Health and Wealth 08/16/02

*A new definition of insanity.

Insanity has many definitions. Of course, I'm not even sure what the definition of normal is!

Joe Heuer, a writer and speaker, says "insanity is driving 40 minutes to the health club, then waiting 30 minutes to get on the treadmill for 20 minutes."

Ok, I apologize if I have offended anyone. I must admit that walking 20 minutes three times a week will reduce heart attacks by 30%. Whatever it takes to get that 20 minutes on the treadmill, "just do it."

*A new bridge over troubled waters; one way to resolve conflict.

Two brothers worked as neighbors and friends on separate farms. They lived in harmony for many years until one day they had a misunderstanding.

As life would have it, a small problem evolved into a major rift. Insults increased in pace until the brothers nearly came to blows.

The younger brother decided that
enough damage had been done and decided to take action. He diverted a stream so that the water adequately separated the two farms.

One day a carpenter approached the older brother and asked him for some work. The older brother
replied, "Well, my younger brother diverted a creek to separate our farms. I'd like to show him up and build a tall fence to further divide our properties." "I think I understand your problem," said the carpenter. He then began to work on the project.

The older brother returned that evening and to his suprise, found a bridge over the stream! As he sauntered to the bridge, he saw his younger brother walking across with open arms.

" Thank you for building this bridge to
bring us back together again," said the younger brother.

The older brother saw the carpenter leaving and yelled, "Please stay." "I wish I could," replied the
carpenter, "but I have many more bridges to build."

Sometimes life is too short for trivial conflicts. What bridges can you build?

*Office notes and reader feedback.

Finally, we have moved into our new office. No longer will we have to use the bathroom as an extra exam room. (We actually had to do this a couple of times)

Dr. Phil Sheridan joins our practice for one day per week. He is a skilled lung doctor who goes out of his way for patients. He recently obtained free tuberculosis medicine for a patient who had a prior stroke. He proceeded to drop off the life saving medicine at his house. Need I say more?

Remember to obtain your flu shots beginning in October. Anyone 50 or older should obtain this vaccination, unless you're allergic to eggs or have a high fever.
If you have asthma, diabetes, lung or heart disease, then obtain the vaccine even if you are under age 50. If you are trying to avoid missing work, then consider the flu vaccine at any age. The main complication of flu is pneumoniae. This leads to 20,000 deaths per year in the USA.

One reader of this newsletter said that doing home drug testing on your child might create a great deal of distrust. He thought that having the parents tested at home would offer some balance to a touchy situation.

I most certainly agree. I'll take it one step further; Give the kids some control and let them say when the parents should be tested! This is fair and keeps everybody honest. If a positive drug test occurs, it must be confirmed by thin layer chromatography. Also a physician must correlate the results to the childs history. Thanks for your comment Marvin!

Another reader appreciates the article on Ephedra in my first issue. this stimulant can cause weight loss at the expense of your life. Metabolife is now under criminal investigation for not reporting 13,000 adverse reactions to the FDA.

*West Nile Virus invades North America

OK, who brought this nasty stuff here. Almost every state east of Texas has reported virus activity. Most recently, there have been a few deaths in
Lousiana. Most of the fatalities occur in the elderly. Here are some key features:

1) The first case was isolated in Uganda in 1937.

2) One in five develops a mild fever. One in 150 develops meningitis, and or encephalitis. (inflammation of the brain)

3)Important clues to this disease include marked muscle weakness and meningitis and/or encvephalitis,especially in the late summer months.

4)Advanced age is the biggest risk factor for this
disease.

5) The local or state health department can run an antibody test on the serum or spinal fluid to diagnose this virus.

6)There is no cure for this illness at this time, therefore, prevention is the best and only option.

7)Avoid outdoor activities between dusk and dawn since mosquitos are most active at this time.

8)Chlorinate your swimming pools.Mosquitos love water. Don't let water collect in your yard, recycling bin, garbage, pots, empty tires, containers, birdbaths etc.

9) Deet, a mosquito repellent, is quite effective. Don't apply to infants less than 2 months and only use 10% concentrations or less on children. 10-50% concentrations are adequate for adults. Please read the instructions on the bottle.

*The estrogen debate is causing hot flashes in many women.

This hormone can help add 3 years on to your life when used without progesterone. The risk of breast cancer is negligible, especially in the first five years of usage. After that time, the risk of breast cancer increases by 35%, or 2 additional patients out of every 1000.

This drug may help with depression, diabetes, ( may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 5 fold) and the prevention of both colon cancer and Alzheimer’s. It definitely increases bone density. It is not helpful in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

Whether it helps in heart disease is debatable at this time. Do not begin estrogen if you have a history of coronary artery disease as it may aggravate this problem. The HDL, or good cholesterol, is increased which is helpful but the triglycerides (fats) are also increased, which is a negative. Additionally, estrogen increases CRP, a risk factor for heart disease.

Estrogen and progesterone have also been studied together. A study entitled The Women’s Health Initiative, (WHI) showed that lung clots were doubled after 5 years of treatment with an estrogen-progesterone combination. Additionally, there was a 41% increase in stroke, a 29% increase in heart attacks, a 26% increase in invasive breast cancer, and a 22% increase in overall heart disease.

Estrogen is useful for the treatment of menopausal mood swings, vaginal dryness etc. If one is having menopausal symptoms, adding estrogen and progesterone can
be very helpful in alleviating symptoms. The risk of breast cancer increases after 4 years and the risk of heart attacks and strokes begin in the 1st two years of treatment.

One approach might be to use this combination during the first two years of menopause. After that time period, hopefully the symptoms will be less and
the hormones can be withdrawn. Other drugs can be used for osteoporosis prevention and treatment if necessary.

Estrogen is not ordinarily used alone as it can induce the production of uterine tumors. If you don’t have a uterus, estrogen could be used for long periods of time, since the above clinical trial did not study estrogen alone.

Progesterone protects against cancer of the uterus, but causes other problems as previously stated. One should discuss the benefit/risk of these hormones with your physician.

*Green tea, my favorite herb, triumphs again!

Moderate to heavy consumers of green tea markedly reduced the mortality due to heart attacks. Heavy consumption was defined as drinking more than 14 cups
per week and moderate consumption equated to less than 14 cups per week.

I prefer our green tea capsules, since each capsule is equivalent to 5 cups of green tea. This superb antioxidant can help your body fight cancer and heart disease. Not all green capsules are alike. Some capsules only contain 1 cup of green tea, while other preparations contain more.

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