Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/0o7pEsu1LAg   When the summer heat drives air temperatures north of 100˚F, sidewalks turn into hot plates that can burn your skin in a matter of seconds.   Surgeons from the University of Las Vegas studied some 173 pavement burn cases they treated over the past 4 years.   Eighty-eight percent of the mostly second degree burns occurred when air temps were 95˚F or hotter....

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hqzQO77p9yE   Common feeding guidelines from children’s hospitals and infant formula manufacturers lead to overweight babies before their first birthdays.   This striking conclusion comes from a study by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health..   The Hopkins investigators developed a computer model to see the result of feeding virtual babies from 6 to 12 months accor...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/SHRYPwngED4   No one likes the prospect of surgery.   If you’ve been diagnosed with an ovarian cyst and your doctors have recommended removal, a new study suggests that an operation may not be necessary for every cyst.   Ovarian cysts are little balloon-like bumps that arise on the surface of the ovaries.   They are discovered with ultrasound scans when abdominal pain o...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/qhaBlo6cVAE   An unexpected observation during a patient’s awake neurosurgery confirms that laughter leads to a sense of calm and happiness.   Surgeons at Emory University in Atlanta relate this fascinating, whimsical tale.   A young patient with difficult to control epilepsy was undergoing awake neurosurgery to pinpoint the seizure focus.   During the surgery, the surg...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/1NAm2wRL76E   Looking for a little warmth this winter.   Finnish and British scientists urge you to spend some time in the sauna and not only warm up but enjoy substantial health benefits.   Their report in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings demonstrates that regular sauna use reduces your blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, improves lung function, energizes you...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/hMLMwnzMn9s   Restricting childrens’ sedentary screen time in favor of more physically active pursuits is the latest weapon in the war against childhood obesity.   New Canadian research just published in the journal BMC Obesity reminds us that parenting practices are key factors in their offsprings’ screen time.   Nearly 40 families with at least one child 18 monthS to 5...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/2vy8C8HHGdI   Half of the millions using the most common type of sleeping pills might never wake to escape a fire.   Taken to induce sleep and relaxation, the popular benzodiazepine medications or benzos for short include Restoril, Halcion, Ativan, Xanax, and Valium.   This class of drugs induces drowsiness but also suppresses emergency arousal.   Even newer drugs such...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/6PeLF8SxYHI Here’s a flash from the off-beat health news department.   Researchers in Sweden and Hungary report that the black and white striped design seen on Africa’s Zebras and copied into body painting by indigenous peoples protects against biting and blood-sucking insects including mosquitos and horseflies.     The scientists compared the frequency of horsefly atta...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/vDcsb8EVH6Y   Aspirin has now been shown to significantly improve survival for at least one type of cancer in those patients whose tumors have a specific genetic variant.   That cancer is squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with an altered PIK3CA gene.   A study just published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine followed 266 patients after surgical resectio...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hnuh7zTs1Lk   We doctors constantly repeat it and you constantly hear it: avoid all but healthy food during pregnancy.   Despite this mantra, nearly one-third of pregnant women believe that cannabis is safe for their developing babies.   The analysis by Canadian doctors of 6 US studies shows that, as years go by, more pregnant women are using marijuana.   Currently, at...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/fV5zjq6xVlA   Celiac disease may be initiated by an agent used to improve food texture and to literally glue together meat fragments into a more substantial, steak-like product.   The agent is microbial transglutaminase, and a review of data about the causation of celiac diease just published in Frontiers in Pediatrics suggests that the increasing amounts of this substa...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Q_ysMuyhRLA   Electronic cigarette use is on the upswing, and their makers trumpet the latest studies showing that e-cigs help current tobacco smokers kick the habit.   In actuality, as older smokers quit more teens use e-cigs and move on to the nasty and dangerous habit that is tobacco cigarette smoking.   Besides the addicting nicotine, the e-cigs vaporize and spew a...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Lwn3bMuGWHM   Are you a good or a bad boss?   Do you have a good or a bad boss.   