Gluten Or Gluten-Free — That Is The Question
Lately, there has been a lot of press about gluten, which is a wheat protein. To look at the proliferation of gluten-free products on the supermarket shelves, one would think that half the country has problems with gluten. Is this a real issue, or the latest fad? How many of us really need to avoid…
April pearls – Penicillin Allergy, Testosterone Therapy and The Elbow Sign in Sleep Apnea
Penicillin – Real allergy or not? Ten percent of the US population reports having an allergy to penicillin. It turns out that when they are tested, less than a tenth of those people were truly allergic. According to a recent study this is an important point to clarify. Those with a stated allergy to penicillin were…
Thyroid Myths Dispelled: It Doesn’t Have To Be a Pain in the Neck
As an endocrinologist, I see patients with a wide variety of hormonal issues including thyroid disease. From talking with my patients and reading mainstream media, I have noticed that there is an abundance of misinformation regarding the thyroid. I hope to answer many common questions and dispel some of these rumors. What is the thyroid…
March 2014 Health Pearls
1. Did you know that if you’re taking St John’s Wort and hormonal contraception (birth control pills, implantable contraceptives…), you might be at a higher risk for an unplanned pregnancy? St John’s Wort is an herbal remedy used mostly for symptoms of mild depression. The UK Medicinal Products and Healthcare Regulatory Agency reported unplanned pregnancies…
Is There an Ideal Dose of Alcohol?
As part of an annual physical, among the questions I ask patients are, “Do you smoke?”, “Do you drink?”. Several times in the past few months, patients have mentioned drinking amounts that are well above the recommended limits. Unfortunately, the popular press, by touting the benefits of red wine, has promoted the idea that red…
11 Reasons You Should Stop Chewing Gum NOW!
Over the centuries, human beings have evolved on many fronts. One thing is for sure – that we are not like “cows” who bring up their food for hours and keep on chewing and digesting it. Why then do we as human beings resort to continuous “Cow-like” chewing…..via chewing gum? After practicing dentistry for 20+…
What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?
One of the most common questions that I get, is “what made you go into this field?” usually asked as I am about to insert a scope into a patient’s rectum for his or her screening colonoscopy. The answer is, “it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it” and “aren’t you glad that…
Baby Pearly Whites – Handle With Care!
How much should we care about “baby teeth”? After all, there’s another set of “real” teeth coming in a few years, right? When we look at the facts, there’s a lot of reason to care about those pearly white primary teeth and it’s not just about the tooth fairy! What was once known as…
February 2014 Health Pearls
For years, heart disease has been the number one cause of death. Very soon, cancer might take that position, as the incidence of cancer worldwide is estimated to skyrocket from 14 million cases in 2012 to 22 million within two decades. The cancer deaths are predicted to increase from 8.3 to 13 million during that…
Gas Is a Blast – For Some
How serious a problem is intestinal gas? Serrin’s mind started wandering after she read an article titled “Flatulent Cows Start Fire at German Dairy Farm.” Ninety cows producing methane gas plus a static charge resulted in one cow being burnt and damage to the barn. It led to wondering whether humans might pose a similar…