Search the web
Sign In
New User? Sign Up
DrRehertsAlerts · Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts
  • Members Only
  • Post
  • Files
  • Photos
  • Links
  • Database
  • Polls
  • Calendar
  • Groups Labs (Beta)
? Already a member? Sign in to Yahoo!

Yahoo! Groups Tips

Did you know...
Show off your group to the world. Share a photo of your group with us.

Best of Y! Groups

   Check them out and nominate your group.
Having problems with message search? Fill out this form to ensure your group is one of the first to be migrated to the new message search system.

Messages

   Messages Help
Message #
Search:
Advanced
Messages 55 - 93 of 146   Newest  |  < Newer  |  Older >  |  Oldest
Messages: Show Message Summaries   (Group by Topic) Sort by Date v  
#93 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:48 am
Subject: C-Sections on Demand and Hysterectomy for better sex. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
For years patients have been able to choose to have a tummy tuck or a tubal ligation.  Now the trend is to choose to have a Caesarean Section.  Read this timely story below:
MANAGED CARE January 2003.
Not long ago, managed care plans sought to reduce the rate of C-section births in the U.S.  Now, C-sections are going up -- and plans are going along.
 
Changing Medical Evidence Brings Shift in C-Section Stance
By Bob Carlson
 
"Dr. Jennifer Berman has a request that strikes at the heart of a controversy," Diane Sawyer explained as video footage showed Berman's five-month prenatal visit to her Ob/Gyn. "What she's about to ask for is an elective C-section. She wants to have her baby surgically, and she's doing it, she says, because of her first childbirth experience and because the problems she sees in her patients after they have vaginal births."
 
This is a story we're likely to encounter more often. Elective C-sections (also called C-section on demand) are, in part, behind the skyrocketing Cesarean-section birth rate in the United States.
 
Like many Ob/Gyns, Flamm and Lockwood regard C-sections as major surgery with quantifiable risks and that they should be done only if medically indicated. At the same time, they acknowledge that patient choice may become the decisive factor. That scenario gained credibility in 2001 when then- ACOG president Benson Harer, MD, advocated on-demand Cesareans in his organization's newsletter.  Speaking for himself and not for ACOG, Harer argued that Cesarean delivery is less traumatic for baby and mother.
 
"My belief is that Cesarean birth is fundamentally superior for mothers and babies," says Walters, an Ob/Gyn in Mount Vernon, Ill. "The maternal mortality rate in the United States would go down and so would long-term morbidity in terms of injury to the pelvic floor, specifically bladder prolapse, stress urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and uterine prolapse -- for all of which, vaginal birth is the number one risk factor."
 
Flamm expects to see an all-time high rate of Cesarean sections in the United States for 2002. Lockwood can conceive of a 50-percent rate within 10 years.  Walters predicts that all American births will be via C-section within 20 years.
 
"I don't think a doctor should tell us how to have a baby," said Berman at the end of her "Healthy Woman" segment on Good Morning America. "We're able to choose whether we want laparoscopic surgery or open surgery, whether we want a boob job or a tummy tuck. Why can't we choose this?"
 

Click Here For The Complete Story

I've thought for years that one of the main reasons my patients have hysterectomies is to eliminate pelvic pain and thereby have better sex.  Here's the latest research that says a hysterectomy improves sexual satisfaction.
Better Sex After Hysterectomy
 
Female Orgasm, Satisfaction, Improves for Most
 
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
Thursday, October 02, 2003 
 
Oct. 2, 2003 -- Sex after a hysterectomy is better, one group of researchers reports.  It's long been thought that, during a hysterectomy, damage to vaginal nerves and support structures may affect women's sexual well-being, writes researcher Jan-Paul W. R. Roovers, MD, an obstetrics-gynecology professor at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
 
A hysterectomy can be done either through an incision in the abdomen or the uterus can be removed through the vagina. Surgeons have not known whether one technique leaves better sex after hysterectomy and better female orgasms, than the other. Does an abdominal hysterectomy leave more nerves and blood vessels undamaged? Or does a vaginal hysterectomy offer more protection to those nerves and blood vessels?
 
In this study, Roovers and his colleagues -- in 13 teaching hospitals throughout the Netherlands -- compared effects of vaginal hysterectomy, abdominal hysterectomy, and abdominal hysterectomy with cervix intact in 352 women.
 
Sex after hysterectomy was better, regardless of the surgical procedure they had, he reports. Most of the women -- 310 in all -- were sexually active both before and after hysterectomy. But of the 32 women who were not sexually active before hysterectomy, 53% became sexually active afterwards.
 
However, for some women, problems persisted. Some who had abdominal hysterectomy continued to have lubrication, arousal, and sensation difficulties. Ten women who had been sexually active before hysterectomy were no longer sexually active afterwards.  In fact, there was a trend in new sexual problems in some women but no obvious increase was detected.
 
This study is the first to focus on sex after hysterectomy and female sexual well-being, notes Roovers. Trends in persistent problems warrant further study, he says. 
 
In celebration of the upcoming Holidays, CLICK HERE for a Christmas melody brought to you by the National Health Service of Great Britain.  Happy Holidays To All.
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
 
If you know anyone you think would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," CLICK HERE to send me their email address and I'll add them to the list.
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#92 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Nov 29, 2003 5:36 pm
Subject: Fibroids and the Morning-After Pill 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
You may have heard me say that 25 to 35% of all women have fibroid tumors of the uterus.  Well in light of the article below I think I'll have to change my spiel.  It seems that you are "normal" only if you have fibroid tumors.
High cumulative incidence of uterine leiomyoma in black and white women- ultrasound evidence.
 
Day Baird D, Dunson DB, Hill MC, Cousins D, Schectman JM.
 
Uterine leiomyoma, or fibroid tumors, are the leading indication for hysterectomy in the United States, but the proportion of women in whom fibroid tumors develop is not known. This study screened for fibroid tumors, independently of clinical symptoms, to estimate the age-specific proportion of black and white women in whom fibroid tumors develop. Randomly selected members of an urban health plan who were 35 to 49 years old participated (1364 women). Premenopausal women were screened by ultrasonography. We estimated the age-specific cumulative incidence of fibroid tumors for black and white women. The estimated cumulative incidence of tumors by age 50 was >80% for black women and nearly 70% for white women.
 
The results of this study suggest that most black and white women in the United States develop uterine fibroid tumors before menopause.
 
PMID: 12548202 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
 
Once again the FDA is considering making the "morning-after pill" over-the-counter.  This controversy should be decided in the next few months.   
 
The good news is it would be readily available.  The bad news is that insurance companies would stop paying for it.  Read more about it here.

FDA Considers OTC 'Morning After' Pill
 
By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
 
WASHINGTON - Federal health officials are debating if it's time to put emergency contraception — also called the morning-after pill — on pharmacy shelves right next to the aspirin, available without a prescription.
 
Proponents say such a move would greatly increase women's ability to get the pills in time to prevent pregnancy: preferably within 24 hours but no more than 72 hours after rape, contraceptive failure or just forgetting birth control.
 
The morning-after pill marks the first in a series of ever more complex over-the-counter switch decisions facing FDA. Next year, the agency will be asked to allow nonprescription Mevacor, one of the popular cholesterol-fighting statins; it expects to eventually consider over-the-counter blood pressure medicine, too.
 
Already, five states allow women to buy the morning-after pill directly from certain pharmacists without a doctor's prescription. They are Washington, California, Alaska, Hawaii and New Mexico. Now the maker of one emergency contraceptive brand, called Plan B, has asked the FDA to go further and allow the pills to sell over-the-counter nationwide, as is done in numerous other countries.
 
FDA's scientific advisers will debate the request next month. Contraception advocates are pushing hard for no restrictions. They say easy over-the-counter access could spur wider use of emergency contraception, in turn preventing up to 1.7 million unplanned pregnancies each year and hundreds of thousands of abortions.
 
But emergency contraception does have opponents, including the Vatican, who oppose any interference with a fertilized egg. Critics contend if regular birth control pills are too risky for nonprescription use then emergency use is, too — and that broader access to emergency contraception actually could increase sexually transmitted diseases.
 
"You will have people ... falling back on this idea we'll all just go to the drugstore in the morning and get a morning-after pill," says Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America, an organization that opposes abortion. Still, it's a question FDA will consider. As for side effects, the quick-ending hormone dose from emergency contraception doesn't cause problems like blood clots that longtime use of regular birth-control pills can, says FDA drug chief Dr. John Jenkins.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
 
I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.
 
If you know anyone you think would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," CLICK HERE to send me their email address and I'll add them to the list.
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#91 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Fri Nov 14, 2003 10:52 pm
Subject: Menopause makes you eat more & The Male Contraceptive 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
At least monkeys now have an excuse for menopause weight gain.  Maybe humans do to?

Menopause Equals Extra Munching, Study Shows
 
By Maggie Fox, November 12, 2003
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a possible explanation of why many women gain weight after menopause, a U.S. researcher said on Wednesday that monkeys whose ovaries are removed eat 67 percent more food and gain 5 percent of body weight in just weeks.
 
Reporting to a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans, Judy Cameron said she may be able to help explain why so many women begin to gain weight as they go through menopause, even though many try not to.

"When women go through the menopause, they gain weight. But there are also lifestyle changes," Cameron said in a telephone interview.  Monkeys provide a great model because they have 28-day menstrual cycles like humans and also go through menopause, she said.
 
Her team removed the ovaries of 19 out of 47 monkeys at Oregon Health & Science University.  "In the first two months, they had a 67 percent increase in food intake. These animals are chubby," she said.
 
Mysteriously, some of the monkeys were able to eat much more without gaining much more weight, while others gained large amounts of weight. "There was very little correlation between what the animals were eating and how much weight they gained," she said.
 
Here was the perfect opportunity to test an idea that dieting women have heard for years -- that eating at night puts more weight on than daytime eating.  "Some monkeys eat only daytime meals, she said. "Some get 60 percent of their calories by snacking at night."
 
That made no difference. "Nighttime eaters were not any more likely to gain weight, she said.
 
Cameron's team is testing the metabolisms of the monkeys to see if the lack of estrogen affected that. "People ask, 'So what?"' she said.  "You need to be aware that as you go through menopause, there is going to be a growing desire for food."
 
