| Don't miss any of Bottom Line's Daily Health News. Add our address, dailyhealthnews@edhn.bottomlinesecrets.com, to your Address Book or Safe List. Learn how here. February 21, 2011  In This Issue...
 202,311 People Are Doing This Tonight A new breakthrough technique that combines ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology is providing startling results for people, in a matter of minutes... Whether you’re looking for relief from physical pain, emotional pain, or just looking to drop some extra pounds, this simple technique will dramatically change your life. And the best part is, you can learn how to use it... for FREE. Join the 202,311 people who have registered over the last 2 weeks alone to learn this simple technique in a once in a lifetime free online event that starts tonight... the 2011 Tapping World Summit. Learn more (Video)... Is Mentally Ill the New "Normal"? Is the normal person an endangered species? Psychiatrist Allen Frances, MD, posed that question in a recent essay published in Psychiatric Times, discussing what appears to be an epidemic of mental illness in our country. Here’s a startling example: The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 20% to 25% of the US adult population -- that makes about 45 million of us -- has a diagnosable mental disorder. Is this possible? Or might the real problem be that doctors are overdiagnosing people who are simply experiencing expectable ups and downs of life or who just have personality quirks. Dr. Frances believes that it is the latter. I found his essay so intriguing that I called him to chat about some of these provocative ideas. He told me that these past few decades have brought us one psychiatric fad after another, with the rapidly escalating diagnoses of autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and even bipolar disorder among our children and, in adults, the increasing numbers of people being labeled as having such conditions as anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADD/ADHD, depression and more. Is Everyone Sick? Dr. Frances is a professor emeritus at Duke University School of Medicine and was the chair of the DSM IV Task Force, the committee that worked from 1987 to 1994 to update the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the book that provides criteria for mental disorder diagnoses that is the bible of the mental health community (and which provides the basis for insurance coverage for treatment for mental illness). First published by the American Psychiatric Association in 1952, this essential tome gets updated every 15 to 20 years to ensure that it reflects the current state of knowledge of psychiatry, psychology and medicine as it pertains to mental disorders. But, Dr. Francis told me, the very process of regularly revising this manual may have contributed to the problem. Here are some highlights from our conversation... Daily Health News: How does it happen that a mental disorder becomes what you call a "psychiatric fad"? Dr. Frances: When the DSM is updated, we want to be sure that the criteria don’t miss anyone who suffers from a disorder, but our good intentions have unintended consequences -- overdiagnosis is now causing far too many people to get caught in the psychiatric net. Unfortunately, there is no good way to determine the exact correct threshold of symptoms that turns a person who is more or less normal into one who has a psychiatric problem, but any time you see a significant and sudden jump in diagnoses of a particular disorder, there is reason to worry. DHN: What is an example of a current psychiatric disorder fad? Dr. Frances: Major depression is an important example of diagnostic inflation -- 10% of the population now qualifies and is taking antidepressant medication. The criteria that psychiatrists use for major depressive disorder include feeling sad and tired and with reduced pleasure, appetite and sleep, for as little as two weeks, even if the mild symptoms are the result of painful life events. At least half the time, those symptoms will resolve on their own, usually within a few weeks -- all too frequently these essentially normal people who are undergoing stress get labeled as having major depression and are put on medication to treat it. When they feel better, they may assume incorrectly that the medicine did the trick, not just time and their own resilience. Drug Companies Are Part of the Problem DHN: Can you talk about the role the pharmaceutical industry has played in creating these psychiatric fads? Dr. Frances: Drug companies have one salesperson for every seven physicians, and they target primary care doctors, who do most of the prescribing of psychiatric drugs. The drug companies also aggressively market psychiatric diagnoses and drugs directly to patients on television, in print media and on the Internet. So patients come in primed to think that they might have a psychiatric disorder -- they’re even told to "ask your doctor" about a drug to treat it. For example, a growing fad now is the issue of low libido in women resulting from efforts by the pharmaceutical industry to get women to think they have an inadequate sex life and so should pop a pill. At the same time, there is no pushback to