Philosophy, Psychiatry
Are the U.S. Presidential Candidates Too Old?
It’s a question on the minds of most Americans, and others too. Biden is 81 and Trump 77. Are they sufficiently health of body and mind to be President? Neither candidate has agreed to a comprehensive and transparent assessment of their mental health. But their state of mind is important, particularly now, when Putin is threatening the use of nuclear weapons. Are they both afraid of getting a D result? And what about being honest with the American public, knowing they face an exhausting campaign? At their ages, with a ton of luck, both have a life expectancy of around eight years. As for the chances of remaining healthy during that time, we would not bet on it. Biden walks with...Read More
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, 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, 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
Alternate Treatments, Miscellaneous, Psychiatry
A Little Nostalgia Goes a Long Way
Tracing the medical history of nostalgia involves a sharp U-turn. Centuries ago, it was considered a psychopathological disorder. Still today, nostalgia can be associated with negative feelings and sadness. But researchers are reaching new conclusions about the health benefits of wistful affection for the past. We recently witnessed the medicinal effects firsthand on a special family trip. A full seventy years later, we returned to the majestic Manoir Richelieu, a historic hotel northeast of Quebec City on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. As the former hotel doctor-in-residence, and the accompanying story-seeking family, we were treated to a wonderful walk down memory lane. It was hard not to notice the spring in our steps, the smiles, and the upbeat mood. Nostalgia comes...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
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
Alternate Treatments, Lifestyle, Miscellaneous, Psychiatry
Fighting Insomnia Without Drugs or Doctors
Do you have trouble getting to sleep? Are you counting sheep and getting nowhere? Today, for many people a good night’s sleep is an elusive dream. Now, a report from the Harvard Medical School says that anxiety and stress often cause insomnia. And it’s refreshing to read that its solution doesn’t involve doctors or drugs. A prolonged lack of sleep can have devastating consequences. For instance, the huge oil spill by the Exon Valdez and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster were both believed to be related to sleep deprivation. But chronic insomnia can be life-threatening in other ways. Dr. William Dement, a renowned sleep researcher at Stanford University in California, says there’s compelling evidence that how well and how long we sleep is...Read More
Miscellaneous, Psychiatry
Prescription for Holiday Loneliness? Call a Friend Who Needs Help
What’s the most important gift you could give this holiday season? The Greek philosopher, Plato, once remarked, “Whoever likes being alone must be either a beast or a God.” I’d say Amen to that statement. Crisis workers tell us that at this time of the year, depression and suicide risk is highest. So what can we all do to decrease holiday melancholy? I’ve never seen it in the index of disease in medical texts, but loneliness should be listed in big print. It’s an illness that sooner or later disrupts the lives of many people. Chopin, the great pianist and composer, must have been deeply depressed. He complained of being, “alone, alone, alone.” Some people deny loneliness. One man who hated mankind...Read More
Neurology, Pain, Psychiatry
Why Did Anthony Bourdain Commit Suicide?
Albert Camus, the French humanist, wrote, “There is only one true philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” Pliny the Elder had said earlier, “Admit the miseries of our life on earth, suicide is God’s best gift to man.” But what prompted Anthony Bourdain of TV’s “Parts Unknown” to hang himself? And could medical care have prevented it? Suicide rates are rising in North America. For instance, among girls 10 to 19 the suicide rate has increased a shocking 70 percent. It’s easy to understand how elderly people, dying of metastatic cancer, who are in severe pain, decide to call it a day. Or, those who have lost a loving...Read More
Heroin, Pain, Psychiatry
Readers Say “Cancer Patients Deserve Better”
Several weeks ago I wrote that Canada’s Federal Minister of Health had announced 100 million dollars would be available to fight the opioid crisis. In addition, it would now be easier for addicts in treatment centers to obtain heroin. But I argued there was no such easy access to heroin for terminal cancer patients in agony. I’ve received tons of mail from angry readers. From E.D. “I watched my Father die a horrible death due to cancer. He lost all dignity, begged doctors for heroin, as morphine did not help. A vet of the Korean war should not have suffered this way.” J.F., an English nurse, says, “When I came to Canada I couldn’t believe heroin was not available. I was told...Read More
Medicine, Psychiatry
We’ve Become A Nation of Wimps
What’s wrong with North Americans? Plenty! Long ago, Immigrants landed on our hostile shores. They had no shelter, food or medical care. They hacked down forests and tried to survive. Many didn’t. They developed colds and sore backs. But they had more to do than swallow pills. Nor did they have social agencies to pamper them. Today, their offspring have become wimps, part of a drug-infested society dependent on a chemical solution for every pain. What’s happened would make our ancestors roll over several times in their graves. Is there any hope for us? Recently, the increasing cost of drugs to treat opioid abuse hit North American headlines. It’s madness that Canada has spent 300 million dollars to treat addicts! In one...Read More
Psychiatry
Please Throw Away Those Old Shoes!