Menopausal women can watch what they eat and exercise more, she said.
And now the story so many of my patients have been waiting for --   finally . . . the Male Contraceptive:

Male Contraceptive Demonstrates Efficacy and Safety
 
Mindy Hung
 
Nov. 5, 2003 — An injection of androgen and progestin demonstrates high contraceptive efficacy in men, according to results of a study published in the October issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The male contraceptive also showed satisfactory short-term safety and recovery of spermatogenesis.
 
"It demonstrates high contraceptive efficacy compared with the benchmarks of condoms, the existing reversible male method, and oral contraception, the major reversible female contraceptive method, which have first year failure rates of approximately 12% and 3%, respectively," write Leo Turner and colleagues from the ANZAC Research Institute in Australia.
 
Investigators studied 55 men aged 18 to 50 years, who were in a stable relationship with a female partner for one or more years and who did not seek pregnancy for at least 12 months. Subjects had to be in good general health and have normal reproductive function.
 
No pregnancies occurred in 426 person-months (35.5 person-years; 95% confidence limits for contraceptive failure rate, 0% - 8%/year) of efficacy exposure among 51 men. Sperm density fell rapidly among the majority of subjects: 94% of men entered the efficacy phase by three months; 2 (3.6%) of 55 men were not sufficiently suppressed to enter the efficacy phase.
 
All men recovered completely after treatment (median, 3.6 months to sperm reappearance and 5.0 months to 20 million sperm/mL) except one patient with an incidental testicular disorder. Four men seeking fertility achieved paternity after completion of the study.
 
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;88:4659-4667
As a follow-up to last week's email, you can now access the complete Wall Street Journal article on hormone therapy and the WHI study.  It's the best analysis I've seen of this very controversial research. 
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
 
If you know anyone you think would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," CLICK HERE to send me their email address and I'll add them to the list.
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#90 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Oct 29, 2003 9:35 pm
Subject: Excellent article on Hormone Therapy. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Every now and then I come across a cutting-edge article that I totally and enthusiastically agree with.  Below is a link to such an article that describes my (and many other free-thinking gynecologist's) viewpoint on Hormone Therapy in Menopause.  It is a shortened version of an excellent article that was in the Wall Street Journal, 10/21/2003. 
 
If you are on Hormones, considering taking Hormones, or would like to know my current view on Hormone Therapy, I encourage you to click on the link, print it out and read it.  Unfortunately the complete article is not yet available on the internet but might be found at your library.
 
Click here for the Hormone article=>    http://www.globalaging.org/health/us/thecase.htm
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
 
If you know anyone you think would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," CLICK HERE to send their email address and I'll add them to the list.
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#89 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sun Oct 26, 2003 2:49 pm
Subject: Two new FDA approvals. Hormones and Herpes. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here are two articles about new FDA approvals.  First, the FDA has approved a drug to prevent Herpes "shedding."  Anyone who might be a candidate for this therapy, please come in to discuss it.  
October 1 2003 • Volume 38 • Number 19
 
Drug Approved for Lowering Herpes Transmission Risk
Valtrex cut transmissions to susceptible partners by 50%-75% in 8-month study.
 
Elizabeth Mechcatie
 
The Food and Drug Administration has approved valacyclovir (Valtrex) for use as suppressive therapy to reduce the risk of heterosexual transmission of genital herpes to susceptible partners. Approval was based on the results of a landmark study of more than 1,000 heterosexual, monogamous couples. The study showed that a daily suppressive dose of 500 mg Valtrex taken by the infected partner reduced transmission of symptomatic genital herpes (herpes simplex virus type 2) to the uninfected partner by 75% over 8 months.
 
The rationale behind using Valtrex to reduce transmission rates is that the drug suppresses recurrences and reduces viral shedding.  Dr. Handsfield testified that other options for transmission prevention are only partially effective. These other options are the use of condoms, and awareness of subtle signs and symptoms of genital herpes and abstaining from intercourse when these symptoms are present.
 
In the trial, 741 participants who had recurrent genital herpes were randomly assigned to receive 500 mg/day of Valtrex; another 743 infected participants were randomized to placebo. Their susceptible partners had no history of genital herpes. At the end of the study, significantly fewer susceptible partners had become infected in the treatment group, compared with the placebo group (0.5% vs. 2.2%, respectively), representing a 75% reduction in risk.
 
In an interview, Dr. Handsfield said that uninfected partners should be tested to determine whether they have a subclinical infection before their partner starts suppressive treatment. He also emphasized that people given this prescription need to be advised that suppressive therapy is not 100% effective, and that they should still inform their partners that they are infected, be alert for symptoms of breakthrough episodes, and avoid exposing partners when symptoms are present.
 
Copyright © 2003 by International Medical News Group, an Elsevier company. Click for restrictions.
 
Second, there is soon to be a new way for you to get your estrogen - The FDA has approved new Estrasorb (estrogen lotion) that you rub into your skin daily.  Now, as in Europe, we have four different ways to get estrogen: the pill, the patch, the ring and lotion.
October 21, 2003  
 
Topical Estrogen Wins FDA Approval
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) Oct 10 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Estrasorb, a topical estrogen therapy drug used to treat hot flashes in menopausal women.
 
The lotion-like drug, which is applied daily, delivers the female hormone estrogen through the skin.  King Pharmaceuticals expects to begin marketing the drug in early 2004.
 
Incidentally, I recently read a statement on estrogen that impressed me, and that I agreed with.  It was by Dr. Robert Barbieri of Harvard Medical School.  After he considered the latest findings from the WHI research, he said: 
 
(Sept.,2003) "The news about heart disease is much better.  In the WHI, the women studied were predominantly healthy and relatively free of cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study.  In the first year of treatment, the risk of coronary heart disease in the women treated with Hormone therapy increased; however, after the first year, the risk of coronary heart disease was similar in the estrogen-progestin and placebo groups. 
 
After 6 years of treatment, there was no difference in the cumulative risk of coronary heart disease between the estrogen-progestin and placebo groups.  This means that women who have already completed their first year of estrogen-progestin treatment are unlikely to be at additional increased risk for coronary heart disease based on estrogen-progestin treatment."
 
So if you have been on hormones for over a year, you probably have no increased risk of heart disease from continuing it.   Dr. Rehert
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
 
If you know anyone you think would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," CLICK HERE to send their email address and I'll add them to the list.
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#87 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu Oct 9, 2003 4:08 pm
Subject: Follow-up ti the last email -- More Breast Cancer Risks. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 
Just a follow-up to my last email . . . here are a few more associations between breast cancer and living life. 
As previously reported in DrRehertsAlerts, drinking alcohol increases breast cancer.  In fact, each drink (per day) increases your risk 7% according to the study below.

Click Here For The Complete Story==>http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_2_1x_Breast_Cancer_Risk_Linked_To_Drinking.asp

Also, as reported here, cigarette smoking increases breast cancer in women who begin smoking within five years of their first menstrual period.

Click Here For The Complete Story==>http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20021004/smoking_breast_cancer_021004/?s_name

But without a doubt the highest risk factor for breast cancer -- the factor that increases your risk 100 times -- in other words it increases your risk of getting breast cancer 10,000%.  That is the increased risk of being a female.  For every case of male breast cancer, there are 100 cases of female breast cancer. 
 
So why are we so surprised to learn that estrogen increases the risk of getting breast cancer 24%.  I'm surprised it's not higher.  Dr.Rehert
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#86 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Oct 8, 2003 9:07 pm
Subject: Here's three ways to reduce your breast cancer risk. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 

Three articles -- Three ways to reduce your breast cancer risk.  The first article says avoid fatty foods.

Fatty Diet May Boost Breast Cancer Risk

Thu Jul 17, 9:42 PM ET

By EMMA ROSS, AP Medical Writer

LONDON - A new study reopens the question, long dismissed by researchers, of whether women who eat high-fat diets increase their risk of breast cancer. The study found that those who average more than 90 grams of fat a day have roughly double the risk of those who eat just 37 grams.

Researchers who conducted the latest study argue theirs is better than previous studies, because it used a more precise method of measuring women's typical diets. The study, published in this week's Lancet medical journal, was conducted at Cambridge University in England and involved 13,070 women who kept diet records from 1993-97.

The researchers set out to discover whether the reason the previous follow-up studies found no link was that the method they used to examine dietary habits — a "food frequency questionnaire" — was too inaccurate. They also had the women keep a "daily food diary" in which they recorded everything they ate.

"The effects just weren't seen with food frequency questionnaires," said investigator Sheila Bingham, deputy director of the human nutrition unit at Cambridge University. However, when the "food diaries" were used to categorize the women, those who ate the diet highest in saturated fat were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those who ate the least.

Women who ate a higher-fat diet were not necessarily fatter; but the women who ate the most saturated fat had twice the breast cancer risk as those who ate the least.

Click Here For Complete Story==>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/17/health/main563810.shtml

Next some advice regarding vitamins and breast cancer.
Study: Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 May Protect Against Breast Cancer
Folic Acid Particularly Helpful In Women Who Drink
 
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found that a diet high in folic acid and vitamin B6 can lower a woman's risk of breast cancer.  The results suggest that women who want to protect themselves against breast cancer should have a diet high in these nutrients. Women who drink should pay particular attention to their folic acid intake, the researchers said, because folic acid appears to protect them against the increased risk of breast cancer caused by alcohol.
 
Folic acid and vitamin B6 are important parts of our diets. They help make DNA, which is the basic chemical in genes. Folic acid is found mainly in dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus fruits and juices, fortified breakfast cereals, and of course, vitamin supplements. Vitamin B6 is found in meat, poultry and fish, as well as in fortified cereals, potatoes, bananas and some beans. (or better yet, just take a multi-vitamin every day.)
 
Click Here For Complete Story==>http://www.brighamandwomens.org/publicaffairs/news/folate_and_breast_cancer.asp
The third article promotes exercise to reduce your risk of breast cancer.
Exercise May Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Mon Oct 6, 5:37 PM ET  Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Participating in regular physical "recreational" activity, even for just a few hours a week, may significantly lower a woman's risk of developing early, localized breast cancer, what doctors call breast carcinoma in situ (BCIS).
 
Dr. Leslie Bernstein of the University of Southern California and colleagues compared the self-reported exercise habits of 567 women diagnosed with BCIS with that of 616 "control" women who did not have the disease. They found that overall the risk of BCIS was roughly 35 percent lower among women who reported "any" physical activity compared to physically inactive women. This level of reduced risk remained fairly constant with increasing levels of activity.
 
In a previous study, her team found a "strong protective effect of lifelong exercise on the risk of invasive breast cancer," she said.
 
