Archives for October 2011

30
Oct 2011

Don’t Be Tricked By Your Treats!

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Well I’m a little old to do the “Trick or Treat” runs these days, but nevertheless I still love chocolate! And who can resist those adorable, bite-sized chocolates that are in abundance at this time of year? I know I can’t – one of the reasons I just don’t keep chocolate at home!

Before you over-indulge, apply some conscious thought to your chocolate craving this Halloween. I think it’s all-too-common for most of us to splurge over the holidays – and especially with the bite-sized options. You simply can’t just have one….and one leads to another, and soon enough you’ve gathered quite the collection of empty wrappers!
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How Many Calories Do Those Little Chocolates Contain? 

  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: (One package) 220 calories
  • Kit Kat: (2-piece bar) 107 calories
  • Butterfinger: (Fun-sized bar) 100 calories
  • Almond Joy: (Snack-sized bar): 80 calories
  • Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar: (Fun-sized bar) 77 calories
  • M&Ms: (Fun-sized bag) 73 calories
  • Hershey’s Nuggets Dark Chocolate With Almond: (One nugget) 45 calories
  • Mars Mini Musketeers: (One mini) 25 calories

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So you can see the variation in calorie content between these popular Halloween chocolates. And I know it’s not all simply about the calories – there’s all that sugary badness and fat content to boot. But for sure the calorie content goes a long way toward adding to those bonus holiday pounds that many people acquire in the coming season. So it’s a good starting barometer when it comes to “should I, or shouldn’t I?” If you’re looking to satisfy your sweet tooth this holiday, at least opt for the chocolates that have the lower calories count.

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Don’t Forget The Kids

We all know how childhood obesity is becoming an increasing problem in this country, and how our First Lady is actively promoting the Let’s Move initiative to encourage children to lead healthy lifestyles to stay fit.

Although many people argue that “it’s just one day of over-indulgence”, this often isn’t the case. The holiday festivities seem to extend to last longer and longer with every passing year, and children are exposed to the excess of candies just as much as we are.

In addition to limiting the amount of candy your kids get to actually eat, there’s always the option of limiting how much other kids get to eat too. Why not add some less unhealthy alternatives to those treat bags?

  • Fruit (little bags of apple slices, or tasty nectarines)
  • Little toys
  • Coins for their piggy bank!

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My Favorite Halloween Treat Alternative

One of my favorites though, is the Halloween Candy BuyBack program – participating dentists in many regions are offering to exchange that wrapped, unopened candy for cash! And even better, they will then give the candy to programs such as Operation Gratitude. Programs like this are responsible for sending the candy overseas to our military servicemembers who won’t get to enjoy Halloween, or the upcoming holidays, with their families this year.

A win-win situation in my book. The kids get to enjoy collecting treats, maybe get to keep some of them, and even make some cash in exchange for the remainder! Their teeth will thank them later, for sure. Plus, our deployed military servicemembers get to experience a little piece of home during the holidays.

What a great way of keeping the Halloween tradition, while teaching kids to enjoy healthy choices too. Simultaneously it introduces them to the sacrifices that our military make, and allows them to learn the value of giving, as well as taking.

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Feel Like Adding A Little Science To Your Halloween?

This might be a fun project to add to the kids’ entertainment for tonight: Keep Your Candy Cool With Physics!

Although the kids by me won’t have too much trouble keeping their candy cool – they’ll get to do their haunting in 6″ of snow, thanks to this early snowstorm that we’ve received in the past 24 hours! 
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Happy and safe haunting tonight, wherever you are!
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Categories: Medical
29
Oct 2011

Trick Or Treat? Keep Your Pet Safe This Halloween!

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Halloween is upon us again! At this time of year, many of us love to immerse ourselves into the festivities of the holidays – and involving pets is becoming more and more popular.

