I ran accross an article published by the World Health Organization (WHO) that stated: In all situations, the best way of preventing malnutrition and mortality among infants and young children is to ensure that they start breastfeeding within one hour of birth, breastfeed exclusively (with no food or liquid other than breast milk, not even water) until six months of age and continue breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods up to two years or beyond. (source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/world_breastfeeding_week_20090731/en/index.html)
They’re specifically talking about emergency situations that arise from natural disasters or other forms of conflict. But this also shows the importance of breastfeeding for infant health even in everyday situations. I’m no expert on breastfeeding, but I do know that it’s very important for infant health. Typically in my practice, the children who come in with allergies and other ailments are those who were formula fed in lieu of being breastfed.
So what do you think? What’s your view on breastfeeding?
Within the past several years many doctors have been pushing the Gardasil vaccine as a preventative measure against cervical cancer, which is thought to be caused by HPV. But there have been many cases of adverse reaction to the vaccine. A teenager in Colorado reported that she now has extreme exhaustion, nausea and blacking out after receiving the Gardasil vaccine in conjunction with a meningitis vaccine. The combination was never tested for safety issues by the FDA. Gardasil was approved by the FDA in 2006 and Merck, the manufacturer, has mounted a huge marketing campaign to promote the vaccine. Read the rest of this entry »
The purpose of this blog post is to give you information. Please read through all material and make an informed decision. It’s your health.
A week ago, Oprah featured a segment on her show regarding hormone replacement therapy and the controversy between synthetic and bioidentical. You can go to Oprah.com to read some of the show’s excerpts. I can understand the controversy from the stand point of lack of knowledge on both sides (pro and con). I’ve made my decision to stick with BHRT with my patients based upon the Women’s Health Initiative Study.
On May 31, 2002, the WHI study of conjugated estrogens 0.625 mg/day, plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5 mg/day in postmenopausal women was stopped after a mean of 5.2 years of follow-up because the test statistic for invasive breast cancer exceeded the stopping boundary for this adverse effect and the global index statistic supported risks exceeding benefits.
Three years after stopping hormone therapy, women who had taken study pills with active estrogen plus progestin no longer had an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (heart disease, stroke, and blood clots) compared with women on placebo.
Source: FDA website
The estrogen-alone study was stopped at the end of February 2004 because the hormone increased the risk of stroke and did not reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, a key question of the trial. The study was to have ended in March 2005.
Source: National Institute of Health website
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Hot flashes can really suck. Ask any woman going through menopause (men experience the same symptoms as well). Aging can really be annoying and people will do anything to slow down its progress. Many women who suffer from menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes will usually seek out the advice of their OB/GYN who will usually point them in the direction of hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
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The FDA has denied approval for the use of Gardasil (a vaccine that is supposed to prevent cervical cancer caused by the human papilloma virus) stating that more long term research needs to be done. The maker of the vaccine (Merck) also has appeared in courts for lawsuits agains their drug Vioxx. Looks like their on a roll. Read the rest of this entry »