In general, doctors are not exactly sure how physical activity may guard against early breast cancer but they have several theories. Exercise may lower levels of female hormones, especially during adolescence. The known ability of exercise to boost the immune system and make a person more sensitive to insulin may also play a role.
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#85 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Mon Sep 29, 2003 10:34 pm
Subject: How would you like to have only four menstrual periods a year? 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
New birth control pill approved that will give you only four periods a year.  Read below.  It will be on sale in about a month.

Barr Gets Approval for Extended Oral Contraceptive
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barr Laboratories has won U.S. regulatory clearance to market the first birth control pill designed to cut the number of a woman's menstrual cycles to four a year from 13. The company said the extended-cycle pill, called Seasonale, will be available by prescription at the end of October.
 
Women will take Seasonale tablets for up to 84 consecutive days, followed by a seven-day placebo interval. Most oral contraceptives currently sold in the United States are based on a regimen of 21 treatment days followed by seven days of placebo.
 
The placebo cycles allow for periods of bleeding, so most women on oral contraceptives have about 13 menstrual cycles each year that cleanse the linings of their wombs.
 
"It's fantastic that women are going to have a choice about when and if they want to have periods," said Dr. Anita Nelson, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCLA.
 
Clinical trials of Seasonale found that it prevented pregnancy and was as safe as traditional birth control pills. The most common side effects were colds, headache and intramenstrual bleeding or spotting.
 
"Many women suffer significantly while they have their periods. If you can use the pills to take away periods entirely for three months or so at a time, that can make a huge contribution to women's health, to their quality of life and to their productivity," Nelson said.
 
Click here for complete story: 
And here's additional evidence that using the hormone patch (and similarly the vaginal ring) is safer for your health than taking hormones by pill.

Estrogen Patch May Be Safer Than Pill Form
Fri Sep 26, 5:21 PM ET  
 
By Megan Rauscher
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women who need estrogen replacement to deal with severe symptoms of menopause, a patch may be better than taking pills. Oral estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is known to raise the risk of blood clots forming in veins, a.k.a. venous thrombosis. However, through-the-skin delivery of ERT doesn't have this effect, according to a study conducted in France.
 
Oral but not transdermal ERT significantly altered the effect of a blood compound known as activated protein C on the regulation of a clotting factor, thrombin, the team reports in the American Heart Association's journal Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
 
Moreover, after six months, markers of blood coagulation activity were significantly higher in the oral estrogen arm than in the transdermal or placebo arms of the trial.
 
SOURCE: Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, September 2003.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#84 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Fri Sep 19, 2003 12:33 pm
Subject: New research on exercise and dieting. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 First some good news about exercise (especially if you're lazy).   

Hour of Exercise a Week Eases Hypertension - Study
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It only takes 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a week to significantly lower blood pressure, Japanese researchers reported on Thursday. That amount of aerobic exercise spread out over a week reduced systolic blood pressure -- the top number on a blood pressure reading -- an average of 12 points and the lower or diastolic reading by 8 points, the researchers found.
 
"This study confirms the importance of exercise," said Dr. Michael Weber, an editor at the American Journal of Hypertension. "The investigators found a person does not have to spend great amounts of time working out."
 
Many guidelines currently call for anywhere between half an hour and an hour of moderate exercise on most days of the week to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
 
Kazuko Ishikawa-Takata and colleagues at Japan's National Institute of Health and Nutrition tested 207 men and women who had high blood pressure but were otherwise healthy. None exercised regularly. They divided them into five groups who got a range of exercise from none to two hours and more a week. Those in the group that got 60 to 90 minutes of exercise per week had the greatest drop in blood pressure.  ("That's only about 8 to 12 minutes of exercise a day." - Dr. Rehert)
 
"There were no greater reductions in systolic blood pressure with further increases in exercise," the researchers said.
 
They said their findings should encourage people who think they cannot exercise enough to improve their health. "We should emphasize that our present results should not be viewed as a message against encouraging people to exercise more on a daily basis," the researchers wrote.  Click below for the complete story:
And now more research evidence that less weight results in a longer life.
Study: Low-Calorie Diet Can Extend Life
 
By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
 
WASHINGTON - It has long been known that laboratory animals live longer on a low-calorie diet. Now a study suggests that even if sensible eating is delayed until middle age, health can be improved and life extended.
 
In the study, British researchers compared the effects of different calorie-restricted diets on the mortality of fruit flies. They found that fruit flies on restricted diets lived about 90 days, twice as long as those fed on a normal diet. But the scientists also found that when heavily fed fruit flies were switched at middle age — day 14 to 22 — to leaner diets, then the animals converted from the shorter life pattern of the overfed to the longer-lived pattern of flies that had been on a restricted diet all their lives.
 
The carry-home message from the study, said Linda Partridge of University College London is that it is never too late to improve health by switching to sensible eating habits.
 
Partridge said that although the life-extending effects of short rations have never been proven in humans, it has been shown in monkeys, mice, rats and fruit flies that diet restrictions will lead to longer lives.
 
"There is no reason to suppose it wouldn't apply equally to humans," she said. "There are diet restriction studies now underway with monkeys and all the indications appear the same (as with mice, rats and fruit flies)."   Click below for the complete story:
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#83 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Aug 30, 2003 11:29 am
Subject: The benefits of chocolate, and the patch. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here's a sweet little story that might help lower your blood pressure if not your cravings.  (I always thought WHITE chocolate was nothing but sugar and not very good for you.  On the other hand DARK chocolate is an excellent anti-depressant for many.)
 
Study Dark Chocolate May Have Benefit
 
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
 
CHICAGO - A small study suggests that eating dark chocolate can lower your blood pressure — a delicious instance in which something that tastes good might, for a change, be good for you, too.  If the results can be confirmed, "you can sin with perhaps a little less bad feeling."  The German study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
 
Thirteen adults with untreated mild hypertension got to eat 3-ounce chocolate bars every day for two weeks. Half of the patients got white chocolate, half got dark chocolate.
 
Blood pressure remained pretty much unchanged in the group that ate white chocolate, which does not contain polyphenols. But after two weeks, systolic blood pressure — the top number — had dropped an average of five points in the dark-chocolate group. The lower, or diastolic, reading fell an average of almost two points.
 
The results show dark chocolate "might serve as a promising approach to reduce systolic blood pressure," said lead author Dr. Dirk Taubert of the University of Cologne. The study received no industry funding — the researchers bought the chocolate themselves from the supermarket.
 
 
And now for you patch lovers, here's more good news on the estrogen patch.
August 29, 2003  
 
Transdermal Estrogen Therapy Not Linked to Venous Thromboembolism
 
Laurie Barclay, MD
 
Aug. 7, 2003 — Transdermal estrogen therapy is not associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to the results of a multicenter, case-control study published in the Aug. 9 issue of The Lancet.
 
"Oral but not transdermal estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is associated with a risk of VTE in postmenopausal women," lead author Pierre Yves Scarabin says in a news release. "These data suggest that transdermal ERT might be safer than oral ERT with respect to thrombotic risk."
 
From 1999 through 2002, the investigators recruited 155 women with a first documented episode of idiopathic VTE, including 92 with pulmonary embolism and 63 with deep venous thrombosis, and compared them with 381 controls matched for center, age, and time of recruitment.
 
At enrollment, 21% of women with VTE and 7% of controls were current users of oral ERT, whereas 19% of women with VTE and 24% of controls were current users of transdermal ERT (the patch). After adjustment for potential confounding variables, women using oral ERT were more than three times more likely to develop VTE than were transdermal ERT users and nonusers of ERT.
 
"Our findings could be important in assessment of the risk-benefit profile of ERT," the authors write. "The effects of transdermal ERT on health outcomes should be assessed in randomized trials."
 
Lancet. 2003;362:428-432
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drrehertsalerts/ and follow the
“Join This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by
clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Some of the "complete article" links require a username and password (for
example MedScape.com articles).  You can access these "complete articles" using
the username: drrehertsalerts, and the password: drrehertsalerts.  If you have
any questions or problems with the email list, contact me at grehert@....

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#82 From: "Dr.Rehert" <grehert@...>
Date: Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:15 pm
Subject: Are you taking your vitamins every day? 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
I've been taking Folic Acid regularly for my heart, but here's a story that says I might be getting additional benefits from it.  Come to think of it, I have been feeling pretty good lately.
B-Vitamin Problems May Cause Depression in Some
Sat Jul 5, 4:27 PM ET  
 
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New findings suggests that some people with depression might have problems metabolizing the B vitamin folate -- supporting the idea that supplements could help ward off the condition, researchers say.
 
"Lack of folate and/or a disturbed folate metabolism ... may partially be the cause of the depression in some people," study author Dr. Ingvar Bjelland told Reuters Health.  Previous research has suggested that folic acid supplements may boost the effects of antidepressants, an idea supported by the current study, Bjelland said.  The results, which appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry, "could even support the suggestion that folate may prevent depression," the researcher noted.
 
Explaining why folate might play a role in depression, the researcher said the body may need the B vitamin to build important substances in the brain -- a lack of which may cause depression and other mental disorders.
 
To Bjelland, the current study supports a simple message: get your vitamins.  "Vitamins are important, not only for the physical health, but for the mental health as well," the researcher said.
 
SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry 2003;60:618-626. 
 
And now from Great Britain, here's some research that confirms that taking daily vitamins keeps you healthier.  Check it out.
Could taking vitamin pills reduce the risk of getting an infection?
 
The Daily Mail (4 March 2003) reported that a daily multivitamin pill could halve the risk of catching a cold and other infections and that people with diabetes were likely to get the best protection.
 
The trial on which the article is based found that participants taking a placebo reported more infections than those taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement (73% versus 43%). Participants in the placebo group also reported more days missed from work due to infection (57% versus 21%). These results were affected by the presence of 51 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus who responded particularly well to the multivitamin and mineral supplement (17% versus 93% in the placebo group reporting an infection).
 
The objective of the research was to determine the effect of a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement on infection and general well being.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#81 From: "Dr.Rehert" <grehert@...>
Date: Sun Aug 10, 2003 11:33 am
Subject: Here's not one, but 2 ways to prevent Diabetes. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
If you're worried about getting Diabetes, here are two articles that should interest you.  Dr Rehert
June 17, 2003    
Moderate Drinking May Cut Women's Risk of Diabetes
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 09 - Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may help prevent type 2 diabetes in young women, according to a report published in the June 9th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
 
According to the report, women who consumed about a drink or two a day were 58% less likely to develop diabetes compared with abstainers. The risk was 33% lower in women who averaged one drink per day. The association between light and moderate drinking was most apparent with wine or beer, the researchers report.
 
