Severe joint pain is a common side-effect of tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer, and it is associated with vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation aimed at pushing serum vitamin D levels over 40 ng/ml can prevent or attenuate the pain.
Despite the Institute of Medicine’s recent report, many nutrition-minded oncologists believe high-dose vitamin D supplementation—upwards of 4,000 IU/day—has potential to markedly reduce risk of primary breast cancer as well as breast cancer recurrence, with minimal risk of toxicity.
Antidepressants are the most widely-prescribed class of drugs in the US, and primary care doctors prescribe 74% of ‘em. Drug companies give ample guidance on starting meds, but little help in ceasing treatment. Yet many people want off their meds. Psychiatrist Michael Banov offers his insight on when and how to stop antidepressant treatment.
Analysis of data from more than 38,000 families suggests that maternal use of the popular antidepressant, Wellbutrin (bupropion), during pregnancy correlates with a 3-fold greater risk of ADHD in children exposed to the drug in utero. This study should not be taken as proof that bupropion causes ADHD. But author Dr. Roberto Figueroa says doctors need to be a lot more cautious with this, and any other drug that crosses the placenta.
A little bit of the right hormone in the right place can make a world of difference in the sexual lives of post-menopausal women. Two recent studies show that intravaginal application of DHEA and estriol with progesterone can greatly improve libido and sexual function while reducing the symptoms of vaginal atrophy.
Because of its very slow, insidious nature, osteoporosis is challenging to evaluate. Long-term daily drug therapy carries significant risk of side effects, a big price tag, and major compliance challenges. The key is to determine early on who is at greatest risk for fracture, and who truly needs intensive therapy.
The evidence supporting widespread use of bisphosphonate drugs for preventing osteoporosis fractures is pretty weak, while the data in favor of vitamin D supplementation is increasingly strong. Doctors who advocate “evidence-based medicine” need to rethink the role of drugs in treating women with osteoporosis.
Water immersion during the early stages of labor, which involves complete abdominal submersion in a bath or pool, reduced both maternal pain and the need for epidural and spinal analgesia, according to a recent Cochrane review of 11 clinical trials.
New findings that ultra-dilute homeopathic preparations could induce apoptosis in human breast cancer cell lines have energized the field of homeopathy, dashing critics’ oft-heard argument that homeopathy—if it works at all—is naught but a “placebo effect.”
Ginger is widely available, safe, inexpensive, and, it turns out, one of the best possible remedies for pregnancy-associated nausea. A new clinical trial involving nearly 70 women, shows that at a dose of 250 mg, four times daily, ginger is highly effective in controlling nausea and reducing vomiting.
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