Weight loss and Weight Chat Blog

The other day I was listening to an interview on National Public Radio with Dean Oshler who has just written a book called From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords. During the interview I was surprised to hear Mr. Oshler challenge the widely held belief that regularly doing crossword puzzles is good for your brain fitness and can help stave off Alzheimer’s disease. Oshler’s problem with crossword solving is twofold: first, he believes the clinical data showing an advantage for puzzlers is both weak and only observational (”[The researcher] never said that there was a cause-and-effect relationship. He said there was a correlation. Maybe it just so happens that people who are mentally fit have a tendency to want to do crosswords in the first place”); second, we need variety in our mental exercise (”[Crosswords are] kind of the same activity over and over again. But the Alzheimer’s […]

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Recent media activity has called attention to a repetitive use syndrome called ‘cell phone elbow,’ which can cause pain, numbness or tingling in the forearm and hand.  But cubital tunnel syndrome, as it’s known medically, isn’t only caused by excessive cell phone use. In fact, it can be caused by any repetitive activity in which the elbow is bent at a greater than 90 degree angle. This could include holding any kind of phone to the ear for long periods of time. It just happens that because cell phone use has increased exponentially and because people can now use their phones while walking, while driving, literally anywhere, some people are spending much more time on the phone than they did previously. And some of them are paying the price with painful hands and arms.
Cubital tunnel syndrome is similar in many respects to the more widely known and more common carpal […]

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Most people know that the ear has two functions; namely, hearing and balance. Now new research has shown that the inner ear balance function, called vestibular function, is impaired in fully 35 percent of all U.S. adults over the age of 40. Such dysfunction, which affects 69 million Americans can lead to catastrophic problems, most notably to falls with their attendant issues such as fractures. Vestibular dysfunction increases with age, eventually affecting 85 percent of those over the age of 80. The findings were published in the May 25, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The researchers studied nearly seven thousand U.S. adults over the age of 40. Participants completed a questionnaire and also underwent balance testing by something called the “Romberg Test of Standing Balance on Firm and Compliant Support Surfaces.” This tests a variety of sensory inputs that contribute to balance: the vestibular system in the inner […]

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You may have heard or read news reports, such as the one in the Washington Post, announcing the findings of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) survey, which found that obesity “is as much of a risk factor for serious complications from the [swine] flu as diabetes, heart disease and pregnancy, all known to raise a person’s risk.” But I suggest you take the CDC report with a large grain of salt because the survey was based on a very small number of patients and was not designed to provide data from which such conclusions could be drawn.
The survey looked at only 30 patients hospitalized with swine flu in California. Of those, only four were obese. So the conclusion that obesity might be an independent risk factor for severe swine flu was based on four patients! Not only that, but according to the data table contained in the CDC report, […]

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A commonly used treatment for acid reflux does not improve asthma symptoms or asthma control in those patients who do not actually have symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GER), according to a new study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.  This suggests that silent GER (acid reflux that causes only minimal or no reflux symptoms) does not play a role in asthma, as has previously been thought.
Many people with asthma are treated with a combination of medications that includes one designed to reduce excess stomach acid even though asthma is a respiratory and not a digestive disorder. The reason is that stomach acid can lead to GER, which in turn can exacerbate the symptoms of asthma in some people. It is particularly helpful for those whose asthma remains uncontrolled after the usual medications are given and who also have symptoms of GERD such as heartburn. But many people without […]

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As Stephen Colbert would say: “Welcome to the Report ladies and gentlemen.” Dr. Z’s Medical Report has a new home here on Everyday Health, and I am happy to welcome both old and new readers to my blog, which began in 2006 on HealthTalk. Although HealthTalk no longer exists as its own website, much of its content has been incorporated into the Everyday Health website, including all the postings of Dr. Z’s Medical Report. You can still search the blog using the little search box on the right side of the page and can still subscribe to it via RSS. Nothing has changed except for the owner of the website; namely, Everyday Health and I’m happy to be part of their team.
For those new to the Report, here’s a brief overview. I usually write twice a week with postings on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. The easiest way to stay informed is […]

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According to the American Optometric Association, even if you have perfect vision it’s still a good idea to have your eyes examined every two years if you’re under 60 and annually if you’re over. That’s because there are a number of diseases without symptoms, which can be identified during an eye exam. And at least one of these, which can cause blindness, can only be found by an eye doctor. In this regard, I’m talking about an optometrist. Unless you’ve got some eye-related medical symptoms there’s no need to see an ophthalmologist (a medical doctor specializing in diseases of the eye) for a routine eye exam.
The most important eye disorder that can only be identified by an eye doctor is glaucoma. Even if your regular physician looks in your eyes with an ophthalmoscope, he or she won’t be able to tell if you have glaucoma unless it’s far advanced. […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

Tis the season to be jolly, but not everyone feels that way. For some, the onset of winter, with its short days, brings on symptoms of depression. In fact, however, by the time winter officially begins on December 21 the days have already been getting progressively shorter and shorter for months culminating in the solstice, the shortest day of the year. So although it’s often referred to as winter blues, seasonal depression actually has a fall onset that coincides with the beginning of the inexorable loss of daylight that occurs in northern latitudes between November and February.
For some people, symptoms of depression predictably recur every year when the days grow short in fall and winter and the definition of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is just that; namely, recurring depression with a seasonal onset and remission. While it has this unique pattern of occurrence, SAD is […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

It’s the time of year when annual “top” lists begin appearing everywhere like so many ornaments on the tree. So here’s Dr. Z’s roundup of the top five health scams of 2008:

Kinoki Detox Foot Pads

Kinoki and all other so-called detox foot pads top the list because of the sheer audacity involved in their shameless marketing and the utter lack of either a scientific basis through which they might work or any medical studies proving that they do. Yet we’ve received over 400 comments on my blog about them, attesting to the surprising interest people have in these worthless products. Despite their having been debunked on National Public Radio and the ABC news program “20/20″ inquiring minds still want to know, likely due to relentless marketing and widespread distribution. Users of these pads seem quite impressed that they turn brown or black after being worn overnight […]

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Many of our readers either already have or will in the future encounter the possibility of being treated with a biologic medication. This is because biologics have revolutionized the treatment of such chronic illnesses as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, and are widely used in treating a variety of cancers. To name just a few, these products include Enbrel, Humira, Remicade (infliximab), Avonex (inteferon beta-1a), Betaseron (interferon beta-1b), Tysabri, Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), Herceptin (trastuzumab), Rituxan (rituximab), Neupogen (filgrastim), Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) and Leukine (sargramostim). So just what are biologics, how do they differ from more traditional drugs, and why are they so expensive?Although some biologics have been around for a long time, I’m not talking about these first-generation products, which include things like vaccines, blood and blood components. Instead, I’m focusing on the newer, second-generation biologics that have come to market only […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com