So long, Sodium!

This article, printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, makes yet ANOTHER strong case for lowering your sodium intake (for a more easily read version, try this one).

The amount of salt that researchers determined should be eliminated from our diets is 3 grams of sodium, or about 1/2 a teaspoon of table salt. Here's the first few paragraphs of the article. Enjoy.

Health care reform is front and center on the U.S. political agenda. Actively debated are fundamental changes to the health care delivery system, which largely focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of existing disease. Prevention of disease, commonly accomplished through public health interventions, appears to be an afterthought, perhaps because the benefits are mistakenly perceived as small and the cost savings delayed.

In this issue of the Journal, Bibbins-Domingo and colleagues¹ document a public health intervention designed to reduce dietary salt intake that can have huge benefits. In brief, the authors project that a national effort to reduce daily salt intake by 3 g (1200 mg of sodium) could reduce the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) by 60,000 to 120,000, stroke by 32,000 to 66,000, and myocardial infarction by 54,000 to 99,000 and reduce the annual number of deaths from any cause by 44,000 to 92,000.

This intervention could also save 194,000 to 392,000 quality-adjusted life-years and $10 billion to $24 billion in health care costs annually. Even if the intervention reduced salt intake by just 1 g per day, the benefits would still be substantial and would warrant implementation.

Magnesium Cum Laude

I'd like to write today about a really boring mineral: magnesium. It's not too often discussed probably because it isn't exotic like acai berries or expensive like krill oil or etc. Its deficiency, however, is a cause and effect of numerous conditions.

But first, I'll start with a disclaimer:

If you are currently experiencing any type of kidney condition or disease, do not use magnesium supplements without the full knowledge and approval of your physician. Magnesium is necessary for life and can protect the kidney from disease but if kidney damage has already occurred magnesium supplementation could be harmful, even life threatening.

And now for the more interesting stuff. Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, with approximately 50% of total body magnesium found in bone. The remainder is found predominantly inside cells of body tissues and organs. Only 1% of magnesium is found in blood, but the body works very hard to keep blood levels of magnesium constant.

Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong.

Deficiency (from low dietary intake or excess loss) is clinically associated with:

• ADD/ADHD
• Alcoholism
  
• Alzheimer's
• Angina
• Anxiety disorders
• Arrhythmia
• Arthritis- Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis
• Asthma
• Autism
• Auto immune disorders- all types
• Cavities
• Cerebral Palsy- in children from magnesium deficient mothers
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Coffee Consumption
  
• Congestive Heart Disease
• Constipation
• Crooked teeth- narrow jaw- in children from magnesium deficient mothers
• Depression
• Diabetes- Type I and II
• Eating disorders- Bulimia, Anorexia
• Fibromyalgia
• Gut disorders- including peptic ulcer, Crohn's disease, colitis, food allergy
• Heart Disease- Arteriosclerosis, high cholesterol, high triglycerides
• Heart Disease- in infants born to magnesium deficient mothers
• High Blood Pressure
• Hypoglycemia
• Impaired athletic performance
• Infantile Seizure- in children from magnesium deficient mothers
• Insomnia
• Kidney Stones
• Lou Gehrig's Disease
• Migraines- including cluster type
• Mitral Valve Prolapse
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscle cramps
• Muscle weakness, fatigue
• Myopia- in children from magnesium deficient mothers
• Obesity- especially obesity associated with high carbohydrate diets
• Osteoporosis- just adding magnesium reversed bone loss
• Parkinson's Disease
• PMS- including menstrual pain and irregularities
• PPH- Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
• Raynaud's
• SIDS- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Stroke
• Syndrome X- insulin resistance
• Thyroid disorders- low, high and auto-immune; low magnesium reduces T₄

Recommended Dietary Allowances for magnesium for children and adults

Age (years)	Male (mg/day)	Female (mg/day)	Pregnancy (mg/day)	Lactation (mg/day)
1-3	80	80	N/A	N/A
4-8	130	130	N/A	N/A
9-13	240	240	N/A	N/A
14-18	410	360	400	360
19-30	400	310	350	310
31+	420	320	360	320

The best dietary sources of magnesium include green leafy vegetables, nuts, peas, beans, and cereal grains in which the germ or outer layers have not been removed. Hard water has been found to contain more magnesium than soft water.

