Ovarian cancer commonly begins as a cyst made up of cancerous cells. As cancer progresses, the dangerous effects spread to other parts of the body with the cancerous cells. Medical professionals have many detection techniques in place to determine if a female has ovarian cancer,...
Do you know the facts about the fat that I dislike the most? The name! Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet. But, because 'fats' share their name with that one-syllable word for obesity ("fat"), people sometimes start out with some very negative preconceptions...
Acid reflux or Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) disease occurs when the acid rich liquid content of the stomach regurgitates into the esophagus. This acid-rich liquid can inflame and damage the lining of your esophagus. The refluxed liquid may also contain bile that that has backed-up into...
It's official - Benefits of vitamin D and calcium include prevention of bone loss, but not just any kind of Vitamin D, it must be Vitamin D3 from natural sources. And, if you take enough Vitamin D3, you’ll be helping to protect yourself from cancers,...
Doses of pharmaceuticals in the water are consumed by the unsuspecting public says DoctorSolve. Few solutions exist to the growing problem of widespread environmental contamination from the disposal of prescription drugs. (Vancouver, B.C. – May 16, 2006) – It’s no secret that the American public is taking more prescribed medication. According...
There is a common stigma, especially in teens, that “street drugs” (illegal substances such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines) are more dangerous than prescription drugs. Children are brought up with the knowledge that street drugs have many negative side effects and pose a real danger,...
Did you know that eye cancer symptoms could be detected at home using an old-fashioned camera? These days, I see a lot of people using camera phones for photos. I have nothing against this, but there’s something to be said about the old-style cameras with a...
I've heard it time and again from 'starting out' families and 'well established' families alike. They'll tell me that the family dinner is the cornerstone of a solid family dynamic. It's supposed to be one of those events that you just don't miss. And if...
Having an irregular heartbeat can usually be categorized as atrial fibrillation. This is a condition in which the upper and lower chambers of the heart (the atria and ventricles), do not pump blood in coordination with each other....
Pneumonia is an infection which is often characterized as an inflammation in the alveoli. The alveoli are tiny sacs in the lungs that are responsible for gas exchange that is a vital part of breathing. These sacs become infected when pneumonia-causing germs are breathed in and...
Ovarian cancer commonly begins as a cyst made up of cancerous cells. As cancer progresses, the dangerous effects spread to other parts of the body with the cancerous cells. Medical professionals have many detection techniques in place to determine if a female has ovarian cancer, but many of these methods are unreliable. Doctors warn that “there are currently no screening tests for it that are sensitive enough to reliably screen it without a high number of inaccurate results” [1]
A commonly used test is known as the CA-125 test, an advanced blood test that measures the levels of the CA-125 protein. This test is not a reliable screening test because CA-125 can be elevated from other common conditions; however, it is a helpful “diagnostic tool in postmenopausal women” [2]. In numerous cases, even though ovarian cancer was present, it was seen that the CA-125 blood test was not elevated enough. This is why the FDA recently issued a warning that stated that “women should not rely on these screening [tests] to make health or treatment decisions” [1].
Related Post – Preidt, Robert. FDA Warns Ovarian Cancer Tests Not Reliable. WebMD.
Related Post – Detection. Ovarian Cancer Canada.
DoctorSolve Healthcare Solutions Inc., a Canadian Internet-based pharmacy intermediary (license #BC X23), offers low-cost, long-term prescription drugs. A professionally registered pharmacist fills all Canadian prescriptions. A certified member of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, DoctorSolve is ranked as one of the best online Canadian pharmacies by Pharmacy Checker.
Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet. But, because ‘fats’ share their name with that one-syllable word for obesity (“fat”), people sometimes start out with some very negative preconceptions about fats and eating them.
Maybe this was part of the cause of the ‘low fat’ craze in the 1990s. Diets low in fat (all fats) were very popular. Big companies picked up on this and immediately got their research and development teams on ‘low fat’ options that people could buy. Low-fat products were supposed to fit into the popular low-fat diets.
It seemed logical. Except, these low-fat foods often had a lot of processed carbohydrates. Instead of fat, people were getting large doses of “rocket fuel” sugar and were foregoing the essential ‘fatty’ nutrients their bodies needed.
