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Preventing Breast and Prostate Cancer.

20 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

Perhaps nothing scares a woman more than a call back for a mammogram like “you have something suspicious…” Or, for a guy, something like, “I feel something hard where I shouldn’t have” when that digital rectal exam is over. Or being told, “your PSA rose too much this year, we need to talk about a 12 or 14 quadrant biopsy of your prostate.”  So, what are some things you can do to prevent having to hear any of this from your doctor? Two months ago we promised to talk about ways to prevent prostate and breast cancer—and there are five basic principles:

1. Feed Your Immune System and Don’t Stimulate RAS. These days, you don’t have to be a dietitian to know that certain foods will create some serious stimulation of genes (The RAS family is one example) that encourage prostate and breast cancer growth and others that inhibit such genes and growth. Simple carbs, added sugars, added syrups, saturated fats and trans fats are five choices that start, accelerate, and magnify the inflammatory process. These stimulate the RAS family, and promote breast and prostate cancer, and there is no reason to have them around. That donut, that added sugar, that corn syrup, that full-sugared cola, and that chili-drenched hot dog doesn’t just add to your lousy cholesterol, they also stimulate your genes to facilitate cancer growth. We could spend an entire book talking about the fat around our waists (oh, wait, we already did that twice—YOU: ON A Diet, The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management, Revised is the current version). But we also need to spend some time talking about the fat in your diet. Most of us know that dietary fats come in two general forms: Either they’re good for you, or they’re more destructive than tire tread marks on armadillos. You probably know that you should avoid the bad kinds (saturated and trans fats) the way you avoid telemarketers.

Cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, watercress and arugula) and walnuts (not other nuts) inhibit breast and prostate cancers. Ten years from now, we may know a lot more about specific foods for your specific breast or prostate genomes, but these choices are clear ways to help avoid breast and prostate tumors for now.

2. Get Your Clothes Wet. We may not like to see sweat on treadmills or public speakers, but we want to see it on you. While we recommend different kinds of physical activity in different circumstances (including resistance exercise, walking, and stretching). The way to improve immune function is to sweat more than a kid in the principal’s office. In addition to thirty minutes of daily walking to reach 10,000 steps a day, aim for a minimum of sixty minutes a week of cardiovascular or sweating activity—ideally in three twenty-minute sessions—in which you raise your heart rate to 80 percent or more of its age-adjusted maximum (220 minus your age) for an extended period of time. How to do this? We recommend low-impact activities like swimming, cycling, or using an elliptical trainer to get your heart rate up without compromising the quality of your joints in the process (and to change activities, so you don’t get repetitive use injuries from doing the same activity over and over). We also recommend interval training—that is, alternating periods of maximum effort with periods of recovery—for the maximum benefit of your heart. (Check with your health professional beforehand; her or she may want to try it in the controlled setting of a stress test first.) Even doing one minute at the end of every ten with maximum effort can be beneficial.

3. Kiss YOUR Butt goodbye. No we’re not talking about weight, but about tobacco. It’s still the leading cause of cancer. If you don’t smoke but live or work in a smoke-filled environment, that’s still going to age you. We even speak about avoiding living or breathing within 2 blocks of a freeway. Spending just one hour in the presence of secondhand smoke is the equivalent of smoking four cigarettes. Whether the smoke you’re breathing is from your own cigarette or someone else’s, or even from someone else’s water pipe or e-cigarette, it weakens your immune system, and promotes cancer. We have a way to help you—try http://www.EnforcerEcoaching.com (Note: there is a charge).

4. Create Your Backup Plan: Stress is almost as great a cause of heart attacks as tobacco is; but stress isn’t all-bad. It’s what gives you the concentration and ability to finish a project or meet a deadline. But stress can linger around like week-old leftovers and create its own kind of stink. So in periods of high stress, you need to have a plan that works for you. Exercise and meditation work for some people, and both of them will help you manage chronic stress through the release of such feel-good substances as nitric oxide and brain chemicals called endorphins. But in the heat of the moment, at peak periods of high intensity, you should be able to pull a quick stress-busting behavior out of your biological bag of tricks. You can find a great teaching program for this at http://www.clevelandclinicwellness.com (look for “Stress Free Now”). Whatever backup plan you have, practice it daily.

