Well, it’s that time again. You’re watching the year come to an end, and preparing for the annual ritual of the New Year’s Resolution to lose weight. Let me share some helpful information to make this coming year the one where you actually meet your weight loss goals.

When you think of weight loss and losing weight, the first things that probably come to your mind are either those “lose weight fast.” Maybe you’re thinking of all of the weight loss pills that claim to be safe and allow you to “eat whatever you want and still lose weight because the pill will do all of the work for you”. Or, maybe you’re thinking of rice cakes and never eating and being hungry all day long.

Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can put this into practice, then you are on your way to losing weight. There are 6 simple steps. Here they are:

1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. That’s right, wake up, and eat like you would normally eat, and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer some where. You might be thinking to yourself, “yeah right, I’m not gonna sit around counting calories all day.” Well, if you’re thinking that, then you’re obviously not dedicated enough to losing weight. If this is the case, then feel free to go waste your money on the newest, useless weight loss pill. But, if you are dedicated enough to take 10 minutes out of your day and count the calories, then keep on reading.

2) At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drank. Be as exact as possible. Once you add it all up, you now have the total number of calories you consume daily. Also, weigh yourself.

3) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories LESS then you normally do. So, let’s pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day. Understand? All you have to do is subtract 500 from the total number of calories you consume in a normal day, and eat this new number of calories every day for the next 7 days.

4) Instead of eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 ½ to 3 hours: Doing this will speed up your metabolism.

5) Cardio is an important part of weight loss. If you’re serious about losing weight, but don’t want to do the cardio workouts, then you are requiring your diet to do all of the work. Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, take an aerobics class, whatever… cardio + proper diet = better than just doing one of the two. All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 3–5 days a week. I say 3–5 days a week because I don’t know if you have 5 pounds to lose, or if you have 50 pounds to lose. So, depending on how much you’re looking to lose, figure it out. Three times a week is good starting point though.

6) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You’ll notice a difference just after one week! Now, don’t expect to see a 20-pound difference. Losing anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthy. So look for a 1 or 2 pound weight loss at the end of the week. Doesn’t sound like much? You can lose 5–8 pounds a month! That’s around 75lbs a year! So if you have A LOT of weight to lose, you can lose it. If you have just a few pounds to lose, you can lose those also.

Now, a couple of words about those “FATS” and “CARBS”:

The bad fat must go! Get rid of all the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. No more cookies, no more cake, no more of these saturated fats. There is no question about it, and there is no way around it, get rid of these types of foods. Don’t get me wrong, you should NOT be eating 0 grams of fat every day, but the only places you should be getting your daily fat intake from are lean meats (not the fried fast food kind), chicken (again, not fried!), etc. as well as the foods that contain the “healthy” types of fat, which can be found in just about every type of fish (tuna fish, salmon, fish oil supplements, etc.), nuts, olive oil and flaxseed oil.

Lower the bad carbs! Most people think that it is fat that makes people fat and that just by eating less fat, they are on their way to weight loss! WRONG! Certain carbs can be just as bad as fat when it comes to losing weight. Limit foods high in bad carbs. These carbs will eventually turn into fat. Foods like sugar, white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. are high in simple (bad) carbs. Sure, your body needs carbs, which is why foods like these are OK to eat, but don’t go overboard. Stick to high protein/good carb/low fat foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etc.

Drink water! Get rid of the soda, get rid of the beer and get rid of the sports drinks. Drink around a half-gallon a day, more if you can. Spread it out throughout the day, just like your 5 meals. Yes that’s a lot of water, but it’s that water that will give you energy and speed your weight loss.

Weigh yourself at the end of every week. If you ever have more then 2 weeks go by without losing 1 pound, it’s time to change something. Eat 250 fewer calories then you’ve been eating. And keep everything else the same. Each time you see weight loss stop for more then 2 weeks, decrease calorie intake by 250 until you get down to where you want to be. Remember, NEVER starve yourself!

Sleep! Yes! Sleep! The easiest, yet most overlooked step. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.

There you have it. You now know everything you need to know about losing weight. You didn’t have to buy any weight loss pills or books on losing weight, instead, you should use the money you just saved and go buy some good food or a gym membership.

Now, I never once said this would be easy. If it was easy, you would have done it already. Losing weight isn’t something you can just do “on the side.” You are going to have to dedicate your mind and body and your time to doing it! So, you now have the information you need — all you have to do now is use it.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself, and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Readers should always consult their healthcare providers to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan. 

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” a lecturing health columnist and radio commentator, and an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in December 2011. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Alcohol is, by far, the most widely used drug in our society. Because it is easily available, most people never think of it as a drug and if it is consumed to excess it can have a very damaging effect on the human body.

When ingested, alcohol passes from the stomach into the small intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body. Because it is distributed so quickly and thoroughly, alcohol can affect the central nervous system even in small concentrations. In low concentrations, alcohol reduces inhibitions. As blood alcohol concentration increases, a person’s response to stimuli decreases markedly, speech becomes slurred, and he or she becomes unsteady and has trouble walking. With very high concentrations — greater than 0.35 grams/100 milliliters of blood (equivalent to less than .012 ounces per 3.5 ounces of blood) — a person can become comatose and die.

If you’re trying to watch your waistline, drinking too much alcohol can be disastrous! Research reveals that a man drinking five pints a week consumes the same number of calories as someone getting through 221 doughnuts a year.

Drinking too much alcohol isn’t great news for your skin either. As well as causing bloating and dark circles under your eyes, alcohol dries out your skin and can lead to wrinkles and premature aging. If you drink heavily you may develop acne rosacea, a skin disorder that starts with a tendency to blush and flush easily and can progress to facial disfiguration, a condition known as rhinophyma.

The liver is responsible for the elimination — through metabolism — of 95 percent of ingested alcohol from the body. The remainder of the alcohol is eliminated through excretion of alcohol in breath, urine, sweat, feces, milk and saliva. The body uses several different metabolic pathways in its oxidation of alcohol to acetaldehyde to acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water.

Healthy people metabolize alcohol at a fairly consistent rate. As a rule of thumb, a person will eliminate one average drink or .5 oz. (15 ml) of alcohol per hour. Several factors influence this rate. The rate of elimination tends to be higher when the blood alcohol concentration in the body is very high. Also, chronic alcoholics may (depending on liver health) metabolize alcohol at a significantly higher rate than the average. Finally, the body’s ability to metabolize alcohol quickly tends to diminish with age.

The body metabolizes alcohol extremely quickly. Unlike foods, which require time for digestion, alcohol needs no digestion and is quickly absorbed. Alcohol gets the “VIP” treatment in the body!

Food, taken along with alcohol, results in a lower, delayed blood alcohol concentration peak (the point of greatest intoxication). There are two major factors involved in this phenomenon:

First, because alcohol is absorbed most efficiently in the small intestine, the ingestion of food can slow down the absorption of alcohol into one’s system. The pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach will close in order to hold food in the stomach for digestion and thus keep the alcohol from reaching the small intestine. While alcohol will be absorbed from the stomach it is a slower and less efficient transition.

