Want to live longer? Here are easy things to incorporate

Posted on February 16, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

Many of these are common-sense suggestions… with research behind them.

1.  Get a colonoscopy.  This is suggested for everyone at age 50, unless you have a family history or GI symptoms necessitating one sooner.  The worst part, by far, is drinking the bowel prep and having 10+ stools.  You do this worst part in the comfort of your own home.  When you arrive at the endoscopy center the next day you will take “the best nap of your life” and if a polyp is found most every time it can be removed.  You won’t feel the procedure.  Nine out of 10 people whose colon cancer is discovered early will still be alive in 10 years according to the American Cancer Society.  Many will live a normal lifespan.

2. Stop eating before you are full.  Most Americans eat until we are full.  Know that it takes the body 15 to 20 minutes to realize that you are full.  Why is this important?  Obesity is rampant… If you are 100 pounds overweight, this can subtract a decade from your life, according to an Oxford University study.  So, eat until you are 3/5 full and add years to your life.

3.  Use sunscreen.  3.5 million Americans will get skin cancer this year.  76,000 more will develop melanoma per the American Cancer Society.  You may add 20 years to your life per a CDC study showing that those who die of melanoma died two decades prematurely.  Sun does not cause all cases of melanoma, but it does cause most of them.

3.  Stop smoking.  If you quit by age 30, you may increase your lifespan by 10 years.  Quit by 40, add nine years.  Quit at 50, add six years.  Quit at sixty, add three years. 

4.  Get more sleep.  Sleep deprivation has been linked to memory problems, anger, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, car accidents and obesity.  Aim for 7 hours of sleep per night to give your body back what it needs.

5.  Exercise.  Any level of exercise is valuable.  Walking gets you outside AND you get Vitamin D.  Even 15 minutes a day of exercise is beneficial.  One study on public radio reported that every minute you exercise adds seven minutes to your life.  Not bad, eh?

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Why should you see a family doctor?

Posted on February 9, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

IMG_3426Your health is primary! See a primary care physician. Here’s a 2-minute video of why family physicians have an important role in your health … and what I’m trained to do:

http://youtu.be/TyR-C5hnJUA

 

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Babies need vitamin D

Posted on February 2, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

IMG_3419Osteomalacia, also known as “rickets,”  is bone weakness resulting from Vitamin D deficiency.  We now know that breastfed babies and formula fed babies need Vitamin D supplementation.  Formula has Vitamin D in it, but not enough Vitamin D until the baby is drinking 500 mL (about 17 ounces) of formula per day. 

The National Academy of Sciences recommends a supplement of 200 IU per day of Vitamin D for the following:

1.  All breastfed infants unless they are weaned to at least 500 mL per day of Vitamin D-fortified formula or milk.

2.  All nonbreastfed infants who are ingesting less than 500 mL per day of Vitamin D-fortified formula or milk.

3.  All children and adolescents who do not get regular sunlight exposure, do not ingest at least 500 mL per day of Vitamin D-fortified milk, or do not take a daily multivitamin supplement containing at least 200 IU of vitamin D.

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New treatment for dry eyes

Posted on January 29, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg
.flickr.com/ photos/ bahkubean/ 1287879564

.flickr.com/ photos/ bahkubean/ 1287879564

Dry eye symptoms increase with age and may be as high as 30% in those older than 50. Women are more likely to have dry eyes than men. Other risk factor for dry eyes are contact lens use, medications like antihistamines (allergy medicines) or SSRI (common antidepressant and antianxiety medications), tobacco use, diabetes, and history of ophthalmic surgery.

What are symptoms of dry eyes?

Eye irritation, sensation of foreign body in the eye, excessive tearing, and altered vision.

What is first line treatment? Artificial tears.

Other than that… there was a recent study showing that fish oil supplementation may be helpful for the treatment of dry eyes. The study participants took 15 fish oil pills per day. 15 pills sounds a bit excessive, but certainly, the lowest dose that works for you would be best.

What to do about the “fish burps?” Fish oil pills often make the patients belch up fish tasting secretions. If you keep the fish oil pills in the freezer and swallow them frozen, this decreases the fishy burps.

Hope this helps.

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Do YOU (and your kids) really need the flu vaccine?

Posted on January 19, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

The low-down on this is that influenza often kills those who are otherwise well. Also, the flu can be fatal to children.

The CDC found that 830 kids died from flu-related complications between 2004 and 2012 and most of those had not gotten a flu vaccine. Pneumonia was the most commonly reported complication among the kids who died 43% of the kids who died from flu complications were otherwise healthy and did not have high-risk medical conditions (like heart defects, epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, or asthma).

The CDC recommends that all children 6 months or older get the flu vaccine every year. Prevention IS the best strategy. Children younger than 9 who are receiving the vaccine for the first time need two doses. If they only get one vaccine the first year of flu vaccination, it’s as though they are not vaccinated that season.

