Let the Buyer Beware of Needless Radiation

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Let the Buyer Beware of Needless Radiation

There’s a Gifford-Jones Law that says, “Never accept radiation you don’t need.” But a dangerous new medical trend is breaking this law. What’s the worry? Across North America, some private clinics are now promoting the promise of early detection of disease to healthy people. In return for a fee, buyers get whole-body screening using a variety of diagnostic imaging equipment.

These promoters don’t have to be marketing stars. People naturally fret about their mortality and become receptive listeners. It’s wrong to profit on those fears.

But the trend is catching hold. The sell is easy when the hope is early detection of a small cancer. “You may not have any symptoms as yet,” they’ll pitch, “and an early catch means high likelihood of a cure.”

Or another pitch might be the benefit of detecting a life-threatening aneurism. “The largest artery in your body could be bulging and about to rupture causing massive bleeding and death,” they might suggest. “A preventive scan will save your life!”

Full body scans are good at discovering what are called “incidentalomas”, the medical term for incidentally found asymptomatic tumors. Sometimes they find stones in the gallbladder that are best treated by the crematorium at 90 years of age. Or they can find a small asymptomatic hernia that does not warrant surgery and would otherwise have gone unnoticed for life.

Some people get lucky with these scans. For instance, a brain tumour may be discovered early, enabling surgical treatment. But radiologist in The Netherlands who conducted a study of full body scans concluded that there were false positives 16 percent of the time.

Experts in various countries have given thumbs down on these procedures. Dr. Mirza Rahman, a physician and president of the American College of Preventive Medicine, says these scans are a bad idea. “Follow-ups mean everything from more costs to more procedures that may lead to more complications.”

The American College of Radiology also released a statement, “There is no documented evidence that total body screening is cost effective or evidence it prolongs life.”

All the different types of scans come with major risks. With CT scans, it’s the radiation exposure. Health Canada warns “Whole body CT screening exposes you to radiation levels that are 500 to 1000 times as high as those of a routine chest X-ray and increases your risk of developing radiation-induced cancer.”

Magnetic resonance uses no radiation but has other concerns. According to Health Canada, “The strength of the magnetic field used in MRIs can make metallic implants, such as pacemakers, metal pins or clips, move and tear soft tissue. MRIs may also cause biological effects, including the electrical stimulation of nerves, and the heating of implanted metallic leads, which may cause serious burns. Also, the magnetic field in an MRI scanner can magnetize nearby objects, which can become dangerous projectiles in an examination room.”

Is there a time for full-body scans? People having a genetic predisposition to forming multiple tumors may benefit, says Dr Resten Imaoka, a radiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. But this is the point: unless your doctor has a good reason for ordering a full-body scan, it’s best to stick to recommended and proven screening tests, such as for colorectal cancer.

A wise sage was asked, “How would you describe a healthy patient?” He replied, “A patient not been seen by many doctors.”

Remember, the best way to fight illness is not with endless tests. It’s by avoiding illness in the first place. And that’s the original Gifford-Jones law. Adopt a healthy lifestyle early in life and stick with it.

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Who Has the Most Dangerous Job?

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Who Has the Most Dangerous Job?

We often advise readers not to be foolish – not with your health, money, relationships, or other vital aspects of life. Some risks are unavoidable, like crossing a busy intersection. Yet there’s little sense in choosing a career as a test pilot if you want to live to 100. Now, new research suggests we might have that wrong. Dangerous jobs with a high safety conscious may be the better bet!

What are some of the most dangerous jobs? Ambulance workers are near the top of the list. People working at skiing facilities and correctional institutions are in the top ten. So are couriers and people in water transportation jobs.

Leave it to personal injury lawyers to know the facts. What does one law firm say is the most dangerous profession? To our great surprise, veterinarians claim the title for the most dangerous job in North America! But how could Fido, who loves you more than you love yourself, and who would never betray you, be such a hazard?

We should have given it more thought. Fido has sharp teeth and a powerful jaw. Inserting a needle can unleash these weapons. Woe be the veterinarian working on larger, more unpredictable animals. A study by the US National Institutes of Health found that over half of veterinarians in a two-year period reported work-related injuries, with nearly eight percent requiring hospitalization. Animal-inflicted injuries are a risk of the job, but there is more trouble in the profession.

