February 18th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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As an animal lover, I was saddened to read that little brown bats are dying in droves in New York State. It appears to be related to warmer temperatures, causing a fungal overgrowth in the caves, which is making them sick. In addition, the poor little creatures wake up from their hibernation early, only to find that there are no insects to eat yet. They burn through the last bits of winter fat looking for their first meal, and end up dying of starvation.
In our delicate ecosystem, the loss of the bat population is a boon for mosquitoes that can spread the West Nile Virus to humans. So although warmer winters may seem like a welcome change, there are other animals who don’t adapt so well. So this summer if the extra mosquito bites drive you batty – you’ll know why.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
December 14th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in Humor, True Stories
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My sister Vicki lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband, three children and
an alarmingly large and slobbery Saint Bernard named Gilbert. Several Christmases ago she decided to teach her then 5 year old son, Harrison, about Christmas tree decorating. She took him to a Christmas tree farm and helped him select a tree. They hauled it back to the house and my sister managed, with no help whatsoever from Gilbert, to set it up in a nice corner of the living room. The tip of the tree reached the ceiling and its full figured branches spread from icy window to window.
Vicki and Harrison spent hours and hours winding lights, tinsel, ornaments, paper angels and popcorn strings around the tree. Little Harrison couldn’t wait to see the final product, with glittering lights and a magical star to top off their fine work. They decorated into the early evening, and the living room grew dark as the sun set over the snow covered neighborhood. At last it was time to plug in the tree lights.
As Vicki plugged in the lights for the first time, Gilbert roused himself from his resting place in front of the fireplace and shook off his drowsiness. Harrison held his breath in eager anticipation of the twinkling display that he had helped to create. My sister turned off all the overhead lights.
As the plug entered the outlet, the tree lit up with thousands of tiny glittering lights. Harrison
marveled at his glorious creation. “Mom, it’s the most beautiful tree in the world!”
My sister sat down on the couch and hugged her son tightly in her lap as they relaxed and enjoyed the view. Suddenly, Harrison’s eyes fixated on one of the branches.
“Mom… look! There’s an icicle on the tree!!”
My sister squinted and followed the direction of Harrison’s pointing finger.
Sure enough, there was a glassy, 5 inch long, icicle-appearing object perched in a tree branch in the middle of the tree.
Harrison’s raised his voice with glee: “Mom! It’s a Christmas MIRACLE!!”
The little boy broke free of his mom’s grasp and ran up to the tree to inspect the icicle at close range. As he reached out his hand to clasp it, his look of amazement turned to horror. The icicle was in fact a long
string of dog drool that had flicked off of Gilbert when he shook himself out of his sleep.
“Ewww!!!” Harrison screamed. My sister slowly realized what had happened and started laughing
uncontrollably. Gilbert wanted to get in on the fun and began barking and running in circles. He became tangled up in the extension cord and pulled the tree right out of the tree stand. At that moment, Vicki’s husband returned from shopping with the other 2 children. As he turned on the lights he found my sister
trapped under an unraveling Christmas tree, a hysterical child frantically wiping his hands on paper towel, and a barking, drooling Gilbert in the midst.
“What happened here?!” he shouted, attempting to rescue Vicki from underneath the tree.
“It’s a Christmas miracle” was her muffled cry.
And this story will be in our family for a long time to come.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
October 12th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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The short answer is: yes. The longer answer is that Tasmanian devils (TDs), those feisty black and white Australian marsupials, are the first to suffer from it. In an enlightening story about the plight of these little guys, I learned that they are prone to a certain type of mouth cancer that they pass to one another through biting. Now, since biting is part of their mating rituals, this cancer has spread through the TD population like wild fire, even putting them at risk for extinction.
Why am I telling you this? Because it’s quite fascinating that cancer can be contagious. Sure we know that the human papillomavirus (HPV), for example, can be spread through sexual contact and may stimulate the body to produce cervical cancer cells eventually, but this is a more direct and faster method of transmission. Researchers have found that cancer cells in the mouth of the animal doing the biting slough off in the wounds on the other animal, and the cells grow into a new cancer in the injured animal.
So you may ask – can I get cancer from a TD? Not unless YOU’RE also a TD. The reason why the cancer cells can survive in the victim is because TDs have become so genetically similar to one another that foreign cells from another animal are not recognized and attacked by their immune systems. Human immune systems would recognize the TD cells as foreign and attack and kill them quite quickly.We humans can’t even accept an organ transplant from a family member without being on strong immunosuppressive medications.
Nonetheless, this case of contagious cancer is interesting – and makes me wonder if immunosuppressed humans could one day be vulnerable to developing cancer from another person’s cells. But that risk seems rather remote. For now, we should just feel sad for our furry friends down under. I know that at least Dr. Rob, the llama lover, will understand the grief.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 23rd, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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I’ve always thought that bats got a bad rap. Just because one type of bat sucks blood from unsuspecting cattle, a whole vampire legend has unfolded, spun by Hollywood executives looking to feed upon a new movie blockbuster. But what about the other 700 species of bats who are vegetarian or eat mosquitoes and other bug pests?
Well, it’s getting harder and harder to defend these cuties, especially since two very incriminating reports were released recently. Apparently, rabid bats are turning up in Illinois, and certain fruit bats are carrying an ebola-like virus in Africa. So what’s a human to do? Basically, you should avoid bats – don’t touch them or play with them. And if you encounter one in your attic, it’s best to presume that it could carry the rabies virus and call in professionals to remove it. I would be especially wary of bats in sub-saharan Africa (for all those of you who frequent that part of the globe) since the Marburg virus they carry is quite lethal.
There have been recent cases of bat-bourn rabies in Canada so although it’s really rare – it’s something to keep in mind.
Here’s to bat free living…
Addendum: just today a woman in Chicago was bitten by a rabid bat when trying to remove it from her home. Guess she didn’t read my blog. 
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 8th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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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.