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Who should get screened for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?

Posted on January 12, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

 It depends on your age…

The US Preventive Services Task Force is the organization that reviews the most cost-effective, efficient treatments. They suggest that all sexually active women, ages 24 or younger, should be screened for both gonorrhea and chlamydia.   Women older than 24 should be screened for those two sexually transmitted infections (STIs) if they are at “increased risk.” (Think new partners, multiple partners, or vaginal discharge with itching, burning or odor.)

For men, there is not sufficient evidence to make a recommendation for OR against screening.

Facoid:  Did you know that the two most common STIs in America are chlamydial infections with 1.4 million cases in 2012 and gonococcal infections with 330,000 cases in 2012? Half of the cases of STIs are in people aged 15 to 24.

 

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Should you give Tylenol before vaccines?

Posted on January 5, 2015 by drlesliegreenberg

 

flickr.com/photos/e n321/55331295/

flickr.com/ photos/en321/55331295/

No. Pretreatment of vaccines with Tylenol could actually BLUNT the immune response to the given vaccine. The CDC has released a statement that there are no good studies to support GIVING Tylenol before vaccines. So, I would advise refraining from giving Tylenol.

MMR is one vaccine that patients may get a fever on day 5 after vaccine. So, if a fever occurs after a vaccine, that would be the time to give the Tylenol.

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Artificial sweeteners may be harmful

Posted on December 30, 2014 by drlesliegreenberg
flickr.com/ photos/ blmiers2/ 6904758951

flickr.com/ photos/ blmiers2/ 6904758951

Israeli researchers have shown that consumption of noncaloric (artificial) sweeteners may induce glucose intolerance in both mice and humans. It is thought that instead of artificial sweeteners preventing obesity and metabolic disease, the use of noncalorie sweeteners may have increased the epidemic rise in these conditions.

Further research showed that the sweeteners alter microbiota in the gut, and increasing metabolic-syndrome-related parameters. These parameters include increased weight and increased waist-to-hip ratio, raising fasting blood glucose levesv, raising hemoglobin A1c values (the measure of blood sugars over 90 days), and increasing the values in response to glucose tolerance tests. These are all bad outcomes.

We are unsure how much artificial sweetener is okay. One researcher joked that “drinking 17 diet sodas a day is probably a bad idea, but one or two may be okay.”

Interesting research..l’ll keep watching…

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Hypothyroidism. What is the big deal?

Posted on December 9, 2014 by drlesliegreenberg

I like to refer to the thyroid as the “gas pedal to the body.”  The thyroid gland is located in the neck. It makes two kinds of thyroid hormones: T3 and T4. Thyroid hormones regulate how the body uses and stores energy.  These hormones also help the brain, muscles, heart, and other organs work properly. 

If your thyroid is sluggish you can

  • feel fatigue,
  • have dry skin,
  • gain weight,
  • hoarseness,
  • weakness of muscles,
  • thinning hair,
  • impaired memory,
  • increased sensitivity to cold,
  • constipation,
  • have achy muscles.

What may happen if hypothyroidism isn’t treated?  For one, your symptoms may worsen. Untreated hypothyroidism can also lead to other health problems like infertility, memory loss, depression and heart failure. 

Who is at risk for hypothyroidism?  Anyone.  but, you are at increased risk if you are a woman older than 60, have an autoimmune disease, have a family history of thyroid problems, have been pregnant or have delivered a baby within the past six months. 

How it is diagnosed?  Bloodwork.  The tests measure the level of thyroid hormones.  The TSH level is the best screening test for hypothyroidism.

Treatment is usually lifelong.  thyroid hormone pills come in different brand and generic forms.  Be sure to followup with bloodwork to confirm that your dose is correct.

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Salina, Kansas hospital putting some teeth into non-smoking rule

Posted on December 5, 2014 by drlesliegreenberg
flickr.com/ photos/lanier67/ 237055775

flickr.com/ photos/lanier67/ 237055775

Hospitals have had no smoking in the hospital rules for years.  (This is in humorous contrast to when my father was smoking in the physician lounge in the 1960s.)

A Salina, Kansas hospital has a way to get patient to observe their no-tobacco rule: They’re being sent home.  Salina health Center and its clinics have been tobacco-free since 2007, but have had difficulty with patients continuing to sneak cigarettes or chewing tobacco. 

Starting August 2014, patient were warned that tobacco use would warrant discharge from the hospital and a notation of the chart of having “left against medical advice (AMA)”.  This AMA status is financially significant in that many insurance companies will refuse to pay for any of the hospitalization if the patient leave the hospital AMA.

I wonder if this will be the tip-of-the-iceberg?!  We will see.

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