Thought I'd forward you my latest newsletter I send out from my website to those that request it. Just a compilation of little heatlh tidbits I send out to my subscribers... Babyboomersdoc Spring newsletter... Another winter is behind us; well for MOST of us, and thought I'd send out my little ditty of items I thought that you may find interesting and worthy of reading. The "snow birds" have been migrating north again out of Tucson for the summer and the traffic has eased a bit both on the roads and in the clinic. We are seeing a lot of patients with allergies, however, as the warmer weather has brought out flowers and the pollen counts have been soaring on the very allergenic trees such as Mesquite, Mulberry, Olive, Palo Verde, and Juniper. So I have been writing a lot of anti-histamine prescriptions, nasal corticosteroids, and giving a few corticosteroid injections for those that have reached wit's end with the watery eyes and runny nose and nasal congestion. The flu season was light; didn't see very many cases at all, but have seen a lot of gastrointestinal viral illnesses which cause a great deal of problems but are usually short-lived and gone within 48-72 hours. Tidbits for your health... For those of you with elevated triglycerides and lipids and have been told by your physician to take Omega 3 fish oils or flaxseed oil, my recommendations are to take your fish oil capsules FROZEN as they are less apt to cause "burping" which tastes horrible and is a common complaint. You should take about 2 gm (2,000 mg of fish oil) a day to make a signficant difference. The best formulation of Niacin is Niaspan one at bedtime. Don't take Slo-Niacin. It causes much more liver toxicity. Niacin does everything desirable for your lipids. It drops total cholesterol and triglycerides as well as lowers the "bad" LDL cholesterol. It also RAISES your HDL (your "good" cholesterol.) If you raise your HDL 10 points you will drop your cardiac risk by about 1/3! Supplements to prevent migraines...Some have shown promise. Coenzyme Q10 100 mg three times a day seems to reduce the number of migraines by about a third. a Side note: I recommend patients taking statin medications for their lipids such as Crestor, Lipitor, and Zocor to take at least 150 mg of Coenzyme Q10 a day as well. Butterbur reduces migraine frequency by almost half. Try Petadolex 150 mg per day. This is the extract and the dosage used in a rather larger study. Cost is about 40-50 dollars a month. Others that possibly help are Feverfew, magnesium, and riboflavin. Some patients being treated with bisphophonates (ie Actonel, Boniza, or Fosamax) for either osteoporosis or osteopenia are experiencing severe bone, joint, or muscle pain while taking the medication. The pains often resolves after stopping the medication. The pain can be severe enough to affect normal activity and can be falsely blamed on arthritis or osteoporosis. One should consider stopping the medication if other causes for pain aren't evident. Be sure to tell your doctor if you develop signficant pain after beginnning one of these drugs. It is not clear why these medications cause such pain and it doesn't happen to everyone who takes them. I am often asked which vitamins to take and I send them to this website: http://www.bestvitamin4health.com I have taken it myself for the past year now and started promoting it myself. Check it out yourself and see why. The ONLY vitamin you need to nutritionally support your body. http://www.bestvitamin4health.com I am asked about aspirin use for cardiovascular prophylaxis a great deal as well. As doctors, we should use aspirin prophylactically for patients with a 10% or greater Framingham risk of cardiovascular disease. That includes the majority of adults past the age of 45. It is confusing on how much to take. The Heart Association recommends 75 mg to 162 mg of aspirin each day. If you take 81 mg of aspirin each day (a chewable baby aspirin), you'll be using the same dose that most experts and I recommend. The #1 cause of death in this country BY FAR, is cardiovascular disease; and we can do SO MUCH to prevent it. The biggest problem is getting individuals to change their lifestyle to significanlty reduce their chances of suffering either a stroke or heart attack. Here are my recommendations: 1. STOP SMOKING! This is the #1 preventable risk factor. If you don't do anything else, DO THIS for yourself AND loved ones. 2. Get Your Blood pressure checked and down at least to the 130/80 range. So MANY people out there are walking around with high blood pressure and don't even know it! I see it every single day! They don't call it "the silent killer" for nothing. 3. Get your lipids checked. You want your Total cholesterol AT LEAST less than 200 and your LDL less than 100; preferably lower. 4.Exercise and lose weight. Merely walk 20-30 minutes a day at the very least. You will feel AND look better for it! 5. Take an 81 mg baby aspirin every day. 6. Cut down on your fat & carb intake and eat more vegetables, fruit, fish and nuts. 7. Alcohol? Actually 1-2 drinks a day are GOOD for you! See, some good news! Please feel free to email me with questions if you wish. John http://www.bestvitamin4health.com THE ONE Vitamin I recommend & earn a lucrative steady flow of income promoting it!. http://www.babyboomersdoc.com My site for health information and other issues vital to the baby boomer. http://www.MyBerryTree.com/bt35350 Watch the Video and Be Amazed! The ONE Program You NEED to Join!