Archive for December, 2008

What does Congress, the President, AIG and managed care have in common?

Published on December 22, 2008 in Dr. Benjamin's blogs. 0 Comments

Neither Congress nor the President (as demonstrated time and time again in the last few months), AIG (which WE own and yet they spit in our faces awarding millions to their employees and partying in England and in Arizona) nor managed care companies (who have their PRIMARY loyalty to their stock holders and employers) have any real ACCOUNTABILITY to you - the rank and file of America - the shareholders in AIG and the health care consumer.

All of these failed parties have good reason to forget about you. Congress and the President (except at times of election) are in bed with special interest groups that hold the cash. Why should AIG be concerned with you OR a pathetic Congress and Executive Branch? They can conduct business as usual and answer essentially to no one. Managed care companies continue to thrive by creating the appearance of efficiency when, in fact, they have failed- health care costs soar annually and the government run Medicare program (hardly a model of efficiency) is cheaper and more efficient! Yipes!

You are a complication, but not the real customer. Managed care administrators figure out how to squeeze YOU, the health care consumer, not with efficiencies, but with cost cutting in the wrong places (like shafting primary care doctors who could actually save money or nickel and diming docs on immunizations so that many lose money) and increasing deductibles and co-pays so that you will be less inclined (let alone in these economic times even able) to buy the life saving services that you and your family might need..

Is it any wonder then that you are treated so poorly as a managed care insured? Are you really surprised that your already disenfranchised doctor feels less accountable to you and more a shackled servant to the myriad of rules, paperwork and bureaucracy that managed care insurance companies have sewn into a noose and slipped around his/her neck?

They are all accountable to more powerful forces than just you alone - your life, family and soul. They answer to cash. And you??? You are a nuisance, a vehicle to facilitate greed and incompetence - not the master as you should be. You are to be herded through the health care system and managed care- totally ineffective to begin with- is using the cattle prod. This is why UNLESS health reform addresses the imbalance, it WILL fail America and fail you. Whether you are to the left or right, whether you believe in a national health care system or purely a private enterprise model, you must fight to gain control of your own body, your mind and your health. This could be THE epic struggle.

Of course he is accountable to you on healthcare. He takes this responsabiwity VEWY seriously!

The truth about CAM use?

Published on December 18, 2008 in Dr. Benjamin's blogs. 0 Comments

An estimated 38 percent of U.S. adults and 12 percent of children use some type of complementary and alternative medicine, a new U.S. government survey finds.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) — is an umbrella term for a collection of wide-ranging medical and health care systems, practices and products that aren’t generally considered conventional medicine. It includes herbal supplements, homeopathy, herbal treatments, meditation (mind-body interventions), chiropractic treatment and acupuncture.

“If you are going to use CAM, you should always let your conventional [health care] provider know about it,” said survey co-author Richard L. Nahin, acting director of the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s division of extramural research.

This is a great pie in the sky notion but the truth is that most conventional doctors are sooooo brainwashed by pharmaceutical companies and often arrogant professors at medical schools who may be on the payroll of the pharmaceutical and medical device companies that if you tell them, they either know nothing about CAM, care nothing about CAM or are so prejudiced against CAM that it is impossible for a patient to talk intelligently with these providers and actually get useful information and guidance about CAM.

There are a small but increasing number of physicians who are integrating conventional and CAM medical care. Seek them out because it shows that they care enough to implement whatever will help you and that they still have independent minds - not white washed by the “mainstream” that has bankrupted health care in this country.

The survey found that the most popular alternative techniques are deep breathing exercises, meditation, chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation, massage and yoga. However, the survey is absurdly flawed because functional foods (e.g. eggs that have omega-3 fatty acids in them), organic and preservative free cosmetics, cleansers and the like need to be included as part of CAM because people use this as health tools.

In addition, the study did not include those who use vitamins routinely. If it had, the percentage of Americans using CAM would be much greater and the list of popular CAM therapies and products would have been much larger.

