jueves, 12 de diciembre de 2013

Desintoxicación celular y reconstrucción genética para combatir el cáncer

Desintoxicación celular y reconstrucción genética para combatir el cáncer

• July 25, 2013 • Comments (1)
dr.benny-nieves-reportemedico
Dr. Benny Nieves / Foto: Lemuel Meléndez
Por: Marilyn Vicens
Especial para Reporte Médico
Se respira paz allí. La gente saluda con alegría. Un adolescente flacucho y de pelo largo camina sereno junto a su madre y se despide de nosotros con un entusiasta “¡bendiciones para todos!”. Contestamos al unísono, como si estuviéramos en práctica coral, “¡igualmente, bendiciones para ti!”. Yo me sorprendo ante este escenario. Parecemos apreciarnos al instante. Y no todos nos conocemos, algunos siquiera nos hemos visto antes.
Me siento agradecida. Casi feliz. Pero no del todo porque estoy en una oficina médica de pacientes de cáncer y de enfermedades y condiciones llamadas “terminales”, entre otros padecimientos. Sin embargo, en el despacho del Dr. Benny Nieves, en el Hospital HIMA San Pablo de Fajardo, reina un ambiente de esperanza. Lo puedo palpar en el lenguaje corporal y en las miradas de los paz-cientes.
Mientras espero mi turno para entrevistar al doctor en bioquímica y medicina biológica, graduado del Recinto de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, y de la Universidad de León, en España, conozco a don Felipe (nombre ficticio). Es paciente de cáncer de próstata en recuperación. La conversación no se hace esperar.
“¿Qué edad usted cree que tengo?”, me pregunta pero yo sólo sonrío. El no se da por vencido y continúa: “Mire yo tengo siete dos (72) y estoy como un corozo. A mí me habían desahuciado cuando llegué aquí. Me mandaron a mi casa a morirme, ¡y yo ahora lo que estoy es buscando a mi futura esposa! ¡Ja! ¡Ja! Yo tenía un cáncer de próstata ‘reventao’. Pero doctor Benny me cogió y me puso nuevo. Dios primero, claro. Aquí uno tiene que tener fe y disciplina. Hacer lo que el tratamiento pide, usted sabe. Y casi todos echamos pa’lante, usted verá”.
En eso oigo mi nombre y me despido de don Felipe. Voy en ruta a mi encuentro con doctor Benny, así le llaman cariñosamente sus pacientes. En una ultra sencilla oficina donde nada sobra y nada falta, me espera el reconocido médico de uno de los querendones de Puerto Rico: el compositor y cantante Robi ‘Draco’ Rosa, posiblemente su más famoso paciente de cáncer en recuperación.
Nada en él habla de glorias, de hecho, Dr. Benny no pierde tiempo en señalar que “toda la gloria es de Dios”. Es un hombre de fe. Pero también de ciencia. Es un bioquímico conocido y distinguido internacionalmente. Su desarrollo profesional se dio, en parte, en el Florida Hospital College por invitación del renombrado Dr. Neil Ross, a quien se conoce como la “biblia de las vitaminas”.
Fue en ésa institución hospitalaria, en Fort Lauderdale, donde Dr. Benny comenzó a hacer realidad uno de sus más grandes anhelos: atender pacientes pediátricos de escasos recursos económicos. En unión al también boricua y químico, Dr. Edwin Valladares, y con el respaldo de un equipo multidisciplinario, se dieron a la tarea de desarrollar un nuevo protocolo de cáncer (para tratar la enfermedad) basado en la desintoxicación celular y la reconstrucción genética. 
“Todo lo que se utiliza en este protocolo es formulado por mí”, afirma  Dr. Benny. “Esto de lo que se trata es de hacer una recombinación genética de las células CD4 y CD8, que son unos tipos de linfocitos que actúan en el cuerpo cuando hay infecciones; son las llamadas células ‘asesinas’ porque matan lo malo y dejan lo bueno. Esto es hablando de forma sencilla para que todos lo podamos comprender”.
microscopio-reportemedico
El especialista agrega que el protocolo “funciona así; primer paso: Se saca sangre del paciente, se saca el suero aparte de lo que quedó de plasma, se incuban los linfocitos por tres días, se convierten en células dendítricas a las que se les añade el antígeno de la célula maligna y se crea una vacuna para el cáncer de la persona en particular. Son vacunas autólogas. Luego, como segundo paso, se hace manipulación del ph en sangre. Se utiliza bicarbonato de sodio al 8.4% intravenoso en ciclos de cinco días por cinco semanas. Esto se hace para mantener un medio alcalino en la sangre. El cáncer en medios ácidos hace ‘fiesta’. Por ende, de esta manera se crea un tipo de