If you have been reading my thoughts for some time, you know that I am not a big advocate of mammograms. I really wish they would do the job they are supposed to do, but they just don’t. Another study appeared recently, documenting the unpleasant consequences of well-intentioned mammographic screening. It is not the first study highlighting a dilemma that would be much more comfortable to deny. Years ago two large studies, including nearly one half million women, found that mammograms often found breast cancers that spontaneously...
read moreA large new study of adolescents in the Minneapolis area surprised and excited the study authors and a writer for the New York Times. They found that many of the girls and over 1/3 of the boys were doing things (changing eating patterns, exercising, taking protein drinks or using steroids) to improve their body composition. The highest rates were seen among the boys on sports teams and girls who were obese. Just under 6% admitted using steroids, which is probably an underestimate because people often do not admit “bad” behaviors in...
read moreA recent article in the NY Times caught my eye. I couldn’t have agreed more, and also less. Titled “Let’s (Not) Get Physicals”, it was a reflection on the problems with conventional routine physical exams. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/sunday-review/lets-not-get-physicals.html?pagewanted=all The time-honored tradition has been for a thoughtful patient to see her/his doctor for an annual exam. The article discussed several of the screening tests that have been the foundation of the annual exam routine. Many of these have been shown...
read moreAs you are probably aware, and I have written about previously, the US is in the midst of a whooping cough epidemic. With a “business-as-usual” bias, a number of agencies, individuals within the medical community and representatives of major media outlets have blamed “ignorant and irresponsible” parents choosing not to vaccinate their children as the cause of this outbreak. That criticism is unfair, because, as many studies show, parents who choose to limit the vaccinations their children receive are better educated than other parents. ...
read moreThe Foods You Choose Can Help You Lose, Or Not Many people think that Americans are obsessed with celebrity, politics or some sport. Yes, we are, but our chief obsession is not on that list. Americans are truly obsessed with weight, especially losing it. One reason exercise is so important for those losing weight and improving their body composition is that our body’s response, after losing weight by cutting dietary calories, is to slow down its metabolism. Faced with starvation, your body slows everything down. In that state, which...
read moreA study was just published with exclamatory headlines warning about vitamin D and calcium raising the risk of kidney stones. They studied the blood and urine of 163 healthy, postmenopausal women for a year. Investigators gave the women from 0-4,800 iu of vitamin D and raised their calcium to 1,200 - 1,400 mg/day. 1/3 of the women had high levels of urinary calcium and some had elevated blood levels. That would seem scary, except it isn’t. First, no one actually had a kidney stone or other trouble. More important to me is a much...
read moreNewly released data, collected over nearly 40 years, indicate that runners live 5-6 years longer than other people. I like this but also have some doubts. I began running as a 12 year old, and after a few more months of surgical recovery, hope to resume this life-long habit. I love it. My work as medical staff at marathons and as Medical Director of the Santa Rosa Marathon are the confluence of my interests. Just like this study shows, I am certain that running, and more broadly, being physically active, are crucially important to any...
read moreIf you read about vitamin supplements you must be confused. Actually, it would be hard not to be. Vitamins are, by definition, essential to health. Studies of hundreds of millions of people confirm that truth. However, a rash of recent studies have linked taking vitamin supplements to higher rates of a variety of diseases, especially cancer. What’s up? The fundamental problem is bad research. This bad research is the consequence of poor understanding, plus the difficulties inherent in designing and conduct nutritional studies that apply...
read moreAs you probably know, exercise may well be the single most important health habit. Drinking water, eating well, using supplements properly, avoiding toxins, sleeping, working on your attitude and relationships are all also vitally important. However, even beyond its power to prevent and treat disease, exercise may well provide the greatest wellbeing boost of any of the essential health habits. Whether exercise is “number one” or not, it is huge though, and getting people to exercise can be an equally huge problem. The number one obstacle...
read moreMany medications are available only by prescription (unless you own a computer or travel to another country). That is because of the risks that accompany their use. When drugs become available we tend to believe that availability is some sort of certification that they are safe, and weak compared to prescription meds. Not true. Recent news that daily use of aspirin lowers the risk of a number of cancers (especially esophagus, colon, rectum and lung) is another example of apparently wonderful information that is not, if you know enough. ...
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