We will be open our regular office hours. If you are coming for an allergy shot, please sign in as usual and sit in the marked chairs. If you would like to get your shot in your car or outside, just let us know. We also have Telephone Visits available, please call the office to schedule. The doctor will call you back to discuss your health concerns. We are cleaning the office regularly and we do have hand sanitizer available…
The New England Journal of Medicine recently featured a review article titled “Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging and Disease” written in cooperation by the NIH and Johns Hopkins University. They start out the review by pointing out that it is a blatant misnomer that humans should eat three meals a day plus or minus snacks (excepting the rare individual with special nutritional needs). They go on to point out that over the million and a half years that…
Yes, it is true. When I was a medical student, I was taught that people who were carriers for the cystic fibrosis gene would not manifest any of the problems of the disease. As time and science move forward this turns out not to be the case. Cystic Fibrosis is inherited as an autosomal recessive disease; that is, it takes the bad gene from both parents to cause the disease. Carriers have only one copy of the gene which is…
Not to be outdone by Johns Hopkins, Harvard Medical Group also published a review in the New England Journal of Medicine about milk and health. They start out by “stating the obvious” that the natural function of milk is to nourish and promote the growth of young mammals, not mature ones. They go on to question the current dietary recommendation of three 8-ounce servings of milk/milk product per day. Because cows are bred for high milk production and because they…
By: Sasha Klemawesch, MD Most people know the Duckbill Platypus as one of the only two mammals that lay eggs rather than give birth to live offspring (the other being the Echidna (spiny anteater) but no one remembers him!). However, they are ALSO some of the few mammals who produce venom. Others on the list include vampire bats, hedgehogs, shrews, and moles. Researchers in Australia have discovered that the Platypus’s venom contains a hormone called GLP-1. Humans also have a…
Many people suspect they are allergic to garlic owing to “GI tumult” that occurs after eating it. However, it is more likely due to a genetic deficiency in cytochrome P450 and FAD-linked enzymes which metabolize sulfur containing foods. Garlic contains very high levels of alkyl and dialkyl sulfide which give it its characteristic taste and smell.
Another less common mimic of food allergy is mushroom intolerance. In this syndrome the deficient enzyme is Trehalase disaccharidase. Mushrooms contain “double” (di-) sugar (saccharide). If the sugar isn’t broken down into single sugar (mono-saccharide) it ferments in the colon causing bloating, gas, and diarrhea.
On September 13, 2019 an FDA advisory board recommended approval of an oral peanut vaccine (“OIT” for oral immunotherapy). If this recommendation leads to approval, peanut allergic individuals will be faced with a tough decision. Approval is based in part on large studies done in California on children and adults with severe peanut allergy. In this study, 85% of the OIT treated patients were able to tolerate 4 grams of peanut without serious reaction. That’s the good news. The bad…
High dose flu vaccine contains 4 times the amount of antigen (killed flu virus) than the standard vaccine. People with the highest risk for death from influenza are infants, pregnant women and adults over 65. The high dose flu vaccine is recommended as an option in the latter group. People over age 65 have immune systems that are also aged and by giving them a higher dose there is a better chance of stimulating a good immune response. In fact,…
Vaping has become extremely popular in the last few years in part because it has been promoted as “a safe alternative to cigarettes”. Currently 1/3 of all high school students report “some use” of vaping. Unfortunately, hundreds of individuals have been hospitalized and died with an acute lung disease. The most common cause of this lung disease is lipoid pneumonia which can affect multiple lobes of the lungs and lead to respiratory failure. This form of disease seems to occur…