Second and equally important is the fact that alcohol elimination rates are inversely proportional to alcohol concentration in the blood. Therefore the suppressed levels of alcohol due to food ingestion cause the body to eliminate the alcohol that is absorbed at a faster rate.

Once swallowed, a drink enters the stomach and small intestine, where small blood vessels carry it to the bloodstream. Approximately 20 percent of alcohol is absorbed through the stomach and most of the remaining 80 percent is absorbed through the small intestine.

The type of food ingested (carbohydrate, fat, protein) has not been shown to have a measurable influence on this affect; but the larger the meal and closer in time between eating and drinking, the greater the diminution of peak alcohol concentration.

Though alcohol affects every organ of the body, it’s most dramatic impact is upon the liver. The liver cells normally prefer fatty acids as fuel, and package excess fatty acids as triglycerides, which they then route to other tissues of the body. However, when alcohol is present, the liver cells are forced to first metabolize the alcohol, letting the fatty acids accumulate, sometimes in huge amounts. Alcohol metabolism permanently changes liver cell structure, which impairs the liver’s ability to metabolize fats. This explains why heavy drinkers tend to develop fatty livers.

The liver is able to metabolize about ½ ounce of ethanol per hour (approximately one drink, depending on a person’s body size, food intake, etc.). If more alcohol arrives in the liver than the enzymes can handle, the excess alcohol travels to all parts of the body, circulating until the liver enzymes are finally able to process it. (Another good reason not to consume more than one drink per hour.)

With moderate drinking, the liver can process alcohol fairly safely. However, heavy drinking overtaxes the liver resulting in serious consequences. A liver clogged with fat causes liver cells to become less efficient at performing their necessary tasks, resulting in impairment of a person’s nutritional health. Fatty liver is the first stage of liver deterioration in heavy drinkers and interferes with the distribution of oxygen and nutrients to the liver’s cells. If the condition persists long enough, the liver cells will die, forming fibrous scar tissue (the second stage of liver deterioration, or fibrosis). Some liver cells can regenerate with good nutrition and abstinence, however in the last stage of deterioration, or cirrhosis, the damage to the liver cells is the least reversible.

Because of several physiological reasons, a woman will feel the effects of alcohol more than a man, even if they are the same size. There is also increasing evidence that women are more susceptible to alcohol’s damaging effects than are men. Below are explanations of why men and women process alcohol differently.

Women have less body water (52 percent for the average woman v. 61 percent for the average man). This means that a man’s body will automatically dilute the alcohol more than a woman’s body, even if the two people weigh the same amount. Women have less dehydrogenase, a liver enzyme that breaks down alcohol. So a woman’s body will break down alcohol more slowly than a man’s.

Premenstrual hormonal changes cause intoxication to set in faster during the days right before a woman gets her period. Birth control pills or other medication with estrogen will slow down the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from the body.

Women who are heavy drinkers are at greater risk of liver disease, damage to the pancreas and high blood pressure than male heavy drinkers. Proportionately more alcoholic women die from cirrhosis than do alcoholic men.

One final note: There is much publicity these days about the therapeutic effect of a daily glass of red wine. This is due to the presence of the plant pigments called “anthrocyanadin,” which are very effective antioxidants in the body. (Scavengers of free-radicals). They are what gives red wine its color. Antioxidants protect cells from damage and aging.

We can get these anthrocyanadins in our diet in much higher quantities by eating red colored fruit and vegetables, which do not have any of the negative effects of alcohol. All red, orange, yellow and green fruits and vegetables also contain other essential nutrients not contained in alcohol.

This one’s for you, Doc!

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Readers should always consult their healthcare providers to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?”, and a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures; he is also an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in January 2012. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Reports of your holiday weight gain have been greatly exaggerated.

For many of us, the hustle and bustle of the holidays leads up to just one day: The big celebration. There will be friends, family, festivities — and food. Lots of food.

From the feasts of Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas, right through to the last drop of champagne at New Year’s, healthy, sensible eating habits are forgotten. Exercise routines are often disrupted by friends and family visits and travel. This excess weight puts an extra strain on the heart and joints. For seniors this weight gain is especially serious if they have an existing heart problem or high blood pressure. Every extra pound of weight forces the heart to work that much harder. If the heart has to pump harder, the blood pressure will go up. For seniors with diabetes, weight gain makes it much harder to maintain blood sugar levels in the normal range.

Americans probably gain about a pound during the winter holiday season — but this extra weight accumulates through the years and may be a major contributor to obesity later in life.

This finding runs contrary to the popular belief that most people gain from five to ten pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

The good news is that people don’t gain as much weight as we thought during the holidays. The bad news is that weight gained over the winter holidays isn’t lost during the rest of the year.

By definition, obesity is the accumulation of excess body fat.

With the exception of people who have very muscular builds, anyone who is 20 percent or more over their “ideal” weight is considered obese. This excess is made up of fat stores. Fat stores are designed to protect our organs and prevent starvation. Nature actually makes sure that we have fat stores because fat is the main source of energy. The problem with body fat comes when our poor diet and/or lifestyles cause us to have an imbalance between the fat that is stored and the fat that is used for energy. Once this happens, the body’s ability to use fat for energy decreases. As you can imagine, eating fried foods, sweets, fast foods, and the like contributes greatly to this problem.

You might think that the solution is lots of hard exercise and a light diet. Wrong.

This will only cause the body to hold on to the fat stores for dear life and convert whatever else we eat to fat, because the body recognizes your wonderful exercise and dieting as starvation.

Your personal weight loss program should include:

1. Cleansing of toxins that are stored in the fat cells. Once you begin your program, your body starts eliminating toxins as it breaks down fat cells and removes the wastes and fat deposits. During this process, the waste is eliminated faster than the new cells are made, therefore you will lose tissue weight that is not needed.

2. Calming of cravings for salty foods and sweets Remember, those types of foods will upset the balance between the usage of fat for energy and the fat storage.

3. Improvement of appetite and unnatural hunger by increasing your intake of the proper nutrients. Eating good wholesome foods, and taking the “right” supplements will let you experience what it means to feel full after a normal meal, and prevent the tendency to “pig out”.

4. Burning of calories. This is the key to safe and effective weight loss. You must increase your metabolism so that the calories that you consume are burned clean and efficiently just like a clean flame on a gas stove.

Keep in mind, that if the weight loss plan you undertake is to work, it must include these four key points:

How can you prevent weight gain, and still enjoy the social and family gatherings of the holiday season? It’s not as hard as you think according to most dieticians. With some planning you can make this a healthy and happy holiday season.

• Eat a substantial breakfast that includes protein. Protein takes longer to digest and helps you to feel full for much longer.

• If you are attending a potluck function make your contribution a healthy one. A simple mixed fruit or spinach salad is easy to make and carry.

