Your Health First

Got Milk? Dennis Savaiano, Ph.D., Purdue University

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:45:00 GMT

Dr. Dennis Savaiano will be joining Dr. Galati this week to discuss his research and teachings on the value of milk, milk alternatives, and the need for calcium in the human diet.

Difficulty digesting lactose leads to people giving up on milk, and a loss of calcium in their diet, so badly needed for good health. There are a number of alternatives to cows mild, which Dr. Saviano will discuss. These alternatives are listed below.

Lactose-free milk

LACTAID® Fast Act is the most convenient LACTAID® Supplement that's perfect at home or dining out. Simply have one LACTAID® Fast Act with your first bite of dairy food and enjoy! It's available in easy-to-swallow caplets and delicious Vanilla Twist-flavored chewable tablets and can be used every day, every time you eat any dairy food. LACTAID® Fast Act works naturally to make dairy foods more

digestible, giving you the freedom to enjoy the foods you want, when you want. Read more

Kefir
Kefir's tart and refreshing flavor is similar to a drinking-style yogurt, but it contains beneficial yeast as well as friendly 'probiotic' bacteria found in yogurt. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in kefir combine symbiotically to give superior health benefits when consumed regularly. It is loaded with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains easily digestible complete proteins. For the lactose intolerant, kefir's abundance of beneficial yeast and bacteria provide lactase, an enzyme which consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process. Read more

Goat's milk
A fresh, ready-to-pour, Grade A goat milk that has a creamy, gourmet taste for drinking and cooking. MEYENBERG products are completely natural without preservatives, no antibiotics, or bovine growth hormones (rBGH). A ‘real milk’ alternative (not a synthetic replacement like soy or rice beverages) for those that are intolerant or sensitive to cow milk and/or soy products. Read more

Soymilk
Using soy-based foods in your diet, like Silk Soymilk, is a great way to consume natural isoflavones. Studies show that consuming as little as one to two servings of soy a day may help to reap the benefits of naturally occurring isoflavones – we recommend soy milk. Our commitment to healthy lifestyles extends to everything we do here at Silk. That’s why we use natural ingredients in our products, sponsor health-related events and causes and do our best to support our environment. Learn more about staying healthy with soy milk.

Nut milks

Nut milks, tasty nutritious alternatives to dairy milk or soya milk. This range of nut drinks are designed to add to tea and coffee or other hot beverages. They are excellent on cereals and in baking and are generally dairy free, gluten free, vegan, soya free with low cholesterol by default, but please do check the details and the label on each individual milk. Nut milks are a perfect replacement for dairy and soya milk. Read more

Rice milk
There are some significant nutritional differences between cow and rice milk. Fortified rice milk may make up for some of those differences. You did not mention which type of Rice Dream you are serving your boys, but it should be the brand with fat (not the lite variety) and it should be calcium, vitamin A and D fortified. Compare the following nutritional content for one cup of milk vs. non fortified Rice Dream:

	Cow Milk	Rice Dream
calories	150	120
protein (grams)	8	1
carbohydrate g.	11	30
fat g.	8	2
calcium mg.	291	20

14-Dec-08 3:45 PM

Christopher Kennedy Lawford Talk about Hepatitis C

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Christopher Kennedy Lawford, the first child of famed ‘Rat Pack’ actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy, was born and raised in southern California. As the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, Lawford grew up with U.S. presidents and movie stars as close relatives and personal friends. Today, he is an inspired writer and accomplished actor.

