It is estimated that 10% or 27 million Americans are on antidepressants. The good news is that they can be very effective particularly for severe depression. They also can be helpful for mild to moderate depression. The other thing that has been found to help mild to moderate depression is exercise. Thirty minutes or more a day three to five days a week can make a big difference. Exercise boosts endorphins, which improves mood. It also increases body temperature, which can have a calming effect. It can improve anxiety and boost self-esteem. If you exercise outside there is even greater potential improvement.

In fact, a recently released study has found that exercising in the great outdoors for just 5 minutes a day can improve mood and self-esteem. Outdoor activities included gardening, walking, bicycling and farming.

I find it fascinating that as we have become more of an indoor-based society and have gotten away from working outdoors, depression has risen precipitously. Maybe the results of this study are reflecting exactly that. I think it is important that all of us evaluate our activity level, our relationship with the out of doors and think about reconnecting with our roots….like the ones in the ground. Maybe many of us would be able to get off some of the antidepressant medications.

Food is one of those things we cannot live without. There are those of us who are addicted to certain types of food. For some it is fat, and for others it is sugar. It is impossible to completely eliminate either of these from our diet and thus we cannot treat it like we treat other addictions. You just can’t avoid food. So, for those of us fighting the battle of the bulge, and our cravings for fat, sugar or other types of food what do we do? Diets don’t work. What we have to do is make small changes that we can maintain for life! That is what can make a difference. For some it may be avoiding the “white” food such as bread, pasta, potatoes and rice. For others, it may be eliminating red meat. It may be as simple as only eating whole foods and skipping anything processed. It is important for anyone who is struggling to maintain a healthy weight that (as Curly said in the movie City Slickers) you find that one thing that can make a big difference, make the change and you will be amazed at the results.

Spring is filled with flowers, green grass, and for some…sneezing, wheezing and runny eyes and noses! The most likely cause of spring allergies is tree pollen. However, mold and animal dander can also be contributing.

How can you know for sure? Get allergy tested. If your doctor can pinpoint the cause of your symptoms, the therapy can be tailored to what you need. Treatment could involve allergy shots or medications and help you to avoid a lot of grief.

How can you tell the difference between allergies and a cold? Both can cause a runny nose and eyes, but a cold usually has fever, aches and pains associated with it and it usually ends within about ten days. How can you avoid allergies? You might want to avoid the heavy pollen times, which are the early morning and late afternoons, by staying indoors. Use your air conditioner and keep the windows closed. Wash your clothes if you have been outside and use the dryer. That will help filter out the pollens from your clothes.

If you can’t avoid pollen, you may need to try medications. There are many over the counter antihistamines now that include Benedryl, Claritan, and Zyrtec. They block the histamine reaction that is triggered by pollen. Decongestants such as Sudafed will dry up your nasal congestion. Steroid nasal sprays will reduce inflammation.

Often people with allergies will also have asthma. This may result in wheezing, shortness or breath and can have deadly consequences. That is why it is important to have your allergies assessed and treated.

It is common knowledge that women have more empathy than men. I know many women wonder what it would be like if men could feel what we feel just once. Well girls, there is a way for that to happen. The hormone responsible for empathy is oxytocin. Both men and women have it, but women have more which enhances our empathetic response.

But now, the wish that men can feel what we feel can be fulfilled with oxytocin spray. In a recent experiment involving 48 men and 26 women, it was found that a nasal misting of oxytocin spray allowed men an unusual capacity for empathy. Initially both groups were given two tests. One test required the use of social cues using facial expressions to give the right answers in a game. The second test gave the participants scenarios and asked them to rate how emotionally moved they were. Women scored well on both tests. The men scored well on the first test using social cues but did not do well when they had to respond emotionally. However, when they were given the spray they scored equally as well as the women. They also did better when learning tasks that involved social cues. Unfortunately the spray only lasted two hours, but something is better than nothing.

The spray is not commercially available right now, but in the future may be quite helpful. If you take the man in your life to a sad movie, with one spray you may not be crying alone anymore!

A recent study has now claimed that fish oil does not help brain function. The researchers took 700 men and women in their 70’s and randomly assigned them to take a total of 500 mgs of fish oil or olive oil for two years. They then tested their cognitive function at the end of the two-year period. They did not find a difference. Therefore, they concluded that fish oil does not provide improvement in cognitive function in the elderly.

That all makes perfect sense, right? I beg to differ. Most of the studies showing benefit of fish oil, especially when it comes to the heart used 1000 mgs of fish oil not 500 mgs. In addition, it may take more than 24 months to show a difference.

One of the things that cause public dismay is the conflicting advice that continues to be published in the media. This is especially an issue when it comes to supplements. If the wrong dose is used or the incorrect formulation, then the study results may not be valid.

I would hate to see my patients giving up taking their fish oil when it has so many benefits. It is good for lowering triglycerides, it is good for the heart, mood, skin and joints, and I believe in the proper dosage it is also good for cognitive function.

A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients admitted to the hospital for their first heart attack had a death rate that was 5% higher if they were admitted on the weekend.

What is the problem?

It is crucial to get treatment as soon as possible when a patient is having a heart attack. On the weekends, patients were more likely to have to wait. Weekend patients were less likely to get the invasive treatments such as angioplasty and stent placement in a timely manner. Many cardiac catheterization labs work with a smaller staff on the weekends.

What is a person to do?

First of all, the best thing to do is avoid getting a heart attack by preventing it from happening. The key is to be checked by your doctor and to modify your cardiac risk factors if you have them. That includes maintaining a normal blood pressure, low cholesterol, avoiding developing diabetes by exercising and maintaining a healthy body weight, not smoking, and (if appropriate), taking a baby aspirin a day.

