W. Gifford-Jones, MD and Diana Gifford-Jones

A Little Nostalgia Goes a Long Way

Tracing the medical history of nostalgia involves a sharp U-turn. Centuries ago, it was considered a psychopathological disorder. Still today, nostalgia can be associated with negative feelings and sadness. But researchers are reaching new conclusions about the health benefits of wistful affection for the past. We recently witnessed the medicinal effects firsthand on a special family trip. A full seventy years later, we returned to the majestic Manoir Richelieu, a historic hotel northeast of Quebec City on the shores of the St. Lawrence River. As the former hotel doctor-in-residence, and the accompanying story-seeking family, we were treated to a wonderful walk down memory lane.

Boosting Nitric Oxide the Antidote to Getting Older

The French existentialist, Gabriel Marcel, asserted “Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be experienced.” Nevertheless, scientists remain intent on figuring it out. The cells in our bodies are susceptible to damage. A sunburn is a visible example. Ultraviolet rays scorch skin cells, causing rapid death. Damage occurs at a slower pace from poor diet, excessive alcohol, smoking, and all kinds of physical and mental stress. Over time, the biological process of replacing damaged cells through replication involves compounding errors, and cells die completely. When too many cells die, biological systems start to falter. This, in short, is aging.

Is Cholesterol the Enemy?

The headline of a prestigious health and nutrition publication reads, “Do we need to limit dietary cholesterol?” For decades, the answer was yes. We were told to limit our intake of cholesterol to 300 milligrams (mg) or less daily to decrease the risk of heart attack. Was it just a catchy headline? Cholesterol is not the devil incarnate. We would die without it. Cholesterol is a part of all cell membranes, needed to make vitamin D, bile acids and some hormones.

For Men, Don’t Disregard a Lump in the Breast

Few findings cause women as much fear as discovering a breast lump and wonder if it’s cancer. But what about men who notice a mass and pain in the breast? Male breast lumps are not commonly discussed in the locker room. But confusion and embarrassment can delay diagnosis of a malignancy. Breast cancer is not entirely a woman’s disease. Although it occurs in males in less than one percent of cases, diagnosis tends to be late. In 2022, of the 2,710 American men expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, about 530 will die.

Urinary Incontinence in Women

Some women say, “You only know a place well if you know where the restrooms are located.” They’re suffering from urinary incontinence (UI). They know if they delay too long, there’ll be an accident. But there are ways to correct this nerve-racking problem. A report from the University of California claims that only one in four women with this trouble seeks help. This is due to embarrassment and the common but illogical notion that it is part of aging. Another account from the Journal of the American Medical Association is hard to believe. It says that 17 percent of women ages 20 and older have moderate or severe UI. This number doubles for women over 60 years of age!

Building Up Bones for a Lifetime

What’s one of the worst errors that young people make early in life? It’s the failure to practice preventive medicine. So, let’s have a talk with young people about how to protect their bones for a lifetime. We know that kids of all ages break bones playing sports. It’s annoying when this happens, leaving them sidelined from sports and play with friends for a few weeks. But breaking a bone becomes more than an inconvenience for adults, as full recovery becomes less likely. The older one is, the more breaking a bone may have life-changing consequences, including being forever consigned to a wheelchair. But why do bones become brittle with age, and can it be avoided?

Music for the Mind

Music may be the world’s greatest medicine. From infants to centenarians, people love music and the way it makes them feel good. In tribute to its universal qualities, Hans Christian Andersen said, “Where words fail, music speaks.” Even without lyrics, songs certainly convey feelings. Among healthy people, researchers have shown that across cultural divides, people can readily place vastly different types of music into emotional categories ranging from sad to heroic, annoying to beautiful, and desirous to indignant. But the miracle of music is in its healing qualities. Scientists studying people with brain injuries and neurological conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are making remarkable discoveries.

Decarbonizing Healthcare

Last week we wrote about the environmental disaster of plastics choking the world’s oceans and the consequences for human health through the food chain. This week let’s look through a different lens at another environmental disaster of our own making – the carbon footprint of healthcare itself. Here’s something you may not know. If the global healthcare sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter! A report from Health Care Without Harm calculated that the environmental impact of healthcare amounts to 4.4% of global net emissions – the equivalent of 514 coal-fired power plants.

Plastic Soup a Disastrous Meal

Why is humankind so bent on destruction? Why so apathetic in the face of annihilating warfare, repeated massive oil spills and choking urban smog? Equally awful is the “Plastic Soup” in our oceans. A picture of a Hawaiian beach reveals the folly of humans. It shows a huge amount of plastic washed ashore – an insult to a beautiful beach. Such ocean garbage is a serious hazard for sea life. Don’t believe the rest us are immune to this environmental disaster. Our lives, too, depend on our oceans. Small planktonic organisms, through photosynthesis, transform carbon in air and seawater into organic compounds, an essential element of Earth's carbon cycle. They generate about half the atmosphere's oxygen, as much per year as all land plants. Plankton also provides a food source for marine animals. But studies show plastic particles are also being ingested by these animals. This poses a major problem for us all.