In the study, adults use CAM most often to treat pain, including back pain, neck pain or problems, joint pain, arthritis, and other musculoskeletal conditions. I think that again the study missed an important area - disease prevention, looking better and maintaining an acceptable quality of life.

Back by popular demand

Published on December 16, 2008 in Tips and suggestions. 4 Comments

Everywhere I go folks are asking me about the cold and flu kit that I suggest in my office and on radio so that you will be prepared. It WAS on the blog in the past, but nooooooooooo………………………… you guys didn’t read or take it seriously until now that there are lots of kids and adults coming down with the cold, flu and other assorted viruses. (A little Bronx guilt!!!) So, here it is again - listen up!

Dr. Benjamin’s cold/flu season kit and guide

Do Not

• Do not use “cold” medicines as they have no discernable effects and can actually make things worse as well as be life threatening in the case of children.

• Do not use acetaminophen (Tylenol, other brands) as it may prolong the cold or flu - unless the pain, fever and aches are simply too much to bear. The same may be true for Aleve, Motrin, etc., although this class of medication (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) does control fever and pain better.

• Do not demand antibiotics from your doctor as they are near useless most of the time and can cause resistant germs to develop.

Do

• Drink lots of fluids.

• Call your doctor with questions or if fever and malaise persist.

• Get the flu vaccine! (No, it does not always work and yes, you could get a reaction which is RARE but for the 30- 40% that it helps, it can really relieve your symptoms.)

• Use salt water drops like Ocean to clear your nose.

• Get lots of rest/ sleep.

Keep these at home (they can be bought over the counter):

1. Cold Eze Homeopathic Lozenges - Take AT THE VERY FIRST SIGNS OF A COLD.

2. Sinusin by Heel - is great for nasal congestion due to colds.

3. Umcka by Nature’s Way – take for chest congestion/bronchitis.

4. Bronchalis Homeopathic by Heel - take with Umcka for Bronchitis.

5. American ginseng by Native Essence - take at the first sign of a cold. (This brand is Wisconsin grown and processed in New Mexico - not China! If you can’t find it, we can send it to you from my office. Call (480) 661- 1880.

6. Sambucol by Nature’s Way- If you DO get the flu, this Black Elderberry extract can relieve symptoms and shorten the course of your illness.

7. Oscillococcinum (homeopathic remedy) - At the very first sign of the flu, this remedy might just thwart it. A MUST when traveling as each compact tube can be packed conveniently, does not require cooling and can be taken on the plane with you.

For hypertension patients

Published on December 10, 2008 in Dr. Benjamin's blogs. 0 Comments

Below is a copy of an e-mail alert sent to my patients with hypertension. It might apply to you! Check with your doctor.

If you have hypertension (HTN, high blood pressure), diabetes (IDDM, NIDDM) or congestive heart failure (CHF) with or without coronary artery disease (atherosclerosis) and with or without elevated cholesterol or triglycerides - LISTEN UP!!!!!!!!!

After careful consideration, I am NO LONGER recommending ARBs (angiotensin- renin blockers), EXCEPT in certain instances and these must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

This class of drugs, while helpful for some and even though it lowers blood pressure, may NOT actually prevent one of the major complications of high blood pressure - cardiovascular disease (heart attacks) and in fact may INCREASE the risk of having a heart attack! Here are the most common brands of this class of pharmaceuticals - none of which are generic and all of which are quite costly even with the co-pays of most insurance coverage:

candesartan (ATACAND), eprosartan (TEVETAN), irbesartan (AVAPRO), telmisartan (MYCARDIS), valsartan (DIOVAN), and losartan (COZAAR)

PLEASE remember some of you now using these drugs may STILL need to remain on them because of renal (kidney) disease associated with diabetes, congestive heart failure therapy or adverse reactions like an intractable cough, headache and allergies associated with another class of drugs (ACE inhibitors) typically used instead of ARBs.