It is a sad fact that veterinarians, who give new life to animals in distress, are two and a half times more likely than the general public to die by suicide. The organization, Not One More Vet, reports that one in ten have contemplated suicide. In the U.K., a study found nearly 70% of vets have lost a colleague to suicide. In Australia, sixty percent of vets have sought professional help with their mental wellbeing.

What’s driving these horrendous statistics? The industry, it seems, has some issues. Vets can often work 12-hour shifts, frequently responding to emergencies at all hours and lacking the back-up support of other medical professions. Building a practice can involve years of low earnings. It’s physically demanding work, with long hours standing and restraining agitated animals. Even if the animals behave, human clients can be abusive, contributing to chronic stress on the job. Vets also risk exposure to waste anesthetic gases, radiation, and airborne contaminants. They see plenty of close-up work with infections.

There’s another cruel irony. It’s exhausting to get into the profession. Would-be vets need to be academic superstars and ruthless competitors in the high-stakes quest for a position in veterinary schools. If lucky enough to get in, they can count on spending a lot of money in tuition.

In California, a proposed bill would allow vets to initiate care for animals using telehealth. There are fierce debates about the merits of such an approach. But for the sick or injured dog who needs a consultation but would prefer death than a visit to the vet’s clinic, this might be a sensible solution. Plus, Fido won’t bite a computer monitor.

Will it lead to inappropriate treatments and medication for pets? Will it ease the burdens of driving animals to clinics for minor problems? This remains to be seen. But it sounds like good common sense to us.

Regarding career choices, what should we advise the people we love? Accountants take the prize for the job with the lowest risk of injury. Number crunching might not be sexy, but it is, apparently, safe.

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Preventing Diabetes Risk Due to COVID-19 Infection

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Preventing Diabetes Risk Due to COVID-19 Infection

Will COVID-19 and the complications associated with this disease ever vanish? Never bet on it. Virus experts say COVID-19 will rise its ugly head again this fall. With it, they add, the complication of both types of diabetes will increase. It’s the last thing we need when obesity is already causing a worldwide pandemic of type 2 diabetes. So, how can you reduce the risk? It’s easier than you think.

First, type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not make enough insulin. Lifelong replacement and management of this hormone is the only option. With the more common type 2 diabetes, the body does not respond normally to insulin. We call this “Lifestyle Diabetes”. Why? Because it is preventable by avoiding obesity. Some cases can be reversed by losing weight.

What causes these two types of diabetes in COVID patients? At this point, no one is certain. Some point out that patients with infections have higher blood sugar. Other experts believe chronic infection may play a role. But it is the consensus that patients with severe COVID-19 have a higher risk of developing these two types of diabetes. Fortunately, they report the risk is small.

What do experts advise to lower the risk of being struck by the virus again? For good reason, they urge everyone to keep up to date on vaccination. Look at history to know how vaccination has saved many lives.

The other advice must be said over and over with or without a pandemic. Follow a sound lifestyle. Start early in life and stick with it. Maintain a healthy weight to escape degenerative diseases like type 2 diabetes. Remember that during a pandemic it’s the obese who end up in the intensive care unit fighting for air and their lives.

Stop smoking. Damaged lungs will mean more smokers die. How could it be otherwise?

Get into better shape. It does not matter how. Start slowly if running or weightlifting. Ergometric exercises are easy and effective. Put palms facing and push together for 10 seconds repeatedly. You will be surprised how the bicep muscles strengthen. Never let your arms and legs become so weak you cannot get up from the toilet seat!

The big message is to improve immunity. Its mind-boggling why one vital fact is rarely mentioned by experts. That is, a few inexpensive, safe, and effective vitamins and minerals enhance immunity.

Vitamin C is the “forever vitamin”. Why? Because it involves so many health benefits. For instance, researchers report that during an influenza epidemic, elderly patients suffering from pneumonia were treated with only 200 milligrams daily. It decreased mortality by an amazing 80 percent.

