Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health FactsThe Topsy-Turvy World of Health AdviceConflicting Information[Medical Testing] [Medical Procedures] [Diet & Nutrition] [Exercise] [Sexual Function] [Analgesics] [Psychology] [Environment] [Nature vs. Nurture]
"We were fools, we should have known better — we trusted the experts." Following are just a few of the many examples of "Topsy-Turvy Science" or "Conflicting Medical Advice." Don't be too quick to believe everything/anything reported about health matters. Medical science taught that playing sports during menstruation damaged reproductive organs. There was no knowledge of the many foods that interfere with absorption rates of drugs for example, grapefruit has now been found to increase the potency of several drugs. Taking orange juice with breakfast causes iron absorption to be doubled, and with tea the tannin will lessen iron absorption by one-fourth. What used to be mere folklore is now gaining new respectability as researchers discover how foods can exert pharmacological effects. We are told to eat more fish, but this advice has changed to: beware of the contaminants in seafood. The old practice of pouring iodine or alcohol on cuts and scratches is no longer recommended as an antiseptic, because, in general it is too harsh for wounds. So you think that sodium-free means 'no sodium'? Think again — it just means there is less than 5 mg per serving. Cholesterol: studies vary and contradict from year to year. Policies that make sense in one age group may not be justified in another. Use of alcohol within a 72-hour period before testing for cholesterol can skew the results, as can changing one's diet in the three weeks before the test. In medical school several decades ago they taught that once you have arteriosclerosis it is irreversible. Now we know that is not true. One of the most strongly held beliefs in medicine, that dummy pills or other sham treatments greatly help as many as one-third of patients, has been called into question. Danish researchers have found little or no "placebo effect" in dozens of studies. The researchers attributed the previous studies which showed high levels of a placebo effect to "reporting bias", when the patient incorrectly judges their condition, thinking they have received a powerful treatment, or overstating any improvement to please their doctor. Another suggestion was that participating in a medical study induces patients to eat better, exercise more, or otherwise pay more attention to their health, and that some of those patients would have gotten better with no treatment.
Mitral valve prolapse was once thought to be among the most common heart conditions, and a serious one, at that. Now it is said that this condition affects only about 2% of the population, and is not very risky. We have been told to be sure to keep mayonnaise and salad dressing refrigerated because of risk of food poisoning. But now we are told that because of the high acid content, mayonnaise may offer some slight protection against food poisoning. It was actually other ingredients like eggs that were cause of much of the food poisoning. Melatonin levels were reported to drop with age, yet AP reported in 1999 that healthy, older people produce as much of the sleep hormone as young people. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Gulf War Syndrome was said to not be a real disease (blamed on psychosomatic illness). Now as more evidence has been released and has acknowledged that the effects of chemical exposures to the soldiers is the primary culprit. More facts: Unlimited x-ray exposure was thought not to be harmful. PMS was thought to be a inner rebellion against being a woman, rather than a lack of proper hormone balance. Vaginal sprays and powders were recommended, yet later found to be a factor in ovarian cancer. Garlic helps lower cholesterol or doesn't lower cholesterol. Night lights in the first two years of life were found to be linked to nearsightedness in childhood (1999), yet two studies conducted a year later found no association. There are differing opinions about health benefits of vitamin supplements, as well as synthetic vs. natural vitamins. Therapeutic touch has been shown to be helpful to patients but then the media picked up and hyped a story of one young girl who did a Science Fair study which claimed that it provided no help. This study was not considered valid by many medical researchers. Vegetarian diets, once shunned are now recommended. and even gain approval in USDA guidelines. Advertisements are now on TV for many drugs that give the message that it can make you feel wonderful, so the public is demanding prescription drugs when they visit the doctor's office. The general mentality is "take this drug and you won't have to change your lifestyle." Drugs only treat symptoms, not the cause and does not necessarily result in better health. Advertisements sell, regardless of value of the product. Bug Zappers came into vogue, then researchers found that the "zap" exploded the insects and spread viruses onto the surrounding area, where it could land on food and/or be breathed into the lungs.
Counting sheep doesn't help! One in ten people suffer from chronic insomnia and counting sheep does not help you drop off to sleep, an Oxford University team has found. On average, those picturing a relaxing scene fell asleep 20 minutes earlier. Counting sheep was too mundane.
The researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say a new study shows the accepted theory of how the lungs work is full of hot air. Rather than air flowing in and out in an orderly process, the researchers say air mixes in the lungs in a chaotic fashion. The media is full of pro-alcohol messages encouraging the public to drink alcohol in moderation because of the resulting cardio-protection. Yet alcoholic beverages are classified as a human carcinogen (along with arsenic, asbestos and benzene) and there are many studies that show negative effects of even light consumption on the body, even to the heart. The many negative reports of the dangers of light and moderate alcohol use is virtually ignored by the medical community and the pro-alcohol media.
It has been suggested that 50% of all medical knowledge will be proven to be incorrect every ten years. A decade ago, the idea that a chronic bacterial infection could be one of the causes of atherosclerotic heart disease was fanciful. Today we are examining this possibility. Ideas and concepts that are considered alternative today may become medical dogma tomorrow. Medical TestingMedical testing failures can be as high as 40%, and inaccuracies in testing can result from exercising, eating, smoking or alcohol use before tests. Patients are not always told what to avoid, and the medical literature often adds new substances that could skew procedures. This makes us wonder how many test outcomes resulted in undue surgery or medications. Almost every medical study will have another study/studies that supposedly disproves it. For example, some studies show that melatonin levels drop with age — others say that it does not, and studies have reported that men's sperm count is about half of what it was for men 50 to 80 years ago, with other studies disputing that fact. This list could go on and on ... and often there is a study that contradicts the present thinking, and although the study may be biased or faulty, the public lets one report negate dozens of well-done studies. The result is that most people are totally confused about what they should do about their health habits — many just stop caring.
The breast-cancer screening technique does not save lives and early detection of breast abnormalities via mammography often leads to "overtreatment" of slow-growing tumors that aren't likely to seriously endanger patients, says a study in the Lancet (Oct. 20, 2001). The researchers reached this conclusion based on their assessment of study methods in seven previous mammography trials.
Get your yearly physicals was the advice, but now we are told that we do not need them that often. Some standard procedures contribute little to longevity and some can even be dangerous, uncovering harmless abnormalities that may result in medication or surgery, and enormous stress. If doctors run enough tests they will find something wrong with you, and treat you whether you need it or not. Physicians are beginning to recognize that more diagnosis may be harmful. After years of emphasis on diastolic readings for blood pressure, new findings cite risk of high systolic levels. Medical Procedures
When radiation and chemotherapy were first proposed as treatments for cancer, the American Medical Association dismissed them both as quackery.
For decades, surgeons told patients not to eat or drink after midnight on the eve of an operation, fearing that the contents of the stomach would be inadvertently inhaled into the lungs. The new guidelines from the American Society of Anesthesiologists allow clear liquids up to two hours before surgery, and a light meal up to two hours before surgery, and a heavier meal is allowed up to eight hours. Fasting after midnight, even if the surgery was not scheduled until the following afternoon, resulted in needless long abstentions from food and liquids that can lead to irritability, headaches, dehydration and low blood sugar.
Previous studies have shown an association between having an epidural during labor and lower back pain. However, a new study in the British Medical Journal (2002) shows no evidence of a link.
Tonsils? According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, the benefits of tonsillectomy in preventing throat infections in children are not worth the risks and cost of surgery. According to an article in the Washington Post Health (9/3/02), ear thermometers may not be precise, and not as accurate as rectal thermometers. About 65% of pediatricians and family practice doctors in the U.S. use infrared ear thermometers in their practice. This use could lead to an overestimation or an underestimation of a child's actual temperature.
The latest research finds that a vasectomy will not hurt prostate health, even a generation after having it, says the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In the early 1990's researchers said there was a link between vasectomies and a higher rate of prostate cancer. (Five-hundred thousand vasectomies are performed in the U.S. each year.)
Peppermint has been advised for decades for an upset stomach, yet peppermint can induce reflux, according to Mary Beth Spenarkle, MD, private practitioner in gastroenterology in Durham, NC. {public radio - People's Pharmacy, May 2, 1998, show #217} Peppermint makes heartburn worse because it relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter and allows acid to reflux into the esophagus, says Tim McCashland, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Gasttroenterology, University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
HRT and the heart: For many years doctors believed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) helped protect women against heart disease. But recent studies have cast doubt on this idea, suggesting that HRT doesn't shield a women who already has heart disease from further problems. Also there is mixed evidence that HRT can protect healthy women from developing heart disease. As a result, the American Heart Association has advised physicians not to put women with heart disease on HRT in hopes of warding off more heart trouble, and that healthy women shouldn't go on HRT for the purpose of preventing heart disease. Deciding whether to use HRT or not can be difficult. Women should consult with their doctor to weigh possible benefits (relief from menopausal symptoms and reduced risk of osteoporosis) and risks (the increased risk of breast cancer). The American Heart Association shifted from saying in 1999 that doctors may consider the use of hormones to prevent heart disease, to a warning (2001) that there is growing evidence that estrogen might not only be dangerous but in some cases could result in a higher risk of harm — harm such as inflammation of blood vessels and blood clotting. Twenty percent of women who are taking hormone-replacement therapy are doing it to prevent heart disease, and physicians are still prescribing it for this reason.