5. Add A Helper, and Avoid A Bad Actor. 1st helper, 162 mg of aspirin. We recommend half a regular aspirin or two baby aspirins (162 milligrams total) every day if you’re a typical man over thirty-five or a woman over forty. Why? Many studies of primary prevention have shown that two baby aspirins decrease the risk of breast cancer by 40+ percent, and nine other cancers (colon rectal, esophageal, liver, prostate –what is good for the breast is usually good for the prostate, and visa-versa, etc). Aspirin has risk, so check with your health professional before you begin. You can reduce potential gastric discomfort by drinking a half glass of warm water before and after taking aspirin; the pills dissolve faster in warm water and are less likely to cause stomach irritation and ulcerations and bleeding.  Avoid more than 600mg a day of calcium in supplements. They are associated with increased prostate cancer (and as we said above, what’s usually bad for the prostate is also bad for breasts). You want to get your calcium (you need about 1200 mg a day) mainly from foods.

Thanks for reading.

Young Dr Mike

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime.

Could Diet & ADHD Be Related?

14 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

The age-old question — which came first the fried chicken or the ADHD? — is not easy to answer. We know obese moms give birth to kids with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ) more often; people with ADHD (kids or adults) are more likely to be overweight (impulse control issues?); and consuming refined grains like white bread, sweet sodas, red meats, and whole dairy increases a child’s risk for ADHD.

Now, it seems that kids who eat diets high in saturated and trans fats (think fried food and red and processed meats) have a greater chance of developing several childhood disabilities including impulsivity, depression, anxiety, and ADHD.

Five to eight times as many kids are depressed today as they were 50 years ago (less play, more pressure, more obesity?) and anxiety is increasingly diagnosed. ADHD affects millions of U.S. children with diagnosis up 66%, especially among boys. These issues often lead to more problems in their teenage years and major depression in adulthood.

So, for your kids–and you too–adopt an eating plan packed with fruit, vegetables, 100% whole grains, healthy fats (olive oil, omega-3 rich salmon and ocean trout, and DHA supplements, and ALA in walnuts, avocados, and cannola and walnut oil).

Go for portion control: Keep servings of animal protein about the size of your palm; fill 2/3rds of your plate with veggies and whole grains.

Get moving with 30 minutes of aerobics (minimum) daily for you and your kids, and  perform strength training exercise with weights or stretch bands (for you, the parent) 2 to 3 times a week.

Thanks for reading,

Young Dr. Mike Roizen (aka, The Enforcer)

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime.

 

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The Ethics of Not Hiring Smokers.

14 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

This month, I want to talk about something you might advocate for your business that was featured in two recent New England Journal of Medicine op-eds that highlighted what we had done at the Cleveland Clinic (so forgive me if I use us and Ohio as a parochial example).

Those two recent New England Journal of Medicine op-eds asked a question: “Was it ethical for employers not to hire smokers?” That’s the wrong question.  It should be: Is it ethical for employers to hire those who smoke, a practice that fosters ill health, and therefore makes America less competitive in an international marketplace?

The expense of healthcare in the United States represents over 18 percent of GDP, more than any other country, threatening our sustainability as a nation, and now squeezing out social programs, education, and defense.  Therefore, we must do everything we can to bring down costs while improving quality.  At Cleveland Clinic, we have been able to do that by creating a culture of wellness, which promotes personal healthcare accountability and reduces the burden of chronic disease.  A significant component of chronic disease is tobacco use– accounting for one in every five deaths each year in the USA and in North America.

With a mission to heal the sick and cultivate a healthier community, Cleveland Clinic felt it had to encourage wellbeing to combat disease.  To us, supporting a habit that ultimately leads to death would be unethical.  In 2006, we began offering free smoking cessation to our employees; the following year we offered the same to Northeast Ohio (free, absolutely free).  In 2008, we stopped hiring smokers – a natural progression towards building a healthier community.

Self-reported tobacco use by employees showed that the rate of smoking declined from 15.4 to 6 percent, resulting in a savings of $2,000 per year for each smoker who quit – or $7.4 million less in medical expenses from 3,800 fewer smokers.  Savings are passed on to employees through lower health insurances costs.  By ridding our campuses of second-hand smoke, savings for non-smokers equally translate.

