Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WuKsELOVL/ Fire-inhibiting and disinfecting compounds, both of which are commonly found around our homes, damage the specialized cells that create the insulating coverings around nerves called myelin sheaths.  The absence of these sheaths is associated with multiple sclerosis. Case Western Reserve investigators have demonstrated that organophosphate flame re...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WtXOXLVfJ/ It may soon be possible to diagnose not only Parkinson’s but other degenerative neurologic disorders with simple skin biopsies.  This the promise suggested by a new study from Harvard-Beth Israel Hospital neurologists. Parkinson’s Disease, Lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy, and pure autonomic failure are neurologic disorders with a disti...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WshKLr39o/ Columbia University biomedical engineers have harnessed the method by which cells normally communicate with each other in order to deliver poison pill chemotherapy directly to lung cancer cells.  Knowing that structures called exosomes are cell-to-cell messengers, the researchers have engineered these so-called extracellular vehicles to convey mes...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WrzUdr3Tr/ Those who religions’ dietary laws forbid the ingestion of any foods or proteins from pigs often use this prohibition as the reason for rejecting the use of vaccines including the measles vaccine for their children and themselves.  It is true that many vaccines do use porcine gelatin, but there is an alternative. The Priorix Measles, Mumps, and Rub...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WrBg0rMGD/ Just as second hand smoke contains dangerous compounds that can induce lung disease and worse, the fumes from e-cigarettes are transmitting chemicals into the bodies of anyone in the vaper’s vicinity.  Nurse researchers from Emory University now report that metabolites of agents contained in vaping liquids have been detected in the blood and saliv...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5WpotMrR0E/ Ninety-five percent of benzoyl peroxide-containing cosmetics contain detectable levels of the human carcinogen benzene.  Even more worrisome: 89% of these products will harbor significantly toxic benzene concentrations if heated to levels considered safe by pharmaceutical standards. These findings prompted the independent testing lab Valisure to s...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Woz9vLkT-/ With the astronomical success of the GLP-1 agonist drugs including semaglutide and tirzepatide, shortages of these drugs are driving a search for alternatives using artificial intelligence techniques.  In addition to finding more diet drugs, the search is on for new compounds with fewer side effects. Spanish researchers are due to tell this spring...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Wn8VVry4R/ Hospitals and medical schools across the US opened up e-letters on April 1st from the Department of Health and Human Services, and it was no April Fool’s joke.  The letter heralded guidance rules and regulations regarding the new requirement for a patient’s written informed consent to any and all “sensitive and intimate examinations including pelv...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B_XR2LsjW/ The Food and Drug Administration and Wenders LLC are recalling Trader Joe’s 50% Less Salt Roasted & Salted Whole Cashews.  Lots  T12139, T12140, T12141, and T12142 have salmonella contamination. This bacterium can trigger serious and possibly fatal infections in the very young, elders, and in those with weak immune systems. The cashews were so...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B-bYLraqu/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Twenty Four Six Foods now recall Happiness USA Liquid Rolling Candy.  The rolling ball on the liquid candy dispenser easily detaches and becomes a choking hazard. About 290,000 units were sold at kosher market stores nationwide. Immediately take these candy dispensers away from your . Contact Twenty Four...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B9eOlrZHE/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Culture Kings company are recalling Culture King’s Magnetic Levitation Sneaker Displays.  The powerful magnets that permit the sneakers to float can attract each other leading to display breakage, plastic splintering, and even spark emissions leading to lacerations and other injuries.  Should the mult...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B8h2Ir6T-/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fisher-Price now recall Fisher-Price Little People Mickey and Friends Figures.  In particular, Donald and Daisy have heads that detach and create choking hazards for young children.  The other figures are said to be ok, but I’d check them to be certain. About 204,000 of these figure packs were sold in the...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B7yWBrMfP/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Crown Boiler Company are recalling Crown Aruba IV (AWR Series) gas-fired hot water boilers.  