If you do have underlying heart disease, it is possible to find it and treat it prior to having a heart attack. It is better to have a procedure such as an angiogram or an angioplasty under a controlled, elective situation versus an emergency.

If you do develop the symptoms of a heart attack (chest pain, jaw pain, shortness of breath, overwhelming fatigue, left arm pain) chew an aspirin, and call 911. The hospitals that specialize in heart disease and have cardiac surgery are the best ones to go to. They are more likely to be equipped for emergency cardiac procedures.

The key is to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Although the study showed an increase in mortality for heart attack patients on the weekend, it doesn’t mean you should wait. Furthermore, now that the results are out, my bet is that there will be some staffing changes for the majority of the hospitals around the country!

Remember the good old days when we were much younger? At the first sign of spring we would bring out our reflectors and our baby oil mixed with iodine. Every chance we got we would be out there trying to tan. Of course, between the baby oil and reflectors, most of us fried. That along with the thinning of the ozone layer has increased the risk of skin cancers for most of us.

The deadliest form of skin cancer is melanoma. The key to melanoma is to find it early. It is possible to catch it when it is just starting to form in a pre-cancerous phase. The American Cancer Society recommends that every adult over 40 have a skin exam from top to bottom. There are now some new techniques that can help your doctor follow your moles from year to year. That new technique is called “mole mapping”.

When the doctor does an exam he or she usually will eyeball your moles and then note which ones to follow over time. Mole mapping helps them to keep a record and look more closely. Mole mapping is really a general term for several techniques.

Mole Mapping

The simplest form of mole mapping is done when the doctor marks where your moles are on a drawing in the medical chart. They can note mole color, size, shape, etc. Now that we have such great computer technology, there are new forms of digital mole mapping. Programs can look at your risk factor profile (history of sun exposure, family history, age, skin type, etc.) A doctor or specially trained nurse can take high quality digital photos with a digital camera. With the photos, there can be close-ups (not exactly what they do in the movies!); they can magnify the moles as well. The images and risk factors are sent to a dermatologist who is an expert in skin cancer and a report is generated. The mapping can be repeated every 3-6 months if there are skin lesions that are concerning. Otherwise it can be done on a regular yearly basis.

This technique is really helpful in communities who do not have a dermatologist. It is probably most effective in conjunction with a dermatologist’s exam. It is also helpful to do your own exam on the parts of your skin you can see.

What is considered a suspicious lesion?

For melanoma, the things to watch for are what are called the A, B, C, D, and E.
A- Stands for asymmetry. If you could not virtually fold the mole in half and have it match up perfectly, it is asymmetrical.
B- Is for border. A mole is of concern if the border is irregular and not smooth.
C- If a mole has different colors or is dark or blue, it is of concern.
D- If the diameter is more than 6 mm or larger than the end surface of a normal pencil eraser, it is considered to be abnormal.
E- If it is expanding or enlarging over time that is also a mole of concern.

Mole mapping can be a useful procedure to help the dermatologist. It is important to have a skin exam as well as the pictures, because the photo exam can miss lesions in the scalp and the genital areas. There is nothing that can substitute for an up close and personal exam.

A recent report has found that some drugs generally used to treat seizures may increase the risk of suicide. The drugs Neurontin, Lamictal, Trileptal, Valproic Acid and Gabitril have all been found to increase the risk of suicide usually within 14 days of taking the drugs. Although these drugs are used to prevent seizures, they are also used to treat bipolar disorder, migraine headaches, neuropathy and even restless leg syndrome.

It is important that if you or a loved one are prescribed any of these drugs that others around you or them are aware of the need for close observation early on in treatment. There are always warnings about over the counter medications and herbal medications. Sometimes patients and physicians assume that prescription medications must be safe. However, as we have seen with other drugs, that may not always be the case.

Regardless of whether drugs are prescription or over the counter, it is important that you are aware of the risks as well as the benefits.

There have been many reported health benefits that have been discovered regarding the consumption of dark chocolate. One of those benefits is lowering blood pressure. When subjects with mildly elevated blood pressure were given a 100-gram dark chocolate bar daily their blood pressure significantly lowered. When milk was added to that chocolate, there was no benefit.

In another study, researchers divided a group of 470 elderly men into groups according to how much cocoa-containing food they ate and followed them over 15 years. The men who consumed the most cocoa-containing products were half as likely to die from heart disease as those who ate the least. In addition, they were half as likely to die earlier from any cause compared to those who ate foods containing the least among of cocoa or chocolate.

Finally, a recent study has found that 85% dark chocolate can decrease liver pressures after eating a meal in those with cirrhosis of the liver. After eating, abdominal pressures rise and chocolate can reduce that pressure.

Dark chocolate contains antioxidants called flavanols. Flavanols stimulate the production of nitric oxide in the artery walls. This causes the arteries to relax and pressures to reduce. That may be the mechanism for lowering blood pressure, preventing heart disease and lowering liver pressures.

Chocolate may be the new health food, but remember it has calories. So, if you are going to eat it make sure it is the good dark chocolate and that you reduce your other calories to compensate for the addition!

A new study has found that certain occupational exposures may triple the chances of women developing postmenopausal breast cancer. Acrylic, nylon fibers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are the chemicals that appear to increase the risk. The study looked at occupational exposures. The women worked with the fibers or petrol products. The risk peaked if the exposure occurred before the age of 36. This is a time when breast tissue is still active.

The study is not definitive however adds to the suspicion that environmental and occupational exposures may play a major role in the development of breast cancer. Until more evidence is discovered, women should seriously think about their job choices and choose jobs where air quality and occupational safety is a priority.