Cuyahoga County’s smoking rate decreased by 11.2 percent by 2009, generating a savings of about $260 million every year for our taxpayers and corporations.  Cost-savings such as this allow our community to remain competitive in the marketplace, create jobs, and fund social programs.

In contrast, the largest cost increase in our state (Ohio) that’s  causing the largest need for increased taxes is the removal by the prior Governor of the $40 million for tobacco prevention programs.  Ohio now spends less for tobacco prevention than any other state. As a result, we have gone from 20.2 % smoking rate for adults in our state (similar to the national average) to 25.4% while the rest of the USA has fallen to 19.2%  (CDC data from bi-annual surveys).  That will soon (there is a delay in costs of about 5 years though we have some increased costs now) result in a extra $1.1 billion in health care costs per year for the state of Ohio and our businesses, and taxes required from our citizens.  Yes, smoking is an addiction, but the fact that over 60 million smokers have quit and have stayed tobacco free means we have the ability to help most, if not all, to breath free, and even more possible to motivate many to never smoke.

What can be the incentive for the individual… if better health or more disposable income aren’t enough? The Gallup organization says the greatest feeling of self-worth and the greatest incentive is to have a job.  If the states and federal governments quit hiring smokers, and offered free smoking cessation to everyone they cover for health care, then that would be a strong incentive for the individual to quit or not start. We could take off over $100 billion a year from our health care bill (and maybe much more if you include things like our disability bills) to allow medical care for those who need it most, and to pay for those things we need like education and defense.

As a health system whose inherent mission is to heal the sick and cultivate wellbeing, does it make sense to support a habit that causes chronic disease and ultimately, higher healthcare costs for all?  At Cleveland Clinic, we don’t believe so.

Thanks for reading,

Young Dr. Mike Roizen (aka, The Enforcer)

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime.

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How To Stay Cold and Flu Free This Year.

12 Dec

The Most Important Principles For Staying Young: 

How To Stay Cold and Flu Free This Year –  For A Younger YOU®

 Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

We YOU Docs love fall: crisp days, chilly nights (chilly enough for chili), the beginning of basketball, the end of re-runs (all new Dr. Oz shows!), and tackling all those projects we never touched last summer. There’s just one spoiler (well two): colds and flu. 

 In addition to washing your hands 20 times a day (a great start), these two tips can make a mega-difference: 

 Get enough of our favorite vitamin, D3 (the most active form of vitamin D). Healthy levels make you half as likely to get a cold or flu. If a flu bug gets you anyway (viruses are wily buggers), you won’t feel crummy for nearly as long. Why isn’t yet clear, but D’s anti-inflammation powers may reduce the infection. Take 1,000 IU a day.

 Get your 8 hours a night. Sleep may be the most underestimated cold fighter out there. You’ll catch far fewer colds if you habitually log eight hours of ZZZs a night. Getting less than seven hours makes you three times more likely catch a cold than getting eight. If you sleep poorly, repeatedly waking and falling off, you’re five times more likely to catch a cold. 

 And if you don’t like Vitamin D3 and sleep, then let us warn you of The Dangers of Driving While Under the Influence of a Bad Cold.  

 If your nose looks like a radish and your eyes are more watery than chicken soup at a bad diner, the only equipment you should be operating is a thermometer (but maybe not a mercury one). The common cold, it turns out, is an automobile accident waiting to happen. The sneezing, tearing, fever, and puffy eyes make your reactions behind the wheel as slow and unsteady as a party-goer who’s pounded back several drinks… at least, that’s what a UK team reports.

One reason: A single sneeze lasts two to three seconds and your eyes automatically close during it. If you’re driving 70 miles an hour  (about 110 kilometers an hour) and go ah-ah-ah-choo, you’re driving blind for 315 feet (about 100 meters). You don’t need us YOU Docs to tell you that’s scary. 

North Americans get 1 billion colds each year so you can bet many sneezing, blowing, dripping drivers will be bobbing and weaving down highways. Don’t be one. 

What if you have a ferocious cold and absolutely have to go someplace? Do not take the nearest cold medicine without first checking the warning label. Many contain decongestants that can make you nod off or respond slower. Instead, pick up the phone and ask a friend or a taxi service for a lift.

