DR. SONDER SAYS

2010-08-25T10:53:00.001-07:00

2010-08-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a year since I've posted anything. But now I have become involved in a new incredibly innovative new diagnostic and therapeutic (healing) modality called "Integral Quantum Medicine". This technology is based on quantum physics and the atomic structure and incorporates each individual's unique genetic or DNA code. The DNA code is broken down into its' component numbers, each of which represents a different part of the human body. Because of the movement of the billions of atoms within each structure in our bodies, there is an energy which is projected from those organs which can be measured with very sophisticated computerized software. The two scientists who developed this technology in the latter part of the twentieth century called it "Radionics" and the machines utilized in the measurement of the body's energies have been refined and made more and more sensitive. We now know what the normal energy frequencies for any given structure in the human body are and can precisely measure these and correlate them to the person's DNA code. We now know what the normal range is for each part of the body and can diagnose disease when the energy emitted is too high or too low. With this information, we are able to project healing or "rebalancing" energies to the diseased organ system or structure and they are absorbed into the patient's body in order to correct the abnormal energies. We also can accelerate the healing process by having the patient ingest homeopathic pellets infused with healing energies precisely targeting the abnormal structures. This is all accomplished without touching the patient or using any surgical or pharmacological intervention. I believe this is the way medicine will be practiced by the mid-portion of this century but IQM's patients make use of this cutting-edge technology now. Go to our website: www.iqmwellness.com and read more about this truly amazing diagnostic and therapeutic modality. I will talk in more detail in my next post.

Oral Contraceptives...Associated with Increased Diagnoses of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

2009-04-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

A recent article published in the Journal of Arthritis Care and Research found that women who were currently taking oral contraceptives or had just started taking the pill, particularly if the dosage of estrogen was that seen in older formulations, had a higher prevalence of being diagnosed with systemic lupus. The researcher from Magill University in Montreal, Canada reported that in women with a particular genetic predisposition, a higher dose of estrogen in first and some second generation birth control pills may trigger the onset of symptoms associated with systemic lupus. This effect was not seen in women who were using lower dose formulations utilizing less than 50 micrograms of estrogen. There has been a belief that there may be a hormonal effect that is causal in the development of systemic lupus erythematosus. Because lupus is diagnosed in a ratio of 9:1 in women versus men, it is believed that there may be a hormonal mechanism that turns on a heightened immune response leading to the symptoms of lupus in genetically susceptible individuals. The authors also suggested a dose related effect, in that as the estrogen content of the pill increased, the diagnoses of lupus increased in the population of women studied.
The authors looked at the records of a UK registry following the health of more than 1.7 million women ages 18 to 45 over an eight year period who were using combined estrogen and progesterone containing oral contraceptives. They found 786 women diagnosed with lupus during the study period. Smoking, drinking and other autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes and thyroiditis were diagnosed more frequently. All current users of birth control pills were at an increased risk of developing lupus but the increase was not statistically significant. There appears to be an estrogen mediated effect on the lymphocytes and this may explain the dose-related response in which increased doses of estrogen are associated with an increased prevalence of lupus. One reassuring fact was that previous users of birth control pills did not exhibit an increased incidence of lupus.
The take home message is that women should talk with their healthcare providers about using a low-dose estrogen pill when using an oral contraceptive. The other point to remember is to alert your doctor of a family history of lupus or any other autoimmune condition in your family when having your yearly check-up so that he/she has the opportunity to take that into consideration when prescribing not only birth control pills but any medication. The more information the healthcare provider has about you, the chance of making an good informed decision about your healthcare management is increased. Read more.

Obesity...Think Carefully About Having That Piece of Cake.