However, drinking more than two drinks a day of hard liquor more than doubled a woman's risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
 
The findings are based on interviews conducted with more than 100,000 women who participated in the Nurses Health Study II, an ongoing study designed to evaluate the associations between lifestyle and nutritional factors and the occurrence of disease.
Arch Intern Med 2003;163:1329-1336.
If you don't drink alcohol, here's another way to reduce Diabetes.
June 25, 2003    
Coffee May Cut Diabetes Risk
Charlene Laino

June 18, 2003 (New Orleans) — Drinking four or more cups of coffee a day appears to be associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, Harvard researchers report.
 
It's not the first time that a study has suggested that the popular brew may protect against the disorder that affects at least 17 million Americans. Last year, scientists at Vrije University in Amsterdam reported that heavy coffee drinkers are half as likely to develop diabetes as people who consume two cups or less a day.
 
Frank Hu, MD, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, talked about the research here Tuesday at the American Diabetes Association 63rd Scientific Sessions.  "If it was really true, maybe we could just forget about exercise and sit in front of the TV and sip coffee all day," he told colleagues in jest.
 
The analysis was based on data collected from 42,888 male healthcare professionals from 1986 to 1998 and 85,056 female nurses from 1980 to 1998.  The researchers found:  Men who drink six or more cups of coffee a day were less than half as likely to develop diabetes compared with nondrinkers. Drinking four to six cups helps too: Those men saw their risk cut by 29%.  Women who consume four cups or more a day also reduced their risk of developing the disease by about 30%.
 
The researchers then looked at total caffeine intake from coffee, colas, and other foods, and found that it too appeared to protect against the development of diabetes.  In the meantime, Dr. Hu said that he is not yet ready to recommend coffee for diabetes prevention. "We still need more study," he said.  But for the diabetic patients who ask if coffee is detrimental, Dr Hu said, "I don't think they have to worry."
 
ADA 63rd Scientific Sessions: Abstracts 307, 308. Presented June 17, 2003.
Click Here For Complete Story:
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@....  If you would like to review earlier emails from this list, click on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.  
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#80 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Jul 30, 2003 10:54 pm
Subject: Breast cancer- a new theory. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 

There are many theories about the causes of breast cancer.  Genetics certainly plays a major role.  Scientists also blame alcohol, radiation, previous chemotherapy, DES exposure, hormones, age of puberty, age of menopause, number of babies, being overweight, diet, pesticides and other environmental chemicals.  (Did I forget anything?)

A medical researcher named Syd Singer has a different idea (it's a new one to me).  He thinks you increase your chance of getting breast cancer from wearing a tight bra.  I think his theory is very interesting, and might have as much merit as some of the other 'causes' on the list. 

Read about it below and see what you think.  Dr. Rehert

 
January, 2002 Can Wearing a Bra Kill You? by William Thomas

If you didn't burn yours in the 'Sixties, you might want to put it away now. "Bras cause breast cancer. It's open and shut," says medical researcher Syd Singer.

The Singers became breast cancer sleuths in 1991. On the day Soma discovered a lump in her breast, the husband-wife team was studying the effects of Western medicine on Fijians. In the shower, Syd noticed that Soma's shoulders and breasts were outlined by dark red grooves. He remembered a puzzled Fijian woman asking his wife about her brassiere: "Doesn't it feel tight?" "You get used to it," Soma had replied.

Could bras be constricting breast tissue, Syd wondered, hampering lymph drainage and causing degeneration? Soma decided to stop wearing hers. But when Syd searched the medical literature he found no known causes of breast cancer, which rarely appears before a woman's mid-thirties, most often after 40.

The highest death rates from breast cancer are in North America and northern Europe, with the developing world catching up fast. The World Health Organization calls chemical toxins the primary cause of cancer. But poisons accumulating in breast tissue are normally flushed by clear lymph fluid into large clusters of lymph nodes nestling in the armpits and upper chest. The Singers found that "because lymphatic vessels are very thin, they are extremely sensitive to pressure and are easily compressed." Chronic minimal pressure on the breasts can cause lymph valves and vessels to close.

"Less oxygen and fewer nutrients are delivered to the cells, while waste products are not flushed away," the Singers noted. After 15 or 20 years of bra-constricted lymph drainage, cancer can result. Looking at other cultures, Soma and Syd were struck by the low incidence of breast cancer in poorer nations awash in pesticides dumped by northern nations. They didn't find peasant women wearing push-up bras. Instead, they discovered that the Maoris of New Zealand integrated into white culture have the same rate of breast cancer, while Australia's marginalized aboriginals have virtually no breast cancer. The same trend held for "Westernized" Japanese, Fijians and other bra-converted cultures.

Like the ancient Chinese practice of foot-binding, "breast-binding" at puberty can eventually lead to severe medical complications. Could bras be the "missing link" in a growing epidemic of breast cancer?

Beginning in May, 1991, Soma and Syd Singer's 30-month "Bra and Breast Cancer" study interviewed some 4,000 women in five major US cities. All were Caucasian of mostly "medium income" ranging in age from 30 to 79. Half had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Almost all of the women interviewed were unhappy with the size or shape of their breasts. Women who chose a bra for appearance, ignoring soreness and swelling, had twice the rate of breast cancer of those who did not. If you must wear a bra Push-up and sports bras are out. Choose loose-fitting cotton bras. Make sure you can slip two fingers under the shoulder-straps and side-panels. The higher the side-panels, the more severe is the restriction of major lymph nodes. Don't wear this disastrous device to sleep. Take it off at home. Massage your breasts every time you remove your bra. Sing your lymphatics into health -- or at least breathe deeply.

But the most startling statistic was that "three out four women who wore their daytime bras to sleep contracted breast cancer". So did one out seven women strapped into a bra more than 12 hours a day. Bra-free women have just a one in 168 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer, says Singer. The same as bra-free men. "Don't sleep in your bra!" Syd Singer pleads. "Women who want to avoid breast cancer should wear a bra for the shortest period of time possible -- certainly for less than 12 hours daily."

Syd also submits that some 80% of bra-wearers who experience lumps, cysts and tenderness will see those symptoms vanish, "within a month of getting rid of the bra."

Well aware that their findings were "explosive," the Singers sent their survey results to the heads of America's most prestigious cancer organizations and institutes. None responded. Like the cancer business, the bra business is huge. Multiply how many worldwide women buy several $25 bras every year and you end up with a multiple of the $6 billion-a-year US bra business. Syd Singer says that establishment censorship of the bra-breast cancer connection is killing women.

Pointing to the biggest commonality among breast cancer patients, he's emphatic that it's bra-squeezed lymphatics. Going bra-less for all occasions, Soma began dressing to de-emphasize her breasts. She also began regular breast massage and bicycle riding, vitamin and herbal supplementation, and drinking only purified water. Two months later, her lump disappeared. At the first frightening sign of a lump, an angry Syd Singer says, "women should take their bras off before they take their breasts off." Why wait, when you can liberate your lymphatics now.

Http://www.Amazon.Com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895296640/newheavenneweart

Bras & Fibrocystic Lumps, Cysts, Pain (11/26/2000): http://groups.Yahoo.Com/group/nhnenews/message/846

The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...                               

Best wishes,  Dr. Rehert

 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#79 From: "Dr.Rehert" <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Jul 23, 2003 1:22 pm
Subject: Reduce your risk of getting cancer. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here are two more ways to reduce your cancer risk.  The first large study says that you reduce your risk of getting ovarian cancer by 48%, if you took birth control pills for more than 5 years any time in your past -- the longer you took them, the better.  This has been known for a long time.  It's one of the best ways to protect you if you have ovarian cancer in your family.  The ring and patch should also work.

 December 10, 2002    
After Stopping Oral Contraceptives, Protection Against Ovarian Cancer Persists
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 05 - The protective effect of oral contraceptive (OC) use against ovarian cancer is consistent across demographic strata and persists long after discontinuation, according to a report in the November issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
 
"Several epidemiologic studies have reported a protective effect of OCs on ovarian cancer," Dr. Christine Bosetti, of Istituto di Richerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri," Milan, Italy, and colleagues note.
 
The researchers examined the time relation between OC use and the risk of ovarian cancer in a reanalysis of six case-control studies conducted between 1978 and 1999. The pooled data included 2768 incident cases of epithelial ovarian cancer and 6274 hospital control subjects younger than 70 years of age.
 
Ever-users of OCs had a reduced risk of ovarian cancer compared to never-users (odds ratio [OR] = 0.66), the investigators found. There was a stronger risk reduction among women who had used OCs for at least 5 years compared to those who had used OCs for less than 5 years (OR = 0.42 and 0.83, respectively).
 
Int J Cancer 2002;102:262-265.
 
A second study  reported recently says that eating pizza could lower your risk of cancer of the intestinal tract, including colon cancer.
 
Pizza could help stave off some forms of cancer
July 21, 2003
 
There is good news for lovers of pizza from a study that has found eating the hugely popular meal regularly could help stave off certain forms of cancer.
 
The eating habits of more than 3 000 Italians who had cancer of the stomach or digestive tract were monitored and compared with a sample of about 5 000 people with other diseases.
 
According to the study, the risks of getting mouth cancer plunged by as much as 34%, those of oesophagal cancer by 59% and those of colon cancer by 26%.  It was suggested that the secret appeared to be connected to the preventive properties of the humble tomato.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#78 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Jul 9, 2003 1:50 pm
Subject: Two stories in the news today: Ovulation and Red Clover. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 
I thought this was interesting . . . though I'm not yet ready to believe that 21% of women ovulate twice a month.  Dr. Rehert

Women May Ovulate More Than Once a Month, Study Says
Tue Jul 8, 5:48 PM ET 
 
By Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists in Canada said on Tuesday they had found women sometimes ovulate several times in a single month. Their finding, if verified, would overturn the traditional wisdom that women produce an egg cell once a month. It would also help explain why "natural" methods of birth control, based on the idea that ovulation can be predicted, often fail.
 
"We are literally going to have to re-write medical textbooks," said Dr. Roger Pierson.  "We weren't expecting this. We really weren't," Pierson said in a telephone interview.
 
