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Last month I covered the topic of FEVER – a very controversial and little understood but totally
normal function of our body.
Why is it controversial? Take a look:
Most people have been taught that fever is a very bad thing. That it is something that needs to be
treated in order for you or your child to be healthy. The result is that the sales of OTC medications
have soared – and that is the idea!
And you’ve also learned that Fever is simply a very natural body defense designed to wipe out an
invading organism. Medicating your children most often simply prolongs the illness.
How is that for different thinking?
Ok….let’s get into an issue which tugs at the heart-strings of all parents:
Chronic Ear Infections
You are suddenly awakened out of a well-deserved sleep.
Your child is crying in the next room with sudden and
intense pain in her/his ear. She is flushed, hot, and
glassy-eyed
with
fever.
You
panic.
Childhood ear infections (Otitis Media) are often very
frightening to parents mostly because they appear
suddenly, usually at night, with little warning.
The most common treatments used for ear infections are
antibiotics,
decongestants,
antipyretics
(fever
medication), and tympanostomy (tubes in the ears). You
may be surprised to learn that the benefits of all of these
are highly questionable.
For example, The Lancet, a major medical research
journal, found that recovery time was about the same for
children whether medical intervention happened or
nothing
was
done
at
all.
Another study from the Archives of Otolaryngology,
showed that “88 percent of children with Otitis Media
never needed antibiotics, and antibiotics did not shorten
the lifespan of the disease.” As a matter of
fact, Newsweek Magazine reported that antibiotics are
not nearly as effective as the body’s own immune system.
How about that! What a concept!
For parents frustrated with recurring ear
infections, the EENT (ear, eye, nose, and
throat) specialist will most likely prescribe
the “rite of tympanostomy”—words from
the late Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, a pediatric
specialist and a self- proclaimed “medical
heretic.”
It is a surgical procedure whereby your
child is anesthetized so that a tube can be
placed in his or her eardrum to drain fluid.
Most people refer to this as simply
“TUBES.”
Research, however, indicates that
this procedure does little to eliminate
the problem. It simply reduces
pressure and fluid build-up in the
inner ear. It is no panacea for ear
infections!
Parents, however, have been sold
on the idea that tubes in the ears
are some kind of a cure for ear
infections.
Most mothers I meet in my office,
whose children have chronic and
recurring ear infections, have
already had the “tube thing” done—
with no success.
And this whole concept of surgically placing “tubes” in the ears of young children to eliminate ear
infections is absurd. The middle-ages come to mind! Perhaps The Rack is next?
Whether or not to give a child tympanostomy tubes - tubes in the ears - is a debate that has raged in
medicine for over two decades. One of the major arguments in favor of tubes is that if children have fluid
behind the middle ear it can cut down on their ability to hear and can potentially lead to learning problems.
But a report in the New England Journal of Medicine says this is not the case. According to this study, in
children younger than three years of age who have persistent Otitis Media, prompt insertion of
tympanostomy tubes does not measurably improve developmental outcomes. The procedure has little
long-term effect with respect to hearing, behavior or learning development.
Implanting ear tubes, an operation done on hundreds of thousands of toddlers each year, does not
appear to improve their speech and learning development and may not be worth the risk and the cost,
another study found. Researchers in Pittsburgh looked at two groups of toddlers: those who received ear
tubes after three months of fluid in their ears (the standard guideline) and those who waited up to nine
months before tubes were inserted. The children were tested for speech, language, learning, and
behavior when they turned three.
I’ll continue this train of thought in the next issue. Please stay with me!
What the heck is Jicama?
This slightly sweet and crunchy root vegetable may
lack the marketing budgets of acai and coconut juice,
but it acts as a pre-biotic to promote "friendly" bacteria
in the gut. Plus it may boost collagen and fight wrinkles.
Rich in vitamin C and minerals, Jicama, also known as
Mexican yam or water chestnut, can be cooked,
mashed, baked, or served raw in slaws, salads, and
stir-fries, after you peel its thick skin.
While predictions are swirling that Jicama will soon take
an honorary place alongside carrots and kale, at this
point you're still likely only to find the vegetable at
farmers' markets or ethnic groceries.
