November 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews
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Daniel Wallace, MD
The annual American College of Rheumatology conference was held last week in San Francisco. I had the chance to interview Dr. Daniel Wallace, a world expert in lupus (systemic lupus erythematosis) management, to tell me about the latest advances in the treatment of this disease.
Dr. Wallace is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His clinical practice is based at Cedars-Sinai, where he is involved in the care of 2,000 lupus patients, the largest practice of its kind in the United States. The Wallace Rheumatic Disease Research Center currently runs over 30 clinical trials for patients with lupus and other rheumatic diseases. Dr. Wallace is the author of 6 medical textbooks, 15 book chapters, and over 200 medical publications.
**Listen to the podcast of our interview here**
Dr. Val: What is Lupus?
Dr. Wallace: Lupus is what happens when the body becomes allergic to itself. It’s the opposite of cancer and AIDS. There are probably about 1 million people living with lupus in the United States. Ninety percent of them are women, and 90% develop lupus during their reproductive years.
Dr. Val: Historically speaking, what has treatment been like for patients with lupus, and how has that changed over the years? Read more »
September 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Health Policy
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I posted this at Medpolitics.com today… but it is displaying some weird code, so I decided to repost it here.
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For the first time in recent memory the Republicans and the Democrats are on the same page on a healthcare issue: the problem of chronic disease. Former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona told me that chronic disease contributes more to healthcare costs than any other single issue, and that many chronic diseases are preventable through diet and lifestyle measures. Both political parties seem to agree that America must become a “wellness” culture. However, they don’t exactly agree on how that may be achieved. The Democrats would expand the government’s role in stimulating healthy behaviors while the Republicans would use market forces and grass roots efforts to encourage personal accountability.
WHAT THE DEMOCRATS SAY ABOUT CHRONIC DISEASE:
An Emphasis on Prevention and Wellness.
Chronic diseases account for 70 percent of the nation’s overall health care spending. We need to promote healthy lifestyles and disease prevention and management especially with health promotion programs at work and physical education in schools. All Americans should be empowered to promote wellness and have access to preventive services to impede the development of costly chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Chronic-care and behavioral health management should be assured for all Americans who require care coordination. This includes assistance for those recovering from traumatic, life-altering injuries and illnesses as well as those with mental health and substance use disorders. We should promote additional tobacco and substance abuse prevention. (“Renewing America’s Promise,” pg. 10).
WHAT THE REPUBLICANS SAY ABOUT CHRONIC DISEASE:
Prevent Disease and End the “Sick Care” SystemChronic diseases — in many cases, preventable conditions — are driving health care costs, consuming three of every four health care dollars. We can reduce demand for medical care by fostering personal responsibility within a culture of wellness, while increasing access to preventive services, including improved nutrition and breakthrough medications that keep people healthy and out of the hospital. To reduce the incidence of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and stroke, we call for a national grassroots campaign against obesity, especially among children. We call for continuation of efforts to decrease use of tobacco, especially among the young. (“2008 Republican Platform,” pg. 38).
Whichever party is elected this November, one thing is certain – more emphasis will be placed on encouraging Americans to adopt healthier lifestyles. The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease is doing its part to coordinate these efforts and raise awareness of lifestyle modification programs that work. As for me, I’ve traded my car for a pedometer.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
September 3rd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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I once heard someone say that the primary difference between humans and animals is that humans learn from others’ mistakes. Animals, by contrast, only learn from their own personal experience with their environment. As I reflected on this observation, I realized that we humans certainly do value personal experience, but that we’re also capable of modifying our perceptions of reality with new information gathered from others. And best of all, we have the flexibility to change our minds about our conclusions when we repeat our observations under controlled conditions.
Smallpox is a deadly virus that kills about 33% of its victims, and badly disfigures the rest. In the 1700’s this scourge was greatly feared throughout Europe. Thanks to a keen observation by a British farmer (Benjamin Jesty), a new mechanism of protection against smallpox was discovered. Jesty noticed that people who milked cows infected with a similar disease (cowpox) did not seem to come down with smallpox. He theorized that exposure to pox-infected cows was a key to immunity against smallpox, and his theory was proven correct by physician Edward Jenner about 20 years later. Dr. Jenner created a reliable means of exposing people to the cowpox virus (called a vaccine – “vacca” meaning “cow” in Latin), introducing a tiny amount of cowpox-infected fluid under the skin to confer immunity against smallpox. This whole process of observation, careful experimentation, monitoring results, and further refining procedures led to the world-wide eradication of a deadly disease. Similar principles were applied to other illnesses, further reducing the global disease burden of polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and many other viral infections.
I suppose that one could thank cows for advancing the field of immunology more than any other animal – and thank a certain farmer for being so keenly aware of his cows’ health and their impact on humans (you know I have a soft spot for cows). But the story didn’t end with Jesty’s anecdotal observation – his theory was born out by science. His observations were repeated again and again in successful innoculation trials, and refined to a point where millions could benefit from vaccines.