Vitamin D provides another boost to immunity. The starting dose is 5,000 international units (IU) daily for two weeks then decrease to 2,000 IU daily. It’s also prudent to add 400 mg of either magnesium citrate, malate or chloride, zinc 50 mg, and selenium 100 micrograms daily.

Vitamin C is water soluble and lost in urine, so it should be taken in divided doses 3 times a day. During times of stress, vitamin C in the blood quickly depletes and so does your immunity. The solution is to keep white blood cells loaded with C so they can immediately pump virus fighters into vital organs.

Start preparing for the next pandemic. It will come as sure as night follows day. Make vitamin C and the other suggestions a daily habit. Compared to prescription drugs that may have lethal problems, these natural remedies have never killed anyone.

And remember, the voyage of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

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More Fire and Smoke to Come

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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More Fire and Smoke to Come

Fires are a natural part of life in the forests that extend across Canada and the northern US. But it is not normal for these forest fires to consume entire communities, take lives of unsuspecting citizens in a surreal panic, and leave thousands of people and animals displaced. Tragedies happen sometimes. Now however, experts tell us, we can anticipate more monstruous fires on a more frequent basis.

Just when you think the great Canadian outdoors might offer a safe escape from all the maladies in the world, the lakeside campsite has become another danger zone. Climate trends are making northern summers hotter, drier, and longer. That means we can expect plenty more fires, more smoke, and more forced evacuations of campsites and cities alike.

These are discouraging times. An unthinkable war in Ukraine. Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Migrants fleeing North Africa. Uneasy US-China relations.

Evil people deploy cyber attacks and scam the vulnerable. Good people fear the ominous risks of artificial intelligence. Everyone is nervously hoping the fall months don’t rekindle the COVID pandemic.

The world is a mess. There are many contributing factors, but surely one of the greatest is that the success of humans in growing our numbers has not been matched by a growth in intelligence. More and more people mean more congested cities and more encroachment on the natural systems our planet developed over billions of years.

There’s no escaping that a lot of people are and will be dealing with mountains of anxiety, depression, and for the worst affected, significant trauma.

It’s a challenging assignment in a short column to offer helpful advice. But how can we not comment on the current forest fires?

So here are a few thoughts. First, research shows that the more you prepare for negative events, the better you will fare in recovering from the associated trauma. This means, it’s worth while to prepare for an emergency. Hopefully you will never need your list of things to pack when you have 15 minutes to evacuate. But having it ready will help.

Second, there are health benefits to altruism. When people help other people (or animals, and presumably trees and the environment too), they can experience physiological changes in the brain that improve the likelihood for happiness.

Third, getting involved is a good move. Helpers as well as people in need may build new or stronger support networks. This can improve self-esteem. Being connected and feeling positive are attributes associated with healthier, happier people.

For anyone experiencing trauma, there is no better course than to seek help. Don’t struggle alone. It takes courage to reach out, but the rewards are proven.

Finally, if you can do more, or give more, to make the world a better place, then follow this advice. Spend your energy and money the way porcupines make love: very, very carefully.

The past few weeks have shown us that we’ll all need to think through the threat of forest fires – even if we live in as idyllic a setting as Lahaina on the beautiful island of Maui. We will need to protect our homes and plan a course for when fires and smoke threaten.

What the future holds, we cannot know. But we can make ourselves resilient, and that is what we must do.

It was Bram Stoker, in his novel Dracula, who made this point. “It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.”

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Starving the Gut Feeds the Brain

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Starving the Gut Feeds the Brain

If our bodies could speak to our brains, many would hear this: “Dear brain, please know the difference between being hungry and bored. Sincerely, I’m getting fat!” Who doesn’t turn to food when the doldrums set in?

The smart brains would offer their hosts three pieces of advice. One, eat nutritional food. Two, limit portion sizes. And three, now and again, engage in fasting. Why fasting? Because studies show that for obese and skinny people alike, after prolonged reduction of food intake, the body’s defences improve against stresses. Cardiovascular risks decline. And the brain functions better.

Temporary cessation of eating provokes chemical changes throughout the body. Ketones are a type of chemical the liver produces when it breaks down fats. The body puts ketones to work as a source of energy when food sources are absent. Ketones are also active during extended exercise or when carbohydrates are not available. Production kicks into gear during a fast.