• If you are attending a sit-down dinner, let your host or hostess know in advance of any food restrictions you may have. If a friend or family member knows you are on a special diet beforehand it will make dinner a more pleasant experience.

• Don’t try to start a weight loss diet now. Save the diet for your New Year’s resolution. If you cheat you may feel guilty and end up eating more.

• Time for exercise. Don’t just go to the mall to shop, go for some exercise also. Malls are wonderful places to walk, out of the elements and climate controlled. If time is limited try to park as far from your stop as you can.

Please don’t take this information as license to be the “Holiday Food Police.” No one wants a killjoy at their holiday celebration or a family get-together. But when it comes to dealing with the temptations of the season’s high-calorie food offerings, you don’t have to be a Grinch.

You do need a plan.

The key to successfully navigating the holiday season for your family is to plan ahead by outlining a practical weight management strategy that doesn’t leave you and your children feeling deprived, but will help kids and their parents to avoid weight gain during the next couple of months. The good news is that adults and children alike can enjoy the wonderful foods of the holiday season as long as they do so in moderation.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Readers should always consult their healthcare providers to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and a lecturing health columnist, radio commentator an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics. His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” is due out in fall 2011. For more good health information, visit www.glennellis.com.

I hate to say I told you so, but the truth of the matter is that our food supply is more dangerous today than ever before. It isn’t that food poisoning events are being emphasized more frequently. The news is, more of us are at risk than ever before. The globalization of our food supply, combined with a less educated labor force, means we are being subjected to the extremely low standards of some countries in foods exported for consumption here.

Despite sweeping reform of food safety laws intended to make what we eat less dangerous, the number of Americans falling ill or dying from contaminated food has increased 44 percent since last year, according to a report released Wednesday.

Tainted cantaloupe, unsafe mangoes, meat and the recent peanut butter recall — which recently has infected 25 people, mostly children, in 19 states — has left us struggling to keep up with the dizzying list of ever-changing toxic edibles.

Approximately 48 million people get sick from eating tainted food each year, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, arguing more must be done to protect Americans from unsafe food. They say there were 718 illnesses directly linked to food recalls in 2011. There were 1,035 illnesses from January to September 2012 — an increase of 44 percent.

The focus in this column is something we are hearing more and more about, yet understanding les and less: Genetically Modified (GM) foods.

Genetically modified food has quietly become second nature in the U.S., and it may surprise you just how many foods you are eating that you never knew contained a genetically modified ingredient.

Experts say 60 to 70 percent of processed foods on U.S. grocery shelves have genetically modified ingredients. The most common genetically modified foods are soybeans, maize (corn) and rapeseed oil. That means many foods made in the U.S. containing field corn or high-fructose corn syrup, such as many breakfast cereals, snack foods and the last soda you drank; foods made with soybeans (including some baby foods); and foods made with cottonseed and canola oils could likely have genetically modified ingredients. These ingredients appear frequently in animal feed as well.

Risks of GM foods include:

Introducing allergens and toxins to food

Accidental contamination between genetically modified and non-genetically modified foods

Antibiotic resistance

Adversely changing the nutrient content of a crop

Creation of “super” weeds and other environmental risks

Benefits include:

Increased pest and disease resistance

Drought tolerance

As the information surrounding GM (genetically modified) food rose to the mainstream media, the people began to be angry. They were looking for someone to blame for allowing this atrocity to occur, and they had to look no farther than Monsanto.

The Monsanto Corp. is a multinational, agricultural biotechnology corporation. It is responsible for producing and selling a majority of the genetically engineered seeds in the world.

These are the seeds that yield genetically modified crops. Monsanto has such a grip on the industry that it produces 90 percent of the United States’ genetically engineered seeds. This is the same company responsible for the development of bovine growth hormone (BGH), which incited mass controversy over its effects. It was determined by many health experts to be extremely dangerous, with many linking it to cancer and other life-threatening conditions.

Numerous studies have proven genetically modified foods to be an extreme health hazard, but one must only look at how it is created to realize how unsafe GM food really is.

The bioengineering process itself is quite ridiculous. Billions are spent each year to genetically modify the food supply, tainting it with genetically modified “frankenfood.” Genetically modifying foods requires one to tamper with the very genetic coding of the crop and/or seed. The process entails the transfer of genes from one organism to another, such as taking particular genes from a pig and transferring them to a tomato. Not only does this defile nature, it leads to a host of health problems.

Due to the complexity of a living organism’s genetic structure, it is impossible to track the long-term results of consuming genetically modified food. Introducing new genes into even the most simple bacterium may cause an array of issues, highlighting the complexity of even the simplest organisms. Introducing new genes to highly complex organisms such as animals or crops is even riskier.

While it may or may not technically be a disease (depending on how you look at it), genetic modification is having a very serious affect on crops around the globe.

In the United States, a different problem is developing. The complete and total reliance of so many U.S. farmers on Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide has resulted in several varieties of glyphosate-resistant “superweeds” developing in many areas of the United States.

The most feared of these “superweeds,” pigweed, can grow to be seven feet tall and it can literally wreck a combine. Pigweed has been known to produce up to 10,000 seeds at a time, it is resistant to drought and it has very diverse genetics.

Superweeds were first spotted in Georgia in 2004, and since then they have spread to South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.

In some areas, superweeds have become so bad that literally tens of thousands of acres of U.S. farmland have actually been abandoned.

But that is what we get for trying to “play God.”

We think we can just do whatever we want with nature without any consequences. It has been said many times that genetic engineering is similar to “performing heart surgery with a shovel.”

The truth is that we just do not know enough about how our ecosystems work to be messing around with them so dramatically.

Perhaps even more frightening is that once these genetically engineered monstrosities have been released into our environment, it is absolutely impossible to recall them. They essentially become a permanent part of our ecosystem.

But can we afford to make any serious mistakes at this point?

The truth is that we already live in a world that is not able to feed itself.

Tonight, approximately 1 billion people across the globe will go to bed hungry. Every 3.6 seconds someone in the world starves to death, and three-fourths of those who starve to death are children under the age of five.

It is currently being projected that global demand for food will more than double over the next 50 years. So what is going to happen if we start seeing widespread crop failures in the coming years?

The global food supply is not nearly as stable as most people believe. At some point, it is going to be tested severely.

Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and “Information is the Best Medicine.” A health columnist and radio commentator who lectures nationally and internationally on health related topics, Ellis is an active media contributor on health equity and medical ethics.

For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

You may hate to admit it, but you are probably looking forward to having your children go back to school. You know that there is a lot to do before school starts, like back-to-school shopping. You also know that if your child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there may be more to do.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that the number of children who received prescriptions for drugs used to treat ADHD continues to increase.

However, the authors noted that their research did not track whether the drugs were actually used, only that they were prescribed.

