Alternate Treatments, Neurology, Psychiatry
Barbers Now Being Trained to Spot Clients with Troubled Minds
Is necessity or curiosity the mother of innovation? Sometimes good old common sense is the driving factor, and there will be no Nobel prize for seeing the obvious. That, however, is what’s behind a new development in barber shops and hair salons. What’s the buzz? It’s that barbers and hairdressers are be trained to detect mental health problems among the clients sitting in their chairs. It makes perfect sense. People regularly confide in their trusted barber or hairdresser the most personal details of their lives. And these chats are enough to detect signs of troubled mental health. With a small amount of training, hair stylists can help direct their customers to sources of support. Using barbers and hairdressers as a portal to...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Nutrition
Postbiotics for the Gut, Body, and Brain
Last week’s column suggested we are minnows in the grand life adventure. This week we’ll look at little beings in our bellies that seem to have outsized influence. What is it about these microscopic components of the gut-brain connection that leads us to thinking that a postbiotic supplement might be a very good investment. The gut microbiome is like a neighbourhood of friends you carry around in and on your body for your entire life. Just as the environment outside your body and the way you live your life have consequences for your well-being, this gooey world in your gut has enormous impact on your health, from head to toe and cradle to grave. What exactly is it? The gut-brain microbiome refers...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Infection, Neurology, Orthopedics, Pain, Psychiatry, Surgery
Alternative Medicine Makes a Good Gift
What’s the gift we’d like to have in stock for our readers this holiday season? It would be a healthy dose of common sense, and a reminder that not every health problem needs a medical solution. Unfortunately, few people open their minds when confronted with a swollen joint, an injury to the skin, back pain, broken bones, or even brain injuries. Yet, instead of costly, dangerous drugs that come with side effects, or surgical treatments that involve other risks, these are examples of problems that respond well to alternative forms of therapy. We have written in the past about low-intensity laser therapy (LILT). It’s now known as photobiomodulation (PBM), which involves the application of light to instigate a natural healing process....Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Neurology, Nutrition, Obesity, Philosophy
Starving the Gut Feeds the Brain
If our bodies could speak to our brains, many would hear this: “Dear brain, please know the difference between being hungry and bored. Sincerely, I’m getting fat!” Who doesn’t turn to food when the doldrums set in? The smart brains would offer their hosts three pieces of advice. One, eat nutritional food. Two, limit portion sizes. And three, now and again, engage in fasting. Why fasting? Because studies show that for obese and skinny people alike, after prolonged reduction of food intake, the body’s defences improve against stresses. Cardiovascular risks decline. And the brain functions better. Temporary cessation of eating provokes chemical changes throughout the body. Ketones are a type of chemical the liver produces when it breaks down fats. The body...Read More
Cardiovascular, Infection, Lifestyle, Neurology, Pain
Are Canadians Better at Preventing Lyme Disease?
It’s tick season and the little pests are out with a vengeance. Tiny as they are, ticks are a huge nuisance and a hazardous vector of disease. Their ability to latch onto unsuspecting hosts has made them one of the most successful blood-sucking parasites on the planet. Ticks are the primary carriers of Lyme disease, infecting people with their bite. But do ticks or people account for the sizable difference in the number of reported cases in the US and Canada? Every year, in the United States, about half a million people are diagnosed with Lyme disease. Based on population, all other things equal, one would expect about 50,000 cases annually in Canada. Other things, however, must not be equal. Because...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Neurology
Fire the Canons! It’s Daylight Savings Time!