One of the consequences is an increase in the activity of helper molecules that ease the work of neurons to connect with neighbouring neurons. Brains and the nervous system depend on these cells connecting with each other to function and reproduce effectively.

Interestingly, an increase in the production of ketones also reduces appetite, a helpful effect in maintaining a fast. This is why people who make it past an initial bout of hunger without eating will find the sensation of hunger diminishes.

Need more motivation? Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has demonstrated that sedentary lifestyles involving easy access to food indulgences accelerate the aging of the brain. In such people, scientists have identified telltale signs of problems that leave the brain vulnerable to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and stroke. The labels describing these markers tell the story: “stem cell exhaustion”, “aberrant neuronal network activity”, “oxidative damage”, “impaired molecular waste disposal”, and “mitochondrial dysfunction”, to name a few.

Studies have also started to explore how the timing of food intake affects obesity and measures to achieve weight loss. Normal eating patterns involve a striking a balance between the rewards of food intake and the regulation of energy. Our bodies are well adapted to modest, regular meals. But modern lifestyles make eating frequent calorie-rich foods easy. This launches the brain-gut microbiome into reward overdrive, depriving the system of the opportunity to shift into time for regulation of energy. Weight gain is among the consequences.

This helps explain the success of diets involving time-restricted eating, the practice of consuming no calories outside of established hours.

What qualifies as fasting? The answer ranges widely. Most people will be familiar with the doctor’s orders for a 12 or 24 hour fast before certain medical tests or procedures. But for weight loss, and to gain the benefits for brain and cardiovascular health, longer periods of intermittent fasting are required.

The key to success is moderation. Fasting need not be an unpleasant pursuit. To the contrary, implementing a habit of reduced food consumption can have its own rewards. Extra body fat will be reduced. The brain will age more slowly. The heart will be healthier. And researchers have found mood improvements, even euphoria, associated with fasting.

The next time your stomach hollers “feed me”, let your brain do the work. “Listen to me,” it will say. “I need a few hours to think this over.” Have a glass of refreshing water, then focus on other activities. Step on your bathroom scale every morning to see the results and keep this article in your pocket to remind yourself of the benefits of intermittent fasting.

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What’s the Rub of Dry Eyes?

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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What’s the Rub of Dry Eyes?

If having recurring headaches, most people go see a doctor. Or, for severe chest pain, it’s a rush to the emergency room. But when people are constantly rubbing their eyes, there’s no trigger of alarm. It’s just itchy eyes! But Dr. Clara Chan, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto, says it could be a problem called dry eye syndrome. Neither lethal nor curable, sufferers simply need to keep the annoyance under control.

Dr. Chan reports the sooner you see a doctor and start treatment the better the result. It’s surprising that an estimated 1 in 5 adults have personal experience with dry eye syndrome.

Dry eye syndrome is more common in women, but aging is a cause in both sexes. People may notice the condition more acutely when flying, due to dryness of the cabin air. Excessive screen time can induce irritation too, including blockage of tear ducts caused by rubbing the eyes. Long periods of looking up at computer screens and not blinking decrease lubrication of the eyes. Add to this list diabetes and thyroid disease. The result is too much salt in the eyes which triggers chronic inflammation. In time, there will be damage to the structures of the eye.

What about medication? Antidepressants and antihistamines can cause dry eyes. Indoor air can be dry, causing itchy eyes. When outdoors, it’s advisable to wear sunglasses and avoid smoky conditions. If wearing contact lens, follow the advice about hygienic care.

A visit for professional help might involve the quick fix of removing a foreign particle from the eye. Or if there’s an infection, antibiotics will be prescribed.

What’s the scenario in most cases? Dr. Clara Chan cautions that there is no cookie-cutter recipe that works for every patient. Rather, patient counselling and trying different treatment options help to identify the right treatment.

The simple measure of using a humidifier is a good start. Wearing protective eyewear on cold or windy days will help. A variety of lubricating eye-drops are available over the counter to provide speedy relief of symptoms. But if there are recurring symptoms despite these measures, see your doctor.

