Fastrack Archives June 2011

Wednesday   June 1, 2011

Brisk Walking Helps Prostate Cancer

Men with prostate cancer that is localized to the prostate can improve their outcomes if they walk briskly for at least 3 hours a week. This high-intensity exercise delayed and possibly even prevented the progression of their disease as they were found to have a 57% lower rate of progression of disease than men walking at a slower pace. They also found that brisk exercise lowered the risk of dying from the disease. Previous studies show that vigorous physical exercise reduced the risk of getting prostate cancer

Thursday     June 2, 2011

How Much Calcium Does Your Body Need

Increasing daily calcium does not reduce the risk of fractures beyond a certain amount, which is 750 mg per day. Most MDs in the US overdose supplementation, thinking that more is better to prevent or stop the progression of low bone mass...osteopenia and osteoporosis. Studies on more than 60,000 women showed that women had the lowest risk of having a fracture when they consumed about 750 mg of calcium per day. Higher levels of calcium intake had no additional benefit. We know that in women with osteoporosis who we treat with large doses of calcium, especially without sufficient vitamin D, are prone to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

Friday    June 3, 2011

Bill Gates on Vaccines

Bill Gates is donating millions of dollars for immunization program development through the World Health Organization to prevent polio, AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. While this is part of a good program to prevent infections, it is still important to treat the underlying reasons for suppressed immunity such as sanitation, clean water, and nutritious food. Just because immunizations could be very helpful for third world countries, doesn't mean that our kids need in the range of 70 immunizations by the time they are 18 years old. It also does not justify the continued use of thimerosal in vaccines.

Monday     June 6, 2011

Breast Thermography: Is It Underutilized?

The FDA published information in Journal Watch in June of 2011 that is packed with presumptive and incorrect information about breast thermography and they have to know it! Breast thermography was approved in 1982 as an adjunct to mammography to evaluate for breast cancer. In 2004 the FDA rejected breast thermography as a stand alone test for breast cancer screening by a vote of 5-4. Three of the members voting against it had a conflict of interest because of ties to the mammography industry.

Nonetheless Helen Barr, MD, the director of the Division of Mammography Quality and Radiation Programs in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health stated, "While there is plenty of evidence that mammography is effective in breast cancer detection, there is simply no evidence that thermography can take its place." Come on, Dr. Barr, keep up with the current and the old literature on this much needed test

Tuesday    June 7, 2011

Big Pharma Marketing to Medical Students

US medical students are exposed to big pharma marketing as early as their preclinical years. The extent of their exposure with industry is associated with positive attitudes about marketing. Students feel they are immune to bias. Many medical schools prohibit drug companies from marketing to students, but most do not. At the very least we need to have rules limiting Big Pharma's contact with medical students.

Wednesday  June 8, 2011

Does Aspirin Save Lives?

Despite a lot of excitement about aspirin, scientists can't seem to agree on whether it helps healthy people live longer and suffer from fewer heart attacks and strokes. Published studies in the mainstream medical journals on the same nine studies included in a metaanalysis differ. The study published by the Bayer Aspirin people showed a benefit. The study published by independent researches did not. Who can you trust?

Thursday    June 9, 2011

A New Ultra Bad Cholesterol

A new ultra-bad very sticky form of LDL cholesterol that is small and dense has been identified and found to be present in both type 2 diabetes and in the elderly. It may be the reason why the risk of heart attack and stroke is eleveated in these groups. The cause is suspected to be related to glycation (damage to proteins by high levels of glucose) and is more likely to occur when blood sugar levels are above 170, as these levels activate an enzyme called aldolase reductase that speeds the conversion of glucose to toxic sorbitol.

Friday    June 10, 2011

Financial Conflicts of Interest Affect Medical Research

Research has documented that 91% of randomized clinical trials that have a financial conflict of interest (FCOI) have a positive outcome compared to those that do not. The most common FCOIs include research grants, employment, honorariums, and share ownership. Of the more than 100 studies reviewed, FCOIs were present more than 50% of the time!

This data confirms that much of the research published in major mainstream medical journals is not reliable and would not be safe to use in clinical practice. This is what happens when money becomes more important than service. Of course, this raises serious ethical questions.

Monday    June 13, 2011

Should Medical Research Forgo Placebo Testing

The results of a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial re-opened debate on whether it is ethical to conduct placebo-controlled studies because it puts those in the placebo group at the disadvantage of not being in the treatment arm. One could make the point that placebo is not really necessary because all that needs to be done is to see if patients get better than the rest of the patients who are not yet on treatment. However, this has not been the standard of practice in medical research. We do need to consider conducting clinical trials that are outcome studies, where we only look at whether or not the people in the clinical trial get better or not and whether or not the treatment is safe.

At the same time, the effect of placebo should be considered as well...does it matter if someone gets better from placebo or from a treatment that costs money, may not be safe, and may not work?

Tuesday    June 14, 2011

AstraZenica Pulls Plug on Free Trips for Doctors

As a pharmaceutical industry first, AstraZenica is stopping payments to doctors for attending international medical conferences. They are making it sound like they are leaders who want to do the right thing...it only took them half a century to figure this out. Do you think this is a move pressured by something other than their benevolence? Their commenton this topic is that, "we start from the position that our products stand on their own merits." I wonder how they explain that the Big Pharma paid $15 billion in penalties to the US government alone for violations of laws and regulation that helped them sell more product.

