Broken Hips, Acetaminophen...Be Careful, Statins Cause Diabetes, Coffee Is Healthy?, McDonalds Chicken

Protecting Your Hips

For anyone over a certain age (especially women), breaking a hip is a top-of-the list worry. And for good reason. 

A lot of seniors believe that it can be a death sentence. And far too often, it is. But for many, the biggest fear of all is losing their independence and being put in an assisted-living facility – or worse, a nursing home. 

And that's not too far from what a new study has discovered. In fact, this research found that more than half of those over 65 who break a hip never again regain their prior level of independence. 

What this tells us is that it's more urgent than ever to take some easy steps that will not only help keep you on your feet, but with strong bones! 

Tips to protect your hip

You could call this the "glass half empty" study. 

Dr. Victoria Tang, with the geriatric surgery wellness program at the University of California, wants us all to have "realistic expectations" about what happens to seniors who break a hip. 

She says family members need to prepare for "future care needs." And we all know what that means. At the very least, she's saying get ready to need help with daily activities, like dressing or going to the bathroom. 

And at the worst, Dr. Tang is referring to a nursing home. Of course, considering what she found in her research, it's hard to blame her for being so negative. 

Looking at the outcomes for over 700 seniors who suffered a hip fracture, the likelihood of regaining their past "level of function" was less than 50 percent. And here's the most depressing part. 

It didn't matter if you walked miles uphill to the gym every day -- Dr. Tang said that even those who were "very physically active" only had a slightly better chance of bouncing back to normal. 

All in all, she reported that only a third of hip-fracture patients recovered well enough to live without assistance. 

It's quite clear that the best defense is a good offense. So first, here are some good ways to make sure you don't take that fall in the first place:

• Check your meds: There are a large group of drugs that can affect your balance and make you dizzy. Ones such as antidepressants, sleeping pills, benzo drugs for anxiety and even OTC meds like Tylenol PM and Benadryl should be avoided.
• Watch your blood pressure: If you often find yourself dizzy when you stand up quickly or first get out of bed, go slow and wait until it passes before you get up. And while we're on the subject of blood pressure, another study out of Yale found seniors taking blood pressure meds had a giant 40 percent greater risk of a serious fall. So, if you're on one, check with your doc and make sure you really need it.
• Don't let new glasses trip you up: Stronger lenses, especially progressives (if you're not used to them) can easily cause a fall, so watch your step.
• Practice your balance: Start taking a yoga or Tai Chi class to improve your balance. Exercise to strengthen your legs.

Not falling is obviously very important. But of course, despite our best efforts, anyone can take a spill. And that's where these three tips for strong bones can protect you from suffering a fracture. 

Tip #1: Don't take proton pump inhibitors for acid reflux. These drugs, such as Nexium and Prilosec, are well known to increase your risk of a sudden bone break. 

Tip #2: Add a high-quality vitamin K2 supplement to your routine. Vitamin K has been found to increase bone density and reverse bone loss! The only caution with K is that it can interfere with blood thinning meds. 

Tip #3: Make sure you're getting enough vitamin D, either from sunshine or from a daily supplement. For many people, 1,000 IUs daily is considered the right amount – but if you're deficient or your immune system has been compromised, you may need more. 

Acetaminophen…...Be Very Careful!

There is simply no safe way to take this drug.

For years I've been warning you about acetaminophen -- the ingredient in Tylenol and hundreds of other Rx and OTC meds.

And I'm not the only one.

In a stunning development, major mainstream medical journals are joining me in sounding the alarm. Because even when you follow the directions carefully, this drug can still be deadly.

Unsafe at any dose. It's the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S. It's the reason 78,000 people land in the ER every year. And I've warned you how easy it is to cross a very thin line and take an overdose.

But the danger of accidentally taking too many pills containing this drug wasn't the focus of a new study in England.

It was rather about the risk of using acetaminophen within "standard dose ranges" -- but for longer periods of time. What you might do to treat arthritis, for example.

We already know how destructive it can be to the liver. But this research found that it can damage your kidneys as well, and even cause internal bleeding.

The researchers also discovered acetaminophen ups your risk of having a heart attack, stroke, and developing high blood pressure.

And as if all that wasn't enough, using the drug at upper-dose levels can increase your chance of dying prematurely by as much as 60 percent.

That's right, Tylenol and other drugs with acetaminophen -- advertised as being safe for nursing mothers and babies -- taken as directed for extended periods of time can raise your risk of an early death by 60 percent.

Now that's a warning you'll never see on the bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol. So, you see it's not just a case of making sure that you're not double, or triple dosing on it.

Even following the directions to the letter, taking that "innocent" little acetaminophen pill can still destroy your liver, or kidneys, or heart.

