Like a thriller… that is the study of the “European Society of Hypertension recommendations for conventional, ambulatory and home blood pressure measurement.” Over 28 densely packed pages you get comprehensive information about the pros, cons, pitfalls and considerations of when, how to take and how to interpret blood pressure (BP). And the DIY chartrooms are like a horror story concerning health (here blood pressure) issues; they truly are the stronghold of incompetence and a malicious endangerment of the help seeker´s health.
Health
Health concerns
Mother Nature Is Good!
by Axel E. Thieke G.P. •
Everybody is afraid of Cholesterol. This fear is fuelled by recommendations of professional, medical associations to consume less than 300mg daily. Because chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, about 200mg each, patients with high cholesterol are commonly advised to avoid eating them. However, the association between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease is unclear. A meta-analysis of 17 good quality prospective studies with up to 20 years of duration assessed this association.
Depressing News
by Wolfgang K Piller MD •
Checking my portfolio of Seaside Gazette articles reveals that there are definitely two subjects missing over the years: alcohol and hypertension. Thus I shall start with the more pleasurable subject, which for some is a problematic one. Alcohol in moderation is pleasurable and considered to be healthy, e.g. reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, hypertension and diabetes.
No-Food for Thought
by Axel E. Thieke G.P. •
Food is a potent inducer of metabolic responses (and pleasure ). Specific nutrients enhance muscle action, while others boost appetite or modulate inflammatory responses. On the other hand, caloric restriction under normal conditions ( 20 to 40 % fewer calories than required ) has been shown to protect against the development of chronic diseases. ( To highlight this : there was hardly any diabetes or gout in post-war Germany ) Exploiting the differential effects of food or its absence during disease may be one strategy to enhance the efficacy of drug therapies.
Extremes In Medicine
by Wolfgang K Piller MD •
Medicine, or let’s say the functioning and malfunctioning of human bodies and minds still remains fascinating for me. There is more to it than cholesterol, blood pressure, PSA and mammography; it’s like an old chest in the attic.
Getting High & Preventing Flu
by Axel E. Thieke G.P. •
There are preventative treatments for mountain sickness, but they may have some serious side effects and therefore alternatives have been sought.
Researchers randomized 90 healthy non-acclimated adults to receive 600mg of oral Ibuprofen or placebo every 6 hours, beginning 6 hours before rapidly ascending from an altitude of 1.000 to 4.000 meters. It was measured how often symptoms of acute mountain sickness such as headaches, dizziness, disorientation occurred and how severe they were.
Placebo, (genetic) Matter Over Mind
by Wolfgang K Piller MD •
Placebo in medicine means that a drug or treatment is effective although it is not designed to be. It plays an important part in research because something ineffective is being compared to a new drug or treatment to see, whether there is a beneficial difference, thus proving that it works.
Pro-Probiotics – Anti-Antibiotics
by Axel E. Thieke G.P. •
Bacteria had to compete with a standard antibiotic for the best treatment option of repeated urinary tract infections (UTI).Bacteria had to compete with a standard antibiotic for the best treatment option of repeated urinary tract infections (UTI).
Dutch researchers conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial that involved 250 postmenopausal women (an age group at higher risk) with histories of at least three UTIs in the previous year. The women received either a standard dose of the antibiotic Trimethprim-Sulfamethoxazole once at night time or a standard dose of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri twice daily.
Dutch researchers conducted a randomized placebo-controlled trial that involved 250 postmenopausal women (an age group at higher risk) with histories of at least three UTIs in the previous year. The women received either a standard dose of the antibiotic Trimethprim-Sulfamethoxazole once at night time or a standard dose of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus reuteri twice daily.
Health vs Poverty
by Wolfgang K Piller MD •
“Approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty. Poverty creates ill-health because it forces people to live in environments that make them sick, without decent shelter, clean water or adequate sanitation.” (WHO) This is also the reality in Nicaragua, where I had the opportunity to work in the mountains for six weeks.
Anxiety Sells
by Axel E. Thieke G.P. •
Maybe some can remember (can I ?) the bird and swine-flu hype which made governments spend trillions on supposedly anti-viral medicines, which firstly were never needed, which secondly would have never worked because of a lack of efficacy and which thirdly had to be destroyed at more great expense after the date of expiry. The media were happily fueling this hype and created by this a public pressure on governments with the above mentioned consequences – anxiety sells and I think that after shedding some light on dark banking practices the print and visual media do certainly merit the same treat – anxiety sells. Any room for ethics here ?