Month: November 2011

Diet

Want to Lose Weight? Don’t Tell Anyone!

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Anita Mills and her 200 pound weight loss

I am happy for Anita, but this method doesn’t work for me.

Anita Mills was 382 pounds when a family doctor gave her four simple rules to lose weight:

1. Eat 8 ounces of food every 3 hours

2. No sugary drinks

3. Do not skip meals

4. Do not tell anyone what you’re doing

Now 242 pounds lighter, Mills credits that last tip for helping her through the most difficult months of her weight loss journey. Not having someone questioning every bite or trying to persuade her to relax on weekends helped her focus on the goal.

“It’s so much better to walk into a room and have someone say, ‘Hey, did you do something different?’ than to announce, ‘I’m on a diet,’ and have people pointing fingers at you,” she said.

The advice seems counterintuitive. Weight Watchers and similar groups tout support as a major reason for their programs’ success, and studies have found that accountability is important in accomplishing a goal. But telling family, friends and Facebook about your diet plans could have a detrimental effect, some experts say.

I, too, have lost a large amount of weight and have taken many years to do so. I now weigh 240 pounds down from 370 plus or so (8 years ago).

I understand about friends and acquaintenances making comments, but I have found accountability to my wife, children and friends to be a good motivator. Now, I am using MyFitnessPal.com and share my daily diet and exercise with certain friends, who also wish to lose weight.

Different weight loss methods for different people……

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Dentistry

The Daily Extraction: Dr. Tommy Murph’s Costa Rica Extraction Courses

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Video of the Oct. 23-28, 2011 Hands On Extraction Clinic in Flamingo Beach, Costa Rica

Dr. Tommy Murph of Daily Extraction fame is giving another tooth extraction course in Costa Rica.

Here are the details:

  • Saturday March 17 thru Wednesday March 21 in Tamarindo, Costa Rica
  • Saturday June 30 thru Wednesday July 4 (Location not set yet…To be determined by December 5th)

If you really want to learn how to perform simple extractions, surgical extractions and surgical extractions of third molars, give these courses a look.

The details:

 

  • Class:  Hands On Extractions
  • Credits: Forty (40) Hours AGD PACE Approved
  • Dates: Saturday March 17 thru Wednesday March 21
  • Cost: $4000 
  • Lecture will be Given Saturday Night 6:00pm-9:30pm 
  • and all day Sunday 8am-9:30pm
  • and Monday night 7pm-until finished
  • Clinical Hands On will be all day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
  • Location: Tamarindo, Costa Rica

 

More information can be obtained from Dr. Murph: drtommymurph at yahoo dot com or by phone: 843-488-4357

Dr. Murph’s website is here and his extraction manuals are here on e-Bay.

Previous:

The Daily Extraction Archive

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Dentistry

Chewing Xylitol Gum Decreases Risk for Ear Infection in Children

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According to a new study.

Chewing gum containing xylitol may actually prevent ear infections in kids, researchers say.

In a meta-analysis of three Finnish studies, children who chewed gum — or took other products laden with xylitol, including lozenges or syrup — had about a 25% lower risk of developing acute otitis media compared with control interventions, Amir Azarpazhooh, DMD, of the University of Toronto, and colleagues reported in Cochrane Reviews.

“Based on the studies we reviewed, xylitol seems to be a promising alternative to conventional therapies to prevent acute otitis media among healthy children,” they wrote.

Acute otitis media is the most common infection for which kids are treated with antibiotics, which has spurred concerns over antibiotic resistance. So researchers have searched for alternative means of prevention or treatment, not all of which have been successful.

Xylitol, or birch sugar, has been one such alternative. It’s a five-carbon polyol sugar alcohol found in a number of fruits, which has been shown to inhibit the growth and acid production of certain bacteria, particularly S. mutans.

It is for this feature that some dentists recommend it for preventing cavities, the researchers said.

Since a key step in the pathogenesis of otitis media is the colonization of the upper airway with bacteria that move from the nasopharynx to the middle ear via the eustachian tubes, the researchers hypothesized that it may be effective for preventing middle ear infections.

A win – win here. Prevent tooth decay and ear infections.

Hey, a lot better than taking massive amounts of antibiotics.

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Diet

Former Football Players Prone to Late-Life Health Problems?

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Yes, according to a new study.

Football players experience repeated head trauma throughout their careers, which results in short and long-term effects to their cognitive function, physical and mental health. University of Missouri researchers are investigating how other lifestyle factors, including diet and exercise, impact the late-life health of former collision-sport athletes.

The researchers found that former football players experience more late-life cognitive difficulties and worse physical and mental health than other former athletes and non-athletes. In addition, former football players who consumed high-fat diets had greater cognitive difficulties with recalling information, orientation and engaging and applying ideas. Frequent, vigorous exercise was associated with higher physical and mental health ratings.

“While the negative effects of repeated collisions can’t be completely reversed, this study suggests that former athletes can alter their lifestyle behaviors to change the progression of cognitive decline,” said Pam Hinton, associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology. “Even years after they’re done playing sports, athletes can improve their diet and exercise habits to improve their mental and physical health.”

While the hitting cannot be eliminated in football, again, it comes down to lifestyle after the player leaves the game. 

Again, diet and exercise play a role.

“Football will always be around, so it’s impossible to eliminate head injuries; however, we can identify ways to reduce the detrimental health effects of repeated head trauma,” Hinton said. “It’s important to educate athletes and people who work with athletes about the benefits of low-fat and balanced diets to help players improve their health both while playing sports and later in life. It’s a simple, but not an easy thing to do.”

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Cancer

A Vaccine Against Breast and Ovarian Cancer?

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 How great would a vaccine be against these horrible diseases.

And, a new vaccine is showing some promise.

 A vaccine that coaxes the body to attack tumor cells has shown promise in a small study of advanced breast and ovarian cancer patients, improving overall survival times and stopping the disease for a handful of breast cancer patients.

The PANVAC vaccine, administered to 26 women through monthly shots, helped the body’s immune system recognize proteins produced specifically by cancer cells, said study author Dr. James Gulley, director and deputy chief of the clinical trials group at the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

All of the women had breast or ovarian cancer that had spread to other organs and were considered “heavily pre-treated” with other therapies, with 21 having received at least three chemotherapy regimens. In addition to the four breast cancer patients whose disease stopped progressing, one woman with breast cancer experienced a “complete response,” meaning her cancer disappeared.

The study is published Nov. 8 in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Let’s be hopeful that work progresses on this vaccine and that it is made widely available as soon as possible.

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