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
Cancer
Non-Smokers With Lung Cancer Get Double Whammy
An interesting psychological reaction happens to non-smokers who develop lung cancer. But it occurs over and over again. When told someone has breast cancer friends often say, "How sad. Is there anything we can do to help?" But when informed a person has lung cancer, the first response is "Was he or she a smoker?" The remark often stigmatizes non-smokers afflicted with this disease. Dana Reeves, the widow of former Christopher Reeves (Superman), who has never smoked, recently announced she has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It's a frightful tragedy for a young woman who dedicated so many years to help her stricken husband. But her plight has made everyone aware that non-smokers develop lung cancer more often than suspected. Dana's...Read More
Cardiovascular, Nutrition
Should You Be Hooked On Fish?
Where would I go for one final meal? There's no doubt it would be the Union Oyster House in Boston. Since I spent many years studying surgery in the home of the Boston bean I've always loved fish. And we've all been told that eating fish is good for you. But is it? Lately we've been warned that now there's mercury in fish. So is it a case that you're damned if you eat fish and damned if you don't? Moreover, millions of pounds of fish are now "farmed". So how do they compare with those swimming freely in lakes and oceans? Dr. Frank Hu, of the department of nutrition at The Harvard School of Public Health, recently reported on the...Read More
Nutrition
Low Carb Diets Now History
Remember when gold hit 800 dollars an ounce in 1981 and people lined up to buy gold? Or when people said that you were missing the boat if you didn't buy high tech stocks? Others rushed to lose weight on Atkin's low carbohydrate diet which never made nutritional sense. History shows it's always time t run for cover when everybody's doing it. Restrictive diets have always been hazardous. It's amazing that some people believed years ago that just eating grapefruit was the answer for weight loss. It's been recently discovered that low carb diets can be lacking in folic acid, a deficiency linked to heart attack. Folic acid is also essential to normal development of the fetus in the very early days...Read More
Lifestyle, Nutrition
Soda Pop – Do You Know What Your Child Is Drinking?
What current lifestyle problem bothers me the most today? It's seeing obese children guzzling cans of liquid candy. Parents must be totally unaware of the can's contents. But if they know the health consequences, and do nothing about it, they should see psychiatrists. Harvard researchers have linked soft drinks to childhood obesity. Today there are over 18 million obese children in North America, a disaster waiting to happen. Children and adults are consuming soda pop in increasing amounts. In 1947 100 cans of soda pop were consumed per person per year. By 1997 it had escalated to 580 cans. Sugar itself is not the problem. It's the amount of sugar consumed by children. If parents noticed a child adding 10 teaspoonfuls of sugar...Read More
Surgery
Why Surgeons Need Cockpit Training
Would you buy an airplane ticket if the pilot refused to check his instrument panel before taking off? You'd probably would run for the woods, choose another airline or decide it's safer to go by train. But a recent study shows that surgeons are not following proven surgical guidelines for a potentially fatal operation. What's needed? A big dose of pilot discipline. Dr. Thomas Feasby, neurologist at The University of Alberta, reviewed carotid endarterectomies done in four western provinces. His study revealed that one in ten of these procedures should not have been performed and 47 percent were done for dubious reasons. His conclusion; surgeons needed "cockpit management". Endarterectomy is a common operation performed to prevent stroke in patients who have partial...Read More
Cancer
Cholesterol-Lowering Foods
"How can I lower blood cholesterol by dietary means? My doctor says the effect of food is trivial and that I should immediately take medication. But I want to do everything I can before starting drugs." Readers often pose this question. Dr. Christopher Gardner, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford Prevention Research Center, says studies show that what you eat can help to control blood level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) the bad cholesterol. It's the type that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Gardner claims that part of the reason diets were not given a fair shake in the past is that too much emphasis was placed on what not to eat, rather than on what to eat. His study...Read More
Cardiovascular, Medicine
Why Diabetic Patients Need Aspirin
Why do diabetic patients die? Over 60 years ago, Joslin, the founder of the world famous Boston Diabetic Clinic, remarked, "With an excess of fat diabetes begins, and from an excess of fat diabetics die." Years ago diabetic patients died in coma due to a lack of insulin. Today, since the discovery of insulin, patients are dying from premature cardiovascular disease. Why does this happen and can Aspirin save many of these deaths? November is Diabetes Month in North America to promote awareness of this disease. And justly so. Every year I see diabetic patients making a potentially fatal mistake. They're usually prudent about maintaining normal blood sugar levels, but imprudent by not taking a daily Aspirin. Aspirin's job is the...Read More
Vitamins
To E Or Nor To E
Should I believe the study that links vitamin E to a possible premature death? I couldn't resolve this question and finally gave up. Possibly I needed a holiday from deadlines as during a cruise along the west coast of Mexico on Holland America's Ryndam, the sea air cleared my mind. It occurred to me that researchers had forgotten vital historical facts. The study causing all the hubbub was a Johns Hopkins report that analyzed 19 clinical trials. It concluded that 400 or more international units (IU) of vitamin E per day increased the risk of dying from all causes by about four percent. In addition, a Canadian study showed that more people taking vitamin E developed heart failure. So it appeared...Read More
Philosophy
A Letter From Singapore
This week, something I've never done before. I've often published comments from readers, but never an entire letter. But I believe this unsolicited letter from Singapore is interesting, thought-provoking and too important to toss away. As the lawyers say "Res ipsa loquitor". This letter speaks for itself. The letter reads, "I now live in Singapore, but have lived in Ontario for over 50 years. This year when I was home I read your article about Singapore justice. Why you agree with Singapore officials that we have become "irresponsibly permissive" about law and order in North America. Why our namby-pamby approach adversely affects patients emotional and physical health. And why we need a dose of Singapore justice in Canada. In Singapore the streets...Read More
