Health News

CROSSFEED 2-98

AEROMEDICAL NEWS

HEALTH NEWS

by Larry Kline

ANTIOXIDANT PROTECTION FROM TEAS - antioxidant chemicals founds in black and green teas appear to prevent artery damage that can lead to heart disease-in test tubes, at least. Japanese researchers tested 14 men, who were asked to consume three cups of tea per day for four weeks. Blood tests done before and after that period showed that the antioxidant chemicals did appear in the bloodstream and block harmful molecules.

Green tea has the biggest benefit. It’s antioxidant qualities are 100 times more effective than vitamin C and 25 times better than vitamin E at preventing cell damage. Black and oolong tea contain about 40 percent of the compounds found in green tea. Health 11/97 and Men’s Health 12/97.

BLUEBERRIES - THE STRONGEST ANTIOXIDANT - blueberries top all other foods in their ability to neutralize free radicals, the highly reactive molecules thought to foster many health problems, including cancer and clogged arteries.

In studies at Tufts University last year, berries contained three times the antioxidant effect of spinach or oranges. The secret ingredient is contained in the color of the berry - blue pigments contain anthocyanins (also contained in smaller amounts in strawberries and other blue red fruits). Health 1/98.

DON’T LET YOUR PROSTATE GUARD DOWN - a study at the National Cancer Institute found that men who’ve been treated for testicular cancer have a slightly higher risk of developing a second tumor for as long as 20 years after initial treatment. It is felt that the chemotherapy or radiotherapy these men received may be responsible for the increased risk. However, current therapies used today may cause less risk as these treatments are less aggressive.

Also there is a new test that can determine whether prostate cancer has spread before the patient undergoes surgery. If the cancer has already spread beyond the prostate, surgery solves only part of the problem, so alternate therapies that don’t have as high a risk of causing side effects, impotence and incontinence, may be considered. The test, Prostascint, is simple, painless, FDA-approved and covered by most insurance. Men’s Health 3/98.


ASPIRIN AFTER, NOT BEFORE - aspirin can irritate the gastrointestinal system. So can running or any strenuous exercise. Together, University of Iowa research indicates, they can lead to stomach or intestinal inflammation, bleeding, or even ulcers. Only take aspirin after a workout, never before. Men’s Fitness 6/97.

ALLERGY TIP - if you are prone to allergies and have a mustache, wash it twice a day with liquid soap. In a recent study, eight patients who did this used fewer antihistamines and decongestants - cleaning the ‘stache got rid of stuck pollen grains. Men’s Health 3/98.

BOOZE + TYLENOL = TROUBLE - researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have reported that relatively small overdoses of acetaminophen (an active ingredient in “Tylenol”, “Excedrin”, and other nonprescription remedies) can lead to serious liver damage, especially when mixed with alcohol. Taking too much of such seemingly innocuous drugs was the leading cause of sudden liver failure at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas from 1992 to 1995.

According to researchers, acetaminophen has a narrower safety window than many nonprescription drugs. Many people assume they can take two or three times the recommended dosage and not be hurt by it. That is not true with acetaminophen. The body breaks down this drug into a product that is poisonous to the liver in large amounts.

Some authorities recommend only taking one-half the recommended dosage of acetaminophen if alcohol is going or has been consumed. Health 1/98.

SECONDHAND DANGER - nonsmokers who live with a smoker increase their heart disease and lung cancer risk by 25 percent. Even relatively minimal exposure to tobacco smoke appears to greatly impair cardiovascular health.

An independent study analyzed secondhand smoke and found that it contains approximately 200 poisons and 43 carcinogens. Men’s Fitness 2/98 and Men’s Health 3/98.

DELAYING CAN BE DEADLY - if you feel a persistent, uncomfortable pressure in your chest, don’t waste time - get it checked out. Head to the emergency room. A study of 2,404 heart-attack patients showed that 40% waited more than six hours before going to the hospital. The longer that treatment is delayed, the more heart muscle may be damaged. In a Scottish study, delaying treatment just one hour decreased survival chances by 20 percent. 70 percent of fatal heart-attack victims do not receive CPR. Men’s Health 9/97 and 12/97, and Men’s Fitness 2/98.


TAKE “C” TO SEE LONGER - cataracts eventually dim the vision of more than half of all Americans. A recent study shows that vitamin C can curtail that clouding. The key to prevention may not be merely how much of the vitamin you get each day but how many years you get it.

A study at Tufts and at Harvard universities found that those who had been taking vitamin C supplements for at least a decade were 77 percent less likely than the others to show lens clouding.