You may need anti-inflammatory eye-drops such as those that contain cyclosporine. Thermal or laser light therapy for your eyelids may be another option. According to a survey conducted in Canada by Dr. Chan, 20 percent of respondents were dealing with moderate dry eye disease and 70 percent had severe problems. She calculated the economic burden of disease to be $24,300 per person. That includes the costs faced by the patient for treatment and the costs to businesses and society amounting from unemployment, days of work missed, and low productivity at work.

After reading this, are your eyes itchy? Everyone should have regular eyes exams, whether to treat a mild case of dry eye syndrome or to take advantage of standard tests by ophthalmologists to diagnose more serious problems.

This is a message that bears repeating. Sore eyes are not lethal. But doctors see lives lost ever year due to patients who delay getting medical attention. Here’s the important advice: never ignore rectal bleeding or blood in the urine, a breast lump, a persistent cough, or abnormal vaginal bleeding.

And don’t fall into another potential trap. Remember, it’s not the doctor who sets the date for an appointment. If you have one of the above symptoms, never accept a delayed appointment. Why? Because it may cost you your life! Tell the scheduler what the problem is and that there is a need for urgency. If no result, try your utmost to find another doctor.

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Potassium by the Doctrine of the Golden Mean

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Potassium by the Doctrine of the Golden Mean

Aristotle’s doctrine of the golden mean lauds the middle ground of two extremes: excess and deficiency. But not everyone follows this sage advice. And not all vitamins and minerals send clear signals of absence or excess. This week, a look at potassium, the third most abundant mineral in the body.

People, animals, and plants all depend on potassium for essential functions. Depleted soil requires potassium to be replaced with fertilizer. Young animals lacking potassium will quickly die. In people, there’s danger in either too much or too little potassium. But a healthy diet, including healthy drinks, is the best approach.

The American Heart Association recommends 3,400 milligrams (mg) of potassium per day for men and 2,600 mg per day for women. A typical banana provides about 400 mg. A cup of orange juice offers about 500 mg. A serving of broccoli has about 450 mg. A large baked potato can pack in 950 mg!

Potassium is like fuel to the electrical systems in the body – mostly in muscle cells, but also bones, the liver, and red blood cells. It helps operate nerve signals and muscle contractions. Potassium also helps manage fluid levels and stabilize blood pressure. A deficiency can lead to muscle cramps and irregular heartbeat. Low potassium levels, especially when combined with high sodium intake, elevate the risk of hypertension.

An extensive body of research has shown that a potassium-rich diet has big benefits.

Lowering the risk of stroke is one of them. An Italian analysis of cohort studies involving nearly 250,000 adults found “a 1,640 mg per day higher potassium intake was associated with a significant 21% lower risk of stroke.”

The U.S. National Institutes of Health reports higher potassium in the diet also reduces the incidence of kidney stones.  “In a cohort of 45,619 men aged 40 to 75 years with no history of kidney stones, those with the highest potassium intakes (≥4,042 mg/day on average) had a 51% lower risk of kidney stones over 4 years of follow-up than those with the lowest intakes (≤2,895 mg/day).”

“Similarly, in over 90,000 women aged 34–59 who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and had no history of kidney stones, those who consumed an average of over 4,099 mg of potassium per day had a 35% lower risk of kidney stones over a 12-year follow-up period than those who averaged less than 2,407 mg of potassium per day.”

There’s research suggesting that potassium supports bone health and helps lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

It sounds so good. But can you get too much of a good thing? People with weak kidney function or taking certain medications need to be careful and consult with their doctors.

Who else needs to be careful?

Aristotle could not have imagined the number of soft drinks consumed by today’s society. The average American drinks 45 gallons (170 liters) of pop each year. Even at the average, that’s excessive amounts of glucose, fructose and caffeine robbing the body of potassium. There’s an established connection between too much soda and potassium deficiency.

Patients don’t always confess their excesses of soda and few physicians take the time to ask. Doctors can diagnose a potassium deficiency from blood work. But it is more difficult to measure potassium in muscle and bone cells.

The best recommendation is a healthy dose of common sense. Eat a balanced diet that is high in potassium and cut out the sugary drinks. Another piece of advice from Aristotle, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.”