2009-03-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

We have been hearing about the adverse effects of obesity and the ever growing numbers of people who are entering the ranks of the seriously overweight. But now we have a well designed study published yesterday in the Lancet from a researcher in Oxford, England showing that people who fall into the category of being over the normal range of BMI (body mass index) which is 22.5 to 25, have a 30% increased risk of premature death mostly from a cardiovascular event during the eight year study period. It is well known that an elevated BMI increases the risk of death from heart attacks, stroke and certain types of cancers, but a cause and effect relationship proven by a well designed medical study has been elusive until now. The researchers still had some uncertainty about whether the increase in deaths could be related to smoking or other causes than obesity. So they looked at 57 studies that included over almost 900,000 people, average age 46, in Europe and North America as part of the Prospective Study Collaboration. They eliminated the first five years to control for reverse causality and smoking. The male to female ratio was 61/39 and as I said, median age 46. The mean BMI was 25 and they looked at these individuals over an eight year period and followed their BMI's and any medical events or conditions they developed. The authors found that the all-cause mortality was lowest for those with BMI's between 22.5 and 25 and increased by 30% with each increase of 5 kgs/meter squared in BMI, taking into consideration the events predetermined in the first 5 years and adjusting for smoking. They also noted that those people whose BMI's were below the normal range had a higher than normal rate of death supposedly from increases from respiratory diseases and lung cancer. The increases in deaths as people gained weight were due to a 40% increase in vascular disease, a 60-120% increase in diabetes, kidney and liver disease, and a 10% increase in cancer diagnoses.
So, as an example, if a person refrained from increasing their BMI from 24 to 32, a young adult could expect an additional 3 years of life expectancy. Alternatively, a middle age person who did not experience an increase of BMI from 28 to 32 could enjoy a 2 year increase in their life expectancy. They also stressed that it is easier to avoid weight gain than losing the weight once it has been acquired.
The take home message is the frequently heard expression that no food tastes as good as (thin)/good health and good quality of life feels. Eat healthy all! Read more.

Cancer...A Healthy Diet and Exercise Can Reduce Cancer Cases.

2009-02-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

It is widely understood that smoking cessation can dramatically reduce the incidence of smoking-related cancers. These malignancies comprise about one third of all cancers diagnosed. However it has not been known previously if dietary changes and modifications can have a similar effect on the diagnoses of other non-smoking related cancers. A report published in the Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention evaluated the data from the public health agencies of several countries, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the USA and China. These surveys looked at the dietary habits of millions of individuals and the prevalence of cancer diagnoses and the results were collated by the World Cancer Research Fund and The American Institutes for Cancer Research and were presented to lawmakers on Capital Hill on Friday, February 27th. The writing panel from these organizations concluded that a third of all the cancers diagnosed in each of the four countries could be prevented by modifications in diet and and an increase in physical activity. They called for the so called "actors", the schools, industry, governments and individuals to take an active and aggressive role in improving the ingredients in food, removing vending machines selling unhealthy snacks, and promoting the population to exercise more and reduce sedentary activities thereby decreasing the incidence of obesity in the population.
Just to site a few examples of what a healthier diet and more physical activity could do are the reduction of prostate cancer in the US by 11% and by 20% in the UK. Another outcome would be a reduction in the diagnoses of uterine cancers by 70% in the US and a decrease of 56% in the UK as the incidence of obesity declines. The writing panel has called upon all levels of society to take an aggressive posture in rectifying our sedentary and unhealthy dietary lifestyle. These include:Governments should require widespread walking and cycling routes to encourage physical activity. Industry should give a higher priority for goods and services that encourage people to be active, particularly young people. The food industry should make public health an explicit priority. Schools should encourage physical activity and provide healthy food. Schools, workplaces, and institutions should not have unhealthy foods available in vending machines. Health professionals should lead in providing information about public health, including cancer prevention. Individuals should use independent nutrition guides and food labels to ensure they buy healthy food.
The writing group stated that there is much that can be done to decrease the rates of cancer diagnoses worldwide and the changes needed to be made are not so difficult or complicated. That is why all of us can initiate many steps, literally, to protect ourselves and decrease our own cancer risks. Go out and walk to the grocery store. Pick up some veggies and fruit and walk back home. You'll see...it does a body good! Read the entire article.

Alcohol...To Drink or Not to Drink?

