What is a Virtual Colonoscopy?
There’s no way around it, a colonoscopy is unpleasant but a necessary part of maintaining your health. It’s an endoscopic exam of your colon and the distal part (the end) of the intestines using a CCD or fiber optic camera passed through the anus. It’s not fun, for obvious reasons, which is why the popularity of “virtual colonoscopies” have increased in recent years.
Rather than directly visually inspecting the colon and intestines, a virtual colonoscopy is a CT scan (or CAT scan) of the inspection areas. It’s non invasive, requires no sedation, and uses x-rays to create a detailed picture. The non-invasive nature makes it very appealing but the downside is that you are subjected to radiation, the x-rays, so repeated exposure can increase your risk of cancer.
Why is Pepto Bismol Pink?
I’m not a fan of consuming things that have an unnatural color and the pink stomach relief drug known as Pepto Bismo certainly falls into the category of “unnatural color.” I mean, look at how pink it is… that can’t be normal right?
As it turns out, the original Pepto Bismol was pink because of its ingredients, bismuth subsalicylate. But it soon became a branding issue, “Pepto Pink,” and Pepto now has a lot of colorants that give it that uniform pink color. Bismuth subsalicylate by itself has only a slight pink color.
If you look at the list of ingredients, you’ll see certain color additives (this is for 1 mL):
- Active Ingredient: bismuth subsalicylate 17.6 mg
- Nonmedicinal ingredients: benzoic acid, D&C Red No. 22, D&C Red No. 28, flavour, magnesium aluminum silicate, methylcellulose, sodium saccharin, salicylic acid, sodium salicylate, sorbic acid and water.
D&C Red No. 22 and D&C Red No. 28 give it that pink color.
(photo: nauright)
FDA: Antibiotics in Animals Pose Risk
This topic has been in the news quite a bit lately, along with genetically modified organisms and cloned animals, but I think the use of antibiotics in food production poses a much bigger risk. The FDA has announced that they believe giving animals antibiotics for the purposes of increasing food production poses a threat to public health (link). The practice is giving rise to drug-resistant bacteria because the antibiotics are being administered to animals before they get sick.
The FDA has issued draft guidance on the matter and the guidance is based on two principles:
- Antibiotics should only be given to food animals if it’s to protect their health,
- All antibiotic use by animals should be overseen by veterinarians.
“We are seeing the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens,” FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, MD, said at a news conference. “FDA believes overall weight of evidence supports the conclusion that using medically important antimicrobial drugs for production purposes is not appropriate.”
This is scary stuff.
Reusable 3D Movie Glasses Are Not Disinfected (Usually)
Good Housekeeping did a study at 7 theaters in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut where they sampled 3D movie glasses for bacteria. They did not find a single sterile pair of shades.
The Good Housekeeping Research Institute tested seven pairs of movie theater 3D glasses, both wrapped in plastic and unwrapped, and found a number of germs, including those causing conjunctivitis, skin infections, food poisoning, sepsis and pneumonia.
The worst offender was contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, which is the most common staph infection, and it’s a sign that these glasses aren’t as clean as they need to be. Doctors didn’t seem concerned but the fact that sealed and unsealed glasses could contain such microbes.
Though when you take the higher expense and the slightly better movie-going experience, this scratches 3-D movies off the list for me. I watched Avatar in 3-D and while it was a cool movie, I don’t remember thinking it was an incredible experience in 3-D… I’d certainly have hated it if I got any type of disease!
Niacin Flush Overdose with Energy Drinks
Last weekend, a friend of mine told me about his experience a new energy drink called Five Hour Energy. Five Hour Energy has been advertising a lot on Hulu.com, where I catch up a lot of television shows, and they claim they are a “no crash” energy drink. “No crash” means no “sugar” crash, which makes sense since Five Hour Energy doesn’t have sugar.
What it does have is Niacin and one of the side effects is something they call Niacin Flush. Niacin Flush is a prickly feeling on the skin that may be accompanied with redness. It’s the result of Niacin increasing blood flow near the skin. If it ends at that, you’re fine.
If the symptoms persist and/or get worse, it’s a sign of Niacin overdose. Symptoms of that include a rapid heartbeat, skin flushing combined with dizziness, itching, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and severe liver damage (hepatoxicity).
The label warns you to drink a half a bottle to one bottle, with a max of two per day consumed several hours apart. Follow these instructions.
