Howard G. Smith, MD, AM
PENTA Medical Network
617-488-9699
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RoundUp - 4th Week of April 2024
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HEALTH REPORTS
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A Pill To Regrow Your Hair
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6WrKMpLziz/
A medication in a foam and liquid form that a man or woman applies to the scalp when losing hair has been around for years. This topical medication contains the drug minoxidil, branded as Rogaine. This topical minoxidil treatment is effective but can be messy, may yield spotty results, and may stop working in time.
Minoxidil can be given by mouth, and, in fact, oral minoxidil was developed as therapy for high blood pressure. When it was used for hypertension, clinicians began to notice that many were experiencing hair regrowth and that’s how it came to be used for balding men and women.
Dermatologists who treat hair loss recently gathered to hash out how to use oral minoxidil at a safe low dose when the foam treatment fails. Their conclusions were recently presented to the annual scientific meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
They suggest safe but different dosing regimens for men and for women. They caution that oral minoxidil should not be prescribed for those with cardiac issues like pericardial disease, mitral stenosis, or heart failure, to those with pulmonary hypertension, or to pregnant women.
If you have a hair loss problem, have tried minoxidil foam branded as Rogaine, and are unhappy with the results, speak with your dermatologist about low dose minoxidil.
#hairloss #balding #alopecia #minoxidil #foam #oral
hairloss, balding, alopecia, minoxidil, foam, oral
Atrial Fibrillation Can Develop In Young People With Some Nasty Consequences
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6WstnzLzVT/
Atrial fibrillation is the nearly functionless wiggling of the heart’s upper chambers rather than purposeful pumping. One in every four persons with atrial fibrillation, AF for short, is under the age of 65. That’s surprising, since common wisdom considers AF to be a disease of the elderly.
This from cardiologists at the University of Pittsburgh following their review of 67,221 patients of all ages with AF. What’s more, younger persons with AF are more likely to die prematurely than those of similar ages without it. Mortality rates for men with AF are 1.3 to 1.5 times higher, but it’s even worse for younger women. They are 1.8 to over 3 times more likely to die. AF triggers not only strokes but also heart attacks and heart failure.
If you’re an adult of any age and feel your heart racing, skipping, fluttering, you might have AF. The same is true if you notice chest pains, shortness of breath, or dizziness. If you notice any of these symptoms, talk with your medical team about getting an EKG, an electrocardiogram.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCEP.123.012143
#AF #atrialfibrillation #younger #stroke #heartattack #heartfailure
AF, atrialfibrillation, younger, stroke, heartattack, heartfailure
For Weight Gain Or Loss, Your Body’s A Calorie Bank
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6WuJDVr3jQ/
Restricting your eating to only 10 hours a day, will not help you lose those pounds compared with wolfing it down during all of your waking hours. So say Johns Hopkins epidemiologists following their randomized study of 41 middle-aged persons, over 90% women, eating the same number of calories with half doing so over 10 hours and the others over 16-18 hours.
At the 12 week weight-in, the 10 hour group lost 5 pounds and the 16-18 hour group lost 5.7 pounds. That difference was insignificant.
While this is a small study, the conclusion is inescapable: your weight loss or gain depends on the calories you consume. The number of hours over which you consume them is not a factor.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M23-3132
#dieting #calories #grazing #nighttime
dieting, calories, grazing, nighttime
Women’s Periods Only Partially Affected by The Moon
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6WyG78rC4H/
A new look at this issue by French and American researchers is dispelling the age-old hypothesis that women’s menstrual cycles are completely controlled by lunar phase cycles since both are roughly 28 days in length. After studying more than 3,000 young women from both countries and analyzing 27,000 ovarian cycles, they conclude that the cycle lengths are controlled by the body’s internal circadian rhythms. These same circadian cycles control other functions such as sleep.
In addition to this internal biological cycle clock, the data analysis did point to a correlation between a woman’s cycle initiation and the phases of the moon. The first day of a woman’s cycle was significantly correlated with the waxing crescent moon phase for European women and with the full moon for American women..