In the study, Pierson did daily, high-resolution ultrasound scans on 63 women for a month, which allowed them to see the follicles very clearly. "We had 63 women with normal menstrual cycles. Of those 63, only 50 had normal ovarian cycles," Pierson said. Thirteen of the women ovulated multiple times, in various different ways.
  
The findings, which were first seen in cattle and horses, help explain some things that have puzzled obstetricians, Pierson said.  "It really explains how we get fraternal twins with different conception days," Pierson said. "Clinically, we see this all the time. We see women come in with twins and when we do an ultrasound we see one is at 10 weeks development and another at seven." 
 

Click Here For Complete Story
The second story, below, repeats what has been reported in the past. 
 
It seems that soy products most consistently relieve menopausal symptoms.  As far as Black Cohosh, some studies show an effect, some studies don't. 
Red Clover Supplements May Not Work
Tue Jul 8, 4:01 PM ET
 
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - Red clover supplements marketed as a way to relieve menopausal symptoms work no better than dummy pills at easing hot flashes, a study found — disappointing news for women seeking alternatives to hormone treatment.
 
In the red clover study, 252 women ages 45 to 60 took either dummy pills, Promensil pills or Rimostil pills for 12 weeks. Promensil and Rimostil are dietary supplements made from red clover, which contains estrogen-like compounds called isoflavones.
 
Women in all three groups reported a modest reduction in hot flashes, from about eight a day to five. There were no significant side effects from the red clover pills. The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
 
"It's disappointing," said lead researcher Dr. Jeffrey Tice of the University of California at San Francisco. Hormones can reduce hot flashes by up to 90 percent, compared with about 40 percent in the red clover-placebo study, Tice said. The red clover results might be partly explained by the "placebo effect" — the way some people feel better simply because they believe they have been treated.
 
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#76 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:03 pm
Subject: Hormone Therapy Update 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
You've probably all read about the latest two articles that came out this week critical of  "Combined Hormone Therapy" (CHT)  i.e. when you take 'two' hormones - an estrogen and a progestin. 
 
The first article was a further analysis of the same patients from last years Woman's Health Initiative (WHI) and had some new findings.  First it suggested that the increase in breast cancer showed up after 3 years rather than the previously suggested 4 years.  Also hormone therapy caused more abnormal mamograms after one year.   Now noone ever died of an abnormal mamogram but it does lead to unnecessary anxiety and stress.  Also the tumors in the Prempro group were larger and a little more advanced when they were diagnosed.  The relative risk was the same as before, 1.24, and this new analysis did not apply to woman who used only an estrogen or who used a hormone patch.  No mention was made of mortality rates.
 
The second article was a "population-based, case-control study."   In the past these types of studies have been criticized for being biased regarding who chose to take hormones.  Anyway it found that women over age 65 who take combined hormone therapy had a 2.0 relative risk of getting breast cancer.  Interestingly, it also found that Women who used only estrogen (as opposed to estrogen plus progestin) for 25 years or longer had no significant increase in risk of breast cancer.
 
As I see it, these two articles do not change things very much.  I do believe that hormone therapy does increase the incidence of breast cancer.  That, I feel, is the main reason why there are 100 cases of breast cancer in women to every 1 case in men. 
 
Accepting the WHI numbers, 8 more woman per 10,000 get breast cancer if they take PremPro for one year.  That's 0.08% per year.  If a woman takes PremPro continuously from age 50 to age 65 (15 years), she increases her chance of getting breast cancer about 1%. 
 
Another way to look at it is  --  if a women does not take combination hormone therapy for those 15 years, her chance of getting breast cancer is about 4.5%.  If she takes combination hormone therapy, it's  about 5.5%.  That's the price women pay for being the dominant sex.  If you object to that 1% increased breast cancer risk over 15 years, you should not take hormones. 
 
The question of straight estrogen versus combination estrogen-progestin remains a big unknown; but maybe in a few years we'll find out that the progestin is the primary culprit.  It's looking more and more like that's the case.
 
For those of you who would like more details on this subject, you may click on the 4 links below:
 
That's all for now.  The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc.   If you know anyone who would like to receive "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#75 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Jun 21, 2003 1:39 pm
Subject: Two psychological conditions. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
First, here's a story that gives the latest evidence that shyness is inherited.
Kids May Inherit Shyness, Study Suggests
Thu Jun 19, 5:20 PM ET,  By PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
 
WASHINGTON - Shyness may be inherited, a study suggests.
 
A shy child can learn to be more outgoing with age, but a physical reaction in the brain linked to a person's temperament does not change, the study indicates. The study conducted brain scans on 22-year-olds and found that those who had been classified 20 years before as inhibited or shy children had a distinctive reaction in their brains when confronted with novel images. People who had been judged as toddlers to be inhibited showed in the scans that the amygdala structure in their brains responded much more actively to unexpected sights than did those who had been judged as children to be more outgoing, said Jerome Kagan, a researcher at Harvard University.

"This is support for the notion that the reason they were shy, timid and reserved when they were 2 years old is because they had an excitable amygdala," said Kagan. This suggests that shyness can be inherited, but the researcher said this temperament does not necessarily determine one's eventual personality. "They are now 22 years old," Kagan said and "a lot of the ones who were fearful aren't fearful anymore. They have overcome it. But the question is, did they still have a very active amygdala." Based on the brain scans, Kagan said, the answer is clearly yes.
 
And now here is a story about a condition you may have never heard of, "Sleep Eating."
June 16, 2003
Sleep Eating
 
It’s one thing to be shoving fistfuls of food in your mouth and eating uncontrollably. It’s another thing to be doing it in your sleep. Millions of Americans do it. It’s called sleep eating. Many are ashamed to tell anyone or get treatment, but there is help for those with the disorder.
 
As a teenager, Susan Smith started eating in her sleep. “Ice cream, bread, you know, cake. You know, you don’t get up and eat apples.” At times, she had eight episodes in one night -- episodes she never remembers.
 
Lea Montgomery, R.N., M.S., recently wrote an article on sleep eating. The response she received from people with the disorder was overwhelming.  “I’m not talking about making a plate, sitting at the table, having a nice meal in your sleep. I’m talking about frenzied, chaotic, disorganized and primitive eating,” says Montgomery, of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
As many as 4 million Americans are sleep eaters. Exercise, avoiding caffeine and having a bedtime routine can help. Medication may be needed. Smith tried several drugs but the side effects were too severe. She finally found relief with Wellbutrin, an anti-depressant.
 
Other drugs that have proven effective in the treatment of sleep eating include anti-seizure medications and more recently, drugs that affect dopamine in the brain. Experts also say sedatives and alcohol can make sleep eating worse for a patient.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
If you know anyone who would like to receive these "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#74 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu Jun 12, 2003 12:25 pm
Subject: Two stories about your eyes - more good news for HRT. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
First here's a just released story that reports that cataracts are reduced 50% in woman on hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone Replacement Therapy Reduces Risk of Cataracts in Post-Menopausal Women
By Cameron Johnston
 
MADRID, SPAIN -- June 11, 2003 -- Women who do not use hormone replacement therapy are twice as likely to develop lens opacities, and cataracts compared with women who do use HRT/oestrogen, say researchers.  According to investigators at the Pomeranian Medical University, in Szczecin, Poland, the differences can be seen after as little as 1 year of HRT use, and in women as young as 50 years of age.
 
The investigators, from the university's department of ophthalmology looked at 300 women, 150 of whom were on HRT and 150 who were not.  At baseline, the women were all evaluated for visual acuity and underwent a slit-lamp biomicroscopy. They were also given a full ophthalmic examination with dilated pupils.  They were evaluated for 8 different levels or grades of cataract or lens opacity.
 
The differences in the prevalence of cataract and lens opacities was striking for most measures. Cataract of any type was seen in 48.7% of the women not using HRT compared with 20.7% of those on HRT. Subcapcular cataracts were seen in 8.3% of those not using HRT, but not in any women using HRT.
 
Lens opacities of any type were seen in 39.8% of the non-HRT group and in 15% of the HRT group.  These figures were all statistically significant.
And now here is an article on a more serious, less treatable, cause of blindness in the elderly, macular degeneration.  
HRT May Reduce Progression of Age-Related Maculopathy Degeneration
Laurie Barclay, MD
 
Dec. 13, 2002 — Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may reduce progression of age-related maculopathy (ARM), according to the results of a cross-sectional study reported in the December issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
 
Logistic regression analysis revealed that women with ARM who had used postmenopausal HRT in the past had half the risk of advanced ARM than did those who had never used HRT, after controlling for other known and potential risk factors.
 
Am J Ophthalmol. 2002;134:842-848
 
Pass these articles on to your eye doctor.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc.  If you know anyone who would like to receive these "DrRehertsAlerts," send their Email address to grehert@...
 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#73 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Wed Jun 4, 2003 12:52 pm
Subject: Less painful biopsy, and another reason for menopause weight gain. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
First, here's an article about giving a nerve block for a cervical biopsy with colposcopy.  I've been doing this for 5 or 6 years now and I feel it prevents 50 - 90% of the pain . . . varying from patient to patient.  This nerve block technique is effective, simple and quick.  Now read another doctor's opinion:
June 1, 2003   
 
Injection of Local Anesthetic Reduces Pain of Cervical Biopsy
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 21 - Cervical biopsies are usually performed without any anesthesia, which can result in severe discomfort. Now, new study findings indicate that injection of a local anesthetic prior to the procedure can dramatically reduce the pain that occurs.  In previous studies, a variety of analgesic strategies, such as treatment with oral ibuprofen or topical benzocaine gel, have been tested in an attempt to limit the pain of cervical biopsy. However, none of these approaches produced a significant reduction in pain.
 
Compared with no treatment, pretreatment with lidocaine was associated with a significant reduction in pain scores for cervical biopsies, endocervical curettage, and the overall procedure, the authors note.  The reduction in pain seen in the treatment group was "quite pronounced," suggesting that injection of local anesthetic could be a useful analgesic option, the investigators note.
 
Am J Obstet Gynecol 2003;188:1164-1165.

Second, here's a new excuse for weight gain after menopause.  But this one you can fight . . stay away from sugar!  Do as I do; drink Diet Coke. 
After Menopause, Sugar Doesn't Taste as Sweet
Thu Apr 17,

LONDON (Reuters Health) - It's another bitter consequence of aging. Turkish researchers have found that some postmenopausal women lose their ability to taste sweet foods. Hormonal changes during menopause seem to lower the ability of the palate to sense sugar, prompting some women to change their eating habits in favor of sweeter food.
 
