Alternative Doctor

Here’s a guest blog by excellent writer Jonny Bowden. He’s not a Doc – but he probably should have been!! Have you ever wondered how your body actually burns fat? Years ago a popular health magazine decided to try to answer that same question with a novel approach. They looked at how people actually gain weight, reasoning that if we knew all the “tricks” to gaining weight, we could learn what not to do if we wanted to stay lean. So they followed around a bunch of Sumo wrestlers whose job requires them to maintain enormous stores of body fat. Whatever it is they were doing, that’s exactly what we shouldn’t do. Now Sumo wrestlers gain weight for a number of reasons, and genetics certainly plays a role, but what they did eating-wise is the thing we want to pay attention to, because it’s ultimately going to teach us something about how to burn fat. Here’s what the Sumo guys did … They worked out a bit. They lazed around. They worked out some more. They took a nap. And then, at the end of the day, they ate their one meal, a veritable Roman orgy of food that would make the buffet at the Bellagio in Vegas seem skimpy. Shortly after this multi-thousand calorie feast they’d go to bed for the night. Okay, folks, what can we learn from this?

Every now and again I report on what seems like a total, mindless waste of money. Like this study. 13 years and 15,000 people interviewed and tracked, at  Gawd knows what cost. And the results? A pot belly makes you more likely to have a heart attack and die a sudden death! What a breakthrough […]

Every now and again I report on what seems like a total, mindless waste of money. Like this study. 13 years and 15,000 people interviewed and tracked, at  Gawd knows what cost. And the results? A pot belly makes you more likely to have a heart attack and die a sudden death! What a breakthrough […] The post More Stupid Science Wastes Money appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Yet again, the counter-intuitive idea that coffee is good for you is given a boost! It’s known that coffee drinkers are less likely to get dementia, stroke, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Several studies have shown that. Now a new and pretty large study has shown that coffee drinkers are 10- 15% less likely to die from all causes. That’s big! However—a warning. These were adjusted figures, meaning other factors were written out. In truth coffee drinkers are more likely to smoke and therefore, truly, coffee drinkers didn’t do so well when all factors were taken into account. But it’s because of the smoking, not the coffee. In any case, nobody has proved that coffee is beneficial. Only that coffee drinkers are different in some way. It may not be the coffee but something else they do, like work out more in the gym. It reminds me of a food allergy patient of mine back in the 1980s. He got migraines every time he drank whisky. Case closed? No! It was the peanuts he ate along with the whisky!!

Yet again, the counter-intuitive idea that coffee is good for you is given a boost! It’s known that coffee drinkers are less likely to get dementia, stroke, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. Several studies have shown that. Now a new and pretty large study has shown that coffee drinkers are 10- 15% less likely to die from all causes. That’s big! However—a warning. These were adjusted figures, meaning other factors were written out. In truth coffee drinkers are more likely to smoke and therefore, truly, coffee drinkers didn’t do so well when all factors were taken into account. But it’s because of the smoking, not the coffee. In any case, nobody has proved that coffee is beneficial. Only that coffee drinkers are different in some way. It may not be the coffee but something else they do, like work out more in the gym. It reminds me of a food allergy patient of mine back in the 1980s. He got migraines every time he drank whisky. Case closed? No! It was the peanuts he ate along with the whisky!!

Those who are new to this list may not follow my joke: I Told ‘Em! is one of those stories where I was saying it over 30 years ago and is has just recently been “discovered”! Often I was scolded or derided at the time–and then science came around to prove that what I was saying is true–and was true, all along. This time we are back to how bad milk is for us humans: yes, even raw milk, which many folks can’t get their head round. They just LOVE the raw milk propaganda and cannot be swayed by mere facts. In this instance, I have pointed out in just about every book I wrote since 1985 that milk causes osteoporosis. It’s simple, if you ask the right questions: US women have the highest intake of dairy produce in the world; they also have the highest rate of hip fractures (more women die of fracture of the neck of femur than die of breast cancer!) Chinese women do not drink milk and the disease osteoporosis is virtually unknown. The sad truth is that milk actually causes malabsorption. It LOWERS calcium levels and leads to osteoporosis.

In the UK it’s pussy, in Spain conejo (rabbit) and in the USA beaver (apologies if you didn’t know all that and you are embarrassed—but on my websites we don’t do coy). All references to a woman’s exterior genitalia seem to suggest a small furry animal. The vulva-vagina is the prize for many a man’s dream (and I suppose, these days, one has to say for those who bat for the other team too). Vaginal health is little talked about; probably less than vaginal disease even. A new study called my attention to an interesting fact. Apparently vaginal flora can change quite significantly over time. This is issue is almost as important as intestinal flora and the subject of dysbiosis.

In the UK it’s pussy, in Spain conejo (rabbit) and in the USA beaver (apologies if you didn’t know all that and you are embarrassed—but on my websites we don’t do coy). All references to a woman’s exterior genitalia seem to suggest a small furry animal. The vulva-vagina is the prize for many a man’s dream (and I suppose, these days, one has to say for those who bat for the other team too). Vaginal health is little talked about; probably less than vaginal disease even. A new study called my attention to an interesting fact. Apparently vaginal flora can change quite significantly over time. This is issue is almost as important as intestinal flora and the subject of dysbiosis.

Student fights flesh-eating bacteria after zip line fall [Updated at 3:57 p.m. ET] A University of West Georgia graduate psychology student is fighting for her life with flesh-eating bacteria after falling off a homemade zip line and cutting her leg, CNN affiliates WSB report and WXIA report. Aimee Copeland, 24, fell off a homemade zip […]

Student fights flesh-eating bacteria after zip line fall [Updated at 3:57 p.m. ET] A University of West Georgia graduate psychology student is fighting for her life with flesh-eating bacteria after falling off a homemade zip line and cutting her leg, CNN affiliates WSB report and WXIA report. Aimee Copeland, 24, fell off a homemade zip […] The post Antiobiotic Failure Costs A Woman Two Feet Two Hands and One Leg appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Surprise, surprise: a scientific study of scientific studies finds that most are crap! But what if the study that found that most studies are shabby is also shabby and unreliable? (just kidding…) Thing is, we already knew this, didn’t we? I’ve ben saying for nearly forty years that so-called clinical trials are just marketing in disguise. Still, it’s nice to find the industry is trying to do some of its own dirty washing. What got me going? A new analysis of registered clinical trials finds that many are small and of poor quality. Studies of cancer treatments, in particular, often fail to follow the highest standards of medical research, the analysis found, and a full 7% of studies didn’t even bother to mention what their purpose was (required by law), while others failed to provide many important details. “We can see that we can do better,” said report author Dr. Robert Califf, in something of an understatement!