The bottom line: the length of a woman’s cycle is determined by an internal biologic clock with some fluctuations. Mysteriously, though, cycle onset does have some relationship to the phases of the moon.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg9646
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abe1358
#menstruation #circadian #rhythms #lunar #fullmoon #waxingcrescent
menstruation, circadian, rhythms, lunar, fullmoon, waxingcrescent
Red Cabbage Juice Helps Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Wzb4srpj8/
The bioactive compounds in red cabbage juice, RCJ, reversed the consequences of colitis in a mouse model. Researchers at the Universities of Missouri and Nebraska demonstrated that the freshly prepared juices from the red cabbage contain polyphenols, anthrocyanins, organic acids, and multiple complex sugars.
Mouse colitis, induced by dextran sodium sulfate, is remarkably similar to that in humans. In mice with colitis, the addition of red cabbage juice, reversed the colitis-associated weight loss and shortened survival. The juice strengthened the bowel lining and triggered the proliferation of beneficial fatty acid-producing bacteria in the microbiome which, in turn, stifled inflammation.
Red cabbage juice has long been recommended by nutritionists for those with ulcerative colitis. This latest research confirms its utility in a controlled study model and helps to explain why it does help this difficult-to-manage disorder.
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/25/1/539
#redcabbagejuice #colitis #polyphenols #antrocyanins #microbiome #inflammation
redcabbagejuice, colitis, polyphenols, antrocyanins, microbiome, inflammation
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FUTURE MED
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Urine Test For Aggressive Prostate Cancer
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W0W3XrJl0/
Urologists and pathologists at the University of Michigan have developed a gene-based urine test that detects the most dangerous prostate cancers more effectively than the standard PSA tests. They identified 18 genes uniquely expressed by high grade prostate cancers and detectable in the urine. They paired the gene test with clinical data to derive an MPS2 value. MPS2 stands for MyProstateScore2, and this test is now available in conjunction with LynxDx. This company has worked closely with the Michigan researchers in developing the test for commercialization.
Testing 743 men using MPS2 in comparison with PSA showed that the MPS2 determination detected advanced prostate cancers 35% more effectively than PSA. This would reduce the need for a prostate biopsy after an elevated PSA by 35-42% and the need for a repeat biopsy by 46-51%.
This new gene-based urine test should not only detect the most lethal prostate cancers earlier but also reduce unnecessary and painful biopsies…. Someday soon.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2817657
#prostate #cancer #psa #biopsy #genetics #mps2
prostate, cancer, psa, biopsy, genetics, mps2
Measuring Blood Values With Your Phone’s Compass
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W1G5qLp8W/
Your smartphone may soon have the ability to rapidly determine the level of sugar or other compounds in your blood and in other bodily fluids. The secret: magnetism and your phone’s built in compass.
Physicists at Colorado’s National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a smart hydrogel with embedded magnetic particles. The hydrogel is fabricated as a test strip to contract or expanded in response to the levels of glucose in its suspending liquid. As the hydrogel’s shape changes, its micromagnets trigger shifts in the phones magnetometer which a custom app interprets as levels of glucose.
Very clever and adaptable for rapidly measuring a variety of biological substances without complex laboratory machinery at a very low cost….. Someday soon.
#smartphone #magnetometer #hydrogel #glucose
smartphone, magnetometer, hydrogel, glucose
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WARNINGS
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Once Controlled Diseases Are On The March
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W16gsLYG9/
The most common diseases of childhood, measles, whooping cough, mumps, diphtheria, and meningitis, once almost completely eradicated, are now being regularly reported in Europe. They will almost certainly spread across the ocean to your neighborhood. This resurgence of communicable diseases is due to one public health disaster. That is a rising tendency for parents and travelers to refuse vaccines for their children and for themselves.
The two vaccines, MMR agains measles, mumps, and rubella, and DTaP against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis are time-tested to be safe and dramatically effective. In fact, these vaccines are significantly more effective than flu vaccine and induce immunity against contracting diseases that endures far longer than the similarly highly effective CoVid vaccines.
So why aren't people vaccinating. Many have been mislead by lies about all vaccines on social or alternative media, and some have religious objections to vaccines based on their components that come from pigs.
Listen up folks—- These diseases are not to be fooled with. Some are deadly, many are handicapping, and all are completely unnecessary. They’ve been conquered in the past because most of us have vaccinated our kids and ourselves against them following good public health recommendations. Public health means all of us taking action to rid our communities of these disease threats since the vaccines only protect if nearly all of us have the vaccine-induced immunity.