Today, we know that not all fats are bad. Eating saturated and trans fats have negative consequences, but some fats are very healthy when eaten in moderation.
A large portion of saturated fats comes from high-fat animal products. Specifically, I’m talking about cuts of beef that are less-than-lean, and milk products that have most of the fat left in them: cream, etc.
This kind of fat has a lot of LDL cholesterol in it. It’s generally a bad sign to have a lot of it when checking cholesterol levels.
Saturated fat gets its name from chemistry. As a molecule, it’s fully ‘saturated’ with hydrogen, which is an important part of how the fat molecule works to give energy. We’ll come back to hydrogen a little later when talking about trans fats.
Instead of saturated fats, healthier diets have higher levels of what’s called unsaturated fats. These kinds of fats are easier for the body to work with.
You can find unsaturated ‘good’ fat in:
Overall, pushing your healthy diet over more towards unsaturated fat can help prevent heart conditions, diabetes, and some liver problems. In fact, for diabetics, a diet with lots of unsaturated fats in good proportions can even lower their need for their diabetic medications.
When it comes down to it, trans fat is mostly chemical and scientific ‘wizardry’. First, a little bit about how trans fat is made.
Originally, trans fat starts out as regular edible oil. But, then it gets hydrogenated.
Hydrogen gas is put through the oil, changing the molecules. Remember how saturated fat is full of hydrogen? Well, trans fat is too, to a high degree.
The regular oil gets ‘transformed. This transformation process is great for business but bad for humans.
See, trans fat stays good for longer on store shelves. It’s chemically more stable too. And originally, it was meant to be used as competition for regular butter.
But, our bodies just can’t handle this transformed kind of fat as well as unsaturated fat. It’s harder to break down and harder to use. And it’s been linked to a wide range of health problems. Watch out for nutritional labels that say “0 grams of trans fat”.
The rules say that companies can list this on their labels, as long as there are less than 0.5 grams per serving. So, if you eat more than 1 serving of these products in a sitting, you might be getting more trans fat than you think you are. Maybe a lot more.
Dr. Zickler
Acid reflux or Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) disease occurs when the acid rich liquid content of the stomach regurgitates into the esophagus. This acid-rich liquid can inflame and damage the lining of your esophagus. The refluxed liquid may also contain bile that that has backed-up into the stomach from the small intestine (duodenum).
The stomach acid is the most harmful component of the refluxed liquid. Although bile may damage your esophagus, the extent of the damage is not as completely understood as the damaging effects of stomach acid.
Unfortunately, acid reflux is a chronic condition. There is no acid reflux cure. Even after you receive treatment for acid reflux disease and your esophagus heals, the symptoms of acids reflux will return, and the damage will reoccur.
There is not a clear-cut cause of acid reflux. The causes of acid reflux can vary from person to person. Some people simply produce a higher amount of stomach acid, but in most cases the following factors contribute to acid reflux in patients:
The following products will help you prevent the pain and suffering of acid reflux disease:
It’s official – Benefits of vitamin D and calcium include prevention of bone loss, but not just any kind of Vitamin D, it must be Vitamin D3 from natural sources. And, if you take enough Vitamin D3, you’ll be helping to protect yourself from cancers, too.
New research on calcium and Vitamin D3 was published recently in the well-respected Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Clinical trials found that daily doses of 1200mg of Calcium carbonate together with 1,000 IU of Vitamin D3 were successful at stopping bone loss in the hip for 5 years. Other research subjects who took 1200mg of Calcium only retained bone for 1 year, but had lost significant bone by 3 years or 5 years.
“At the clinically important hip site calcium therapy with an additional 1200 mg calcium as calcium carbonate a day, although initially successful at stopping bone loss, was not different from placebo at 3 or 5 years,” said study authors in the January 17th online issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
“Anyone taking a calcium supplement or a prescription such as Fosamax should also make sure they take Vitamin D3 to receive the intended health benefits and help retain bone mass,” notes Dr. Paul Zickler of DoctorSolve Healthcare Solutions, an international pharmacy.
