The Plain Truth's: Your Health Today ONLINE

Vitamin Bashers Are Wrong, Says Top Doctor Brownstein

Dietary supplements, such as the vitamin B supplement show above, are typically sold in pill form. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Don't stop taking your multivitamin."

That's the simple advice offered by board-certified family practitioner David Brownstein, M.D., in the wake of heavily publicized recent studies that concluded a daily multivitamin does not have health benefits.

After carefully reviewing the studies, Dr. Brownstein, one of the nation's top practitioners of holistic medicine, concluded that they aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

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"I have been practicing medicine for more than 20 years, and I can assure you I have never seen a patient harmed by taking multivitamins," Dr. Brownstein tells Newsmax Health. "However, I have had many patients harmed from FDA-approved pharmaceutical drugs.

"In the first place, one of the studies used very low potency vitamins — so low that I don't expect anyone would think that they could help anything. Second, most of the multivitamins used in the studies were cheap synthetics, not natural vitamins. Inexpensive vitamins are made with synthetics, and many of the substances are made from petrochemicals, which provide a suboptimal response and can even be dangerous."

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/multivitamins-synthetic-vitamins-supplements-DrDavid-Brownstein/2013/12/19/id/542852#ixzz2o19eviHA
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Protect Yourself From An Inexperienced Surgeon

An operating theatre (gynecological hospital of Medical University of Silesia in Bytom) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Inexperienced young surgeons are flooding hospitals as medical schools cut back on operating-room training. The results can be dangerous – even deadly – for patients, says a top cardiologist.

Doctors don’t get nearly as much surgical training as in the past because of new rules that limit hospital work hours.

“When I went through training, I was on call every day for years,” said Chauncey Crandall, M.D., director of preventive services at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic.

“Now they want to protect young doctors from fatigue, but the result is that they are graduating doctors who are undertrained and don’t have the surgical experience they need. This is a terrible thing for patients.”

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/inexperienced-surgeons-Health-Grades-DrChauncey-Crandall-surgical-trainees/2013/12/18/id/542678#ixzz2nvc8eC00
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Grocery bag bans: The battle rages on...Does "better for the environment" mean "worse for your health?"

By Jennifer Abel
Jennifer Abel has worked as a reporter and editor for local newspapers in Connecticut. She contributes to online publications including Playboy, the Guardian, Anorak, Daily Dot, Salon and Mashable. Read Full Bio→

It’s still too early to predict which side will enjoy ultimate victory in the “should we or shouldn’t we ban disposable plastic shopping bags” war, though both sides can honestly claim to have won recent battles.

In California, a state appeals court upheld San Francisco’s citywide ban on plastic shopping bags. (Of course, this does not negate the possibility that a still-higher court might later rule differently.)

Meanwhile, in Colorado, voters in Durango overturned a city council initiative that would’ve mandated a ten-cent-per-bag tax on disposable grocery bags.

The old “paper or plastic?” shopping-bag debate has since yielded ground to the newer “disposable vs. reusable?” argument. The case for taxing or outright abolishing disposable grocery bags almost always rests on environmental or anti-waste concerns: plastic bags fill space in landfills at best, pollute the ocean and kill sea animals at worst; and even for biodegradable and presumably eco-friendly paper bags, there’s no denying that “disposable substances” are inherently more wasteful than “reusable substances.”

Breeding grounds Read more here>>>>>>>>>

Bedbugs Come in the Mail: How to Protect Your Home

Bedbugs (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The rising popularity of online holiday shopping has given rise to an unexpected horror: Bedbugs and other insects are spreading into homes through shipped goods.

"Cardboard boxes are especially problematic because they offer good insulation for bugs," says Dr. Shripat Kamble, former director of the certification program for the Entomological Society of America and a professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska. “They have a lot of corrugation and corrugated materials offer a lot of hiding places for insects.”

What can be hiding inside the packages you order online?