The Vineberg procedure for angina, freezing of duodenal ulcers, and performance of routine tonsillectomies — they all fell by the wayside as the studies eventually showed they didn't work, or the pendulum of clinical judgment swung the other way.
A major new large government study says that the Pill doesn't increase cancer risk. Earlier analysis of many smaller studies suggested an increased risk in breast cancer for those who used oral contraception.
Leeches for knee pain are in. Physicians today have harnessed the powerful anticoagulant properties of leech saliva to keep blood flowing into skin graft or reattached body parts. Leeches may also reduce pain and inflammation. Leeches relieved symptoms of knee osteoarthritis better than standard treatment (a no steroidal anti-inflammatory gel applied twice daily for a month. Maggots and leeches again have a place in medical treatment: Maggots, once used in the first half of the 20th century, is again finding acceptance among physicians in the U.S. and elsewhere, according to the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sept. 2001 (Dr. Ronald A. Sherman, MD, runs a 'Maggot Therapy Project.' at the University of California.) In a study in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, 2000, researchers say leeches produced faster pain relief than conventional drugs in treatment for osteoarthritis.
You can go to two different doctors and wind up with very different care. Most of the time such differences aren't crucial, but sometimes they can be tragic. Doctors differ enormously in their styles of practice. Some are aggressive with drugs and surgery while others err on the side of caution; some embrace alternative medicine, others don't; some doctors worry about the bottom line more than they should; some involve patients in decisions, others don't; some are up-to-date on medical knowledge, others aren't. Mammograms should be done the week after menstruation when breasts are least tender, and women should be cautioned not to use deodorant, powder, or lotion in the breast area because of the risk of some ingredients that could be mistaken for calcifications. If testing for a fecal occult blood test, there are many foods, supplements, and drugs that may lead to a false-positive reading if taken during the three days before testing. Don't smoke or exercise is the advice before blood pressure readings. Are the patients taking these tests alerted to these cautions? Are there other influences that would alter test results that are not yet known? Diet and NutritionUse margarine we were told. Then margarine with its trans-fatty acids were found to be worse than butter. Now it isn't how much fat you eat, as long as you restrict animal fat and partially hydrogenated oils. We can't assume a benefit from a low-fat diet. One month milk and dairy is bad for you, the next month milk is good for you. Much of this fluctuating health advice is attributed to the dairy lobby. We have been told to drink milk for our bones! Harvard Nurse's Health Study showed that milk drinkers had more bone breaks than women who rarely drank milk, and other studies have shown the same result. Experts reasoned that although milk is rich in calcium, its high animal protein content prevents your body from absorbing it.
Wendy White, PhD, Associate Professor of Food ScienceaAnd Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, ran a small study in which three groups took turns eating salads with Italian Dressing containing: (1) no fat; (2) 6 g of fat; or (3) 28 g of fat. Those who ate full-fat salads were winners, with the greatest absorption of the important nutrients lycopene and alpha-and beta-carotene, while the fat-free salad eaters absorbed only negligible amounts of these. For years we have been told that dietary fiber affects colon cancer, and this is followed by other studies which show that isn't true. Ulcers were reported to be caused by stress: milk was advised, but then it was reported that milk was bad for ulcers, and now we know most ulcers are caused by H. pylori bacterium (and it took ten years for this to become accepted). We are also realizing the role of NSAID use in the cause of ulcers. We have been told that vitamins as supplements are useless, and in past years Vitamin E was actually classified as snake oil. Now vitamins and supplements are recommended by many doctors and the literature is full of studies showing their effectiveness for health problems. Taking vitamins may weaken flu shot's effect in the elderly, says a team of military doctors at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Medical Center near Dayton, Ohio. This may explain why flu vaccines are generally less effective in older adults compared with younger people. However, previous research has shown that nutritional supplements (those that contained trace elements) might improve the effectiveness of flu shots. The multivitamin used in this study contained no trace minerals such as zinc. The American Medical Association urges adults to take a daily multiple vitamin, says the June 19 issue of JAMA. {healthy.net, 2002} Is this the organization that told us we don't need to take vitamins - that we get enough in the food we eat? In addition, Vitamin Research News newsletter (Sep. 2002) stated that researchers from Harvard Medical School have recommended that everybody , regardless of age or health status, take a daily multivitamin. Even people eating a normal diet, or even a "super-perfect" diet, may not be getting enough of certain vitamins. Eggs good/bad for your cholesterol level. There is much disputed evidence about the 'cholesterol story,' and not only does homocysteine now enter the picture but new evidence shows that antibiotics reduce risk of first heart attack by 70%.