2009-02-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard today about the report today coming from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute looking at 1.3 million women in England at mid-life, between the years 1996 and 2001 who were attending cancer screening clinics. They examined the effect of light to moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of developing cancer. The average amount of alcohol ingested was one drink of any type a day and they found a significant increase of several types of malignancies. The most striking increase was found in 11 additional cases of breast cancer per 1000 women over women who did not consume any alcohol at all. In addition, the investigators found increases in other cancers including, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colorectal and liver in both sexes. Most of the previous studies looking at the association of alcohol and cancer involved men who were drinking heavily. This study is made so powerful by the shear magnitude of the subjects studied, over one million people and the length of the study, 7.2 years. if one looks at these individuals and break down the cancers according to type and percentage, the data look like this: Breast (12%, P<0.001), Oral cavity and pharynx (29%, P<0.001 for trend), Esophagus (22%, P=0.002), Larynx (44%, P=0.008), Rectum (10%, P=0.02), Liver (24%, P=0.03), Total cancer (6%, P=0.03).
The authors who were at the University of Oxford concluded that there is no safe amount of alcohol to consume as far as cancer risk is concerned. But other studies have shown that there are significant benefits as far as the cardiovascular system and cognitive functioning are concerned. So we must consider the possibility that even moderate drinking can increase our cancer risk in many of the body's organ systems and if you are a person who is at higher than normal risk of developing cancer because of a family or personal history, you may want to think carefully about whether you chose to drink. My personal opinion is that for the average healthy mid-life individual who is not at high risk for cancer, having a glass of wine or a beer a day as an accompaniment to a meal or at a celebration is a reasonable and healthy behavior. As my mother always said, "everything in moderation" is a good philosophy to adopt. Read entire article.

Coffee...Drinking Several Cups of Joe Daily May Reduce a Woman's Risk of Stroke

2009-02-20T06:53:00.000-08:00

A recent issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association reported the findings of a group of investigators who analyzed the data from the Nurses Health Study which followed the health status of more than 83,000 nurses, mean age 56 years, all of whom were free of heart disease, diabetes, stroke or cancer at the beginning of the study. These nurses reported their health status, diet and any medical conditions or "incidents" that occurred during the study period including their consumption of caffeinated coffee. Those nurses who consumed 2-3 cups a day had a 19% reduction and those who drank 4 or more cups of coffee a day enjoyed a 20% decrease in the risk of suffering a stroke. The study followed these women for 24 years from 1980 through 2004. During this time there were women who suffered a stroke but these subjects were found to have developed high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol or diabetes. So the protective effect of caffeinated coffee appears to exist in healthy women who were non-smokers or were smokers who had quit. It has been shown in past studies that coffee may have a protective effect for the development of diabetes and high cholesterol. This association does not exist for tea and caffeinated soft drinks. So it is theorized that there are components other than caffeine in coffee that may increase the body's sensitivity to insulin, reduce inflammation and decrease the levels of a substance called "C reactive protein" which is produced by the liver in response to inflammation in any parts of the body including the coronary arteries. However the beneficial effects of coffee do not overcome the deleterious effects that smoking has on almost every part of the body.
The take home message is that for those coffee junkies who worry if they are compromising their health, they need not worry. Just remember to eliminate that cigarette you have with your cup of coffee and watch your overall health improve, not to mention the glow you will notice in your complexion! Read entire article.

Stroke...Arrival at Hospital Within an Hour Associated with Receiving Therapy which can Reduce Severity of Residual Defects.

2009-02-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

An abstract presented at the American Stroke Association International Meeting recently reported that for those patients experiencing the onset of symptoms related to lack of blood flow to a portion of the brain, that arrival at an ER within an hour of onset increases the chance that they will have the potentially life-saving injection called tPA. This is "tissue plasminogen activator", a substance which can break up a clot within a blood vessel in the brain thereby re-establishing blood flow to a part of the brain which had been recently deprived of oxygen. They analyzed data from over 100,000 stoke patients who arrived at the hospital from a location other than being transferred from another hospital and found that about one third of them arrived within one hour from onset of stroke symptoms. Of those who arrived within an hour, 27% received tPA versus 13% who arrived between 61 and 180 minutes from onset of symptoms. One of the authors said that the goal is to achieve a time of less than 60 minutes from arrival to injection time. However, arrival in less than 60 minutes does not always guarantee that the patient will receive the tPA within a 60 minute time frame. What is happening is that the treating physicians are spending time deliberating about whether or not to give the clot buster and unfortunately, this time spent going back and forth discussing is wasting precious time. We know that the brain deprived of oxygen will cause the death of 1.9 million brain cells per minute and for every ten minutes delayed, one less patients will have a good outcome.
What is clearly needed is a team approach: one member of the team talk with and keep the family updated; another stay with, evaluate and treat the patient and the third be in charge of ordering the labs and imaging studies to facilitate a smooth transition from arrival at the ER to the administration of the tPA. As part of the informed consent before giving the tPA, the family members and patient need to be told of the potential benefits and risks which include the fact that if 100 stroke patients are treated appropriately and given tPA within an hour of onset of their stroke symptoms that 32 will have an improved outcome and 3 will have a worse prognosis.
These findings reinforce the importance of learning the early warning signs of stroke and be aware of the importance of recognizing their occurring and make sure you get the help you need to get to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. This will optimize the chance of your being evaluated and given the life-saving drug, "tPA", which can reduce the disability of prolonged brain oxygen deficiency and even death. Read more.