Dr. Cagri Delilbasi conducted taste tests on 20 postmenopausal women at Ankara University and compared the results to 20 men of similar age. They report that the women had a significantly lower sensitivity to sucrose (sugar) on their palate. There was no difference between the groups for salt, sour or bitter tastes, and no changes in taste sensations on the tongue.
 
The researchers also asked the women if they'd noticed a change in their overall taste perception after menopause. Only 35 percent of the women reported that they had noticed a change, but 45 percent said their diets had changed, including a preference for sweeter food.
 
"The crucial issue to be aware of is that the possible changes due to menopause can lead to more serious health problems.  Women who cannot taste sweet things might sweeten their foods, with potentially serious consequences for diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes they say.
 
SOURCE: British Dental Journal 2003;194:447-449.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#72 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu May 29, 2003 11:06 am
Subject: The latest on hormone therapy and Alzheimer's Disease 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 
Today, many of you read about an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which reported that PremPro (Premarin plus Provera) doubled the risk of Alzheimer's Disease.  This was in contrast to numerous other studies which showed that estrogen 'protects' women from getting Alzheimer's Disease.  Estrogen's benefit has been demonstrated in previous research from Johns Hopkins University (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/06/1036308371485.html), Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (http://cgi.cnn.com/HEALTH/9608/15/nfm/alz.estrogen/), and research from the National Institute of Health (NIH) (http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jun97/nia-18.htm) . . .  just to list a few (click the web addresses to read those articles).
 
Today's article differs from previous studies in that the women studied were all 65 years of age or older "at the start."  This is very different from the usual patient when they begin their hormones.  Earlier research was on more typical patients who started hormone therapy at the onset of menopause - usually around age 50.  Also in some previous research it was stated that, "current use did not appear to affect risk (beneficially) unless the use exceeded 10 years," which was not the case for any of today's patients.  In addition questions regarding the negative effect of the second (progestin) hormone, given along with estrogen, remain unanswered. 
 
Because of this and other research, I would hesitate to 'start' any patients on hormone therapy who are 65 years of age or older.  However I still believe the majority of the research demonstrates a benefit if you take your estrogen "continuously" from the onset of menopause.  (There is evidence that this "take it continuously without an extensive break" logic also applys to the women who get heart disease, and to a lesser degree, stroke.)  It may be that if your body is deficient in estrogen for 2 to 6 years or more, and then you restore higher estrogen levels, this may be what causes the harm.  No one knows for sure.  Research continues on this theory.
 
Also getting estrogen through the skin or vagina (the estrogen patch or ring) is definitely a more natural way to get estrogen into your blood, and may avoid or reduce some of these long term risks.  Again, no one knows for sure.
 
Below is a summary of the latest article:
Hormone Use Found to Raise Dementia Risk
Wed May 28, 9:00 AM ET  Add Top Stories - The New York Times to My Yahoo!
By DENISE GRADY The New York Times
 
Hormone therapy doubled the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia in women who began the treatment at age 65 or older, a large study has found. The latest finding is based on a four-year experiment involving 4,532 women at 39 medical centers. Half took placebos, and half took Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, the most widely prescribed type of hormone therapy.
 
In four years, there were 40 cases of dementia in the hormone group, and 21 in the placebo group. Translated to an annual rate for a larger population, the results mean that for every 10,000 women 65 and older who take hormones, there will be 45 cases of dementia a year, with 23 of them attributable to the hormones. Researchers said the risk to individual women was slight, and that even though the numbers worked out to a doubling of the risk, 23 cases for every 10,000 women should not be cause for alarm.
 
"A small number doubled is still a small number," said Dr. Samuel E. Gandy, vice chairman of the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer's Association, and director of the Farber Institute of Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Still, Dr. Shumaker said, women 65 and older who are taking Prempro or other hormone combinations should discuss why they are taking the drugs with their doctors and decide whether to quit.
 
Because the women in the study were 65 or older, it is not known whether the findings apply to younger postmenopausal women. It is not known, either, whether the results apply to women who take other hormone combinations or estrogen alone. Women who take estrogen alone are being studied separately. The new study suggests that what goes on in the body is much more complicated than what happens in laboratory rats and test tubes. Even if hormones have some good effects on brain cells, Dr. Shumaker said, those benefits may be offset by harmful effects.
 
She said that it was not known how the combination therapy might increase the risk of dementia, but one possibility was that it increased the risk of blood clots and clogged tiny blood vessels in the brain, which might injure brain cells and contribute to Alzheimer's disease and a condition called vascular dementia.
 
Some researchers have suggested that hormone therapy may help protect the brain if women take it around the time of menopause, when natural hormone levels plummet, instead of waiting until age 65. They think there may be a "critical period" in which hormone therapy can protect brain cells from the sudden withdrawal of hormones and that once the period is over the damage is done and it is too late. 
 
Dr. Gandy said that some of the most promising earlier results on hormone therapy and the brain came from studies of estrogen alone, and that the progestin in the combination pills might cancel out estrogen's good effects. He said that another part of the Women's Health Initiative, still in progress, was studying women who take estrogen alone. That study is scheduled to be completed in 2005.
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#71 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu May 22, 2003 10:07 am
Subject: Two recent stories: Atkins is safe, and Motrin prevents cancer...read on. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here are two interesting stories.  The first article praises the Atkins' Diet (low carbs).  It says those on the Atkins' diet lost more weight, plus they had better blood lipids.  And the second article says that Motrin reduces breast cancer . . . significantly. 
 
First "Atkins'":
Two New Studies Support Radical Low-Carb Diets Like Atkins'
 
By Delthia Ricks  Staff Writer,  May 22, 2003

For years many doctors have derided low-carbohydrate diets as dangerous, telling patients the best way to lose weight is to restrict fats.  But two studies in today's New England Journal of Medicine have found that fat restriction may not be best for severely overweight people who are trying to shed pounds.  In the largest of the two studies, which examined the fates of 132 severely overweight volunteers, those on the low-carbohydrate diet lost three times the weight of counterparts who restricted fats. Carbohydrates include foods like potatoes and bread.
 
"The remarkable thing here is not the weight loss but the reduction in cardiovascular risk factors. That's what is most important," said Dr. Gary Foster of the University of Pennsylvania and the lead investigator of the smaller of the two studies.  "We found a 28 percent decrease in triglyceride levels in people on the Atkins diet compared to only a 1 percent decrease for those on the low-fat diet." Triglycerides are a form of fat in the blood.
 
He and his team also found that low-carb dieters bolstered levels of high-density lipoprotein -- HDL -- in their blood, the so-called good form of cholesterol. For them, the diet produced an 18 percent increase in HDL compared with only a 3 percent increase for those following a low-fat plan.
 
So keep avoiding bread, pasta, potatoes and sweets, and keep drinking your Diet Coke. 
 
Next, here's the article that says taking Motrin does more for you than just block pain.  It prevents breast cancer:
April 17, 2003   
Strong Inverse Link Between Breast Cancer and NSAID Use
 
By Megan Rauscher
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 08 - There is "compelling evidence" that regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) inhibits the formation and growth of breast tumors, Dr. Randall E. Harris of Ohio State University told Reuters Health.  The latest evidence comes from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a large prospective study of more than 80,000 postmenopausal women.
 
During an average follow-up of 4 years, 1392 developed breast cancer. In analyses researchers noted a statistically significant inverse linear trend between breast cancer and the duration of NSAID use (p < 0.01).  Taking two or more NSAID tablets per week (aspirin, ibuprofen, or related compounds) for 5 to 9 years reduced the risk of breast cancer by 21%. Extending NSAID use to 10 years or more led to an even greater risk reduction of 28%.  Specifically, "aspirin had about a 22% risk reduction effect and ibuprofen had a 49% risk reduction effect," Dr. Harris said.  The result with ibuprofen is "striking," he told Reuters Health.
 
"Interestingly, we did not see an effect for acetaminophen (Tylenol)," Dr. Harris told Reuters Health.
 
Reuters Health Information 2003. © 2003 Reuters Ltd.
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#70 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu May 15, 2003 10:53 am
Subject: Two articles about your heart and your blood pressure. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
They've redefined "normal" blood pressure.  They've raised the bar.  It used to be anything under 140 / 90.  Now you have to be below 120 / 80 to be "normal."  Here are the new definitions -- including one we've never had before, "Prehypertension":
Blood pressure classification
 
That was the bad news.  But we can offset that with the following:
A Drink a Day Improves Overall Heart Health
Wed May 14, 5:22 PM ET  Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who drink one drink a day -- wine, beer or hard liquor -- show significantly better elasticity of their body's arteries, an important measure of cardiovascular health, results of a new study suggest.   "We thought only red wine helps, but we found if people drink one beer or one unit of hard liquor a day, they also have improved arterial elasticity, better than nondrinkers," said Dr. Reuven Zimlichman of Wolfson Medical Center.

In comparing wine drinkers with drinkers who favor other alcoholic beverages, the researchers observed that beer and hard liquor drinkers had slightly higher blood pressure than wine drinkers. But all drinkers had blood pressure within normal ranges, Zimlichman said.
 
Asked if this study means nondrinkers should start drinking, Zimlichman pointed out that heavy drinking itself can cause high blood pressure.

"Whenever you recommend drinking, you have to consider the possibility that somebody will like it too much and over-drink and cause damage to his health," he said. "But if someone has a high risk of cardiovascular disease, I recommend to my patients that they drink one glass of red wine a day."
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#69 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sun May 4, 2003 9:15 pm
Subject: Two articles about breast cancer. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here are two recent articles about breast cancer.  First a study that tells why a women over 40 should get a mammogram every 12 to 18 months . . . so don't put it off.
 Studies Reaffirm Benefits Of Mammography
Breast Cancer Deaths Declined Steadily After Screening Introduced
April 30, 2003 06:13:20 AM PST, ACS News Today
 
Two new European studies provide more evidence that mammography can save lives. The studies, from Sweden and the Netherlands, show that death rates from breast cancer declined after screening mammography programs were introduced. In the past few years, though, some researchers have questioned the value of mammograms for preventing deaths from breast cancer, particularly among women in their 40s. The new studies re-enforce the prevailing expert opinion that screening has significant lifesaving value.
 
