Michael Carlston, M.D. - Family Practice & Complementary Medicine

Carlston, M.D.
Family Practice and Complementary Medicine

www.carlstonmd.com

February 5, 2007

Dear Patients,

I was pleasantly surprised by your responses to the last newsletter. My request to be notified by those who’d like to have their email addresses dropped from the list led to a flood of emails thanking me for sending it out. I very much appreciate the encouragement and will continue to do my part to keep you informed about health issues.

That leads to a related project. While the content of the newsletters is certainly influenced by questions that arise from office experience, there may be other questions you have for me. With that in mind, the new iteration of the website will include an ASK DR. C component (maybe as a blog?). So, if you have questions that you think may interest others, look for that link on the new website, which should be up soon.

Best,
Michael Carlston, MD
www.carlstonmd.com

New findings- SSRI Antidepressants and Birth Defects
Diabetes
FDA
Selenium and HIV
Natural Does Not Equal Safe
Simple Wisdom

New findings- SSRI Antidepressants and Birth Defects
While it is always an excellent idea to avoid medication, sometimes the need outweighs the potential for harm. Depression is one of the most insidious and disabling problems people face. SSRIs are the most widely used antidepressant medications. Unfortunately, another problem with them has come to light.

Women who take SSRI drugs late in pregnancy increase the risk of some problems for their developing child. A study of 60 newborns exposed to SSRIs in pregnancy found that 18 of them (30%) suffered withdrawal symptoms (shaking, poor feeding, high pitched crying, sleep disturbance). A slightly larger study found that in the first days of life, 63% of newborns exposed in-utero to SSRIs exhibited neurologic symptoms and 41% cardiac symptoms. 69% of all SSRI-exposed full term newborns had symptoms of some sort, while 100% of the premature, SSRI-exposed babies had symptoms. These symptoms all resolved within days; however other researchers have discovered that SSRI exposure also leads to increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborn infants.

Early pregnancy is the most vulnerable time for the developing fetus. Although withdrawal symptoms occur immediately, it is disturbing to learn of such ill effects, including some that could prove to cause long-term damage. It is now recommended that children of women taking SSRIs during pregnancy be watched very carefully in the first days of life, and then throughout childhood for other problems, especially involving breathing.

Diabetes
One of the scariest things about thinking for yourself is that you come to learn how ignorant we all are. Imagine how that is for a doctor who asks too many questions. If you are curious about diabetes, I recommend that you go to the following link:
http://health.msn.com/centers/diabetes/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100150895
You would assume that at least the general outlines of the best diet for an extremely common disease would be very well established. On the other hand, maybe the dramatically increasing rate of diabetes is a clue about our level of ignorance.

FDA
Following up on the last newsletter, one of my patients told me that the PBS program FRONTLINE had done a story called “THE FDA: HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH”, which was very disturbing to her. Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/ and you will understand why we should all be upset by the collusion between the pharmaceutical industry and the government organization that regulates it.

Selenium and HIV
The mineral selenium is a potent antioxidant. Consuming 200 mcg/day has been shown to reduce a man’s risk of prostate cancer by 40%. It may also reduce risk of other forms of cancer and heart disease. It appears to be helpful in fighting many infections. A recent study found that selenium significantly reduced the amount and aggressiveness of the HIV virus in people carrying the AIDS virus.

Selenium is safe and effective. While it is not a cure for HIV, taking a daily dose of 200 mcg has become an obvious “no-brainer” for anyone infected with the virus.

Natural Does Not Equal Safe
I am very found of a passage from Romeo and Juliet, as it so well expresses a wisdom about healing:
Within the infant rind
of this small flower,
poison hath residence
and medicine power.

A recent finding about ill effects from some essential oils reminds us that anything possessing the power to heal also possesses the power to harm.

Environmental chemicals are known to have hormone-mimicking effects. Now we know that some essential oils can do the same. Three boys (ages 4-10) developed breast swelling following ongoing exposure to lavender and/or tea tree oil. This is not a common phenomenon and undoubtedly requires a significant exposure even in susceptible individuals. To me it is a reminder to respect medicinal substances, but not a cause for alarm.

Simple Wisdom
Many of you are young enough to have grown up watching Mr. Rodgers on PBS. By the time he came along I was too old to pay much attention to him, and knew of Mr. Rodgers only as this extremely gentle and possibly infantile character. When one of my very closest friends gave me a book about him for my birthday and told me how it had surprised and moved him, I thought that I had better read it sometime. When I learned a few days later that that friend was in intensive care fighting a seemingly losing battle for his life, I decided I had better read it right away.

My friend recovered and is back at work caring for his patients. The book was every bit as wonderful as my friend told me. In the book the author recounts a quote Mr. Rodgers sent to him, attributed “Arabian Proverb”:

A friend is one to whom one can pour
Out the contents of one’s heart,
chaff and grain together.
Knowing that the gentlest of hands
Will take and sift it,
Keep what is worth keeping and,
With a breath of kindness,
Blow the rest away.

Believably, some have attributed these beautiful lines and sentiment to the Sufi mystic Rumi. As I was considering sharing these words with you, I wanted to dig a bit deeper. It took awhile, but after a thorough search, I was surprised to learn that the author was the less exalted 19th century English proto-feminist writer, Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, from her 1859 book A LIFE FOR A LIFE.

Oh, the comfort --
The inexpressible comfort of feeling
safe with a person,
Having neither to weigh thoughts,
Nor measure words –
but pouring them
All right out –
just as they are --
Chaff and grain together –
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them --
Keep what is worth keeping --
and with the breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.

Just like the unexpected (in my naivité at least) wisdom of Mr. Rodgers, it seems easy to attribute these lines to the wrong source, overlooking the more mundane one “closer to home”. Similarly, it is important to respect the wisdom carried by each of us, no matter how brilliant or foolish some believe us to be. I’ve always found that there is something vitally important to learn from every person and experience.

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February 5, 2007

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