The blocked vent switch fails to operate properly at altitudes above 2,000 feet leading to emission of poisonous carbon monoxide. About 1100 of these boilers were sold by heating and plumbing contractors and w...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B7BParYFb/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Nestlé USA have recalled Metallic Mugs included in 2023 Holiday Starbucks-branded Gift Sets.  If these mugs are heated by microwave or by filling with with very hot liquids, they overheat and crack leading to burns and lacerations. About 440,500 of these gift sets with mugs were sold online and in-store n...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C5B58KcLbMq/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Ravin Crossbows are recalling Ravin R500 Model Crossbows.  If the device is not fully cocked, it can suddenly discharge creating injuries to the user or bystanders. About 13,300 of these crossbows were sold in the US and about 425 were sold in Canada at Ravin, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goo...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48quhaLgwD/ Health insurance corporations are preventing patients from receiving the latest and most effective treatments for IBD, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.  Over 80% of US health insurance companies refuse to authorize the most contemporary therapy for inflammatory bowel disease as initial therapy.  This the conclusion of a review by gastroente...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48pAtGLNIy/ The FDA has improved what is described as a new treatment for certain chronic nasal and sinus infections. This therapy for so-called chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps employs the long-used steroid nasal spray fluticasone, branded as Flonase, but delivers this drug using a novel dispenser that employs a higher pressure exhalation delivery...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48oOcerTFL/ The FDA has fired off letters to the Chinese manufacturer of plastic syringes and the two American importers of these products due to persisting quality issues.   The FDA has directed Medline Industries and Sol-Millennium Medical Inc, the importers and distributors of these Chinese syringes, to immediately transition away from selling plastic syri...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48nIkDr1dO/ Measles is on the rise around the world and here$ at home as well. A full 93% of cases popping up in the US are linked to international travel and most occurred in infants under 1 years who traveled unvaccinated. The CDC now $ recommends that families planning to travel with infants 6 to 11 months have the baby receive an early dose of the MMR, th...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48mRCXLuw7/ A wireless mini temperature sensor that rests against the small bowel wall offers continuing monitoring and an early warning signal that inflammatory bowel disease is ramping up.  Northwestern University bioengineers have packed this sensor and its power supply into a small capsule that rests within the loops of the small intestine.  They used thi...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48lZt7rxvX/ Parisian investigators affiliated with the Sorbonne report their pilot study using a sensitive vibrometer, the airborne ultrasound surface motion camera, AUSMC for short, to quantitate lung vibrations associated with speaking and breathing.  This non-invasive technique is in its infancy, but the concept of using both speech-generated vibrations an...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48knL7relJ/ Those who use e-cigarettes suffer the same epigenetic and potentially carcinogenic DNA changes as tobacco smokers.  So say British and Swiss researchers after their study of 3500 cheek tissue cell samples. Epigenetic changes are inherited factors that affect the function of the cell’s main genetic material without actually modifying chromosomal st...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48jsQ_rk_H/ Heartburn is common.  At least 1 in every 4 persons in North America have it, and it seems that nearly everyone you know is on some type of acid-suppressing medicine, prescription or over-the-counter or both.  With the trend toward using food as medicine, let’s look at the foods that can help you control gastric acid and heartburn. Melons includin...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48i9mPry-V/ Those men under treatment for prostate cancer and most consistently consuming plant-based foods enjoyed better sexual function, less incontinence, and better general quality of life compared with those men consistently eating animal-based diets.  This the conclusion of a retrospective study by NYU urology and population health researchers. The stu...

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C48iOblL6jD/ Does the word troponin sound familiar?  Maybe not, but troponin1 is an enzyme released into the bloodstream when cardiac tissues are damaged..  Over hours, rising troponin1 levels indicate that a patient has suffered a heart attack. University of Alabama-Birmingham cardiovascular researchers now report another use of repeat troponin1 level measure...