I’m not your family doc, but if your child or you were my patient I’d say: Look….get vaccinated with every available and appropriate vaccine. Getting the DTaP and MMR vaccines are the minimum. Teens should get the HPV, human papilloma virus, and meningococcal conjugate vaccines. Everyone should get the CoVid vaccine. Older patients also need the shingles and pneumococcal vaccines. And pregnant women should get the RSV vax and a boost of the CoVid vaccine.
You should not be shy about asking your own medical teams about these and other vaccines. Just do it.
Let’s not let these once-eradicated communicable diseases flare up here in the US. Get vaccinated. It’s the wise and caring thing to do.
#mmr #TDap #vaccination #HPV #meningococcal
mmr, TDap, vaccination, HPV, meningococcal
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BUSINESS OF HEALTH
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A Smartphone App Helps Treat Depression
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W28Z6r14f/
The FDA has just approved the prescription phone app Rejoyn, created by Otsuka and Click Therapeutics. It’s designed to be used by those with major depression already taking medications. The app is to be used for 2 hours a week over 6 weeks. Its use results in significant resolution of depressive symptoms.
This benefit was demonstrated during a controlled study involving 400 depressed participants. The app provides a therapeutic exercise called the Emotional Faces Memory Task that helps train an individual’s brain to better manage negative thoughts. Essentially the app provides physical therapy for the mind.
We don’t yet have a price for this phone-based program, but it will require a prescription in order to be downloaded.
https://otsuka-us.com/news/rejoyn-fda-authorized
#depression #smartphone #prescription #negativity
depression, smartphone, prescription, negativity
A Bioelectric Bandage Heals Wounds Faster
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W3-7_Luib/
PowerHeal is a bioelectric bandage that generates microcurrrents capable of accelerating healing. Developed and manufactured by Vormaris, the polyester dressing contains elemental silver and zinc microcell batteries that generate the healing currents after activation by conductive tissue fluids. In addition to promoting wound healing, these “sparky” bandages inhibit the formation of biofilms that harbor harmful bacteria.
If you have a wound that just doesn’t seem to want to heal, you might want to try PowerHeal.
Powerheal bioelctric bandages are available on amazon.com and at powerhealwounds.com for prices ranging from $6 to $9 per bandage depending on it size.
https://www.empr.com/home/news/powerheal-bioelectric-bandage-available-otc-for-wound-management/
#powerheal #bioelectric #bandage
.powerheal, bioelectric, bandage
A Safer Button Battery
Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6W4w-RLFFy/
Kudos to the Energizer Battery company for working with the nonprofit, parent-initiated Reese’s Purpose foundation to develop the first child-safer button and hearing aid coin battery that helps to prevent the potentially fatal ingestion problem. These little batteries look good enough to eat. When swallowed, they lodge in the throat or anywhere along the gastrointestinal tract and burn through the linings leading to devastating consequences.
Called the Energizer 3-in-1 Shield, the company has employed 3 design changes to make these tiny batteries safer for babies and young children. ONE. The company has covered these candy look-alike batteries with a bitter coating to discourage swallowing. TWO. These batteries carry a non-toxic blue dye that will discolor the a child’s lips and mouth in order to warn a parent that a battery has been swallowed. THREE. Enhanced child-resistant packaging. Brilliant.
This landmark development was driven in no small part by Reese’s Purpose and its founder Trista Hamsmith. Ms. Hamsmith founded the organization in honor of her daughter Reese who died at 17 months of age 2 months following ingestion of a button battery. That battery burned a hole in Reese’s esophagus leading to harrowing 6 week hospital stay with multiple surgeries that failed to save her life.
Ms. Hamsmith founded Reese’s Purpose to celebrate her short life and insure that that her death would not be in vain. Through her tireless efforts, Reese’s Law strengthening federal safety requirements governing coin batteries and all products containing them was signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16, 2022. Reese would have been 3 years old on that day.
No word yet about when Energizer’s 3 in 1 shielded button batteries will be available but hopefully soon. Meanwhile, I ask all of you to reward Energizer for taking this step to protect all our children by only buying Energizer batteries of any size. I also ask you to click on the link to the Reese’s Purpose website to read more about Trista Hamsmith’s wonderful organization and to consider making a donation.