Nutrition, Obesity
PGX Fights Constipation, Cholesterol and Obesity
W. C. Fields, the comedian with the bulbous, red alcoholic nose, when asked if he would like a glass of water, always replied, "Water is for flowing under bridges." But Fields didn't know about "The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet", or PGX. Dr. Barbara Rolls, Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State University in Pennsylvania, reports in the publication "Nutrition Action" that, when she was studying the effects of fats, carbohydrates and proteins in food intake, she had a "Eureka moment". People, she concluded, were not regulating their calories. Rather, they were regularly eating the same weight or volume of food. Her next "Eureka moment" came with the observation that it's possible to eat a large volume of food and still lose weight if...Read More
Orthopedics, Vitamins
Natural Ways To Prevent And Treat Bone Loss
A reader asks, "Is it necessary to take drugs to prevent broken bones, or are there natural ways to treat this problem? A test shows I have osteopenia and I'm afraid this will lead to osteoporosis (brittle bones)". Today, with doctors ordering more tests to determine bone mineral density (BMD), it's prudent to know what it means when a doctor says, "You have osteopenia." One wise sage remarked, "Getting older is invariably fatal". But before this happens you also get gray hair, wrinkles, fatigue, varicose veins, difficulty reading fine print and, just as night follows day, some bone loss. But there's no need to go into a major funk if a BMD test shows this diagnosis. This x-ray procedure measures the amount of...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Medicine, Miscellaneous
Neo40: Is It A Miracle Supplement?
Several months ago I reported on a unique drug, Neo40, which has now been approved by Health Canada. To find out more about Neo40, now available in health food stores, I interviewed Dr. Nathan Bryan, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas Health Center in Houston and creator of the formula. G-J - What is Neo40? NB - Neo40 is a lozenge that contains L-Citrulline, an amino acid derived from protein, vitamin C, beet root and hawthorn, a potent combination that produces nitric oxide. Early in life our bodies manufacture large amounts of nitric oxide (NO). But after age 40 production of NO decreases. This sets the stage for hypertension, kidney dysfunction, diabetes, heart attack or stroke, just to name...Read More
Dermatology, Infection
This Fall Think About Lyme Disease
Do you believe you must be in an infected area to get Lyme disease? If you do, think again. A 10 year study reports that you can catch this malady in your own backyard. And since spring and fall are prime times for this disease, being forewarned is forearmed. Particularly since a bite of the deer tick can have far-reaching health consequences. Lyme disease was first suspected in North America in 1975. In Lyme, Connecticut, an unusual number of children were developing what was initially thought to be juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. So a team of scientists from Yale University were sent to study this cluster of patients. These children all exhibited a "bull's–eye" rash. In addition, they also suffered from muscular,...Read More
Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
What I Learned From Sitting in a Bar
Where do I get ideas for this column? It's usually from long hours of reading medical reports, talking to researchers, searching the net and various sources. It's tedious and tiring. But this week I got lucky. I was having a drink at my favourite watering hole when a friend said to me, "You should write about a problem I know that kills people. It also makes them ill and they don't realize the cause of their poor health". He then told me some tragic stories. He went on to say, "A child vomited and appeared to be having a seizure. No one knew why. In another case, two women, swimming in a cluster of boats, suddenly lost consciousness and nearly drowned....Read More
Cancer, Lungs
The Mortality Rate is Staggering for Lung Cancer
My patients always give me the wrong answer when I ask them, "What cancer ills women more than any other malignancy?" Most say, "Breast cancer." But lung cancer kills more women than breast and colon/rectal cancer combined. But there's hope for both sexes. Unfortunately, there's an interesting, recurrent, yet depressing, reaction, particularly for non-smokers, who develop lung cancer. When told that someone has breast cancer there's always a sympathetic ear. But when informed a person has lung cancer, sure as night follows day, the first, quick response is "Was he or she a smoker?" It's a remark that puts an unfair stigma on non-smokers. It happened to the widow of Christopher Reeves (Superman). She developed lung cancer but never smoked. It was...Read More
Cancer, Dental
Dental X-Rays Linked To Meningiomas
What should you do the next time the dentist tells you he or she is going to take full dental X-rays? A new study shows that just as porcupines make love very, very carefully you should also take care to limit the amount of radiation exposure during your lifetime, particularly the amount your children receive. Dr. Elizabeth Claus of Yale University reports in the American Cancer Society Journal "Cancer", that there's a link between dental x-rays and the risk of developing a brain tumour called a meningioma. These tumours grow from the meninges, the layers of tissue that cover the brain. Fortunately, most meningiomas are benign. Others are slow growing, but they can become life-threatening when they become as large as a...Read More
Cancer, Miscellaneous
I Did Not Expect To Live In Diapers
What should men do if the doctor says, "You have prostate cancer"? This is a difficult question to answer because doctors cannot agree on the right treatment. Now, a report in The New England Journal of Medicine challenges the benefits of surgery. Its basic message to doctors is to follow the first principle of medicine, "First, do no harm". The lifetime risk for men of developing prostate cancer is about 16 percent, and the risk of dying from it only 3 percent. This indicates that many prostate cancers are not dangerous and that no treatment is the prudent option. The U.S. study involved 731 males with localized prostate cancer who were given the option of either surgery or watchful waiting. They were...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
What Does North America Offer Immigrants?