Once you’re back on your feet, stave off your next “battle of the sinuses” with this trio of cold-fighters: Get eight hours of sleep nightly, take 1,000 IU of virus-fighting vitamin D3 daily, and wash your hands like a maniac.

Thanks for reading and feel free to send more questions at youdocs@gmail.com.

Young Dr Mike Roizen (aka, The Enforcer)

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

 Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

 Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime. 

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Six Roizen’s Rules For A Younger MAN®

12 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

Since 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued warnings for “sexual enhancement” supplements that are secretly laced with dangerous drugs.

Under a microscope, some of these chemicals look similar to the active ingredients in FDA-approved Erectile Dysfunction (ED) drugs like Viagra and Cialis. Lab studies show they’re not just unapproved bargain-basement substitutes (that’s bad enough, since they do not tell you what they have in them nor do they tell you the interactions to watch for), but some contain extremely high doses of chemicals that haven’t been evaluated for safety. They also contain undeclared chemicals that can interact with other drugs you may be taking, triggering life-threatening problems like a big drop in blood pressure.

#1: Have a heart-to-heart with your doc. Finding out what’s behind ED will help find the best fix. ED is a sign of heart disease. The connection? When the cells that line the blood vessels are damaged by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a diet packed with saturated fats, inflammation caused by belly fat and a lack of physical activity or by unmanaged stress they lose their flexibility and become narrow and stiff. When blood flow is restricted, it more than doubles a man’s odds for heart disease… and ED.

#2: Ask about blood sugar. Up to 70% of men with type 2 diabetes report sexual-performance problems. The culprits are nerve and artery damage.  Keep your blood sugar in the healthy zone by avoiding foods with added sugars, added syrups, or any grain that isn’t 100% whole grain.

#3: Lose the elastic-waist pants. Dropping just 5% of body weight could significantly improve your love life. Shedding 10% of body weight can make your ED problems 30% more likely to vanish.

#4: Sweat a little. Exercising for 15 minutes a day can improve bedroom fun nearly 20%. It helps overcome erectile problems by cooling body-wide inflammation (an emerging factor in ED), and keeping artery linings flexible and blood flowing.

#5: Follow a romance-lovers diet. Opt for fruit, veggies, lean protein (grilled salmon is great), whole grains, and olive oil. To reverse ED: In one study, bumping up fiber, slashing bad fats (like the saturated fat in meats), and ditching refined sugars and syrups helped 33% of guys vanquish their erectile problems. To Prevent ED: Another study showed guys who also add good fats (extra virgin olive oil, walnuts and non-fried fish are the top three) to that kind of upgraded diet cut their risk for ED by 66%. That’s amore!

#6: Brush and floss.  Severe gum disease doubles risk for ED. The link? Could be the body-wide effects of chronic inflammation (and related cardiovascular problems) fueled by mouth trouble. Don’t gum up the works – see a dental pro and floss daily and see that dental professional regularly. You’ll have two reasons to smile.

Get moving with 30 minutes of aerobics (minimum) daily for you and your kids, and  perform strength training exercise with weights or stretch bands (for you, the parent) 2 to 3 times a week.

Thanks for reading,

Young Dr. Mike Roizen (aka, The Enforcer)

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

 

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Don’t Wash Your Chicken!

11 Dec

Dr. Michael F. Roizen

Co-Author of 4 #1 NY Times Bestsellers including: YOU Staying Young.

The Owner’s Manual For Extending Your Warranty (Free Press)

Our basic premise is that your body is amazing.  You get a do over. It doesn’t take that long, and it isn’t that hard if you know what to do.  In these notes, we give you a short course in what to do so it becomes easy for you, and for you to teach others. We want you to know how much control you have over both the  quality and length of your life.

Don’t Wash That Chicken:  A new campaign, “Don’t Wash the Chicken,” (it’s not a joke, Google it) was launched by researchers at Drexel University to alert you to the risks of washing raw chicken before you plop it in a pan to cook. Most people do that to remove contamination. But, rinsing the bird can splash Salmonella or Campylobacter bacteria or both onto adjacent surfaces, cutting boards, knives, plates in your sink, and other food. Around 200,000 folks a year come down with at-home food poisoning caused by those bacteria and have to deal with diarrhea, fever, cramps, and vomiting.  Or worse, hospitalization and risk of serious (even deadly) side-effects.