angiogénesis donde el tumor o el cáncer que sea, esté encapsulado o no se mueva de su área. Posteriormente, como tercer paso, se da un 10% de Quimioterapia Natural Bioactiva. Se baja el nivel de azúcar del paciente y se le pone la quimio. Luego de media hora, sacamos una gota de sangre al paciente y vemos cómo ocurre la apoptosis, que es la muerte de la célula cancerígena. Esto lo vemos en un microscopio que conocemos como microscopio ciego. Muy especializado. En este protocolo entonces podemos ver cómo las células malas mueren y las buenas no. Lo próximo, en el cuarto paso, es poner unas dosis muy específicas de vitamina C (ácido ascórbico y ascorbato de sodio). No se trata de una sobredosis de vitamina C, ¡ojo! Esto tiene que hacerse con un gran conocimiento del protocolo. Se hace intravenoso y dura 24 horas en el cuerpo. De esta forma engañamos a la célula cancerígena. Es la molécula más parecida a la de la glucosa. Elimina los radicales libres en el hígado. Es un proceso complejo, pero esta es una forma sencilla de describirlo para que todos podamos relacionarnos con él”.
Y esto, de acuerdo con el profesional de la salud, “es lo perfecto de la integración de la llamada medicina tradicional y la bioactiva. Desintoxicación celular es lo que hacemos para crear comunicación celular y, por ende, los suplementos o químicos que podamos estar tomando puedan ser absorbidos de un 90 a un 100 por ciento”.
Este no es el único protocolo que trabaja el Dr. Nieves, quien atiende además a pacientes de VIH, lupus, leucemia, osteoartritis, osteoporosis, diabetes y otras condiciones y procesos como  ‘anti-aging’ o anti-envejecimiento.
Eso sí, asegura que “en todos mis protocolos hay un denominador común: todo lo que uso es orgánico, natural y no tóxico. Mira, en la Biblia dice que en los elementos de la tierra –y hay 72 elementos en la Tabla Periódica- y en las plantas está la salud del hombre (y la mujer). Hay tanta sabiduría en la Palabra. Yo ahora mismo me encuentro en el proceso de escribir un libro sobre lo que llamo ‘la verdadera cara del cáncer’. Será escrito desde la perspectiva médico-científico-espiritual. Estos componentes son inseparables para mí en el acercamiento que le hago al proceso de tratamiento de mis pacientes”, afirma Nieves.
Actualmente la tasa de sanación de sus pacientes de cáncer, de acuerdo con el galeno, está entre un 70 y un 90 por ciento “si siguen fielmente y disciplinadamente mis instrucciones y el tratamiento o los tratamientos, cuyos componentes diseño yo y los envío a manufacturar en laboratorios en los Estados Unidos”.
Los efectos secundarios del protocolo de desintoxicación celular son mínimos, de acuerdo con Dr. Benny, y pueden incluir sed y/o náusea de uno a dos minutos de duración. Si el paciente así lo desea, este protocolo se puede combinar con otros tratamientos que la persona esté recibiendo de otro médico o médicos.  “Aquí yo no le digo a ningún paciente que deje ésto o aquéllo, es su decisión. Quien viene aquí lo hace libremente, casi siempre por recomendación de otro paciente mío, yo le explico cómo funciona y le hago mis recomendaciones, pero cada persona es quien decide. Y de hecho, muchas de las personas que vienen aquí -como mi primera paciente cuando regresé de Estados Unidos: una bióloga, hermana de un médico de Mayagüez que llegó en metástasis de colon a cerebro y huesos y hoy día está sana, vienen donde mí porque ya les han dicho que no hay nada más que se pueda hacer por ellos. Así yo recibo pacientes de Estados Unidos, de toda Latinoamérica y el Caribe y de tantos otros lugares del mundo”.
El Dr. Benny Nieves abrirá oficinas próximamente en el Hospital San Lucas de Guayama, y en el Centro Médico de  Mayagüez;y aunque le han ofrecido establecerse – a “sus anchas”-  en México y Estados Unidos el sueño que él persigue está aquí en suelo borincano:  “Mi anhelo, mi meta es tener un hospital de 30 habitaciones para niños pacientes de cáncer, desahuciados, sin recursos económicos, y que podamos atenderlos gratuitamente para ofrecerles no sólo sanación, sino calidad de vida, a ellos y ellas y sus familias”. Ese es el gran sueño de Dr. Benny, que se despide de mí entre una sentida oración de bendición, carreras y sonrisas. Y es que su fanaticada lo espera ansiosa en la sala. A juzgar por el recibimiento… ¡no tiene nada que envidiarle a su paciente Robi Draco Rosa!

