Forgetfulness is Not Necessarily a Warning Sign of Dementia
One in nine North Americans over age 65 will develop dementia, a progressive brain disorder that interferes with normal daily living and is marked by memory loss, personality changes and impaired reasoning). Aging is the major risk factor for dementia, but forgetfulness among seniors does not necessarily mean the person is headed for dementia.
Healthy Aging and Senescent Cells
Extensive evidence shows that aging is associated with, and partially caused by, the accumulation of "senescent cells" in your body. Recent animal studies have shown that it is possible to extend the lives of animals by reducing the numbers of senescent cells, even if treatment is started late in life.
How Excess Fat Can Spread Cancer
People who have cancer and are also overweight are at increased risk for having the cancer spread through their bodies. A new study shows how excess weight may spread cancer cells through the body.
Fungus Toenails – Deformed Toenails
Fungus infections cause less than five percent of deformed nails. Drying of skin and skin conditions such as psoriasis are more common causes. The part of nails that you see is dead. Living nails are located underneath the skin at their base.
Corns and Calluses
Skin responds to friction and pressure by thickening. This is helpful until the skin becomes so thick it actually hurts. Skin that thickens without a core is called callus. They usually form under the foot. Corns are thick spots of skin with a deep, central core. They usually form on the toes.
Parkinson’s Disease vs Benign (Essential) Tremors
If you have developed shaking of your hands, you could have Parkinson's disease which is difficult to treat, or Benign Tremors which is usually easy to treat. You are more likely to have the more serious Parkinson's disease if you have the tremor at rest, a slow heart beat, rigid firm muscles, slowness to remember facts, difficulty speaking normally, depression or sleep disturbances.
Tinea Versicolor
If you notice dark brown or whitish circles on your skin, particularly on your chest or back, you probably have a fungus infection called tinea versicolor.
Tinea versicolor is especially noticeable as white spots on your skin when you try to get a suntan.
You don't have to treat it as it usually causes no harm...
Making Vaccines to Stop the COVID-19 Pandemic
The only way that scientists are going to end this current pandemic is to develop vaccines and immunize enough people to reach immunity in about 40 percent of the population from the vaccines or by having been infected with the disease.
Gut Bacteria Associated with Colon Cancer
A study from Harvard Medical School found that a typical Western diet increases growth of specific bacteria in the gut called “polyketide synthase (pks+) E. Coli” that produce a chemical called colibactin, which causes DNA mutations that can turn normal colon cells into cancer cells.
Protecting Yourself from COVID-19
As businesses and activities are re-opening, many people have decided to relax their precautions to avoid infection with COVID-19. If you are a person who is at high risk for complications from this virus, I believe that you should continue to be on guard.
Herpes
If you get recurrent painful blisters with itching or tingling in your skin, around your mouth or in your genital area, check with your doctor who will usually do a culture of the blisters. If the culture shows that you have an infection with one of the two herpes simplex viruses, your doctor can give you a prescription for pills containing one of three common drugs used to shorten the course of each outbreak of blisters:
Three Effective COVID-19 Vaccines Should Be Available Soon
We now have three apparently safe and effective vaccines to help stop the current COVID-19 pandemic. The latest estimates are that the pandemic will not end until 70 to 90 percent of the North American population has some degree of immunity.
Your Appendix is Useful After All
I had my appendix removed when I was a child because the doctor told my mother it was a useless organ that might someday burst and cause horrible problems. After generations of children had their appendices removed for no reason, researchers have found that perhaps it may have an important function.
Colon Cancer, Gut Bacteria and Diet
A diet that is high in either red meat or sugar, or both, increases the growth in the colon of bacteria called Fusobacterium nucleatum that appears to suppress a person's immunity to increase the growth of cancer cells in the colon.
Gut Bacteria to Help Treat and Prevent Cancers
To function properly, your immunity depends on the tens of trillions of bacteria in your intestines. New cancer treatments rely on gut bacteria to help stimulate the immune system to kill cancers such as lymphomas in the blood and melanomas in the skin. If you give antibiotics that kill gut bacteria before you give these cancer drugs, the cancer drugs do not work at all
Colon Cancer Risk and Neu5Gc Antibodies
Researchers have suggested a method to measure antibodies in humans after they eat the foods that contain Neu5Gc (BMC Medicine, Oct 23, 2020;18(262)). The more meat and dairy a person eats, the higher the rise in antibodies against Neu5Gc.