For starters, live adult specimens and egg cases of biting insects such as bedbugs, spiders, ants, and fleas. Packages also can harbor pests such as Asian cockroaches, Indian meal moths, carpet beetles, red flour beetles, and wood-boring insects such as termites and powder post beetles.

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/bedbugs-mail-Christmas-packages/2013/12/13/id/541670#ixzz2nYobvyb1
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8 Drugs Doctors Won't Take - so why should you?

Feb. 5, 2009; Irvine, CA – An FDA microbiologi...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Advair. This asthma medicine has been estimated to contribute to as many as 5,000 asthma-related deaths annually because its active ingredient, the beta-agonist (LABA) salmeterol, can actually make an attack worse. Dr. Teitelbaum instead recommends getting to the root cause of asthma by pinpointing allergies or nutritional deficiencies such as low vitamin C. Alternatively, he advises treating the condition with the anti-inflammatory herb, boswellia.

Avandia. Treating Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes with Avandia, (rosiglitazone) can be dangerous, says Dr. Teitelbaum. Studies have shown that people who took this drug to help control their diabetes for at least a year increased their risk of heart failure by a whopping 109 percent. Teitelbaum says an older diabetes drug, metformin, works well, is less inexpensive, and safer.

Celebrex. This pain reliever has been linked to kidney and liver damage. According to a 2005 study, those taking 200 milligrams of Celebrex twice daily more than doubled their risk of dying of heart disease. People who took twice as much tripled their risk.

Dr. Teitelbaum says that head-on studies of patients who took herbal pain killers such as curcumin and boswellia had as much relief from these safer alternatives as they experienced with Celebrex.

Ketek. This antibiotic, generically named telithromycin, can cause sudden and serious liver damage. Four fatal cases of drug usage have been reported. It’s been traditionally been prescribed for respiratory tract infections, but in 2007 the FDA limited usage of Ketek to the treatment of pneumonia. Ask your doctor if there is an alternative that is specific to the infection you have, advises Dr. Skip Lenz, a Florida-based compounding pharmacist.

Prilosec and Nexium. These stomach acid blockers have been linked to osteoporosis and can increase the risk of hip fractures. They can also increase pneumonia risk. "Your body needs a certain amount of stomach acid," says Dr. Teitelbaum. "When you experience heartburn, it means you are suffering from poor digestion. Try a plant-based digestive enzyme or use a vinegar-based salad dressing to help quell the fire. Drinking a small amount of diet cola can also help digestion."

Pseudoephedrine. This popular decongestant can dangerously raise blood pressure and heart rate and has been linked to heart attacks and strokes. Use saline solutions to clear nasal passages and increase your intake of vitamin C, says Dr. Teitelbaum.

Visine. Cary Silverman, M.D., medical director of EyeCare 20/20 in East Hanover, N.J., states it simply: "I hate Visine. It works great at 'getting the red out' but the problem is, when you stop the Visine, the red is back. We call it the rebound phenomenon. It's kind of like getting addicted to the medicine. I recommend using an over-the-counter artificial tear drop first. If this doesn’t work, some OTC allergy drops such as Zaditor are good.

"If this doesn't solve the problem, it's time to see your ophthalmologist."

Stephen Sinatra, M.D., a top cardiologist, says that Avandia, Celebrex, and pseudoephedrine are the three that trouble him the most. "These three bother me the most from cardiovascular point of view," he says. "Avandia, because of its role in congestive heart failure; Celebrex because it causes thickening of the blood, which no cardiologist would condone; and pseudoephedrine because it's a powerful vasoconstrictor that can damage tissues."

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Health-News/drugs-doctors-warning-dangers/2013/12/06/id/540421#ixzz2mthAQDtU
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The shocking images that reveal what diabetes can do to your feet in just 10 DAYS

These gruesome pictures show the horrific damage diabetes can do to the body in just a matter of days.

They were taken by a 50-year-old man who had developed lesions on his feet after his new shoes rubbed.

