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.

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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.

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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.

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Lead Poisoning in Children

Lead can be ingested by eating old paint chips and by drinking contaminated water.  The crisis in Flint, Michigan has brought awareness for the need to test municipal water supplies and several new problem areas have been identified.  A more common source that is often missed lies in the fields where food is raised.  Years of plowing with tractors run by leaded fuel have contaminated our food supply still to this day.  A safe blood level was listed as 60 mcg/dl in 1970.  Now that level is down to 5 mcg/dl.  The truth is that no level is safe.  Further, a challenge test is more accurate than blood screening, but it is rarely performed.

See Family Practice News, March 1, 2016, p. 30-32 for more details.

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Anxiety is Often Missed in Children

Dr. John Walkup of Cornell University emphasizes that many children who have been labeled as ADHD, autism spectrum, or even depression are simply anxious.  They have difficulty focusing and concentrating because their minds are full of worry and anxiety.  Rather than medications, we usually treat this problem with herbal and homeopathic supplements.  Better yet, they can receive Sensitivity Reduction Technique (SRT), which involves light tapping on acupuncture points (no needles).  This treatment can give long-term relief.

Contact our office at 800-788-4627 for more details or see our website.

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Don’t Wait Until You are Older to Safeguard Your Memory

Some of us define aging as what happens 15 years after your current age.  An Australian Study showed that mid to late life exercise had the most powerful lifestyle effect on verbal memory.  Blood pressure control and high levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, were the next most important factors.  What you do now will have a good effect on what happens later.

See  Szoeke, American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5/8/2016.

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Insomnia in Young Men and in Older Adults Increase CV Risk

Insomnia increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes in younger to mid-life men and the elderly, but not in younger women.  The insomnia is related to excessive sympathetic stimulation.  This can be detected and treated by getting a heart rate variability test (Max Pulse), which we offer in our office.  If you are at risk, you can counter-balance the risk with regular relaxation exercises.

 See the CARDIA Study in the Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Jan. 2014, 57-64.

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