August 10th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Diabetes, Endocrinology, News, Research, Weight Loss
3 Comments »
I rarely get too excited about mouse studies, but this one is pretty amazing. Researchers at my alma mater have discovered that osteoblasts (cells that create bone) secrete a certain protein that affects the health of the pancreas. The protein (osteocalcin) stimulates the pancreas to create more insulin-secreting beta cells. When people don’t secrete enough insulin, the result is often type 2 diabetes. So a healthy pancreas with a good insulin secreting capacity is critical to regulating blood sugar.
The researchers also discovered that mice who were bred to have no osteocalcin gene had abnormal amounts of fat in their bodies. So this means that bones may have something to do with energy metabolism and weight gain.
Of course it’s too early to speculate on the implications of all this (what’s true for mice is not necessarily true for humans – but I’m going to anyway). Since bone cells (osteoblasts) are sensitive to gravity, and increase their activity with weight bearing, this could explain why exercise (especially weight lifting) is important in weight loss. The new ACSM guidelines recommend weight training as part of a healthy exercise regimen, and the underlying mechanism for this may be that bone cells rev up metabolism and insulin secreting capacity in response to weight lifting.
So, if you want to lose weight – make sure you stimulate those bone cells with some good weight bearing exercises. They may just help to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes as well!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 8th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Animals, Infectious Disease, Milk, News, Parenting
5 Comments »
The New York Times exposed an interesting counter-culture phenomenon today: drinking raw milk. Grocery store milk has been heated and packaged in a nearly sterile fashion so that no harmful bacteria are in it. Farmers collect raw milk from cows, then pasteurize (a heat treatment) and homogenize (blend the creamy part with the skim part) it before packaging the milk for human consumption. This process has virtually eliminated milk borne illness in this country, including the transmission of Tuberculosis, Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria.
So why are people fascinated with raw milk and seeking out farmers who will sell them milk prior to heat treatment? Raw milk does taste slightly different (I think it’s a little bit more “gamey”) and there’s no doubt that the creamy layer that floats on the top is delicious. In New York City raw milk has a black market, cult following. Should you jump on the bandwagon?
As my regular readers know, I grew up on an organic dairy farm, and had the pleasure of handling cows up close and personal for at least a decade. In fact, their sweet-smelling grass breath, and not so sweet-smelling cow patties are etched permanently in my mind. Cows are curious, somewhat dim witted, and generally oblivious to the terrain upon which they tread.
Cows will stand in manure for hours without a moment’s regret, should you present them with fresh hay to eat or some nice shortfeed. They drop patties on the ground, in their troughs, and occasionally on one other. Their flicking tails often get caked with manure as they swish flies away and they scratch their udders with dirty hooves as well.
This is why when it comes time to milk them, farmers need to wipe their udders carefully with a disinfectant scrub before applying the milk machine. Mastitis (or infection of the udder teets) is not uncommon, and is a reason for ceasing to milk a cow until the infection has cleared.
And so, the cleanliness of raw milk depends upon whether or not the farmer removes all the excrement carefully, scrubs the teets well, and remembers not to milk the cows with mastitits. It also matters whether or not the cows are harboring certain strains of bacteria – which often don’t harm the cow, but cause very serious problems for humans.
Did I drink raw milk as a kid? Occasionally, yes. Were my parents super-careful about the cleanliness of the milk? Yes. Did I ever get sick from raw milk? No. Would I give raw milk to my kids? No.
I appreciate that gourmands want to experience the flavor of raw foods, but for me, the risks are simply not worth it when it comes to milk. There is no appreciable nutritional benefit to drinking raw milk (in fact, store bought milk is fortified with Vitamin D, which is critical for healthy bones), and it caries a small risk of serious infection. If adults want to take that risk, they may do so – but I would strongly encourage them not to put their kids at risk. I agree with the FDA’s ban on interstate sales of unpasteurized milk, and would not want to see raw milk available widely for general consumption. Of course, to get around this ban, some companies are selling raw milk and cheese under the label “pet food.”
