Health Benefits of the "50 Shades of Grey" Novel

One day while I was rounding on hospital patients, I received a provocative text message from my wife.  Being a professional in a professional setting requires somewhat a stoic persona, but this text dropped my jaw.  I felt a rush of warmth come to my face and no doubt flushed with embarrassment - I retreated to a small office alcove.

I almost started sweating, as the heat got caught under my suit jacket.  Loosening my tie, I struggled to make sense of this overwhelmingly erotic text message.  This was just not normal, my wife rarely lets loose her creative energies in the form of words on me.  Her creativity is fixed on cute little "roses are red, violets are blue" poems.   As my heart raced, and my adrenal glands secreted catecholamines-- I finally recognized what happened.

It all started a week prior when my nurses recommended that I buy the new book, "50 Shades of Grey," by E.L. James, for my wife.  This, I thought, was unusual.  Rarely do I receive recommendations to read a fiction piece from nurses.  In fact, I have never been given recommendations to read anything by nurses. The occasional book worm patient and I will bounce authors' names back and forth, but to have the nurses on the floor discussing the book with such grandiosity peaked my interest.


"You won't regret it!" they encouraged me.  At the time, I wondered why they had those mischievous smiles.


So I ventured into Target that week and found a paperback "50 shades," and proceeded to the check out.  The cashier's half smile at me gave me no hint as to what possibly this book could do.


Carrying the prize home to the wife, I fantasized about what potential awaits our marriage, both in the form of emotional and physical rewards.  What subsequently occurred was not what I had expected, and moreover, it had opened a new chapter for us in our 7th year of marriage.


The health benefits were many.  First of all, I had an increased physical attraction to my wife.  It has been over 10 years since she used to call and talk to me provocatively.  I was a lowly medical student and had no real love life.  Second, enhanced intercourse and all the benefits of a cardio workout subsequently occurred.  The increased interest in sex in both, its most basic form, and the plethora of advanced forms, helped renew my motivation to improve in my own areas of confidence and vigor.  


The nurses knew best, as they usually do, and I gladly won't ever regret their advice.  For all who look for more ways to get healthy--give this book a try.  It's definitely an A++

Headaches in Children

Children can get headaches just as often as adults.  It is debilitating issue for a kid to feel both pain, and the inability to go out and play.

The two most common causes of headaches in children are the Migraine type and the Tension types.

The FDA hasn’t approved medication for migraine medicine in children, however, there are ways to decrease pain.  In children, the treatment for both Migraine and Tension type headaches are nearly the same. 

For physicians, the goal is to make sure the headache is not a brain tumor, which necessitates imaging.

After a brain tumor has been ruled out, therapy for headaches rests on controlling the environment.  First, put the child in a dark quiet room, and encourage him/her to sleep.  Both physical and environmental stress acts as a trigger and a consequence of headaches. 

Continue to control the child’s environment by having scheduled times for meals, bedtime, relaxation, and exercise.

Tension headaches often respond to medications, such as  Ibuprofen and acetaminophen. 

Never underestimate the power of behavior therapy for headache treatment, as headaches can be a sign the child is having a lot of stress in their life.   

And may good health be with you.

Camping and Water-borne Illnesses

Welcome to summer -- It is definitely hot and this is the time of the year for families to go out camping prior to the beginning of the new school year.

When you decide to go camping it is most likely going to involve water-- rivers and/or lakes.  The best way to prevent waterborne illnesses while you are camping is to make sure you do not swallow the water that you are swimming in.

I remember very clearly as a kid taking a bottle of water from the pond and looking under the microscope and seeing all kinds of different little fungi and protozoa.

It just so happens when somebody comes in with severe diarrhea of unknown etiology, we check for ova and parasites in the stool.

If you do have diarrhea, do not go swimming in the first place for the safety of other campers, as diarrhea or stool particles can be in and around the rectum  and therefore leak out while swimming.

Drink nice filtered water when you're out camping and make sure that you always swim with somebody. 

Always take a shower before and after swimming as this helps get rid of some of the bacteria and germs and fungus that might be living on your body.

And remember if you are boating, canoeing, and/or kayaking, always wear your life jacket if you're in and around water.  Finally, be sure to avoid alcohol.

Now go camping and have fun!

Guts, Bugs, IBS, and the CDC

A recent study showed that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a collection of symptoms including diarrhea, painful bloating, abdominal pain, and alternating stool patterns, is definitively related to the overgrowth of bacteria in the gut. 

In the study 60% of diarrhea- predominant IBS patients had small intestine bacterial overgrowth, or SIBO.

The authors of the study also discussed the use of antibiotics that are absorbed in the gut being very effective for treatment of IBS.

My personal favorite treatment is Asacol, prescribed at three times daily for 10 days for IBS flares, and once daily for prophylaxis.  Antibiotics haven’t been my mainstay, but I have treated abdominal pain IBS with Cipro and Flagyl in the past with good effect.

On other news front, the CDC released a 3 year study from 2007 to 2010 looking at clinical data and seeing how preventive medicine is being utilized. 

They found that 47% of patients with Heart Disease were recommended their daily dose of aspirin.  This may be due to the fact that they are on Plavix or another blood thinner if they have coronary vessel stents.

In the past 5 years, only 33% of men and 25% of women had been screened for high cholesterol.  The question I have is, are these only annual exams that the study is looking at?  If so, it’s a travesty.

And finally they found that only 1 in 13 smokers were prescribed medications to assist smoking cessation.  I can believe this as it is very hard to get a patient to try Chantix or Wellbutrin (Zyban).  More often than not, a patient hasn’t reached the stage of agreement on even quitting.  After they agree to quit, they have a spouse that needs to quit with them.

After the patient and the spouse both agree to quit, they must agree to come to the doctor’s office together.  There are a lot of steps in between getting a patient a prescription for Chantix. 

I would happily try to help each smoker quit, but unless your heart is in it, it is wasting time.  A great video done by Allen Carr, a heavy smoker who quit, gives you the sense that the anxiety you feel between cigarettes is actually your body going through withdrawal for your addiction, not real anxiety.  He also wrote a book.  I recommend smokers look at his video on Youtube.


Thanks everyone, and stay healthy!