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Articles, Links, and Humor
You'll find plenty of off-site links to areas of interest as you read the pages throughout DrMarcantel.com. This page, though, is reserved for links to articles and web sites that we find interesting and informative yet may not fit in directly with the content of our other pages. Don't worry about getting lost from our web site: each of the articles you click on will open in a new window (be sure your browser is set to allow popups). All you have to do is close out the page you are viewing and you'll return to the Reading Room!
May 29, 2007 UPDATE ON AVANDIA: According to a new study in The New England Journal of Medicine, "In susceptible patients, [Avandia] therapy may be capable of provoking myocardial infarction [heart attack] or death from cardiovascular causes after relatively short-term exposure," suggest study investigators Steven Nissen, MD, and Kathy Wolski, MPH. According to an article on WebMD.com,
"Avandia maker GlaxoSmithKline says the study is flawed and that better data -- some already submitted to the FDA, some from an ongoing clinical trial -- show Avandia poses no significant risk to patients' heart health. The FDA says that based on this 'contradictory evidence about the risks in patients treated with Avandia,' patients taking the drug -- especially those who have had heart attacks or who have underlying heart disease -- should talk with their doctors about whether to continue taking the drug."
Obviously, the jury is still out on this type 2 diabetes treatment drug, but if you are on it or considering taking it you should be sure to get all the facts. Read the whole article here:
http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20070521/diabetes-drug-avandia-heart-risk?ecd=wnl_nal_052107
Once again, we at DrMarcantel.com want to stress that NATURAL treatment of type 2 diabetes through diet, exercise, and dietary supplements can significantly reduce the amount of drugs needed to control the disease!
A recent Associated Press article reports on the "largest diabetes prevention study ever done." The study centered around the drug rosiglitazone, or Avandia, which appeared to cut the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than half. Great news for those at risk of developing diabetes? Well, maybe. However, there are known side effects from the drug such as fluid retention, congestive heart failure, and weight gain. For us at DrMarcantel.com, the most important statistic pointed out in the article is this one: Dr. Martin Abrahamson, medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston said, "We know that lifestyle changes alone can reduce the risk of developing diabetes by up to 58%." Exercise and proper diet are absolutely key to prevention of diabetes!
Are you considering having a hysterectomy? You might want to check out this new study first...
"Women under age 45 who have their ovaries removed, usually as part of a hysterectomy for non-cancerous reasons, run a higher risk of dying from other disorders, Mayo Clinic researchers report in the largest analysis of its kind....'This study doesn't surprise me at all,' said Dr. Steven R. Goldstein, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Medical Center in Manhattan. 'It has been mainly an American gynecologic phenomenon to routinely take out the ovaries with the thought of preventing ovarian cancer in healthy women...Clearly, this study is telling us that the good your ovaries do for you far outweigh any theoretical risk of ovarian cancer.'"
"Obesity makes ovarian cancer more deadly, a new study reports. Obese women with advanced ovarian cancer have a shorter time to recurrence and a shorter overall survival time than women of ideal weight -- and not because obese people often have other medical problems. Obesity itself, the researchers suggest, is the problem....It is well known that obesity is associated with various malignancies, including kidney, throat, breast and colon cancers. Findings about obesity and ovarian cancer have been somewhat less clear, the researchers say, but evidence from previous studies suggests that obesity predicts a worse outcome for ovarian cancer patients as well."
Culture Clash--A collection of excellent articles from PBS's FRONTLINE program.
"Conventional doctors and alternative therapists have been at odds for decades, but today some are working together in unprecedented ways. Here are excerpts from FRONTLINE's interviews and other readings on the opposing approaches to healing and their sometimes rocky integration process." Not all of the MDs interviewed were complimentary of complementary medicine, but at least there's a dialogue going on. These articles provide some fascinating reading on the history of alternative medicine and its current resurgence by popular demand.
A Short History of Medicine:
Doc, I have an earache...
2000 B.C. - Here, eat this root.
1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 A.D. - That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2000 A.D. - That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.
The tutorials listed on this page are interactive health education resources from the Patient Education Institute. Using animated graphics, each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. You can also listen to the tutorial. Dr. Marcantel believes that the first step toward successful treatment begins with patient education, and this is a great source of basic information on a long list of medical conditions and procedures including diabetes, depression, and many other complaints.
He finally invested in a hearing aid after becoming virtually deaf. It was one of those invisible hearing aids.
"Well, how do you like your new hearing aid?" asked his doctor.
"I like it great. I've heard sounds in the last few weeks that I didn't know existed."
"Well, how does your family like your hearing aid?"
"Oh, nobody in my family knows I have it yet. Am I having a great time! I've changed my will three times in the last two months."
The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine web site has so much great information about complementary care that you could spend hours wandering through their site. But don't forget to come back to us when you're finished!
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