Disparities Exist in Surgical Outcomes Between Black and White Patients.

2009-02-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

Americans recently celebrated the election of the first African American to the most powerful position in the world, The presidency. But an article published in the February issue of Archives of Surgery looked at the data involving 4.7 million surgical patients at 3,270 acute-care hospitals from the year 2000 through 2005 and reported their 30 day death rates in teaching versus non-teaching facilities. The mortality for all these patients was significantly higher in non-teaching hospitals as compared with the rates of teaching institutions. But when the authors separated the patients according to race, the death rates among black patients were equal to those in teaching hospitals as compared with non-teaching hospitals and the risk of dying after a surgical complication was also equal for blacks in teaching facilities versus community hospitals. The investigators concluded that the observed improved survival in white patients in teaching facilities was not due to fewer complications but better outcome after treatment of the complication. The death rates in blacks was equal in whatever type of hospital they were operated. But whites fared better in the teaching institutions as compared to community hospitals because of several factors. Blacks tend to be living in areas that are closer to teaching hospitals where there are larger numbers of inexperienced staff who provide the bulk of care to the patients as compared to non-teaching hospitals. And it was theorized that communication problems and less accurate and comprehensive monitoring of black patients may, in part, have accounted for the lack of improved outcomes and lack of decreased mortality for black patients operated on in teaching institutions.
As healthcare providers and informed patients/healthcare consumers, it our belief that if we have a need for a surgical procedure and we are admitted to a university teaching hospital, our expectation is we will benefit from that academic environment and have a better outcome than if the procedure were performed in a community hospital. That is true for white patients, but not for blacks. We need to look more closely at this phenomenon to corroborate these findings and if they do in fact exist, conduct more careful studies to look at the specific causes of these disparities and take swift measures to correct them. Our country has indeed, come a long way in having elected an African American president. But racism and racial disparities still pervade large areas of our society and we must work diligently to close those gaps. Read more.

Smoking...Second Hand Smoke Leads to Adult Cognitive impairment.

2009-02-16T11:10:00.000-08:00

The perils of smoking are well known to the majority of people in this country. But a recent study published in The British Medical Journal looked at the effects of heavy exposure to second hand smoke on adults 50 years of age and older. They evaluated the results of 2 large national health surveys given in the United Kingdom to over 4,000 subjects where the participants were tested for immediate and delayed verbal memory, simple mathematical problems, abstract thinking ability, and memory of lists of facts or objects. Those participants were also given saliva tests to assess the accuracy of their reporting being exposed to passive smoke rather than being an active smoker. This was determined by measuring a metabolite of nicotine, cotinine, which would have been present in the saliva at low levels for several days after the exposure and flush out clandestine smokers whose cotinine levels would have measured significantly higher.
Those individuals who had the highest levels of exposure to second hand smoke were 44% more likely to score in the lowest percentile (the 10th percentile) in the tests of cognitive function than their counterparts who had the least exposure. The two studies considered many factors that could have altered the results of the testing such as sex, race, education, socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, body weight, health status, physical activity, medical history and ex-smoking history. This is the first study to examine the direct relationship between passive smoke ingestion and brain function in adults 50 years of age and older. The effects of second hand smoke has been examined in children and young adults and those studies have shown definite cognitive impairment. But now we have evidence that the same relationship exists in mature adults when some degree of diminished mental functioning is believed to be a normal function of the aging process. It is distressing to acknowledge that passive smoke may diminish cognitive function even further than we experience as a result of normal aging.
This has enormous public health implications in the US and other industrialized countries as they tackle the issue of banning smoking in public places. But those initiatives do not address what is happening to people who are living with a smoker, and this situation is one of which we need to be aware and try to take measures to protect the people of all ages who are exposed to second hand smoke in the home. Read more...scroll down and click on Second Hand Smoke link.

Vitamin D...Essential for More Than Bone Health. Deficiency Linked to Multiple Sclerosis.