miércoles, 25 de septiembre de 2013

Bisphenol A (BPA), Prostate Cancer and Sexual Health

http://www.prostate.net/nutrition-cancer-diet/natural-foods-for-prostate-health/bisphenol-a-bpa-and-prostate-cancer/

Bisphenol A (BPA), Prostate Cancer and Sexual Health

BPA is found in food and beverage containersBisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is ubiquitous in the environment, found in common, everyday products. BPA is used in food and beverage containers and packaging, and the chemical leaches into the products. That means your canned beans, peas, soups, and chili have likely been exposed to BPA, as well as milk cartons and foods in plastic containers.
It’s been estimated that 90 percent of people in the United States have detectable levels of BPA toxin in their bodies, which is not a good thing because BPA has been associated with various health problems, including an increased risk of cancer, including prostate cancer.
- See more at: http://www.prostate.net/nutrition-cancer-diet/natural-foods-for-prostate-health/bisphenol-a-bpa-and-prostate-cancer/#sthash.3JvuIV6m.dpuf

Bisphenol A (BPA), Prostate Cancer and Sexual Health

BPA is found in food and beverage containersBisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is ubiquitous in the environment, found in common, everyday products. BPA is used in food and beverage containers and packaging, and the chemical leaches into the products. That means your canned beans, peas, soups, and chili have likely been exposed to BPA, as well as milk cartons and foods in plastic containers.
It’s been estimated that 90 percent of people in the United States have detectable levels of BPA toxin in their bodies, which is not a good thing because BPA has been associated with various health problems, including an increased risk of cancer, including prostate cancer.
- See more at: http://www.prostate.net/nutrition-cancer-diet/natural-foods-for-prostate-health/bisphenol-a-bpa-and-prostate-cancer/#sthash.3JvuIV6m.dpuf

Bisphenol A (BPA), Prostate Cancer and Sexual Health

BPA is found in food and beverage containersBisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is ubiquitous in the environment, found in common, everyday products. BPA is used in food and beverage containers and packaging, and the chemical leaches into the products. That means your canned beans, peas, soups, and chili have likely been exposed to BPA, as well as milk cartons and foods in plastic containers.
It’s been estimated that 90 percent of people in the United States have detectable levels of BPA toxin in their bodies, which is not a good thing because BPA has been associated with various health problems, including an increased risk of cancer, including prostate cancer.
- See more at: http://www.prostate.net/nutrition-cancer-diet/natural-foods-for-prostate-health/bisphenol-a-bpa-and-prostate-cancer/#sthash.3JvuIV6m.dpuf

Bisphenol A (BPA), Prostate Cancer and Sexual Health

BPA is found in food and beverage containersBisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical that is used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is ubiquitous in the environment, found in common, everyday products. BPA is used in food and beverage containers and packaging, and the chemical leaches into the products. That means your canned beans, peas, soups, and chili have likely been exposed to BPA, as well as milk cartons and foods in plastic containers.
It’s been estimated that 90 percent of people in the United States have detectable levels of BPA toxin in their bodies, which is not a good thing because BPA has been associated with various health problems, including an increased risk of cancer, including prostate cancer.
- See more at: http://www.prostate.net/nutrition-cancer-diet/natural-foods-for-prostate-health/bisphenol-a-bpa-and-prostate-cancer/#sthash.3JvuIV6m.dpuf

lunes, 29 de julio de 2013

Remedios para piedras en los riñones


http://www.remediospopulares.com/calculosrenales.html




http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff1-&p=piedras%20en%20los%20ri%C3%B1ones&type=


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miércoles, 19 de junio de 2013

13 Ways To Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/how-lower-blood-pressure-naturally

Reducing high blood pressure without drugs is easier than you think

High blood pressure is one of the most preventable conditions.

