Mary figured out how to reverse diabetes . . . on her own
Mary shared her story of how she learned–on her own, at first–that foods that raise blood sugar, such as grains, cause you to “need” diabetes drugs. Not eating foods that raise blood sugar causes you to not need diabetes drugs.
“I started going grain-free in December, 2014 as a last-ditch effort to get a handle on my diabetes.
“My extreme reaction to metformin–stomach problems from diarrhea to esophageal spasms–made me give it up for good early last year. My blood sugars were out of control, but my doctor did not want to start me on insulin. My blood sugar numbers were regu...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - April 16, 2015 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr. Davis Tags: Wheat Belly Success Stories blood sugar diabetes gluten grains Weight Loss Source Type: blogs
Alaska Health Department Airs First Pro-Smoking Television Ad Since 1970
Since 1970, the television airwaves have been clear of pro-smoking advertisements. That is, until recently, when the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services began running a television spot that undoubtedly promotes smoking by strongly discouraging smokers who might otherwise quit from using electronic cigarettes. The commercial will likely also cause ex-smokers who have quit via electronic cigarettes to return to cigarette smoking. Worst of all, the commercial lies to the public by attributing to electronic cigarette diseases for which there is no evidence of an association with vaping.The text of the commercial re...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 8, 2015 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Assume Nothing
Patient with multiple medical problems (diabetes, COPD, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, headaches, arthritis; you know, your basic Baby Boomer) comes in with a new symptom: food gets stuck going down. It’s been going on for a while now and getting worse. Liquids are becoming problematic as well.
I’m worried. Esophageal cancer is the main concern here, so off he goes to endoscopy.
Good news is that there’s no cancer. Bad news is that brushings show infection with candida. It’s a yeast infection of the esophagus. Treatment begins, but now we have another problem: Why did this happen? Esophageal candidi...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - November 16, 2014 Category: Primary Care Authors: notdeaddinosaur Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs
Curt Schilling Announces He is a Victim of Oral Cancer from Smokeless Tobacco: Time for MLB to Ban the Stuff
This summer, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling announced that he had undergone treatment for oral cancer, which he clearly attributes to this 30-year history of smokeless tobacco use (he was not a smoker). According to an article at MLB News:"Curt Schilling said Wednesday that he believes his use of smokeless tobacco led to oral cancer that required radiation and chemotherapy. Schilling revealed the type of cancer he had while speaking on WEEI Radio during the Boston station's annual fund-raising broadcast for the Jimmy Fund. "I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably, that chewing is what gave me cancer,...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 1, 2014 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
To reduce health costs, everyone needs to be on the same page
“Mr. Jones’ chest x-ray looks normal,” the intern said to me on morning rounds.
Mr. Jones just had a transhiatal esophagectomy (THE). The esophagus is the muscular tube that connects the back of one’s throat to their stomach. It can develop cancer or become completely dysfunctional because of benign processes, and therefore need to be removed.
Continue reading ...
Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 27, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: David Tom Cooke, MD Tags: Physician Hospital Surgery Source Type: blogs
Almost Alike: A Medical Cautionary Tale
Medical bracelet that says “Adrenal Insufficiency”.
I’ve been thinking about medical stuff a lot lately, so apologies if my posts tend towards the medical for a little while. It’s what happens when you suddenly realize how lucky you are to be alive, and how close you came to death. My father’s cancer has me thinking about life and death and medical care a lot, too.
In my dealings with doctors, I have found that they like the solutions to their problems to be neat and tidy. In particular, they want there to be one diagnosis that explains all the symptoms they’re observing. They want their patient...
