Medical mysteries ARE LEFT-HANDERS SINISTER, CREATIVE, OR JUST PLAIN NUTS?

from Healthy Living April 2013

PROTECT YOUR RETIREMENT FROM HIGHER TAXES

WRITER: FRED HILTON // PHOTOGRAPHER: FRED LOPEZ // PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR: ANTHONY CASTO

Being left-handed has a bit of a sinister past. In fact, the word “sinister” means “left” in Latin. At one time, youngsters would have their left hands tied behind their backs by teachers in an attempt to force them to write with their right hands.

Lefties struggle in a world of righthanders. Professor Julio Santiago de Torres of the University of Granada said: “A left-handed person has often the feeling of having been born in a wrong world. From scissors to computer keyboards, everything is projected for right-handers.” There are plenty of left-handers out there. Estimates range from eight percent to ﬁfteen percent of the adult population.

A good friend of mine was a very successful college baseball coach. Like all baseball coaches, he was constantly looking for good pitchers — particularly left-handed ones. The only problem, he said, was that “all lefthanded pitchers are nuts.” That is certainly conventional baseball wisdom. On a broader scale, however, the time-honored old wives’ tale is that left-handers are not necessary nuts but are more artistic and creative than righthanded folks.

As with many old wives’ tales, you can get strong arguments on both sides. Dr. Alan Searleman from St. Lawrence University in New York made a presentation to the American Psychological Association in which he concluded that “left-handers have a high ‘fluid’ intelligence and better vocabulary than the majority of the population. This is perhaps why there are more of them in creative professions, such as music, art, and writing.” Searleman’s research also says more left-handed people are intellectually gifted, although they don’t remember things as well as right-handers. haps ve g.” nded people are intellectually gh as well ht-handers. e website humanforsale.com

The website humanforsale.com agrees about left-handers and creativity: “Some studies have demonstrated a small positive correlation between left-handedness and creativity/intelligence.” s ation vity/intelligence.”

Flinders

On the other hand, Professor Mike Nicholls from Australia’s Flinders University studied 5,000 five-year-olds and concluded, “Lefthanders tend to do worse as a group than right-handers.” No one can accuse Professor Nicholls of being biased since he is lefthanded himself.

Writing for Skeptoid Podcast, Brian Dunning says that “there is no good evidence that left-handers are especially creative or that they are less talented at analytical functions.” rs tend to do worse as a handers.” No one can accuse Professor lls of biased since he is leftd ting ng ft-handers are especially creative or that re a nsus be ave to research pefully, er -handed

So, the best we can come up with for a consensus on left-handers being more creative is maybe they are and maybe they aren’t. We will have to wait for further research.

Hopefully, the additional research will consider the even more pressing question: Are all left-handed pitchers really nuts?

F RED HILT ON chief relations for James for s Roanoke, in The that makes her Paris

FRED HILTON spent thirty-six years as the chief public relations ofﬁcer/spokesman for James Madison University in Virginia and ten years prior as a reporter and editor for The Roanoke Times in Roanoke, Virginia. He is now happily retired in The Villages with his interior designer wife, Leta, their Cadillac Escalade golf cart, and their dog, Paris. (Yes, that makes her Paris Hilton).

CENTRAL FLORIDA harbors a wide variety of environmental allergens.

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THYROID AND PARATHYROID DISORDERS

“Men no longer need to suffer from frequent urination because they are getting older,” says Dr. James Young, a down-toearth urologist with thirty-one years of experience in treating men with prostate problems in Lake Countyv. Although the cause of these symptoms is most likely an enlarging prostate (BPH), a normal part of the aging process in men, treatment options are more numerous and less invasive than those offered to our fathers and grandfathers.

Years ago there were two options for treating an enlarged prostate: surgical excision via an open operation (knife) or much more commonly by performing a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), commonly referred to as a “roto-rooter” by patients and physicians. Both required hospitalization as well as major anesthesia and could be fraught with complications such as bleeding, infection, loss of bladder control and even death.

“In my career I have performed over 3,000 TURPs; however, I no longer perform any,” says Dr. Young. “There are presently too many excellent alternatives to consider a hospital operation for the vast majority of patients with BPH.”

“When I see a new patient I perform a physical examination and properly evaluate the patient’s symptoms, thus diagnosing the underlying problem(s),” he says. “Next, I describe to the patient what’s normal and then explain what is abnormal with him. Lastly, I teach him his treatment options. If I’ve done a good job of teaching, he will select the correct option for himself.”

While prescribing medications for BPH can be done by primary care physicians, only urologists are trained to thoroughly evaluate the bladder and prostate (including ruling out prostate cancer), as well as providing extremely effective minimally invasive, ofﬁce-based therapies as alternatives to lifelong medical therapy.

One such option is Prostiva-RF Therapy, a procedure performed by Dr. Young in his office under local anesthesia that usually takes less than thirty minutes. Prostiva utilizes low level radiofrequency energy to ablate (destroy) the obstructing component of the enlarged prostate. “I am very happy with the results I have achieved for my patients using Prostiva-RF Therapy,” says Dr. Young, who has successfully treated more than 1,200 patients with this procedure. “Medtronic is a $13 billiona-year, publicly traded corporation that perfected the technology for Prostiva and produces the necessary hardware. Recently, Medtronic produced an educational DVD for international distribution to inform patients and physicians worldwide regarding the benefits of Prostiva therapy. Seven of the eight patients featured on the DVD are my patients. I am very proud Medtronic selected my practice to feature the benefits of Prostiva-RF Therapy. However it is sort of a bad news/good news thing. The bad news is neither my patients nor myself received a penny for our participation. The good news is Medtronic gave us all the DVD’s we want, so if anyone wants one all he needs to do is drop by my office at 801 Northshore Drive in Eustis, and we will give him one!”

And with an ofﬁce staff with nearly as much experience as the doctor, (many have worked with Dr. Young more than twenty years) you don’t spend a great deal of time waiting to see him. “We pride ourselves in being timely in seeing our patients. We respect our patient’s time as much as we do our own,” adds Dr. Young. “Patients appreciate this; many of our patients tell me I have the best ofﬁce staff on the planet. I consider that a huge compliment.”

So if you are getting up at night and can’t get back to sleep because you are thinking about what may be wrong with you, it’s time to check in with Dr. Young and have him check you out.

“Many men accept frequent bladder urges as part of aging. And while it is part of the aging process, it’s not like death and taxes. There is something you can do about it,” he says.