Antidepressants may work better with folate

If you’re taking an antidepressant, you might also want to try folate, a type of vitamin B. An international research group that evaluates the results of clinical trials says there’s a small amount of evidence that folate may be a helpful supplement to antidepressants. Reviewers for the Cochrane Collaboration say more research is needed.

At the Cochrane Consumer Network, you can read more about this and other research on topics including shoulder pain, surgery for obesity and Zyban for quitting smoking. It’s one of my favorite sites.

The women behind the research

My (s)heroes today are the thousands of women who took part -- or are still taking part -- in the Women's Health Initiative study on hormone replacement therapy. Without them, researchers would not be able to test the conventional wisdom on HRT.

To find out more about clinical trials and how to participate in them, go to this National Institutes of Health site.

HRT increases dementia risk in older women

Last summer, women learned that hormone replacement therapy's risks (heart disease, stroke, breast cancer) outweighed its benefits (bone strength, reduction in colon cancer).

Today a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association
challenges previous evidence that HRT somehow protects the brains of postmenopausal women. In a large spin-off study of women 65 and older, the researchers noted an increased risk of dementia. In fact, after four years, the risk in the estrogen plus progestin group was twice that in the placebo group.

Lesson review for women and their doctors: Until more is known, HRT should be used only temporarily to treat menopausal symptoms.

Let's go to the museum

See the Battle Creek Vibratory Chair! The Shoe-Fitting X-ray Unit! The Violet Ray Generator!

It’s all here in the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. And in the gift shop, you can order a degree suitable for framing from a discredited medical school or buy a poster promoting "sanitized tape worms" that allowed you to eat, eat, eat and stay thin. "No ill effects!"

I found this Web site via the Librarians' Index to the Internet, which calls the museum "the world's largest display of medical devices created and marketed without the benefit of scientific research." The Librarians' Index also links to other interesting health sites.

Especially for logophiliacs

The phrase "brown bagging" has come to mean the practice of putting all one’s medications, vitamins and dietary supplements into a bag and taking them to a doctor or pharmacist to check for interaction problems.

Paul McFedries' Word Spy web site tracks the genesis and evolution of the phrase, as well as other new words.

Paul tells me he often includes health-related terms. "I enjoy doing medical/health words, and they always seem to generate a good response from subscribers," he writes in an e-mail. "I probably average something like three to five of these per month, although, of course, it varies depending on what's going on. For example, I had a few SARS-related posts back in late March and early April."

I plan to subscribe -- it’s free -- to Word Spy’s word of the day e-mail service.

Grain of salt department

Never be sick again. It's an intriguing notion that will be promoted by author Raymond Francis, who speaks next month in Spokane.

Francis' theories are based on his personal experience, not on the gold standard of scientific evidence _ large randomized controlled studies. His book and nutritional products Web site put him into a grain-of-salt category that Prevention magazine calls "profiting prophets."

Still, he has some interesting ideas.

"I made a discovery," he said in a phone interview from his home in the Bay Area. "There is really only one disease. And this discovery changes everything."

Francis' "one disease" is what he terms "malfunctioning cells" caused by malnutrition and toxic chemicals. His prevention and treatment methods revolve around enhancing the immune system through dietary supplements, exercise and sunlight.

There is indeed scientific evidence for some of his recommendations outlined in his 2002 book "Never Be Sick Again." But some of his other ideas, such as the claim that "mammograms are the leading cause of breast cancer," are unproven.

Francis, whose given name is Raymond Francis Friesecke, bills himself as "a biochemist and graduate of MIT." He did receive a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961, but it was in civil engineering, not biochemistry, according to MIT. Francis confirmed that in an interview.

Francis speaks on June 6 at 2:30 p.m. at Corbin Senior Activity Center, 827 W. Cleveland Ave. Tickets are $12. He also speaks on June 7 at 9:30 a.m. at Spokane Valley Senior Center, 11423 E. Mission Ave. Tickets are $12 for seniors, students and groups of three or more; $15 for others.

Another pleasure deemed hazardous

I jumped on trampolines as a child and survived. But now I know better.

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against home trampolines. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that trampoline injuries requiring emergency room treatment almost tripled in the last decade -- from an estimated 37,500 in 1991 to almost 100,000 in 1999.

