Berkson’s Blogs

I cannot assume to judge anyone else’s health decisions. Angelina lived through her mother’s treatment and eventual death from ovarian cancer, and now Ms. Jolie has 6 children herself to consider. I applaud her for her pro-activity. It is just that these genetic mutations cause potential increases in risk for a wide number of cancers, and cutting out each organ at risk is not plausible. So I certainly hope that Ms. Jolie is being guided by her physicians to look at other proactive measures, such as boosting ER beta signaling which helps keep cells normal and prevents them from turning into [...]

Adding this food, flaxseeds, to the diet of folks with heart disease and high blood pressure (peripheral artery disease-PAD) greatly lowered blood pressure by 10 mm of HG systolic (top number) and 7 mm of HG diastolic (diastolic) after 6 months. One small group even had their blood pressure lowered more, equivalent to taking medication. “This is the largest decrease in blood pressure ever shown by any dietary intervention," said Dr Delfin Rodriguez speaking to the American Heart Association from the University Hospital Holguin, Cuba. This is yet another example of just how powerful healthy foods can be. These improvements in [...]

I love Canadian research, especially into what keeps us smarter (and thinner). Three Montreal Institutions got together and studied a protocol that only took a short amount of time—four days a week—and got folks not only smarter, but carved out their waists and improved their insulin sensitivity. These people, granted the study was small, a pilot study, got 3 bangs for their exertion buck: they got smarter, healthier and leaner. Just by doing this 4 days a week, for 4 months. What did the study do? It did what every body in health care (in-the-know) is raving about: peak burst performance, [...]

Hormones and vitamins function (and dysfunction) together. We will see more and more of this in the future. Once again, hormones link elegantly with nutrients to offer protection and a greater chance of healthier nerve function, fewer symptoms, and of warding off disease. Researchers at Emory University have discovered that Vitamin D, along with progesterone, boost each other’s neuroprotective actions. In this new era of enlightened functional medicine, getting at the root cause of illness, not just tamping down the symptoms, and mixing vitamin and hormones, is the wave of the future. The marriage I am speaking of here is the [...]

Hormone disruptors are compounds in the environment that look enough like hormones to your body, that if they gain access into your blood stream, these masquerading pollutants can hijack your normal hormonal system. I wrote one of the first books that discussed the role of hormone disruptors in health and what we can do about it (Hormone Deception McGraw-Hill 2000, Awakened Medicine 2010). At a medical meeting, research was presented that showed that women who had increased exposure in their everyday lives to hormone disrupting chemicals, can experience menopause 2 to even 15 years earlier then normal. In practice, doctors are [...]

The next time you go to break up with someone, be gentle. A broken heart is a real thing. The heart muscle weakens, mimicking a heart attack, even though the person may not have had the risk factors for heart disease. A broken heart can cause abnormal EKGs, elevation of heart enzymes (which means heart cells are actually exploding apart), and even skyrocket the production of inflammatory molecules, which threaten immune health. Any stressful situation (especially if you are prone to anxiety anyway)— the loss of a love, the death of a friend, the betrayal of a business partner, getting fired—can [...]