Children's Tylenol, Benadryl, etc. Recall!

As both a father and a doctor, I have a responsibility to help get this "out there" ASAP. The following is from WebMD:

Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, St. Joseph Aspirin, Rolaids Recall

Containers' Moldy Odor to Blame for Recall of 60 Million Over-the-Counter Products

Jan. 15, 2010 -- Because of a sickening smell in some containers, 54 million packages of 27 different over-the-counter remedies now are being recalled.

Products include various types of child and/or adult Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl, St. Joseph Aspirin, Rolaids, and Simply Sleep. This adds to the 6 million packages of Tylenol recalled late last year, bringing the total number of recalled products to 60 million.

Click HERE to read the rest of the article

Warts happening?

I will admit it. This may seem like an odd topic for discussion: plantar warts. I mention them today for several reasons. First, they are likely to be encountered in public gyms/showers/restrooms. Second, with the new year and New Year's resolutions in full swing, people will unfortunately have to deal with them. Third and finally, I have experience with them.

Plantar warts are benign (noncancerous) growths that occur on the sole (plantar surface), heel, or ball of the foot. Pressure from standing and walking often causes them to grow into deep layers of the skin. The human papillomavirus (HPV) causes several different types of warts, which are the most common type of skin infection.

Anyone can contract the virus that causes plantar warts. According to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), plantar warts occur most often in children and young adults between the ages of 12 and 16. Incidence is highest in people who share common bathing areas (e.g., dormitory students, military recruits, gym members).

So, what to do about them? The standard treatment for years has been one of two methods: cryotherapy (freezing them off) and topical salicylic acid (chemically burning them off). Several studies (numbers one and two) point towards and alternative method----duct tape.

That's right, duct tape to kill your plantar wart. Sure, it's not as aggressive as salicylic acid, or as painful as liquid nitrogen or as "techie" as laser therapy, but it works.

The research shows quite well that duct tape applied and worn constantly over the affected area (read: wart) is as or more effective than any other form of therapy in killing the virus (HPV) responsible for plantar warts.

And speaking from experience, it works quite well. I caught mine after swimming at UCLA's pool a few years ago. Laser and salicylic therapies failed. Then a podiatrist friend recommended 3 weeks of duct tape therapy.....and....problem solved.

So, it's an ugly problem with an even uglier name, but it should be addressed. If you or someone you know is fighting this problem, head on down to the local hardware store for your treatment. It's cheap, effective, and will stick to darned-near-anything.

Happy New Year?

Well, this post is a bit of a bummer to write. After running about 1000 miles in preparation for this weekend's Avalon 50 mile race, I'm officially dropping out. :(

Since I promised to keep the "web" up to date on any issues I encountered during training, here it is:

On Christmas Eve-Eve (that's the 23rd), while surfing my favorite spot (south of Newport and north of San Diego....that's all I'll say!) I jumped off of my board in what I thought was 4-5 feet of water. Problem is, it was about 1 foot of water. What resulted? A hyperextended left knee.

The good news is that the major ligaments of the knee are intact. I believe that I sprained a minor ligament--the antero-medial menisco-femoral ligament. This ligament helps to hold the horns of the menisci to the femur.

A sprain is never good news, but in my case it is. The sort of injury I suffered could have and probably should have resulted in an ACL and medial meniscus tear.

So what does this all mean? Well, no 50 for me this winter. Today I managed to run 8 miles pain free, so I am healing well. I guess the rest of the winter and spring will have a few 10k races for me.

People often ask me if I'm afraid that all of the "things" (meaning sports) I do will wear-out my body. As I've established previously, exercise makes the body stronger--all parts of it. Furthermore, significantly more people die on the sofa than in the water or on the trail.

My advice to you: if you fall off of that horse, get back on it and ride the heck out of it!