2009-02-16T07:45:00.000-08:00

It is well known that proper bone development and bone health depends on adequate amounts of vitamin D and sufficient exposure to sunlight or its' equivalent to allow absorption of vitamin D. But it is not known that vitamin D deficiency and inadequate sunlight in susceptible individuals who carry an abnormal gene variant on the 6th chromosome can increase the expression of this gene which is involved with the autoimmune response of destroying the myelin which is the essential material that covers the nerves in the peripheral and central nervous systems. George Ebers M.D. of Oxford University and his colleagues published an article last week in the online journal PLoS Genetics which suggested the mechanism by which environmental factors interact with a specific gene mutation to increase a person's risk of developing multiple sclerosis. We have suspected for several years that a family history of MS (multiple sclerosis) combined with environmental conditions play a role a role in the cause of developing MS. Dr. Ebers' study is the first to suggest that vitamin D and an particular area on an abnormal gene are definitely linked and interact in a way that predisposes the individual to MS. This study supports the belief that vitamin supplementation during childhood and pregnancy is essential and may reduce a person's risk of being diagnosed with MS, a disease that affects young women predominantly in a devastatingly debilitating way (men are affected but in smaller numbers). Epidemiologists (doctors that look at broad patterns of disease prevalence) have also noticed that the rates of MS are higher in areas where sunlight is less prevalent. An example of this is seen in Australia where the rates of MS are 5 times less in sunny Queensland which is in the northeast part of the continent as compared with the southern island of Tasmania much further from the equator with much less sunlight.
There is another organ, the thymus, which lies below the thyroid gland in the neck, that is believed to play a role in facilitating the development of MS. The thymus produces T cells which serve as the watchdogs to destroy foreign substances to which our bodies are exposed. However sometimes the destruction potential of these T cells is over expressed and it is believed that vitamin D deficiency might cause the T cells to attack the myelin sheath that is naturally supposed to cover the body's nerve cells for their proper functioning. Obviously, this is a simplification of an extremely complicated biological process, but my hope is that you get an idea of the interplay between an abnormal gene, the thymus, vitamin D and sunlight deficiency. The bottom line is that vitamin D supplementation and adequate sunlight exposure may be critical to the prevention of multiple sclerosis which is thought to be an autoimmune disease that manifests itself in susceptible individuals later in life.. Read the entire article:

Domestic Violence...Negative Effects Extend Beyond the Abused.

2009-02-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

We all know how profoundly hurtful and potentially deadly the effects of domestic violence, whether physical, emotional or sexual can be on the victim, male or female. But a recent abstract presented at the national meeting of The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine looked at the effects of all kinds of domestic violence on pregnancy outcomes. The authors reported that women who had been sexually or physically abused were 50% more likely to experience pregnancy-induced hypertension, premature delivery and 80% more likely to suffer bleeding in the third trimester of a pregnancy. They looked at questionnaires from over 3,000 women from the Women's Health Registry of Kentucky. The vast majority of these women were white. The abusers were usually an intimate partner or a stalker. The abuse may have occurred in childhood or during the adult years. It is known that domestic violence is associated with low birth weight babies, preterm deliveries and maternal trauma, but it is not known whether the association exists for pre-eclampsia or third trimester bleeding. This abstract suggests that women who are traumatized either physically or sexually before pregnancy are particularly vulnerable to multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes and even peri-natal death. Stalking by a partner may result in extreme psychosocial stress leading to the development of pregnancy-induced hypertension. The bottom line is that no matter at what age at which the abuse begins, the likelihood of an adverse pregnancy complication resulting in a poor outcome is significantly increased.
Healthcare providers need to be on the lookout for women in high risk situations in which they may be the victim of domestic violence by an intimate partner and counsel these patients about the potential serious effects on subsequent pregnancies. A very proactive and aggressive posture in identifying these women and encouraging them to remove themselves from these abusive relationships is of utmost importance. It behooves the provider to have a list of resources including social workers, family therapists, and location and availability of shelters in extreme situations where the woman may have nowhere to go. We do know that the incidence of domestic violence in our society at all socioeconomic levels is increasing and there is a reluctance of many victims to come forward with these incidents. The healthcare provider would be well-served to be vigilant as they encounter women at high risk in their practices. By having a heightened sense of awareness, we may be able to prevent many of the most serious complications that these women suffer during pregnancy. Read more about this.

