Question: I haven't heard much about the health impact of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What are the dangers of visiting or living in the area or working on the clean-up? I did hear that almost all the workers on the Exxon Valdez clean-up in 1989 are now dead. True?

Answer: At this writing, the gushing well is apparently no longer flowing, but I wish we knew more about how the oil spill will ultimately affect the health of people who live in the area and those who are working on the clean-up. Unfortunately, we know very little about the long-term effects of contact with crude oil.

I also heard the rumor that most of the clean-up workers on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill were now dead, but I doubt it's true. Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, made that claim during an appearance on CNN. I haven't been able to track down the source of her statement, and I can find no scientific studies documenting the long-term physical health effects on human beings of that oil spill in Alaska. However, a 1993 study on the mental health impact of the Exxon Valdez spill showed increased rates of anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder among area residents. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: Why there are so many autoimmune disorders these days? It seems like every child has some major allergy, and every other adult has something going on as well.

Answer: Although it's possible that these increases are tied to a growing emphasis on pro-inflammatory diets, which may prime our immune systems to be overreactive, the short answer to your question is that no one knows for sure. There's no doubt, however, that the prevalence of both autoimmune diseases and allergies has been increasing in developed countries since the 1950s. At the same time, the incidence of many infectious diseases has been declining in these countries, thanks to vaccines, antibiotics, improved hygiene and rising socioeconomic conditions. Some researchers believe this health trade-off is no coincidence and suggest that the decrease in acquiring natural infections has caused the increase in allergies and autoimmune disorders. Their observations have led to the formulation of the "hygiene hypothesis," which holds that exposure to infections, especially in early life, strengthens or programs the immune system in a good way, making it less likely to overreact to ragweed pollen, pet dander, or peanuts or to attack the body's own tissues. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I recently read an article that warns that soy milk is a rip-off and contains a lot of bad stuff. It advises making your own soy milk using soy beans, water and a soy milk machine. Is commercially available soy milk unsafe? If so, what do you recommend?

Answer: I've seen many articles warning that soy foods in general, including soy milk, aren't healthy and contain hidden substances that are dangerous. Critics of soy allege that it is bad for the thyroid, can cause cancer, Alzheimer's disease and mineral deficiencies.

None of these sensational claims has ever been proven. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: Are you aware of a lawsuit that is going on in California regarding the levels of PCBs in fish oil supplements? What's your view?

Answer: Yes, I am aware of the California lawsuit. It was filed by environmentalists who claim that certain fish oil supplements sold in the state contain unsafe and illegal levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). The manufacturing of these chemicals was banned in the United States in 1979, but they were widely used as plasticizers in paints, plastics, and rubber products and many other industrial applications. These compounds don't readily break down, so those used in the past are still being released into the environment. PCBs are known to have adverse health effects in humans and animals and are regarded as potential carcinogens. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I always face a problem of dreaming while sleeping at night. Thus, I cannot have a good quality of sleep, and I feel tired the next day. How can I stop dreaming?

Answer: Your question is unusual, because dreaming is an important part of good sleep and is also essential to good health. I discussed your situation with Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., a psychologist and author who specializes in integrative sleep and dream medicine, which he approaches from both a scientific and a spiritual perspective. He is on the faculty of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: My nephew, age 8, was just diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and his pediatrician recommended drug treatment. The problem seems to be that he doesn't much like school and is restless (not disruptive!) in class. Drugs seem a bit drastic to me. Any recommendations?

Answer: Yes. My advice is to read an impressive new publication on the subject, ADHD Without Drugs, by my colleague Sandy Newmark, M.D., a California-based pediatrician on the faculty of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. I wrote the foreword to the book because I think the information and prudent advice it contains can be an enormous help to the millions of parents and children who are confronting this diagnosis. Over the past 25 years, ADHD has become epidemic to the point where six to eight percent of all kids, and more than 10 percent of the boys, in the United States are labeled as having a serious neurodevelopmental disease. Worse, 2.5 million kids are taking psychostimulant medication, an approach that Dr. Newmark and I think is vastly overused. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I'm confused about vitamin D and sun exposure. How much sun do we need? I'm fair-skinned and burn easily. I live in Pennsylvania where we don't get much strong sun in winter.

Answer: Our best source of vitamin D is sun exposure. The body synthesizes "D" using ultraviolet (UV) rays absorbed by the skin, and very little sun exposure is needed to provide your body's needs. Even if you live in an area such as Pennsylvania where you get little strong sun in winter, adequate exposure during the rest of the year will allow your body to stockpile enough "D" to last you through the gray winter months. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I'm seeing a lot of gluten-free foods around these days, and I've read that a gluten-free diet is good for people with all kinds of problems including autoimmune diseases and osteoporosis, not just those with celiac disease. True?

Answer: Gluten is the natural protein in wheat that makes dough elastic. It also is found in rye, barley and, possibly, oats. Individuals affected with celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue or gluten-sensitive enteropathy, must avoid gluten to prevent gastrointestinal symptoms and possible intestinal damage, particularly loss of tiny protrusions in the small intestines called villi, which are essential to proper absorption of nutrients from food. Injury to villi can lead to malnutrition, no matter how well you're eating. Symptoms of celiac disease can include recurring abdominal bloating and pain, chronic diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, bone pain, fatigue, and in children and infants, delayed growth and failure to thrive. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I just heard about a study linking breast cancer with vitamin supplements. Can this be true? If so, should I stop taking vitamins? I'm 45.

Answer: I'm aware of this study, and I wouldn't worry. Here's the gist of it: Swedish researchers compared reported multivitamin use and breast cancer incidence in more than 35,000 women between the ages of 49 and 83. All were cancer-free when the investigation began. At the start of the study, the women responded to questionnaires about their multivitamin/mineral use. After 10 years, 974 of the women had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Of them, 19 percent more in the group who took multivitamins developed breast cancer compared to the group of women who did not report taking supplements. This amounts to a very small increased risk – it would mean that if you have a 1 in 100 chance of developing breast cancer your risk would rise to 1.19 in 100. Read the rest of this entry »

Question: I have been trying to avoid high glycemic index carbohydrates such as white flour and white pasta in favor of whole grain breads, whole wheat or unbleached flours and brown rice instead of white. However, I'm confused. White spaghetti and chocolate have low GI ratings, while brown rice ranks high.

Answer: The glycemic index (GI) ranks carbohydrate foods based on how quickly the body turns them into glucose (blood sugar), provoking an insulin response. Whole wheat bread and products labeled "whole grain" are not good choices because they usually are made with pulverized grains (flour) rather than whole or cracked grains. For that reason, most whole wheat bread has the same high GI ranking as white bread – about 70. I recommend cutting down on all foods made with flour and increasing consumption of grains in their more natural state, such as wild rice, barley, quinoa, millet and wheat berries.

Grains in their natural form have a low glycemic index, while processed carbohydrates, especially those made with flour or puffed grains, have a high GI. The reason is that it takes longer for digestive enzymes to reach the starch inside whole grains or grains cracked into large pieces, slowing down the conversion of starch to sugar. Pulverized grains have a tremendous surface area for enzymes to work on. This leads to quick starch-sugar conversions that spike blood sugar levels, creating dips later on that can prompt more consumption of pulverized grains, and the cycle continues. Read the rest of this entry »