In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." In his advocacy for people to wake up and leverage the day, Franklin joked there should be a tax on window shutters, candles should be rationed, and canons should be fired at sunrise! But it was the small town of Port Arthur in northern Ontario that first changed the clocks by enactment on July 1, 1908. In recent times, one of the main arguments for shifting the time to align with the sun focuses on energy savings during evening hours. But dozens of studies have shown the effect to be negligible. Now, the...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Neurology, Philosophy, Psychiatry
Magic Mushrooms Are Moving Mainstream
You may have preconceived ideas that magic mushrooms are the party drugs of days past. However, in Canada and other countries, regulations are starting to ease on these prohibited psychedelics. The impetus stems from clinical trials showing remarkable results in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment-resistant depression. The question begs, when should you plan for a mind-altering trip? "Magic mushrooms" grow naturally in many parts of the world. They contain psilocybin, which produces hallucinogenic effects when eaten. A good many readers may have personal experience. According to data from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the US, an estimated 21 million Americans reported having tried psilocybin at least once. Despite remaining illegal for the most part in Canada,...Read More
Cancer, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Miscellaneous, Neurology
What A Dog’s Nose Knows
What a wonderful world if people could be as generous to humankind as dogs. Regardless of our faults, dogs provide unfailing loving care. A new study suggests dogs may be able to use their sniffing powers to know when someone is having a really bad day. Who knew there is an aroma to being stressed, but dogs seem to detect it. In this, they have a huge advantage over humans. The nose of a dog has 220 million smell cells compared to a meagre 5 million in humans. The powerful sniffers of dogs have long been effective in detecting cancer. A report years ago in the British Journal Lancet reported that a woman’s dog repeatedly sniffed at one mole on her thigh...Read More
Miscellaneous, Neurology, Pediatrics
Game On for Video Games
Wandering poorly prepared into a discussion about video games is ill-advised. Yet, people who don’t play video games commonly argue that long hours spent focused on digital playthings, especially by children, rot their brains. It is an uninformed point of view. There are plentiful misconceptions about video games. That label itself is outdated. Video games have evolved in many different directions and “gamification” is rapidly becoming part of the most important aspects of society, from education and healthcare to banking and retail. But what about those children isolated in their bedrooms or basements playing games endlessly? Recent research, published in JAMA Network Open, suggests the kids will be fine. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is a long-term study inviting 11,880 children...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Neurology
Poor Sleep Can Lead to Inflammatory Problems
An old Irish proverb says, “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” But research suggests it would be wiser to think of good sleep as an ingredient of wellbeing – a starting point for health, not a fixer-upper. Sleep is an essential building block of good health, along with quality nutrition, moderate exercise, socioeconomic connectivity, mindfulness, and ample good luck. Guidelines recommend “7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64, on a regular basis, with consistent sleep and wake times for health benefits.” For adults aged 65 and older, a slightly modified “7 to 8 hours of sleep” is advised. But sleep is too often neglected – insufficient in both...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Neurology
Music for the Mind
Music may be the world’s greatest medicine. From infants to centenarians, people love music and the way it makes them feel good. In tribute to its universal qualities, Hans Christian Andersen said, “Where words fail, music speaks.” Even without lyrics, songs certainly convey feelings. Among healthy people, researchers have shown that across cultural divides, people can readily place vastly different types of music into emotional categories ranging from sad to heroic, annoying to beautiful, and desirous to indignant. But the miracle of music is in its healing qualities. Scientists studying people with brain injuries and neurological conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are making remarkable discoveries. Music, for example, can improve the gait of people relearning to walk after a brain injury....Read More
Cancer, Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Gastroenterology, Lifestyle, Neurology
Stand Up To Read This Column
Get up on your feet. Seriously. It will be good for you. Sitting is something we have all become accustomed to doing a lot more of lately. Just prior to the pandemic, studies showed that the average adult spent about 6.5 hours a day sitting – an hour longer than had been the case a decade earlier. In 2019, teenagers were sitting for upwards of 8 hours a day, and for some much longer than that. During the pandemic, a study in the UK found that people were spending more than eight hours a day sitting. Canadians are reportedly sitting around for 10 hours a day! Dr. Jennifer Heisz, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, surveyed over 1600 people to compare physical activity...Read More
Cardiovascular, Infection, Lungs, Neurology
Who Has Lost the Logic in the Vaccine Debate?
