12 minute read
health briefs
Off-Label Use Proves Great Success for Patients
by Dr. John D. Young
Complex regional pain syndrome is a condition in which an arm or leg has suffered an injury. Examples would include surgery, trauma or stroke causing intense pain greater than one would expect in relation to the original injury. The actual cause is unknown and there is no cure. Treatment consists of pain medications, physical therapy and biofeedback, most of which is not very helpful.
Recently, a patient who had wrist surgery a year before came to see me. She advised that shortly after surgery, her hand would curl up and she physically had to use her other hand to open it. Additionally, her hand felt hot and numb and pain would shoot up her arm. Painful muscle aches would come and go without warning. Her life was miserable. After a year of pain and torture, the bright and vibrant woman’s mental attitude had completely changed and she was depressed; her career as a pianist was gone and her future looked bleak.
This is the manner in which she presented to this office, with all of her depression, her career gone, her chronic pain, and decreased use of her hand and arms. We tried Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections into her hand and arm without much success. I suggested a prescription used in an off-label manner. The medical community uses this prescription on a regular basis for autoimmune disease, however, administered in a different way instead of as an IV in the arm, you get completely different results. This is called an off-label use of a drug. The FDA regulates the approval of a prescription but any doctor can prescribe a prescription drug for any reason they think it may be medically appropriate.
Virtually every prescription we have today is used for other reasons than what that prescription was originally intended. A woman was concerned that a beta blocker drug used for heart disease and fast heart rate was being used off-label to wonderful surprise I had not expected! My hand and arm are not fully healed, but I do feel one step closer to getting to my goal: complete healing! I can open and close my hand without using my other hand to open and close it. Maybe there is hope now for a condition that the medical community says is a helpless condition.”
treat her migraines yet with great success. WebMD in fact says that the off-label use of any prescription drug can be used to treat any medical condition.
After treatment with the off-label drug, this is what our patient had to say: “I am usually a very positive, happy person but it gets difficult to keep your head up when every day you are in pain with very obscure symptoms that are difficult to treat. Dr. Young offered me a shot one day when I was in the office for a PRP treatment. After a lengthy discussion with my physical therapist, I decided to give it a try. We were hoping that it would break the cycle of my nervous system telling my con-
nective tissue system to “clamp down”. The morning after the injection, I found myself smiling and laughing at little things as I got ready for my day. I remembered that feeling of happiness—I had always been happy before I had such a difficult year with my health problems. I immediately found my husband and told him ‘I feel like myself today!’ Over the next week, I realized I had more range of motion, my hand opened more easily and I felt stronger. But beyond all that, I felt like I had an emotional reset.
“I did not know that Dr. Young used the Enbrel injection for depression, so I did not know to look for that result; it was a John D. Young, MD has been treating patients at Young Foundational Health Center since he opened the private practice in 2005. The author of Beyond Treatment and creator of Young Health Products, Dr. Young’s approach is “Treat the cell, heal the body.” Sought after because of his out-ofthe-box thinking in conjunction with integrative and natural medicine, Dr. Young is an innovator and always offers his patients cutting edge treatments.
Young Foundational Health Center is located at 7241 Bryan Dairy Rd., Largo. To schedule an appointment, call 727545-4600. Most major medical insurances accepted. For more information, visit YoungFoundationalHealth.com. See ad right.
Fermented Dairy Helps Sidestep Depression
Sales of fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir have been steadily rising in the U.S., and a new study from Australia’s Nuruddin Bharmal/Pexels.com Deakin University might accelerate that trend. Researchers examined 24 years of nutritional and health data from 2,603 Finnish men between 42 and 60 years old. They found that men that ranked in the top third of consumption of non-fermented dairy products such as milk and cream had double the risk of depression, while those in the top third of consumption of fermented dairy products like kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream and buttermilk enjoyed a 45 percent reduced risk of depression.
Nettle Root Improves Prostate Symptoms
An enlarged prostate, known as benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), afflicts half of men by age 60 and 90 percent of men by age 85. Although it isn’t cancerous, treatment can involve medications and surgery. European doctors often prescribe the herb nettle root, and Iranian researchers tested its effectiveness in a study that divided 80 BPH patients into two groups. One was given 300 milligrams of nettle root extract twice a day for eight weeks; the other group received a placebo. The researchers found the nettle root significantly improved urinary frequency, urinary urgency and night urination compared with the placebo group. It was not effective in modifying prostate volume, the feeling of incomplete emptying, intermittency, urine stream and straining.
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Vitamin E Enhances Cancer Immunotherapy
In a study published in Cancer Discovery, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported that vitamin E can enhance ready made/AdobeStock.com immunotherapy responses in cancer patients by stimulating the activity of dendritic cells in tumors. Combing the records of patients with melanoma, breast, colon and kidney cancers that were being treated with immunotherapy, they found that taking vitamin E improved survival times and boosted treatment responses. In laboratory work, the researchers demonstrated that vitamin E directly binds and blocks the activity of the SHP1 checkpoint protein in dendritic cells, which primes T cells for an anti-tumor immune response. “This study broadens our understanding of factors that can influence responses to immunotherapies,” says author Dihua Yu, M.D., Ph.D. Unlike chemotherapy, which acts directly on cancerous tumors, immunotherapy treats patients by revitalizing their immune system and “teaching” it how to identify and destroy cancer cells.