For years citizens of the United States have enthusiastically welcomed millions of immigrants to their country. But what do they offer them as they sail or fly past the Statue of Liberty? They claim their country provides Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. But what do immigrants actually receive after arrival in the U.S? And would it have been wiser for them to have stayed in their own country? Researchers at Ohio University studied 24 men and women who moved to the U.S. from countries all over the world. They discovered that after ten weeks, the new residents had already gained two pounds each. Then, after 20 weeks, they had put on another pound. But this was only the average...Read More
Cancer, Lifestyle, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Women's Health
Sorry, But What We Told You Is Wrong
Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime Prime Minister, once remarked, "To every question there is a clear, concise, coherent answer that is wrong". In medicine there are also many questions, and all too often the answers from experts are found years later to be wrong, sometimes with devastating consequences. A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 13 percent of research articles published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine in 2009 reported reversals in medical findings involving drugs, screening tests and invasive procedures! For example, for years we've been told that increasing good cholesterol is a prudent move. But new research shows it does nothing to protect against heart attack, strokes and early death. Here's another hummer. Doctors have urged...Read More
Neurology
A Sick Brain and a Great Naval Disaster
It was June 27, 1942, during World War II and Russia was in desperate need of tanks, planes, ammunition, food and other war necessities. The Soviet army was involved in a fearsome battle against Hitler's panzer divisions that were advancing deeper and deeper into Russian territory and winning on all fronts. It appeared that without supplies the future course of World War II in the east was in doubt. And no one knew that a dreadful naval decision was about to be made to further the conquests of Nazi Germany. To aid the Russian army, allied commanders decided to assemble a huge convoy of British and American ships with the final destination, Archangel, in northern Russia. It was a perilous journey...Read More
Lungs
It’s Like Being Trapped under Water
A man sentenced to death by the King was granted a reprieve of one year. He discovered that the King was a lover of horses and promised that within a year he would teach the King's horse to fly. His friends laughed at him. But the man explained, "Within a year the King may die, or the horse may die, or I may die. Besides, who knows? The King's horse may learn to fly." I recently told this story of hope to a friend who was becoming increasingly incapacitated by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease with no known cure. IPF is the most common interstitial lung disease (ILD), a group of diseases affecting the tissue and space around the air...Read More
Medicine
What Did I Learn This Week at the Harvard Medical School?
What's the most beautiful sight in the world? Some say its India's Taj Mahal. To me it's what greeted me years ago, the night I arrived in Boston. It was the glistening white marble buildings of The Harvard Medical School on a moonlight night. This past week its grandeur impressed me again when I attended a reunion. But soon my classmates and I were distressed by what has happened over the years to its idea of medical care, too much cold technology, too little common sense and too little "care". It's appalling that the U.S. consumes 40 percent of all the drugs produced in the world today. Yet it ranks forty-second in...Read More
Sex, Women's Health
Testosterone for Sexually Frustrated Women
Several 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, but only 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 know if they have less testosterone and therefore less "tiger in the tank"?...Read More
Gastroenterology
Do You Really Need a Colonoscopy?
Is there any way that you can avoid having a colonoscopy? A survey showed that many believed the test isn't needed until symptoms occur. Others said their doctor never suggested one, or they were too embarrassed to discuss it. Still others said it was too painful. If you're thinking this way, think again, it may cost you your life. But there is some good news about colonoscopy. A report from the University of California says it's time to stop offering this procedure as the only way to diagnose large bowel cancer. Instead, doctors should also be suggesting sigmidoscopy and the fecal occult blood test (FOBT). So why this change in thinking? One prime reason is that colonoscopy is always a hard sell....Read More
Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous
Immuno-Care To Fight Seasonal Allergies
Why do so many people suffer from seasonal allergies? Some cough and wheeze, others fight joint pain and stiffness. Is it due to just too much pollen in the air? Or is it also the result of a badly stressed and depleted immune system? Studies show that a natural remedy, Immuno-Care, that contains plant sterols, can be the answer to seasonal allergies and other disorders when the immune system is running out of gas. Years ago, in my teens, I knew the exact day that watery itchy eyes, runny nose, and fatigue of hay fever would plague me. It was also the time that my summer job of picking peaches started. I had no idea at the time that my immune...Read More
Cancer
10 Ways to Reduce the Risk of Cancer
Here’s the bad news! Nearly half of today’s North American men and one-third of women will develop cancer, making it the second leading cause of death after heart disease. To some people, fate deals a bad hand when they inherit genes that increase the risk of cancer. But here’s the good news. Drs. John Swartzberg and Jeffery Wolf at the University of California say that lifestyle changes can help people reduce the risk of at least 65 percent of cancers. One – Use Alcohol Moderately Cancers of the esophagus (stomach tube), mouth, throat and larynx are linked to alcohol. The more you drink the greater the risk. For women who know they have a higher risk of breast cancer or have had...Read More
Miscellaneous
What is The Diagnosis?