Ritalin, the drug most often given to adolescents, and other ADHD drugs like Adderall account for most of the ADHD drug prescriptions between 2002 and 2010, but the researchers noted use of these medications is stabilizing and being replaced by newer drugs, such as Vyvanse and Focalin.

In line with much of the controversy surrounding this issue, the considerable increase in the number of prescriptions for ADHD drugs is due to a higher number of diagnoses.

The most important thing is to get the diagnosis right!

If your child has been properly diagnosed, and was on medication at the end of the last school year, there are some considerations as you prepare for him/her to prepare for the start of school.

Was your child off of their ADHD medications during the summer break? If so, you may want to restart it at least a week or two before school starts to get back the routine of taking her medicine each day. This is especially important if your child is taking a drug like Strattera, which can take a two or three weeks to even begin working.

Otherwise, the start of school is not a real good time to make any big changes in your child’s treatment regimen. Your child will already be faced with new teachers and classes and perhaps a new school and new friends. It may help to give your child a few weeks to adjust to the new year before making any changes to her medication, especially if you are considering stopping her medicine altogether.

It seems that back-to-school time always sneaks up. Before you know it, the summer is over and school is starting again. Helping your child ease from the lazy days of summer to the structured days of fall is important. If your child has ADD / ADHD, transitions can sometimes be difficult. Many children experience mixed feelings about restarting school. School may create feelings of excitement, but it can also create some anxiety, especially if previous school experiences have been frustrating.

No one knows exactly what causes this behavioral disorder. A brain injury may be behind some cases, and environmental and genetic factors could be to blame as well.

In particular, family history seems to play a significant role: 25 percent of close relatives of those with ADHD may have it too. And for people with a family history, it’s possible genetic makeup could increase the odds of one’s getting it by as much as 50 percent to 80 percent. Take dads, as an example. At least one-third of all fathers who had ADHD in their youth have children with ADHD.

In addition to your child’s ADHD medication, other issues to think about as your child goes back to school can include:

Is your child getting enough sleep? Many children with ADHD do not sleep well, which can contribute to hyperactivity, irritability, and a decreased attention span, which many parents may think to blame as a side effect of their ADHD medication or simply on their ADHD.

Does your child need extra help, even as his ADHD medication is helping most of his/her ADHD symptoms? If so, then you might ask your pediatrician to fill out an Other Health Impaired (OHI) form from the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) to get extra special education services in school or request that the school evaluate him/her under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

It’s important to set the stage for the teacher to see the child as an individual, separate from whatever previous ideas or information they have. It has often been helpful for parent and child to write individual personal letters to teachers as a way to communicate this information.

Many families have found letter writing to be a wonderful process that brings the child closer to his or her teachers on a more personal level — a level that facilitates more personal connections between teacher, child and parent. The letter is a chance to present the child as an individual, not just a child with ADHD.

As a parent your letter should include a description of your child, identifying which subtype of ADHD he or she has and specifying the characteristics of that subtype that your child displays. You might also describe what treatment is being used; the people on the treatment team; the treatment itself; including information about behavior plans and medications currently in use and any that have been discontinued. Describe the strategies that you and previous teachers have found to be helpful, such as advance warnings about schedule changes or touch prompts.

Also specify techniques that have not worked or even backfired. Include other personal information: your child’s likes, dislikes, hobbies, strengths, weaknesses and accomplishments.

Letters such as these enable children to educate their teachers about themselves and their ADHD, rather than waiting for the disorder to manifest itself in a negative context, and they tend to evoke an empathic response from teachers. Try to help your children identify, in his/her own words, what ADHD is, how it affects them, and what helps them to learn best in class.

This early and open communication among children, teachers and parents has several benefits:

1. It decreases the time it takes for a new teacher to work effectively with the child.
2. It presents the child as approachable, likable and easier to connect with.
3. It begins the process of open communication.
4. It provides an opportunity to empower children to deal with their ADHD. They can get an early start in advocating for themselves, which will serve them well throughout their school years and beyond.

The most important aspect of preparing your child for school is to decrease anxiety and to increase your child’s sense of competence. Because most children with ADHD have struggled in school academically, behaviorally or socially, approaching the first days of school can feel overwhelming for children and parents alike. For some children, easing into routines at home for sleep, meals, and after school activities (including homework) can be helpful a week or more before school starts, with the goal of helping the child prepare for these routines and avoiding battles during the early days of school. It’s important to emphasize academic strengths and favorite activities, but acknowledge anxieties, as well. Most children do not want to talk about school but will appreciate their parent’s acknowledgement of the effort that is involved.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended, nor implied, to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and is a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, and an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health-related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in January 2012. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Many things can happen in a woman’s body because of the changes in hormone patterns that begin during the menopausal transition. Some women are bothered by only a few symptoms during perimenopause. Others are very uncomfortable, while the rest hardly feel any different.

Scientists are still trying to understand how the hormone changes during the menopausal transition may affect a woman’s periods and menopausal symptoms.

Menopause is only one of several stages in the reproductive life of a woman. The entire menopause transition is divided into distinct stages known as premature menopause, premenopause, perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause.

Menopause is brought on by low levels of estrogen and progesterone and can cause symptoms such as irregular periods, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, memory loss and difficulty concentrating, insomnia and fatigue, frequent urination and mood swings.

Premature menopause is menopause that occurs before the age of 40, whether it is natural or induced by medical or surgical means. Women who enter menopause early have symptoms similar to those of natural menopause, like hot flashes, emotional problems, vaginal dryness and decreased sex drive. However, for some women with premature menopause, these symptoms are severe. Also, women who have premature menopause tend to get weaker bones faster than women who enter menopause later in life.          

Perimenopause marks the time when your body begins its move into menopause. It includes the years leading up to menopause — anywhere from 2 to 8 years — plus the first year after your final period. There is no way to predict how long perimenopause will last or how long it will take you to go through it. It’s a natural part of a woman’s life that signals the ending of her reproductive years.

Menopause is a normal change in a woman’s life when her period stops. It is often called the “change of life.” During menopause, which usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, a woman’s body slowly makes less of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. A woman has reached menopause when she has not had a period for 12 months in a row, and there are no other causes for this change.

Eighty-five percent of the women in the United States experience hot flashes of some kind as they approach menopause and for the first year or two after their periods stop. Hot flashes are mostly caused by the hormonal changes of menopause, but can also be affected by lifestyle and medications. A diminished level of estrogen has a direct effect on the part of the brain (hypothalamus) responsible for controlling your appetite, sleep cycles, sex hormones and body temperature. Somehow, the drop in estrogen confuses the hypothalamus — which is sometimes referred to as the body’s “thermostat”—and makes it read “too hot.”

The brain responds to this report by broadcasting an all-out alert to the heart, blood vessels, and nervous system: “Get rid of the heat!” This message is delivered instantly. Your heart pumps faster, the blood vessels in your skin dilate to circulate more blood to radiate off the heat, and your sweat glands release sweat to cool you off even more.