The research confirms that inexpensive Vitamin D is an essential nutrient. Medical researchers say 20 minutes of sunshine each day will provide the needed Vitamin D. However, people who live in rainy climates often take Vitamin D supplements. The synthetic forms called Vitamin D2 are not absorbed well by the body and do not help with bone loss. Make sure you get enough sunshine or buy Vitamin D3 from natural sources.
The study adds to last summer’s findings from another study showing Vitamin D helps ward off various cancers.
“Sunlight may protect against prostate, colon, rectal, female breast and ovarian cancer, all diseases that contribute to a substantially higher proportion of cancer mortality in the western industrialized world,” researchers reported in the Journal of Cancer Research and Therapeutics.
“The benefits of Vitamin D3 have been shown to help protect us against 16 types of cancer, including lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, and colon cancers,” says Dr. Zickler of DoctorSolve. “Vitamin D3 also helps with heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis.”
Very few foods contain Vitamin D, so unless we receive daily sunlight, we are probably deficient. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of Vitamin D is about 400 international units (IU) per day. But RDAs make use of a “bell curve” approach and use the smallest amount recommended for anyone, then recommend that amount for everyone. In the wake of this new research, governments are expected to review and increase the RDAs for Vitamin D.
“The recommended adequate intakes for vitamin D are inadequate, and, in the absence of exposure to sunlight, a minimum of 1000 IU vitamin D per day is required,” said researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, as far back as 2004. The authors also state that breastfed infants may not be receiving enough Vitamin D3.
“Vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia,” the article notes.
Researchers also found that dark-skinned people need more, not less, Vitamin D. This is because their higher levels of melatonin in their skin make it harder to absorb Vitamin D. Some researchers have suggested dark-skinned people should take supplements containing at least 2000 IU of Vitamin D per day.
So each day you should get your 20 minutes of sunlight or your Vitamin D3 from natural sources. But don’t overdo it in sunlight. Researchers caution that too much sunlight places people at risk of developing skin cancers.
Doses of pharmaceuticals in the water are consumed by the unsuspecting public says DoctorSolve. Few solutions exist to the growing problem of widespread environmental contamination from the disposal of prescription drugs.
(Vancouver, B.C. – May 16, 2006) – It’s no secret that the American public is taking more prescribed medication. According to a study by Columbia University, between 1992 and 2002, the number of prescriptions written for controlled drugs increased by 154 percent. But what is a little–known fact is that these widely prescribed drugs are making their way into our rivers, streams, and drinking water.
“Millions and millions of patients are taking these drugs; most of them have more than one prescription. The drugs enter the environment either by natural excretion or by disposal into sewage or trash,” says Dr. Paul Zickler of DoctorSolve Healthcare Solutions an online pharmacy service.
Sewage treatment plants are not designed to remove pharmaceuticals in the water, so many of these drugs are not completely eliminated. Pharmaceuticals have been identified in surface waters, groundwater, marine systems, and to a lesser degree, in drinking water. There is concern that the presence of multiple drugs, however low, could lead to harmful effects through long–term exposure.
Related Post – Pharmaceuticals in the water
“We are talking about synthetically produced chemicals that not only impact on the health of human beings but also compromise the health of water inhabitants, which eventually make their way into the food chain,” states Zickler.
Even though many of the drugs move through the human body first, they are still highly toxic. Between 50 – 90 percent of active ingredients in drugs are not absorbed and are excreted.
A number of governments including the United States, Canada, and the European Union have begun attempts to determine what must be done to address this very real environmental threat, but they are far from the point of legislation and regulation. For the time being, public education on preferred methods of disposal, and pharmaceutical take-back programs seem to make the most sense.
Currently, drug disposal rules vary across the states, and drug take-back programs are difficult to initiate, which is why there are so few of them. A law enforcement agency would need to be involved to ensure that hazardous pharmaceuticals are disposed of according to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
“One thing they do agree on however is that flushing medications down the toilet are no longer recommended,” says Zickler. Patients with unused or expired drugs should first ask their pharmacist to take the medications back. If that is not an option, inquire about a local household hazardous waste facility, which may accept medications for incineration. The last resort, which is by no means preferable but is less harmful to the environment, is disposing of pharmaceuticals in the trash.