The British researchers said several times in the study that they believe the "true risk" from this drug is much higher than doctors and nurses have been led to believe.

And while this new research sounded a warning to health professions about the "toxicity" of acetaminophen, there were some things they didn't mention. Other dangers from the drug that aren't the result of taking an "overdose" (which is a lot less than most people think). The study didn't warn doctors that it can cause a life-threatening skin reaction, one that's like a burn from the inside out, called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Or another reaction called TENs, described as peeling of the skin so horrific that looks like the person was put in a pot of boiling water.

And these reactions not only can occur the very first time you take the drug, but even if you've taken it many times before.

But not to worry! The FDA is right on the job, making sure we know all about the dangers associated with Tylenol -- and the 600 other drugs that contain acetaminophen.

It has announced plans to issue complete safety guidelines and to decide how it's going to "regulate" these meds to help keep us safe.

But this is one time we can't blame Obama's FDA for the lack of action. No, this happened on Carter's watch.

That's right. The FDA promised to figure out how to protect us from acetaminophen back in 1977.

And now, 38 years later, we're still waiting.

Which Drugs Cause Diabetes?

It's the basic rule of medicine: "First do no harm."

So when the news that statin drugs appear to be causing diabetes started coming out years ago, you would think that experts would start screaming, "Someone hit the brakes!"

But it's been just the opposite.

And now, a new study from Finland has put a number on that risk, saying that taking statins, drugs like Lipitor and Crestor, will up your chance of developing type 2 diabetes by a whopping 46 percent.

Think about it -- close to 50 percent of the millions of people taking these drugs every day will have diabetes as a result.

But there's something else about the statin/diabetes connection that you probably haven't heard. And it could make the difference between a lifetime of popping other risky meds -- that is, ones for diabetes -- or not.

When news this urgent comes out, the "expert" response is very predictable. After all, statin drugs are the biggest pharma cash cow ever.

So it's not surprising to hear a doctor from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine chime right in with "People who are taking statins should keep taking statins," because "the risk is outweighed by that benefit."

But there's really no way anyone can say that. Because the list of risks for these drugs keeps getting longer all the time. And the benefit remains questionable at best.

And you can now add to the top of that list this just-out study from Finland.

The researchers looked at almost 9,000 men -- ones who didn't have diabetes at the start -- but who were taking a statin drug. And they also adjusted the numbers for family history of diabetes, weight, and other drugs they were taking, as well as their activity level.

As I said, the final numbers were shocking. That 46 percent increase was said to be the "largest" diabetes risk seen so far with statins.

The research also uncovered two of the reasons why. Not only do statin drugs decrease insulin production, but they also throw the natural way your body processes insulin out of whack. It's a lose-lose situation, with diabetes as the likely result.

Now, before doctors with Big Pharma ties start coming out of the woodwork giving interviews and dismissing this study, you need to know the other pieces to this puzzle.

It turns out that cholesterol actually protects us against getting diabetes! So it makes perfect sense that artificially lowering it can have just the opposite effect.

That fact was just reported in another new study, this one from the Netherlands. It found that those who have a genetic tendency for high cholesterol have a 38 percent lower risk of becoming diabetic.

It's also known that statins have a diabolical ability to rob your body of two very valuable nutrients -- ones that are vital in maintaining normal blood-sugar levels.

One is vitamin D. In order for your body to convert sunlight to vitamin D, you need proper levels of cholesterol. The next is CoQ10, something that plays a very important job in keeping blood glucose levels stable.

And it's well known by now that Lipitor and all the other statins deplete CoQ10 levels.

I'm sure that for the millions of diabetics, ones whose diabetes was caused by these drugs, all this news may seem a day late and a dollar short.

There is, however, something good to (finally!) report.

Because it's possible that if you've become diabetic while taking a statin, you just might be able to reverse it over time.

But first, you'll have to ditch the Lipitor (with a doctor’s help)...and all the other statin drugs out there. And do it hopefully before you find yourself with an Rx for another kind of risky med -- a diabetes drug.

Coffee.… For Your Health?

By now you've no doubt heard the news that has gladdened the hearts of coffee lovers everywhere.

A new study out of South Korea has found that people who drink three to five cups of Joe a day are least likely to have coronary calcium deposits in their arteries -- or what's more commonly known as "hardening of the arteries."

That means that moderate coffee consumption can significantly lower your risk of heart disease. And this isn't the first time that coffee has been found to have health benefits.

A couple years ago, the National Institutes of Health concluded a 14-year survey of more than 400,000 AARP members. That study found that drinking from two to six or more cups daily, whether regular or decaf, makes you less likely to die prematurely from all sorts of causes -- including diabetes, heart and lung disease, stroke and infection.