Lawford began his acting career in the 1980s playing a variety of parts, including roles in films like “Thirteen Days” and “The World’s Fastest Indian.” His acting repertoire also includes recognizable roles in the

daytime TV shows “All My Children” and “General Hospital.” In addition to acting, Lawford is also a celebrated author. His memoir, Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption, was on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Lawford is currently working on several other books and film projects, including a non-fiction book called Moments of Clarity, which will be available in January 2009. Lawford can also be seen in the 2007 film “Slipstream,” written and directed by Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Although he is immensely successful today, Lawford's early life was marked by the traumatic assassinations of his beloved uncles Jack and Bobby Kennedy. By the time he entered his teens, he had succumbed to the growing drug scene of the 1970s, and entered into a deep, long descent into near-fatal drug and alcohol addiction that stretched into the early 1980s. Lawford believes it was during this time that he contracted the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

It wasn’t until 2001 that Lawford was diagnosed with HCV. Although he experienced no symptoms, the disease had already begun to damage his liver. Today, six years after successfully completing treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, there is no detectable trace of HCV in his blood. During treatment, Chris kept a stubbornly positive outlook, and maintained a healthy lifestyle with yoga and regular exercise.

Today, Lawford is an advocate for HCV disease awareness and is dedicated to sharing his experience with HCV to help increase diagnosis and treatment of the virus. He encourages people to stop and consider their own potential exposures to the disease, get tested and, if necessary, speak with a doctor about available treatment options as early as possible.

Lawford has three children and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. Prior to starting his writing and acting career, he attended Tufts and Georgetown Universities, graduating from Boston College’s Law School in 1983. After his battle with addiction, Lawford set up a clinic to treat opiate dependency and served as a lecturer in psychiatry for Harvard Medical School.

Hepatitis C Links of Interest

Therapy for Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C: Dr. Koop

Hepatitis C Research

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Liver Specialists of Texas

What I need to Know About Hepatitis C

7-Dec-08 8:00 AM

Brian Miles, M.D.: Urology Update

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:00:00 GMT

A regular contributer to Your Health First, Dr. Brian Miles will be with Dr. Galati this week. Dr. Miles is a board certified Urologist, and Chief of Robotoc Surgery at The Methodist Hospital. There are numerous conditions where you may need to be seen by a urologist.

Urology is the branch of Surgery that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological disorders; they may hold one of the following medical degrees, either (MD, MBBS, MBChB, etc) or (DO) degree. The organs covered by urology include the kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder, urethra, and the male reproductive organs (testes, epididymis, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate and penis).

In men, the urinary system overlaps with the reproductive system, and in women the urinary tract opens into the vulva. In both sexes, the urinary and reproductive tracts are close together, and disorders of one often affect the other. Urology combines management of medical (i.e., non-surgical) problems such as urinary infections, and surgical problems such as the correction of congenital abnormalities and the surgical management of cancers. Such abnormalities within the genital region are called genitourinary disorders.

Various conditions are listed below.

Prostate Cancer

Elevated Prastate Specific Antigen

16-Nov-08 1:00 PM

Dr. Marianne Legato-Keeping Men Health

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Changing the Face of Medicine" in 2004. The Ladies' Home Journal established the annual Marianne J. Legato Award in Gender-Specific Medicine In 2006. In 2005, she received the National Council on Women's Health Award for distinguished service in gender-specific medicine. In 2002, she delivered the keynote address at the inaugural kickoff event of the Intramural Program for Research on Women's Health of the National Institutes of Health. She received the "Woman in Science" award from the American Medical Women's Association in February of 2002. In the Fall of 2000, Ladies Home Journal honored Dr. Marianne Legato as a "Heroine of Women's Health." She has been consecutively cited as one of New York's best doctors by New York Magazine, and America's Top Doctors for the past eleven years, most recently in 2008. She has been listed in the June, 1994 issue of Mirabella magazine's "1,000 Women for the Nineties", and inclusion in the New York Times list of twelve health care professionals accomplished in the area of women's health in June, 1997. She was named an "American Health Hero" by American Health for Women in 1997 and received the Women's Medical Society of New York's annual Woman in Science Award in 1997.