The latest study shows management style definitely affects the bottom line. ______ An-Chih Wang, Chou-Yu Tsai, Shelley D. Dionne, Francis J. Yammarino, Seth M. Spain, Hsiao-Chi Ling, Min-Ping Huang, Li-Fang Chou, Bor-Shiuan Cheng. Benevolence-dominant, authoritarianism-dominant, and classi...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/vFDQ2QUXUC8   Fraudulent products, procedures, and people abound on the web.   Here are some ready strategies that will help prevent you from being taken. ____________ Victoria Perez, Seth Freedman. Do Crowdsourced Hospital Ratings Coincide with Hospital Compare Measures of Clinical and Nonclinical Quality? Health Services Research, 2018; DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.13026  ...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Bs963ywQHJE   The majority of American parents believe that young children should not be playing tackle football.   A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics tabulated the results of a nationwide survey.   Over 1000 parents completed the survey.   Sixty-one percent definitely favored restrictions and another 24% were leaning toward bans on tackling for younge...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/hO0nhRo7HYE   With the coming of ever warmer weather, the news here is bad news.   At least 1000 children perish due to preventable drownings every year, and accidental drowning is the single leading cause of injury-related death for kids 1 to 4 years of age.   These tragedies occur because naturally-curious kids gain unexpected access to water.   Those children also at...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/4R0XogusZx0   I’m Dr. Howard Smith, PENTA Medical Network, reporting from NYC with the Health News Roundup for the 3rd week of JULY, 2019.   This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.     Here are this weeks stories : To Prevent Dementia Bank Your B...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/k1bHDtP93Zw   Our friends and neighbors sadly dependent on heroin call themselves “addicts,” but they would prefer we call them “people who use drugs.”   This finding comes from a first-of-its-kind study by psychiatrists and health law experts at UMass and Boston University.   The study polled participants embarking on an inpatient heroin withdrawal program.   While 70%...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/Xk6ebT6Hchw   Women looking for a cheaper alternative to tampons need look no further than the Menstrual Cup.   Now this is not a new invention and it’s been around since the 1930’s, but a new meta-analysis just published in The Lancet reviewed the experiences of some 3300 women using the cup to determine its utility and safety.   The majority of menstrual cups are plac...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/tLIrv6XIfMg   Players who tackle their opponents by leading with the shoulders rugby-style rather than with the head football-style sustain fewer and less forceful impacts.   This is the conclusion of a sports medicine study at West Virginia’s Marshall University to be presented next week to the American Academy of Neurology’s Sports Concussion conference.   The study f...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/tjCw6J7GYZk   A new cannabis-based drug can effectively treat those addicted to marijuana.   An Australian study just published in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that nabiximols, a CBD-THC combo medication marketed as Sativex™, can not only help weed users quit by reducing withdrawal symptoms, but also diminish their chances of relapse.   The University of Sydney’s Drug &...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/0rJe-bmI3OA   Every week there is more news that the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract affect not only your body’s metabolism and immune system but also the health of distant organs such as your brain.   A new study from the Baylor College of Medicine shows that you need a healthy diet to spawn healthy bacteria in your gut’s microbiome.   The investigators studied...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/TLtTka9aWa4   Just 10 minutes petting a friendly dog or cat can significantly diminish the stress on a college student stemming from academic demands, social pressures, and student loans.   The data gathered from 249 students at the Washington State University by scientists there quantitated stress levels by measurement of steroids in the students’ saliva.   The student...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/ooe4-3n-D-0   If you have problems hearing and reject wearing a hearing aid due to pride, you are increasing your chances of losing your mind later in life.   British investigators at the University of Exeter recently presented the data behind this warning to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Los Angeles.   The study looked at 25,000 hearing impair...

Vidcast:   https://youtu.be/YiI9buLkoCg   When women of child-bearing age undergo surgery, their postoperative pain medications often addict them to narcotics.   These dependencies then create a drug problem for their babies even years later.     A study of 2.2 million Canadian births over the past 27 years concludes that neonates born to mothers who had heart, thoracic, urologic, or neurologic su...