The lens of the eye contains delicate proteins that must be dispersed evenly if light is to pass through cleanly. When the lens of the eye is exposed to tobacco smoke or the ultraviolet rays of unfiltered sunlight, the proteins begin to clump. Too much clumping and the lens loses transparency - the start of cataracts. These studies suggest that vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, neutralizing the molecules that initiate the clumping. Preliminary results indicate that the human lens becomes saturated with vitamin C at daily dietary levels of about 200 mgs. - the amount from two glasses of orange juice or a couple of pieces of broccoli. Health 1/98.

THE NEW FRONTIER IN CANCER TREATMENT - this country declared war on cancer in 1971. The last three decades of basic research has revealed the process that causes healthy cells to turn into killers. At least six separate genetic mutations have to occur before a cell can start growing out of control. Some people are born with genetic defects that make certain cells especially vulnerable to mutation. Cigarette smoke, ultraviolet radiation, and toxic chemicals all can damage cells as they divide. Other factors in increased cancer risk include large consumption of red meat (increased risk of colon cancer), junk food consumption (people who eat fruit and vegetables in quantity have reduced cancer rates), inactivity (active people seem to have about half the risk as sedentary folks), overeating (increased risk of colon, prostate, and breast cancer), and alcohol abuse (increased risk of liver, throat, and esophageal cancer).

In the past, doctors had to throw everything they had at cancer, scattershot, because they didn’t understand the disease. These options were the “slash, burn, and poison,” as some cancer victims refer to conventional methods of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Surgery can eliminate some cancers, but it may be useless if malignant cells have broken loose and infiltrated other parts of the body. Radiation can shrink or destroy localized tumors, but often at the risk of injuring nearby healthy tissues.

When cancer spreads, or metastasises, the counterattack is usually chemotherapy - toxic chemicals that poison not only cancer cells, but other fast-growing cells, causing hair loss and lowered immunity. Because cancer cells mutate so quickly, they can rapidly grow resistant to drugs, causing chemotherapies to quickly lose their effectiveness.

But there are new weapons in the medical arsenal to combat cancer. Four of these new approaches promise to revolutionize cancer treatment in our lifetime.


1. MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES - “guided missiles” that seek out cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies are molecules designed to latch onto the surface of harmful cells and destroy them. It is a strategy borrowed from the immune system, which produces natural antibodies to seek and destroy invading bacteria and viruses. Researchers have found that malignant cells over-produce a protein, that in healthy cells signals cells to grow and divide in an orderly manner. A malignant cell may have as much as ten-times this protein on its surface, allowing the cell to reproduce out of control. These antibodies impair the ability of the cell to reproduce. Additionally, monoclonal antibodies have been paired with radioactive particles or toxic chemicals to deliver their lethal load to the heart of a cancer cell to increase their effectiveness with less collateral damage to healthy cells.

2. GENE THERAPIES - customized viruses sent to fix damage genes. Viruses are really nothing more than strands of genetic material - operating instructions for making new versions of themselves. Once viruses invade a cell, they insert their own genes into its DNA, turning the cell into a virus-producing factory. The hope of this therapy is to find ways to tame viruses and then engineer them to carry new or repaired genes into living cells, undoing the genetic mutations that might otherwise add up to cancer.

3. CANCER VACCINES - shots that incite the immune system to attack malignancies. Standard vaccines work in the body by placing harmless versions of bad viruses into our system, allowing the immune system to bolster its defenses to that virus if exposed in quantity. The immune system detects invaders like cold or flu viruses by way of telltale molecules on their surfaces - microscopic fingerprints. Once the system spots a foreign print, it attacks and eventually destroys the infectious agent.

In theory, the same approach could be used to prime the immune system to kill cancer cells. But, unlike viruses and bacteria, tumors aren’t foreign invaders; they’re our own cells gone awry, and they still look like family to the immune system. That’s why immune cells seldom disturb tumors. The trick is to identify key changes that occur when a normal cell becomes cancerous. The National Cancer Institute is currently testing a vaccine that detects defective genes that occur in colon cancer. They estimate that up to 20 percent of all cancers have defective R AS genes, so that the vaccine has promise beyond the treatment of colon cancer.

4. ANTI-ANGIOGENESIS DRUGS - therapies designed to starve tumors to death. To grow and spread, cancer cells have to trick the body into crating extra blood vessels to feed their burgeoning masses. Otherwise cancers would exist only as tiny specks, too small to do harm.

A melanoma may appear as a harmless mole on the skin for five or more years; a cluster of breast cancer cells may lurk for years without causing problems. But then trouble hits, through mutation, some of the malignant cells gain the ability to signal the body to begin producing new blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis.


To stop the process, researchers have identified nearly a dozen anti-angiogenic factors - compounds that block blood vessel formation, effectively shutting off a tumor’s lifeblood. These drugs are currently being tested around the country, the most promising are angiostatin and endostatin.

