See Washington Post Article, October 29, 2016.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Added Risk for Measles Infections Before One Year of Age
Dr. James
Cherry of UCLA Medical School was the lead author of a study that found that
babies who get the measles before being vaccinated have a higher incidence of a
terrible fatal complication called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
(SSPE). MMR vaccines cannot be given
prior to 15 months of age. Whether
parents vaccinate with MMR or not, their children might have a small risk of
this complication if a child gets infected at an early age. Homeopathics might offer some protection, but
they were not included in the study.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Cranberries Falsely Accused of Being Ineffective
A study
published on-line by the AMA claimed that a “rigorous” study disproved that
cranberries can be helpful in preventing recurrent urinary tract
infections. The study was limited to
nursing home patients and did not target women who were known to be susceptible
to infections. Treated patients were
given only 2 pills a day, while double that amount would more likely be
effective. There were only 10-12
infections in the two groups and more occurred in the placebo group. Other studies have shown beneficial effects. This study was guilty of the “weak science”
that it claimed to debunk. In my
experience, cranberry supplements (without sugar) can be effective in selected
patients. If that does not work,
d-mannose is another choice.
See Associated Press article in the Toledo Blade, October
29, 2016, section A, p.7.
Monday, November 14, 2016
A Good Night’s Sleep is Essential to Treat Hypertension
Those
patients with hypertension who sleep less than 5 hours sleep per night have a
4-fold increased risk for all-cause mortality.
It is crucial for these patients to get at least 6 hours of sleep per
night.
See Family Practice News,
February 15, 2016, p. 28-29.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Statin Drugs Might not Benefit Patients at Risk for Heart Attacks
Statin drugs (or red yeast rice supplements) do give some benefit to patients who have already suffered a heart attack. However, proof is lacking and inconsistent that statins are effective in the prevention of cardiovascular events for patients that have elevated risk scores. Despite this lack of evidence, millions of patients are being treated with these drugs. This increases the cost of care and exposes patients to side effects from the drugs. Evidence-based medicine is being ignored for true prevention. You would be better off donating a unit of blood twice a year.
See Dubroff, Statin Therapy and Cardiovascular Risk, The
American Journal of Medicine, March 2016, p. 235-7.
See a doc from InternationalCollege of Integrative Medicine or
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