Jicama, like Jerusalem artichokes, is a source of inulin, a pre-biotic that can promote the growth of
beneficial bacteria in the gut. Munching on Jicama might also boost the look of your skin, thanks to its
vitamin C content (one cup of raw Jicama slices provides more than 24 mg of vitamin C). Eating
vitamin C-rich foods can increase collagen production, which can help improve skin texture, speed
wound healing, and give you a healthy glow.
Still, Livestrong warns that while Jicama root is healthy and completely edible, the rest of the plant is
toxic, including the seeds, leaves and pods. So…….please, be careful out there!
Source: RelaxNews
Variety is the spice of life –
and your workout
A well-rounded fitness program incorporates four
areas of physical activity, according to Mayo Clinic
experts.
1. Balance exercises. Besides improving
balance, these help reduce the risk of
falling.
2. Flexibility training. This helps joints move
more easily. It also improves posture and
balance, especially when flexibility and
strength training are combined.
3.
Strength training. This reduces the
chances of heart attack and stroke. It also
helps increase bone mass.
4.
Aerobic activity. This helps reduce the risk
of heart disease and stroke. It helps lower
blood pressure, promotes healthy
cholesterol levels, reduces risk of type 2
diabetes and can help improve stamina.
Source: Mayo Clinic
100 Ways to live to 100:
53. Blood pressure reading
Many factors can distort a BP reading by as much as 5 mmHg: acute exposure to cold, recent
alcohol intake, incorrect arm position, an incorrect cuff size-and even the presence of the doctor, now so
common that it’s called ‘white-coat’ hypertension. Blood pressure falls at night, and night-time blood
pressure is considered the most accurate predictor of heart attack. Consider 24-hour blood-pressure
monitoring, not the old-fashioned cuff.
54. Routine smear tests
Many doctors still offer women an annual smear test for cervical cancer – even though they’ve
been told the test can do more harm than good. The test throws up many false positives – incorrectly
‘seeing’ abnormal tissue that triggers a series of further and more invasive tests, plus needless worry.
Even the NHS advises a smear test only once every three years for those aged over 21 and once every
five years for those between 30 and 65.
55. Routine dental x-rays
Your dentist keeps telling you it’s safer than an airplane flight, but dental X-rays could triple the
risk of meningioma, a kind of brain tumour. Children who have a Panorex of full-mouth X-ray before the
age of 10 run the greatest risk, and even bitewing X-rays increase risk.
Regular exposure may also cause heart disease. Annual checkups should be urgently
reconsidered, say Yale University researchers.
56. CT (computed tomography) scans
This whole-body, three-dimensional imaging system is one of the most sensitive early-warning
detectors of cancer, internal bleeding, heart problems, stroke and neurological disorders, but the
standard course of two or three CT scans is equivalent to the radiation levels of Hiroshima or Nagasaki
atomic bombs; just one scan is equivalent to around 500 standard chest X-rays, reckons the Royal
College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
57. Routine prenatal ultrasound
The prenatal ‘miracle’, which uses high-frequency pulsed sound waves to image the fetus in the
womb, gets it wrong so often that up to one in 23 women told by doctors they’ve miscarried may end up
terminating a healthy pregnancy. Scans often ‘see’ a miscarriage when the pregnancy is still viable, say
researchers from London and Belgium. Reserve this for when something is really wrong, and consider
waiting before ‘completing’ a termination if the test concludes you’ve miscarried.
58. Peripheral bone densitometry
It’s the most commonly used diagnostic tool for osteoporosis, and it measures two sites, usually
the hip and spine, but bone mineral density (BMD) is not uniform throughout the skeleton. Although the
WHO criteria for a healthy BMD apply only to the hip and spine, a wide range of ‘normal’ BMDs
elsewhere in the body may be misdiagnosed as abnormal by these criteria. Diagnosing osteoporosis is
still not an exact science, say researchers; you have a strong chance of being misclassified, especially
when the test is done in those under 65.
I will continue this topic over the next issues until we reach 100 points. Please enjoy!