Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/Gu_bP7t1WyA Muscular development during our younger years provides the building blocks for strength maintenance as we age.  This the conclusion of a literature review from UMass-Amherst.   Biology professor Lawrence Schwartz reminds us that, during the first decades of our lives, our muscles not only grow in size but generate more and more cell nuclei, the local brains of our cells and tissues.  Muscles are syncytial tissues with many nuclei but fewer blended cell bodies.   During our younger days, we trigger desirable muscle nuclear proliferation with exercise and training.  As we age, we may lose muscle bulk, muscle cell bodies, but we retain our muscle nuclei.  If we have enough of these so-called myonuclei banked, we can then maintain and redevelop muscle mass with exercise and conditioning thereby preventing elder weakening and frailty. The bottom line: childhood, adolescent, and young adult physical activities are critical for “charging our muscle batteries” to insure a long an

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/8pv8A-fRs78 Most of our brain’s horsepower, so called general cognitive ability or GCA, develops early in life.  An international team led by those at UC-San Diego now report that 99% of our intellectual abilities measurable at age 62 have already developed by age 20.   Said another way, the higher education, job challenges, and various intellectual pursuits that we pursue over more than 40 years since our teens only increases our raw thinking and problem-solving abilities by about 1%.  This conclusion is supported by brain imaging that links brain size in 60 year olds with GCA test scores at age 20. So parents and kids alike should cram as much intellectual stimulation as possible into the childhood and teen years.  This early brain charging creates a vital trajectory into satisfying careers, rewarding relationships, and a gratifying, thoughtful life. University of California - San Diego. "Youthful cognitive ability strongly predicts mental capacity later in life: Education, job com

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/rOPNUtRcBY4 Aspirin has now been shown to significantly improve survival for at least one type of cancer in those patients whose tumors have a specific genetic variant.  That cancer is squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with an altered PIK3CA gene. A study just published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine followed 266 patients after surgical resection of their tumors and post-operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.  Those patients regularly taking aspirin or another NSAID for 6 months and also having an activated PIK3CA gene were 3 times more likely to survive 5 years.  Specifically, the average survival rate rose from a baseline of 25 percent to a gratifying 78 percent.  Those without the PIK3CA gene mutation enjoyed no survival benefit. A larger, confirmatory study is now underway.  Meanwhile, know that the PIK3CA oncogene is present and mutated in about one-third of other cancers including colon, stomach, esophageal, pancreatic, liver, breast, cervical, endometr

Aspirin Can Help Cure Cancer Most Brainpower Develops During Childhood and Adolescence Muscle Power Banked During Youth Supports Later Vigor Weed is Fetal Poison A Short Delay Bathing Newborns Enhances Breastfeeding Low Dose Aspirin Prevents Preelampsia-Associated Stroke A Simple Swallow Can Detect Esophageal Cancer The Ketogenic Diet Is Safe It’s Karma: School Bullies Sustain More Injury Than Victims Girls In Pain Get Less Sympathy Pop Music Lyrics Getting Darker and Angrier Vidcast: https://youtu.be/5dAOUVMx16c For more information, you’ll find all the references for the stories and a copy of show notes on my website at: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/jan-2019-5th-week-health-news #Aspirin #cancer #cognitivepower #GCA #muscles #exercise #frailty #preeclampsia #stroke #esophagealcancer #ketogenicdiet #schoolviolence #bullying #gende bias #meetoo #popmusic  

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/YFe2s7g4drk from www.goodnewsNetwork.org Kate, not her real name, has epilepsy.   Late once night, she began suffering seizures and went to the ER.  She stabilized and was discharged at 4 in the morning.  She called a Lyft to get home as she could not drive.   Here’s her first person account:  I called a Lyft to pick me up and hoped against hope that it would be someone kind, someone safe.  A small SUV pulled up in front of the hospital doors and I climbed in, expecting some awkward small talk. After all, it was 4:30AM and I was being picked up from a hospital by a complete stranger.  I buckled my seatbelt, and then the driver turned around; she was a woman in her mid-forties with the kindest eyes. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked. “Oh, I’m fine. I just have epilepsy so I can’t drive.” I replied, expecting her to shrug it off and hit the road. Instead, she began to tell me about her daughter’s recent epilepsy diagnosis. She said she understood my struggle of being sick and unabl