If this sounds like you, then read on for some tips to help protect your pet’s health and keep him safe at Halloween.
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Treats To Avoid

  • Chocolate: Whether your dog has a penchant for raiding the bags of treats, or you have a penchant for feeding them to him – beware! Chocolate can be toxic to your dog, and eating too much can result in anything from vomiting and diarrhea to fatality. Thankfully fatalities are uncommon because owners are becoming increasingly aware that chocolate can poison their dog, but nevertheless, it pays to be extra-vigilant this time of year.
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  • Raisins and Grapes: Many owners mistakenly feed these to their dog, thinking of them as a healthy alternative to chocolates. These too, however, can be poisonous to cats and dogs even in small doses, so should be avoided at all costs. They can cause kidney damage, and can also lead to fatalities. So beware those cute little boxes of raisins that kids leave around the house.
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  • Xylitol: Maybe you’ve never heard of this compound, but more than likely you’ve ingested it!. Xylitol is a commonly used artificial sweetener that is often found in sugar-free chewing gum, as well as many other seemingly “healthy” low-calorie food products. Your Halloween candy bag is likely to contain something sweetened with xylitol.
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  • High Sugar/High Salt/High Fat/High Calorie Treats: It’s not uncommon for us to over-indulge during the holidays, and this privilege is often extended to our pets! Avoid the urge to splurge though – obesity is the number one health problem in US pets, so don’t be tempted to overdo things with your pet with respect to high calorie foods, or even just excessive amounts of food. High fat foods in particular can also lead to problems such as pancreatitis. So choose be health-conscious on behalf of your pet!
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Additional Safety Tips

  • Escaped Pets: If your cat or dog just loves to escape whenever the door is opened, Halloween is a particularly important time to be vigilant about this. If necessary, confine your pet to one room while the festivities are ongoing. And if you’re outdoors with your pet, don’t forget to keep him safe by taking him on a leash. This is a good time to ensure that his identity tag is up to date too. Just in case he does a disappearing act. The best advice though, is to keep your pet at home, safe and sound, during the witching hours!
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  • Costume Issues: Although your pet might look cute dressed as Yoda, think twice before you send him outdoors in his new outfit! I’d advise not to dress up pets that are anxious, or even those who appear to be anxious in their new outfit. And avoid sending him outside in the costume. If you absolutely can’t resist the neighbors seeing him dressed-up though, be sure to accompany him. Be sure also that his costume doesn’t restrict his movement – make sure it’s not too long, too tight, and that nothing is covering his eyes. Long dangling threads or cords can also cause your pet to become entangled, so these should definitely be avoided. And don’t forget that your pet can easily be frightened by kids (or you!) in costume, so be gentle with him! If he seems anxious, keep him away from kids – you don’t want anyone getting bitten. Halloween bites are very common when pets become scared and anxious.
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  • Electrical Cords: There are decorations galore this time of year, so take care if you’ve acquired any with electrical cords – in addition to posing a risk of entanglement if they’re too long, many pets love to chew through cords. Take precautions to keep pets away from such decorations, and certainly make sure that all electrical cords are stowed away.
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  • Candles and All Types of Naked Flames: As festive as those Halloween candles or Jack-o-Lanterns can be, they’re an accident waiting to happen when it comes to curious pets. If you must have them on display for Halloween, be sure to keep them in a room that your pet cannot access. The last thing you need is an injured pet, or even a fire.

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These are just a handful of tips to help your pet have a safe Halloween. Above all, remember to avoid giving your treats to your pet – that little Hershey’s kiss might be fine if your Great Dane gets his paws on it, but it could be harmful to your tiny Chihuahua. The Pet Poison Hotline reports that the average cost of treating a pet with chocolate poisoning is almost $1000. They also report that Halloween is the most dangerous time for pets, with their calls apparently increasing by 12% at this time of year. 

If you are in any doubt at all about your pet’s health over the Halloween festivities, call your veterinarian immediately for advice. And if you are concerned that your pet may have eaten something potentially harmful, you can always contact the ASPCA’s Poison Control Center on 888-426-4435, or the Pet Poison Helpline on 800-213-6680.

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Happy and safe haunting!

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Categories: Veterinary
26
Oct 2011

Taste Buds #14

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If you’re a busy professional who loves finding new recipes that are not only tasty and relatively simple, but also offer even a vaguely healthy, nutritious twist, you might enjoy these taste buds.

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And yes, you guessed right – more pumpkins, folks! And I dare you to resist those Halloween Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes – not so healthy, but it’s only Halloween once a year!

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Pumpkin & Potato Breakfast Hash

Pumpkin Goulash

Halloween Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes

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Categories: Miscellaneous
24
Oct 2011

Choosing A Doctor

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Do You Need To Choose A New Doctor?

Maybe you are moving to a different region, or perhaps there is another reason for changing physicians – some changes in health insurance plans can leave you needing to find a new doctor, for instance. Or maybe you just don’t feel that you have an ideal relationship with your current doctor and would like to find a new one.

