HEALTH

PREVENTION OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE WITH FRUITS AND VEGES

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A large study showed that those who eat fruits and veges have nearly a 50% reduction in risk of developing Alzhemier’s disease. Kale, beans, spinach, apples, olive oil, tea, and tomato sauce are among the sources richest of these flavonols which seem to be the active component here. Remember that nutrition works as teamwork among many ingredients and to pull out one ingredient and put it into a pill has not worked well and can be harmful. We love simple solutions, and love our pills and injections, but we are alive because our ancestors survived and had us as babies by eating fruits and vegetables as a major part of their diet. This is how we were made to thrive!

CAN YOU TAKE ILLEGAL DRUGS AND HEPATITIS C TREATMENT TOGETHER?

A new study showed that benefit of these medications is not weakened by using meth, cocaine, or opioids. Of course, we do not encourage illegal drug use, but withholding treatment for drug interaction reasons is not valid.  And if meth is causing patients to not think well, not take medications daily or miss appointments, that is a good reason to hold the treatment till a better time in the patient’s life when it will work. Some insurances are not eager to treat Hepatitis C more than once since it is so expensive.

8-25% OF PEOPLE WERE ABUSED AS A CHILD CAUSING MAJOR PROBLEMS

This number has been confirmed in multiple studies. Abuse is defined as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. This leads to poor mental health and physical health:  It increases the risk for heart disease, strokedepressiondrug abuse, and suicide. Please get mental health help to maximize your happiness.  The process is slow and not easy but the rewards can be great.

OXYTOCIN, THE “LOVE HORMONE”

This hormone is stimulated to be secreted in the brain by loving physical contact. The best example is when a newborn sucks on the mothers nipple. The hormone and closeness enhances bonding between the mother and baby and causes the uterus to shrink and stop bleeding.  This hormone helps with attachment to others. This may be the cause of the sensations that come with kissing or hugging and during sex if love is involved rather than lust.  A symptom of autism is poor attachment to others and wanting to be isolated from others.  A new study giving autistic patients oxytocin nasal spray increased attachment.

I wonder if having sex for sport is messing up the ability to attach to others compared to sex for love.  Lack of attachment causes loneliness and that causes many physical and mental problems.

CORONA VIRUS TREATMENT USING AN HIV MED

Kaletra® is being used by China to treat the virus but this is based on weak evidence. This medication is not popular now for HIV since some got diarrhea or vomiting from 2 pills twice a day. At the time of this writing there is no treatment for the corona virus so anything that might help is being used by some.  Unlike HIV, the corona virus is not a retrovirus. Like the flu, washing hands and covering the cough are the best methods of prevention for this new virus. Don’t touch your nose, eyes, mouth until you wash your hands.

6 CHEMICALS FROM SUN SCREEN FOUND IN BLOOD

We have patches and gels for certain medications to be absorbed through the skin so it was a good idea to study if sun screen chemicals were also entering the body. We don’t know if these are harmful.  More data to come but in the meantime, it is best to minimize the use of sun screens and use hats, long sleeves, long pants, shade….

SURGERY FOR PROSTATE CANCER HAS MORE LONG-TERM EFFECTS COMPARED WITH OTHER TREATMENTS.

The other treatments are: injecting radiation seeds, targeted radiation (Xrays), lowering testosterone, or just watching the patient for complications. The surgery resulted in more impotence and incontinence (poor urine control) for many years.

TUBE IN CHEST FOR COLLAPSED LUNG NOT ALWAYS NEEDED

A new study showed that there may not be a need to put a tube in unless the patient is having a serious problem. Patients with collapsed lungs were given pain meds and watched closely for 4 hours and only offered the tube if they requested it, needed oxygen, had too much trouble breathing while walking.  They found that many did not need the tube and if the tube was inserted, there was a mildly higher chance of recurrence of the collapsed lung along with a few other complications. If a tube in your chest sounds painful to your, you’re correct.

“NO, MY HIV IS NOT CONTAGIOUS.” TRUE?

A new study showed that 1 in 5 men said they were not contagious, but they were. The level of virus in their blood was more than 200. U=U (undetectable = untransmissible) (look U=U up on the web).  This shows that it may be best to ask the viral load number or see the report if you want to make sure of what your partner is telling you. This may represent a misunderstanding of how this works, and educating the patient may be in order. Feel free to call one of your local HIV organizations to double check your status or your partner’s status while you have the lab test result in hand.

Keep those questions coming, Be safe!

Daniel Pearce, D.O., FACOI, AAHIVMS

Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine

Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine and HIV, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine and Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine

HIV Specialist, Borrego Health (Riverside, San Bernardino, San Jacinto)

Member, Coachella Valley Clinical Research Initiative


REFERENCES: Medscape®