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/DgFFJMe2_no Here’s a flash from the off-beat health news department.  Researchers in Sweden and Hungary report that the black and white striped design seen on Africa’s Zebras and copied into body painting by indigenous peoples protects against biting and blood-sucking insects including mosquitos and horseflies.  The scientists compared the frequency of horsefly attacks on 3 different mannikins: one beige, one brown, and one black with white stripes.  The striped skin design reduced insect attacks by 90% compared to brown skin and by 50% compared with beige skin. It is likely that Africans years ago discovered the protective effect of Zebra designs against insect-borne infections such as malaria.  We don’t yet know if Zebra-striped garments are as good insect repellants as body painting, but this is something you should try for yourself.  Do let me know if it works. #bodypaint #zebrastripes #mosquitos #horseflies #malaria #healthnews #healthtips   Gábor Horváth, Ádám Pereszlényi, Susa

Vidcast:https://youtu.be/RldzY17lQUQ Acupressure can give breast cancer survivors significant relief from pain, anxiety, depressive symptoms, fatigue and sleep problems.  A continuing study at the University of Michigan reports a news analysis of 288 patients. Two different type of Eastern medical acupressure, relaxing acupressure and stimulating acupressure, were compared with standard relaxation and sleep management techniques.  Both acupressure approaches bested standard therapy for anxiety and pain.  Relaxing acupressure was most effective for depression, sleep, and fatigue. Acupressure's mode of action is not yet understood.  The best news is that it may be carried out at home, and women learn to apply proper pressure to appropriate body points with few negative effects. Acupressure may well work for anyone suffering from anxiety, pain, depression, and sleep issues.  If you fit that description, look into it. #acupressure #Easternmedicine #breastcancer #pain #anxiety #insomnia #depression #healthnews #he

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/p-LdqwUqtPg The wearable foot sensors that many serious runners think may prevent devastating stress fractures are measuring the wrong forces.  Engineers and orthopedic specialists at Vanderbilt University now report that muscular forces on the leg bones rather the force of the foot striking the running surface are the principal causes of the incapacitating, tiny cracks in bones.   Most of the currently marketed wearable sensors only measure forces of the foot impacting the ground.  The Vanderbilt studies utilized high-speed motion capture and biomechanical algorithms to compute the relevant muscular forces in addition to a force-measuring treadmill to estimate the ground-strike force. Work is now underway to develop a system of wearables that will measure all forces acting on the leg bones.  That task may not be easy or inexpensive. #stress fracture #running #gaitanalysis #wearablesensors #humankinematics #jointkinetics #healthnews #healthtips Vanderbilt University. "Stress fracture

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/js0YBT86Omo Mmmmm.  Smell that fried dough!  Doesn’t that whiff of pepperoni pizza get your juices flowing?   Businesses peddling less than healthy treats have been blowing fragrances of warm cinnamon rolls and buttered popcorn in our faces for years knowing that its tough for us to resist.  Marketing gurus from the University of South Florida’s college of business now come to our rescue. As experimental subjects are presented with the choice of cookies or strawberries,  precisely-controlled scent nebulizers spew out a warm cookie scent.   The data shows that whiffing the cookie scent for 30 seconds or less will drive you to buy the cookie.  Continuing to inhale the cookie fragrance for more than 2 minutes resulted in a preference for the strawberries.  The same phenomenon occurred with a pizza-apple pairing. So the next time you whiff those fatty and sugary smells, inhale them longer and think skull and cross-bones.  Then reach for that juicy apple. #foodfragrances #fat #sugar #hea

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/cnqHqgpqycE Someday soon, high-tech tattoos may replace blood testing for continuous monitoring.  Bioengineers at MIT and Harvard Med School as well as at the University of Colorado’s ATLAS Institute are combining nanoparticles with tattoo technology to create color changing indicators deep in the skin. The Harvard-MIT team developed sensor inks that can signal levels of glucose, body fluid acidity or pH, and sodium levels.  They tattoo the indicator ink directly into the skin and state that the inks would have to be replaced periodically The Colorado investigators, hoping to create a more permanent solution, are encasing such color-shifting chemicals in porous microcapsules that are then propelled into the skin using tatoo needles.  They are currently experimenting with particles that signal exposure to harmful UV rays but plan to use this same technology to continuously monitor blood sugar and blood alcohol levels. #tattoos #bloodchemistry #glucosemonitoring #bloodalcohol #UVexposu