Whatever your reason for changing physicians, there are many factors to take into consideration, so don’t make the decision without due thought. I recently wrote an article for NJTopDocs.com, providing some pointers on things to consider if you’re looking to make the change.

 

(Edit 2015): The article no longer exists on the site, but if you’re looking for some pointers, try the site: HealthFinder.gov.

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Categories: Medical
21
Oct 2011

Breast Cancer In Men

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It’s natural to focus on women when we think of breast cancer. But we shouldn’t forget that men can develop this condition too.

A recent study published in the Journal of Oncology compared trends in breast cancer in 2,665 men and 459,846 women over the last 40 years.

Some of the important points that they raised:

  • The incidence rate of breast cancer in men is less than 1% that of women.
  • Men are often in their 60s and 70s when diagnosed.
  • Men present with later stages of the condition, often with spread of the disease outside of the breast.
  • Men had less surgical and radiation therapies than women, but similar rates of chemotherapy and hormone treatments.
  • Men had a 72% chance of survival to 5 years post-diagnosis, compared with 78% in women.

The news isn’t all “worse” though. The researchers found that men who had their cancer diagnosed at the same stage and received the appropriate treatment, had a better chance of surviving their breast cancer than women.

Since breast cancer is still relatively rare in men, patients and physicians alike are less likely to consider it a possibility when men develop a breast lump or other symptoms. The recommendation for screenings in women certainly leads to many cases of breast cancer being caught in early stages. This is not the case in men, however, who are not regularly screened.

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How Can You Help Yourself If You Are A Man?

  • Seek a physician’s advice as soon as possible if you develop a breast lump or other suggestive symptoms.
  • Talk to your doctor about screening options if you have a family history of breast cancer.

Men tend to ignore symptoms for longer than women, and an additional problem is the isolation they tend to feel when diagnosed with breast cancer. In a world where this condition is so much more common in women, it’s not difficult to understand why men feel unsupported when services tend to all be geared towards women.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 2,140 new cases of breast cancer will arise in men in this country this year. They estimate that 450 of these men will die. Tough statistics to see.

Although it is still not advised that men should have regular screenings like women, persuading the man in your life to seek help as soon as possible might just save his life.

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Breast Cancer Awareness
Remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so if you haven’t already done so, please consider speaking to your doctor about screening, or even persuade a loved one to seek advice.

Feel like helping others? If you literally have $2 to spare (or more!), please consider donating to the Susan G. Komen “3 Day For The Cure” – Cathy Miller is about to embark upon her 8th of these walks in the fight against cancer.  She still needs a wee bit more by way of donations to allow her to undertake the walk, so dig around under the sofa or in that old never-used-teapot! Any spare few dollars that you can find will be massively welcomed! Visit her page to make a small donation today. Your few dollars will make a world of difference – she is “almost there”! Needs about $445 more to reach her minimum amount to be able to do this magnificent walk. If you can spare a few dollars, you’ll be helping hugely!

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Categories: Medical
19
Oct 2011

New Bill Aims To Unite Disabled Veterans With Shelter Dogs

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The House of Representatives last week passed a bill introduced by NY Congressman Michael Grimm, himself a Marine veteran, that will help both dogs and servicemembers. The legislation establishes a pilot program in VA medical centers whereby veterans with PTSD will receive instruction in the handling and training of shelter dogs. 

Abandoned dogs in animal shelters will therefore be saved from euthanasia, while veterans with PTSD receive beneficial therapy through training them. Once trained, the dogs will then become service animals for disabled veterans – thus providing a two-pronged approach to helping servicemembers in need.
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PTSD
PTSD is a serious anxiety disorder that can arise as a consequence of exposure to situations such as a traumatic or life-threatening event. It is especially common in servicemembers returning home from combat deployments. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will develop PTSD, although it is not fully understood why some develop the condition but others don’t. While many sufferers will improve over time, about 1 in 3 people will continue to experience symptoms. 

The severity of symptoms can vary between sufferers, but they can seriously interfere with everyday life, affecting work, social activities and relationships. Symptoms typically fall into four categories:
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  • Re-living the experience: This typically occurs when something happens to trigger memories of the traumatic event, often causing flashbacks. 
  • Avoidance of situations: Some people may avoid dealing with the emotions of the traumatic event by avoiding anything that reminds them of it.
  • Numbness: Sufferers may no longer have positive or affectionate feelings, and may report a general feeling of numbness.
  • Feeling Keyed-Up: Sufferers often describe feeling constantly jittery or on alert.