We have been advised that drinking eight glasses of water (or more) each day is good for everyone's health> Now this amout of fluid intake is challenged. A study in the Journal of Gerontology 2000 states that there is no correlation between those who drink less than six glasses a day and constipation, sodium absorption difficulties, fatigue or tiredness, abnormal blood pressure, or frequency of falling. Your level of comfort seems to be the best guide, and so much depends on the water content of the foods you are eating.
Food additives contribute to hyperactivity? Between 4% and 12% of all children are thought to be hyperactive. There was a study of 300 three-year olds where some drank additive-free juices and others drank juices with additives. Although psychologists’ assessment of the children (made only once a week) showed no changes in behavior, according to the parents, hyperactivity increased among those children who drank items with food coloring and the preservative sodium benzoate. Foods are now shown to interfere with medications taken. First it was the combination of grapefruit and grapefruit juice with cholesterol-lowering drugs and also with calcium-channel blockers, which increased their potency. Now there are warnings for orange marmalade (made from Seville oranges) that also boosts the potency of these drugs. Dairy products, on the other hand, make some drugs less effective. High doses of certain fat-soluble vitamins may interfere with fat-soluble medications such as insulin. What you eat, even days before surgery, can affect how your body reacts to anesthesia. In a new study Chicago researchers found that eating even a small amount of food from the nightshade family, eggplant, tomatoes, or potatoes, can interfere with the breakdown of both anesthesia and muscle relaxants in the body. This study, described in the American Society of Anesthesiologists' annual meeting, may help explain why patients vary so widely in their sensitivity to anesthetics. Two-hundred years ago the tomato was shunned as a poisonous food in North America, even though it was a staple of the European diet. It wasn't until Robert Gibbon Johnson ate a tomato on the courthouse steps in Salem, NJ, and survived, that the American people began to consume tomatoes. We think we've got it all figured out — to be strong and healthy, eat grains and drink milk, cut back on fat and stay away from coffee, chocolate and alcohol. Then why, on the whole, are we getting sicker and sicker? Our food plans seem to be failing us. We hear that sugar is bad for you and then the public responds with more artificial sweeteners, diet drinks, etc., though there is much evidence that these additives are much more harmful than sugar. It seems the enormous amount of artificial sweeteners have not curbed the weight problem; in fact it is getting worse. Previous estimates reported that most Americans gain between five and ten pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas, though recently NIH says weight gain is a fact, it is usually less than a pound. This small addition is not usually lost in the summer months. Those who are already overweight are the most likely to add five pounds or more in the winter months.
"The USDA's food pyramid certainly isn't working," says Walter Willett, MD, and Chairman of the Dept. of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Chocolate now is in, and milk may be out. Diet affects cancer? Poppycock we were told. Now diet is said to prevent close to one-third of all cancer deaths. We need to cook meat at high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria, yet cooking meat at high temperature may create carcinogenic substances. A double edged sword. ExerciseNo pain, no gain was the advice a few years ago. Now we are warned that exercise, especially when experiencing pain, can be harmful. Exercise was thought to worsen health problems, but now we are told we need weight-bearing exercises, stretching, and low aerobics, such as walking. Bed rest is still over prescribed. There was a little challenged assumption that one should have total bed rest after low back pain, surgery, childbirth, etc., several decades ago, and now it has changed to "get 'em up and moving." Bed rest can actually be harmful for some disorders.
The truth about eating and swimming soon after giving you cramps. According to William Evans, Director of the Nutrition, Metabolism, and Exercise Laboratory at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, this is just an old wives tale. People used to think that perhaps all the blood flowing to the gut for digestion would cause the muscles to cramp up, but he suggests waiting to swim if you feel uncomfortably full from eating. If you eat moderately, swimming right away is fine.
People were told if it hurts, don't move it, and if you have arthritis don't use it. Now we know that resting is not a good thing and people need to learn how to stay active even though they have arthritis.
There is no advantage to stretching before or after exercising, as it produces non-significant reductions in muscle soreness, injury risk, or even sporting performance says a large randomized controlled trial. A few studies show that stretching can actually be harmful. This is reported in the British Medical Journal 2002.
