Tag Archives: dr-

The Internet Is Making Us Sicker

by ShaunLadprsnu Posted on August 30, 2015

Mother Jones

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The placebo effect, as we all know, is the mechanism by which we sometimes feel better even when we’re given meds that later turn out to be sugar pills. The mere expectation that we will get better somehow helps us actually get better. The most eye-popping example of the placebo effect is probably this one here.

But there’s also a dark side to this. I don’t know if it has an official name, so let’s call it the anti-placebo effect.1 Basically, it means that your mind can invent miserable side effects from taking medication merely because you know that certain side effects are possible. Take cholesterol-lowering statins, for example:

At the Mayo Clinic here, Dr. Stephen L. Kopecky, who directs a program for statin-intolerant patients, says he is well aware that middle-age and older adults who typically need statins may blame the drugs for aches, pains and memory losses that have other causes. He also knows his patients peruse the Internet, which is replete with horror stories about the dangers of statins.

Yet he, like other doctors, also thinks some statin intolerance is real despite what clinical trials have shown. The problem: In the vast majority of cases, there is no objective test to tell real from imagined statin intolerance.

So there you have it: the internet is making us sicker. Does it make up for this by also making us healthier? I have my doubts. It is a spawn of evil.

And no, you still can’t take mine away. However, this is one of the reasons why I’ve avoided reading about multiple myeloma on the internet. I figure it’s unlikely to help, and might very well hurt.

1Turns out it’s called the nocebo effect. How about that?

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The Internet Is Making Us Sicker

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Study: Air Pollution May Make Your Brain Age Faster

by LaylaS95wbhh Posted on June 24, 2015

Mother Jones

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If you want to prevent cognitive decline with old age, doctors have long recommended eating well, getting enough rest, exercising, reading plenty of books, and staying socially active. Pretty soon, they might start recommending a move out to the countryside.

Living in places with high levels of air pollution, such as cities and along busy highways, may accelerate aging of the brain. In a new study published in the Annals of Neurology, researchers found that over time, increased exposure to air pollution in a group of elderly women without dementia led to significant decreases in their brains’ white matter, which is important for cognition.

The researchers, led by Dr. Jiu-Chiuan Chen of the University of Southern California, looked in particular at exposure to fine particles, which can come from fires, coal-fired power plants, agricultural and industrial emissions, and especially cars and trucks. These particles, which are about 36 times finer than a grain of sand, can enter the lungs and travel into the bloodstream, causing serious damage to the body. The researchers estimated air pollution exposure for a group of 1,403 elderly women from 1999 to 2006, and found that those who were exposed to an increase of 3.49 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter of air—similar to the increase in pollution you’d get by moving right next to a busy road—experienced a decrease in white matter volume as if their brains had aged an extra one or two years.

These findings support a growing body of new evidence—uncovered today in a Mother Jones investigation by Aaron Reuben—that suggests air pollution’s assault on the body goes much deeper than we previously believed. While scientists have long understood that exposure to fine particles is linked with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, as well as respiratory illnesses and cancers, they are only just beginning to suspect that this type of pollution may also be leading to or exacerbating degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

As Reuben reports, when we inhale fine particles, they can actually travel along a pathway from our noses directly into our brains. This results in inflammation, the body’s natural response to pathogens that, over time, can lead to a wide range of chronic diseases. Over the past decade or so, a number of studies, controlling for things like ethnicity, income, education, and other environmental factors, have shown that elderly people living in polluted places seem to lose their mental abilities faster, show more predementia symptoms, and develop Alzheimer’s disease at greater rates than those who breathe cleaner air. Even children in polluted places have shown signs of brain trauma. To learn more about the terrifying new science behind these findings, check out Reuben’s full investigation here.

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Study: Air Pollution May Make Your Brain Age Faster

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Save Your Brain: The 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp – Paul Nussbaum

by Myrna Posted on June 22, 2015

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

Save Your Brain: The 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp

Paul Nussbaum

Genre: Health & Fitness

Price: $1.99

Publish Date: April 9, 2010

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Seller: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.


