Common Medical Myths That You Will Be Thrilled Have Been Busted

Note from Kathleen: I am basking under the Northern lights in Iceland, celebrating my birthday, so I decided to share with you this  wonderful post on busting medical myths from my dear friend, Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum. He’s a brilliant integrative physician who knows what he’s talking about. If you want to learn more about Dr. T’s work, connect at www.vitality101.com Enjoy!.

1.  Men should undergo a PSA screening test annually to catch prostate cancer early. BUSTED! Screening tests for prostate cancer had been shown not to save or prolong lives, but do result in very toxic, frightening and expensive treatments (but men died at the same age whether or not they did the test).
2. Women should have mammograms every year after 40: BUSTED! The US Preventive Services Task Force changed Mammogram recommendations from yearly after age 40 to every other year age 50-74 unless a woman is at high risk for breast cancer. Due to high “false positives” with increasing numbers of mammograms over the year, many women are opting for thermograms instead.
3. Early screening for osteoporosis saves lives if you are limited to standard treatment. BUSTED! Routine screening with DEXA scans is no longer recommended till age 65 unless a person is high risk. Meanwhile, the major osteoporosis medications were shown to cause as much fracture risk as they prevented after five years’ use. On the other hand, a low cost mineral called strontium is being shown in long-term placebo controlled studies to be safe and VERY effective, making the DEXA screening again worthwhile.
4. Salt restriction is important for high blood pressure. BUSTED! Severe restriction only drops BP 3 points. Yet another study in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a low-salt diet results in four times the death rate from heart disease. Two other large studies show salt restriction to the government recommendations markedly increases likelihood of dying younger. Eat unrefined sea salt—preferably the ones that are pink or gray because they are packed with essential minerals. I like Himalayan sea salt. Instead, limit the amount of salt in processed foods.
5. Avoid eggs. BUSTED AGAIN! In a meta-analysis of over 250,000 people, “This meta-analysis identified no significant association between egg consumption and risk of coronary heart disease or stroke. Higher intake of eggs (up to one egg per day) was not associated with risk of coronary heart disease or stroke.” Earlier studies showed that even six eggs a day had minimal to no effects on cholesterol levels.
6. Avoid coffee and tea. BUSTED! These are actually healthy. No, this isn’t Starbucks’ PR firm talking to you. It’s the take-home message from a study conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute. They analyzed 13 years of health data from more than 400,000 people and found that people who drank 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day reduced their risk of early death by 12-13% compared to folks who didn’t drink coffee. Looking at specific health problems, the researchers found coffee drinking was linked to fewer deaths from diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, and infections. Like tea, coffee is plant based and chock full of antioxidants and other wonderful nutrients. (I would keep it to 1-2 cups a day, and switch to decaf if having more.) Meanwhile, tea lowers heart attack and Alzheimer’s risk and even lowers cholesterol, and green tea can be helpful in a weight loss program.
7. Chocolate is bad for you. HAPPILY BUSTED! Chocolate is more effective than cholesterol medications at decreasing heart disease. Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed seven studies on chocolate and heart health involving more than 114,000 people. Compared to those who ate the least chocolate, those who ate the most had a 37% reduced rate of any type of cardiovascular disease (angina, heart attack, heart failure), a 57% lower risk of heart attack death, and a 29% reduced risk of stroke. The chocolate lovers also had a 35% lower risk of developing diabetes and a 50% lower risk of dying from heart disease. To put that finding in perspective, the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs decrease the initial risk of getting heart disease (called primary prevention) by only 2 to 10%. That means chocolate is more than 10 times more powerful than statins in protecting your heart! (Not to mention a whole lot tastier!) But more is not better, because this is not a low-calorie food. So go for quality not quantity as an occasional treat.
8. Avoid Sunshine. VERY BUSTED! Avoiding Sunshine is deadly. For starters, inadequate vitamin D is associated with a significantly increased risk of diabetes. It is estimated that the current advice to avoid sunshine, our main source of Vitamin D, had contributed to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths from many types of cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease. The proper advice? Avoid sunburn, not sunshine! Vitamin D deficiency is becoming alarmingly common since the misguided medical advice to avoid sunshine (which is the source of over 90% of our vitamin D) and wear sunscreen all the time. Vitamin D is not only a vitamin, but also an important hormone, with deficiencies causing widespread health problems. In addition to the above, therapy with vitamin D can also improve lung function and help people with asthma, while also decreasing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, and stroke. For those with decreased bone density, I recommend 2,000-4,000 units a day. Otherwise, 1,000-2,000 units a day is optimal. Most importantly, remember to go for walks and get your sunshine—which is good for you.
9. Calcium supplements prevent osteoporosis. ANOTHER MYTH BUSTED! Calcium supplements have minimal, if any, benefit, but in men may increase heart attack risk by a whopping 20-47%. Because of this, when giving calcium antacids, it is critical that they also contain magnesium, vitamin K, and vitamin D to avoid this problem. The one that I use is called Immediate Heartburn Relief.
10. Arthritis meds are safe. NOT BY A LONG SHOT! These medications, called NSAIDs, include medications in the ibuprofen family. They kill well over 30,000 Americans a year—unnecessarily, 16,500 of them from bleeding ulcers and a 40% increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
11. Why do I say these deaths are preventable? Because multiple studies have shown natural options to be as or more effective in head on double-blinded, controlled studies. These include a special highly absorbed form of curcumin (which is being associated with a 2/3 lower risk of Alzheimer’s and a strong anticancer effect), glucosamine (associated with a 17% lower risk of dying during 1 large study), boswellia (frankincense), chondroitin, and others. In addition to having “side benefits” instead of side effects (like killing you), these natural options are much less expensive.
12. The medications have the benefit of starting to work quicker though. The good news? The natural options can be added to the medications, and both can often be stopped once the arthritis pain is gone for three months.
13. My first “go to” supplement for people with pain or arthritis is Curamin(TM). This was found to be more effective than the prescription drug Celebrex in two head-on studies.
14. YOUR DOCTOR KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT CAN HELP YOU. This is the most important health myth ever. BUSTED! BUSTED! BUSTED! In truth, medicine only offers less than 25% of what can help. Modern medicine’s greatest strength is in acute, life threatening conditions, such as heart attacks or traumatic injuries. Integrative medicine (sometimes called functional medicine and what I like to call Comprehensive Medicine, a term coined by the late and great Dr. Hugh Riordan) offers the rest of the healing arts toolkit, e.g.- for pain, fatigue, and chronic health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes and heart failure. So if your doctor says, “I can’t help you”, just say, “Thank you for being honest.” Then, instead of going home to die or suffer, simply go to an integrative medicine practitioner who can help you!