The man, who was obese, had no idea he was suffering from diabetes, doctors said.

Damage: The images show how quickly the infection in the diabetic man's foot took hold - going from a red lesion on day one to a wound in urgent need of surgery. The 50-year-old man had developed lesions on his feet after his new shoes rubbed

The small lesions quickly escalated into a full-blown infection - within days his right foot was black, weeping pus and in urgent need of surgery.

His story, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights the devastating impact diabetes can have on all parts of the body - especially the feet.
Every 30 seconds, someone in the world with the condition has a lower limb amputated, according to the charity Diabetes UK.

What does your pee say about your health? New diagram shows when to be alarmed

From healthy 'pale straw' to potentially dangerous 'brown ale', urine comes in a wide range of colours.

Now doctors at a U.S. medical centre have drawn up a diagram to illustrate what is normal and what is not.

The chart, developed at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, says urine usually ranges from a deep amber or honey colour to a light straw colour, with many shades in between.

The Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, has created a diagram which shows all of the different possible shades of urine colour and what they say about your health

It says the colour of a person's urine says a lot about what is going on inside their body, and that people should take heed of its warnings.
The diagram shows that if a person's urine has no colour, it suggests they are drinking too much water and should consider cutting back.

These Subtle Signs Reveal Impending Cardiac Arrest

James Gandolfini (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Sopranos star James Gandolfini might have been saved if he had recognized any of the symptoms that can warn of a cardiac arrest up to a month ahead of time, a top cardiologist tells Newsmax Health.

“There are warning signs that often precede sudden cardiac arrest, but the problem is that people don’t recognize them,” says Chauncey Crandall, M.D., director of preventative medicine and clinical cardiology at the Palm Beach Cardiovascular Clinic. “James Gandolfini and hundreds of thousands of other heart victims like him could have been saved.”

Editor's Note: Top Cardiologist Discovers 'Simple Heart Cure'

Gandolfini died of sudden cardiac arrest last June at age 51 while he was vacationing in Rome with his family. Although his death seemed to strike without warning, that was probably not the case, Dr. Crandall says.

“Asymptomatic cardiac death is pretty rare. When you go back and talk to those who survive it, or their families, you’ll find that there is always something that provides an indication that something was wrong before the attack,” he says.

“The symptom could be chest pain, even very minor – or shoulder pain, neck pain, back pain, or episodes of nausea. Perhaps their blood pressure was suddenly elevated. All these things can indicate that a heart attack is going to happen or is happening.”

Warning signs may be even subtler. “Perhaps their color is off, they feel dizzy, they are short of breath, they fainted, or they are extremely fatigued – all these things can be telltale warning signs,” says Dr. Crandall, author of the No. 1 Amazon best-selling book The Simple Heart Cure: The 90-Day Program to Stop and Reverse Heart Disease.

About 325,000 people die from sudden cardiac death each year, many of them, like Gandolfini, middle-aged men. It is the largest cause of death in the U.S.

Sudden cardiac death occurs when the heart suddenly ceases to beat, usually because the heartbeat is irregular and dangerously fast.

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Headline/subtle-signs-impending-heart-attack/2013/12/03/id/539641#ixzz2mVg3gpbk
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Breakthrough Hormone Treatment Fights Parkinson's

Parkinson's Disease Cure (Photo credit: Elva Keaton)

Developed by Scottsdale physician Gino Tutera, M.D., the therapy uses bio-identical hormones, delivered through implants placed under the skin, to ease the symptoms of Parkinson's and slow its progression.

Since starting treatment, Puzzi tells Newsmax Health, his health and psychological outlook have improved dramatically and his symptoms are largely under control.

"It was just an unbelievable change in my life," says Puzzi, of the impact of the therapy. "I've cut my medicine down from eight pills a day to four pills a day. It made a world of difference in my quality of life and everything in my world today. I wouldn't know what to do without the pellets."

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