This heat-releasing mechanism is how the body keeps from overheating in the summer, but when the process is triggered instead by a drop in estrogen, your brain’s confused response can make you very uncomfortable. Some women’s skin temperature can rise six degrees during a hot flash.

Together with progesterone, another female hormone made by the ovaries, estrogen regulates the changes that occur with each monthly period and prepares the uterus for pregnancy. Prior to menopause, more than 90 percent of the estrogen in a woman’s body is made by the ovaries. Other organs (including the adrenal glands, liver and kidneys) also make small amounts of estrogen. That’s why women continue to have low levels of estrogen after menopause. Because fat cells can also make small amounts of estrogen, women who are overweight when they are going through menopause may have fewer problems with hot flashes and osteoporosis (both of which are related to lack of estrogen).

Headaches are one of the most common and disturbing symptoms women can suffer from during menopause. Menopause migraines and headaches can last between four to 72 hours. Anxiety and other forms of emotional daily stress, overwork and fatigue can cause menopause migraines and headaches. Because the most probable cause of migraines & headaches during menopause is hormone imbalance, it is generally felt that declining estrogen hormones are responsible for these migraines and headaches. In short, when hormones fluctuate, blood vessels in the brain overreact, causing headaches and migraines. Therefore, when estrogen hormones start dropping, it is very probable that migraines will become more frequent and more intense. This can happen in menopause or even when a woman has her normal periods (in which hormonal fluctuations also occur). Therefore, the best way to avoid migraines & headaches during menopause is to keep a healthy, balanced level of estrogen hormones.

Although there is very little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of “natural” therapies for menopausal symptoms, it is possible that some “natural” therapies may provide some relief to women during the menopausal transition. Here are two important points to keep in mind if you are considering these therapies:

• Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

• “Natural” does not automatically mean “safe.” As noted earlier, botanical and other dietary supplements can interact with each other and with prescription and over-the-counter drugs, affecting how the body reacts.

There is a direct relationship between the lack of estrogen during perimenopause and menopause and the development of osteoporosis.

One of the most important demographic aspects of osteoporosis is that it occurs more in cities of first world countries like the U.S., the UK and Canada, where people eat dairy products and red meat. There are several theories suggesting that the artificially treated milk and other dairy products are not digested the way they should be. Moreover, when a woman adds red meat to our diet, it may cause leaching way of calcium from her bones and teeth. Thus, making our bones porous and fragile. There is substantial evidence that eating protein rich diet is also not good for our bones. These eating practices are not common in third world countries and in rural areas where people follow traditional way of life and eat traditional leafy vegetables. Hence, the percentage of people suffering from osteoporosis in third world countries is lower than in developed countries. Osteoporosis is lowest in southern African countries where people eat more leafy vegetables and less dairy products.

Apart from this, women particularly in developed countries consume more alcohol and their diet is rich in meats, white flour and dairy products including cheese and butter. Women’s in western countries also smoke. Smoking leads to increased bone mass loss. Smoking also impairs the action of estrogen, which naturally protects bone mass. There is plenty of evidence that smoking causes a significant increase in the risk of development of osteoporosis.

Women who are looking for alternative treatments should know that certain lifestyle changes can contribute to healthy aging, including during the menopausal transition. For example, quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease and osteoporosis.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended, nor implied, to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and is a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, and is an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in January 2012. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Uterine fibroids are common. As many as one in five women may have fibroids during their childbearing years (the time after starting menstruation for the first time and before menopause). Half of all women have fibroids by age 50. They are rare in women under age 20. Black women are three times more likely to get fibroids than other women.

The cause of uterine fibroids is unknown. However, their growth has been linked to the hormone estrogen. As long as a woman with fibroids is menstruating, a fibroid will probably continue to grow, usually slowly.

Fibroids can be so tiny that you need a microscope to see them. However, they can grow very large. They may fill the entire uterus, and may weigh several pounds. Although it is possible for just one fibroid to develop, usually there are more than one.

Fibroids are often described by their location in the uterus:

• Myometrial – in the muscle wall of the uterus
• Submucosal -- just under the surface of the uterine lining
• Subserosal -- just under the outside covering of the uterus
• Pendunculated -- occurring on a long stalk on the outside of the uterus or inside the cavity of the uterus

Fibroids are usually benign (not cancerous). Having them does not increase a woman’s risk of developing cancer. In fewer than 1 in 1,000 cases a cancerous fibroid will occur.

Most women with uterine fibroids have no symptoms. However, abnormal uterine bleeding is the most common symptom of a fibroid. If the tumors are near the uterine lining, or interfere with the blood flow to the lining, they can cause heavy periods, painful periods, prolonged periods or spotting between menses. Women with excessive bleeding due to fibroids may develop iron deficiency anemia. Uterine fibroids that are deteriorating can sometimes cause severe, localized pain.

Fibroids can also cause a number of symptoms depending on their size, location within the uterus, and how close they are to adjacent pelvic organs.

Even though most fibroids cause no symptoms, women who do have symptoms often find fibroids hard to live with. These symptoms can include:

• Bleeding between periods
• Heavy menstrual bleeding, sometimes with the passage of blood clots
• Menstrual periods that may last longer than normal
• Need to urinate more often
• Pelvic cramping or pain with periods
• Sensation of fullness or pressure in lower abdomen
• Pain during intercourse
• Feeling of fullness in the lower stomach area
• Enlargement of the lower abdomen
• Lower back pain
• Complications during pregnancy and labor
• Pressure on the rectum with pain during defecation.

Treatment for the symptoms of fibroids may include:

• Birth control pills (oral contraceptives) to help control heavy periods
• Intrauterine devices (IUDs) that release the hormone progestin to help reduce heavy bleeding and pain
• Iron supplements to prevent or treat anemia due to heavy periods
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naprosyn for cramps or pain
• Short-term hormonal therapy injections to help shrink the fibroids

 Surgery and procedures used to actually treat fibroids include:

• Hysteroscopic resection of fibroids: Women who have fibroids growing inside the uterine cavity may need this outpatient procedure to remove the fibroid tumors.
• Uterine artery embolization: This procedure stops the blood supply to the fibroid, causing it to die and shrink. Women who may want to become pregnant in the future should discuss this procedure with their health care provider.
• Myomectomy: This surgery removes the fibroids. It is often the chosen treatment for women who want to have children, because it usually can preserve fertility. More fibroids can develop after a myomectomy.
• Hysterectomy: This invasive surgery may be an option if medicines do not work and other surgeries and procedures are not an option.

Uterine fibroid tumors are estrogen dependent — they thrive on estrogen. In fact, uterine fibroid tumors never develop before the onset of menstruation when the female body begins producing estrogen. During pregnancy, fibroid tumors often grow extremely fast due the extra estrogen produced by the body during pregnancy. Most women who have fibroid tumors and who are able to wait until after menopause, discover their uterine fibroid tumors shrink and disappear once estrogen production stops in the body.