Since 1990, CPSC received reports of 11 deaths related to trampoline use. Here’s a link to more facts on trampoline hazards compiled by SafeChild.net.

I guess I'll stick to jumping on the bed.

Miracle cure? Think again

If you're a late-night TV viewer, you may have seen the infomercial featuring Robert Barefoot promoting the health benefits of coral calcium.

Before you order now!!!, consider this: the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group for the dietary supplement industry, last week called on the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to take action against the miracle-cure claims.

For a reasoned viewpoint on coral calcium, take a look at what Prevention magazine has to say.

Teens and sex: What do you think?

Read a summary of a report about the sexual behavior of teenagers 14 and younger, released today by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Then let me know what you think about Planned Parenthood Federation of America's site for teens seeking information about sexual health. You can e-mail me by clicking on my name below.

Alive and funky

A medical and musical miracle is coming to the Festival at Sandpoint on Aug. 8 in the person of Francis Rocco Prestia, bass player for funk band Tower of Power.

Suffering from hepatitis C, Prestia received a life-saving liver transplant last July. He's now touring with the band and, I can personally testify, was fabulous in Seattle on Saturday night. The notes for Tower of Power's new CD, "The Oakland Zone," contain a touching plea for organ donors.

Safety net

I reported in Saturday's Spokesman-Review about federal budget cuts to a program that provides free mammograms and Pap tests to low-income women.

Since then, I've discovered a local agency that can take up some of the slack -- at least for mammograms. Cancer Patient Care, a Spokane non-profit organization, will pay for mammograms for low-income women referred by a health-care provider. The agency's phone number is 456-0446.

Guidance for tough choices

Most women with breast cancer today can get by without having a breast removed. Those who must undergo mastectomy also face numerous choices about possible breast reconstruction.

Spokane cancer surgeon Dr. Stephanie Moline helps her patients with those decisions by providing information based on research. She did her fellowship at the University of Michigan where she participated in the Michigan Breast Reconstruction Outcome Study.

Moline will present a free lecture on breast reconstruction for cancer patients on May 29 at 6 p.m. The event will be at Cancer Care Northwest, 601 S. Sherman, in Spokane. Light refreshments will be served. To reserve a seat, call (509) 747-4316 by May 27.

The power of a story

I just read an amazing profile of activist Zackie Achmat, a South African who is HIV positive and has been on a drug strike for four years. His goal is to pressure the South African President Thabo Mbeki and U.S. drug companies for low-cost medications for poor South Africans. Samantha Power wrote the story in the May 19 New Yorker. To learn more about HIV/AIDS in our region, read the transcript of our recent online chat on the subject.

Attention: This is satire

I'm a big fan of The Onion, the satirical newspaper. They've done it again with this story: "Zoloft for Everything."

Great quote

"If you don't have time for physical activity, you will have time for illness. Illness doesn't make an appointment."

-- Dr. Edward J. Roccella, coordinator of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program, which announced new high blood pressure guidelines yesterday. He was quoted in The New York Times.

The program recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week.
More information, including the evidence-based DASH Eating Plan, is available at the link above. Or click here.

Free and yummy

Joe Piscatella, author of “Take a Load Off Your Heart,” will speak at a free public forum May 20 in Spokane.

The event, which includes heart-healthy cooking demonstrations and hors d'oeuvres, will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. at Providence Auditorium on the Sacred Heart Medical Center campus.

To reserve a spot, call (509)474-2400.

What I know and what I'm learning

If you're like me, you want to feel good, be happy and live a long time. You want your doctor to know the science, know you and be a good listener. You want to stay informed about what works in medicine and what doesn't work. You're interested in alternative therapies, but think some of it's a little flaky.

You'd rather not have major surgery, but, if it comes to that, you want the very best surgeon in town. You don't want to go broke paying for your health care. And you think there ought to be a way to get some basic health care to everyone, especially children.

In covering the health beat for The Spokesman-Review, I've learned that "new" isn't always better, that medical research can be driven by business interests and that we spend more money on fixing people in their last days of life than we do on preventing our biggest killers. I've met wonderful people who care deeply about science, health and the miracles of the human body.

On this page, I'll write about what I continue to learn covering the most exciting beat at the newspaper.