Which Do You Prefer, Heart Attack or Diabetes?
By Dr. Gifford Jones Saturday, February 11, 2012
Is it getting easier for patients to make the right health decision today, compared to 50 years ago? It should be, considering the huge advances in medical knowledge since that time. But unless you’re blessed with the Wisdom of Solomon, these advances may merely help you exchange one disease for another. Or, as one wise sage remarked, “Life would be easier if there were no ‘buts’.”
Niagara’s Grass Roots Approach Targets Childhood ObesityBy Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, November 20, 2011
What will it take to eliminate the current obesity epidemic in children? There’s no easy answer and every year children are putting on more pounds. So why not try a new approach? The one veteran politicians use to get elected, the grass roots approach? This is what Dr. Stafford Dobbin, a wily Irishman and family physician, decided to try in the Niagara Region. It should set a standard for the nation.
Surgery for Swinging-Door Heart ValvesBy Dr. Gifford Jones Saturday, August 13, 2011
What do the swinging doors of a western movie have to do with mitral valve surgery? They’re the easiest way to describe what’s wrong with the heart’s valves and what surgical procedure is needed to correct mitral valve prolapse (MVP). To get a first-hand look I watched Dr. Tirone David, one the world’s great cardiac surgeons, perform this operation at the Toronto General Hospital.
The mitral valve separates the two left chambers of the heart. Each time the heart beats the valves open, like the swinging doors of a western saloon. But after opening they firmly close while the heart pumps blood to the body.
Consumers Kill Campbell’s U.S. Poster ChildBy Dr. Gifford Jones Saturday, July 30, 2011
If your company makes soup, what’s the best way to shoot yourself in the foot? Try selling soup with a little less salt. In 2009 Campbell Soup made a brave and healthy decision. Each serving of its soup would have 32 percent less sodium to help tame one of North America’s big killers, hypertension. Now foolish consumers have forced Campbell’s soup in the U.S. to put sodium back again.
Fortunately, this decision at the moment does not affect Campbell’s soup in Canada. Moreover, there are also other products here that are helping to combat these common diseases. For instance, Loblaw’s President’s Choice Blue Menu line of products, contains both decreased salt and calories. Blue Menu soup has only 400 milligrams of salt compared to 800 or more milligrams in other soups.
Decrease Sugar to Sweeten Blood CholesterolBy Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, July 24, 2011
Think you know everything on how to lower blood cholesterol? I’m sure it’s no news that excessive amounts of sugar can cause obesity, diabetes, and more visits to the dentist. But a report from Tufts University School of Nutrition says this is the first study to show that too much sugar is also bad news for blood cholesterol. It appears they’ve forgotten the work of Dr. John Yudkin.
North Americans love sugar because it tastes good, and food companies know it. Studies show that they get 16 percent of their total calories from sugar added to foods during manufacturing. Thirty five years ago it was 10.6 percent. It’s the “silent sugar” hidden in a variety of everyday foods such as bread. This means that most adults consume 90 grams of sugar daily or 21.4 teaspoons (tsp).
More Natural Ways to Decrease Blood Cholesterol
By Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, June 12, 2011
“Should I stop taking my cholesterol-lowering drug (CLD) and switch to the natural product Sytrinol?”
“Can I take this remedy along with a CLD?
“Are there other natural ways to lower blood cholesterol?”
New Report: Risk of Cholesterol DrugsBy Dr. Gifford Jones Saturday, May 7, 2011
How will history judge me for questioning the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs)? I’ll never know. But a report in the British Medical Journal that studied 226,000 people taking (CLDs) now says that the side effect of muscle and back pain may be more frequent than originally believed. For instance, muscle pain and weakness occurred in up to one-third of patients, with moderate or severe muscle pain in 100 to 300 women.
Severe muscle pain is a worrying symptom as it may be the prelude to rhabdomyolysis. This is a life-threatening condition where a large amount of muscle tissue is destroyed, causing kidney failure. This complication occurs in about one in 10,000 patients. So if muscle pain develops it should be reported immediately to the doctor.
Treating sleep disorder improves stroke recovery, study findsBy Online Tuesday, April 5, 2011
TORONTO, A new study shows that patients in stroke rehabilitation treated for their co-existing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) recovered better from stroke than those whose OSA was not treated.
The study, published in the April edition of the journal Stroke, found “significant improvements” in functional and motor outcomes as well as mood of stroke rehabilitation patients who received continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a small mask placed over the patient’s nose during sleep that alleviates OSA.
Sytrinol: A Natural Way to Decrease CholesterolBy Dr. Gifford Jones Saturday, March 26, 2011
Prescription drugs can kill, natural remedies rarely. It’s one of the important lessons I’ve learned practicing medicine. So why risk a prescription drug to lower cholesterol when a natural one is available? This week, how Sytrinol can be a safe, effective, less expensive and natural way to lower blood cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart attack.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs) do decrease blood cholesterol and risk of coronary attack. But to question their use is like attacking Motherhood and apple pie, even though there are several short and possibly long-term side effects.
By Dr. Gifford Jones Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Should healthy people with no heart symptoms take a cholesterol-lowering drug (CLD) to prevent heart disease? Federal regulators in the U.S. have recently given the green light to allow Crestor, one of the CLDs, to be sold for this purpose. So is this decision a scientific breakthrough or medical madness?
Former President Clinton’s Restenosis
By Dr. Gifford Jones Monday, March 1, 2010
Five years ago I wrote in this column, “Former President Clinton has joined 400,000 Americans who required coronary bypass surgery in the last year”. Clinton had high blood cholesterol and took cholesterol-lowering drugs (CLDs). But in spite of these drugs, along with superb medical care, they failed to prevent a blocked artery. Again, recently, the insertion of two stents (tiny structures like scaffolding) were required to reopen one coronary artery after he experienced chest pain.
Cardiologists Say This Research is “Hog Wash”By Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, February 7, 2010
What are the pleasures and frustrations of writing a medical column? The best reward is the response from readers whose health has been helped by a column. The greatest frustration is when a new medical topic triggers a negative response from doctors. But who provide no scientific explanation for their opinion.
Should You Take A Baby Aspirin Every Day?By Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, November 1, 2009
A reader writes, “I’ve been taking a baby aspirin daily for years to prevent a heart attack. Now, I’ve read that not everyone should take this pill.” She then added, “So is there a natural way to decrease the risk of coronary attack?”
New cardiovascular resource to improve diabetes outcomesBy Online Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Around the world, diabetes currently affects 246 million people and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025. By 2010, more than 3 million Canadians will have diabetes and that number will continue to grow by nearly 550 people every day.
The “Ain’t So’s” About CholesterolBy Dr. Gifford Jones Sunday, May 31, 2009
Why are people so misinformed about cholesterol when so much has been published about it? After all, cholesterol has become a household name. It’s hard to go to a social gathering without someone mentioning this fatty substance and their own cholesterol level. But as one wise sage remarked, “It’s not the things you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s the things you know for sure that ain’t so”. So what ain’t so about cholesterol?
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