Why is Soda Bad For You?
As states and municipalities consider new taxes, one of the popular targets appears to be pizza and soda. A March report in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine explains that an 18% tax on pizza and soda could lower the caloric intake of Americans enough to shed an average of 5 pounds each year. Even a federal tax on soda is on the table.
It begs the question, what’s so bad about soda? (and pizza!?)
It comes down to calories. Water has zero calories and a regular can of soda has hundreds, mostly from sugar. Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are bad for you because they are empty calories and HFCS promotes weight gain.
Also, it appears that in addition to empty calories, soda can promote tooth decay as the acids and acidic sugar byproducts can soften tooth enamel. The softer enamel combined with improper brushing can lead to tooth loss. The diet versions, which don’t contain sugar, are less dangerous but the acid is still a factor.
On the whole, soda is bad for you. 
(Photo: fimoculous)
Brands Dropping High Fructose Corn Syrup
After the Princeton study that showed High Fructose Corn Syrup promotes weight gain, a lot of companies have taken it out of their products. Con Agra, makers of Hunt’s ketchup, have taken it out of the popular tomato based product. Kraft is taking it out of Wheat Things. Look for it in bottles of Snapple and you’ll be disappointed, they are taking it out too. Whether or not it promotes weight gain, whether or not high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, the reality is that families don’t want it anymore. If consumers don’t want it, companies won’t put it in.
The Death of High Fructose Corn Syrup [BNet]
What is Triclosan?
Triclosan is an ingredient included in a lot of products and it reduces or prevents bacterial contamination. It’s a common ingredient in antibacterial products, like soaps, body washes, and toothpastes, but has only been shown to be effective in reducing gingivitis in toothpaste. It’s not hazardous to people, according to the FDA, but it alters hormone regulation in some animals. Triclosan may be making bacteria resistant to antibiotics, which is one of the concerns of antibacterial soaps. As soaps kill off “weaker” bacteria, the stronger ones grow more resistant.
As a result of the animal studies, the FDA is reviewing the safety of triclosan and will report its results in 2011, but at the moment it is not shown to be hazardous.
To find out if your products include triclosan, review the Drug Facts box on the bottle, tube, or box. It will be listed as an active ingredient on these OTC drugs. For cosmetics, it’ll be listed in the ingredients on the label. You won’t be able to find out if it’s included in things like toys, clothing, etc. as they do not have drug labeling requirements.
Pure Maple Syrup is Good For You!
A research at the University of Rhode Island has discovered that there are more than 20 compounds in maple syrup beneficial to human health. Thirteen of the compounds are newly discovered plus an additional eight in the maple family. The story cites maple syrup from Canada, which is a little dicey considering the study was paid for by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program and I find it difficult to believe that it wouldn’t be present in maple syrup made in the United States. 
So what are these goodies? It’s been known to have had several anti-oxidants before the study but they discovered phenolics, which is the class of anti-oxidants found in berries, were produced as a defense mechanism. When the sugar maple is tapped for sap, the tree produces a small amount of phenolics, which is magnified when the sap is boiled down into syrup. The heating process also creates other bioactive compounds.
That being said, you probably should chug maple syrup a la Super Troopers but splashing a bit on your pancakes in the morning does have benefits!
Executive Physicals: CT Scans of Colon and Coronary Arteries
I learned today that two tests given to the President for his annual physical aren’t included in most other annual physicals – CT scans of both his colon and coronary arteries. A CT scan, also known as a CAT scan, stands for Computed Tomography scan and is a noninvasive scan using low radiation x-rays to product images inside the body. They’re increasingly being used in “executive physicals,” which is a fancy way of saying “extensive” because they include a large number of scans and blood tests.
Doctors are mixed on the issue because while they certainly could help, they’re mostly expensive (remember, doctors are in business too). The dispute isn’t on whether it’s helpful but whether it’s necessary given the cost, so no one is saying getting a CT is bad for you. The problem is that getting regular scans of your coronary arteries doesn’t prevent heart attacks and getting scans of your colon, a virtual colonoscopy, isn’t any better than a regular one (minus the radiation).
In this CNN story, they asked the Cooper Clinic, SCripps Health in San Diego, and the Cleveland Clinic for their prices on “executive physicals” and they ranged from $2,000 to $3,000!
