Happy Holidays!

As my family celebrates with some time together, the office will be closed from the end of the day Tuesday, December 23 until Monday, January 5.  If you need medical care during that time please go to the nearest emergency room or consult another physician.

This is a brief newsletter. We all have a lot to do at this busy time of year, so this one is light and easy.

Best, Michael Carlston, M.D.
www.carlstonmd.com

If you bought fish oil from my office please read this:  

A month ago the company that makes the enteric coated EPA fish oil we sell mistakenly sent us bottles of uncoated fish oil.  The labels are nearly identical, so Melanie and the other office staff did not notice the manufacturer's error.  The amount of EPA in each capsule is the same, and using it should not be a problem. However, the reason I often recommend enteric-coated fish oil is because it does not create digestive symptoms (fish taste, heartburn) like the regular fish oil does for some people.  The uncoated fish oil label reads 3EPA-DHA 6:1 TG2, whereas the coated fish oil label reads 3EPA-DHA 6:12.

If you purchased any of the uncoated fish oil by mistake and do not like it, please stop using the product and call the office to arrange a replacement.  If you are happy with the product please bring in your empty bottle and we will give you a credit or refund of $5.00 a bottle.

As you find ways to enjoy, not just endure, the winter months, think about taking a sauna.  Some clarification may be in order for those of you who don't share my Scandinavian cultural background.  Saunas are dry heat baths - temperatures up to 180� F are common, with some over 200� F.  Saunas have been used by the Finnish people for over 1,000 years for many reasons, but primarily for the healing effects.  Saunas are so popular in Finland that it is estimated that there are over 1.5 million saunas for Finland's 5 million citizens. Saunas are considered to be a sacred place for cleansing, quiet and meditation.  Of course they are also a great place to get warm during the very cold winter months.

Fortunately or unfortunately, those of us who live in Northern California can't enjoy the traditional post sauna cool down because we just don't have any semi-frozen lakes nearby.  It may sound crazy to those of you who haven't experienced it, but that plunge into the icy waters feels really pleasant and refreshing.

Japanese researchers recently presented a study of the health effects of saunas on patients with congestive heart failure.  Some have worried that saunas might be too stressful for people with heart disease of all sorts.  Well, not to worry.  In the patients they studied, a daily 15 minute sauna reduced their irregular heart beats by over 50%.  In addition, they felt better with better energy levels, less shortness of breath and insomnia than the control patients (no saunas for them).

Just to show that my judgment is not impaired by nostalgia, there are other winter Scandinavian traditions I am happy to have left far behind.  The worst of these must be lutefisk.  Eating cod after it has been soaked in lye for a week or two seems too demanding a rite of passage, no matter how many Christmas presents follow.  Fortunately my multicultural family had so many non -Scandinavian traditions to uphold that lutefisk was easily swept aside, or under the rug or pitched in the trash.  I never saw a dog eat lutefisk.