Researchers originally assumed anti-angiogenic drugs would stop cancers from growing, but not shrink existing tumors; now it’s clear they do both. Better still, they appear to have few side effects. Since adults normally don’t produce new blood vessels, blocking the process doesn’t cause trouble. Also, cancer cells don’t become resistant to these drugs, as they do to chemotherapies.

These new therapies are likely to be cocktails that hit cancer cells from many directions - exactly the approach that has worked against AIDS. Health 3/98.

AVOIDING STONES - according to a 17-year study involving almost 100,000 people, taking supplemental calcium without food significantly increases the risk of developing kidney stones. An empty stomach may absorb too much calcium which leads to excess calcium in the kidneys and to possible kidney stone formation. Men’s Fitness 2/98.

CHRONIC HEARTBURN CAN BE DANGEROUS - many of the 25 million people who suffer from persistent heartburn actually have Barrett’s esophagus - a precancerous condition in the esophageal lining that develops from chronic stomach-acid damage. Worse, 95 percent of the people who develop cancer from Barret’s esophagus die from it! The incidence of esophageal cancer among white males has been increasing by 8 percent every year. Some researchers believe that men may be relying too heavily on over-the-counter medications. They recommend visiting a doctor if even mild heartburn strikes you three times per week. Men’s Health 3/98.

LOOK FOR THE BLUE FLAME - the flame on all gas appliances should be blue. If there is a trace of yellow, you could be breathing carbon monoxide. Prime Health & Fitness, Fall/97.

From the Flight Surgeon:

"The No-Tell Motel"

by Joe Battersby, D.O.

FAA Medical Examiner

(edited for this publication-LK)

One of my guys at Continental asked me to talk about what to “admit” or “not admit” to on a medical application form.

Of course we’re not going to talk here about whether you need to report visits to your orthodontist or massage parlor (for Physical Therapy, of course). We’re talking about whether or not you’re wondering if maybe what we have here is the talk show “I (possibly) Have a Secret”.


In the matter of motels, my advice is to Deny! Deny! Deny! In the matter of the history part of your medical application, my advice is 180 degrees opposite. Let’s start at the very beginning. First, on general principles you need an AME that you can trust and that trusts you-implicitly. If you’re not sure of that, then ask around and find an AME that will respond to anonymous phone calls from airmen. That should get you to the point of understanding whether you have a problem or not. Most of all the “problems” I encounter are solvable when directly faced down. Any amount of extra paperwork, additional medical opinions, delays, etc...are preferable to entering a bleeping contest with the F.A.A., or worse-a plaintiff’s attorney. It’s kinda like putting yourself in the position of telling the I.R.S. that you only made 5 grand a year for the past three years or so.

Everything will be hunky-dory until and unless they catch you. They (I.R.S.) May never catch you but if they do, you may have heard or read that the guy in question would have been better off fielding a live grenade. The F.A.A. is like the I.R.S.-they get bleeped at you and it’s your bleep. The list of violations that you can be charged with is amazing. Not just relative to the event in question, but the fact that you concealed matters from them as well.

How about some event that (God forbid) involves a plaintiff’s attorney? You’d better be sure that you and your estate are judgment proof. Ha! Nobody can know about any medical problems you’ve had if you don’t tell them. Sure, and there isn’t a computer manned central data bank that holds all the dope on medical claims. You weren’t some dumb enough to use your medical insurance, were you? Or were you?

Please keep things straight-I’m a pilot’s advocate. I’m not takin’ this position from the F.A.A.’s point of view. I think doing things “as I suggest” in this area is the best approach and I’ve had 30 years experience with these deals.

Bottom line-talk things over with your AME (preferably) or make an anonymous phone call to one if you’s feel better. Perhaps that would be better than taking a chance on your own. Of course, there are guys out there running without medicals, annuals, or recurrent flight tests. To think otherwise would be naive in the extreme. People make choices all the time. Some are wise, others not too smart.

I’ll list some mandatory denials again, those things that require remedy before issuance can be effected. These are physical and mental problems that could lead to sudden incapacity. You will note that some of these problems can, in time, usually be resolved.

-Diabetes requiring insulin or other medication

-Angina pectoris: chest pain due to heart disease

-Coronary disease that has required treatment or, if untreated, has been symptomatic or clinically significant

-Myocardial infarction, i.e. “heart attack”

-Psychosis (major mental disease)

-Severe personality disorders repeatedly manifested by overt acts


-Alcoholism or drug dependency

-Epilepsy

-Disturbances of consciousness lacking satisfactory medical explanation

Best,

Joe