Health Headlines 5/18/07

In This Issue:

This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com
Featured Q&A
Featured Home Remedy
FDA Under Scrutiny
Uninsured Pay More For Health Care
Heartburn Drugs Increase Risk Of Pneumonia
Fish Oil Fights Macular Degeneration
Vitamin D Protects Against Eye Disease
Fiber And Magnesium Ward Off Diabetes

Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy

We are pleased to announce our new book, Best Choices from The People's Pharmacy. Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy is a how-to for consumers trying to work out which treatments, including diet, home remedies, dietary supplements and drugs, are best for what ails them. Click the link below to purchase a copy at a discount of $21.95 plus $5 shipping and handling!

Note: We are shipping single book orders Media Mail with an expected transit time of 3-9 days from shipment, and orders for two or more books by FedEx Ground. Shipping and handling is $5 per book. We also include a FREE copy of Chocolate without Guilt, regularly $14.95, autographed by Terry, with orders for three of more copies of Best Choices shipped to the same address.

http://securepp.fountainshosting.com/PPcart.asp?pg=products&specific=joppfog0

This Week on PeoplesPharmacy.com:

Everyone has heard about the health benefits of garlic, but how many of us are up to speed on the power of curry powder? We discuss culinary herbs and spices with Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, one of the country's foremost experts on the scientific evidence behind botanical medicine. Learn which spices are especially good for you and why.
Read a short excerpt of the program or order it on CD by clicking the link below:

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/radio_shows/633_the_power_of_culinary_herbs_and_spices.asp

This week on Joe and Terry's Blog, they discuss unfair health care costs for the uninsured:

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/joe_and_terrys_blog/hospitals_rip_off_uninsured_patients.asp

Our newspaper columns this week discuss controlling high blood pressure, acid-reflux drugs, home remedies for arthritis pain, and the sex differences among couples:

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/editorial/sex_drive_differences_divide_couples.asp

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/pharmacy_qa/will_lowsalt_diet_control_blood_pressure.asp

http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/archives/herb_home_remedy_qa/remedies_may_ease_arthritis_pain.asp

Share Your Experiences
If you have tried any of the home remedies posted on our website, we want to hear from you! Visit the home remedy page on our website and use the form provided to share your experiences. Your comments will be displayed on the page below the home remedy. You can also read the comments of other readers and find out how effective the home remedy was for them.

View a list of all home remedies posted on our website:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.org/archives/home_remedies/index.asp

Featured Q & A

Antifungal Drug Helps Prostate Cancer Patient

Q. I found an eerie coincidence in one of your columns. A reader described a dandruff problem that was solved with a prescription for Nizoral shampoo. The letter ended by remarking that the use of Nizoral maybe wasn't as dramatic as finding a cure for cancer, but that it was nonetheless truly liberating.

You were actually on to something amazing without even realizing it. I successfully fought prostate cancer for 12 years. Last year I suffered a relapse, and suddenly my PSA [prostate specific antigen] reading went from 7.8 to 35.

My doctor put me in the care of an oncologist who immediately prescribed Nizoral (ketoconazole). My PSA reading began dropping steadily, and today it is 0.7. It's not a cure, but close enough. Are other oncologists using this treatment? Have you heard about this use for Nizoral?

A. The antifungal drug Nizoral has a unique anti-hormonal effect that is being used to treat some patients in late stages of prostate cancer. Your response is exceptionally good, but many other patients have also benefited.

Nizoral has the potential for causing some serious reactions, and it can interact dangerously with certain other drugs. Anyone on such therapy should be monitored closely.

Featured Home Remedy

Our readers have come up with some unusual uses for Listerine. One reader says she found it helpful as a lice preventative:

"The best way to prevent head lice is old-fashioned Listerine Antiseptic Mouthrinse. We were in the Army 33 years and moved a lot, but my kids never got lice.

"Teachers asked me why my children didn't get lice when all the others did. I used to put Listerine on their hair and scalp a week before school started and also put a tablespoon of Listerine in the rinse water when I washed the clothes and sheets. You have to be careful to keep the mouthwash out of eyes."