Aspirin... The wonder Drug that Reduces the Development of Colon Cancer

2009-02-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

We all know that taking an aspirin at the first symptom of a heart attack can reduce the severity of the attack and sometimes save a life. We also know that aspirin can reduce fever and relieve the pounding pain of a bad headache. But did you know that if you have a history of colon polyps or a strong family history of colon cancer or polyps (outgrowths of the lining of the intestines), taking a low dose aspirin daily for a year or more can prevent the development of these polyps. In many cases, polyps of the adenomatous kind are the precursors of malignant polyps that can eventually invade the lining of the colon and gain access to the blood vessels below the lining tissues and spread the cancer beyond the colon wall to distant places, making treatment so much more difficult and complicated and sometimes impossible to cure.
The Journal of the National Cancer Institutes just published a article in which the authors looked at four different studies with both low-dose and regular dose aspirin regimens in men and women and found a significantly decreased incidence of these pre-cancerous polyps in the groups taking low-dose aspirin for one year or more. And, in addition, there were no additional adverse side effects in the groups taking the low-dose aspirin compared with the groups taking the placebo or sugar pills. This association has been suspected for several years but now we have some additional data that supports the use of aspirin in individuals who are at high risk of developing colon cancer because of a personal history of polyps, a family history of colon cancer or polyps, a history of another intestinal cancer, or inflammatory bowel disease (Chrohn's disease or ulcerative colitis). The US Preventative Task Force has not as yet come on board with this recommendation, but in light of this recent publication, their position statement may change in the near future.
So it's reassuring to know that in the most sophisticated and expensive time in the history for the research and development of drugs to treat any and all conditions, an inexpensive medication that has been around for over a hundred years can prevent, in many cases, a devastatingly frequent and deadly cancer while addressing our headaches and arthritis at the same time. Now if that isn't a wonder drug, what is?? Read more:

Autism...Disorder Not Related to Pediatric Vaccines

2009-02-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

The investigator, Andrew Wakefield M.D., a British physician, published an article in 1998 in the Lancet, a very prestigious peer-reviewed journal. He and his co-investigators reported that a group of children who had been hospitalized for non-specific intestinal disorders, had all been previously immunized with the MMR vaccine, a vaccination that had been routinely given to prevent measles, mumps and rubella. Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues theorized that the MMR vaccine caused intestinal inflammation which then led to the dissemination of proteins from the Gastrointestinal tract which led to the dissemination of these "toxic substances" which then circulated through the body of these children and settled in their brains, causing damage to the neuronal cells that led to the development of autism. This caused a widespread decrease in the United Kingdom and the US of parents taking their babies and children to the pediatrician for this life-saving vaccine. As a result of this action, we have seen a dramatic increase of cases of measles, mumps and rubella (German measles) over the past decade which has led to very serious long-term effects and, in some severe cases, even death of infants and children which were most likely totally preventable.
The Times of London reported this past Sunday that Dr. Wakefield had falsified the findings and the resulting data he presented in his 1998 paper in 8 of the 12 children described in the study. The Times also alleged that funding for this study had, in part, come from the lawyers who were representing the children with autism in their lawsuits against the companies manufacturing the MMR vaccine.
The questions about the validity of this study first surfaced in an article in 2004 by a Times reporter, Deer who wrote about the fact that the hospital records differed in many significant ways from those reported in Wakefield's original 1998 paper. The lancet paper stated that the autistic symptoms developed within days of the patients having received their MMR vaccines. The hospital records showed that in only one of the twelve children. In addition, the hospital records confirmed that 5 of the subjects showed "psychosocial problems" before the administration of the vaccine however the paper stated that all these patients were completely developmentally normal. Wakefield's paper implied that the intestinal biopsies taken from the subjects all showed significant inflammation when upon closer scrutiny, the biopsies showed none. Dr Wakefield has denied all of the allegations of impropriety and although 10 0f the 13 investigators have retracted their conclusions, Dr Wakefield still stands firm in his conclusion that MMR vaccines cause autism.
Wakefield and 2 of his co-authors face misconduct charges and will have to defend their findings before the British medical licensing board. The charges include failure to obtain the required consent to perform the procedures in the original paper but not the data-manipulation.
The bottom line is that there have been many population-based studies performed looking at the components of the MMR vaccine including thimerisol, the carrier for the viral particles. which show absolutely no association of any of these with the development of autism. There has been a striking increase in the number of cases of autism diagnosed in recent years and clearly, the need for well-designed studies and research to find the cause of this phenomenon and what some people feel is an epidemic. In the meantime, parents are still under the misconception that there is a cause and effect relationship and thousands of infants and children are not being immunized and the cases of measles is soaring and children are dying unnecessarily.
As a post script, Dr. Wakefield has left the UK and has, for the past 5 years, been the executive director of Thoughtful House, an autism research center in Austin, Texas. Please parents, follow your pediatrician's recommendations... have your children vaccinated. Don't take their life in your hands! Read entire article.