It’s a crazy country we live in – anti-bacterial hand wipes, soaps, gels, plastics and an insatiable appetite for raw milk. As a doctor, I throw up my hands. What do you think?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 5th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Fitness, News, Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation, Podiatry, Surgery, Women's Health
No Comments »
Russia has been promoting a new sport: the stiletto heels sprint. Although I’d heard of this a couple of months ago, I just noticed some video footage on Yahoo! In this particular race, over 200 women turned out to run 1 kilometer (about 2/3 of a mile) in heels that are at least 3.5 inches high.
It is well known that regularly wearing high heels can result in foot deformities such as bunions and corns. And yet women continue to wear them as they never seem to go out of fashion. If you’re unwilling to give up those heels, but would like to avoid having feet that look like this, here are some tips for you:
1. Minimize the distance you walk in heels. Carry your shoes to work with you and wear flats or sneakers during most of your walking.
2. Wear shoes that are wide in the toe box and do not squeeze your toes together.
3. Put metatarsal pads in your high heeled shoes, to keep your foot from sliding forward (especially if they are closed-toe).
4. Don’t wait too long to see a rehabilitation medicine specialist or podiatrist if you think you’re developing a bunion. Corrective action should be taken as early as possible.
5. If you’re working at your desk, remember to slip off your shoes to reduce the pressure on your toes. Every lit bit helps when it comes to reducing toe joint stress. If your relatives have bunions, you may be at higher risk for developing them too.
As for those Russian women who race in their stilettos, all I can say is that they’ll be keeping the rehab docs, orthopedists and podiatrists in business!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 3rd, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
Tags: Emergency Medicine, News, Technology
No Comments »
An emergency medicine physician friend of mine sent me a link to a fascinating article about why cell phones aren’t good communication devices in major disasters like 9/11. When I was in NYC during 9/11 my cell phone didn’t work (the lines were all busy). Here’s what the article had to say:
“So why do text messages get through when phone calls can’t? For one,
SMS text messages are very short, so they require very little capacity
when they are transferred over the network. The second reason is that
text messaging works by allowing messages to be stored and sent through
the network.
If there is a delay in connecting to the network, the phone will
store the message in its memory and it will continue attempting to send
the message until it gets through. By contrast, voice is a
delay-sensitive application. If a sustained connection can’t be made,
the person on the other end won’t be able to understand what you are
saying. And so the call cannot be completed.
While it’s quite common for cell phone networks to get overloaded
during serious emergencies, there isn’t much that can be done to fix
the problem. The main reason is that it just isn’t economically viable
for carriers to build their networks to handle a tenfold increase in
capacity in every inch of their footprint.
“People have to remember that this is a commercial service,” Golvin
said. “It was never designed to be an emergency network. And it just
doesn’t make business sense for carriers to try to build it that way.”This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
July 31st, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy, News
Tags: Disabilities, Finance, Geriatrics, News, Parenting
1 Comment »
Two sad cases were reported lately – one by Medgadget in which a young child with Treacher Collins syndrome was denied a special bone-implanted hearing aid. Children with this genetic syndrome usually have normal intelligence, though their appearance reflects underdeveloped facial bones. Apparently her insurance company would pay for the procedure to install the hearing aid, but the $15K device was not covered in her parents’ insurance policy. Her parents could not afford the device, and the child has little hope of developing the ability to speak normally without the aid.
The second case was of Britain’s most elderly woman – a 108 year old who was told that she’d need to wait 18 months to receive a hearing aid from the National Health Service. Mrs. Beal is wheelchair bound, and unable to communicate without a hearing aid. Her favorite hobby is listening to music. Doctors say that she is unlikely to live long enough to receive the new hearing aid.
These two cases demonstrate that care is rationed in both a free market healthcare system, and a government run single payer system – and that rationing affects the disabled and the elderly first. This is the sad inevitability of limited resources, with only the independently wealthy enjoying the best of what healthcare can offer. Perhaps charity alone will hear the cries of these hearing impaired individuals?This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
