Dr. Howard Smith Reports

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/5GktQvHI9Lc It’s no secret that the USA has the most expensive healthcare in the world, but a new commentary by clinicians at Cornell and the University of Texas-San Antonio suggests our specialty-driven clinical practice guidelines may be at fault.   This perspective comes from a panel of doctors who have practiced in other wealthy countries before coming to the US to li...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/tVWdIgOWwEs So you have celiac disease, the most severe form of gluten sensitivity, and exposure to the wheat protein can make you terribly sick.   You avoid any wheat products at home, and you carefully choose restaurants that certify their food to be gluten-free.   Just how good is their certification. Not very good say studies just published by gastroenterologists at C...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/CbOcuLIEkkw The debate continues!   The latest multi-country study of nearly 18,000 kids in England, Ireland, and the US analyzed the effect of screen time on adolescent well-being.   When the data were tabulated, no negative effects could be found. The University of Oxford investigators looked at the duration of screen time and its proximity to bedtime.   They scrutinize...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/C3A3taMtQIg Medical marijuana now legalized in 33 states and the District of Columbia, and many of you probably have questions about its uses.   I came cross this excellent article published this week in the British Medical Journal, and I want to pass it on.     The article reviews the available types of medicinal but also non-medicinal cannabis products and by-products,...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/MCs-vrn_2io Keeping your gums healthy may help you maintain a sharp mind as well as a full set of teeth throughout your life.   A study from the University of Louisville’s dental school shows that a bacterium that frequently causes gingivitis and periodontitis can travel to your brain and help to trigger your mental decline. The nasty bug in question is Porphyromonas ging...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/GF0b2eu17dM Young people and adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffer from flashback-induced anxiety attacks that send the entire body into orbit.   Controlling the breathing rate using an electronic device helps those with PTSD relax, suppress anxiety, and better manage their symptoms. Clinical researchers from Atlanta’s Emory University reported their success w...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/6n6RFpV2k1w Babies are dying in these infant rocker-sleepers when they roll over or twist their airways and suffocate.   The death count is a reported 32 infants, but that count likely under estimates the number.   The device all over the news is the Fisher-Price Rock ’n Play Sleeper but amazon.com alone lists more than 40 similar products made by Fisher-Price, a division...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/SW0ORYzGoY4 This is Health News You Should Use, the latest medical discoveries and commonsense advice from me that you can use in a practical way to keep yourself and your family healthy.   Here are this weeks stories: You CAN Prevent Childhood Drownings Pregnancy Illness Triggers Preventable Childhood Brain Ills ACL Repair Improved By Reducing Blood Flow Gut Bacteria Wre...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/z8IdZ7-cD-w Chugging those 6 packs and downing those jelly shots depresses the growth of the developing brain.   The skyrocketing alcohol consumption by teens and young adults may well be sapping the collective brainpower of our country. Neuroscientists at the Oregon Health and Science University studied this phenomenon in 71 rhesus monkeys allowed to binge on alcoholic b...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/s44du_Y3pjo If you bicycle or walk home from work, go out of your way to use the side streets.   Urban scientists at England’s University of Surrey collaborated with colleagues in England, the Netherlands, and Brazil to measure air pollution during the morning and evening commutes. The scientists studied black carbon levels in these 3 cities on both the most heavily traff...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/8OMzNy8ABzA Do you cringe at the thought of looking down from bridge or tall building, going up in a balloon, or parasailing?   Are you afraid of falling even if you are only up on a chair?   Some caution makes sense, but if you have a pathologic fear that limits your life choices then you probably suffer from acrophobia or the extreme, irrational phobia about height.    ...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/KDuBlo4yEKs If you’re pregnant and work two night shifts in any given week, you significantly increase your chances of suffering a miscarriage.   Danish occupational medicine specialists reviewed the data from nearly 23,000 pregnant women a for a study recently published online. The data revealed that, after the 8 th week of pregnancy, women who worked two or more night s...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/CginQ3SSplk If you’re overweight and suffering from migraine headaches, dropping those extra pounds will literally take a load off your mind.   This conclusion comes from a new study by Italy’s University of Padova recently presented to the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Researchers there conducted a meta-analysis of 10 studies covering more 473 migraine suffere...

Vidcast: ttps://youtu.be/C0sWcaWvpTY Paying creatives for every idea they churn out led to optimal results.   The alternatives, paying for idea quality or offering no motivational reward at all, fell flat according to studies by business school researchers at The University of Texas-Austin and the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. Their data also demonstrated the most interesting finding th...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/k3ZHb9CeRFs Playing organized team sports grows the hippocampus, the brain’s emotion and memory center, while reducing the incidence of adult depression.   This is the finding by neuroscientists at the Washington University-St. Louis.   They studied a nationwide sample over over 4000 children 9 to 11 years of age using questionnaires to determine their participation in sp...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/7s2URrwjctc Soon to enter the commercial market is a high-tech toilet seat that can monitor the performance of the heart and help to guide therapy for congestive heart failure.   This bionic bathroom throne was developed by bioengineers at the Rochester Institute of Technology. This very smart crapper topper can periodically measure the electrical and mechanical activity...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/sUTVOR1Ozvo Digital breast tomosynthesis, better known as 3D mammography, provides such precise imaging that many women can be saved from needing breast biopsies.   The procedure captures multiple images of the breast from varying angles and a computer synthesizes them into a 3D image allowing the radiologist to examine each image layer by itself.   Conventional mammograp...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/WklLZeJtdEA A green light over the salad bar and a red light over the burgers and fries triggers healthier and environmentally more responsible food choices.   Experimental psychologists at London’s Queen Mary University set up a lunchtime canteen and studied the choices of over 400 subjects. They conducted two experiments.   In the first, one group of subjects saw traffi...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/-bMz1EdXGuk As the search continues to understand why our arteries self-destruct as we age, it appears that the bacteria in our gastrointestinal systems may play a key role along with, of course, cholesterol.   Physiologists at the University of Colorado report that aging leads to more pathologic bacteria in the gut and more inflammatory metabolites like trimethylamine N-...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/iFJN2LvoWjA The knee takes a beating in many athletic contests, and anterior cruciate ligament repair is a frequent operative event in the world of sports medicine.   During recovery, though, there tends to be a loss of muscle mass and bone density despite good rehabilitation therapy. Orthopedic surgeons at Houston’s Methodist Hospital report to the American Orthopedic So...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/UqPntXmJwHk Pregnant women will suffer colds and may get the flu despite receiving the flu vaccines.   When that occurs, the babies they are carrying are more likely to develop excessive neural sensitivity.   That in turn leads to agitation for infants and toddlers and attention deficits and even serious psychosis such as schizophrenia later in life. A study by University...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/tuTQifoAHhg 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 a h...

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/_eha4PyY5O0 Published in October, 2018 The position of those dreaded calorie count numbers on a menu determine their effect on our food choices. #calories #dieting #restaurants #menu  

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/VKTvqhKr668 Published in October, 2018 There is no known gene for bullying, and studies show that it is a behavior learned often by imitation.   #Parenting #bullying #bully #imitation

Vidcast - https://youtu.be/oaVx_NINt8Y Published in October, 2018 Regular consumption of coffee by women reduces the risk of an annoying dermatitis. #Coffee #skin #dermatitis #rosacea