Welcome to Dr. Paz’s Newsletter #8 This newsletter will focus on timely topics that can have a direct impact on your health. If you are interested in sending a question, you can send it to drpaz@drpaz.com. Please remember, your questions should be of general medical interest and should not include any patient-specific information since this is not a HIPAA compliant email. I apologize for the delay. I was hoping to get this next newsletter out much sooner, but I’m afraid life got in the way. I was recently picked for Jury Duty and spent an extended amount of time in a rather complicated Child Sexual Abuse case. I was more than happy to perform my civic duty, but I have to say, it was extremely stressful. I would like to think that my medical expertise was helpful to my fellow jurors, since the medical/DNA evidence was quite confusing. Shortly after that, the majority of my extended family developed another case of COVID-19. This included my in-laws who are in their 90’s. Fortunately everyone did well and they are now recovered. And then golf season started…… |
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Medical News and Commentary |
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Should you try Balance of Nature? In a word- NO. It’s hard to watch TV these days without seeing a commercial for Balance of Nature. This is a dried fruit and vegetable product developed by a Chiropractor, Dr Douglas Howard in 1997. According to their website: “When you take the recommended daily serving of three Balance of Nature Fruits and three Veggies, your body receives the equivalent nutrition of the recommended servings of a variety of thirty-one different fruits and vegetables.” I contacted the company personally and have several concerns: (1)They don’t give any amounts for their nutritional information. How much of each ingredient included in their blend is actually hidden from the customer. When I asked for this information, they said it was “proprietary” and would not share it. This means the majority of the product could be the cheapest ingredients with only miniscule amounts of more nutritionally potent ingredients. (2)The numbers don’t add up. The ingredient label for the fruit product lists 2.4 grams(2400mg) per serving of total ingredients. To put this in perspective, lets use an apple as an example: A medium apple weighs 169 grams. (https://whatthingsweigh.com/how-much-does-an-apple-weigh/) Lets assume that 80% of the apple is water. That leaves 20% of 169 grams, which is 33.8 grams. This amount alone is over 14 TIMES THE WEIGHT LISTED FOR THE ENTIRE SERVING!! (3)Research is non-existent. If you believe the testimonials, the product can cure everything from Alzheimer's disease to hemorrhoids. When I asked about medical research, I was referred to their website. Several studies are listed, all rat studies from the same facility in Russia (we know how reliable Russian information can be). None of these studies are peer reviewed or published in reliable journals. None of the studies are double-blind/placebo controlled, which is the gold standard for medical research. In fact the last study listed does not even have an author or a date! (https://cms.balanceofnature.com/admin/uploads/file/branding-guide/cirrhosis-study-hep-c-study.pdf) Balance of Nature- Bottom Line: Save the $70/month you would pay for this product, go to the fruit market to buy the real stuff! |
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Shooting for 10,000 steps per day? You may be an over-achiever. Research recently published in JAMA Network Open, followed 2,110 middle-aged adults who had worn a step-counting fitness device beginning in 2005/2006 for 11 years. The researchers determined, as expected, that getting more exercise is good. Six thousand steps beats 5,000 and 5,000 beats 4,000 for health outcomes. But they didn't find anything particularly special about 10,000 steps (except going much beyond it brought no additional health benefits at all). Instead 7,000 steps seemed to be an important inflection point. Taking that many steps reduced participants' chances of premature death by 50 to 70 percent. "Seven thousand steps a day may be a great goal for many individuals who are currently not achieving this amount," study leader Amanda Paluch commented. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2783711 |
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Want to reduce your risk of cancer? Here’s three easy steps. A recent study published in Frontiers of Aging tested the individual and combined benefit of vitamin D, omega-3(fish oil), and a simple home strength and exercise program on the risk of any invasive cancer. The study followed 2,157 participants over the age of 70 for a three year period. Supplemental 2000 IU/day of vitamin D3, and/or 1 g/day of fishoil, and/or a simple home strength and exercise program was compared to placebo and control exercise. Results showed that doing any one of the three interventions resulted in a 24-30% reduction in cancer risk. When all three were done together, there was a whopping 61% reduction in cancer risk! https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fragi.2022.852643/full |
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Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer risk. A large new observational study has shown a strong association between certain diet sweeteners and cancer: particularly aspartame and acesulfame-K. These chemicals are marketed under several brand names, including Sunett®, Sweet One®, Nutrasweet®, Equal®, and Sugar Twin®. The study found a 13% higher risk of cancer in general, with the highest likelihood of developing breast cancer. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003950 |
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Taking aspirin to reduce the risk of stroke? Timing matters. A Spanish study by the University of Vigo monitored the prevalence of cardiovascular death in 10,000 men, based on whether they took a low dose of aspirin in the morning or the evening. They found that taking the blood-thinning aspirin before going to bed halved the likelihood of a fatal stroke. Study authors say that this is due to the body's "pharmocokinetic" process, through which it breaks down and distributes medication throughout the body, which they say boosts aspirin's effectiveness when taken at night.This allows for the aspirin to be fully activated by the morning, when blood pressure and stress levels tend to be highest. https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/aspirin-stroke-risk-drops-half-26933084 |
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Pickle Juice for leg cramps. Looks like this might be worth a try. A recent study suggests that pickle juice, who’s active ingredient is ACETIC ACID, may be beneficial for leg cramps. They tested this theory on 82 patients who had known liver cirrhosis. Cirrhosis patients are prone to increased leg cramping. Small sips of pickle juice at bedtime seemed to decrease the number and severity of leg cramps. Given that this is a very low risk treatment, if you suffer from nighttime leg cramps taking a shot of pickle juice at night might be worth a try. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35416793/ |
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Do you sleep with a light on? Bad idea. Sleeping with the lights on or a television set on for just one night raises blood sugar, heart rate and insulin resistance, all risk factors for diabetes and cancer. Five to ten percent of the light can actually get through a closed eyelid. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35286195/ |
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Upcoming newsletter. Newsletter #9 will be a clinical focus on natural treatments for anxiety. |
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IT’S JUST MY OPINION. The opinions in my newsletter are based on my interpretation of the literature and my personal experience from tens of thousands of medical visits over the last 37 years. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. The information I share in this newsletter is meant for general medical information purposes and is not specific to your medical care. Before you initiate any therapy you should discuss it with your doctor. If your doctor is not open to discussing nutritional therapies, maybe it is time to find a new doctor….. |
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