How would you like to save a life this week? After all, it’s not only doctors who are involved in life or death situations. So all you have to do is remember this column. A report in the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) bulletin shows that one of the best ways to diagnose a problem is to think about its possibility. One of the best ways to miss the diagnosis is to ignore it. This sounds like a simple rule, but doctors are not robots. They can and do miss important diagnoses that may result in either severe disability or death. For instance, a 61 year old male, a smoker with a history of high blood pressure, was punched on the...Read More
Gynecology, Sex
Do You Want Better Sex?
"How is your sex life," I often ask patients. It's amazing how often I get the reaction, "Finally, someone I can trust will discuss this matter with me". And often there's a problem. So what can be done to make the bedroom a happier place for both sexes? It's an important issue as sex may be only five percent of a relationship. But it's the first five percent! And it can also affect physical health. Dr. Leonard DeRogatis, Director of Sexual Medicine at Johns Hopkins University points out a major difference between men and women. He says that men have the desire but as they age can't get aroused. They're the lucky sex. Erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs solve the problem in...Read More
Surgery
I Could Hear The Sawing and Hammering!
When does a doctor fully realize the nature of a disease? Sir William Osler, distinguished Professor of Medicine at McGill, Johns Hopkins and Oxford University, remarked that a doctor only fully understood a disease when he suffered from it himself. Having just recovered from a hip replacement operation, I couldn’t agree more with Osler. So what did I learn and what did I fear? W. C. Fields, the comedian, when asked what he wanted inscribed on his tombstone, replied, “I’d rather be in Philadelphia”. I felt the same way as I was wheeled into the operating room. But at least I had the satisfaction of knowing I had first used every medical therapy I knew to prevent this from happening. Nine...Read More
Endocrine, Miscellaneous
Can a Fart Kill ?
Ig Nobel prizes are prestigious awards given each year at Harvard University to those engaged in strange scientific research. For instance, Canadian researchers received the award for showing that small farts, known as fast repetitive ticks (FRTs), can be lethal. But why would the Vatican receive one? Rectal gas (flatus) happens to kings and the rest of us, and is a constant reminder that we’re all human. And when the urge to pass flatus happens in delicate situations, we would all prefer to be in the middle of the Sahara Desert. It’s never been easy to obtain medical information on flatus. After all, what doctor wants to be known as a specialist on farts? But my research reveals that most people pass...Read More
Alternate Treatments
TA-65, Ponce de Leon’s Anti-Aging Pill
Would Albert Einstein’s genius have discovered the secret of life if he hadn’t died at 76 years of age? We will never know. But for years, in an endeavour to extend life, scientists have searched for Ponce de Leon’s “fountain of youth”. Now, their discovery of a unique molecule, TA-65, which is not science fiction, has opened new doors to this goal. In October 2009, Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szistak, received the prestigious Nobel Prize for their discovery of an enzyme, telomerase, a critically important enzyme that protects cells from chromosomal damage. Human cells divide indefinitely and become immortal if telomerase is activated. Then, in November 2011, the Journal, Nature, reported that a team of researchers at The Harvard Medical School had...Read More
Miscellaneous
Financial Justice For All Disabled Canadians
"Do you know there’s financial help for your child?” I recently asked a friend. Like many new parents he and his wife had expected a healthy child. But the fickle finger of fate had ordained otherwise. Now, several years later, they were struggling with the medical, financial and emotional burdens of caring for a child with cerebral palsy, a lifetime disability. Unfortunately, many families are unaware of the new government project providing financial security for all disabled Canadians. Cerebral palsy is one of the most common congenital disorders of childhood. In Canada and the U.S there are over 500,000 children and adults who suffer from this tragic problem. The way cerebral palsy affects children varies. Some children suffer involuntary and uncontrolled movements,...Read More
Miscellaneous
Re Chopping Wood In Northern Canada
I recently suggested the best treatment for OxyContin addicts was Course 101, Chopping Wood in Northern Canada. I asked for a reaction and got it, a ton of e-mails! ML writes, “The things I love about Canada, our compassion and understanding, are also the things I dislike. The back of the hand approach is surely needed. I totally agree with everything you said in the column. I hope others in powerful positions take notice.” GT responds, “I’m a corrections officer. I’ve also seen inmates joking about how they’ve fooled doctors to get large supplies of methadone. I agree with your idea of chopping trees or have them suffer withdrawal in a segregation cell.” From Oshawa, “The methadone clinic here is...Read More
Alcohol, Lifestyle
Will I Get My Wish on The Second Post-Operative Day?
What do I do when I arrive home after seeing patients all day? I have a pre-dinner drink with my wife. This week I’ll wish I could still do it. But on March 22 I’m scheduled for a hip replacement at The Toronto Western Hospital. So today, a column dealing with alcohol is appropriate. And will my surgeon recall Sir William Osler’s wise remark? A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims alcohol causes cancer. The prestigious Nurses Health Study followed 106,000 women for more than 25 years. This revealed that women who routinely consume three to six drinks a week are 15 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than non-drinkers, regardless of the type...Read More