Nowadays people are very impatient. We have short attention spans, we want instant gratification, and we are prone to jumping to conclusions about pretty much everything, especially medical news. I can’t tell you how many quantum leaps I’ve observed in health reporting – like the case where a scientist noted that breast cancer cells express a different protein in the presence of olive oil extract (in a Petri dish) and then reporters translated that news into “olive oil cures breast cancer.” All this ignited by the instantaneous availability of information via the Internet, curious minds, and lack of proper scientific vetting.
What happens today is that a plural of anecdote becomes “evidence” of cause and effect. These false assumptions then become entrenched, and end up as “public knowledge” long before they’ve been tested for reproducibility. The cart is well and truly before the horse in most health reporting, and this has done incredible damage to us as a society. Our insatiable desire for answers has outstripped our patience for finding truth.
Consider the recent scare about vaccines and autism. A few people noticed that clinical signs of autism occur at around the same time that some vaccines are given to children. They wrongly assumed that vaccines caused autism, and that misconception has traveled so far and wide that parents are actually choosing not to vaccinate their children against preventable diseases. Measles have made a resurgence, and some are warning of the return of polio. These diseases are absolutely preventable – and it’s tragic that we may have to relive these scourges to remind people of the value of vaccines.
The best part of being human is that we can learn from others’ mistakes. We do not have to live through the mistakes ourselves to change our behaviors. I do worry that the anti-vaccinationist movement represents a regression backwards towards animal type thinking. Will it take a wave of paralyzed children to wake us up to the value of vaccines? Will Jesty’s cow have to tell us “I told you so?”
I’d like to think that we’re beyond that. But I guess only time will tell if people will fall for the plural of anecdote in lieu of truth. Our country’s health hangs in the balance as the Internet fuels both science and folly. Hold on to your skepticism, folks. It could save your life.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 28th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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Faithful readers of my blog know that one of the things I hate the most is when the public is purposefully misled by false medical claims. This year, we have been fortunate to see the beginning of a new trend: a snake oil crackdown.
First it was the successful lawsuit against AirBorne, a supplement that claims to protect its users from catching colds on airplanes. They agreed to pay $23.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought against the company for falsely claiming its vitamins prevented colds.
Then, the FDA came right out and named names in fraudulent cancer treatments.
And now smiling Bob’s Enzyte “male enhancement” CEO is going to jail for conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
Well, thank goodness! It’s about time that we begin calling out the fraudsters who prey on vulnerable Americans who seek help with their diseases and conditions. I hope we can also hunt down the supplement hucksters who put arsenic, mercury, and lead in their “alternative medicines.”
This serves as just another warning to Americans to be VERY careful about how you spend your money and what you put in your body. And as for the FDA – I hope this emboldens them to do more than ever to protect the public from snake oil.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 26th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Uncategorized
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If you’re trying to lose weight, it helps to have a specific plan. I found this out the hard way. Over the past few months I’ve watched my weight creep up very slowly into my discomfort zone. I resolved to reverse the trend by “trying harder to eat healthy food” and to “walk more.”
Seasoned dieters will point out that these vague resolutions were destined to fail, and unfortunately that’s what’s happened. However, my scale has galvanized me into action and I have prepared a very specific plan of attack. I’m going to walk 10,000 steps per day (based on my pedometer) and I’m going to follow the Atkins Diet.
Some of you may gasp, “But Dr. Val, surely you know that the Atkins Diet isn’t healthy!” Yes, that’s what I thought initially too. However, a quick review of the new Atkins Diet site suggests that it may not be as bad as we make it out to be. The old “all you can eat bacon and cheese” approach is not really what Atkins is about. Instead, it’s a staged approach to cutting down on the refined carbohydrates in our diets. The first stage (which only lasts 2 weeks) is quite strict (only 20 grams of carbs/day) but after that you can begin adding back some of the complex carbs that are important to a balanced diet. Spinach has almost no carbs – so I’m going to give Popeye a run for his money this week!
Here’s what I like about the Atkins Diet: 1) it’s really easy to follow 2) you never have to feel hungry 3) I’m an omnivore, so lean meats are enjoyable to me 4) it addresses my personal dietary issue head on: carb addiction.
What I don’t like so much is this: 1) protein can be quite expensive, so expect your grocery bill to increase on this diet 2) you must not cheat, especially in the induction phase – it will throw off the whole process 3) no more cereal or Nutella – ack!
The Atkins Diet is not for everyone – those who have a history of gout, kidney stones, osteoporosis, or kidney problems may not be good candidates as a high protein diet can trigger gouty and kidney stone attacks and can worsen osteoporosis. Also, vegetarians might find it difficult to get enough protein from carb-less sources. And finally, red meat consumption is associated with colon cancer, so if you’re planning to stay on the Atkins diet for long periods of time, try to limit the red meat intake.
However, research has shown that a very low carb diet is an effective approach to weight-loss (perhaps even more effective than other diets) and has a favorable impact on blood cholesterol, insulin, and glucose levels.
Wish me luck on my new journey – and feel free to join me in my online weight loss group so that we can do this together.
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
