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- Written by John Mitrano
One of the most vexing aspects of our busy lives is our inability to get a good night’s sleep. It amazes me that many patients live on Ambien or Lunesta as sleep aids. Some people are into the hard stuff like benzodiazepines (Valium) and even opiates to sleep. Many of these people do not have pain, they have insomnia for a Variety of reasons, but some have actual illnesses like fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis or bad degenerative arthritis that causes pain. Most of these patients have nothing but anxiety, family issues, worries about their children, their love life, their parents and so on. We are a tension-bent society and now more than ever it is reflected in our inability to sleep.
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- Written by John Mitrano
Saddle River Magazine
Its terrible to be fat. Most people are trying to lose weight, at least the patients that I see. There are a few individuals that aresvelte, but they are in the minority. Forty percent of adults and 19 % of children are now obese and with these numbers more than 50% of today’s children will be obese by the time they are 35 years of age. This is very striking data and the major reason that diabetes type 2 is on the rise. It is of course genetic in many families, but also the result of obesity and our bad diets.
Let’s look at diets, some 55% of the typical American diet is carbohydrates even though there are an array of diets that can allow you to lose some weight. I will cover some of them below. However, its difficult to lose weight simply because for most the adaptive physiology of the body eventually brings you back to your original weight. Diet induced loss of weight results in “an increase of hunger, a decrease of your metabolic rate, and the tendency to restore fat.” (David Ludwig, Harvard Medical School).
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- Written by John Mitrano
Saddle River Magazine
Look out for colds and flu this winter season. Both can be nasty and run the gamut from mild to severe. While there is no known cure or orthodox method to prevent the common cold, there is the flu vaccine and every reason to be immunized.
Colds are not fun and more common than the flu. CDC data indicate that adults have 2-3 colds per year while children get 8-12 colds per year. Most colds are caused by viruses, so antibiotics are useless and place you at real risk of messing up your natural protective mechanisms. So, don’t go to your doctor and ask him for any variety of popular antibiotics because they might cause more harm than good. Colds are caused most commonly by rhinoviruses (nose viruses), but many other viruses can cause the symptoms of a cold: adenoviruses, coronaviruses, enteroviruses, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus and more.