Wellcast

Autism is a range of conditions that effects speech delay and impaired social activity. Nearly 1 in 100 American children is diagnosed with autism. Many parents of an autistic child believed that vaccines were the cause of the disease. This was due to a controversial study by British physician Andrew Wakefield in 1998. He claimed that the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine when given to infants was linked to autism. Follow up research was not able to repeat the findings. Now Dr. Wakefield is amid charges of dishonesty and violations of research ethics when they found out that he was being payed off by lawyers to have parents of children given the vaccine sue the drug companies. The medical board is moving to revoke Dr. Wakefield’s license.

The disturbing part of all this is how this doctor gained the trust of worried parents desperate for an answer to why their child had autism. This small study of 12 children was misleading and ignited fearful and desperate parents to form ant-vaccine groups and leaders like Jenny McCarthy, the mother of an autistic child, to lead others to disregard vaccines.

The cause of autism is yet unknown, but multiple genes are being investigated. There may also be a genetic susceptibility to environmental triggers. Hopefully, more scientific research will reveal potential causes of this disease so that effective treatment can be available.

The British doctor who led a study suggesting a link between the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine and autism acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly,” a U.K. regulatory panel has ruled….

Read the rest of this post from WebMD Health

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Antidepressants have shown to be an effective treatment to treat hot flushes for women who cannot use estrogen therapy (ie. breast cancer patients) or who choose not to use hormones.
Integrative therapies have a role in improving quality of life of cancer patients and those suffering from hot flushes. A randomized controlled study was performed to determine whether acupuncture would be effective in helping women whom were symptomatic.
Women were assigned to 12 weeks of therapy with acupuncture vs a popular antidepressant, venlafaxine (otherwise known as Effexor).

The results were impressive. Both treatment groups had similar outcomes with decreases in not only hot flushes, but other menopausal quality of life symptoms including depression. Both groups had a 50% decrease in hot flushes; however, 2 weeks after treatment, hot flushes in the Effexor group increased while in the acupuncture group, symptoms remained low. Also, there were no side effects in the acupuncture group vs the drug group in which some women experienced nausea, headache, difficulty sleeping, and dizziness.
Acupuncture is an important option for women suffering from hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms.

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So you just got your license and you want a new car. Well, your safety behind the wheel may have something to do with whether you own the car and parenting style.
Parenting styles make a big difference in how teens drive according to a national representative survey of approximately 5000 students in grades 9-12. The categories for parental style consisted of authoritative (high support, high control), authoritarian (low support, high control), permissive (high support and low control) and uninvolved (low support and low control).
The results showed that teens who were the primary drivers of a vehicle were twice as likely to be involved in a crash during the past 12 months than teens who reported shared access to a vehicle.
Also, teens who reported their parents were authoritative (high control, but high support) were significantly less likely to report being involved in a car accident in the past 12 months than teens of parents who were categorized as uninvolved.
Teenagers describing their parents as authoritarian or authoritative were significantly more likely to were seat belts as drivers and passengers as those with uninvolved parents.

So what’s the bottom line?
Support your kids, but give them boundaries (rules) and structure. The combination of love and discipline goes a long way. Take the time to stay involved and be consistent and don’t acquiesce to all requests despite protests. It may save your kid’s life.

Reference: Ginsburg KR et al. Associations between parenting styles and teen driving, safety related behaviors and attitudes. Pediatrics 2009 Oct; 124:1040.
Garcia-Espana JF et al. Primary access to vehicles increases risky teen driving behaviors and crashes: National perspective. Pediatrics 2009 Oct; 124: 1069.

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Migraines are very common. In 1999, there were 28 million migraine sufferers in the U.S. and numbers now are in the $30 millions. It counts for $24 Billion in direct and indirect costs. Most headache sufferers have 1-4 migraines per month and miss 4-8 day/ year. Enough with the statistics….

The frustrating issue with migraines is that they are often misdiagnosed due to the array of symptoms that it presents. In other words, not everyone with a migraine has head pain. About 45% of people with migraines have sinus congestion and sinus pain. These people are often misdiagnosed with sinus infections or allergies. Other migraine symptoms may include runny nose, nausea, dizziness, or one sided facial pain.

The important thing to know about migraines is that it’s genetic. Migarines cannot be cured, but they can be managed. This article addresses ways to treat migraine symptoms and what to discus with your practitioner. One of the main things I stress with my patients is keep a headache diary. It is much easier and more effective to treat migraine symptoms if you know what the triggers are. It will especially help women determine if their migraines are related to their menstrual cycles. Common migraine triggers are food sensitivities, lifestyle changes, medications and weather changes to name a few.

The other point to make is that if you are taking a medication to treat migraines, don’t wait too long to take it. Many people feel pain starting, but think they can handle it, or that this one won’t be too bad, and get hit with a severe disabling migraine. The key is to take migraine medication within 30-60 minutes of onset which has a 90% effective rate.

Also, a deficiency in magnesium has been associated with migraines and headaches. Ask your practitioner to get a blood test called an intracellular magnesium level or you can take magnesium citrate in capsule or powder form. Start with a low dose and work your way up. If you develop diarrhea, then lower the dose.

Migraines with aura increases the risk of stroke. So pay attention to symptoms, and talk to your practitioner about effective treatment.