Listerine Antiseptic Mouthwash contains essential oils including thymol, eucalyptol, menthol and methyl salicylate. It also has 26.9 percent alcohol, which is toxic to lice.

You can read more home remedies on our website:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.org/archives/home_remedies/index.asp

Health Headlines:

FDA Under Scrutiny
Congress is cracking down on the FDA. The agency has maintained that it has been doing a good job monitoring the safety of America's drugs, but the Institute of Medicine reported last year that the FDA was in disarray. Now the Senate has passed legislation that will beef up safety surveillance after new drugs reach pharmacy shelves. Pharmaceutical manufacturers that do not complete required follow-up studies will be fined $2 million. There will also be fines for companies that do not report contamination problems with pet food. The new legislation will allow FDA to continue charging drug makers user fees for reviewing new products. Critics such as Public Citizen complain that having the FDA depend on fees from the pharmaceutical industry is a serious conflict of interest. They maintain that if the American public wants safer medicines, it should be willing to pay for the necessary oversight.

Uninsured Pay More For Health Care
A new study in the journal Health Affairs shows that patients without health insurance pay a lot more for drugs, procedures and services when they are hospitalized. Hospitals charged patients who paid out of their own pockets an average of two and a half times more than they charged insurance companies for the same services. Uninsured patients have to fork over about three times more than Medicare would pay. What this means is that people who can least afford big hospital bills are the very ones who get charged the most. The study is entitled: "From Soak the Rich to Soak the Poor: Recent Trends in Hospital Pricing."
[Health Affairs, May/June, 2007]
http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/3/780

Heartburn Drugs Increase Risk Of Pneumonia
Powerful acid-suppressing medications called proton-pump inhibitors have become some of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the pharmacy. Products like Aciphex, Nexium, Prilosec and Protonix are very good at shutting down stomach acid production and are used to treat acid reflux. Danish researchers report that patients taking such medicines are 50 percent more likely to come down with pneumonia than people who don't. The study included more than 40,000 residents of the County of Funen and found that people who had recently started on the medication were at the greatest risk. The investigators suggest that stomach acid may help protect against bacteria, so suppressing it removes a natural barrier to infection.
[Archives of Internal Medicine, May 14, 2007]
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/9/950

Fish Oil Fights Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among older Americans. There is no proven way to prevent this condition, but a new study in the Archives of Ophthalmology suggests that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can be protective. Investigators studied 4500 senior citizens. Those who consumed the highest levels of omega-3 fats in fish and shellfish had a 40 percent lower likelihood of age-related macular degeneration. The authors conclude that modifying the diet to include more foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids could result in a reduction in the risk of age-related macular degeneration.
[Archives of Ophthalmology, May, 2007]
http://archopht.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/5/671

Vitamin D Protects Against Eye Disease
Another nutritional factor may also provide protection against age-related macular degeneration. Scientists examined data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected in 1994. They found that higher levels of vitamin D in the blood were associated with a lower risk of early stage macular degeneration. Milk and fish can provide dietary vitamin D, and the investigators found that people who ate more of these foods were less likely to have macular degeneration. People who took vitamin D supplements conscientiously instead of drinking milk were also protected.
[Archives of Ophthalmology, May, 2007]
http://archopht.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/125/5/661

Fiber And Magnesium Ward Off Diabetes
Type-2 diabetes has become one of the most serious and prevalent conditions in the world. Anything that can reduce the risk of this chronic disease is welcome. Now, German researchers report that fiber and magnesium may be critical dietary nutrients in the fight against Type-2 Diabetes. The scientists studied about 25,000 men and women between the ages of 35 and 65. They were followed up for roughly seven years. The subjects filled out questionnaires about their dietary habits at the beginning of the study. Those who ate the most fiber were 27 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who ate the least fiber. The mineral magnesium was also important. People who consumed the most magnesium lowered their risk of developing diabetes by about one fourth. Coupled with other data, this study suggests that diet can make a difference when it comes to the risk of type-2 diabetes.
[Archives of Internal Medicine, May 14, 2007]
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/9/956