In the Swedish study, researchers from Central Hospital in Falun, Sweden, compared the breast cancer death rates in two counties for the 20 years before routine screening was introduced (in 1978) and the 20 years after screening was in place. Data from 210,000 women aged 20-69 were analyzed.
 
In the period after mammography was introduced, breast cancer deaths dropped 44% among women aged 40-69 who got mammograms, but decreased just 16% among those in that age group who were not screened.
 
Among women aged 40-49, for whom screening has been controversial, deaths from breast cancer dropped 48% in the group who got mammograms, compared to a 19% decline for those who did not.
 
The Dutch researchers attributed the declines in breast cancer mortality primarily to screening, rather than to improvements in treatment.  Smith said mammography saves lives by detecting tumors earlier than they would otherwise be found.  "Treatments have an opportunity to be most effective when a patient has a very small, early-stage tumor," he said.  That's especially true for women in their 40's, he said, who tend to develop faster-growing tumors.
And second, very controversial article.  It says that woman who have had breast cancer (especially certain types of breast cancer) can safely take hormones.  Now I'm not recommending this, but if misery accompanies your hot flashes, you do have this alternative.
 Estrogen replacement does not cause recurrent breast cancer
 
Women who have had treated localized breast cancer can benefit from estrogen replacement without worrying about cancer recurrence.

In theory, estrogen can activate breast cancer cells, so physicians have rightly been cautious over prescribing hormone replacement to women who've had cancer. But the estrogen in hormone replacement can help those women who've had ovarian failure as a result of chemotherapy for breast cancer. There are also potential benefits for cardiovascular and bone health from taking estrogen.
 
In one of the longest follow-up trials to date, US researchers have looked at the impact of estrogen on women who have been treated for localized breast cancer. They found no significant difference in survival at five years between women on estrogen and those on placebo. Taking estrogen did not increase the risk of new cancers or a recurrence of the cancer. However, this trial did not include women who had had estrogen-receptor positive cancers, which are known to grow in response to estrogen. The study suggests that women who have had localized breast cancer may well benefit from estrogen, without worrying about recurrence.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#68 From: "Dr.Rehert" <grehert@...>
Date: Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:59 pm
Subject: Two interesting Viagra stories. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here's two related stories on Viagra - and it's road to treating women for "FSD."   You mean you've never heard of "FSD?" . . . read on.
Sex drugs may be unnecessary
 
Drug companies are coming under attack for creating a new medical disorder known as "female sexual dysfunction" (FSD) in order to build markets for drugs among women, according to an article in the British Medical Journal.   The author of the article, Ray Moynihan, says that over the past six years, researchers with close ties to the pharmaceutical industry have been developing and defining the new disorder at company- sponsored meetings.
 
He cites as a "milestone" in FSD, the publication of an article in February 1999, which suggested that 43 per cent of women aged 18 to 59 had the condition, although leading researchers have since raised serious concerns about this figure, describing it as misleading and potentially dangerous.  The figure originates in a 1992 survey of 1500 women asked about anxiety or lack of desire during sex.
 
Portraying sexual difficulties as a dysfunction could encourage doctors to prescribe drugs that change sexual function, when attention should be paid to other aspects of the woman's life, he says.  Another concern is the ever-narrowing definitions of "normal" which help turn the complaints of the healthy into the conditions of the sick.
 
US psychiatrist Sandra Leiblum rejected the 43 per cent figure. "I think this is dissatisfaction and perhaps disinterest among a lot of women, but that doesn't mean they have a disease," she said.
And now the other side of the story.
Drugmakers Deny Inventing a Disorder
 
Reuters
Saturday, January 4, 2003
 
Pharmaceutical companies yesterday rejected a published account claiming they had invented a new disorder known as female sexual dysfunction to build a market for Viagra and similar drugs among women.  An article in the British Medical Journal said researchers with close ties to the industry had defined the new disorder at company-sponsored meetings over the past six years to encourage use of the same medicines that have helped men with impotence.
 
The author of the article, Ray Moynihan, said widely reported statistics that 43 percent of women older than 18 had female sexual dysfunction were misleading.  He traced the origin of the definition of the condition to a May 1997 meeting of researchers and drug company representatives at a Cape Cod hotel. 
 
The figure comes from a reanalysis of a 1992 survey of 1,500 women, who were asked whether they had experienced any of seven sexual difficulties for more than two months during the previous year. The sexual difficulties included a lack of desire for sex, anxiety about sexual performance and difficulties with lubrication.
 
A Pfizer spokeswoman denied the allegations that the company invented female sexual dysfunction.
 
Pfizer made $1.5 billion from Viagra in 2001.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also, as a member, you can read all the earlier
Emails by clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

Be very careful if you respond to this Email list.  Though it is configured so
that all Email responses only go to the original sender, your Email may
inadvertently be sent to the list.  Be sure you do not include any personal
information that you wouldn't mind sharing with the entire group.

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#67 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sat Apr 19, 2003 1:55 pm
Subject: Estrogen: Oral or Transdermal 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
As many of you know, I am a believer in getting your estrogen therapy across the skin (transdermal - i.e., the estrogen patch); or across the vagina (transvaginal - i.e., the estrogen ring) -- as opposed to taking it in pill form.  To me, getting estrogen across the skin or vagina is almost exactly like you get it from your ovary . . . a very steady dose 24/7 . . . what could be more "natural?"
 
On the other hand, when you get your hormones by swallowing a pill every 24 hours, there are two unnatural effects.  First, when you swallow the pill, the hormone goes directly to your liver at an unnaturally high concentration.  And second, the blood hormone level cycles up and down every 24 hours. 
 
It has been theorized that the unnaturally elevated "first pass through the liver" might cause the liver to produce more blood clotting factors and might be the reason that the infamous WHI study, last July, found an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots in their patients.  It's also well known that this "first pass through the liver" increases blood triglyceride levels which also may increase heart disease.
 
This is only theoretical and a lot of research is on-going to prove whether trans-dermal / trans-vaginal estrogen is safer than oral estrogen.  Much more will be known in the next few years.
 
Below is a very new article which found that oral estrogen increased CRP (C-reactive protein) as well as suppressed a molecule called IGF-1 . . . possibly two more reasons for the increased safety of transdermal / transvaginal estrogens. 

Study: Estrogen Patch May Be Easier on Heart 
 By Kathleen Doheny
HealthScoutNews Reporter
 
WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2003 (HealthScoutNews) -- Estrogen delivered to postmenopausal women in patch rather than pill form doesn't raise blood levels of a protein associated with higher heart disease risk, a research team has found in a small study.
 
The study included only 21 women and looked simply at a marker of heart disease.  In the new study, Vongpatanasin and her colleagues took baseline levels of the participants' C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation that predicts heart attack and heart disease.  Then, the women were rotated among three treatments -- the patch, oral estrogen and placebo, taking each for eight weeks and having their C-reactive protein measured before and after.
 
"The pills raised the C-reactive protein by more than twofold, whereas when the women were on the patch or on placebo, there was no change," Vongpatanasin says. But the blood levels of estrogen were similar with pill and patch.
 
In a recent study evaluating more than 27,000 women, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, high levels of C-reactive protein were found to be a more accurate predictor of heart disease than high levels of so-called "bad" cholesterol, LDL.  Exactly why oral estrogen drives up C-reactive protein is not known, Vongpatanasin says. While oral estrogen is processed through the liver before circulating to other areas in the body, estrogen delivered by patch enters the bloodstream directly.
 
When delivered by patch, the amount of estrogen is less than in pill form, Vongpatanasin says. In the study, the patch delivered a maximum of 100 micrograms of estrogen a day, while the pill delivered 625 micrograms.
 
In her study, Vongpatanasin also found that oral estrogen, but not the patch form or the placebo treatment, suppressed the women's blood levels of insulin-like growth factor, IGF-1, a substance that fights inflammation.
 
Another expert, Dr. Ravi Dave, a cardiologist at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center in California, says that while the study is small, "the concept and hypothesis they used are very sound."   He adds more study is needed, but that "estrogen might not be as bad as it was thought to be in terms of cardiovascular risk." 
 
Earlier research by the same doctor concluded that transdermal / transvaginal estrogen lowered blood pressure a small amount as compared to the estrogen pill.
Two points:  I am not saying that no one should take estrogens by mouth.  The increased risks are very slight.  However, if you have a personal history or a strong family history of heart disease, high triglycerides or excessive intravascular clotting (blood clots in legs or lung), then you might want to consider the transdermal / transvaginal route. 
 
The second point I want to make is that birth control pills parallel menopausal hormone therapy.  Birth control is now available in a patch and in a vaginal ring.  If you are on birth control pills and have a bad personal or family medical history as described above, it might be theoretically a little safer if you switch to these newer birth control methods.  Stay tuned -- more research to follow.
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#66 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Mon Mar 31, 2003 12:54 am
Subject: Some Good news and some Bad news. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Two stories: 
One good news and the other, bad news and getting badder.  First the good news - about your risk of getting HIV or hepatitis from a blood transfusion . . .The risk keeps getting smaller.
Blood Transfusions Safer Than Ever
Chance Of Developing Hepatitis Or HIV Dropping
March 28, 2003 10:37:11 AM PST, ACS News Today
 
The risk of contracting a serious infection through a blood transfusion has been dropping every year for several decades, and the blood supply is the safest it has ever been, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 289, No. 8: 959-962). That means fewer Americans are likely to contract HIV or hepatitis as a result of blood transfusions.
 
According to Michael Busch MD, PhD, the lead author of the report, a person receiving a blood transfusion in 2003 has only a one in 1,800,000 chance of developing an infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The risk for developing hepatitis C, one of the two major blood borne hepatitis viruses, is one in 1,600,000. The chance of getting hepatitis B is one in 220,000.
 
The numbers for HIV and hepatitis C have been dropping steadily since the development of new tests that can detect these viruses in donated blood earlier than was possible before.
 
Newer tests were introduced in 1998. These tests, called nucleic acid technology screening or NAT, can actually measure the virus levels in the blood. Virus levels rise much earlier than the antibody response and shorten the window period.
 
Under the old screening method, for instance, HIV was detectable in the blood about 22 days after infection. With the new methods, HIV can be found in the blood 11 days after infection, decreasing the likelihood of contaminated blood entering the blood supply. 
 
And now the bad news about the new disease called SARS.  This could be big.  Stay tuned.
Mystery Illness Continues to Spread
1 hour, 20 minutes ago  Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!
 