Dr. Marianne Legato spent her early research career doing research on the structure and function of the cardiac cell. Her work was supported by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. She won the J. Murray Steele Award, the Martha Lyon Slater Fellowship and a four year Senior Investigator Award from the American Heart Association, New York Affiliate. She won a coveted Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health and sat on the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's study section on cardiovascular disease, as well as, on the Basic Science Council of the American Heart Association. Most recently, she has served as a charter member of the Advisory Board of the Office of Research on Women's Health of the National Institutes of Health. She is co-chair of a task force that authored the 1999-2000 report from that Office, "An Agenda For Research On Women's Health For The 21st Century."

In 1992, Dr. Marianne Legato won the American Heart Association's Blakeslee Award for the best book written for the lay public on cardiovascular disease with her publication of The Female Heart: The Truth About Women and Heart Disease, published by Simon and Schuster. Her film, "Shattering the Myths: Women and Heart Disease" won a "Freddy," a first prize in the category of Women's Health at The 1995 International Health and Medical Film Festival. She published What Women Need to Know, (Simon & Schuster) in 1997. Her book for the lay public on gender-specific medicine, is Eve's Rib, published by Harmony Books. Dr. Marianne Legato has just published her new book, Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget, published by Rodale and translated into 28 languages since its publication in the Fall of 2005. She has just published a ground breaking analysis of men's health, Why Men Die First, published by Palgrave MacMillan. She is the editor of the first medical text about gender-based medicine, The Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine, published by Academic Press in 200 A new, second edition of her textbook is in preparation and scheduled to appear in 2008.

Dr. Marianne Legato is the founder and editor of The Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine published for the scientific community and selected in 2001 by the National Library of Medicine and Elsevier Science to be indexed and included in their worldwide databases, MEDLINE and EMBASE. She founded the official scientific journal of the Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine, Gender Medicine, in 2004. This journal has also been indexed for inclusion in Medline by the National Library of Medicine. She is on the editorial board of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Prevention Magazine. She writes continuously for both the scientific and lay communities, and is a the health advisor for the Ladies Home Journal. She is a member of several groups of accomplished professionals, including the prestigious Women's Forum, and has been consistently included for a decade in various collections of notables in the "Who's Who..." series.

9-Nov-08 8:00 AM

Willa Hsueh, M.D.: Diabetes Awareness Month

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:00:00 GMT

November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and Dr. Willa Hsueh, M.D., from The Methodist Hospital, will be joining Dr. Galati this week.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

There are 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or 7.8% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 17.9 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 5.7 million people (or nearly one quarter) are unaware that they have the disease.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.

Links to more information on diabetes are listed below:

Type 1 Diabetes Facts

Type 2 Diabetes Facts

Diabetes Risk Calculator

Pre-Diabetes Facts

Nutrition and Diabetes

9-Nov-08 8:00 AM

November Disease Awareness

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT


1 - 30 American Diabetes Month American Diabetes Association 1701 North Beauregard Street Alexandria, VA 22311 (800) DIABETES (342-2383) (703) 549-1500 (703) 549-6995 Fax askada@diabetes.org www.diabetes.org Materials available Contact: Local Affiliates	1 - 30 Diabetic Eye Disease Month Prevent Blindness America 211 West Wacker Drive, Suite 1700 Chicago, IL 60606 (800) 331-2020 (847) 843-8458 Fax info@preventblindness.org www.preventblindness.org Materials available Contact: PBA Consumer and Patient Hotline
1 - 30 Jaw Joints - TMJ Awareness Month TMJ Association, LTD P.O. Box 26770 Milwaukee, WI 53226-0770 (262) 432-0350 (262) 432-0375 Fax info@tmj.org www.tmj.org Materials available Contact: Terrie Cowley	1 - 30 Lung Cancer Awareness Month Lung Cancer Alliance 888 16th Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 463-2080 (202) 463-7497 Fax info@lungcanceralliance.org www.lungcanceralliance.org Materials available Contact: Kay Cofrancesco
1 - 30 National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month Alzheimer's Association 225 North Michigan Avenue, 17th Floor Chicago, IL 60601-7633 (800) 272-3900 (866) 699-1246 info@alz.org www.alz.org Materials available Contact: None designated	1 - 30 National Family Caregivers Month National Family Caregivers Association 10400 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 500 Kensington, MD 20895-3944 (800) 896-3650 (301) 942-6430 (301) 942-2302 Fax info@thefamilycaregiver.org www.thefamilycaregiver.org Materials available Contact: None designated
1 - 30 National Healthy Skin Month American Academy of Dermatology 930 East Woodfield Road Schaumburg, IL 60173 (888) 462-DERM (3376) (847) 330-0230 mediarealtions@aad.org www.aad.org Materials available Contact: Jennifer Allyn	1 - 30 National Hospice Palliative Care Month National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization 1700 Diagonal Road, Suite 625 Alexandria, VA 22314 (703) 837-1500 (703) 837-3139 (703) 837-1233 Fax jradulovic@nhpco.org www.nhpco.org Contact: Jon Radulovic
1 - 30 Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month Pancreatic Cancer Action Network 2141 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 7000 El Segundo, CA 90245 (877) 272-6226 (310) 725-0025 (310) 725-0029 Fax information@pancan.org www.pancan.org Materials available Contact: Sue Kim	1 - 30 Prematurity Awareness Month March of Dimes 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue White Plains, NY 10605 (914) 997-4488 (914) 997-4763 Fax askus@marchofdimes.com www.marchofdimes.com Materials available Contact: Pregnancy and Newborn Health Education Center
1 - 30 Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month Pulmonary Hypertension Association 801 Roeder Road, Suite 400 Silver Spring, MD 20910 (800) 748-7274 Helpline (301) 565-3004 x109 (301) 565-3994 Fax pha@phassociation.org www.phassociation.org Materials available Contact: Katie Kroner	18 Prematurity Awareness Day March of Dimes 1275 Mamaroneck Avenue White Plains, NY 10605 (914) 997-4488 (914) 997-4763 Fax askus@marchofdimes.com www.marchofdimes.com Materials available Contact: Pregnancy and Newborn Health Education Center
20 Great American Smokeout American Cancer Society 250 Williams Street NW Atlanta, GA 30303 (800) ACS-2345 (227-2345) www.cancer.org Materials available Contact: National Office	22 National Survivors of Suicide Day American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 120 Wall Street, 22nd Floor New York, NY 10005 (888) 333-AFSP (2377) (212) 363-3500 (212) 363-6237 Fax inquiry@afsp.org www.afsp.org/index.cfm?page_id=FEE7D778-CF08-CB44-DA1285B6BBCF366E Materials available Contact: None designated
25 - December 1 Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Awareness Week International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders P.O. Box 170864 Milwaukee, WI 53217-8076 (888) 964-2001 (414) 964-1799 (414) 964-7176 Fax iffgd@iffgd.org www.aboutgerd.org Materials available Contact: Nancy Norton

2-Nov-08 4:00 PM

Dr. Pate: Mental Health Update and Teen Drug Use

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Dr. Jennifer Pate, and Psychiatrist in the Texas Medical Center, and regular contributer to Your Health First, will join Dr. Galati this week to discuss anxiety, and teen drug use.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It helps one deal with a tense situation in the office, study harder for an exam, keep focused on an important speech. In general, it helps one cope. But when anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it has become a disabling disorder. People with generalized anxiety disorder can't seem to shake their concerns. Their worries are accompanied by physical symptoms, especially fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, trembling, twitching, irritability, sweating, and hot flashes.

Regarding drug abuse in teens, a web site that we regularly recommend is Partnership for a Drug Free America. Any parent that has school age children should be familiar with this site. Understanding drug abuse, and the drug culture, starts very early. The web site has sections based on the age of your child, with specific concerns for each of these age groups. Specific links are listed below.