Expert advice on how to ward off memory loss and dementia Beginning with a diagnostic quiz to help you determine your overall brain health, and ending with meal plans and recipes for a brain boosting diet, Save Your Brain is an easy-to-follow comprehensive guide to getting the brain in the best shape possible, and keeping it there-for life! Doing the daily crossword puzzle and drinking Ginko Biloba may not be enough in fighting off mental decline. Alzeimers and Dementia are on the rise but clinical neuropsychologist David Nussbaum presents a comprehensive 5-part program for keeping brains operating at their best and fighting off these debilitating diseases. The author presents concrete, actionable tips to help you improve your: PhysicalMentalSocialSpiritualNutritional This is a complete system for getting the brain in the best shape possible and keeping it there for life. Our brains can remain as strong and as sharp at seventy as they were by twenty by following Dr. Nussbaum&apos;s 5 essential steps.

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Save Your Brain: The 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp – Paul Nussbaum

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The Checklist – Dr. Manny Alvarez

by Myrna Posted on June 17, 2015

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

The Checklist
How to Identify True Medical Advice When
Dr. Manny Alvarez

Genre: Health & Fitness

Price: $0.99

Publish Date: March 17, 2009

Publisher: HarperCollins e-books

Seller: HarperCollins


In the tradition of YOU The Owner&apos;s Manual, The Checklist is organized as a guide to help individuals and families take the right precautions, at the right time in their lives, to avoid the most common health pitfalls and illnesses, and put them on the path to a vigorous and sound lifestyle. Each decade in a person&apos;s life introduces new risks not seen in their previous ten years. A health plan must be tailor-made to fit a body as it matures decade to decade. Dr. Manny&apos;s friendly, easy explanations and simple maintenance breakdowns show people how to act preventively and proactively, without unnecessary fears or reliance on the abundance of outdated, counterproductive health myths. Dr. Manny&apos;s mission is to aid readers in their pursuit of living a healthy and long life, and to help close the door on future life-threatening illnesses using proven, sound medical knowledge.

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The Checklist – Dr. Manny Alvarez

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Chill Out, GOP: Medical Marijuana Laws Won’t Turn America’s Teens Into Stoners

by OTHLeannez Posted on June 16, 2015

Mother Jones

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Concerned parents and conservative lawmakers, fear not: Laws legalizing the use of medical marijuana won’t be your child’s gateway into drug use, according to new research published on Monday.

By now, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of medical marijuana. The peer-reviewed study in the Lancet Psychiatry found that legalization of medical marijuana at the state level does not increase recreational pot use by teens.

Eight researchers, headed by Dr. Deborah Hasin, an epidemiology professor at Columbia medical school, analyzed the marijuana use of more than 1 million kids. The random sample was selected from respondents to Monitoring the Future, a national census that has surveyed thousands of teens about their behaviors and values annually for the past 24 years.

The team compared pot use by teens before and after their states legalized medical marijuana and did not find a significant change in use pre- versus post-legalization. Adolescent use in states where medical marijuana is legal is higher, but the study’s authors point out that this disparity can be deceiving: The same states already had higher adolescent marijuana use before legislation was passed. The fact that teenage pot-smoking stayed consistent after legalization suggests that there is no causal relationship between legal medical marijuana and teens lighting up, write the authors. If anything, fewer kids are using weed: Last year, a different Monitoring the Future study reported that teen marijuana use has been trending downward since 2014.

The Lancet study also found that after states made medical marijuana legal, there was a two percent decrease in pot use among eighth graders. This might be because “eighth graders had more modifiable attitudes and beliefs about marijuana, and were less likely to view marijuana as recreational after states authorized its use for medical purposes.”

But as attitudes and laws regarding marijuana continue to evolve, so might adolescent use, the authors write, encouraging researchers to conduct additional studies over time.

In 2015, laws to legalize medical marijuana use have failed in 17 states. So, this debate is far from over, but if this research is any indication, it may be time to put the youth corruption angle to rest.