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ohUzmKKBY_I One or two hits of cannabis in any form does permanently affect the brain structure of young people.  New studies by University of Vermont psychiatrists looked at brain imaging for 46 teens experiencing cannabis for the first time and compared their brains with those of with non-users. The data reveals greater gray matter volumes in cannabis-binding zones of the brains in teens who used marijuana only once or twice by age 14.  The differences occur in the emotion-processing amygdala and in the memory processing hippocampus. The researchers point out the teens’ brains naturally thin during adolescence in a type of pruning or refinement process.  Even a joint or two of marijuana may prevent this vital process from occurring. The increasing legalization of marijuana means more of us and our kids will have access to it.  Studies like this should make us pause and ask if that’s a good thing. #cannabis #marijuana #brainchange, teendruguse #emotion #memory #healthnews #healthtip

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/9JV0SLJuclE Standing, walking down the hall or room to room, even going to the kitchen....for water, ANYTHING BUT SITTING, will add years to your healthy life.  This health tip comes from New York’s Columbia College of Physicans and Surgeons as an ongoing study follows nearly 8,000 middle aged men and women using wearable activity monitors. Swapping just 30 minutes of sitting for even low intensity activity cut the risk of early death by 17%.  A little more activity, say faster walking, going up the stairs, or pushing a cart around, cycling, or running more than doubled the benefit to a early death rate drop of 35%. Since one-quarter of us spend our entire 8 hour days sitting, use your phone or watch to remind you to get up and do something, ANYTHING, for at least several minutes at least once an hour. #sitting #couchpotato #standing #walking #exercise #earlydeath #longerlife #healthnews #healthtips Keith M Diaz, Andrea T Duran, Natalie Colabianchi, Suzanne E Judd, Virginia J Howard,

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/A1dV3YvCf8w Newborns and infants have very sensitive developing respiratory and gastrointestinal channels.  When parents have brought them to my pediatric ENT office, I found that their breathing issues were usually due to  airway irritation from refluxed feedings and dryness.  These observation became so common, that I began to offer 3 tips to every parent of a newborn or young infant. 1. Never Put Your Baby To Bed With A Full Stomach. 2. Wash Your Baby’s Nasal Cavities with Aerosol Saline After Every Meal. 3. Keep Your Child’s Bedroom At A Comfortable Humidity. ONE: Never put your baby to bed with a full stomach.  Newborns and infants under a year of age have developing and poorly functional esophageal sphincters or gates.  Any fluids or foods in the stomach and the stomach acids they induce will easily back up, reflux, into the upper esophagus, the throat, the nose, and fall down into the airway.  The fluids, food particles, and acids are all irritating to linings and produce swel

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ZG9QzEod8iY Victims of bullying and sexual exploitation are more likely to suffer a lower quality of life than those with current heart disease, diabetes, and mental illnesses.  This is the conclusion of an Australian study of some 3,000 persons of all ages and socioeconomic levels. The researchers used the presence of multiple self-destructive behaviors including smoking and binge eating as signs of troubled lives.  Those who had been bullied and sexually abused were twice as likely as controls to be problem smokers, 3 times more likely to have an eating disorder, and four times more likely to be depressed. Bullying, both physical and now electronic, is becoming epidemic, and more sexual abuse is discovered yearly in synch with the #metoo movement.  If these plagues affect you or yours, combat them vigorously knowing the impact they’ll have on health and wellness. #bullying #sexualabuse #metoo #smoking #eatingdisorder #depression #healthnews #healthtips David Alejandro González-Chic

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/NXeOBr57VNY Beware of missing those doctors’ appointments.  Now, I’m not shilling for my colleagues but merely reporting a warning from the latest and largest study of its kind from Britain and Scotland.  After reviewing the appointment histories of one-half million persons, researchers report that patients with continuing medical issues of all kinds who missed 2 or more appointments in a year had a 3 fold higher risk of dying from any cause compared with those who showed up as scheduled.  The situation was even more dire for those with emotional disorders, and appointment no-shows in that group had a whopping 8 times higher risk of death. If you tend to miss or repeatedly reschedule doctor’s appointments, don’t be surprised if their offices get on your case.  Look at it as a sign of caring and concern rather than harassment.  You may not be as healthy as you think. #misseddoctorsappointments #appointmentcancellations #appointmentpostponements #healthnews #healthtips