Because of estrogen’s affect, both women who currently have fibroid tumors and those who’ve had uterine fibroids in the past need to pay particular attention to the potential side effects of estrogen-containing medications.

Many studies have already been made even in the earlier times linking tumors/fibroids with a diet rich in animal protein/fat (meat, eggs and most esp. milk) and chemicals like pesticides and additives/preservatives in processed food which flood the body with excessive amounts of estrogen. On the other hand, there are also supporting studies linking significantly lower rates of fibroids in countries with diet rich in vegetables and fruits which in contrast, flood the body with enzymes that eat up/melt excessive fibrin in the system which is basically what makes up abnormal growths like tumors, fibroids, and keloids.

Look for alternatives when buying substitutes for dairy, such as low-fat, organic products, or omega-rich foods. Dairy products contain calcium, which is important, so when removing the high-fat dairy products, try these foods still rich in calcium; soybeans, beans, peas, soy milk, goats milk, nut milk, sesame seeds, and green leafy vegetables. These foods easily pass through the liver, which results in less estrogen in the body.

Remember: The more estrogen in the body, the higher the risk for fibroid tumors or aggravating current tumors.

Alcohol is a major toxin to the liver. Alcohol prevents the liver from performing properly. If the liver isn’t functioning properly, it will not metabolize hormones. This will lead to increasing estrogen levels, which is bad for fibroid tumors. Also causing the same problem as alcohol, are caffeinated beverages, as well as drinks like fruit juices and sodas containing large amounts of sugar. Consume drinks that are caffeine -free, low in sugar and without alcohol. Water is the best thing you can drink.

On an interesting note, a recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology links hair relaxers to uterine fibroids.

Scientists followed more than 23,000 pre-menopausal Black American women from 1997 to 2009 and found that the two- to three-times higher rate of fibroids among Black women may be linked to chemical exposure through scalp lesions and burns resulting from relaxers.

The study also links hair relaxers to early puberty in young girls:

Women who got their first menstrual period before the age of 10 were also more likely to have uterine fibroids, and early menstruation may result from hair products black girls are using, according to a separate study published in the Annals of Epidemiology.

Three hundred African-American, African-Caribbean, Hispanic and white women in New York City were studied. The women’s first menstrual period varied anywhere from age 8 to age 19, but African Americans, who were more likely to use straightening and relaxers, hair oils, also reached menarche earlier than other racial/ethnic group.

The number of fibroids, their size and how fast they grow varies among women. Female hormones encourage fibroids to grow, so they continue growing until menopause. Smaller fibroids will often shrink after menopause. However, larger fibroids may change little or become slightly smaller in size. If a woman has had fibroids removed surgically, new fibroids can appear any time before she enters menopause.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures and an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His latest book is “Information is the Best Medicine.” For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Today, I received an email from an organization requesting me to make arrangements for “free”public service announcements on a Black talk radio station to publicize an upcoming health conference.

Normally, this would not be a problem, since the state of Black health is a truly dismal picture, and any effort to address the inequities is a welcomed one.

However, the troubling part of this is that the request came from an organization that, even though it is nonprofit, spends millions each year for the same conference to be held in various cities around the country.

According to the pharmaceutical industry lobby group PhRMA, the United States' pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies put forth a record $58.8 billion in the year 2007 toward the research and development of new life changing medicines and vaccines.

This is an increase of nearly $3 billion since 2006.

They can’t identify funds to pay for radio ads on a station that is key to recruiting attendees?

Granted, it’s a noble cause, and it is designed to overcome barriers, which traditionally contribute to the disparities in health which negatively impact African Americans. But the truth is, as my friend Rubin says, “ We still ain’t got our therapy”.

As Brent Staples state, in his New York Times article, “Historians tend to focus on mob violence and lynching when they write about the racial atrocities of the Jim Crow South. But not all killings were carried out by men in white sheets armed with guns and nooses. Indeed, it’s obvious when you think about it that many more African Americans died as a result of racist medical treatment in the South than at the hands of all the lynch mobs, bombers, and night riders combined.”     He goes on to talk about how Black physicians, who had formed the National Medical Association, fought against these horrors and urged the AMA to do the same. But the AMA remained shamefully mute at crucial junctures in the struggle for medical fairness.

It failed, for example, to fight against the Hill-Burton Act, the federal law that allowed the states to use federal funds in the construction of hospitals that would be segregated by race. It remained silent during the debates on the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It also pioneered the “states’ rights” approach, allowing state and county chapters to keep out Black physicians when and where they chose to. The same doctors who controlled membership in the AMA chapters prevented Black doctors from getting hospital privileges and specialty training.

It would be 1968 before The AMA House of Delegates threatened to expel from the Association any state medical society that discriminates on the basis of race, even though Dr. James McCune Smith, the first African American finished a medical school in 1837.

From the viewpoint of patients, the infamous Tuskegee “Experiment”, and other horrific acts have compiled a vast mental history in the minds and consciousness of Blacks, and continue on until today, manifesting in chronic distrust, and suspicion.

Yet, even after President Clinton, in 1997, offered a formal apology to the four, aged survivors of the “Experiment”, little has been done to address the dark medical experience of African Americans in the US medical system.

As a result, Race still matters…

Race and ethnicity influence a patient's chance of receiving many specific procedures and treatments. Of nine hospital procedures investigated in one study, five were significantly less common among African-American patients than among white patients; three of those five were also less common among Hispanics, and two were less common among Asian Americans. Countless studies have revealed additional disparities in patient care for various conditions and care settings including:

Heart disease. African Americans are 13 percent less likely to undergo coronary angioplasty and one-third less likely to undergo bypass surgery than are whites.

Asthma. Among preschool children hospitalized for asthma, only 7 percent of Black and 2 percent of Hispanic children, compared with 21 percent of white children, are prescribed routine medications to prevent future asthma-related hospitalizations.

Breast cancer. The length of time between an abnormal screening mammogram and the follow up diagnostic test to determine whether a woman has breast cancer is more than twice as long in Asian American, Black, and Hispanic women as in white women.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. African Americans with HIV infection are less likely to be on antiretroviral therapy, less likely to receive prophylaxis for Pneumocystis pneumonia, and less likely to be receiving protease inhibitors than other persons with HIV. An HIV infection data coordinating center, now under development, will allow researchers to compare contemporary data on HIV care to examine whether disparities in care among groups are being addressed and to identify any new patterns in treatment that arise.

Nursing home care. Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American residents of nursing homes are all far less likely than white residents to have sensory and communication aids, such as glasses and hearing aids. A new study of nursing home care is developing measures of disparities in this care setting and their relationship to quality of care.

An area of medicine that in my opinion reflects this void the greatest is clinical trials research. Black Americans tend to be underrepresented in clinical trials, which are responsible for most advances in medicine.

Project IMPACT (Increase Minority Participation and Awareness in Clinical Trials), a recent study, found that minorities are 200 percent more likely to perceive harm coming from participating in research.