For those who must take their drugs to the curb, Zickler recommends they keep these tips in mind:
There is a common stigma, especially in teens, that “street drugs” (illegal substances such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines) are more dangerous than prescription drugs. Children are brought up with the knowledge that street drugs have many negative side effects and pose a real danger, but knowledge about the dangers of prescription drug abuse is sorely lacking in teenagers.
These drugs have potentially lethal effects and can lead to death. Some commonly abused prescription drugs include opioid painkillers, stimulants, and depressants, some of which have similar addictive properties and are as dangerous as illegal street drugs.
After increasing community efforts to reduce the number of teenagers able to get their hands on prescription medication, a rural county in Ohio found that teenagers were turning towards illegitimate online pharmacies.
From 2014 to 2015, questionnaires posed to teenagers in the county revealed an increase from one child to 188 children who reported obtaining drugs from the internet. Illegitimate online pharmacies make it easy for teenagers to get their hands on prescription drugs because many illegitimate businesses do not take due care to protect their customers and children.
With these dangers surrounding the online purchase of medication, it is important to find an authentic, legal online pharmacy that performs its due diligence. These legitimate online pharmacies are essentially no different from your local pharmacy. Online pharmacies have a licensed pharmacist who checks your prescriptions and fills your orders, a stated address, and is accredited by a trustworthy association like the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA).
While there are legitimate online pharmacies that follow legal practices to ensure the process of filling prescriptions stays safe, there are also disreputable pharmacies. These companies use only questionnaires on their websites and fail to demand prescriptions for prescription drugs. This dangerous practice is not only illegal for those who need the medication, but also poses a huge threat to teenagers.
A person with some rudimentary knowledge of chemistry and a pill press can make a pill with uncontrolled substances. There would be no quality control from these illegal activities, which makes these pills as dangerous as uncontrolled street drugs. Furthermore, it is difficult for local law enforcement to combat these drugs, as they are shipped right to an adolescent’s doorstep. Customs and the DEA work to reduce the flow of these drugs, but there are only so many shipments that they can catch.
These days, I see a lot of people using camera phones for photos. I have nothing against this, but there’s something to be said about the old-style cameras with a real flash.
Actually, a fair bit. To see if someone has a rare form of eye cancer, called retinoblastoma, all you need is a regular camera with a traditional flash feature. That’s it. Cell phone cameras won’t cut it, I’m afraid. And it’s by no means an all-encompassing text. But, for seeing some forms of eye cancer, especially eye cancer in children, it works.
Get out the old camera with a flash feature. Turn the red-eye reduction off. Make your way into a dimly lit room with someone willing to snap a few shots. Then, take a few photos from different angles.
Essentially, we’re going for the ‘red-eye’ phenomenon here. See, red-eye happens when the flash bounces off of a healthy retina, making the pupils look red.
But, if someone has retinoblastoma, instead of red-eye, you’ll see yellow or white. This yellow or white pupil is the eye cancer symptom you’re looking for.
And if you find it, you’d better make a doctor’s appointment.
What’s happening is that instead of the flashlight reflecting off of a healthy retina, it’s reflecting off of the tumor, which looks white-ish. That’s why different angles are necessary: so that you get a better chance of reflecting light off of a tumor.
Now, that’s not to say that every time you see white instead of red, it counts as cancer symptoms for retinoblastoma. That’s not the case. Sometimes, when the optic nerve and the pupil are in exactly the right place, you’ll see yellow or white.
Still, it’s worth a doctor’s visit, especially if the one photographed is under 5 years old.
Usually, children under the age of 5 are the ones that show these eye cancer symptoms in-home photos. Tumors can start developing at any time but usually, present themselves by that age. Sometimes, tumors even start to grow before a child is born.
If your child does get a diagnosis for retinoblastoma, don’t worry that it was something done during pregnancy. This isn’t likely, and we haven’t yet seen evidence to suggest that retinoblastoma is caused before birth by some external factor.
Overall, this disease is quite rare. Only about 1 in 15,000 babies have it.
If you’re looking to see what this phenomenon looks like, check out this website made by the Canadian Retinoblastoma Society. You’ll see some good photos and have the chance to download pamphlets for more information.