Why would any logical person choose to face severe medical complications of COVID if they could be avoided? Most of us have weighed the issues and decided to follow vaccine recommendations. But some flatly refuse. Why? No issue is crying out louder for resolution than this vaccine debate. Now governments are set to mandate COVID vaccines to force hesitant citizens to comply. It’s been done before time and again – for childhood immunizations, for example. That’s one way to go about it. But a look at the medical evidence should help compel sensible people to opt in. A growing stack of studies shows that vaccinated people are much less likely to die from COVID than the unvaccinated. Do not people desire to stay...Read More
Cardiovascular, Miscellaneous, Neurology, Sports
Ring in the New Year with Your Inner Mountaineer
It’s not what we were hoping for at this time of year. The doom and gloom of Omicron has many people feeling down. But casting your gaze upwards might be just the right move. For a New Year’s Resolution, this might be a good time to channel your inner mountaineer. Christmas and New Years should be the season for celebration, not hibernation. Families should be together, not torn apart by differing views on vaccination. Charitable giving should be the theme, not clamouring for rapid test kits. Yet so it goes. Even among those getting out for a would-be joyous wintertime walk, you can see, in the narrow space between their toques and their masks, the melancholy in their eyes. So, what’s the...Read More
Cardiovascular, Neurology, Nutrition, Orthopedics, Pain, Vitamins
Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency
Magnesium is involved in roughly 80 percent of metabolic functions in the body. It is critical in delivering energy to cells and for the production of glutathione, an important antioxidant inside cells. Today, due to depletion of magnesium in the soil and modern food processing, about 60 percent of North Americans are deficient in this vital mineral. This hidden depletion could be causing diverse symptoms. Suffering Migraine Attacks? About 15 percent of the population experience one or more migraine attacks due to constricted blood vessels. Studies show that blood levels of magnesium in migraine patients are low compared to healthy patients. But they are even lower during a migraine attack. An intravenous injection of magnesium relaxes constricted vessels and relieves migraine pain. Feeling...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Cardiovascular, Neurology
No Moderation Needed When Bathing in the Woods
Mae West, the American movie star who rarely lacked for lifestyle advice, once conceded, “When in doubt, take a bath.” She didn’t have a forest setting in mind. But did you know that forest bathing might be just as therapeutic as a soak in the suds? Some people gravitate, even in unfavourable weather, to the outdoors. Others are most comfortable in front of the hearth. But a walk in the woods may be just the remedy you could use after months of confinement at home. A glimpse into the research surrounding this little-known “forest bathing” therapy offers insights on benefits including improved cardiovascular function, brain activity, immune systems, self-esteem, and reduced anxiety and depression. According to Ann Martin, a certified Forest Therapy...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Neurology
Bridging Generations Online for Health
Everywhere, people are fed up with enforced isolation. While adhering to stay-at-home orders at the urging of public health officials and in empathy with frontline health care workers, the restrictions are taking a toll on the physical and mental wellbeing of all. While senior citizens can be especially impacted, it is less commonly acknowledged that younger people, particularly teens, struggle with isolation too. For older adults, enduring long periods cut off from family and friends is known to cause depression, generalized anxiety disorders, decreased sleep, and functional impairment. Research published in Lancet Public Health warns that social isolation can also accelerate cardiovascular and brain aging, exacerbating dementia. Likewise, students of all ages are suffering from lockdowns. They are not getting the exercise...Read More
Cardiovascular, Lifestyle, Neurology
Keep Blood Pressure Under Control
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” Avoiding disease may be the gift of lucky genetics, but it helps to put some work into managing your chances for health and longevity. Maintaining rubbery arteries is key to the delivery of oxygenated blood to the heart’s muscle that guards against hypertension, stroke, and heart attack. A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that what’s good for the heart may also be good for the brain. The study involved 9,300 people ages, 50 and older with an average age of 68, with hypertension. They also had one other cardiovascular risk factor, history of stroke, or dementia. It was a huge study involving patients...Read More
Lifestyle, Neurology
Eating Disorders Combine Secrecy and Compulsion