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Chill Out, GOP: Medical Marijuana Laws Won’t Turn America’s Teens Into Stoners

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Ben Carson Is Running for President. Read These 6 Stories About Him Now.

by FredricBroome Posted on May 4, 2015

Mother Jones

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The doctor is in: Conservative darling Dr. Ben Carson officially announced that he’s running for president on Sunday in interviews with TV stations in Ohio and Florida. On Monday, he’s expected to address supporters in his hometown of Detroit. He will be the fourth Republican to officially enter the race, joining Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Carson’s candidacy is the culmination of months of fundraising and advocacy by grassroots activists anxious for him to run for president. Carson, a former head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University whose unlikely rise was the subject of a cable TV movie, has never before held elected office. He is popular among DC-loathing tea partiers and Christian conservatives, but his political inexperience and past gaffes will likely make it difficult for him to win over the GOP establishment.

Ahead of his announcement, check out some of Mother Jones‘ best coverage of Carson.

Ben Carson has written six books. We read them so you don’t have to.
On immigration and Wall Street, Carson has said some surprisingly liberal things.
On homosexuality, though, not so much—watch Carson claim that prison proves that being gay is a choice.
The story of the Draft Ben Carson PAC began with a quasi-famous birther.
…And how the self-proclaimed “black Jesse Helms” raised millions to support Draft Carson.
Once upon a time, Carson was just a rebellious, train-hopping teenager.

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Ben Carson Is Running for President. Read These 6 Stories About Him Now.

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Beware the Hype of New Medical Studies

by UlrikeDelong Posted on March 23, 2015

Mother Jones

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Julia Belluz thinks the democratization of medical research may have gone too far:

I often wonder whether there is any value in reporting very early research. Journals now publish their findings, and the public seizes on them, but this wasn’t always the case: journals were meant for peer-to-peer discussion, not mass consumption.

Working in the current system, we reporters feed on press releases from journals and it’s difficult to resist the siren call of flashy findings. We are incentivized to find novel things to write about, just as scientists and research institutions need to attract attention to their work. Patients, of course, want better medicines, better procedures — and hope.

But this cycle is hurting us, and it’s obscuring the truths research has to offer.

The truth, Belluz says, is that virtually all initial studies of promising new therapies fail to pan out. Only 6 percent of new journal articles each year are well-designed and relevant enough to inform patient care. Of these, only a fraction end up in a product that successfully makes it to market.

Dr. Oz may be the face of bad medical advice, but the fact is that it’s all around us. We’re all desperate for cures—I’d certainly like to see one for multiple myeloma—but most of them just don’t go anywhere. Belluz has more about the siren call of new miracle cures at the link.

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Beware the Hype of New Medical Studies

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Melinda Gates Shames Anti-Vaxxers "Who Have Forgotten What Measles Death Looks Like"

by LorrieWolford Posted on January 23, 2015

Mother Jones

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On the heels of an increasingly widening measles outbreak at Disneyland in California, where at least 28 of the people infected were reportedly unvaccinated, Melinda Gates is urging parents to take advantage of healthcare resources in the United States and get their children vaccinated.

“We take vaccines so for granted in the United States,” Gates explained during an appearance on HuffPost Live Thursday. “Women in the developing world know the power of vaccines. They will walk 10 kilometers in the heat with their child and line up to get a vaccine because they have seen death.

In detailing the struggle parents in the developing world endure to have their children vaccinated, Gates said Americans have simply “forgotten what measles death looks like.”

Through her philanthropy work with husband Bill Gates, Melinda has long worked to help people in developing countries obtain basic healthcare treatment, including vaccine deliveries.

“I’d say to the people of the United States: We’re incredibly lucky to have that technology and we ought to take advantage of it,” she added.

In the United States, the highly contagious disease has reemerged in recent years thanks to the anti-vaccination movement and personal belief exemptions. Use of the controversial waivers is particularly prominent in California.

The recent outbreak at Disneyland has heightened the debate. According to the Associated Press, those infected range from just seven months to 70-years-old, including five park employees.

Dr. James Cherry, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California-Los Angeles, told the New York Times the current outbreak is “100 percent connected” to the anti-immunization movement.