By TOM COHEN, Associated Press Writer
 
TORONTO - A mystery illness with no known treatment continued to spread through Asia and Canada on Sunday, killing three more people and infecting many others as officials warned it may be more contagious than originally thought.
 
Hong Kong health officials said 60 more people had fallen ill with a deadly flu-like disease, more than half of them in one apartment complex, pushing the number of infections worldwide past 1,600. Singapore's health minister, Lim Hng Kiang, said the disease may spread more easily than first believed.
 
The World Health Organization said severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has killed at least 54 people worldwide, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China.
 
Authorities have declared a health emergency in Toronto, located 50 miles from the U.S. border. U.S. health officials have reported 62 cases in the United States. So far, four people have died from the illness in Toronto, the latest was reported Sunday. In addition, about 100 probable or suspect cases have been reported. Officials have closed two hospitals to new patients, and hundreds of people have been quarantined in their homes.
 
The United States and Canada have advised people to avoid travel to afflicted areas in Asia, and the World Health Organization recommended that international travelers from Toronto and several Asian cities get screened for symptoms.
 
Most of the new cases reported Sunday came from Hong Kong's Amoy Gardens apartment complex, where a victim recently spread the disease, according to a Health Department statement. Some frightened residents have moved out and medical teams have gone through the apartments to check for SARS — while some minibus drivers won't even stop there anymore. 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
 
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#65 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Tue Mar 25, 2003 3:33 am
Subject: Two articles about agressive behavior - thought you might be interested. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
 Here are some recent articles about aggressive behavior.  One links aggressive behavior to genetics and, the other, to Viagra.  Dr. Rehert
Gene for Aggressive Behavior Found in Mice
 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scientists have discovered a gene in mice that appears to play an important role in anxious and aggressive behavior, according to a study released Thursday. Since humans have a similar gene, the researchers hope that their discovery may aid in the study of human anxiety and aggression disorders.
 
In the study, which is published in the January 23rd issue of the journal Neuron, the investigators created mice that lacked the Pet-1 gene. As adults, the Pet-1 deficient mice were more aggressive than normal mice and were more likely to avoid open, unprotected spaces in their cages--a sign of increased anxiety.
 
"This is the first gene shown to impact adult emotional behavior through specific control of fetal serotonin neuron development," said senior investigator Dr. Evan S. Deneris.
 
SOURCE: Neuron 2003;37:1-20.
And here's article #2 about Viagra.
 Scientists Debate Possible Viagra-Aggression Link
 
By Todd Zwillich
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - A debate has begun among scientists about whether Pfizer Inc.'s impotence drug Viagra (sildenafil) can be linked to aggressive behavior and sexual violence.   One researcher has concluded that doctors should begin warning Viagra users about the possibility of psychological and emotional side effects.  But other scientists, as well as officials at Pfizer, reject the claim as unsound.
 
In July of this year, Dr. Harold A. Milman, a toxicologist based in Rockville, Maryland, published a report in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy examining more than 12,000 reports of adverse events in men who took Viagra.   The drug was listed as a suspect in 22 reports involving aggression, 13 involving rape and 6 involving murder, according to Milman's article.
 
The theory that the drug may cause aggression has formed the basis of the so-called "Viagra defense," a claim made by half a dozen defendants since 1998 that the drug caused them to commit violent crimes.
 
In interviews, other scientists rejected Milman's claims about a link to aggressive behavior. "To me, it is an extremely remote hypothesis," said Dr. Raymond C. Rosen, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Until next time.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#58 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sun Mar 16, 2003 3:14 pm
Subject: Something on dieting. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Here's an article on a growing trend in diet research.

New research on Atkins diet challenges years of criticism
 
By Daniel Q. Haney
 
Is it just possible that Dr. Robert C. Atkins was right? That his high-fat, low-carb plan, ridiculed for 30 years as dangerous nonsense, actually is a good, safe way to lose weight?
 
The dietary elite are not ready to change their collective mind, but a half-dozen or so new studies have taken an objective look at the presumed evils of Atkins, and the results have been little short of astonishing:
During a few months on the Atkins diet, people lose about twice as much as on the standard low-fat, high-carbohydrate approach recommended by most health organizations.  They do so without seeming to drive up their risk of heart disease. They appear to lose more weight even while actually consuming more calories than people on a so-called healthy diet.
 
“Some scientists are dismayed by the data and a little incredulous about it," says Gary Foster, who runs the weight-loss program at the University of Pennsylvania. “But the consistency of the results across studies is compelling in a way that makes us think we should investigate this further."
 
This Atkins study was intended to “show it doesn’t work," yet after three months, the overweight men and women had lost an average of 19 pounds, 10 more than people on the standard high-carb approach.
 
The big surprise was cholesterol. The Atkins dieters’ overall profile changed for the better. Although their bad cholesterol went up seven points, their good cholesterol rose almost 12. (Changes in the high-carb dieters were less dramatic. Their bad cholesterol went down slightly while their good cholesterol remained unchanged.)
 
The largest difference was in triglycerides. The Atkins dieters’ dropped 22 points. The low-carb dieters’ didn’t budge.          
 
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#56 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Thu Mar 6, 2003 3:38 am
Subject: The hormone pendulum begins to swing. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
On July 9th, 2002, the Woman's Health Initiative study (WHI) came out and (with the help of the media) scared half the world's women on hormones into quitting them for fear of breast cancer and heart disease.  Well finally more rational heads in the Gynecology community are getting some play in the media. 
 
Here is an article which summarizes my beliefs regarding hormone therapy...  and I believe, in time, the world will realize that the 60+ articles which showed estrogen reduced heart disease were not a lot of bunk.
Health Tips ... from UPI
 
IN HORMONE THERAPY, TIMING COULD BE EVERYTHING
 
Researchers say the timing of treatment may be a key to whether hormone replacement therapy can slow heart disease in postmenopausal women. "Mounting evidence points to the conclusion that HRT can help prevent heart vessel disease -- if the therapy begins around the time that the body stops making its own estrogen," said Thomas Clarkson of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. "The question may not be if estrogen helps, but when is the optimum time to begin therapy."
 
Clarkson, a professor of comparative medicine, and Dr. Richard Karas, director of the preventive cardiology center at Tufts-New England Medical Center, reviewed studies of postmenopausal women and monkeys that evaluated the cardiovascular effects of HRT. Their analysis, published in the journal Menopausal Medicine, included the Women's Health Initiative, which showed an increased risk of heart attacks in women taking HRT and led to recommendations that women not begin hormone replacement therapy for the purpose of preventing heart disease. They also reviewed trials of postmenopausal monkeys conducted at Wake Forest during the past 12 years.
 
"The literature demonstrates that HRT has beneficial effects in inhibiting the early stages of heart vessel disease, but can have deleterious effects if initiated at older ages when some women have already developed disease," Clarkson said.
 
 
 So what this is saying is that if you start your hormones at menopause (when your periods stop and when your hot flashes begin - usually around age 50) you are probably preventing heart disease, (i.e. preventing hardening of the arteries.)  On the other hand, if you begin your hormone therapy after age 60, after you've already developed hardening of the arteries, you are probably increasing your risk of heart disease (i.e. like a heart attack.) 
 
The patients in the WHI study averaged 63 years of age and many of them were more then 10 or even 20 years past menopause.  20% of them were older than 70. 
 
In these women, hormones increased heart disease somewhat.  (So I'm no longer advising any 60 or 70 year old patients to begin hormone therapy.)
 
The final answer is not yet definitely known, but when it is I'll bring it to you.
Now if anyone wants to see the very academic and very technical 12 page journal that analyzes the WHI study in great depth, click here for the entire journal Menopausal Medicine:==>  Click Here for Menopausal Medicine  
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also you can read all the earlier Emails by clicking
on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

If you respond to this Email list, DO NOT include any personal information . 
Though the list is configured so that all Email responses only go to the
original sender, your Email may inadvertently be sent to the list.  Also,
transmitting personal information would be a violation of The U. S. Government
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
#55 From: <grehert@...>
Date: Sun Mar 2, 2003 1:02 pm
Subject: How to diagnose a stroke and the Internet can read your mind - a most amazing puzzle. 		grehert
Offline Offline
Send Email Send Email
 
Did you ever wonder if you should call 911 because a relative of yours might be having a stroke?  Well here's a quick 3 step test to help you.  Practice on a healthy friend - or yourself in the mirror.
Simple test spots stroke in 60 seconds
By Peggy Peck
UPI Science News

     PHOENIX, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- By asking three simple questions, most people can diagnose stroke and act quickly to get the victim to a hospital for treatment, researchers reported Thursday. 
 
     The bystander asks the victim to "show us your teeth," which is a smile test to detect facial weakness. The victims are also asked to close their eyes and raise their arms to detect one-sided arm weakness. And finally, the bystander asks the victim to repeat a simple sentence like "The sky is blue in Cincinnati." Slurred speech and one-sided facial or arm weakness are all classic signs of stroke, said Brice.
 
     "This is so simple that even a child could use it. Look at how many children have saved their parents by doing CPR and this so much simpler," said Kenton. Although the study used a 911-dispatcher model, Kenton said he thinks the test should also be promoted for use by the general public.
 
And 
 
 
(You will need Macromedia Flash on your computer.)
The above is not meant to be medical advice.  Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc. 
Best wishes.  Dr. Rehert
 
 
DISCLAIMER:  The articles discussed in "Dr. Rehert's Medical Alerts Email List”
are solely intended to entertain, inform and educate its readers.  They are not
to be considered medical advice.  You should not alter any of your lifestyle
behavior without the advice of your personal physician.

“Dr. Rehert’s Medical Alerts Email List” is open to anyone who wants to join. 
Either send your Email address to grehert@... (recommended)  OR  you may
go to the website www.yahoogroups.com/group/drrehertsalerts and follow the “Join
This Group!" instructions.  Also, as a member, you can read all the earlier
Emails by clicking on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DrRehertsAlerts/messages.

Be very careful if you respond to this Email list.  Though it is configured so
that all Email responses only go to the original sender, your Email may
inadvertently be sent to the list.  Be sure you do not include any personal
information that you wouldn't mind sharing with the entire group.

Best wishes,

Gerald M. Rehert, M.D.
285 Boulevard, NE, #520
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-688-2800

Reply | Forward | Messages in this Topic (1)
Messages 55 - 93 of 146   Newest  |  < Newer  |  Older >  |  Oldest
Message #
Search:
Advanced
Add to My Yahoo!      XML What's This?
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Guidelines - Help