It’s plainly evident that many people are eating too much. But several serious eating disorders can be harder to see, especially when they deliberately hide the problem. Recent research indicates that pandemic-related stay-at-home orders have ramped up anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorders. With COVID capturing all the headlines, it’s easy to lose sight of the looming mountain of mental health issues that are changing our healthcare horizon. Mental illnesses are the leading cause of premature death in Canada. In the U.S., Johns Hopkins University estimates that 26% of Americans ages 18 and older – about 1 in 4 adults – suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Eating disorders are serious but treatable mental illnesses. Girls and young women...Read More
Miscellaneous, Neurology, Philosophy, Psychiatry
Stay with the happy people
This year, the holidays aren’t what they should be. At least the vaccine’s roll-out brings anticipation that 2021 will see a return to normal. Until then, what would be our health advice to cooped up readers in this unusual holiday season? Here are a few suggestions: Say hello. Connecting with extended family by phone is our best option for now. It’s a great time to reach out to old friends too. Behavioural scientists at the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley report we underestimate the positive impact of connecting with others for both our own and others' well-being. Their research shows that we tend to abhor a conversation with a perfect stranger until we have it. So when the pandemic subsides,...Read More
Miscellaneous, Neurology, Psychiatry
Take steps to less chronic stress
Nothing can be more heart wrenching than the sudden death of a loved one. The visualization of a wrench tightening on the heart is apt. It can feel that way and the physical harm done from such intense pressure is not good for your health. Isaac Asimov, professor of biochemistry and prolific writer of science fiction, said, “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” It’s troublesome for the individual at death’s door, certainly. But it’s also tragic for family and friends. It’s devastating – and lasting – for a life partner. If we are lucky enough to face the trauma of a heart wrench only once in life, we might not need to worry about it. But 2020...Read More
Miscellaneous, Neurology
Shaking: An Annoyance or Parkinson’s Disease?
It’s fair to say, these are shaky times! In keeping with the rocky ride of 2020, have you noticed your hands shaking lately? Are you having trouble tying your shoes, signing your name, or embarrassed that the glass your holding is shaking? You think of those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. And you wonder if you are experiencing first signs of this trouble. Parents may also have concerns if their child has shaky hand movements. A report from the University of California says that a condition called essential tremor can occur in young children and young adults. This problem increases with age. At around age 60, about 5% of people notice a slight tremor. Another study states that about 1% of the...Read More
Lungs, Neurology
Do We All Need Respiratory Masks?
Will the so-called progress of civilization eventually destroy us? Indigenous Peoples, hundreds of years ago, did not devastate nature the way we do today. Oceans are loaded with plastics and soil with dangerous contaminants. Now, is the air we breathe gradually destroying our brains? A report published in Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences has grim news. We’ve known for decades that breathing in dirty air damages lungs. But research now reveals that long-term exposure to particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide is linked to decreased brain function. The lungs are a vital gateway to the body. Their surface area is the size of a tennis court and during a 24-hour period we breathe in 10,000 liters of air. The World...Read More
Neurology, Psychiatry
Another Pandemic We Don’t Understand
There are a lot of things we know about pandemics. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is the result of widespread viral infection caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Last week, this column lamented the lifestyle-caused diseases of obesity and Type 2 diabetes and lamented the lack of concerted societal action on the pandemic proportions of these stealthy but determined killers. But there is yet another pandemic, the still-too-frequently hushed-up problem of poor mental health, sometimes resulting in its most devastating form, suicide. The fact is, for more than 100 years, there has been little progress in understanding the factors that result in a state of dismal mental health – the state that must be the precursor to suicide. Medicine has...Read More
Neurology
Stress Won’t Kill You, But Your Reaction To It Might
“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing,” wrote one of the world’s foremost philosophers, Winnie-the-Pooh, “of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” Doing nothing is exactly what a lot of us are facing for an extended period of time. But “not bothering” is probably not how most of us are feeling. We’re worried about our families, our next meals, our jobs, the bills, the economy. For some, self-isolation, quarantine, or lockdown is a risk factor for domestic abuse. Many people are trapped in truly precarious situations, far away from home or from needed medication. Others are just alone, and it feels like solitary confinement with no prospect of human interaction for weeks to...Read More