Marijuana...A Double Edged Sword

2009-02-11T06:49:00.000-08:00

There are many people in all age groups who use marijuana for many different reasons. Some use it in a recreational setting while others use it for medicinal purposes. It is actually legal in the state of California when prescribed by a physician for use in the treatment of HIV patients where wasting from decreased appetite and poor nutrition is a prominent symptom. There are other conditions where pain is insufficiently relieved from standard treatments with narcotic or non-narcotic medications and the use of the oral form of marijuana, Marinol, can be a tremendous modality to aid in reducing the chronic pain and the associated anxiety and depression that frequently is associated with these situations.
But a study published recently in the journal, "Cancer", looked at a large number of men between the ages of 18 and 44 years and found a significantly increased incidence of testicular tumors of the non-seminoma type or mixed histology type, a type of testicular cancer that tends to be more aggressive, spread to adjacent structures more quickly and be more resistant to conventional therapy. It is well known that the number of testicular cancers has risen over the past several decades in industrialized countries around the world with reports of increasing marijuana use. But we still know very little about the long-term effects of frequent or occasional use of this mood-altering drug. There are many anecdotal accounts of decreased long and short-term memory, and decline in fine motor skills with continued use of marijuana. But to date, we do not have any large, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials in individuals using the drug for recreational purposes looking at the long-term effects to be able to say with any certainty what, if anything, long-term use does to the brain or overall functioning in the average person.
But I believe it is prudent to heed the warning of this study which cautions male teens and young men who are current users of marijuana that they have a 70% increased risk of developing testicular cancer when compared to non-users and a 30% increased incidence when compared to previous users. So we must be aware that there may be serious consequences to even occasional marijuana use, particularly when the habit is begun before the age of eighteen. Certainly, we can conclude that there are probably no positive effects on the male reproductive organs and therefore we need to be careful when we are considering putting substances like marijuana into our God-given bodies. Remember, we are what we eat and smoke. So proceed with caution! Read more here.

Some Lighter but Important Fare.

2009-02-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

These are a few interesting tidbits that might have a positive impact on your health and well-being. There are a handful of nuts and seeds that can lower your cholesterol level due to their containing natural substances called "phytosterols". The top 5 seeds and nuts known to lower cholesterol are: (1) Sunflower seeds (2) Pistachios (3) Pumpkin seeds (4) Pine nuts (5) Flaxseeds, whole. For the most part, they are also high in fiber and protein which are excellent for digestion and hunger control. So including some of these foods in your diet on a regular basis will help to lower your blood cholesterol, aid in good gastrointestinal function with the increased fiber and help to control your hunger. Nuts to you!
Another helpful tip if you are attempting to shed some unwanted pounds is to utilize your sense of smell to influence your sense of "fullness". Your nose may be more important than how much food you actually consume by creating a sense of eating satisfaction (being satiated). So to aid in your weight loss, I suggest you implement the following simple behaviors. (1) Take the time to smell your food slowly and completely before beginning eating. (2) Think about chewing more slowly which will allow you to feel the texture and really savour the flavor of what you are eating. And lastly...(3) make sure the food you are about to eat is appropriately hot because the heat maximizes the vapors that your are about to inhale. Simple things but effective to promote weight loss. Sniff away!
Feeling a bit blue or downright depressed? How can one not in these disastrous economic times in which we are living. There is scientific evidence that the root, St. John's Wort can lift your mood and lighten the symptoms of depression as well as some FDA approved medications. So before heading off to yyour family doctor or psychiatrist's office, you may want to stop by your neighborhood supplement store or pharmacy and pick up a bottle of St. John's Wort and try taking it for 4-6 weeks. You may save a co-pay or two!

"Bio-Identical Hormones"...The Fountain of Youth or Not?

