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

What’s Wrong with Hearing Aids

Peter Drucker, the management theorist, who wore hearing aids later in life, famously remarked, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” The hearing aid industry would be wise to listen in. For all the big noise about what can be heard when people with hearing impairment are fitted with aids, is an important message being missed? Hearing aids, in general, make life better for people with mild to severe hearing loss. But has the development of ever smaller technology made it needlessly difficult for people to enjoy the benefits? Does it seem as though the aids are designed to hide, for vanity’s sake, or worse, as if in shame, a hearing disability?

Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Doctor, Whispering “Stop it!”

This column, over 45 years, has begged people to make the lifestyle changes that will help them avoid the development of type 2 diabetes. Failing that, there’s mounting scientific evidence that natural supplements supporting glycemic control can help mitigate dietary obstinance and lack of exercise. And in the event diabetes takes hold, then give thanks to Banting and Best for their discovery of insulin 100 years ago. But is there one more opportunity for Gifford-Jones to get the “prevention, prevention, prevention” message out?

You’ve Discovered a Thyroid Lump, What Does It Mean?

Waking in the morning, the last thing you want is a health shock before you begin the day. If you are like most people, feeling a lump for the first time at the Adam’s apple, the thyroid gland, you will immediately jump to one conclusion, “I have a cancer.” But is this the right conclusion? So, let’s report some good news that will decrease anxiety while you have your morning coffee. Fortunately, the majority of thyroid nodules are not cancers. Besides, the majority don’t even require removal. Thyroid nodules are common in elderly people. In fact, a report from the University of California states that if you’re over the age of 60, there’s a 25-to-50 percent chance of developing a thyroid lump.

Celiac Disease: Has the Diagnosis Been Missed?

Some health problems can be hard to pinpoint. An accurate diagnosis of celiac disease can be easily missed. Among adults in particular, symptoms can be so subtle it can go undetected for years, causing other problems that further complicate a definitive diagnosis. Researchers at Duke University examined a randomized sample of 2,835 people over the age of 55, finding 2.13 percent had this disease but didn’t know it. Today, celiac disease affects one percent of the population in Western countries.

Challenge Yourself to Better Glycemic Health

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher and poet, wrote, “All life is an experiment.” So this week, to conclude our six-part series on the devastating and relentless pandemic of type 2 diabetes, we conclude with a challenge to readers to undertake an experiment. The premise of the experiment is that achieving the “perfect” diet and carving time for physically active lifestyles is not always feasible. The evidence is overwhelming that for too many people, losing excessive weight is not easy. In fact, society has become not only complacent about obesity, but accepting and even promotional of it.

Reversing Pre-Diabetes with Glycemic Control

The most important thing readers should have learned from last week’s column is that pre-diabetes is reversible. And fancy pharmaceuticals aren’t to thank. Rather, it’s glycemic control, achieved naturally, by managing blood sugar with the help of concentrated brown seaweed. But what’s glycemic control? And what’s so special about brown seaweed?

Prediabetes Is Common, and Importantly, Reversible

Prediabetes is like an alarm clock. You can hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Or you can use it as a signal to get up and get active. But what exactly is prediabetes, and how do you know if you have it? The condition occurs when blood sugar levels are consistently higher than normal, but not yet to the level for diagnosis as type 2 diabetes. High blood sugar is caused when cells can’t respond normally to insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. Higher and higher demands to make more insulin overwhelm the pancreas, leading to prediabetes.

The Other Pandemic – A Challenge to News Media

Last week’s column claimed, “Wars are too important to be left to generals.” And “the type 2 diabetes pandemic is too important to be left to doctors.” We asked whether there was a difference between millions of North Americans dying quickly of COVID-19 and millions of people dying slowly of diabetes. In this week’s column, we challenge media outlets to help doctors fight this other pandemic that is having a disastrous effect on our health care system.

The Other Pandemic That Keeps Killing

Want some good news about the current viral pandemic? Vaccines are taking effect across global populations and will eventually end this horrible nightmare. But we’ve yet to face, let alone resolve, the truly catastrophic health crisis plaguing humankind. It’s a disease for which there are no vaccines. Worse still, it is a completely unnecessary health tragedy that will continue unabated to kill millions of people worldwide year after year. It’s called type 2 diabetes and the coronavirus has made it deadlier. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the U.S., one in ten North Americans has diabetes. And 40 percent or more of the people who died of COVID-19 had diabetes.