But it plays a contributing role in more than 15% of deaths in the United States, according to a new Harvard study. Although it causes no symptoms, high blood pressure boosts the risks of leading killers such as heart attack and stroke, as well as aneurysms, cognitive decline, and kidney failure. 28% of Americans have high blood pressure and don't know it, according to the American Heart Association. If you haven't had yours checked in 2 years, see a doctor.
While medication can lower blood pressure, it may cause side effects such as leg cramps, dizziness, and insomnia. Fortunately, most people can bring down their blood pressure naturally without medication. First, get to a healthy weight (check out these 100 Simple Ways To Lose Weight for ideas). Then try these strategies to reduce the risk of heart disease.

1. Go for power walks

Hypertensive patients who went for fitness walks at a brisk pace lowered pressure by almost 8 mmhg over 6 mmhg. Exercise helps the heart use oxygen more efficiently, so it doesn't work as hard to pump blood. Get a vigorous cardio workout of at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. Try increasing speed or distance so you keep challenging your ticker.

2. Breathe deeply

Slow breathing and meditative practices such as qigong, yoga, and tai chi decrease stress hormones, which elevate renin, a kidney enzyme that raises blood pressure. Try 5 minutes in the morning and at night. Inhale deeply and expand your belly. Exhale and release all of your tension. (Try these stress-busting yoga poses to relieve tension.)

3. Pick potatoes

Loading up on potassium-rich fruits and vegetables is an important part of any blood pressure-lowering program, says Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medical. Aim for potassium levels of 2,000 to 4,000 mg a day, she says. Top sources of potassium-rich produce include sweet potatoes, tomatoes, orange juice, potatoes, bananas, kidney beans, peas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and dried fruits such as prunes and raisins.

4. Be salt smart

Certain groups of people—the elderly, African Americans, and those with a family history of high blood pressure—are more likely than others to have blood pressure that's particularly salt (or sodium) sensitive. But because there's no way to tell whether any one individual is sodium sensitive, everyone should lower his sodium intake, says Eva Obarzanek, PhD, a research nutritionist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. How far? To 1,500 mg daily, about half the average American intake, she says. (Half a teaspoon of salt contains about 1,200 mg of sodium.) Cutting sodium means more than going easy on the saltshaker, which contributes just 15% of the sodium in the typical American diet. Watch for sodium in processed foods, Obarzanek warns. That’s where most of the sodium in your diet comes from, she says. Season foods with spices, herbs, lemon, and salt-free seasoning blends. (For more ways to reduce your sodium, see Pass (On) The Salt.)

5. Indulge in dark chocolate

Dark chocolate varieties contain flavanols that make blood vessels more elastic. In one study, 18% of patients who ate it every day saw blood pressure decrease. Have 1/2 ounce daily (make sure it contains at least 70% cocoa).

6. Take a supplement

In a review of 12 studies, researchers found that coenzyme Q10 reduced blood pressure by up to 17 mmhg over 10 mmhg. The antioxidant, required for energy production, dilates blood vessels. Ask your doctor about taking a 60 to 100 mg supplement up to 3 times a day.

7. Drink (a little) alcohol

According to a review of 15 studies, the less you drink, the lower your blood pressure will drop—to a point. A study of women at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, for example, found that light drinking (defined as one-quarter to one-half a drink per day for a woman) may actually reduce blood pressure more than no drinks per day. One "drink" is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits. Other studies have also found that moderate drinking—up to one drink a day for a woman, two for a man—can lower risks of heart disease. "High levels of alcohol are clearly detrimental," says Obarzanek. "But moderate alcohol is protective of the heart. If you are going to drink, drink moderately."

