I enjoy life and want to live longer. The American Cancer Society recently studied the drinking habits of 500,000 Americans. They found that one alcoholic drink a day in middle age decreased the risk of premature death by 20 percent.The reason is that wine contains antioxidants which eliminate free radicals, believed to be associated with aging, heart disease and cancer. And if you like Martinis don't...Read More
Cardiovascular, Orthopedics
Natural Ways To Ease The Arthritis Pain of Aging
"Why are you taking drugs when you haven't tried natural ways to ease the pain of arthritis?" Thus I remind patients they're not taking M and M candy, but powerful drugs that can cause major complications. Moreover, they forget that many natural drugs can be used to not only treat, but also prevent wear-and-tear arthritis (osteoarthritis) that comes with age. Vitamin C is the most overlooked natural remedy. Osteoarthritis is chiefly an impairment of cartilage and when it's diminished with age bones grind against one another causing pain. The secret is to keep cartilage healthy. A prime way, is adequate amounts of vitamin C, which is needed to manufacture collagen, an important ingredient of cartilage. Researchers at Boston University Medical Center studied...Read More
Surgery
Think Twice Before Agreeing to these Operations
Is it better sometimes to run for the woods rather than submit to surgery? The decision is easy when the diagnosis is acute appendicitis or a strangulated hernia. But there are times when a sojourn in the woods makes sense. Time is often the best healer. Several weeks ago the gods were unkind to me during the night. When arising from bed I suddenly experienced a pain from hell. Like a tire that blows out, two inter-vertebral disks had suddenly exploded with a vengeance, and I was on my hands and knees in agony. My MRI report was not good and the neurosurgeon gave me two choices. A operation which might be successful to ease the pain. Or painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs and...Read More
Alcohol
New Year’s Red Wine Headache
"Oh my aching head! Why did I drink so much last night?" That's a question many people will ask on January 1, 2006. Some headaches will result from too many Martini's, beers or scotch-and-sodas. That's a hang-over. But you've magnified the odds of a blistering headache if you recklessly imbibed in too much red wine. What is it about red wine that carries such a blow to the head? Recently I spent an evening with friends which included dinner and wine. "Should I order red or white wine?" I asked. One of the females replied, "Red wine gives me a headache". This made the choice easy, a Chardonnay. Few dispute that the red wine headache (RWH) is a reality. But the causes...Read More
Dermatology
How To Rid the Skin of Barnacles with Reversa
"Vanity, thy name is woman", wrote the immortal bard William Shakespeare hundreds of years ago. He was right. I know, because two years ago I wrote a column dealing with "cosmeceuticals" and mentioned, Reversa, a cream that helps aging skin. The avalanche of mail from female readers stunned me and gave the postman a backache. So this week let's forget about cholesterol and other depressing problems and talk about another cosmeceutical that gets rid of aging spots. Let's hope it also alerts everyone to the dangers of excessive sun exposure and saves needless deaths from skin cancer. The way our skin ages depends on several factors. The most controllable factor of all is "photo-aging". Excessive exposure to the sun results in course,...Read More
Psychiatry
Ways To Beat Stress In 2006
Voltaire was right when he wrote, "Most people live lives of quiet desperation". As we enter another year, desperation seems to be getting worse. Escalating violence in Iraq, concern about our economy worry us and headlines warn us of the dangers of prescription drugs. So here's eight non-prescription ways to help you relax in 2006. One Massage cures more stress and sore muscles than a cartload of pills. This message has not been lost on industry where anything to help the bottom-line becomes top priority. Some companies are now using massage as a form of stress management to decrease fatigue, headache and back strain in their employees. This results in greater employee retention and job satisfaction. Remember that athletes and boxers don't...Read More
Vitamins
Even Taking Off Your Clothes Is Useless
If you asked anyone to stand outside naked during the winter months from sunrise to sunset, they would think you'd gone bonkers. But even if willing to be arrested for doing it, they would still not receive enough sunshine to produce vitamin D. Today we're constantly urged to keep out of the sun for fear of skin cancer. But most people are unaware that too little vitamin D from the sun may increase the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Dr. Catherine Gordon, a pediatrician at The Harvard Medical School, recently reported a shocking finding to The Endocrinology Society. Gordon and her colleagues tested the vitamin D levels of 307 teenagers between 11 and 18 years of age. 24 per...Read More
Philosophy, Psychiatry
Sex for Psychiatric Patients
How times have changed! I've often complained that toe-tapping music has gone, now replaced by loud singers who shout or gyrate. We used to have more sense. But when it came to sex how much sense did we have? Not much, compared to what is now happening. At the Centre Hospitalier Robert-Gillard, the largest psychiatric hospital in eastern Quebec, a new policy allows psychiatric patients to have sex. This reminded me of Thorupgaarden nursing home in Copenhagen and their "ladies-of-the-night". Nicole-Gagnon, the ombudswoman and instigator of this change at the hospital says, "sex has always been frowned upon in this hospital, like in others, but all that's done is to force people to find other outlets. Like washrooms, stairwells or parking...Read More
Miscellaneous
Good And Bad News This Holiday Season
"It was the best of times and the worst of times" penned Charles Dickens in a Tale of Two Cities. Nothing has changed on planet Earth this holiday season. This week brings a good news story and one I'd prefer not to write. I'd never heard of "Hope Air", until I met one of its directors at a recent wedding. He told me that since 1986, Hope Air, a non-profit organization, has arranged 45,000 free flights to medical centers for patients who need treatment and can't afford the fare. To accomplish this Hope Air has 200 volunteer pilots who donate their time and aircraft to serve communities not served by commercial airlines. Almost half of the flights are for children and their...Read More
Orthopedics, Pain
Single Injection Relieves Arthritis Joint Pain for Months
"What can I do to relieve the pain in my knee?", a patient recently asked me. She had been treated by cortisone injections, Celebrex and others medications and it was still impossible to walk without pain. But there is a less known way to treat this disabling condition. A recent report from the World Health Organization claims that osteoarthritis of the knee is the fourth cause of disability in women and the eighth most important one for men. Currently this disease affects 10 percent of those over 55 years of age and 25 percent suffer severe disability. And it's no fun to suffer from osteoarthritis, to know that every step of the day will be painful. Or become impossible. Osteoarthritis goes back...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
President’s Choice Is Helping To Fight Hypertension – Dangers of Salt
Interested in a simple way to live longer? No, not medication to lower blood cholesterol. But a much easier prescription. Just decrease the amount of salt you consume every day. Incredibly most people are unaware of the huge amount of salt they're ingesting and it's killing them. Now President's Choice is helping to educate consumers on ways to prevent a lethal blowout from excess salt. How are they doing it and why are there no TV ads about the dangers of salt? Stephen Havas, is Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland. He claims in the Nutrition Action Health Letter that the number of deaths from excess salt is equivalent to a commuter jet crashing every day...Read More