ACE inhibitors (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors) are an older class of prescription medication that have been used worldwide for close to 30 years. Most of the brands can be purchased as generics and some are available at Wal-Mart. Costco, Safeway and Fry’s pharmacies for $4 a month or $10 for a three month supply which is most often better than your insurance copay. They treat hypertension, slow progression of renal (kidney) failure in diabetics, are used in congestive heart failure (CHF) and are associated with a DECREASE in the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes. Here are the brands and their generic names in the U.S.:

benazepril (LOTENSIN), captopril (CAPOTEN), enalapril(VASOTEC), fosinopril (MONOPRIL), lisinopril (PRINIVIL, ZESTRIL), moexipril(UNIVASC), perindopril(ACEON), quinapril (ACCUPRIL), ramipril (ALTACE), trandolapril (MAVIK).

Because these drugs (ACE inhibitors) are now off patent protection and available as generics, drug companies have been pushing ARB’s (much more profitable) and combinations of ARB’s with other meds that are already generic- sporting new names so that your doctor and you think one is really different from another and worth the high price which they are not.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE ON AN ARB? CALL MY OFFICE. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT. LET’S REVIEW YOUR NEEDS AND MAKE A CHANGE IN DRUGS IF APPROPRIATE. DO NOT FREAK OUT!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE BEEN ON AN ARB FOR A DECADE. I AM STILL BREATHING, BUT, BECAUSE I AM AT RISK JUST AS YOU ARE, I AM CHANGING TO AN ACE INHIBITOR JUST AS YOU MAY.

DO NOT STOP YOUR ARB UNTIL WE HAVE SWITCHED YOU BECAUSE THIS COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS!!!

Good health: What has rational got to do with it anyway?

Published on December 4, 2008 in Dr. Benjamin's blogs. 0 Comments

I am NOT about to enter into the philosophical/scientific/religious fray about whether there is or is not a God - no way! I know that research until present has not shown us clear evidence that there is a creator who gives order to the universe and summons chaos theory for more sophisticated phenomena of the universe. I believe in science. I believe that there are other dimensions and I sort of understand string theory, Heisenberg’s uncertainty theory and how light could be bent in space and time. I fantasize how we could one day travel through time and dimensions and I wonder if there is another me, say, some 300 meters from where I write this at this very moment.

But there is something about being a human that is very special - something IRRATIONAL and inexplicable about our very substance that is so admirable and marvelous and that is admittedly IRRATIONAL (even chaotic) behavior!

Just last week, a heroic Indian woman in the Chabad House under terrorist siege in Mumbai escaped with a two-year-old Jewish child, saving his life no doubt before he would have been executed, as were his parents. The act was at once impetuous, heroic and IRRATIONAL. Why did she risk her life to save the life of another? Because she is a human and we are a noble species! We fall helplessly in love, dance in the streets after last year’s Super Bowl win of the Giants, sing our hearts out in churches and talk awfully silly to babies who may not have a clue about what the heck we are saying. Yet, there is meaning in these acts - sometimes inexplicable. They help define who we are as humans - often IRRATIONAL- NO rhyme or reason - just human! So is it with me and God. I can’t swear there is a God, but I talk to him (her?) everyday. I pray at home. I pray with my patients. I pray with my children and sometimes in public places. When I am around those who pray I feel good inside - secure. I love prayer when accompanied by music, whether it’s a Baptist choir, a Jewish cantor chanting or the haunting drumming and prayers of Native Americans. I am not a fanatic! I can’t say that I am a terribly religious man. I just believe and I just pray.

This might be IRRATIONAL, but it works for me and apparently for others because it seems that those who pray and participate in some form of religion live nearly 20% longer than those who do neither - at least according to one study.

It appears that rational scientific thought allows little or no place for religion, prayer and belief in God. I do not reject science but what’s RATIONAL got to do with it? Thank God that I was born IRRATIONAL! God bless!