Among the study's other findings:

24 percent of Black Americans reported that their doctors would not fully explain research participation to them, versus 13 percent of whites.

72 percent of Black Americans said doctors would use them as guinea pigs without their consent, versus 49 percent of whites.

35 percent of Black Americans said doctors would ask them to participate in research even if it could harm them, versus only 16 percent of whites.

8 percent of Black Americans more often believed they could less freely ask questions of doctors, compared with 2 percent of whites.

58 percent of Black Americans said doctors had previously experimented on them without consent, compared with 25 percent of whites.

Among the study's other findings: When the element of distrust was removed from the equation, the proportions of Blacks and whites willing to enroll equalized to that of whites.

Designing health initiatives that acknowledge and are based in the unique historical and cultural context of racial and ethnic minority communities in the United States is critical to removing this “unhealthy” barrier.

An important step in undoing health disparities is to change the pattern of relationships between people and the organizations and social structures affecting their health. Equipped with key information, both individuals and communities can change their relationships with health care systems, community organizations, schools, businesses and other economic institutions, and policy makers. This process of empowerment engages individuals and communities in understanding and exercising control over their future health.

Critical for the long-term success of initiatives designed to eliminate health disparities is the establishment of principles ensuring that an initiative will invest in a community and recognize and value community members with expertise that does not come from formal training.

Eliminating health disparities invokes a sense of power over one’s destiny and gives hope that something can be done to ensure a healthier and vital future. Therefore, when planning community interventions to eliminate health disparities, it is essential to build a sense of hope in the community that the future will be brighter than the past. By sharing and using these principles, we will become a nation that will help people-regardless of race or ethnicity-obtain and maintain optimal health.

This includes, acknowledging, not only the misdeeds and bad behavior of the medical profession in the past, but also that it is not acceptable to spend thousands of dollars on catering; audio/visual equipment; staff salaries; travel; honorariums; etc., and then ask a financially struggling radio station to provide free advertisements to get listeners to come out to an event: even though it is in their best interest to do so.

As Rubin would say, “ We still ain’t got our therapy”…

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

Glenn Ellis, is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and is a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, and is an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine”, was released early this year. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

Here’s a disturbing stat: Some 60 million Americans — one in five — “have no usual source of medical care, such as a family doctor or clinic.”

Reasons varied. More than two-thirds of the African Americans who reported not having a family doctor or not making regular visits to a clinic, attributed this to a lack of need: They claimed to seldom or never be ill. Others who avoid the doctor have cited the high cost of health care, especially some 29 percent of those who lack insurance (compared to just four percent of people who are privately insured). At 22 percent, Hispanics were the largest ethnic group avoiding doctors and clinics. Some people just don’t trust doctors. Asians were most likely to give this reason — 12 percent versus 4 percent for all other Americans.

Lots of people will head to the doctor and simply assume that just because they obtain a clean bill of health from the medical doctor that they are healthy. In truth, however, you’re more likely to be sick or have health concerns the more medications you’re on, not just as a result of interactions from such medications, but also because the more medicines you are on the more likely it is that you are controlling more serious health conditions. When it comes to health, you are probably healthier the less time you spend in the doctor’s office.

Even a clean health examination is not a guarantee of health and while a physician will check some basic things while you are in the office for a check up, it’s likely that you could have a significant health crisis following a visit to the medical doctor. As a matter of fact there are actually numerous things that a health care provider is not going to look for if you do not tell him that you’re experiencing issues in a particular region or area. When it comes to health even utilizing the best and most innovative tools is not going to guarantee that your doctor will discover every problem you’re having. It is very important to realize there is more to formulating a diagnosis then just a few cursory screenings performed at a routine health exam.

A large part of forming an accurate diagnosis arises from the information that the health care provider obtains from you. This information will help them evaluate what could possibly be wrong with you and can alert them as to where to look in terms of suspect areas of the body or specific diagnosis instruments and tests that they will be able to do to help further eliminate or narrow down health concerns.

Generally the doctor uses an assortment of tools with which to gather information about the patients that they see. These tools not only include the basic screening tools but additionally include the interview with the patient together with the information which they gather through the initial paperwork and family history forms, and this is one of the reasons why these documents are completed for each and every visit to help note any significant changes and alert the doctor to any areas of concern.

While regular doctor’s visits will not make you healthy, it is very important to know that these visits can certainly go a long way in helping to alert not only the doctor to potential health issues but the patient as well. Sometimes, just filling out the health history form prompts a patient to awareness of a potentially significant health issue. Just opening up the dialogue during these visits can be enough to save a person’s life or simply improve general health.

In general, low-income Americans were less likely to avail themselves of doctors and clinics on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean they won’t use emergency rooms when they do become sick. Indeed, other studies have shown that too many people use high-overhead hospital emergency services to handle routine medical needs, precisely because they don’t have a regular doctor. Not seeing a physician for regular checkups and immunizations may account for why so many people walk around with symptomless illnesses, such as atherosclerosis and diabetes. Without early diagnosis and treatment, these silent disorders can worsen and lead to more costly and less effective therapy if and when symptoms do worsen.

So when you sit down with your doctor, what things should you discuss? What things determine your risk?

• Heredity – If a majority of your family members has a heart attack what a young age, it is smart to address heart disease risk early. If they all lived to be 100, then not so much. Discuss the significance of these facts with your doctor. Some diseases are more significant to have in your family tree than others. Colon cancer, for example, has a strong genetic link, whereas leukemia is not as clearly genetic.
• Lifestyle – Do you smoke? Do you drink? Do you spend your time in front of the TV eating cookie dough ice cream? Do you work around asbestos or lead? All of these facts need to be discussed because they can seriously affect your health.
• Your Medical History – Diabetes, high blood pressure, past history of cancer, or prolonged use of certain medications will play a big part in determining what has to be monitored.
• Age and Sex – People in their 20s are more likely to die from accidents than they are of cancer. Men have heart disease earlier than women, but women are much more at risk for breast cancer. All of these can make a difference in the risks to which you’re more prone.

You can make your visit fruitful by doing your homework beforehand. Be ready to share any changes in your family history, any new allergies or medications (including over-the-counter) and any changes to your lifestyle. Also keep up on information about the latest preventive medicine guidelines so you’ll know what to expect and what questions to ask.

So what’s the next step? Usually the doctor makes you get naked and put on a paper gown, and then leaves you to shiver on the exam room table for 10 to 20 minutes while he gets the stethoscope out of the freezer. (Just kidding.)

Seriously, the next step is the physical exam. The physical exam is very important, but a good history and discussion of risk factors is equally as important as a thorough examination. Other critical parts of the full physical are the blood pressure, weight, breath sounds and heart exam. Women, of course, get their own special exam, and it is extremely important for them to do so at every stage of life.

Maybe someday we will get those full body scanners they have on “Star Trek” that can prove that we are healthy. But as of now, we need to use that boring thing called common sense.

