Obesity and Life Styles

I just prepared a blog on this topic which was prompted by reading an article in the Winnipeg Free Press where the CEO from PepsiCo Canadian division came to Winnipeg to present the Pepsi's "Canadian Bottler of the Year Award " to Arctic Beverage a soft drink bottling company located in Flin Flon.

It is well known that soft drinks have very little nutritional value and depending on the amounts consumed may be harmful to ones' healthy leading to obesity and many illnesses including heart disease, some forms of cancer and adult onset (and childhood) diabetes as well as tooth decay.

It is hoped that such bottling companies include an educational program with their sales cautioning buyers about the health hazards of excess consumption. With the sale of tobacco and alcohol products, we have laws preventing their sales to minors. It may be necessary to introduce the same legislation for soft drinks and associated fast food products. Sounds like I should have included this statement regarding regulation with my letter to the editors.

Letter to Editor re: Obesity and Bottled Soft Drinks

Further to my previous blog post, here is the entire contents of my Letter to the Editor of the Winnipeg Free Press in response to the article on Obesity and the Sales of Bottled Soft Drinks:

Reports from vital statistics on overweight and obesity in Canada found that for the 10 year period (1994-2003) about 30% of adults became overweight or obese. The figures for children were even more alarming and indicate that for the 10 year period 1987-2001 children ages 7-13, the increase was an alarming 200-300%.

Since scientific studies have linked overweight and obesity with increase risks of a broad range of illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer it was most gratifying to read that many school divisions in Manitoba have already banned in their schools the sale of soft drinks and items like potato chips and other snack foods.

What was not so gratifying to read was the recent article in the Free Press, where the head of PepsiCo’s Canadian division came to Winnipeg to present to Arctic Beverages - a native owned beverage company located in Flin Flon - the “Canadian Bottler of the Year" award. He praised the owners for having posted double-digit sales growth. Such financial success is not surprising since the distributional area for the company covers roughly 20% of the geographic area of Canada undoubtedly targeting many native communities. Even more disturbing, the article also mentions that the president of a “sister company” which sells potato chips and other snack foods is contemplating a partnership with this soft drink company.

I wonder whether the bottling company and/or the provincial health authorities have gathered any vital statistics on obesity and overweight for this geographic area?

- Dr. S. B. Hrushovetz

Anti-Aging Courses

As you may know, I founded the Kildonan Institute of Gerontology in 1974, and served for 20 years as its Chief Medical Research Director. In this capacity, I delivered a series of lectures on topics related to life extension and anti-aging.

I am working on converting these lectures into a series of Anti-Aging podcasts. Here are the proposed topics:

Brain Power- 8 Hours. Dr. S.B. Hrushovetz
Aging of the brain is the number one cause of disease, disability, dissatisfaction and death in the elderly. This is because its your brain which directly and indirectly controls the function of every system of your body. In Canada 8% of people age 65 and 35% of those over the age of 85 are affected by some type of dementia. By the middle of the next century it is estimated that 50% of the elderly , i.e. those over the age of 65 will be older than 85 and the medical cost of treating dementia in the elderly population will bankrupt the healthcare system. Prevention is our only savior. This lecture series will not only discuss the causes of dementia but also outline how you at all ages can become smarter (enhancement of intelligence) as well as how to prevent you from becoming dumber (maintenance of intelligence ).

Nutrition and Supplements- 8 Hours. Dr. S.B. Hrushovetz.
The physiology of digestion and assimilation of the seven classes of nutrients will be outlined. Over 50 essential chemicals have now been identified. The nutrition guide based on recommended daily allowances (RDA's) will be reviewed. The role of nutrient supplements in health promotion and life extension (anti-aging) will be critically reviewed.

Environmental Factors and Cancer- 8 Hours. Dr. S.B. Hrushovetz
One in four deaths in Canada are from cancer, over 80% of which are due to environmental influences and therefore are potentially preventable. The course will identify some of these common environmental factors or carcinogens under 4 categories: diet, air pollution especially tobacco smoking, radiation including X-Rays, UV, and electromagnetic, and finally a miscellaneous group including drugs, alcohol, hormones, and oncogenic or tumor causing viruses. Strategies of how you can minimize your exposure as well as how to neutralize some of the potential oncogenic properties of these carcinogens will be outlined.

Life Entension/Wellness Program.- 8 Hours. Dr. S.B. Hrushovetz
This anti-Aging lecture series has 3 goals: to outline the causes of why we age and how the process may be slowed, stopped, or even reversed; secondly by means of a workshop on "Biological Markers of Aging" to permit you to determine if you are aging faster or slower than others in the same age group; and finally to assist you with your doctor and/or healthcare advisor in formulating your own personal life extension or anti-aging program so that you can add-of high quality- "life to your years and years to your life".

Radical Healing- 8 Hours. Dr. S.B. Hrushovetz
A recent Canadian survey suggests that over 80% of patients are "toying with Alternative Medicine. The purpose of this course is to extend the horizons of your understanding of health and wellness and what works and what does not work in Alternative Medicine. Chiropractic, naturopathy, homeopathy, herbology, acupuncture, Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese medicine, iridology, reflexology and other healing arts will be discussed.

In one of my recent blogs I briefly discuss the changing demographics in Canada and the impact these changes will have on our health care and other social programs. Governments at all levels seem to be ignoring these facts. Their current priority is zeroing in on global warming instead.

Strategy for war on cancer

Ever since President Nixon declared a war on cancer in 1974, victory has still not been achieved. Indeed vital statistics show that the annual death rate in 2005 had almost double what it was in 1974-over 600,000 compared to 380,000. This in spite of the billions of dollars being spent annually by the nations of the world. Could the failure of this war lie in our tactics or strategy?
Before I address this issue let us turn to another war we are engaged on, namely a war on terrorism. It seems that here too we also are not achieving victory in spite of the billions being spent on the latest weaponary -planes, guided missels, tanks etc. and of course human lives. The enemy or enemies embarrass us with their simplistic weaponary of guerilla tactics and suicide bombers.
Similarily in the war on cancer we attack the enemy ( tumors ) with our most sophisticated weapons: surgery( cut out the tumor); - chemotherapy (cell killing agents ); and radiotherapy (burning tactics )
Our oncologists should instead be finding more about our enemy yhe tumor cells behaves- tumor biology. Instead like the generals who fight terrorists our goal seems to be one of annihilation. Granted we cant talk and negogiate with cancer cells but we should be able to find out the biology of tumors- why for example after cell division cancer cells do not undergo cell differentiation and maturation into their respective tissue but rather just re-enter the division or mitotic cycle.
It is estimated that each year 20 % of our medical knowledge becomes obsolete. When you combine the limited dedication most practicing physicians make to acquiring new medical knowledge after graduation together with the learning curve of scientists who are employed in the laboratories of drug companies on the biology of cancer it is not surprrising that we have not won the war on cancer -only a few battles.
One specialist in the field of Alternative Medicine (Dr. David G. Williams ) claims that "Over 50 % of todays health advice is out of date". I will only mention a couple of areas cited by him.
High cholesterol doesn't cause heart attacks (atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process), therefore taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol should not be practiced and some might even consider it a form of malpractice. Hormone replacement therapy (postmenopausal women ) is still widely practiced even though it not only increases the risk for breast cancers, but also blood clots, heart attacks and even strokes. There is a non surgical treatment for cataracts that patients are not informed about because many doctors don't know about it.