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A Veterinarian for Assessing Weakness

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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A Veterinarian for Assessing Weakness

Readers of a great age face a common problem. It’s called frailty or general weakness. The frail elderly are at risk of falls that require hospitalization, often leading to palliative care. As the condition progresses, independent living at home can become impossible. For people who have reached the end of their desire to continue, frailty presents a medical dilemma for doctors. How much frailty is needed before the doctor allows, “There’s reason enough to end life by Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)”? And would a veterinarian be the better professional to make this decision?

One of the conditions that doctors must decide at the end of life is whether weakness is reversible. This obviously makes sense when considering life or death situations. But frailty is not like a mathematical problem where there is a right or wrong answer.

Many readers know that I have always fought to end needless suffering. I have followed the edict of Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who taught that doctors should do no harm. To my mind, allowing crushing agony to continue, is more than terribly harmful.        

Because of this attitude I fought for five years against well-known organizations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, pharmacists, and politicians who vigorously fought against the legalization of heroin to ease the pain of terminal cancer.

Two things finally helped to legalize heroin. I visited England and Scotland where heroin had been available for 90 years for pain relief. I talked to experts about pain control which showed that the troubling perceptions surrounding heroin were wrong. And I delivered in person forty thousand handwritten letters from readers who had seen loved ones die in pain to the Minister of Health in Ottawa. In 1984, heroin was legalized in Canada to treat pain for terminal cancer patients.

A CMAJ article reports that 53 patients who selected MAID had suffered “multiple geriatric syndromes”, a combination of medical, social and other conditions that involved unbearable suffering. These patients did not have a life-threatening disease. But their lives had degenerated to such a state that a decision to use MAID aligned with the Hippocratic oath.

Other studies show that once severe frailty occurs, patients live 3.5 to 4 years. Weaknesses often lead to great frustration and depression.

There is no universal answer to this dilemma for doctors. Some physicians will never end lives by MAID due to religious, moral, or ethical grounds. For them, there is no compromise.

My family, on the contrary, are quite pragmatic about the end of life. They know I would not want to suffer from severe frailty. A decision to conclude enough is enough would depend on my doctor, wife, and children. I have only half-jokingly expressed the opinion that I would want a veterinarian to help make the decision. I know how veterinarians ease the suffering of animals.                                                                                                   

Our family has seen the lives of several much-loved dogs ended by painless injection when they are in agony. It’s a shattering moment to bear. But it has always seemed consoling to me that veterinarians and families, without being able to converse with pets, know when their suffering is unbearable and needs to end. Yet some doctors, who are able to discuss this matter with patients, often allow severe weakness and suffering to continue much too long.

So, doctors should listen hard when patients say, “Please, I want to die and end this agony.” After all, the patient is the only one who knows the extent of the pain. Prolonging unbearable pain makes no sense, not to the veterinarian.

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Are You Making Medication Errors

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Are You Making Medication Errors

Winston Churchill said, “The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself.” Unreliable statistics make it hard to know how many people die each year due to medication errors. How many more are taking harmful drug combinations or the wrong doses?  The numbers are elusive because medical professionals don’t want to showcase errors and consumers may not realize their mistakes.

Yet, errors happen many ways and at different points.

It’s like the telephone game where people take turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line. When the last person speaks the message out loud, it has changed along the way. It’s a game that teaches how important details get altered when passed from person to person. The same is true as medication moves through production, packaging, labelling, dispensing, and use. It’s no game, and mistakes happen.

Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are stretched thin. It used to be dangerous when handwritten notes in patient files were illegible. Now errors can occur from a typo. A shift change by nurses elevates risk.

Some medical tragedies from mixed up medications are impossible to miss. Heartbreaking cases of infants administered the wrong medication are more common than you might imagine. So are situations where an elderly patient dies after being given the wrong drug or the wrong dose.

Accepting that “to err is human,” most hospitals, pharmacies, and care homes have layers upon layers of seemingly foolproof protocols, protections, and checks. But still, when people get tired, stretched, or sloppy, the best safety measures are not enough.

Medication mistakes are frequently called into poison control centres by consumers at home. What are the common crises? Husbands have taken their wives pills. People take their medication twice. Parents can’t tell how much medication they’ve succeeded in getting down the throat of a screaming child. Hundreds of thousands of these situations occur every year.