Dr. Zickler
I’ve heard it time and again from ‘starting out’ families and ‘well established’ families alike. They’ll tell me that the family dinner is the cornerstone of a solid family dynamic. It’s supposed to be one of those events that you just don’t miss. And if you do, you take some time to connect later.
I’m all for family dinners. I think they’re a great idea. They give parents a wonderful opportunity to connect with their kids again. To ask about their day. To see where they are in their life.
But recently, I read a study detailing how the family dinner may not be as important as we once thought.
Sure, it works for some. But, is it really worth extra time and stress, say, in a low-income single-parent household? Maybe not.
In the June edition of the Journal of Marriage and Family, Kelly Musick and her team explain how family dinners are common in well-functioning families, but they’re not necessarily the cause of a family functioning well.
This even carries over into adulthood for the kids. Delinquency, depression, and substance abuse problems don’t seem to be caused by a lack of family dinners.
Instead, lots of factors play a much bigger role.
This statistics data was gathered from about 18,000 children studied over a long period of time. Numbers come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health.
In the study, the researchers were led to believe that regular family dinners are the vehicle for good family practices, leading to more well-rounded kids that stay out of both medical and legal trouble.
While not the cause of a stronger family connection, family dinners give parents the time and environment to make valuable connections.
But more than this, family dinners were said to be just one example of a wide spectrum of routines, practices, and ‘rituals.’ This structured lifestyle better communicates values and priorities.
My key take-away from this? Family dinners may not be as effective without the underlying support.
Family dinner statistics, like most statistics, always have to be interpreted.
Having an irregular heartbeat can usually be categorized as atrial fibrillation. This is a condition in which the upper and lower chambers of the heart (the atria and ventricles), do not pump blood in coordination with each other. This usually results in a rapid heartbeat that is categorized as atrial fibrillation. In some cases, patients realize that they may have a heart condition, but in many cases, people may have a complication and are not aware of it. Often, this complication is only revealed when an examination of the heart is conducted.
In a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) it was reported that “moderate habitual drinking” may cause an irregular heartbeat [1]. The study acknowledged that, in small amounts, alcohol consumption it is known to have some positive effects on health; however, it is well-known that consuming a large amount of alcohol has many negative health effects. Using this as a standard, the researchers conducted a new analysis which concluded that moderate, habitual drinking does not have the same protective effects when it comes to the heart.
Furthermore, the study concluded that with the increase of one drink consumed each day on average, “the risk of atrial fibrillation increase[es] by 8 percent” [1].
[1] Moderate Drinking May Cause Irregular Heartbeat. Sandoiu, Ana. Medical News Today. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314539.php
Pneumonia is an infection which is often characterized as an inflammation in the alveoli.
The alveoli are tiny sacs in the lungs that are responsible for gas exchange that is a vital part of breathing. These sacs become infected when pneumonia-causing germs are breathed in and begin accumulating in the lungs.
This infection can be caused by various types of fungi, parasites, bacteria or viruses.
Some of these pathogens are found in hospitals. About 10% of all hospital infections, including pneumonia, are caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa [1].
Pseudomonas aeruginosa treatment is extremely difficult because it is very resistant to antibiotics. Many cases of pneumonia caused by pseudomonas aeruginosa shift from an acute case to a chronic case due to a specific interaction with calcium.
The environment around the pathogen determines if the condition will switch from an acute stage with high growth rate, or a chronic state with increased tolerance and persistence.
It has recently been discovered that calcium concentration in the environment transmits a signal into the cell that triggers the switch.
Generally, hospital infections which lead to pneumonia can be quite severe and many of these infections are a result of patients surviving with the aid of ventilators.
In a study conducted by Fagon et al., assessing the exposure of risk in patients with pneumonia caused by hospital infections. The study concluded that the mortality rate was considerably higher due to hospital infections and it “prolonged the stay [of the patient] in the intensive care unit” [2].
Sources:
[1] “Calcium induces chronic lung infections.” Science Daily. 24 October 2016. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161024131112.htm
[2] Fagon, Jean-Yves, et al. “Nosocomial pneumonia in ventilated patients: a cohort study evaluating attributable mortality and hospital stay.” The American journal of medicine 94.3: 281-288. Accessed 25th October 2016