8. Switch to decaf coffee

Scientists have long debated the effects of caffeine on blood pressure. Some studies have shown no effect, but one from Duke University Medical Center found that caffeine consumption of 500 mg—roughly three 8-ounce cups of coffee—increased blood pressure by 4 mmhg, and that effect lasted until bedtime. For reference, 8 ounces of drip coffee contain 100 to 125 mg; the same amount of tea, 50 mg; an equal quantity of cola, about 40 mg. Caffeine can raise blood pressure by tightening blood vessels and by magnifying the effects of stress, says Jim Lane, PhD, associate research professor at Duke and the lead author of the study. "When you're under stress, your heart starts pumping a lot more blood, boosting blood pressure," he says. "And caffeine exaggerates that effect." If you drink a lot of joe, pour more decaf to protect your ticker.

9. Take up tea

Lowering high blood pressure is as easy as one, two, tea: Study participants who sipped 3 cups of a hibiscus tea daily lowered systolic blood pressure by 7 points in 6 weeks on average, say researchers from Tufts University—results on par with many prescription medications. Those who received a placebo drink improved their reading by only 1 point. The phytochemicals in hibiscus are probably responsible for the large reduction in high blood pressure, say the study authors. Many herbal teas contain hibiscus; look for blends that list it near the top of the chart of ingredients—this often indicates a higher concentration per serving.
Published November 2011, Prevention

10. Work (a bit) less

Putting in more than 41 hours per week at the office raises your risk of hypertension by 15%, according to a University of California, Irvine, study of 24,205 California residents. Overtime makes it hard to exercise and eat healthy, says Haiou Yang, PhD, the lead researcher. It may be difficult to clock out super early in today’s tough economic times, but try to leave at a decent hour—so you can go to the gym or cook a healthy meal—as often as possible. Set an end-of-day message on your computer as a reminder to turn it off and go home. Follow these tips to make your weekends stress-free.

11. Relax with music

Need to bring down your blood pressure a bit more than medication or lifestyle changes can do alone? The right tunes can help, according to researchers at the University of Florence in Italy. They asked 28 adults who were already taking hypertension pills to listen to soothing classical, Celtic, or Indian music for 30 minutes daily while breathing slowly. After a week, the listeners had lowered their average systolic reading by 3.2 points; a month later, readings were down 4.4 points

12. Seek help for snoring

It's time to heed your partner's complaints and get that snoring checked out. Loud, incessant snores are one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). University of Alabama researchers found that many sleep apnea sufferers also had high levels of aldosterone, a hormone that can boost blood pressure. In fact, it's estimated that half of all people with sleep apnea have high blood pressure. If you have sleep apnea, you may experience many brief yet potentially life-threatening interruptions in your breathing while you sleep. In addition to loud snoring, excessive daytime tiredness and early morning headaches are also good clues. If you have high blood pressure, ask your doctor if OSA could be behind it; treating sleep apnea may lower aldosterone levels and improve BP.


13. Jump for soy

A study from Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association found for the first time that replacing some of the refined carbohydrates in your diet with foods high in soy or milk protein, such as low-fat dairy, can bring down systolic blood pressure if you have hypertension or prehypertension.

Read more: http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/how-lower-blood-pressure-naturally/13-jump-soy#ixzz2WhCv3vIS


miércoles, 10 de abril de 2013

The Safest (and Cheapest) Cholesterol Treatment

The Safest (and Cheapest) Cholesterol Treatment

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/safest-cholesterol-treatment

Day in Health

Recent Posts
The safest, most effective, and cheapest treatment for high cholesterol is a vitamin that costs 7 cents per pill, according to a new report from Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (OMNS), a nonprofit research group in Wichita, Kansas.
Vitamin B3—also called niacin or nicotinic acid—has been safely used for 60 years to control cholesterol, with some 42,000 scientific papers in PubMed describing its benefits and effects.
“Unlike statin drugs, which mainly reduce LDL cholesterol, niacin is a very safe, effective treatment for all lipid issues, improving levels of both good and bad cholesterol and triglycerides, ” says Bradley Bale, MD, medical director of the Heart Health Program for Grace Clinic in Lubbock, Texas.
One landmark study published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that at therapeutic doses, niacin boosted HDL by up to 35 percent and cut triglycerides by as much as 50 percent.
Most remarkably, when the researchers tracked the 8,431 participants—all of whom had suffered heart attacks prior to enrolling in the study—for 15 years, those on niacin had a 26 percent lower risk for both heart attacks and strokes, even after treatment was discontinued, compared to those taking a placebo.