Colon Cancer Prevention and Treatment
More than 1.3 million North Americans have had colorectal cancer, a disease associated with behaviors that encourage cancer-causing bacteria to thrive in your colon. Colon cancer is linked to lifestyle factors that increase inflammation risk: an unhealthful diet, lack of exercise, excess weight, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
Alzheimer’s Disease
The most common cause of senility in North America is Alzheimer's disease, a horrible condition in which a person loses his capacity to reason, think, recognize and function. Former president Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer's disease, as did some Nobel Prize winners and some of the most brilliant people who have walked this earth.
Foot Odor
Do you know why you should wear socks? It's to keep your feet and shoes from smelling.
Foot odor is caused by bacteria or fungi rotting old skin. Your skin turns over every 28 days. A new cell starts on the bottom layer of skin, then another skin cell forms underneath it. The process continues...
Preventing Dementia
More than one in 10 North Americans, or 5.1 million, suffer from dementia. Today there is no effective treatment for dementia, but in the last month, several reports have shown that dementia may be delayed and prevented.
A Low-Fiber Diet to Treat Constipation?
The standard treatment for chronic constipation is to eat a high fiber, plant-based diet. However, other studies have shown that taking in large amounts of fiber can actually cause constipation in some people. In one study, constipated people on a high-fiber diet solved most of their constipation problems by going on a very low fiber diet..
Healthful Diet Helps to Prevent Colon Cancer
A study published this week shows that vegetarians who eat fish have a 43 percent reduced risk for developing colon cancer, compared to people who eat meat (JAMA Internal Medicine, March 9, 2015). Researchers analyzed the diets of nearly 78,000 men and women. During an average seven years of follow-up, they identified 380 cases...
Recent News on COVID-19
CAUTION: The news media often reports on articles from the websites of scientific journals that have not yet been peer reviewed by other doctors. It has become common practice to "pre-publish" studies or press releases online before they have been fully reviewed, and many of these reports are sent out by companies with a lot of money at stake.
Some Cases of Dementia Have Effective Treatments
More than six million North Americans suffer from dementia, which affects three percent of people age 65-74, 17 percent of age 75-84, and 32 percent of those age 85 and older. Anything that damages brain cells can cause dementia and many of the causes are treatable.
Lyme Disease May Be Transmitted Between Humans
An international team of research scientists and practicing doctors from Canada, the United States and Australia report that the bacterium that causes Lyme disease is found in 100 percent of the vaginal secretions of women and half of the semen of men suffering from Lyme disease.
Exercise Reduces Risk for 13 Types of Cancer
Leisure-time physical activity is associated with a lower risk of cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium, esophagus, adenocarcinoma, liver, stomach, kidney, head, neck, rectum, bladder and lung, and myeloid leukemia and myeloma
Can Cell Phones Cause Memory Loss or Cancer?
Two recent studies show that non-ionizing radiation from cell phones may be associated with impaired ability to recall images, but not words, in teenagers; and at high levels, can increase brain and heart tumors in rats. Most studies on cell phone use have not shown increased cancer risk or memory loss.
Cancer Treatment Should Include Lifestyle Improvements
The recent medical literature shows that certain lifestyle factors are associated with developing prostate, breast, colon, pancreatic and many other cancers and that changing these same lifestyle factors should be part of every treatment for people who are diagnosed with any type of cancer. Up to 40 percent of human cancers are at least partially caused by modifiable lifestyle factors.
Risk Factors for Dementia and Heart Attacks Start Early in Life
Researchers in Finland followed 3,596 children (3-18) for 31 years to see whether cardiovascular risk factors in childhood and adolescence were associated with cognitive performance later in life. Cognitive testing was performed in 2,026 of the participants at 34-49 years of age, and the researchers found that early heart attack risk factors were also major risk factors for reduced mental function.
Intense Exercise May Reduce Cancer Spread
A study from Israel found that intense exercise may help to prevent cancer from spreading, in humans and in mice, by using up body sugars so that less energy is available for the tumor cells to grow and spread. Compared to non-exercisers, those who exercised regularly before they developed cancers had a slightly reduced incidence of cancer, while those who exercised at high intensity after developing cancer had a 72 percent lower incidence of metastatic cancer than those who did not exercise after developing cancer.