Source: Ballastexistenz - August 26, 2014 Category: Autism Authors: Mel Baggs Tags: Adrenal insufficiency Aspiration pneumonia Bronchiectasis Communication Death Developmental disability Family Feeding tube Gastroparesis Genetics Long & detailed Medical Medical stuff Neglect Pain Perception Physical disabi Source Type: blogs
Cases: Second-Line Anti-emetic Therapies for Refractory Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV)
Discussion:Nausea and vomiting (NV) are commonly reported side effects with chemotherapy.1 The primary pathway for NV involves the chemotherapy drugs directly stimulating the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ), in the area postrema at the base of the fourth ventricle. Activated receptors in the CTZ transmit signals to the vomiting center in the brainstem to produce NV. Receptors in the CTZ include serotonergic receptor 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3), dopaminergic (D2) and neurokinin type 1 (NK-1) receptors. In addition, chemotherapy can damage GI mucosa causing local release of 5-HT3 neurotransmitters by gut enteroch...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - August 25, 2014 Category: Palliative Carer Workers Authors: Christian Sinclair Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 25-year-old man with slowly progressive solid-food dysphagia
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 25-year-old man is evaluated for a 5-year history of slowly progressive solid-food dysphagia that is accompanied by a sensation of food sticking in his lower retrosternal area. He has compensated by modifying his diet and avoiding fibrous meats. He has not lost weight, and he has not had trouble drinking liquids. He has had episodes of food impaction that he manages by inducing vomiting. He has had no difficulty initiating a swallow and has not had chest pain, odynophagia, reflux symptoms, or aspiration of foo...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 10, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions GI Source Type: blogs
A vacation book review…
The good thing about vacation is that time off is essential. The bad thing is the reentry, which, lately, is harried enough to induce arrhythmia. Almost. Thankfully, I made it through the reentry week and now sit in peace on Saturday morning with my MacBook. I thought I would tell you a little about my unplugged vacation—mostly the book reading.
You have to understand that I am behind in my education. While many of you were reading classic books, writing papers, learning grammar and becoming educated, I was playing sports, memorizing science, excelling in math and then, later in life, learning only medicine. I kick mysel...
Source: Dr John M - August 2, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr John Source Type: blogs
Debate Around the Hepatitis C Drug Must Take Into Account the Benefits to Patients and the Long-Term Savings
This report projected that without new treatments and cures for hepatitis C, "annual medical costs for patients with this disease would more than double from $30 billion to over $85 billion over the next 20 years - an unsustainable trend."
Previous therapies for hepatitis C carried numerous side effects, such as anemia and depression, while only helping about half of patients. Cure rates for Sovaldi, however, were nearly 90% in clinical trials before the drug was approved for sale in December, and there were far fewer complications. The Millman report points out that complications associated with the disease are ver...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 1, 2014 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
More Sitting, More Cancer
One of the more interesting results from the study of health and lifestyle choices in recent years is the finding that time spent sitting correlates with increased mortality and a shorter life expectancy regardless of whether or not individuals also exercised. As for all such statistical investigations, there is a lot of room to speculate as to the web of related associations and which of them are actually contributing meaningfully to differences in health. This metastudy expands on the picture by looking specifically at cancer risk:
Sedentary behavior is emerging as an independent risk factor for chronic disease and mor...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 19, 2014 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
The Picture With The Smile That Says So Much About Advances In Cancer Care
It was the picture (see below) that, to me, said it all: a 96 year old woman -- one of the first patients in the world to receive a brand new cancer drug--, and a large tumor on her neck had melted completely away. But it was the smile on her lips that you couldn't avoid noticing.
Let's set the stage: You have spent the last 5 days in a large convention center at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago running from presentation to presentation and meeting to meeting. You have heard more information presented in more rapid fire sequence than any human being can possibly absorb. You h...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 4, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Media Medicare Medications Melanoma Other cancers Research Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
Esophageal cancer: How far should we screen?
The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has increased more than five-fold over the past four decades in the U.S. While the rate of rise in incidence of esophageal cancer has slowed somewhat in recent years, this malignancy is still associated with a dismal prognosis. Barrett’s esophagus, the precursor lesion to esophageal cancer, is easily identifiable on routine upper endoscopy and can be monitored for the development of precancerous changes. We generally assume that by performing endoscopic surveillance in our Barrett’s patients, we can detect high-grade dysplasia and esophageal cancer at early stages when it is s...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 1, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Julian A. Abrams, MD Tags: Conditions Cancer GI Source Type: blogs
Fat people and feeding tubes.
This isn’t a post I like to write. The idea to write it always comes after someone, who is not communicating with me in good faith, approaches me and makes snide remarks about how I can possibly need a feeding tube if I’m fat. Except they usually go beyond calling me fat. They usually make some reference to my weight that makes it sound like I’m unusually fat, just to make things worse. In one case, a known repeat cyber-bully (he has made threatening phone calls to a friend of mine — if I’d recognized him on sight I’d have deleted his comment unread) even told me he’d lost...
Source: Ballastexistenz - May 15, 2014 Category: Autism Authors: Mel Baggs Tags: Abuse Bullying Death Ethics Ethics, justice, etc. Food Medical Medical stuff Prejudice Rumors Stereotypes Treatment Trolls Discrimination fat fat and health fat health fatphobia feeding tube feeding tubes gastropare Source Type: blogs
