Weekly News

• FMS: Here is another example of taking a condition, making it common and treatable and marketing a drug to address it. I don’t like it and it goes back to the direct to consumer marketing that raises healthcare prices for all of us. It relegates a physician to no more than the guy/gal who fills your order. Doctor, I have FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome) and need that pill I heard about on TV. Oh, and I’ll take that to go, thank you very much.
  Drugs: They’re on my mind this week. Niacin is often recommended as a more natural and reasonably priced option for preventing heart disease through reduction of blood cholesterol. So, I believe it is an alternative to statin drugs. Anyway, sometimes niacin causes flushing of the skin and a burning sensation, or it always does in some people. A drug company is now working on a niacin compound that has shown a decrease in these symptoms for a certain percent of their study group. So the niacin option will become an expensive prescription treatment in the future. This begs the question; why not just take the generic statin drug?
• Anemia Drugs: These drugs, or class of drugs, are in the news a lot these days. There is more than one kind though they may all be injectable. The risks associated with these drugs include cardiac problems and a link to cancer. Ironically, one of the approved groups for the pills are those receiving chemotherapy. The drugs are also used in kidney disease treatment. While some insurers are pulling back on coverage and makers of the drugs are trying to improve them, this statement struck me as a little off putting, but reality can be so. The statement, read in the Wall St Journal on 9/4/07 is attributed to a spokesman from pharmaceutical company Roche. She said, “Anemia is still a large market.” Well, I thought it was a blood disorder that led one to feeling weak and tired.
• Labels: Remember that label reading is important. I’ve said this for years and want to reiterate a past admonition. Keep Looking at them. Nutrient info can change. For example, this week I noticed my same old yogurt, flavor, size, brand, etc now has ten more calories. Also, my same old calcium brand now has two tabs as a serving size and claims more vitamin D. My separate vitamin D has fancy new bone health proclamations on the label. On a positive note, it is good to see that Dr. Willett’s message as supported by research is being mainstreamed. That is the case for vitamin d supplementation and bone protection.
• Kids: Hot news. That Go Slow Whoa program out of Sarasota Food and Nutrition Services (School Board) continues to ROCK> No meals offer whole milk and only skim milk is on the green or go list. I am really happy to report this next tidbit but sort of miffed as well. The FDA and some ADA representatives are encouraging children to read nutrition labels. Tweens, those in middle school are the target of this incentive. Listen, I said exactly this over a year ago when I worked out my OPP, or Obesity Prevention Project aimed at middle school children. UGH! I included social influence and self determination theory which would empower the children to know why they wanted to read the labels and what to look for when they did. That would encourage them to make the choices that would keep them at a healthy weight. The more they did this the more likely it would be, will be, that food companies and even establishments, will provide more nutrition content on labels and menus! Who do I have to work for to be heard for goodness sakes! Lastly in this section, toddlers are increasingly overweight and iron deficient. How in the hell does THAT happen? (rhetorical)
• In Treatment/Colon Cancer: Many cancer patients are advised to eat health promoting, nutritious and low fat, low calorie foods to maintain a healthy weight in treatment and beyond. This is true for colon cancer patients as well. Because there is a growing body of research to support a link between diet and colon cancer and studies now confer an IMPACT on treatment and survivability with the same foods, the following is noted. Refrain from or limit red meats and processed meats and foods high in fat as well as high sugar foods like desserts. Protective factors on the other hand include not being overweight and staying active. Sometimes people will say, YES But, I am too tired to exercise. I say to them……. You are NOT too tired to exercise; you are tired because you don’t exercise.
• Did you Know: Tobacco farming is having a resurgence and not for biofuel either but to meet the needs of smokers in China, for example. There are no more tobacco quotas in the US after a buyout a few years ago and this may turn lucrative for the farmers past and new. I do wonder what effect if any, this will have on the funds that some states have set aside from the Master Settlement Agreement that funds programs to help displaced tobacco farmers become something different. The story that I read about this increased demand for tobacco also noted that the cigarette makers are courting the farmers in order to meet current and future demand. That future demand is new smokers and people don’t generally start smoking in their thirties and forties, no, those new smokers are YOUR children. Talk to them, check out, or have them check out Students Working Against Tobacco. http://www.gen-swat.com/gen-swat1/enemy.html
  Another bit of news this week about tattoos noted that about 25% of us have them, which is about the same percent of US smokers. Well, I am one of the first 25% --- J
  
  I will be in NJ next week at the University of Medicine and Dentistry and if all goes well, I will be a Certified Tobacco Dependence Treatment Specialist when I come home…… oh man, do I need more ammunition or what.
  Wishing you wellness