Dr. Soram's Integrative Medicine
Practical Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Surgeons General’s Office have urged widespread testing for radon. They estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon. Next to smoking, radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer.
The EPA says that nearly 1 in 3 homes checked in seven states and on three Indian lands had screening levels over 4 pCi/L, the EPA’s recommended action level for radon exposure.
Hospitals Reduce Noise to Help Healing
Noise levels at hospitals around the world are known to be incredibly high, and now anti-noise campaigns have been started to help keep things quiet.
According to Margaret Amato, clinical director of nursing at Montefiore Medical Center, noise levels during a shift change in a hospital can reach 113 decibels (a motorcycle, for comparison, is 95 decibels).
“Hospital noise levels are far too high internationally, and this has been known for decades,” said Roger Ulrich, a professor of architecture at Texas A&M University.
And a nationwide phone survey of over 1,200 Americans, sponsored by Stanford University Medical Center, ABC News and USA Today, found that back pain was the most common type of pain reported (followed by knee and shoulder pain, joint pain and headaches).
Because your back is part of your body’s core muscles, and is necessary for nearly every movement you make, it’s also very vulnerable to injury. In fact, most back pain is caused by overusing, straining or injuring the muscles, ligaments and disks that support your spine.
As many as 3 million U.S. women may be unknowingly at risk of heart disease because they suffer from coronary microvascular syndrome (CMS), according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Women’s Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study.
Women with CMS may have shortness of breath or chest pain, but, upon visiting their doctor, be told nothing is wrong and sent home. That’s because CMS is not detected by an angiogram, which is widely accepted as the best test for diagnosing heart disease.
Unlike typical heart disease cases, in which accumulated plaque in the large arteries shows up as bulky clogs, in CMS plaque “evenly coats” the very small arteries of the heart. The arteries are too small to appear on the angiogram, much like “seeing a pine tree’s branches but not its needles,” said Dr. George Sopko, a heart specialist at the National Institutes of Health.
For many years, I have wondered why more attention hasn’t been paid to the constant head-butting that goes on in football, and other sports that our children are playing.
I was recently able to watch the new movie Concussion starring Will Smith and was so happy to see that Hollywood is now bringing attention to this issue.
The movie was about the recognition by a courageous pathologist from Nigeria named Bennet Omalu,M.D., of a new brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The reason it took so long to recognize this disease is that it can only be diagnosed after death, by examining the brain under a microscope.
CTE is a progressive degenerative brain disease that is found in some athletes with a history of repeated brain trauma. More than 50 former NFL players have been diagnosed with the disease after their death, so far.
With this disease, nothing is seen on an MRI or CAT scan of the brain while the person is alive. This is the reason that the NFL was able to argue for so long that there is no evidence of damage to its players’ brains.
In April 2015, a class action lawsuit brought by more than 5000 ex-NFL players reached a settlement. The agreement allowed up to $5 million per retired player for serious medical conditions associated with repeated head trauma. Of note, over 200 former players opted out of settling the lawsuit so that they could sue the NFL on their own.
In November 2015, former players’ attorneys appealed the NFL’s $1 billion plan to address concussion-linked injuries in former players because the plan excluded the diagnosis of CTE, which is the signature brain disease of football, from being compensated!
In addition, the movie with Will Smith brings out the point that one condition for the settlement was that the NFL did not have to reveal to the public what it knew about brain related injuries, or when it knew it.
In a recent court hearing, there is a significant quote from the NFL head lawyer Paul Clement. He stated that:
“The science could determine that all that matters for CTE is the concussive hits you took before your 18th birthday.”
As a physician I think it very unlikely that CTE results exclusively from the head injuries occurring before the age of 18. This comment will have repercussions for the NFL, when thousands of mothers hear this remark and stop their children from playing football.
Most likely, it is the accumulation of the head injuries over the course of an individual’s life that leads to these tragic diagnoses.
I wrote this article largely to bring this issue to the attention of the mothers that get my email and read my blog, whose sons are playing football. Another quote from the end of the movie is that actuaries have calculated that anyone playing football has a 28% chance of ending up with some type of brain disorder including CTE.
I also ask the same question regarding “heading” the ball in soccer. Does that knock out IQ points in our kids?
There is a quote from the movie where the NFL rep says to Dr Amalu: “Do you understand the impact of what you are doing? If just 10% of the mothers in America decide that football is too dangerous for their sons to play, that is IT. It is the end of football.”
Are you in that 10%?
Please read some of the links I give you below to see what is happening with this issue.
Here is an excellent interview and discussion of the movie and on concussions from NPR:
Here is a video-albeit simple-of what happens to the brain with a concussion:
Meet the Real Dr. Bennet Omalu—with a great video interview of Dr Omalu
How CTE Affects the Brain from PBS
NFL Cringes at Clements comment
Playing Contact Sports in Youth May Raise Risk for Degenerative Brain Disease
Contact sports played by amateurs increase risk of degenerative disorder
Judge ApprovesNFL Concussion Lawsuit Settlement
Former NFLer: ‘Your mind just goes crazy’
87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease
Doctor: NFL player who killed girlfriend, self likely had CTE
NFL concussion deal excludes central brain injury
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Also remember to visit my Healthy Living Shop where you can get physician quality supplements for your health! If this is your first purchase at the store, you can use the code VPP10FT to get a one-time 10% discount on the entire order (before S&H and Tax).
Typically, the only people who could afford honey for eating were the very wealthy.
Nowadays, you can find honey in a variety of colors, flavors and textures (not to mention qualities) in just about every supermarket.
After celebrating on New Year’s Eve and using it as the last hurrah to overindulge, most people set out on a stringent quest of resolutions beginning the very next day. Then around the end of January, many fail to live up to their stated resolutions, give up and go back to their former lifestyle.
About one-third of U.S. adults, and 16 percent of children and teens, are currently obese, according to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And while it’s known that obesity increases your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and even cancer, what’s not entirely known are all of the causes.
Experts agree that overeating and lack of exercise are two major contributors to excess weight. But recent research has suggested that something else may also be at play — a virus that’s as easy to catch as the common cold.
Is There an Obesity Virus?
Studies suggest that an adenovirus called AD-36 may be involved in some cases of obesity. There are more than 50 types of adenoviruses that cause illnesses such as the common cold and gastroenteritis. Typically, the illnesses are not serious and resolve on their own.
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The key is to be prepared in advance before the holiday to create your ideal Thanksgiving, one without stress and chaos.
If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner there are 10 things on your checklist to make it as stress-free and enjoyable as possible.
Dr. Oz on Poop: “S Shaped” is Best
You may have seen Dr. Mehmet Oz’s appearance on the Oprah show several years back during which he talked all about poop. According to Dr. Oz, your bowel movements should be “S shaped” and hit your toilet with a “swoosh” sound. Pellet-like poop that plops into the water is a sign of constipation.
