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Dr. Martin Video Blog

healthcritic — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:05:08 +0000

New Feature…Dr. Martin VLOG!

healthcritic — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:52:36 +0000

BREAST CANCER AND HORMONES

drmartin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:58:46 +0000

SOME LADIES AND THEIR DOCTORS STILL DON’T GET IT. HRT (HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY)which is still quite popular literally doubles the risk of breast cancer. My wife reminds me that men have no idea what going through menopause is like. That is true but there are natural alternatives that can be quite effective without adding to the enormous risk of getting breast cancer.

In a related study women who use moisturizing creams containing estrogen are increasing their risk of breast cancer.Estrogens like estrol and estrone are found in many creams. Remember estrogen applied to the skin is more effeciently absorbed into the body than estrogens taken orally. So ladies avoid HRT and moisturizers which contain estrogen.

They must have read my book

drmartin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:26:07 +0000

Once again another study confirming the importance of having an alkaline Ph. What the study is saying that every time you eat fruits and vegetables you are making your body more alkaline. The fruits and veggies release a carbonate that alkalizes body fluids. Of course the alkaline body which is much less toxic, holds on to and absorbs calcium thus really helping in advancing bone health.I have had countless number of patients suffering from major osteoarthritis that have been able to come off dangerous anti- inflammatories by simply changing their ph from acidic(below 7.0) to alkaline (7.0-7.5). So folks two things 1) read my book Medical Crisis 2)eat your fruits and veggies.

HIGH OMEGA 6 A REAL CULPRIT

drmartin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:28:09 +0000

Interesting findings from Swedish researchers showing link between consumption of Omega 6 and breast cancer. Omega 6 fats specifically linoleic acid and arachidonic acid are found in many common cooking oils, including corn, safflower, soybean,and peanut oil.They are not found in olive oil.What the study also found that cooking meats and fish at high temperatures did not increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer contrary to some popular opinions.The study which analyzed data from 11,699 women also concluded that women consuming large amounts of alcohol were associated with two and one half times the increased risk of breast cancer.
So ladies when cooking use olive oil, grape seed oil or coconut oil. Remember we get way to much Omega6 compared to Omega 3 in our diets

Exercise & sleep go together

drmartin — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:34:17 +0000

New study confirming that exercise with the proper amount of sleep decreases cancer in women.There is never anything negative about exercising except if you do too much of it. Exercise is also beneficial in preventing cardio vascular disease. Dr Joel Meggs once said that “if we could bottle the benefits of exercise it would be the most important medication in history”. The study also mentions that a woman needs to get at least 7 hours of sleep to get the full protection against cancer. So ladies listen up–get active and get your shut eye the benefits are worth it

Health care spending out of control

drmartin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:57:36 +0000

Canada’s health care spending is growing faster than the economy. The costs are $5,170 for every person in the country.How are we going to sustain this disease care system? Well, if we continue at this rate there is no way, we will be broke very shortly.We need a shift in our thinking to true health care which puts a major emphasis on prevention. I remember a few years ago when the Ontario’s chiropractors showed the Ministry of health that Chiropractic services saved the province millions of dollars every year.What was the ministry of health’s response? You guessed it they canceled Chiropractic services.Politicians better wake up soon. For all the money we spend you would think that Canada would have the world’s best but the WHO(World Health Organization) ranks Canada 30 th.

Ask your doctor? Not when it comes to your diet!

healthcritic — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:45:14 +0000

Wow! 3% of doctors took a nutrition elective while in med school. They are as much of an expert in your diet and supplements as i am in nuclear physics. That being said, if someone came to me and asked me a question on nuclear fusion or nuclear fission would i even pretend to know what i’m talking about? Most likely not because i would probably sound like an idiot anyways. However, when someone asks their doctor if they should take supplement X, how is it that their doctor can proceed to give him/her his “expert” opinion? I understand telling your doctor to make sure that the supplement will not interact with one of the meds you are on, but that should be the extent of their opinions. basically, the conversation should go like this;

“doc, can i take Vitamin C?”

“Yup, it won’t interact with {insert soon to be recalled drug name here}”

“What do you think about Vitamin C?”

“I know you get it from oranges and i think spinach, but i’d have to look that up”

“thanks doc!”

As the conversation goes on, the doctor has to bite his tongue and resist the urge to blurt out “KIDNEY STONES” whenever they hear the word vitamin C, since we all know that the literature on kidney stones and vitamin C is sparse and most likely non-existent.