Healthy Conversations About Weight Should Not Be Taboo

This week launches a series of columns on the current crisis – not the COVID pandemic, which will eventually come to an end, but rather, the seemingly endless escalation of the type 2 diabetes pandemic. We begin this week with the greatest culprit: obesity. Worrisomely, changing attitudes about weight are making matters worse.

Teenage Sex Pushing Boundaries in the Pandemic

If you are a parent or grandparent to teenagers, chances are you think the pandemic has them safely secluded at home – having inoculated them, you might say, from sexual encounters. But that might be wishful thinking. It’s been said “It’s hard to prepare teenagers for life when they already know everything.” But even if they do have all knowledge at their fingertips, their bodies are way ahead of their brains.

Summer’s Last Hurrah the Most Dangerous

Are you gearing up to have some fun? It’s the stick-in-the-mud who dulls the sense of adventure, suggesting you think twice. But the dullard may be the wise one as the summer closes out with the traditional long weekend. Labour Day Weekend originated in North America in the early 1880s to recognize workers. The holiday marked the establishment of the 40-hour work week, or 8 hours of work daily for 5 days and then two days of rest.

What Would Make Your Skin Turn Yellow?

A report from the Massachusetts General Hospital and published in the New England Journal of Medicine tells an interesting story. A 62-year-old man over a two-month period developed numbness, a “pins and needles” sensation in his hands, shortness of breath, trouble walking due to severe joint pain, and he began to turn yellow. Anyone faced with all these problems would think the end is near and start planning to say goodbye to loved ones. In retrospect, his symptoms could have been even worse. He could also have faced paranoia, delusions, memory loss, incontinence, loss of taste and more.

Retirement Homes Should Include a Lively Bar

What is the greatest loss to aging seniors? It happens when a loved one dies, and loneliness consumes the surviving partner. As the great composer Chopin lamented, “I feel alone, alone, alone.” Retirement is another benchmark for the onset of loneliness. Retirees often miss the day-to-day contact with colleagues. The impact of social isolation can lead to physical and mental health decline.

Long-term survival after heart attack

Diana Gifford-Jones: You were 74 when a coronary attack nearly killed you. A short time later you had a coronary bypass. Readers often ask what you have done to prevent another coronary for so long? W. Gifford-Jones, MD: I have no single answer. I’m convinced it’s been a combination of factors. Diana: What’s your personal routine for heart health?

Symptoms of Magnesium Deficiency

Magnesium is involved in roughly 80 percent of metabolic functions in the body. It is critical in delivering energy to cells and for the production of glutathione, an important antioxidant inside cells. Today, due to depletion of magnesium in the soil and modern food processing, about 60 percent of North Americans are deficient in this vital mineral. This hidden depletion could be causing diverse symptoms.

How Accurate Is Your Blood Pressure Reading?

Having your blood pressure taken during an annual checkup is always part of the routine. In fact, compared to CT scans and MRI procedures used to detect complex problems, most people don’t give blood pressure readings much thought. As long as the doctor reports normal readings, there’s no reason for concern. But have you ever wondered if your blood pressure reading is accurate?

No Moderation Needed When Bathing in the Woods

Mae West, the American movie star who rarely lacked for lifestyle advice, once conceded, “When in doubt, take a bath.” She didn’t have a forest setting in mind. But did you know that forest bathing might be just as therapeutic as a soak in the suds? Some people gravitate, even in unfavourable weather, to the outdoors. Others are most comfortable in front of the hearth. But a walk in the woods may be just the remedy you could use after months of confinement at home. A glimpse into the research surrounding this little-known “forest bathing” therapy offers insights on benefits including improved cardiovascular function, brain activity, immune systems, self-esteem, and reduced anxiety and depression.

Finding Truth in Science is a Moving Target

Having a good debate about matters of your health is not a bad thing. As has been said, “It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.” But recently, having a difference of opinion has become too closely associated with the polarized politics that is endemic in many countries. People have lost their sensibilities amid noisy pundits arguing nonsense about facts and fake news. So if you do not know who to turn to for the “truth”, you are not alone. And maybe you are chasing in the wrong direction.

Fixing the Leak of Untold Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is one of the most common problems of aging. It instills, needlessly, the prospect of embarrassment and a fear of leaving the house. Comedians quip, “If you don’t know when you need to go, by the time you find out, you’ve already gone!” But in fact, it’s no laughing matter when a sneeze, cough, or even just standing up causes urine suddenly to leak through your clothes.