“How can he live this way?” This thought always crossed my mind when I entered the office of my medical colleague. For years medical journals and other assorted material were stacked a foot or more high all over his desk. In fact, so high that he had to talk to patients in his examining room rather than his office. But it seems he was not alone. A study conducted in 2008 by Johns Hopkins Medical School revealed that hoarding may be more prevalent than previously thought. Researchers concluded that one in 20 people may suffer from some form of hoarding. In fact, it appears I’m one of the 20! My wife recently threatened, “If you don’t toss out those old...Read More
Psychiatry
Why Would Princess Diana Want to Cut Herself?
“How did you cut your arm?” a parent asked her daughter. “It happened during a gym class at school”, her teenage daughter replied. But a report from the Mayo Clinic shows that “there are cuts, and there are cuts”, and many are self-inflicted. Why would teenage girls, even a royal princess, want to injure themselves? It’s called the “Cutting Disease” and experts say it has been on the rise for the last 10 years. Self-mutilation is not a new disorder. Dr. Amando Favazz, a psychiatrist at the University of Missouri, the guru on self-mutilation, refers to a reference from the gospel of St Mark, chapter 5, in which a man cries out and cuts himself with sharp stones....Read More
Psychiatry
Can The Pinocchio Syndrome Solve The Niqab Dilemma?
Can you tell if someone is lying if the face is covered with a niqab? It’s a current Canadian question as a law court attempts to decide whether or not a sexual assault complainant may be allowed to wear her niqab in court. Can the “Pinocchio Syndrome”, and two former U.S presidents help attorneys decide this issue? Several years ago I talked with Dr. Alan Hirsch, a psychiatrist associated with the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry at Rush Presbyterian St. Lukes Medical Centre in Chicago. Hirsch remarked, “The next time you believe you’re getting snow-balled by a person, think of the Pinocchio Syndrome”. Dr. Hirsch claimed that blood rushes to the nose of people who lie. This sudden increase in blood supply...Read More
Psychiatry
Tiger And The Camel Should Have Said “No”
How much straw should you agree to carry each day? I'm not talking about spending time on a farm. But recently the problems of several patients reminded me of the famous story about "The Camel and the Straw", of the merchant who kept insisting his camel carry another straw. Finally one straw broke the camel's back and he slumped to the desert sand. These are several ways to prevent the same fate. One Some people never learn to say "no". But like the camel we have only so much energy and time to do our daily tasks. The obedient camel never complained or tried to strike a compromise with his master. People who always say "Yes" to every family, social and business...Read More
Psychiatry
Suppose I Get Alzheimer’s Disease?
Is it possible to have a worse tragedy? Lately I've had first-hand experience of witnessing a friend struck by Alzheimer's Disease, a frightful malady. Just as sure as night follows day he has entered a mental state he no longer knows me. Day after day he stares at blank walls and is incontinence of urine and feces. Since there's no cure, this disease has huge implications for both families and our health care system. The statistics are staggering. The average 65 year old person is expected to live to 85 years of age or older. So it won't be long before the baby boomers enter what's been called the "Grey Tsunami". Statistics Canada reports there were 3.9 million seniors in 2001...Read More
Psychiatry
Buy A Cat To Treat Winter Blues
What happens when days get shorter, colder and summer holidays are over? Some people go into a slump, the "winter blues". But 11 million North Americans develop a severe nosedive called "seasonal affective disorder" (SAD). So if you've started to feel tired, don't want to get out of bed, or even see friends, here's Rx 101 to shake SAD? Dr. June Nicholas, a psychologist at Haywards Heath in England, carried out a five year study during each January and February to evaluate whether cats have a soothing effect on physical and mental health. Dr. Nicholas reported that cat lovers were less likely to get that down-in-the-dumps feeling than those who didn't have "Whiskers" sitting on their lap. Cat owners had 60 percent...Read More
Medicine, Psychiatry
Fatigue – Is it the Prelude to Serious Disease?