“It wouldn’t have happened otherwise—it wouldn’t have gone anywhere. There are some pretty dumb people out there.”

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Melinda Gates Shames Anti-Vaxxers "Who Have Forgotten What Measles Death Looks Like"

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3 Medical Conditions That Bacon Can Cure

by TrinaUccenoyuhd Posted on January 14, 2015

Mother Jones

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As we all know, the internet is obsessed with bacon. Physicians, however, are usually less bullish about the delicious yet notoriously artery-clogging treat. Until now: Over at the medical blog KevinMD, Dr. Jennifer Gunter combs the scientific literature and turns up three actual medical conditions that bacon can help treat:

  1. Nosebleeds. Last October, Stanford otolaryngologist Ian Humphreys developed a nasal tampon made out of bacon that cured a young girl’s bloody nose, an accomplishment for which he was awarded a 2014 Ig Nobel Prize in medicine. “Apparently the high salt content of bacon is believed to induce swelling which causes the blood vessels to constrict slowing the flow of blood and helping clotting,” writes Gunter. When Humphreys won the IgNobel, Robert Jackler, chair of Stanford’s otolaryngology department, told Stanford’s Scope medical blog, “We are squealing with pride.”
  2. An incredibly disgusting-sounding infection called furuncular myiasis in which the larvae of an insect called Dermatobia hominis nest in the human soft tissue or skin, resulting in boils and sometimes tissue destruction. Shudder. “The treatment largely consists of manually picking out the larvae with tweezers,” writes Gunter. “Apparently bacon fat can be used as bait to lure the larvae to the skin surface for faster and more effective removal.”
  3. Scabies. Apparently, bacon fat was once used in topical sulfur and salicylic acid creams used to treat this itchy and highly contagious skin infection. A 1991 study compared the bacon fat formulation to the more modern cold cream version and finds, Gunter writes, that “while the cold cream combination was 100% effective versus 88 percent for the bacon fat base the authors noted that the bacon fat concoction was 238 times less expensive than the cheapest scabicidal medication in the U.S.”

So there you have it: Bacon as medicine. Something to keep in mind if you have any left over after you make that gross bacon lattice thing for your Super Bowl party.

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3 Medical Conditions That Bacon Can Cure

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People Are Trying to Sell Cinnamon Bark as an Ebola Cure

by ShayneMagee Posted on October 16, 2014

Mother Jones

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Marion Nestle reports that several supplement manufacturers are selling vitamins that promise to prevent or treat Ebola. The claims caught the attention of the FDA, which has issued warning letters to three of the manufacturers: Natural Solutions Foundation, Young Living, and DoTERRA International LLC. The agency lists specific claims it finds worrisome; for example, on a Young Living consultant’s website, “Ebola Virus can not live in the presence of cinnamon bark.”

Here’s a screenshot from Natural Solutions Foundations’ website:

An article on the Natural Solutions site talks about “the intentional introduction of Ebola into the United States by what will appear to be ISIS terrorists.” It continues, “And it will happen soon, since we know from Dr. Rima’s research that Ebola can become an airborne disease in temperate climates, such as North America’s coming winter.” It urges readers to prepare by stocking up on supplements that contain nanoparticles of silver: “The only protection we have against this new level of tyranny is making sure we do not get sick!!! The best way to do that is to make sure that EVERYONE you can reach has Nano Silver and knows how to use it.”

Another supposed natural Ebola cure making the rounds: Vitamin C. Nestle found this gem on an alternative health information site called NaturalHealth365, which claims that a giant dose of vitamin C can cure Ebola (though it doesn’t actually sell Vitamin C):

NaturalHealth365

It’s not terribly surprising that supplement manufacturers have seized on Ebola. A new Harvard School of Public Health poll has found that 38 percent of Americans (up from 25 percent a few months ago) “are now concerned that they or someone in their immediate family may get sick with Ebola over the next year.” That’s quite a market.

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People Are Trying to Sell Cinnamon Bark as an Ebola Cure

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