Drinking coffee even lessened the risk of fatal accidents (perhaps because coffee makes people more alert).

But there was one small exception to that earlier report.

The study found that male coffee drinkers had a slightly higher chance of dying from cancer. And while the cancer death rate in women did not seem to be affected, more research is planned to see if there's any link between coffee and various types of cancer.

So might coffee have a dark side? Well, that could depend on the kind you drink.

There are things in coffee that could conceivably cause cancer: residues of toxic chemicals. In fact, it's one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world. And because coffee is imported, there's no U.S. oversight of the type and amount of pesticides used.

Fortunately, there is a way to eliminate that risk. By switching to an organic brew, you can be assured that the healthy compounds your coffee contains don't include these poisons.

There are numerous brands out there that you can get at a relatively modest price. And you can find organic coffee these days in Walmart and Target, as well as at most supermarkets.

My comment:

These benefits are for drinking black coffee. Adding sugar, artificial sweeteners and artificial creamers will offset any health benefits and can even help destroy your health.

Chicken And Antibiotics

McDonald’s, the world’s biggest restaurant chain, has made a decision that many are calling a game-changer for the food industry. McDonald’s announced they will only buy chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine, a change they plan to phase in over the next two years.

But McDonald’s Chicken Will Not Be Antibiotic-Free

An important distinction should be made, which is that while McDonald’s will cease selling chicken that contains antibiotics “important to human medicine,” they say “the farmers who supply chicken for its menu will continue to responsibly use ionophores, a type of antibiotic not used for humans that helps keep chickens healthy.

McDonald’s is late to the party when it comes to getting drugs out of their meat. Late last year, six of the largest school districts in the US decided to switch to antibiotic-free chicken in their cafeterias, which is a major victory for schoolchildren and will put pressure on meat companies like Tyson, Perdue, and Pilgrim's Pride to adjust their production practices. Fast-food chain Carl's Jr. even recently rolled out a burger made with grass-fed, free-range beef, promising to be free of antibiotics, steroids, and hormones, which pretty much puts McDonald’s announcement to shame. Keep in mind that consumer demand is what is driving this change.

UK Announces Organic Local Farms Can Feed the Masses

Many still believe that industrial farming, CAFOs, genetic engineering, and heavy chemical use are necessary in order to feed an ever-growing population. But numerous studies and reports have concluded that this simply isn't true. As recently reported by Truth Out:

"In 2013, the United Nations announced that the world's agricultural needs can be met with localized organic farms. That's right, we do not need giant monocultures that pour, spray and coat our produce with massive amounts of poisons, only to create mutant pests and weeds while decimating pollinators and harming human health. Don't believe the hype: We do not need genetically modified foods 'to feed the world'...

Organic agriculture, which has gone from a fringe movement to a multibillion industry, can produce high yields and withstand disaster and duress much better than chemical-reliant crops, according to reports coming out of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), which held its 18th annual world congress in Istanbul this past October. And a 30-year study from the Rodale Institute showed that organic farm fields yielded 33 percent more in drought years compared with chemically managed ones."

According to the UN's Trade and Environment Review, shifting away from industrialized farming toward more bio-diverse, ecological, and localized farming practices can address a number of pressing issues, including food security, poverty, gender inequality, and climate change. The answer, they say, lies in a localized food system that promotes consumption of regional produce, because smaller, more diversified farms employ greater numbers of people, and produce more food on less land.

They also use less water, and by using ecological principles, they don't need to use nearly as many chemicals, if any at all. Only when McDonald’s starts to source its food from responsible, safe and humane sources will I give them a semi nod of approval. They’ve come a long way… but they’re nowhere near the finish line.

When shopping, keep the following labels in mind to help you find truly high-quality meat:

100% USDA Organic label offers excellent assurance that antibiotics have not been used at any stage of production.

"No antibiotics administered" and similar labels also offer high assurance that antibiotics have not been used, especially if accompanied by a "USDA process Verified" shield.

"Grass-fed" label coupled with USDA Organic label means no antibiotics have been used, but if the "grass-fed" label appears alone, antibiotics may have been given.

"American Grass-fed" and "Food Alliance Grass-fed" labels indicate that in addition to having been raised on grass, the animal in question received no antibiotics.

The following three labels: "Antibiotic-free," "No antibiotic residues," and "No antibiotic growth promotants," have not been approved by the USDA and may be misleading if not outright fraudulent.

"Natural" or "All-Natural" is completely meaningless and has no bearing on whether or not the animal was raised according to organic principles. "Natural" meat and poultry products can by law receive antibiotics, hormones, and genetically engineered grains, and can be raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Until next time, stay healthy and happy

JD Roma

The information on this blog is provided for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a Naturopath).