Huntington Beach Family Medicine

Here's how your morning coffee might slow down aging. http://ti.me/2jD7Cdy

Now is a good time for your yearly flu shot!

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family, have a wonderful safe and healthy holiday season! Dr T

Happy Halloween from HB Family Medicine!

The overdiagnosis of breast cancer via mammography screening is "larger than is generally recognized," conclude the authors of a new analysis published online October 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine, according to a Medscape article which arrived in my inbox today. This year the powers-that-be changed the guidelines for many cancer screenings which we used to do every year. Mammograms went from every year to every two years, paps to every three to five, and prostate ...cancer screenings to never unless you have symptoms (ie: can't pee). Of course, we all suspect the reduced screening is motivated by the insurance companies not wanting to pay, but in the case of mammograms this may not be the case. We know that in every 10,000 women, about 30 every year will have an aggressive breast cancer that needs treatment. This has increased by 1% per year for more than twenty years, which I think is probably related to our food and environment. Ever since we started doing yearly mammograms, instead of 30, we find 162 cancers, most of them small, in the same number of women per year. That's a difference of 132 small non aggressive breast cancers, which would never have caused a problem, now being treated in every 10,000 women every year. All those women are getting surgeries, chemo, and all the anxiety and side effects of cancer, when they didn't need it - 132 of the 162 small cancers would have gone away by themselves, with the help of your healthy immune system. Since we started yearly screening, treatment for breast cancer has gone up THREE times, but the death rate has not changed at all! It sounds suspiciously like Big Pharma is the one profiting from this particular situation. So the safest option seems to be waiting a little longer between mammograms, so we are less likely to find (and then be obliged to treat) a tiny unimportant breast cancer which your body would have cured itself. This is especially true if you don't have a family history of breast cancer. If you do have a strong family history, or a lump of any kind, of course we MUST do a mammogram yearly, but personally I follow the new guidelines, I had a mammogram at around 45, and 48 years old. It is more than enough for me. Dr T.

Americans should not have to pay higher prices for the exact same drugs than our Canadian neighbors simply because Congress is bought and paid for by the powerful pharmaceutical industry.

Over the last few months I have noticed more than just Epipen increasing by an insane amount. Albuterol inhalers (examples are Ventolin and Proair, which are vital for the treatment of asthma) have suddenly increased from around $20 to $200 per inhaler - every brand and every generic - and the insurance isn't covering them. Viagra has gone overnight from $10 per pill for brand, to $50 (FIFTY DOLLARS!!) per pill for the brand and every kind of generic. Thankfully, it is still legal to bring in medications from other countries for your own use, as long as you have a valid prescription. Canadian pharmacies, for example, charge around $20 for albuterol, and $2 per pill for a Viagra generic. Makes you think... Dr T

Useful information from my old medical school friend - I'm loving the South African accent!

http://www.cnn.com//20/california.whooping.cough/index.html

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1749432658667781&id=1673693016241746

Why are we all vitamin D deficient when we live in sunny Southern California? I've noticed most of my patients have low levels. Normal ranges are from 40 to 90, and most of us are around only 20! Vitamin D is made by the skin when it is exposed to sunlight, and is difficult to find in foods. I suspect we all spend far too much time indoors, and wear sunblock when we do go out in the sun, which stops the skin getting the UV rays it needs to make vitamin D. Vitamin D is also t...oxic in excess, so over-the-counter supplements are very low dose, and are not enough to raise the levels to normal. If you suspect you have vitamin D deficiency have your levels tested, and if you are low, get a prescription Mega-supplement to bring your levels up. Usually I retest every 3 months until you reach normal levels, then you stay on over-the-counter supplements to keep your levels normal. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the best supplement (not D2, ergocalciferol). Of course, being out in the sun helps - thirty minutes three times a week of sun is the recommended amount, and it will help your mood, your sleep, and your vitamin D levels. Have a great day! Natasha Thomas, MD