Highly Effective, But Often Overlooked

Despite some 42,000 scientific papers in PubMed describing niacin’s effectiveness and medical uses, it’s remained the ugly duckling of heart medicines, for a variety of reasons.
“The simple answer is to follow the money,” contends OMNS. “Cholesterol-controlling drugs [such as statins] are cash cows for the trillion-dollar-per-year pharmaceutical industry,” while there’s no marketing push to persuade medical providers to recommend a cheap, OTC remedy like niacin.
In his practice, Dr. Bale typically recommends niacin for the following patients, if medically appropriate:
  • People with high cholesterol who can’t tolerate statin drugs. About 20 percent of statin users quit taking their medication due to side effects.
  • Patients with complex lipid issues, such as low levels of heart-protective HDL (good) cholesterol and high triglycerides (a type of blood fat).
  • People with inherited cholesterol disorders, such as elevated levels of lipoprotein (a), a type of cholesterol that triples heart attack risk and does not respond to statins. Taking niacin can reduce lipoprotein (a) levels by up to 40 percent, according to the European Atherosclerosis Society.
  • Patients whose cholesterol problems aren’t responding to statins. Several studies show that statins plus niacin is more effective than statins alone.
A Guide to Cholesterol-Free Foods

Side Effects of Niacin

In doses typically used to control cholesterol the vitamin can have an annoying side effect known as “the niacin flush,” a temporary and sometimes itchy or tingling redness of the skin that lasts about 30 to 60 minutes.
“Doctors know that if they advise niacin, they get calls from patients complaining about flushing, particularly at first,” says Dr. Bale. “However, this problem is harmless and can often be avoided by starting with a low dose that’s gradually increased.” Patients who experience flushing initially will typically find that the problem disappears or greatly diminishes over time.
While “non-flush” and extended-release forms of niacin are available, they appear to be less effective or may even have dangerous side effects, Dr. Bale adds. “There are two pathways through which the body can metabolize niacin, and the one that doesn’t cause flushing is more likely to harm the liver.”
Dr. Bale advises avoiding non-flush or extended-release formulations. In addition, niacin should only be used under the supervision of a healthcare provider, after a full discussion of the potential risks and benefits.
Like statins, niacin can cause muscle problems in some patients. It can also spark flare-ups in people with gout, and may contribute to GI bleeding in patients with ulcers, cautions Dr. Bale. “Any cholesterol treatment can cause side effects, but compared to statins, niacin is relatively safe.”
Migraine vs. Headache: How to Tell Them Apart

A Controversial Niacin Study

In March, results of a highly publicized study of Tredaptive, an experimental drug containing extended-release niacin plus an anti-flushing drug called laropiprant, were interpreted by the media as showing that niacin may have dangerous side effects.
In the study, 25,673 patients who were already being treated with statins were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group took a statin drug plus Tredaptive and the other group received the same dose of statin along with a placebo.
Patients taking Treadaptive had higher rates of bleeding (2.5 percent vs. 1.9 percent) and infections (8 percent vs. 6.6 percent), as well as higher rates of new onset diabetes (9.1 percent vs. 7.3 percent). Nor did the patients on the experimental drug have lower rates of heart attack or stroke.
The study was halted prematurely, after four years, due to these problems and the maker of the experimental drug, Merck, announced that it wouldn’t be seeking FDA approval.
While media reports blamed these problems on niacin, Dr. Bale and other experts point out these adverse effects haven’t been seen in numerous previous studies of the vitamin on its own, so the anti-flushing drug is the likely culprit.
“Niacin is being thrown under the bus when it’s an inexpensive, effective treatment that’s been used very safely for decades,” says Dr. Bale. “What this study is telling us is that this particular no-flush combination drug doesn’t work and can have significant side effects.”