My point is this. If you have questions about the actual benefits of a supplement, don’t ask your doctor because chances are you know more than him/her about it. If you have questions about interactions ask your doctor or pharmacist.

3 percent! that’s embarrassing. Do you now understand why prevention and treatment alternatives are never discussed?

Unbelievable!!!

drmartin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:14:45 +0000

According to a recent study from New york University only 3 percent of medical students surveyed took a nutrition elective. You would think in this day and age that nutrition would be mandatory for any physician. Of course this survey does not surprise me since i have been screaming for years about Medical doctors lack of nutritional training. Imagine that we have come to the point that the average lay person knows more about nutrition than their doctors.No wonder our health care system is in terrible shape . We spend so much time and money trying to treat people when they are already sick with no or very little emphasis placed on preventing illness in the first place.What a shame

The bark with the bite

drmartin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:31:52 +0000

Again, another study about the effectiveness of pine bark extract.This one touts pine barks ability to fight jet lag. In my book” Pycnogenol The Bark With The Bite”, i gave anecdotal evidence of pilots who worked for air canada that suffered much less jet lag after trans Atlantic or Pacific flights. You see pine bark readily crosses the blood brain barrier bringing extra oxygen to the brain. I first discovered this when working with patients who had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. These patients really suffer with brain fog and short term memory loss and using Pine Bark extract really helped.

How about apples and onions for your flu shot

drmartin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:58:40 +0000

New study that confirms that eating an apple a day will indeed keep your doctor away. Quercetin a nutrient found in apples and onions really protect from the flu bug. I have used Quercetin with great results as an anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory.However this study highlights Quercetin’s ability to rev up the immune system.Now i prefer the natural approach to combating the flu over the flu shot which has real poor science behind it

Don’t touch them with hundred foot pole

drmartin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:59:10 +0000

A new study saying that taking non-steroidal anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDs) may reduce your risk of getting breast cancer. What the study will not tell you is that people who take NSAIDs have far more serious consequences to worry about. Their gastrointestinal death rate is higher than the death rates of cervical cancer , malignant melanoma, and asthma. 16,000 patients in USA die every year from taking NSAIDs and 100,000 end up in the hospital. So for Pete’s sake why would anybody want to risk taking NSAIDs for prevention when there are safe alternatives like Omega 3and Pine Bark extract

More news on fruits and veggies

drmartin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:21:57 +0000

Again more studies on the benefits of fruits and vegetables. Cornell University confirming that wild blueberries are the most powerful of all berries as far as antioxidants are concerned. For those of us who live in Northern Ontario we get a bountiful supply of nature’s power packed blueberries. The only problem is that we have to share them with the bears and apparently they (the bears)don’t like the arrangement.
Another study confirms that unpopular veggies like cauliflower and broccoli are among the best to fight breast cancer. So folks eat your fruits and veggies. Remember that every fruit and veggie makes your Ph more alkaline.

Waiting for a response from the bottled water cartel!

healthcritic — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:52:23 +0000

Interesting findings recently published states that bottled water may not be as contaminant free as we think. The study fingers two companies, Walmart and Giant food’s bottled water as having chlorine byproducts, while other bottled waters had everything from pain killers, caffeine and bacteria.

Should we go back to drinking tap water? What do you think?

Glucosamine - what have you done for me lately?

healthcritic — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:58:36 +0000

A recent new published study of almost 400 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee showed that taking glucosamine with or with chondroitin sulfate may not positively affect joint health. But, keep in mind that a previous study by the National Institue of health showed positive results.

I know i consistently critique prescription medications that don’t work so it is only fair that i also give my two cents on supplements that don’t do much either. Now, to be honest, taking a supplement that may not work won’t cause your kidney’s to fail, liver to breakdown, heart to stop working, or lead to cancer like many unnessecary prescriptions do. That being said, in 2005 over 810 million (a slow quarter for the drug lipitor) worth of glucosamine was sold.

At the height of glucosamine sales, people were taking it for everything from a headache to weight loss, neither of which make any sense. There was no doubt that glucosamine was a fad, a must try supplement. The question always asked was, does it really work? The verdict is still out. For every person who swears by it there are 3 who say it didn’t do anything. My personal opinion (won’t get you even a cup of coffee) is that glucosamine is definitely overhyped and won’t do to much to help with chronic OA sufferers. However, if you try glucosamine, unlike vioxx and other anti-inflammatories, you don’t have to worry about strokes or heart disease from trying to get pain relief.

my personal opinion is that systemic oral enzymes, pine bark extract and essential fatty acids will do more for OA than glucosamine will and the research is there to back that up.