Big Pharma spends about $61,000 per doctor per year for a wide range of reasons and also spends twice as much on advertising and promotion than for research studies. They also spend in excess of $5 billion a year on direct to consumer ads. Who are they trying to fool!

Wednesday   June 15, 2011

Chiropractic Care Superior to Medical Treatment and Physical Therapy

A recent study conducted by medical professionals outside the chiropractic profession concluded that chiropractic care is more effective for common, work-related, low back pain when compard to treatment by a physical therapist of physician. Overall chiropractic patients had lower medical expenses, fewer disability recurrences, and shorter initial periods of disability. It also uses less medication and results in fewer surgeries.

Friday    June 17, 2011

FDA Warns of Prostate Cancer Risk with Avodart and Proscar

The FDA is requiring that Avodart and Proscar manufacturers disclose that there is an approximately 50% increased incidence of high grade prostate cancer with their usage. It also pointed out that they are not approved for prostate cancer prevention. These drugs block the conversion of testosterone to dihydro-testosterone, which is believed to be one the causes of BPH and low grade prostate cancer

Wednesday     June 22, 2011

Sleep Loss Lowers Testosterone Levels

Cutting back on sleep drastically lowers testosterone levels in young male adults. Less than five hours a night of sleep had significantly lower levels of testosterone than controls. After just one week of less than five hours a night of sleep resulted in a 10-15% decrease in testosterone levels.

Low levels of testosterone lead to low energy, reduced libido, poor concentration, and fatigue. Prolonged low levels lead to osteoporosis, loss of muscle volume and strength, and increased risk for heart disease.

Friday    June 24,  2011

Actos and Bladder Cancer

Both Germany and France have taken Actos off the market because of an increased risk of getting bladder cancer. TheUS is taking no action. Global sales of Actos are in the vicinity of $5 billion annually. All three "glitazone" drugs for type 2 diabetes have a poor track record. Rezulin was taken off the market more than a decade ago because it caused liver failure. Avandia remains on the market despite the fact that it increases the incidence of heart attack by 43% and the risk of dying from a heart attack by more than 60%. In theory this class of drugs increases insulin sensitivity, which is good, but their side effects outweigh the benefits of lowered insulin resistance.

The US FDA has been very slow to even look at problems with Avandia or Actos in any serious way.

Monday    June 27, 2011

Does Chiropractic Help with Cervical Headaches?

 
There is a clear bias against chiropractic manipulation by most of mainstream medicine.  Yet, there is a substantial evidence that it works for low back pain and for relieving headaches in people with cervical disc disease.  In a meta-analysis of 9 studies, 6 showed a positive benefit from chiropractic.  The dangers of cervical manipulation include the development of a stroke, but the literature shows that this is in the range of 3 per two million adjustments.  There would be far more morbidity and mortality from just using NSAIDS, which are first line therapy in mainstream medical practice.  It is very disappointing that chiropractic manipulation is discouraged by mainstream medical physicians.

Tuesday    June 28, 2011

Heart Monitoring During Anesthesia

 Only 35% of anesthesiologists monitor cardiac output during surgery. For high risk surgeries this is dangerous as it is critical to know if adequate oxygenation of tissues is being accomplished. It is critical to know the level of hemoglobin in our red blood cells, as that determines how much oxygen carrying capacity we have. It is also important to know that enough oxygen is being provided by the lungs to hemoglobin. And, of course, it is critical to also know how much blood is being pumped to the tissues. Unless we know all these values, we cannot be sure that tissues are being adequately oxygenated.

Data shows that when all these three parameters are measured there are fewer post-op complications, hospital stays are shorter, and there are fewer deaths. 14% of all surgeries are high-risk surgeries.

Wednesday    June 29, 2011

Is Chantix Safe to Help Quit Smoking?

Pfizer's Drug Chantix has already been linked to psychiatric side effects, but now has been found to increase the risk of heart attack in people with a history of heart disease. The risk in the placebo group was 0.9% and in the group on Chantix the risk was 200% higher with a percentage of 2.0. 2.3% needed coronary bypass procedures compared to 0.9% in the control group.

It appears that smokers are sufficiently desperate that they are often willing to take risk of these problems to get help in quitting smoking.  

 

Thursday     June 30, 2011

MDs too Quick to Reach for Prescription Pad

US Doctors are too quick to reach for their prescription pads according to the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice.  Half of all Americans took at least one prescription drug during the previous month and 1/3 of all people over 60 take five or more drugs!  MDs also tend to use the latest and greatest pills rather than those that have been time tested. Often what is bothering people can be resolved through lifestyle changes that include diet, exercise, stress reduction, etc.  There are billions of dollars spent every year on drugs with unproven benefits.  Lastly, it is difficult for MDs to get information about drugs that is unbiased.

Prescriptions for Health Radio Show: Fastrack Archives

This archive is a work in progress. At the end of every week, the most recent editions of Prescriptions for Health, Fastrack edition, will be posted on the DoctorSaputo.com Radio page. Shows from the previous week are then archived. There can be as many as 40 shows archived for a month.

Fastrack Archive January 2011

Fastrack Archive Febuary 2011

Fastrack Archive March 2011

Fastrack Archive April 2011

Fastrack Archive May 2011

All "Fastrack" Archives starting in June are in video!

Fastrack Archive July 2011

Fastrack Archive August 2011

Fastrack Archive September 2011

Fastrack Archive October 2011