2009-02-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

This past week, Oprah Winfrey aired a show featuring a well-known actress and proponent of the use of what is commonly referred to as "bio-identical hormones" which she believes can restore a woman to her pre-menopausal status, both physically and emotionally/sexually. Millions of women listened to Suzanne Sommers tell her personal story of how she transformed from a dried up, fatigued, aged-looking woman to an energized, younger looking, sexually fulfilled female whose life had new meaning, a much younger and refreshed appearance and a revitalized sex life with boundless sexual desire. This is, of course, music to the ears of the millions of post-menopausal women dealing with the effects of lowered estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels, normal in a woman in her later decades of post-reproductive life. The papers, magazines and TV broadcasts are full of reports of the findings of several large, well designed studies examining the benefits and risks of hormonal therapy in the post-menopausal female. In the nineties, it was believed that estrogen or estrogen and progesterone (necessary if a woman has her uterus) given to a post-menopausal woman could prevent heart disease, possibly ward off the onset of adult-onset diabetes, and keep the skin and tissues of the reproductive tract (the vagina and tissues surrounding the vagina, bladder and rectum) moist, supple and better lubricated. It was also believed that the administration of hormones could maintain a healthy sexual life and promote a feeling of well-being and better quality of life in general. We now know that the prevention of heart disease and prevention of diabetes is for the most part a fallacy. However there are advantages to the use of hormones in carefully selected women who have the onset of moderate to severe hot flashes and vaginal dryness and thinning of the tissues leading to pain during sex or difficulty in maintaining a normal sexual life. Hormones have also shown to maintain bone density in women taking them for other reasons and are only indicated for maintenance of bone health when the patient is not a candidate for any of the other bone-building specific drugs and are suffering from low bone density. The problem with bio-identical hormones is that there is no FDA regulation of the hormone quantity, quality, consistency or purity of these compounds. One cannot predict the resulting blood levels and thus the amounts of estrogen in the circulation may be much higher than is safe for the breasts, which would, in the normal post-menopausal female, be relatively low. And we now know that the declining incidence of newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in the US over the past 5 years may, in part, be due to the reduction in the use of post-menopausal hormones as well as increased sensitivity of our diagnostic methods to detect pre-cancerous lesions. So there are instances where it is appropriate to prescribe estrogen or estrogen/progesterone to women in the early menopause suffering severe hot flashes and symptomatic vulvo/vaginal dryness and pain. We have many FDA approved hormonal preparations on the market which contain the same "natural" hormonal preparations found in these so-called "bio-identical" compounds, but they have the advantage of containing the exact amounts of hormones in a consistent, purified, extensively tested format which can be expected to produce the desired effects for which they were prescribed in the first place. Since hormonal therapy is still being studied regarding long-term effects, it is certainly wiser, in my opinion, to use products that have the so called "Good Housekeeping" stamp of approval, meaning they have undergone the rigorous testing and scruitiny that the FDA requires of the medications that are presented for its' approval. Buyer beware of the "bio-identicals" which may be a wolf in sheep's clothing! And don't forget to discuss the use of any hormonal preparation with your trusted healthcare professional who will always have your best interests at heart.

Finally...Alcohol is good for your health!

2009-02-05T12:45:00.000-08:00

Recently, a study was published in The American Journal of Epidemiology suggesting that light to moderate consumtion of alcohol in mid-life and beyond can prevent the development of problems associated with walking, balance, dressing and daily hygiene and grooming practices that afflict so many adults as they progress through their 5th, 6th and 7th decades. Basically healthy adults who drank lightly to moderately ( less than 15, 4 ounce drinks per week) suffered less disability over the 5 year study period than those individuals who drank no alcohol or drank heavily. Those study subjects who entered the trial suffering from chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes or crippling, autoimmune conditions did not fare as well, most likely due to the fact that their disease states had allowed the deterioration of their health too far towards disability. In addition, these individuals were taking many medications which may have had an adverse effect when ingested along with alcoholic beverages. The proposed mechanism for the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol use were attributed to a reduction in the development or progression of already existing hardening of the arteries. So, although there are limitation in the design of this study, it does, in fact, suggest that middle aged adults who began drinking a glass of wine with dinner and continued that behavior into the next several decades enjoyed a better quality of life and less disability than their counterparts who were never drinkers or heavy drinkers, as would be expected. So it's time to "clink" your glasses and drink to your good health, in moderation, of course. Salut!