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Although medications can be useful to help combat PTSD, counseling therapies tend to be most effective, especially cognitive behavioral therapy. With veteran suicide rates currently high, and increasing numbers of servicemembers returning from deployment with symptoms of PTSD, this bill meets an important need for additional treatment options.

Grimm remarked: “As a veteran, and an American, I am thrilled that this legislation has passed the House, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass it without delay, so that it can be signed into law and allow us to begin providing assistance to our returning veterans.”

All in all a win-win solution that will help homeless dogs and support our deserving veterans.

Isn’t that the least we can offer?
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Image Credit Website Of US Congressman Michael Grimm
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Categories: Medical, Military, Veterinary
19
Oct 2011

Taste Buds #13

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If you’re a busy professional who loves finding new recipes that are not only tasty and relatively simple, but also offer even a vaguely healthy, nutritious twist, you might enjoy these taste buds!

Continuing with the fall pumpkin theme (hold onto your hats, it could be a long theme!), here are this week’s three tried & tested options:

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Chicken With Pumpkin-Pepper Mole

Mocha Pumpkin Cheesecake With Chocolate-Coffee Glaze

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Categories: Miscellaneous
17
Oct 2011

Editorial Pet Peeves

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Science editors and writers (any editors and writers, for that matter) all have their own pet peeves when it comes to the written word. When I’m reading something for my own interest or education, I’m relatively forgiving about how it is written – provided the content, spelling and construction are good. In a nutshell, you’re not going to find me squirming when I see a split infinitive, or wagging my finger if someone’s describing their experiment in the first person.

When it comes to editing scientific work for others, however, I work hard to do whatever it takes to turn someone’s manuscript into more than just legible. I strive to make it flow well, and do whatever possible to ensure that it fits the journal’s guidelines if an author has asked me to do the latter. 

In fact, I always guarantee an author that their article will not be rejected on the basis of its English content. I tell them that if they accept all my grammatical/spelling edits, I will be happy to address any required language changes after review, at no extra charge. 

I’ve been involved in writing and editing scientific manuscripts since 1992, and have never received any editor’s comments requesting grammatical changes. Until three days ago!
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My Friday morning started off with an email from a client who is a non-native English speaker. I’d edited his paper in May, and he’d recently submitted it to a scientific journal. His letter from the editor suggested that he use a native English-speaking scientist or medical editor to correct his article.

Hadn’t I already done that? I was naturally very confused, having spent many hours dutifully re-crafting his article.

It didn’t take me long, however, to determine the source of the problem. Despite the author’s message that no changes had been made to my originally edited version, I found plenty of evidence to the contrary. 

The author had not only declined to accept the majority of my edits before submitting his article, but additionally had added in some extra text here and there before submitting. This combination didn’t do his great experimental science any favors. Consequently, it’s not surprising that there was a request for the paper’s grammar to be corrected.

The net result was that I spent about 4 hours yesterday and today resuscitating the manuscript. Rather frustrating, but hopefully the author now more than fully understands the benefit of hitting “accept all changes”.

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Do you have any writing or editing pet peeves?

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Categories: Medical Editing Tags: , ,
14
Oct 2011

Take Your Vitamins?

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In a world where we’re frequently being advised to take our vitamin supplements, a recent scientific study has produced results that are interesting and confusing at the same time, at least for women with breast cancer. It suggests that some vitamin supplements may be detrimental to women who have survived breast cancer.

The Antioxidant Study
Scientists at New York’s Columbia University investigated 2,300 women with early stage breast cancer for five years. They found some opposing results for different types of vitamin supplements:

  • Vitamins C and E: They discovered that those taking regular supplements of vitamins C or E had a reduced risk of the cancer recurring within 5 years, compared to women who did not take them.
  • Carotenoids: Women who regularly supplemented with carotenoids (vitamin A, beta-carotene, and lutein), however, had a higher risk of dying from recurrent breast cancer than those who did not take them. Interestingly this seems to echo a previous report of a higher risk of lung cancer in smokers taking beta-carotene supplements.
  • Multivitamins: There was no link between breast cancer recurrence or death associated with antioxidants taken within multivitamins.