Who isn't tired now and then? Ask any doctor and he will tell you not many people, as day after day patients complain of this common problem. But how often is the feeling of being tired associated with bona fide medical disease? A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal helps to answer this question. So what should you know about the TATT syndrome? Dr. Henk de Vries and his colleagues in Holland studied 571 patients for two years who complained of fatigue, exhaustion or malaise. They report that 10 percent of patients consulting Dutch physicians complained of fatigue. Of this number 46.9 percent were given more than one diagnosis that could be associated with this complaint. The diseases were quite diverse,...Read More
Psychiatry
How Embalmed Psychiatrists Could Help Patients
Are you worried that you may need psychological help? Or have you been diagnosed with an emotional illness and desire a second opinion? Today, getting speedy appointments isn't easy if you're concerned about mental illness. But there is a way to solve this dilemma. And what should you know about embalmed psychiatrists? Dr. Michael Van Ameringen, is co-director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. He recently reported to the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association how the internet can be used to help people self-diagnose emotional illness. Or how the web can suggest you're not too crazy. This study reminded me of a psychiatry book I read in medical school. The book contained chapters about schizophrenia, manic...Read More
Philosophy, Psychiatry
Why Do You Laugh ,There Is No One With You?
What prescription could I write to ease this patient's trouble during the holiday season? I knew that Prozac or St. John's Wort was not the answer. Nor could any of the other drugs that I normally prescribe ease her suffering. Finally, I realized the best prescription was staring me right in the face. So as she left the office I wrote a few numbers down on my prescription pad. And I hope that some readers will do the same thing. What diagnosis did I write in her record? It was Loneliness. I've never seen it in the index of any medical textbook. But at this time of year, and at other times as well, it's one of the worst medical problems....Read More
Psychiatry
The Dog Is Not For Sale
Why do I carry dog biscuits to work? I admit they're healthier than the occasional hamburger I have for lunch! But the biscuits are for a magnificent German Shepherd dog. He's always with his master, one of the many homeless people begging for money on the streets of Toronto. But why the dog, when his master is unable to feed himself? Several studies attest to the healing power of pets. A 45 year old quadriplegic who used a mouth stick to operate a computer often dropped it. The problem was solved by a Capuchin monkey who retrieved the stick for her. It also brings her magazines, opens refrigerator doors, puts cassettes on the CD and while perched on the arm of...Read More
Alternate Treatments, Psychiatry
Mind Aerobics – A Revolutionary Way To Beat Stress Without Drugs
Who wouldn't want to be less stressed these days when each day brings more frightening economic news? But before you reach for Prozac, make note of a new breakthrough non-drug way to shrug off stress, sharpen your mind, enhance memory, sleep like a baby and improve emotional health. The science behind this exciting breakthrough is called "Mind Aerobics", based on powerful sound technology called "Holosync", and used by 300,000 people in 55 countries. The original research, done at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, and published in the journal Scientific American showed that different brain waves can trigger different mental states. Further research revealed that soothing music creates remarkable, permanent and positive effects on our outlook on life by affecting...Read More
Psychiatry
Drugging Children, A Cruel Sign of The Times
Would I allow Ritalin or other similar drugs to be prescribed to my children because they fidgeted, squirmed in their seat or were inattentive? Hell would freeze over a thousand times before I'd submit to such idiocy. But today an estimated five million Canadian and U.S. children are prescribed medication for this condition. This year, a committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that a "black box" warning should be placed on ADHD medications, warning about heart attack and other risks. It's the strongest warning possible before a drug is removed from the market. A second advisory panel disagreed so no decision has been reached. Why the need for a black box warning? It depends on who is giving...Read More
