Millions of doses of “acid blocking” proton pump inhibitor drugs are doled out every year, yet most doctors and their patients are completely oblivious to their unintended, adverse effects, which include increased risk for premature death. Continue reading
If you’ve had chicken pox as a child, then you’re still carrying the herpes zoster virus in your body, which can become reactivated after many years causing a very painful, burning rash known as shingles. The virus lives in the nerve cells and produces a rash along the nerve pathways, most often on one side or the other of the trunk of the body. Continue reading
Since colitis is a common and frustrating disease, it’s no surprise that Traditional Chinese Medicine has developed techniques to handle it. The cause of this inflammatory bowel disease is not fully known, but there are established Chinese healing secrets to help you deal with it.
Similar to Crohn’s disease, Continue reading
Dealing with the symptoms of chronic digestive dysfunction can be discouraging for many people, especially when unknown dietary and environmental triggers constantly seem to create bloat, abdominal pain, gas, and other problems. But correcting the issue can also be as simple as eating certain foods while avoiding others, and Continue reading
At Doctors Health Press, we enthusiastically promote natural medicine. But, there are important health considerations when it comes to how drugs and supplements can interact, as they sometimes do so dangerously. A new study, which looked extensively at the subject, offers a clear and accurate picture of what drugs and supplements should never be combined. Continue reading
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are “acupoints” that are used in acupuncture to help treat an ailing body. These acupoints are the target of an effective therapy that has been found to help diabetics Continue reading
Stomach or abdominal pain is a common health complaint that can arise from many causes. Pain relief options are numerous, but here we focus on a cool seven remedies from the area of alternative medicine known as homeopathy.
Stomach pain is often discomfort coming from organs such as the gallbladder, pancreas, colon, liver, stomach, or small intestine. Causes range from mild (gas, indigestion) to medium (heartburn, ulcers) to serious (gallstones, appendicitis, inflammatory bowel disease). Continue reading
Sometimes, when trying to ascertain the state of your natural health, it takes understanding the hidden triggers of any symptoms you have. On that note, let’s take a peek at five hidden reasons you might be experiencing digestive problems.
1. Fructose Intolerance
This is a hereditary disorder in which your body cannot metabolize fructose (a sugar molecule), resulting in its build-up in the liver, kidneys, and intestines. It causes abdominal pain and vomiting. You might suspect there is a fructose problem should you experience these symptoms continually after eating foods that claim it as an ingredient. For a diagnosis, see your doctor. The cure here is to avoid fructose and steer clear of sucrose and sorbitol, two related sugars. Gather nutritional information to see which foods are safe. A small list of safe foods includes milk, eggs, most meat, poultry, fish, asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, green beans, green peppers, salad greens, potatoes, spaghetti, butter, margarine, olive oil, coffee & tea, vegetable juice, and soups.
2. Gallstones
As many as one in 12 Americans Continue reading
Crohn`s disease is an inflammatory disease of the intestines that can affect any part of the digestive system from mouth to anus. It primarily causes abdominal pain and diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is at its worst). This syndrome may also cause complications outside the gastrointestinal tract such as arthritis, eczema, fatigue and lack of concentration. Natural lifestyle solutions exist for preventing and reversing this crippling disease.
Crohn`s disease is considered an auto-immune disease where the body`s immune system attacks the tissues of the digestive system. Environmental factors play a large role as evidenced by a higher incidence of the disease in western industrialized nations compared to other parts of the world. Continue reading
People who take bone-strengthening drugs for several years may have a slightly higher risk of esophageal cancer, a new study suggests.
The findings are in contrast to another recent study that used the same database of 80,000 patients and concluded that there was no link between the drugs and esophageal cancer. That study was published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Authors of the new study say they tracked patients for nearly twice as long — nearly eight years. Other studies have been divided over whether the risk is real.
In the latest study, British researchers started with nearly 3,000 people with esophageal cancer and matched each one to five similar people who didn’t have the disease. Ninety of the cancer patients and 345 people in the comparison group had been prescribed bone-building pills called bisphosphonates. These drugs, sold as Fosamax, Actonel, Boniva and other brands, are widely used after menopause to prevent or treat osteoporosis.
Normally, the risk of developing cancer of the esophagus, or throat, in people aged 60 to 79 is 1 in 1,000. The researchers estimated that with about five years use of the drugs, the risk was 2 in 1,000.
They also looked at about 10,000 people with bowel cancer and about 2,000 people with stomach cancer, and found no increased risk with use of the drugs.
The study was paid for by Britain’s Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. It was published Friday in the medical journal, BMJ.
The study was only observational and is not the kind of evidence that can show whether such drugs cause cancer.
“Esophageal cancer is an uncommon cancer,” said Jane Green, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, one of the paper’s authors. “Even a doubled risk is still a very small risk.”
The chances of developing esophageal cancer after taking bisphosphonates are much smaller than from known causes like being obese, smoking or drinking.
But the disease is often caught late, as it was in actor Michael Douglas, which lowers the survival rate.
Green said the findings shouldn’t affect patients taking osteoporosis drugs, but added the medicines should be watched closely.
“People are increasingly being prescribed bisphosphonates and we just don’t know enough about their use over the long term,” she said. The pills have other side effects including throat ulcers, abdominal pain and an irregular heartbeat.
Experts aren’t sure why the drugs might lead to throat cancer, but the pills can cause inflammation in the esophagus, which could make cancer more likely.
In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has received reports of a few dozen people getting esophageal cancer after taking osteoporosis pills, but there is no proof the drugs caused the cancers.
“The possibility of adverse effects on the esophagus should prompt doctors who prescribe these drugs to consider risks versus benefits,” wrote Diane K. Wysowski, an epidemiologist at the FDA, in an accompanying commentary.
Wysowski said patients should take the medicines carefully, like with a full glass of water before eating and not reclining for at least 30 minutes afterward.
“Doctors should tell patients to report difficulty in swallowing and throat, chest or digestive discomfort so that they can be promptly evaluated and possibly advised to discontinue the drug,” she wrote.