Labeling and dosage instructions can be confusing, and the print too small to read. Common abbreviations are among the cause of some errors. Micrograms (µg) can be mistaken for milligrams (mg) leading to an overdose. The Latin abbreviation for every day (Q.D.) can be confused with the shortform for every other day (Q.O.D.)

It’s challenging enough when dealing with only one medication. When multiple medications are used it gets more complicated. How many readers engage in “polypharmacy”? It can refer to getting medications from more than one pharmacy or using more than one medication to treat a single problem. But most commonly, polypharmacy refers to the use of five or more medications at the same time.

This is not the time for complacency. You are not being rude by asking questions. You should ask for clarification until you understand completely. Take all your medications with you – or an accurate list of them with the doses you are using – to every visit with a healthcare practitioner. Use only one pharmacy. Communicate any effects of changes in medications. Dispose of old medication correctly.

If you or someone you know struggles to manage the timing and dosages of medications, reach out for assistance. A recent survey found that over two-thirds of low-income individuals taking medications daily are not taking them properly. They tend not to tell their doctor or they don’t have someone available to answer their questions. We can do better to help.

The safest way to avoid medication errors is comparatively easy. Do everything you can to avoid getting sick. It was Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who said, “The greatest medicine of all is teaching people how not to need it.”

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Government’s Good Intentions Gone Bad

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones
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Government’s Good Intentions Gone Bad

Everyone wants a safe, effective, and accessible supply of the products that keep us healthy. Doctors and patients need proven drugs. People seeking to prevent illness with natural remedies also need good products. But governments trying to ensure quality are putting measures in place that will limit the variety of supplements, make them more expensive, and make it harder for smaller companies with innovative products to compete.

Natural products like vitamin C, fish oil, magnesium, calcium, and many other supplements are ingredients to good health. For the cost of a cup or coffee, daily supplementation can address deficiencies in the diet, add antioxidants, reduce inflammation, support the immune system, build bone, etc.

For example, vitamin C and lysine in high doses help maintain the cardiovascular system and support joint health, teeth, gums, wound healing, and more. The key is collagen. Vitamin C is required to manufacture healthy collagen, the glue that holds cells together, just like mortar is needed for bricks. Lysine, like steel rods in cement, makes collagen stronger. A lack of vitamin C and lysine results in poor collagen and weak arteries.

You can make one of the best investments in your health by taking a high-quality fish oil that has been formulated for better absorption. There’s no point in having fish oil go right through the digestive system missing the benefits to heart health and better brain function.

Women over 50 can benefit from calcium supplementation to reinforce bones at risk of osteoporosis.

But new measures by government regulators are making it harder for the small businesses that bring a variety of helpful products to market. Why? Because for all the good intentions to ensure safe, effective, and high-quality products, governments are creating the conditions that will wipe many good players out of business. Adhering to new regulations will jack up the costs to produce the products we use for health promotion – natural vitamins, minerals, oils, herbal remedies, probiotics, and so on. It means higher prices for consumers.

One of the most important places in your community for you to do well by your health is your local health food store. There, you can count on finding carefully selected products on the shelves that have your health at heart. The people who work in these stores are often specialists in nutrition, natural supplements, and holistic approaches to health. Our advice is to become a regular customer in a store near you.

But also, don’t be complacent when governments don’t understand how their good intentions are negatively impacting your best interests for healthy living. A consultation is currently underway in Canada offering consumers an opportunity to comment on new regulations Health Canada is imposing. The changes affect labelling and the process for product approval. The question is, why can’t governments find ways to ensure adherence to safety, quality, and valid claims without wiping out good companies and elevating prices further for natural products? Why make it easier for big international companies to put small Canadian companies out of business? Readers in Canada should visit your local health food store to learn more and get in touch with your member of parliament before July 26 to express your view.

There are benefits to our global society. But we need to swing the pendulum back closer to the values and conditions that support community-based businesses focused on health promotion. Your local health food store is like a family doctor for the community. They know their customers and they care. Governments should see them as allies and find better ways to support the natural health industry.

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