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Oil Spill
Children's Health
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July 18, 2010

One more vital food source down the drain: The health effects of the BP oil spill

When I first saw those helicopter shots of red oil plumes staining the ocean, my only thought was: How could any animal survive in that? As a person who loves animals, this tragedy is too awful to think about. But as a doctor concerned with the prevention of human illness, I can’t help thinking about it. I can’t help but wonder: If the entire Gulf ecosystem is trashed, how will that affect us? It’s impossible to measure, let alone predict, the long-term human health effects that emerge from a major environmental catastrophe like the one we are now witnessing in…

Science and Medical News
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July 17, 2010

No more free lunch for doctors

I don’t actually know anyone who sees drug reps anymore. The programming by we are influenced these days is much harder for our patients to see—even reporters seem not to know to write about it. It’s called “Pay for Performance,” or P4P.
Science and Medical News
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July 14, 2010

Do you want your doctor to think for herself?

If you are the kind of person who wants to see an independently minded physician who treats you as an individual rather than a disease state to be fitted into a predetermined algorithm, you might not like the direction medicine will be headed if people like Dr. Pearson have their way.
Science and Medical News
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July 11, 2010

If diabetes medications make you tired, read this:

If you have diabetes, fatigue may be a sign that your medication dosages may bee too high and you are at risk of dying from fatal arrhythmia. If your medications make you tired, schedule an urgent visit with your doctor and bring the reference I cite at the bottom of the article so they are up to date.
Announcements
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June 6, 2010

Dr. Cate and Luke Bid Farewell to Beloved Kauai

After relocating to New Hampshire I'm finally bidding farewell, officially, to beloved Kauai. It was a wonderful 10 years of living in paradise, enjoying beautiful scenery, weather, fresh local foods and of course the company of so many wonderful people that make up this very special island community. Thanks to Malama Kauai, Unity Church, Borders Books and Music, and to everyone I befriended during a decade of aloha—and especially to West Kauai Medical Centers who have been so good to me and to now (semi-) retired Drs. Robert and Linda Weiner who first hired me way back in Sept 2000!…

Diabetes
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December 30, 2009

FDA Officially Unconcerned that Crestor Causes Diabetes

Imagine a world where everyone is on powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs. Not just sick people. Everyone. Astra Zeneca has imagined it, and now they're going to see their dream come true. On December 16, the FDA announced their approval of Astra Zeneca's cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor for use in people without high cholesterol despite the fact that a new study showed conclusively that the drug causes diabetes. By a vote of 12 to 4, the panel judged that even people at very low risk of heart disease should take the cholesterol medication anyway. "I do think the diabetes problem is real, but…

Science and Medical News
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December 5, 2009

Can Cancer Go Away Without Treatment?

The USPSTF has recognized that by treating tiny, early stage breast cancers so aggressively, doctors may also have unknowingly subjected hundreds of thousands of American women to unnecessary procedures, leading to needless complications including disfigurement and even death, all the while assuming they were saving people’s lives.
Science and Medical News
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November 4, 2009

Is the H1N1 flu vaccine safe?

The two big questions I've been getting about the flu this year are, Should I get the H1N1 vaccine? and Is the H1N1 flu as scary as people seem to be saying? Let's start with the second question first. Is the N1H1 flu especially dangerous? The N1H1 swine flu virus is, like any other flu virus, potentially deadly -- particularly to very young children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with certain chronic diseases, like diabetes. But this particular flu has the potential to pack a little more punch than other flu viruses because, to put it simply, our immune…

Science and Medical News
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August 16, 2009

Does Caloric Restriction Prolong Life?

You may have heard Oprah’s Dr. Oz talking about an amazing new diet that, he claims, might allow us to live 150 years. I noticed that Dr. Oz seemed to be doing his best to highlight the benefits of this diet and downplay any risks, though he wasn't following the diet himself - and I think I know why. The diet he’s referring to is called “the calorie restriction diet,” a diet that requires you to limit your calories to 20 or 40 percent fewer than what’s currently recommended as a healthy amount, often as low as 1200 calories per…

Food
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May 18, 2009

Is Coffee Bad For Your Health?

Coffee: Friend or Foe? Coffee is one of the most popular breakfast items on the most popular diet (a Paleo Diet) menu. Indeed, I've read reports claiming that coffee has antioxidants that may prevent heart disease and other compounds that may help to prevent certain cancers. At the other end of the argument, many natural health newsletters treat coffee like it's worse than cocaine--blaming coffee for everything from "burning out" our adrenal glands and harming our kidneys, to mood swings, fatigue, and depression. So is starting your day with coffee really going to make you "Bulletproof"? Moderation is the key. …

Science and Medical News
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May 3, 2009

Recommended Vitamin D Intake Overdue for an Increase

“Vitamin D’s star is on the rise and researchers say it’s about time.” –AMA News, April 27, 2009 The government’s recommended intake (RDA) for D may underestimate the true amount we need by a factor of ten, according to Michael Holick MD, Ph.D., at Boston University Medical center. Current recommendations are for 200-400 I.U. per day, depending on age. But Dr. Hollick suggests that our true needs may be on the order of 2,000 I.U. Since studies show that most people consume very little D and don’t get enough from sun exposure, there is a nearly universal shortfall of vitamin…

Science and Medical News
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April 12, 2009

Thermograms versus Mammograms: Which test is best?

Thermograms detect infrared rays to show patterns of body temperature. What most people I know who have gotten a thermogram don't seem to have been told is that thermograms only detect surface bloodflow, so any cancer growth deeper than a few millimeters may not be detected unless it also happens to be large enough to disturb the surface blood flow patterns. Mammograms use radiation to find calcifications hiding anywhere in the breast tissue, even deep ones. What most people who've gotten mammograms don't often hear is that mammograms are really difficult to interpret. The true power of any diagnostic image…

Heart Health
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November 18, 2008

Statins and Heart Failure: A Deadly Mix?

If you have been diagnosed with heart failure, statin drugs, which most cardiologists will prescribe to you if your cholesterol levels are not where they recommend, may need to be stopped.
Children's Health
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November 16, 2008

Celebrity Album: Second Sibling Syndrome

Birth order and spacing may affect our looks more than we realize. Quite often, the most photogenic member of the family is the oldest, as seen in the celebrity sibling pairs shown here. While not a universal rule, this principle bears investigation.
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