One additional thing: If you have tests run by your doctor and don’t hear about the results, don’t assume “no news is good news.” You should always find out the results of any test you have done, and what those results mean.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Readers should always consult their healthcare providers to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” and is a lecturing health columnist and radio commentator s well as an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in January 2012. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.

I recently came across the news that, “… officials in the Obama administration launched a landmark national strategy to fight Alzheimer’s.”

Now many of you would think this is great news, and on some levels, it is. Nothing is more painful than to see a parent, or loved one, suffer and decline from this sinister thief.

If you’ve never experienced it, take my word — it isn’t a pretty sight.

After all, Alzheimer’s has wrought havoc and torn apart the lives of thousands, if not millions of families in recent years. An estimated 5.4 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer’s disease in 2012.

Broken down further, this means that:

• One in eight people age 65 and older (13 percent) has Alzheimer’s disease.
• Nearly half of people age 85 and older (45 percent) have Alzheimer’s disease.
• 4 percent of people under the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s.

I thought for a moment, and quickly realized that nowhere in the announcement was there any interest or attention in trying to explore the issue of why Alzheimer’s was such a growing issue.

It is clear that right before our eyes, the practice of medicine in this country, and in many parts of the Western world, is permanently fixated on medical research as an indispensable tool for delivering health care. No longer is it an “arm” of medicine — it has become the “heart”.

According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, total U.S. spending on medical research has doubled in the past decade to nearly $95 billion a year, though whether the money is being well spent needs much better scrutiny.

Over the past decade, pharmaceutical industry sponsors 57 percent of medical research and the National Institutes of Health pays for 28 percent.

And the big beneficiary? Big pharma!

The AMA also found that the United States spends about six cents of every health-care dollar on medical research. But the nation spends only one-tenth of a cent of every dollar on longer-term evaluation of which drugs and treatments work best at the lowest cost.

We, as a nation, aren’t even paying attention to WHAT the medical research industry is spending all of this money on!

In a column on the Huffington Post, Tamara McClintock Greenberg, professor of psychiatry at UCSF, states it brilliantly:

“The politics of illness are complex. Certain diseases have large communities of support, celebrity spokespeople and ample funding. Of course, it is understandable that some illnesses, especially more common diseases, would attract more advocacy and research dollars (which come from both public and private resources). But mortality rates of illness don’t quite match up with the amount of money spent on people with specific illnesses. For example, consider the amount of federal funds spent per person for the top cancer diseases. Statistics provided by the National Cancer Institute Financial Management Branch and the American Cancer Society report that in 2008 an average of $1,249 was spent per lung cancer patient death, $6,590 for colon cancer, $14,336 for prostrate cancer and a staggering $27,480 for patients who died of breast cancer. While the lowest amount of money spent per person is for lung cancer, this disease has the highest incidence and mortality rate; the next highest mortality rates were for colorectal and then breast cancer. Of note, tobacco settlement money is not being spent on lung cancer research; rather, 46 states have used this money to balance their budgets and in 2004, three percent of tobacco settlement money was spent on tobacco prevention. As breast cancer is distressingly common, it may be understandable that victims of this disease have access to more resources and more financial support. However, these statistics raise some important questions. Namely, who decides how much money goes to federal research for specific diseases? It turns out that this question is not very easy to answer.”

So back to me being disturbed…

For some ungodly reason, our medical research industry has totally abandoned efforts to keep people healthy! It’s as Michael Moore states, “We don’t have a healthcare industry we have a sick care industry”.

There is a medical oath that doctors accept when they begin their practice. Their mission is to do their best to improve human health and avoid harm. The sections included are “to avoid deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else’s interest and to avoid violating morals of the community.” The phrases in the oath are intended to regulate the practitioner’s conduct of service. They should conduct their profession only with good and humanitarian intent.

Yet, it is rare for a doctor to actually “touch” a patient during a routine office visit. Many of them are fixated on entering data in a laptop, or reviewing data from a report from a lab, or imaging center.

Sure, these are useful tools, but there is a complete set of tools in the true practice of the “Art of Medicine.”

And to add insult to injury, it seems that most of the time, research money is spent to develop drugs which deal with erectile dysfunction (ED); or to address an overeating, gluttonous population (Nexium); or restless leg syndrome (which of those who claim to have it, fewer than 3 percent say it happens daily); even or my “favorite,” Mucinex. You know, the one that is supposed to help remove mucus? Never mind that most of us have congestion because we don’t drink enough water! But, one of the stated, possible side effects is that it may impair your thinking or reactions.

All this is happening while we live in a country, and a world, where asthma, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis are limiting the lives of millions of men, women and children. All of these are conditions that can generally be prevented and/or treated with proper diet, lifestyle and health education.

How much of our country’s research dollars are directed to this?

And then there are the underfunded diseases, which can be virtually eliminated with a concerted effort by the medical research community.

Millions of people are still suffering and dying each year from diseases that disproportionately affect poor populations. About half of the world’s population lives in areas at risk for malaria. Although malaria is extremely rare in the United States, the Anopheles mosquito is found in the western and southeastern part of the country. Yet, in 2007, annual funding for malaria control, including insecticide spraying, use of insecticide-treated bed nets and access to rapid diagnosis and medicine was $1 billion, less than a dollar per person at risk of the disease.

Coming closer to home, sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affecting 70,000 to 80,000 Americans. In the United States, there are more than 80,000 people affected, and it affects one in 400 Blacks and one in 19,000 Latinos and has a carrier rate of one in 12 and one in 100 for Black and Latino populations, respectively.

It is worth noting that NIH allocates almost four times more funding per person affected with cystic fibrosis as it does for those affected by sickle cell disease. These levels of funding have been essentially stable for many years.

I am absolutely NOT against clinical trials, and medical research. Nor, do I regret any life made better, or made whole due to the successes. Many people are reading this column due in large part to the advancements and breakthroughs made possible by medical research.

But when we reach the point (as we have now) where the practice and delivery of medicine relies, and in many cases centers, on cures and treatments, and not balanced with adequate resources for education and prevention. That’s a problem.

And this problem is complicated by the disproportionate degree to which research dollars are spent on a consumer/patient population “conditioned” to expect a pill for “everything that ails them.”

It has been said that with only 5 percent of the entire world’s population, the United States consumes over 56 percent of the total supply of prescription medicines.

There are many advantages to preventive health care. It is inexpensive and painless, can help you lead a longer and more productive life, and gives you control over your own well-being. No one wants to get sick or hurt and be subjected to costly and sometimes uncomfortable medical tests, examinations and procedures.

It’s time we let our legislators know WHERE we want our research dollars to go.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one.

Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Readers should always consult their health-care providers to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.

Glenn Ellis is a health advocacy communications specialist. He is the author of “Which Doctor?” a health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, and an active media contributor nationally and internationally on health related topics.

His second book, “Information is the Best Medicine,” was released in January. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com.