  Vidcast: https://youtu.be/IyL2_-NFP3w   Missed Doctors’ Appointments Can Be DeadlySocial and Sexual Abuse Drive Substantial Health DeclineHELP: 3 Tips Every Infant’s Parent Should KnowBursts of Any Physical Activity Add YearsFirst Uses of Marijuana Trigger Permanent Brain ChangesFutureMed: Smart TattoosAromas of Fattening Foods Can Stir or Curb AppetiteRunners’ Wearable Sensors Will Not Prevent Stress FracturesAcupressure Comforts Breast Cancer SurvivorsZebra Design Repels Biting InsectsTRY A LITTLE KINDNESS: Lyft Driver Help Seizure Sufferer Show Notes: https://www.drhowardsmith.com/jan-2019-4th-week-health-news #misseddoctorsappointments #bullying #sexualabuse #newborns #infantbreathing #gerd #reflux #exercise #marijuana #tattoo #sugar #UV #fats #sugar #cookies #wearablesensors #stressfracture #acupressure #breastcancer #zebra #bodypainting #mosquitoes #flys #Lyft #seizures #healthnews #healthtips

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/MJwjbyGChDU Disabled veteran Marc Walsh was frantic and disheartened when he noticed that his wallet, filled with cash, credit cards, and difficult to replace identification cards, was not in his pocket.  Meanwhile, two teen sisters, walking along a snow-covered West Detroit street, saw the wallet and picked it up.  Opening the wallet, Walsh’s military ID card immediately caught the girls’ attention.  They thought of their grandfather, himself a veteran, and they hoped that anyone finding his wallet would return it. Return it they did to a nearby store that then notified Walsh.  Thrilled and grateful, he appealed to  Fox 2 in Detroit to help him find the girls.  They broadcast the story on the news and arranged for him to meet the Vincent sisters.  His faith in humanity restored, he met and hugged them generously giving them the money in the wallet as a reward.    https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/vet-gets-to-meet-reward-detroit-teens-with-wallet-money/

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/W9pIH4Cq7zc Half of the millions using the most common type of sleeping pills might never wake to escape a fire.  Taken to induce sleep and relaxation, the popular benzodiazepine medications or benzos for short include Restoril, Halcion, Ativan, Xanax, and Valium.  This class of drugs induces drowsiness but also suppresses emergency arousal.  Even newer drugs such as Ambien and Lunesta trigger sustained drowsiness and some disorientation. A new class of medication called DORAs, dual orexin receptor antagonists, induce sleep but permit retention of sensory input including sound, vibration, smell, and lack of oxygen.  This makes for a safer sleeping pill.  After a threat has passed, the medication also re-induces sleep. To date, only one DORA sleeping pill has won FDA approval.  Belsomra (suvorexant) may only be prescribed those 18 years or older, but its expensive and often not covered by insurance.  As other DORA drugs become available, competition will drive down price and increase

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/BdkFM7lAJ7Q Eating fiber-rich foods and whole grains rather than fast food carbs will prolong your healthy life.  A meta-analysis of 135 million person-years of data, completed in New Zealand, was just published in The Lancet. The highest consumption of dietary fiber and whole grains led to a 15-30% reduction in deaths from all causes, in the incidence and deaths from heart disease, in the incidence and deaths from stroke, in the incidence of diabetes, and in the incidence of colon cancer. Most of us eat half of the recommended daily fiber which is 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men.  Boost your fiber intake by eating: pears; strawberries; avocado; apples; raspberries; and bananas.  For whole grains, you should have at least 48 grams or 3 servings a day that include: oatmeal; popcorn; whole wheat bread, pasta, or crackers; brown rice; quinoa, and barley.   Andrew Reynolds, Jim Mann, John Cummings, Nicola Winter, Evelyn Mete, Lisa Te Morenga.  Carbohydrate quality and human healt

VidCast: https://youtu.be/BfUxLso3b5I Restricting childrens’ sedentary screen time in favor of more physically active pursuits is the latest weapon in the war against childhood obesity.  New Canadian research just published in the journal BMC Obesity reminds us that parenting practices are key factors in their offsprings’ screen time. Nearly 40 families with at least one child 18 monthS to 5 years of age were studied.  Parental device use and television viewing during meals as well as the offering of extra screen time as a reward resulted in excessive screen times for the children.  Kids are sponges, and they quickly see if you follow your own advice.  Get your head out of your phone and offer a good example.  To reward healthy behavior, offer physical activities such as the playground, sports play with you, and healthy treats rather than always suggesting extra screen time and sugary treats. Lisa Tang, Gerarda Darlington, David W L Ma, Jess Haines. Mothers’ and fathers’ media parenting practices associated w