More than 20,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year in the U.S. Almost 80% of these will already have spread by the time they are diagnosed. Current early detection methods are a blood test called a CA125 and an intra-vaginal ultrasound. In several retrospective studies recently they determined that early detection was possible if the physicians asked the following questions to all women under going their annual pap smears.

1. Are you experiencing any pelvic pain?
2. Have you had any abdominal pain for more than 12 days per month?
3. Have you noticed any increase in the size of your abdomen?
4. Have you noticed more abdominal bloating lately?
5. Do you experience a rapid feeling of fullness when eating?
6. Have you had any difficulty in eating?

While these symptoms may sound vague they may be life saving if you bring them to the attention of your Doctor.

The College of London looked at death rates and compared them to black smoke and sulphur dioxide environmental exposure for the years 1982 through 1998. They found that black smoke and sulphur dioxide levels decreased by five and four times respectively during those years. However the death rates attributable to black smoke increased from 10% to 19% during the study and from 10% to 20% for sulphur dioxide. The study underwent critical statistical review and the results stood.

It is theorized that there may be other more potent pollutants that are not measured that could be causing the increase in death rates or they could be acting in synchrony with the existing pollutants thereby being more lethal.

Authors note: Whether you get second hand smoke from cigarettes or industrial pollution in the air, or increased ozone levels form global warming, or carcinogens in the water, each and everyone of us has a responsibility to try to change it for our children and grand-children.

An analysis of 50,000 suicides in England and Wales between 1993 and 2003 found that as the temperature rises so does the suicide rate. In fact for each degree above 18C there was a four percent rise in suicides – and for violent suicides the rate was 5%. Some of the reasons put forth were that people become more irritable and aggressive in hot weather, serotonin levels decrease in the summer, and people tend to drink more alcohol in hotter weather. In fact in the 1995 heat wave the suicide rate increased by 46.9%. The highest day for suicides was January 1 and the Mondays were the worst day. As with all suicides 75% are by men and 25% by women.
Authors Note: I was always under the assumptions that since Oregon and Washington have about 220+ days of rain and the suicide rate is highest in those states, that rainy weather was the culprit. Maybe we should do some comparative studies here in the U.S.

In a study involving 1000 thirty two year olds 45% of new onset depression was attributable to job stress. These jobs involved lack of personal control, long hours, non-negotiable deadlines and too much work. The jobs ranged from surgeons, teachers, pilots, garbage men and policemen; the higher the pressure the higher the percentage of depression. They concluded that managers should lead by praise and reward rather than punishment and lack of control.

In study done in San Francisco involving 53 Americans, Latinos and African American women aged 40-48 they found that menopause was a back burner issue. The women were more concerned with their current health and appearance than in a life event over which they had no control. The women tested were more about individual responsibility and control of their lives. They believed that staying younger physically, mentally and in their appearance was the most important aspects of their lives in their forties.

In a study out of Kuwait 8 patients with severe chronic low back pain were injected into the lumbar Para-spinal muscles (the low back muscles on either side of the spinal canal) three sites were injected. 63% had remarkable recovery in both muscle spasm and pain relief, and 25% had improvement only in muscle spasm. The effect was still working after 30 days. The conclusion was that this is an easy procedure, well tolerated, virtually no side effects and does not require either expensive or invasive procedures.

In 1976 the Nurses Health Study started and included 121,701 nurses. Evaluation of the people in the study after six years showed no improvement in the mortality rates, however in this study they looked almost 80,000 nurses at 24 years of taking low dose aspirin. What they found is that the incidence of deaths from heart disease was substantially reduced and those from cancer were also less but not as dramatic as those for heart disease. Further evaluation of the data allowed the researchers to say that at 24 years of taking low dose aspirin the risk of mortality from all causes was reduced (and this includes colorectal cancer the third leading cause of death). 80,000 people over 24 years that’s good enough for me, I think I’ll start taking low dose aspirin.

Gaba-pentin also known as Neurontin is usually used for seizure disorders, nerve pain and Trigeminal Neuralgia. It works by stabilizing the nerve membrane. When given to a group of women who had had breast cancer it appeared to work as well some of the antidepressants. In fact the drug cut the frequency of hot flashes in half. This is great news since this drug has very little side effects and does not change a person’s personality.

A very large study from the island of Crete found that children who adhered to a Mediterranean diet had less asthma and allergic rhinitis than a conventional western diet. There were 690 children involved and the Mediterranean consisted mostly of grapes, oranges, apples fresh tomatoes, essential fatty acids (mostly olive oil), vegetables, nuts and fish.

High nut intake, grape, oranges and kiwi consumption was inversely associated with wheezing but margarine proved to be a risk factor. The stricter the adherence to the diet the less asthma symptoms there were.

Since asthma is currently increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S this may be yet another natural way to combat this terrible disease. This study showed that those children which had the strictest adherence to the Mediterranean had the least amount of allergic symptoms. Maybe all of the preservatives that keep our food from turning rancid are having adverse reactions in our lungs?

There has always been amongst Physicians a wide diversity regarding how long someone after surgery should wear stocking. The French are probably the most laisser-faires with the English being the strictest and the Americans in between. A study recently reported out of the U.K. on 300 patients after venous surgery found that there was no benefit to wearing stocking for more than one week. The parameters looked at were post operative pain, complications, time to return to work and patient satisfaction. This is great news for all of my surgical patients.