Dr. Heather Greenlee who led the study commented: “My main take home message here is that we’re seeing antioxidant supplements working in one direction and the carotenoids working in another.” She did, however, also stress that it’s still unclear why vitamins C and E might have beneficial effects for cancer survivors – if in fact they actually do.

Although vitamins C and E have antioxidant properties that help to protect cells from injury, Greenlee remarked that the women taking these supplements could have practised other healthy behaviors in general that contributed to improved survival. So the benefit might not have been due simply to taking these supplements.

While this research does not prove that carotenoids are harmful to cancer patients, it does raise some concern about them. And this highlights the fact that we should be more thoughtful about the supplements we take. Many people believe we have become a pill-popping nation of people who consider vitamins to be beneficial without really paying any thought as to what they are taking in. 

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Breast Cancer Awareness
Remember that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, so if you haven’t already done so, please consider speaking to your doctor about screening, or even persuade a loved one to seek advice about it. 

Feel like helping others? If you literally have $2 to spare (or more!), please consider donating to the Susan G. Komen “3 Day For The Cure” – Cathy Miller is about to embark upon her 8th of these walks in the fight against cancer.  She still needs a wee bit more by way of donations to allow her to undertake the walk, so dig around under the sofa or in that old never-used-teapot! Any spare few dollars that you can find will be massively welcomed! Visit her page to make a small donation today. Your few dollars will make a world of difference.

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Greenlee H, Kwan ML, Kushi LH, Song J, Castillo A, Weltzien E, Queensberry CP Jr, Caan BJ: Antioxidant supplement use after breast cancer diagnosis and mortality in the Life After Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) cohort. Cancer (2011) Sept 27 [Epub ahead of print]


Image Credit Kittikun Atsawintarangkul @FreeDigitalPhotos

Categories: Medical Tags: , , , ,
12
Oct 2011

Milk Of Amnesia

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Have You Heard Of Propofol?
Propofol is one of the most widely used anesthetic agents worldwide, in the medical and veterinary fields. Up until a few years ago, however, it wasn’t exactly a household name. Now it’s a drug name that most people recognize, sadly as a result of the tragedy surrounding the death of Michael Jackson.

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As a veterinarian myself, I have had first-hand experience using propofol when anesthetizing my patients in general practice. As with all general anesthetic agents, it is a very useful and versatile drug, and when administered by trained medical personnel (I’m talking about anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, and veterinarians here), it can be used safely. As is also the case with all anesthetic drugs, however, it is not without risks.

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How Does Propofol Work?
It’s a very rapid and short-acting hypnotic agent (causing almost instantaneous sleep). Although its mechanism of action isn’t completely understood, one of its proposed actions is to potentiate GABAA receptors in the brain. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter that is essential for proper brain functioning – it binds to its receptors in the central nervous
system and reduces excessive brain activity, promoting a state of calm.

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What Are The Risks?
Propofol not only reduces a patient’s blood pressure, but it also depresses their respiration. In this short video, CNN’s Dr Sanjay Gupta watches an anesthesiologist colleague at work in the operating room. You can see for yourself how the patient stops breathing when given propofol anesthesia.

The respiratory depression is a known, and expected effect of the agent. This is the reason why patients receiving propofol anesthesia are mechanically ventilated, as is the case in a hospital operating room. Let’s not forget that an important aspect of anesthesia involves not just putting patients to sleep, but recovering them and waking them from the procedure.

So you can understand how it can be a deadly agent when used by untrained personnel, or if used inappropriately and without the necessary ancillary equipment. If propofol is used without a patient being adequately monitored by trained medical professionals, and without intubation, the effects can be fatal.

If an intubated patient suffers from respiratory distress during anesthesia, the stage is already set for medical staff to be able to respond rapidly and mechanically ventilate him, hopefully to resuscitation. Without intubation and monitoring, however, a patient in respiratory distress can progress to respiratory failure and death very quickly due to the rapid action of the drug. Additionally, when combined with other drugs that also cause respiratory depression, such as the benzodiazepines (the class of drugs that Valium belongs to), these adverse effects are exacerbated.

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Milk Of Amnesia
Its milky white color has led to propofol being jokingly referred to by medical professionals as the “milk of amnesia”. But on the contrary, medical professionals using the drug typically respect its potency and take their role as a patient protector very seriously. This is not a drug to be dispensed for at-home use, and neither is it considered a sleep aid.

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Image credit Wikipedia

Categories: Medical Tags: , , , , , , ,
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