domingo, 3 de febrero de 2013

Health Care’s Trick Coin

Health Care’s Trick Coin

For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
THIS month, Johnson & Johnson is facing more than 10,000 lawsuits over an artificial hip that has been recalled because of a 40 percent failure rate within five years. Mistakes happen in medicine, but internal documents showed that executives had known of flaws with the device for some time, but had failed to make them public.
It would be nice to imagine that this kind of behavior is exceptional, but in reality, the entire evidence base for medicine has been undermined by a casual lack of transparency. Sometimes this is through a failure to report concerns raised by doctors and internal analyses, as was the case with Johnson & Johnson. More commonly, it involves the suppression of clinical trial results, especially when they show a drug is no good. These problems would be bad enough on their own, but they are compounded by a generation of “fake fixes” that have delivered false reassurance, and so prevent realistic public discussion.
The best evidence shows that half of all the clinical trials ever conducted and completed on the treatments in use today have never been published in academic journals. Trials with positive or flattering results, unsurprisingly, are about twice as likely to be published — and this is true for both academic research and industry studies.
If I toss a coin, but hide the result every time it comes up tails, it looks as if I always throw heads. You wouldn’t tolerate that if we were choosing who should go first in a game of pocket billiards, but in medicine, it’s accepted as the norm. In the worst case, we can be misled into believing that ineffective treatments are worth using; more commonly we are misled about the relative merits of competing treatments, exposing patients to inferior ones.
This problem has been documented for three decades, and many in the industry now claim it has been fixed. But every intervention has been full of loopholes, none has been competently implemented and, lastly, with no routine public audit, flaws have taken years to emerge.
The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 is the most widely cited fix. It required that new clinical trials conducted in the United States post summaries of their results at clinicaltrials.gov within a year of completion, or face a fine of $10,000 a day. But in 2012, the British Medical Journal published the first open audit of the process, which found that four out of five trials covered by the legislation had ignored the reporting requirements. Amazingly, no fine has yet been levied.
An earlier fake fix dates from 2005, when the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors made an announcement: their members would never again publish any clinical trial unless its existence had been declared on a publicly accessible registry before the trial began. The reasoning was simple: if everyone registered their trials at the beginning, we could easily spot which results were withheld; and since everyone wants to publish in prominent academic journals, these editors had the perfect carrot. Once again, everyone assumed the problem had been fixed.
But four years later we discovered, in a paper from The Journal of the American Medical Association, that the editors had broken their promise: more than half of all trials published in leading journals still weren’t properly registered, and a quarter weren’t registered at all.
Even if these fixes had been successful, we would still be decades away from knowing the full truth about our medical treatments, because today’s decisions are informed by the trials of the past, on drugs that were first researched and approved in 2007, 2002, 1998 and earlier. None of the reforms has even tried to ensure public access for these results, and so they remain buried in dry storage archives, deep underground.
All of these problems are perhaps best illustrated by the case of Tamiflu, which governments have spent billions of dollars stockpiling, in the belief that the drug will reduce the rate of complications from influenza. But roughly half the trial results have never been published, and researchers trying to obtain the full Clinical Study Reports have been stonewalled by the manufacturer, Roche.
This cannot be acceptable. Withholding data not only misleads doctors and patients; it’s an insult to the patients who have participated in clinical trials, believing that they were helping to improve medical knowledge.
Medicine routinely overcomes enormous technical challenges, and there is nothing complicated about the changes needed to prevent Johnson & Johnson, or Roche — or anybody — from withholding information. The F.D.A. has proposed reforms to its systems for assessing artificial hips. And a campaign, supported by the National Physicians Alliance, has begun at alltrials.net demanding that results be publicly reported for all trials, dating back to at least the 1990s, on all treatments currently in use. We need competent legislation, enforcement and leadership from medical academic bodies, all clearly stating that nonpublication of trial results is nothing less than research misconduct.
This will take place against a clamor from industry stakeholders. They have worked hard to silence discussion on these problems, by pretending that the flaws have already been fixed. Why? Because this strategy is their only hope. There is no defense for withholding information on treatments used by patients around the world.
Ben Goldacre, a doctor, is the author of “Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients.”