Tip for the day? Just unwrap, cut, and cook your chicken at 165 degrees in its deepest areas (you’ll need a meat thermometer—and afterwards wash that thermometer well too, but carefully so as not to splash). All raw meat has bacteria on it, and proper cooking wipes ’em out.  Wash any surface the chicken did touch with soap (it’s a great bacteria slayer), or Clorox and water. Store chicken and all meats in individual (double) plastic bags in the fridge to avoid leakage!

Other food safety tips:

Keep raw chicken meat separate from produce, and keep each variety of produce separate from others.

Maintain a fridge temp of 40°F or lower.

Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds after handling food or when switching from handling one type of food to another.

Maybe next month we’ll do more on food safety, but I want to give you a follow up on the potential Alzheimer’s breakthrough we recently wrote about (many of you sent us emails asking for a follow-up). Bexarotene and Alzheimer’s Follow Up… Last year, March I think it was, I wrote:

“[Probably] no subject is more emotional to women and important to men than keeping your memory and brain functioning. So it was with interest that I got an email forwarded from my wife with the subject line “Alzheimer’s Breakthrough!” Now, I didn’t even bother to open that email for a day because I have seen that type of headline before and such a subject usually mean BS (bad science). But I WAS BLOWN AWAY.   I couldn’t believe the study – Three different mice models of Alzheimer’s disease treated to an already approved FDA drug given by gavage (that is pushed down into the stomach of the test mice like you would take a pill); and their beta amyloid plaque melted away.  More importantly, the mice had return of cognitive function, or at least as best as that can be tested in mice.  And such was based on a predicted response by the drug in turning on the Apo E gene.  As it was an approved drug, we may know very quickly if this works in humans.” 

Since March of last year, Bexarotene has undergone trials in several other laboratories to see if these results could be replicated before it went into human trials. Like many things, there were mixed results. Half the time, there was a decrease in some anatomic markers of Alzheimer’s (often not plaque size but commonly the amount of soluble amyloid in the brain).  Better than that, there appeared to be improvements in cognitive function in the one study that tested it (these studies were reviewed in Nature in May of this year). There was enough uncertainty that it was unclear whether or not human trials would proceed… But, since this is a devastating disease with no drug that gets at the basis of the ailment, the Cleveland Clinic Las Vegas Lou Ruvo Center on Brain Health is starting a study of 20 patients to see if any biomarker by radiograph (sensitive scans are now available that can measure plaque burden), and/or cognitive testing improvements can be detected.  If so, pharma firms may look for a relative of Bexarotene to bring to market because this drug, while approved for use for some lymphomas, has some pretty serious side effects.  Jeff Cummings, MD, PhD is leading the study group.  Keep reading these columns, we’ll keep you informed, and thanks for reading. Feel free to send more questions–you can always send us questions at youdocs@gmail.com , and some of them we may know enough to answer (we’ll try to get answers for you if we do not know).

Young Dr Mike Roizen (aka, The Enforcer)

NOTE: You should NOT take this as medical advice. 

This article is of the opinion of its author.

Before you do anything, please consult with your doctor.

You can follow Dr Roizen  (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories  of the week) on twitter @YoungDrMike. 

Feel free to continue to send questions to youdocs@gmail.com. You can follow Dr Roizen on twitter @YoungDrMike (and get updates on the latest and most important medical stories of the week).  The YOU docs have a new web site: YOUBeauty.com  and its companion BeautySage.com the only site we know of where you can find skin products proven to meet the claims (opened for business on June 1st, 2012), and a new book: YOU: The Owner’s Manual for Teens.

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. His radio show streams live on http://www.healthradio.net  Saturdays from 5-7 p.m . E-mail him questions at YouDocs@gmail.com.   He is the co-author of 4 #1 NY Times Best Sellers including : YOU Staying Young and YOU: The Owner’s Manual. He is Chief Medical Consultant to the two year running Emmy award winning Dr Oz show– The Dr Oz show is #2 nationally in daytime TV.  See what all the fun is about, and what he, The Enforcer, is up to. Check local listings or log onto DoctorOz.com for channel and time. And for more health info, log onto youbeauty.com anytime.

 

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