THE SHOW TOMORROW MAY 19/12

On the show this Saturday, the medicalization of your life...a prison sentence if you don't take your meds...yes I'm not joking...cyborgs are here...when should you have a baby?...when is it too late? AND as always your calls - starring you and whatever's on your mind about your health.

 

                                                 DR. CHAMBERS ON CALL 

                                    SATURDAYS 6-8 AM ON KFWB NEWS TALK 980

                                        THE NUMBER TO CALL IS 888 539 2980

THIRTY MINUTES IS ALL YOUR BRAIN ASKS OF YOU.

On the show last Saturday I said exercise wise what's good for your heart is good for your brain. This article details how exercise fuels your brain. Remember your brain is plastic meaning it can change. You can make new brain cells and refurbish existing ones all through exercise. And I'm not talking about hours and hours of running or gym work. Thirty minutes will do the trick. Thirty minutes of anything that gets the heart rate up and the blood pumping. Your brain deserves nothing else. 

A HEALTHY LUNCH FOR MOTHER'S DAY.

Another recipe from Gavan Murphy - the healthy chef.  A good lunch for today, maybe.

Chilled Avocado Soup & Sandwich

This is a play on the classic soup & sandwich lunch special. The problem I find with most packaged deli meats is that they’re full of sodium and fillers so I decided to use a real turkey breast. Turkey breast is pretty easy to cook and really fast (around 3-5 minutes fast, I kid you not). This light seasonal version of soup & sand is perfect on a hot day so while we still have them left, get on it!

RECIPE:

Serves 2

2 ripe avocados

1/2 jalapeno – small dice

2 tbsp fresh mint – chopped

1/2 a lime, zest only + a squeeze of juice

6 ice cubes

S&P

2 x 4 oz turkey breast slices – cooked

green leaf lettuce (will be playing the part of bread today)

sliced tomato (heirlooms if you got ‘em)

DIRECTIONS:

Scoop the avocado pulp into a food processor along with the jalapeno, mint, zest and ice. Blend until pureed. Taste and season with S&P and a squeeze of lime juice.

Refrigerate until needed. Store in an air tight container and it should keep in the fridge for a couple days before turning brown.

NOTE: I added in some leftover cooked quinoa a couple days later and it added great texture.

THE SHOW TOMORROW MAY 12/12

Your brain more changeable and vulnerable than you know..girls against the boys in brain injures...meditation and the brain...multitasking, are the millennials really different than the Boomers... AND of course your calls with whatever's on your mind about your health.

 

                               DR. CHAMBERS ON CALL, KFWB NEWS TALK 980

                                                       6-8 AM SATURDAYS

                                                       CALL 888 539 2980

ITCHY, ITCHY, ITCHY WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Itchy itch itch. This is a good stuff on idiopathic urticaria - itchy hives. The problem with hives is they come and go as they like. They have a mind of their own. It's great if the cause is obvious like a drug reaction but frequently their origin is as mysterious as the Mona Lisa's smile. Often it takes up to six weeks or longer before they go but they do go, I promise you. 

TAKE HOME MESSGE:

  1. Use a non-sedating anti-histamine like Zyrtec or Atarx (more sedating than Zyrtec) in good doses twice a day.
  2. Wear natural fibers like cotton next to your skin.
  3. Short tepid showers and pat yourself dry. Rubbing the skin with a towel or hot shower will stimulate your skin to release histamine and boy will you itch.
  4. Use hypoallergenic everything from shower gel to hand soap.
  5. Keep a diary and see if something you're doing is causing the hives. Probably not but you could get lucky.
  6. If you've recently changed laundry detergent go back to the old one. 
  7. if the cause is your lover's pet, and often is, avoid the pet or change the lover. 

 

"TRUST, BUT VERIFY!"

 

This is a great article.  It's the story of the 1 800 Get Thin clinics and five lap band related deaths. One of the deaths, Paula Rojeski, is also under investigation by LAPD's Robbery Homicide Unit. Kudos to journalist Stuart Pfeifer and the LA Times for relentlessly pursuing this story for months.

Here's what I suggest you do before you have any outpatient surgery and it can all be done from your home computer. It's a variation of President Regan's great maxim, "Trust , but verify". First off make sure that at any Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) i.e. a stand alone surgical center not connected with a hospital, is what it says it is and has properly trained staff. If it's a new clinic make sure it's not "new" in name only with a fresh coat of paint after a run in with regulatory authorities. Keep in mind the anesthetist is every bit as important as the surgeon. Be under no illusion, an inept anesthetist or someone giving you an anesthetic who is not properly trained can kill you.  

TAKE HOME MESSAGE:

  1. Google the clinic and the doctors involved. 
  2. Always go to the California Medical Board's web site and see if the surgeon or anaesthetist have been board sanctioned or are under investigation. 
  3. Talk to the surgeon AND anesthetist before your procedure and make sure they're actually going to do your surgery and not delegate it to someone else.
  4. Check with the three main accreditors of ASCs that the clinic is indeed accredited. If it's not, this is a big red flag. Don't have your surgery there. FYI, the three main accreditors of ASCs are American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (AAAASF), Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (Accreditation Association or AAAHC) and The Joint Commission.