viernes, 11 de enero de 2013

The Easiest, Cheapest Way to Stay Healthy

The Easiest, Cheapest Way to Stay Healthy


http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/easiest-cheapest-way-stay-healthy
An easy action that takes just 20 seconds can cut your risk for catching a cold, flu or other contagious diseases by up to 51 percent, recent studies show. And if everyone made it a regular habit, one million deaths a year would be prevented, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which calls this habit the single most important way to avoid spreading infection.
Frequent hand washing with soap and water can save you money—and misery—by helping you avoid medical bills, missed workdays, or having to stay home with a sick child. And you’ll also protect your friends and family: A CDC survey found that 40 million Americans a year fall prey to illnesses spread by hands, which can harbor up to 500,000 bacteria per square centimeter.
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Clean Hands Save Lives

Not only does lathering up protect you from respiratory illnesses like colds, but it also helps ward off more serious conditions, including hepatitis A, meningitis, and potentially life-threatening superbug infections, such as MRSA. Overall, 80 percent of all infectious diseases are spread by touch.
Here are just a few research findings that illustrate the protective power of clean hands:
  • Kids who washed their hands four times a day had 25 percent fewer school absences due to contagious diseases and 57 percent fewer sick days due to GI bugs. 
  • When 40,000 Navy recruits were instructed to wash their hands five times a day, their rate of respiratory infections fell by 45 percent, according to a study published in American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
  • A 2011 study found that when students disinfected their hands three times a day with ethanol gel sanitizer, there was a 66 percent drop in pupils who missed four or more days due to illness and a 20 percent rise in students with zero absences, compared to data from the previous year.
  • Hand washing reduces risk for colds and other respiratory illnesses by 21 percent, according to the CDC.
  • Washing with soap and water lowers risk for diarrhea and severe or fatal intestinal infections by up to 59 percent, a systematic review published in Lancet reported. 
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Ninety-one percent of Americans say they wash their hands after using a public toilet, but an observational study conducted in the six US airports found that only 26 percent of men and 17 percent of women actually did. And here’s something to ponder before you shake someone’s hand during cold and flu season: A recent survey also found that only 24 percent of men and 39 percent of women always wash their hands after they cough or sneeze.
Hand hygiene among doctors is even worse, with 73 percent of pediatric ICU physicians claiming that they soaped up between patients, but when the MDs were secretly observed, only 10 percent actually washed. If doctors and nurses were more diligent about hand hygiene, up to 80,000 Americans lives would be saved each year.
Experts caution patients to ask healthcare providers a simple question before any hands-on exam: “Did you wash your hands?” That’s important even if the provider is wearing gloves, reports Texas Health Resources Infection Control.

When to Wash Away Germs

To stay healthy and avoid spreading germs to others, the CDC and other experts advise washing your hands before and after preparing food, before eating, after changing diapers or using the toilet, after sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose, after touching an animal, and after touching garbage.
Follow these simple steps:
  • Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and remove jewelry. A recent study compared bacteria counts on the hands of 50 healthcare workers who wore rings to 50 who didn’t. Hand washing lowered levels of staph bacteria by nearly 50 percent for those without rings, but only 29 percent among ring wearers.
  • Lather up with soap. Avoid antibacterial products, which don’t work any better than regular soap, according to the Mayo Clinic, and can even lead to bacteria becoming resistant to that antimicrobial ingredient.
  • Rub hands together for at least 20 seconds. To get the timing right, kids can recite the alphabet as they scrub. Pay equal attention to all surfaces of both hands: Research shows that righties don’t wash their right hand as carefully as the left, while the opposite is true for lefties. Fingernails and fingertips typically harbor the most microorganisms.
  • Rinse thoroughly under running water—the force of the stream sweeps dirt and germs down the drain. And be sure to dry well, which helps rub away remaining microbes. A study published in Epidemiology and Infection found that when people touched someone else with freshly washed, but damp hands, they transferred a whopping 68,000 microorganisms, compared to just 140 when their hands were dry.
  • The CDC says that while soap and water is best, hand sanitizers containing at least 60 percent alcohol can do in a pinch. However, they don’t eliminate all types of germs.
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