advertising right now, no campaign to support normality. There’s also no widespread education the about placebo effect and the risk/benefit ratio of drugs. The issue of unnecessary medication being prescribed and drug side effects is by far the biggest danger of fads. DHN: Can you explain what being given an erroneous diagnosis means to people? Dr. Frances: Let’s take autism as an example. In the DSM IV, we included a broader definition of a condition called Asperger’s syndrome (the mildest form of autism, characterized by problems with social skills, communication and coordination... eccentric or repetitive behavior... rituals or unusual preoccupations... exceptional talent or skill in a single area... and a limited range of interests) because we wanted to be sure that these patients would have access to treatment, such as special education and behavior modification therapy. We were surprised by an enormous twenty-fold increase in diagnoses! This is almost certainly due to a change in diagnostic habits, as we have no credible evidence that anything in the environment is causing such an increase. Rather, it is the labels that change and how they are used in practice. The diagnosis of autism is now being loosely used to explain all sorts of milder eccentricities and social difficulties. Another troubling example is the vast overdiagnosis of bipolar disorder in children, which has seen an even greater (forty-fold) increase in the past 20 years. This means that kids who may be nothing more than irritable and difficult to manage end up taking unnecessary antipsychotic drugs over long periods of time. The serious side effects of these drugs can include obesity, diabetes, heart disease and perhaps shorter life spans. DHN: What other risks to patients are associated with psychiatric fads? Dr. Frances: Many people absolutely need the drugs that they are taking, but many others with mild and transient symptoms are taking potentially harmful medications that they do not need. Medicalizing "normalcy" means that we are spending huge health and educational resources on people who don’t need treatment or services -- and for whom it might even be dangerous, as in the case of medication. This distracts attention and diverts funds from others who do need such help. Another problem is that there is a stigma involved in being diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, especially in childhood, when the diagnosis implies a lifelong one. Such a label lowers expectations for behavior and accomplishments and, later on, having the diagnosis can threaten an individual’s chances of getting a desirable job and health insurance. Do You Really Need That Pill? DHN: What advice do you have for people who are concerned that they or their children might be suffering from a mental disorder? Dr. Frances: Never go off a drug without medical supervision, but do think carefully about your diagnosis and whether you really know that you need that pill you are being given. Make a careful evaluation of the problem. Psychiatric symptoms that are mild, relatively recent and/or a response to stress often get better on their own or with counseling and don’t require medication. When people start to feel better, they think it is the drug that is helping even though the placebo effect accounts for up to 50% of positive responses to medication. People may cling to an unnecessary drug and stay on it way too long. Be well-informed and periodically reevaluate your diagnosis and treatment. Source(s): Allen Frances, MD, former chair of the Task Force for DSM IV, professor emeritus, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.  Be a Champion "Survivor" In Your Own Home Sometimes we all need to be a survivor in our own homes when sinks clog, metals tarnish, things spill on carpets, floors and clothes, odors arise, etc. and we don’t have what we think is the "right tool" for the job. Then what? Then we get creative with the materials that we do have available. And, in fact, there are many fixes that are more effective and far safer using simple ingredients that are already in your kitchen cupboard... Like using tea to clean hardwood floors, bread to take stains off of wallpaper, dish soap to unclog a toilet and kitty litter to take away all sorts of odors, even if you don’t have a cat. The list is endless of the fun and very effective ways to solve these daily challenges... and Joan and Lydia Wilen are the queens of "Household Magic". They have published numerous books on the subject, and now, in partnership with Bottom Line Publications, are launching a household magical tip of the day e-letter... FREE. Are Endoscopies More Dangerous Than We Knew? If you have the misfortune to develop mysterious pain in your lower esophagus or stomach, your doctor might order an endoscopy to take a closer look. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, that’s probably a good idea -- but before you go for the test, I want to alert you to new information about some problems with this very common procedure. It’s not that it’s horribly dangerous, but rather because it appears that few doctors are taking the time to really educate their patients on what to expect after the endoscopy is done. Endoscopy... and Then What? An endoscopy, used by gastroenterologists to get to the root of digestive problems or pin down the cause of pain in the gastrointestinal tract, involves inserting a flexible tube with a tiny light and camera through the throat and down to the esophagus and upper stomach. The widely dreaded colonoscopy that is used to screen for colon cancer is another example of an endoscopic procedure, though obviously coming from the other end. No one considers these procedures fun... but most patients go home afterward and put it behind them (as expected) without much thought. However, a new study shows that two to three times as many endoscopy and colonoscopy patients as was previously thought end up in emergency rooms in the day or so after the procedure. I spoke with Daniel A. Leffler, MD, gastroenterologist and study author, who said that it is important to realize that some discomfort is actually normal and expectable after an endoscopic procedure -- these are invasive procedures, after all. Typical aftereffects include bloating, nausea, sore throat -- virtually all of which will clear up within a day or two and are no cause for alarm, Dr. Leffler said. What’s most important, he said, is that doctors should tell patients about the difference between discomfort that they may experience that isn’t worrisome and those more urgent symptoms, including bleeding and fever, that require immediate medical attention. The new research from Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center examined electronic records tracking the reasons why patients visited several different hospital emergency rooms. This data can be more easily analyzed than paper records, so it brought to light the higher number of people experiencing post-endoscopic procedure problems. All in all, compared with the 0.05% complication rate that was previously considered the norm, the study revealed that 1.07% of patients who’d had upper endoscopies and just under 1% of colonoscopy patients landed in the emergency room. The most common complaints were abdominal pain (47%), GI tract bleeding (12%) and chest pain (11%). What to Expect If your doctor advises you to have an endoscopic procedure, Dr. Leffler says to ask about your doctor’s overall safety history, including rates of serious complications (such as perforation of the colon). While this information may have been difficult to come by in the not-so-distant past, doctors are under more pressure today to track such data and make it available to patients, Dr. Leffler said. "A group that does not collect safety data or whose results are worse than average would be concerning," he added, noting also that "the more patients who request this sort of data, the more easily available it will become." Source(s): Daniel A. Leffler, MD, director of clinical research, department of gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. Be well,
Erase Tumors in 2 Months "Within two months, every tumor had shrunk, dried up and fallen off," said Tom to Dr. Gary Null about the miraculous disappearance of his rapidly spreading cancer. Tom had already gone through surgery once for skin cancer on his forehead. Unfortunately, his skin cancer was melanoma. Just 10 days after the operation, the cancer was back with a vengeance. It reappeared on his forehead, and quickly spread to his arm, upper body and chest. Four doctors all agreed: There was nothing they could do to cure this cancer. They all still wanted to operate. But Tom wanted to live -- not just get sliced up. You received this free E-letter because you have requested it. You are on the mailing list as healthwellness82@gmail.com. Or... a friend forwarded it to you. Click here to easily subscribe. You can easily unsubscribe by clicking here. To change your e-mail address click here To update your e-mail preferences click here Important: Help your friends live more healthfully -- forward this E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole family. This is a free e-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom Inc. Need to contact us? Boardroom Inc. Privacy Policy: Required Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be construed as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The information is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care practitioner/patient relationship with its readers. The publisher does not advise or recommend to its readers treatment or action with regard to matters relating to their health or well-being other than to suggest that readers consult appropriate health-care professionals in such matters. No action should be taken based solely on the content of this publication. The information and opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound at the time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the authors. However, readers who rely on information in this publication to replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to consult with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such conduct. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions. Bottom Line's Daily Health News is a registered trademark of Boardroom, Inc. Copyright (c) 2011 by Boardroom Inc. |
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