Patient Money – Migraines Force Sufferers to Do Their Homework – NYTimes.com: “”

(Via .)

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There have been several epidemiological studies that have indicated a relationship between the incidence of cancer and obesity, as well as an increased risk of malignancies associated with obesity and excess body fat.

More research is being conducted to explain the mechanisms causing this association. Some of the possibilities include insulin, estrogen and adipocytokines. The interesting thing is that fat (adipose tissue) is not a storage organ as we once thought, but is considered an endocrine organ with lots of functions. Fat tissue consists of free fatty acids with well defined physiological and pathological effects on glucose balance and on proteins called adipocytokines that act to control many metabolic functions. These proteins have been implicated in the development of insulin resistance which leads to diabetes and heart disease.

Obesity not only puts people at greater risk for malignancies, but it makes screening for and treating cancers harder which increases cancer mortality.

Reference: Levitan, D. “Obesity and cancer: Effects on risk screening and mortality” HemOnc today, Volume 11-Number 1, Jan. 10, 2010.

HPV (human papilloma virus) testing has become somewhat standard of care when doing pap smears. The ACOG (american college of obstetrics/gynecology) guidelines have recommending to women the addition of an HPV test along with their pap smear.

This test is primarily recommended for women over the age of 35 because studies have shown that this virus tends to “take hold” in tissues and stick around longer in this age group, where it may do more damage and cause cervical cancer. That’s not to say that I haven’t seen younger women with pre-cancer cells after a pap, but it’s less likely. Younger women have a much more robust immune system that can clear this virus more efficiently, making it a much more transient infection.

Things may be changing…
An Italian study on 95,000 women showed those tested for HPV alone developed fewer cancers than those who only had pap smears. They concluded that HPV testing was more sensitive than pap smear tests at picking up pre-cancerous changes to cervical cells. Currently, if both cytology (pap) tests and HPV tests are negative, women do not need a pap smear but every 3 years. Now researchers are suggesting that testing may be even less often and women would need testing every 5 years!

We may start to see HPV alone as the primary screening test for cervical cancer in the future. My concern is that women may extend their yearly check-ups to every 3-5 years. Women still need annual exams even though cervical cancer screening can be done less often.

BBC News – HPV test ‘can cut cervical cancer deaths’ say experts: “”

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We don’t think much about our sense of smell. But new research done with mice reveals that the loss of smell could give us clues to the beginnings of Alzheimer’s disease. About 5.3 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s (Alz.org, 2009). It is a devastating disease that adds to our health care costs, especially with our growing elderly population.

Check with your doctor if you notice a change in your sense of smell. He or she may order an olfactory test (less expensive) before a CT scan to determine the cause.

HealthDay – TUESDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) — New research in mice suggests that
loss of smell could serve as an early indicator of Alzheimer’s
disease.

Read the rest of this post from Yahoo! News: Most Emailed – Health

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Have you seen those booths at the mall advertising green tea and how it can help lose weight? Well, I wouldn’t rely totally on drinking green tea to lose those 20 pounds to fulfill your new year’s resolution, but there is some truth on how it may complement your diet plans.

Green tea has an antioxidant called epigallocatechins-3-gallate (EGCG). Green tea, unlike other teas is not fermented, so it retains its EGCG and neutralizes free radicals, which may reduce the risk of cancer. It also inhibits the proliferation or growth of cancer cells.

How green tea may help with weight loss is through its ability to boost metabolism. Studies have shown that this is probably due to the combination of EGCG and caffeine. Don’t forget about this tea’s antioxidants that help reduce levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and improve blood flow. It also shows antibacterial properties that prevents gum disease and tooth decay. I have also used green tea in helping patients with intestinal bacterial infections. Try to choose organic if you can and drink at least 3 cups a day to get full benefits.

You may want to think twice before getting another CT (computed tomography) scan if you’ve had one before. Several studies have suggested that many people have received unnecessary CT scans raising their risk of certain cancers.
Don’t get me wrong, this diagnostic tool has it’s advantages in giving radiologists clear views of internal organs by combining information from multiple x-ray images. But as you add up repeated exposure of this radiation from having multiple scans, studies have shown a sharp increase in cancers and deaths.
We have become much more conscious of the efficiency of screening tests (PSA-prostate tests and mammograms) in evaluating whether these tests truly save lives, and there have been no clinical studies showing that CT imaging saves lives.
The number of CT scans are over 70 million a year. We know that x-ray exposure causes mutations in DNA that leads to cancer. Research has indicated that not all CT machines are created equal. One CT scan is the equivalent to 100 chest x-rays. Some scanners were giving the equivalent of 440 x-rays! WOW! A single test may have a small risk compared to the benefits of an important diagnosis but repeated scans comes with a price.
Women tend to be more vulnerable to radiation and the younger a patient is at the time of the scan, the higher the risk of cancer eventually developing.

We all need to be accountable of our own health and know the number of scans that we’ve had. Ask your doctor questions of why repeat studies are necessary and what other options are available. Discuss the risks and benefits of recommended tests and try to choose tests without radiation such as MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging.

Overuse of CT scans will lead to new cancer deaths, a study shows — latimes.com: “”

(Via .)

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What is the cost of healthcare really paying for? Whatever it is, it’s sure not paying for a longer healthier life.

NGM Blog Central – The Cost of Care – National Geographic Magazine – NGM.com: “”

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