We are learning that some of the exercises we did in school gym (30+ years ago) can be risky and are now being modified or replaced to reduce the stress they place on vulnerable joints and muscles. Sexual FunctionIn medical school much that was taught about impotence turned out to be false. Only in the last 15 to 20 years have physicians begun to understand this dynamic. It was previously thought that the strongest sperm would get to the egg, so physicians recommended that the male would 'save up' sperm (days without ejaculation) before trying to impregnate lest they conceive with a weaker sperm. Now that is disproved. Masters and Johnson stated that 90% of erectile dysfunction was psychological. Now that advice has been overturned and healthy blood flow is the key. The G-spot: a gynecological UFO? The bundle of nerve tissue in the vagina that, when stimulated, intensifies sexual arousal. There is little evidence to support its existence. You can't find it because there is nothing to find, like a UFO, much searched for, much discussed, but unverified. AnalgesicsAspirin for decades has been deemed as a safe O.T.C. drug. Reports say now that it may be dangerous because it can cause internal bleeding. Anti-fever drugs such as aspirin and acetaminophen may prolong symptoms of the flu, a disease course of five days in those who did not take aspirin or acetaminophen, and nine days in people who did. Psychology, Mental Health, and ParentingWe were told in article after article that watching violence on TV had no effect on children, but now as the studies come in we realized what we had suspected, that exposure to many of the programs is detrimental.
Doctors are sharply divided about the dangers and benefits about parents sharing beds with babies.
For decades in psychiatry, depression equaled penis envy, says Myrna Weissman, an epidemiologist and Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University School of Medicine in New York, who has long studied depression. Then the feminists came along and said depression equals oppression. But we've come along way from both those views, she added. In the 1960's feminist's psychologists challenged the long-held assumptions that depression is natural in women, given their weaker personalities and raging hormones. A new common wisdom took shape: Nurture not nature, makes women more depressed than men. It was documented that married women suffered the greatest rates of depression, and now the pendulum is swinging again and the conclusion is that marriage is good for women's mental health. The American Academy for Pediatrics now recommend that babies sleep on their sides or on their back until about one year of age, not on tummies as previously advised. Babies who slept on their stomachs were more likely to die of SIDS. For many years in the recent past, the public as told to get rid of anger — express it. Now it is realized that aggression begets further aggression, and we are urged to redirect anger toward more rewarding and productive emotions. The 'Mozart effect,' an increase in intelligence after listening to a Mozart piano sonata, does not hold up in additional studies. Environmentally Induced Diseases or Conditions
After years of scientific consensus that cleanliness is next to wellness, evidence is now accumulating that the opposite might be true. It seems our immune system needs a bit of squalor to function best. Now we live too clean a life and it is hurting us, says Dennis Ownby, Chief of the Allergy and Immunology section at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Children exposed to two or more pets during their first year of life is likely to help create an immunity to allergies reports a study in JAMA. Children with cats were less likely to have asthma than those without cats.
The ultraviolet light in sunshine causes skin cancer (especially melanoma), yet a lack of sunlight doubles our risk of many common cancers.
Excessive sun exposure increases the risk of skin cancer, but a National Cancer Institute study of death records shows that people who had more sun exposure, while they had an elevated risk of skin cancer death, had reduced risk of death from breast, ovarian, colon and prostate cancers. Some believe that vitamin D, manufactured in the body when the skin is exposed to the sun, may have some protective effect. Sunscreens are recommended for preventing skin cancer but new data shows that people who wear more sunscreen have higher rates of skin cancer. The legislators can decide on the 'acceptable levels' of toxins and harmful substances in our food, air and water — the result of money and politics more than concern for the public's health. We not only allow acceptable levels of contaminants and poisons in our food, air and water, but we are constantly 'upping the ante'. We are poisoning our bodies, and we wonder where all the illnesses come from. We chemicalize our lawns and our homes, and in our haste to get rid of pests we expose our families to harmful poisons. Nature versus Nurture — Genetics versus EnvironmentIt's hard to trust what experts tell us when their advice keeps changing! We were told that the influence of the environment was all important. Now we find that genes can determine or contribute to many of those characteristics like shyness, criminality, etc.
Mental illness was once thought to be due to troublesome spirits and then the fault of environment, but there is increasing evidence that this disease has a genetic component, just like heart disease and cancer, or be triggered by the very same infections that cause other diseases.
In the 1940’s autism in children was attributed to “cold feeling mothers.' Now that is debunked and scientists are looking at genetics. Once thought to be 1 out of every 10,000 children, autism is now estimated to be 1 in 500. A California study in 2002 shows a three-fold increase (from 1987 to 1998). |