Why Wouldn’t You Take Care of Your Heart?

Diana Gifford-Jones: You are starting your 99th year. To what do you attribute your good health? W. Gifford-Jones, MD: I’ve been fortunate, but it nearly didn’t happen. I suffered a major heart attack when I was 74. My cardiologists insisted on cholesterol-lowering drugs to fight heart disease. But I knew of two-time Nobel Prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling’s research on high-dose vitamin C. I opted for a regimen of 10,000 mg daily which I still continue. Diana: Why not take cholesterol-lowering drugs?

Do You Have an Inflammatory Lifestyle?

Chronic inflammation is unlike what happens with a cut or an invading germ when the immune system mounts a fight and then stands down. In such cases, inflammation is part of the healing response. But when lifestyle issues have the immune system active all the time, there may be no symptoms, but plenty of costs. Dr. Erin Michos, Director of Women’s Cardiovascular Health at Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains, “Sustained low levels of inflammation irritate your blood vessels. Inflammation may promote the growth of plaques, loosen plaque in your arteries and trigger blood clots — the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes.”

A Wave of Heart Disease Among Healthcare Workers?

There has always been a lot of heart in the practice of medicine – literally and figuratively. Typically, the focus is on the beating heart of the patient. But has the pandemic, unlike any challenge to the medical profession before, impacted the hearts of front-line healthcare workers themselves?

Grandma Took the Wrong Pill

Unintentional poisonings are on the rise. Deaths from poisoning occur at double the rate of motor vehicle deaths. It’s a heartbreaking fact that many deaths and injuries are completely avoidable, especially when young children are the victims. Yet, it may be surprising to know this: while children under age 5 account for about 40% of poison exposures requiring contact with emergency services, preventable poisoning deaths are near entirely within the adult population.

Stand Up To Read This Week’s Column

Get up on your feet. Seriously. It will be good for you. Sitting is something we have all become accustomed to doing a lot more of lately. Just prior to the pandemic, studies showed that the average adult spent about 6.5 hours a day sitting – an hour longer than had been the case a decade earlier. In 2019, teenagers were sitting for upwards of 8 hours a day, and for some much longer than that.

How Much Longer Can Parents Take It?

Remember the movie, “Network”? Howard Beale, the TV news anchor, encouraged viewers to go their windows and yell out, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” How many parents feel that way about school closings? Uncertainty about openings and closings is bad enough. But now schools face severe staffing shortages. Entire classes may be disrupted because teachers are falling sick or required to isolate.

Is Virtual Healthcare the New Normal?

The current pandemic is deeply affecting many aspects of society. Accelerated usage of virtual healthcare is a good example. While frontline healthcare workers serve patients needing essential in-person care, some doctors and patients are meeting up over the phone or on video calls. Virtual healthcare is well known to those living in remote communities. But during the pandemic, it has become an option for everyone.

Ring in the New Year with Your Inner Mountaineer

It’s not what we were hoping for at this time of year. The doom and gloom of Omicron has many people feeling down. But casting your gaze upwards might be just the right move. For a New Year’s Resolution, this might be a good time to channel your inner mountaineer. Christmas and New Years should be the season for celebration, not hibernation. Families should be together, not torn apart by differing views on vaccination. Charitable giving should be the theme, not clamouring for rapid test kits. Yet so it goes. Even among those getting out for a would-be joyous wintertime walk, you can see, in the narrow space between their toques and their masks, the melancholy in their eyes.

What Could Go So Wrong at a Holiday Luncheon

The immortal Shakespeare wrote in the play Macbeth, “Each new morn new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face.” He was not wrong. Readers may wonder how I am faring as I near the start of my 99th year. I am glad to report, while getting older is rarely much fun, my medical training remains useful!

The Changing Nature of Birth

We said goodbye to a beloved 17-year-old dog this week. She had rapidly lost quality of life. As sad as it was, few would have any qualms whatsoever with the vet’s provision of humane, painless, and sensible euthanasia. But what’s going on with medical interventions at the great miracle of birth? It’s no secret that humans commonly push the boundaries of scientific possibility – for better or for worse. Traditionally, interruptions in the natural birthing process have been overwhelmingly in the “for better” category.

Happy Hour with a Hedgehog?

These days, too many things are all wrong. But now and again, everything that’s right in the world comes together. We found such a place in a local neighbourhood restaurant recently, where good food, good music, and good company combined to make everybody happy. But was it healthy? Almost, but not quite. What would be the perfect conditions for a neighbourhood restaurant to score top marks in offering good times, good food, and good health?