Revised Supplement Formula Slows Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in older Americans, became less of a threat in 1996 when the national Age-Related Eye Camille Richert/Pexels.com Disease Study (AREDS) verified that certain nutrients—beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, copper and zinc—slowed its progression. But after other studies showed a link between beta-carotene and lung cancer, it was removed from the formula. Two carotenoids found in the retina—lutein and zeaxanthin—were added, and the formula was rebranded as AREDS2. In a new, 10-year, follow-up study by the National Eye Institute (NEI), AREDS2 was found to reduce late AMD symptoms an additional 20 percent compared to the original formula. “This 10-year data confirms that not only is the new formula safer, it’s actually better at slowing AMD progression,” says Emily Chew, M.D., lead author of the study and director of the NEI Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Application.
Childhood Adventures and Team Sports Boost Well-Being
The pandemic has challenged both children’s learning environments and their emotional well-being, but new research shows that playing adventurously outdoors and participating in team sports can help lower their mental health risks. Researchers from the UK University of Exeter surveyed nearly 2,500 parents of 5-to-11-yearolds in the UK and Northern Ireland. The study found that kids that climbed trees, rode bikes, jumped from high surfaces and had other outdoor adventures without adult supervision experienced a lower incidence of anxiety and depression, and were more upbeat during the COVID-19 lockdown. In another study, researchers from California State University, Fullerton, found that kids in team sports like volleyball and soccer, but not others in individual sports like gymnastics and wrestling, did better emotionally and mentally. Analyzing data from 11,235 kids between 9 and 13 years old, they found that compared to kids that did not participate in sports, those that were on teams had a lower incidence of attention issues, social problems, anxiety, depression and withdrawal. Kids that participated in individual sports had higher levels of those mental health challenges.
Adrià Crehuet Cano/Unsplash.com
global event Peace Day Addresses Global Racism
Established in 1981, the United Nations-sanctioned International Day of Peace, or World Peace Day, is a holiday observed around the world on September 21 each year. The 2022 theme is “End racism. Build peace.” To that end, the General Assembly has dedicated this day to observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.
Secretary-General António Guterres says, “But achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms. It requires the building of societies where all members feel that they can flourish. It involves creating a world in which people are treated equally, regardless of their race.”
Tropical Herbal Medicine
RECONNECTING TO OUR ROOTS
by Bob Linde, RH, AP
Igrew up in the Bahamas, on Abaco Island. As a pre-teenager from the northeast United States, moving to a small town on an island with a population of 500 to 1500 (depending on the number of tourists) was unique. We had access to phones at the post office three days a week, waiting in line for over an hour at times. Television did not exist. There were no cell phones—only CB radios to communicate from home-tohome or island-to-island.
I started learning about edible and medicinal plants at a young age, first with Stalking the Wild Asparagus, by Euell Gibbons, and from many survival books by Bradford Angiers. And then we moved to this remote location. I started working with a quiet Bahamian fisherman named Noel Bootle. We worked from a small skiff with me as labor, diving up conch. Each night, we would pull the boat up on a deserted island, him cracking the conch out of the shell, and me skinning them with my teeth. As the long day would close, with dinner on the fire, Noel would often tell stories about his youth, fishing and the plants that surrounded us. He would speak about how to use them for medicine and I tried to absorb all of it.
After about six months of trips, Noel’s trust in me and my trust in him grew. The stories about plants started to shift from how a plant could be used to heal a physical issue to plants' magical properties. I didn’t know the term shaman at the time, but now I would be happy to use the term for Noel. There are more seafaring stories, but I’m here to talk about plants.
I now try to pass on my knowledge and experience of 45 years from my unique times in the Bahamas, Florida, the Caribbean and South America. I teach classes most weekends and see patients four days a week. I’ve also had the incredible opportunity to travel to Ecuador and create a 12-part television series on Inti TV—Sanaciones con Bob Linde.
I grow about 200 tropical plants on two properties to teach my students and to harvest medicine. I work hard to blend my experience in the Bahamas with my formal training in Chinese and Western Herbalism and my endless research to learn more.
A great example of a bioregional plant is bitter melon, Momordica charantia. It is a common herb growing throughout the tropics. I find it on fences, hedges, trees, and creeping along the ground. It’s a rough-skinned orange fruit that opens to reveal bright red pulp-covered seeds. I remember standing outside at a gathering one Friday night in Abaco and some women nearby picked the leaves to eat. I can clearly hear Jennifer Russel say, “You got to eat t’ree leaves a day to cool ya blood.'' Certainly then I could not conceive of the TCM concept of Blood Heat, but now
I understand this Caribbean bitter melon, so aptly named, can lower blood sugar, reduce fevers, help with parasites, malarial disorders and so much more! In the Caribbean, we use the leaf more than the fruit. In some countries, it may be used for mosquito-borne diseases, intestinal parasites, viral issues and even some cancers. The common name varies from island-to-island and country-tocountry; commonly known names include Bitter Melon, Cerrasee, and Cunda Amore.
One of the plants that I learned first from Noel is still one of my favorites—Spanish Needles/Bidens alba/Xian Feng Cao— which grows throughout Florida and the Caribbean. In China, this herb is enjoyed as a cooling summertime tea. Noel would add it with other herbs for the flu or as a wash/soak for infection. I remember him saying it was good for “fiery pee” and it’s always a go-to for bug bites and stings.
I frequently educate people about the common plant medicine in our area. It is so important to know our bioregional plants whose heritage goes back to the Caribbean and Central/South America. We must recognize that after one generation, the knowledge that the elders may have held is lost if not passed on. We see young and old people who feel disconnected from their heritage and from their land. Many who join me on an herb walk are reminded of a parent or grandparent who talked about a particular plant, and from that remembrance frequently add new knowledge that they share with the group. I hope that each of you takes time to learn your local plants and trees, and as you learn, share that knowledge with those who are in need of connection.
Learn more about Bob Linde and the Traditions School of Herbal Studies, in St. Petersburg, at TraditionsHerbSchool.com and acuHerbals.com. See ad page 27.
