A Tanone dot Net – Sharing wellness stories one at a time

Last Friday I received my annual blood test results mentioned in a previous post on PSA Screening. My PSA was within the range where Dr. Izzy said you only need to be tested every two years. Except for a slightly elevated glucose level, my overall blood test results were good, and I will post about it later.

The result from this test that I like most was my body fat percentage. It was 19.5%, which was 0.5% higher than the result I got a day earlier from the Gym. These results were well within the error range from two different methods that were used in Gym and in the Wellness Office, respectively.

In the past I have had some posts related to heart attack after losing a few close friends of mine. However, one of the posts on Heart Attack Scare was on my voluntary removed posts last October. Today while thinking of writing this current post, I went to edit then repost the Heart Attack Scare. This will restore the missing link in the timeline on my quest to lower my blood pressure without medications, as you may find in the following posts:

• Heart Attack Information from Dr. Rosenfeld – A Tribute to Tim Russell
• I’m still taking half dose of Toporol
• Please don’t let them persuade you to not make the 9-1-1 call
• Again, please ask them too, when was your last physical?
• When was your last physical….?

As of today, I’m still taking high blood pressure medications my doctor prescribed and of course, that come with all their side effects. As you may find in some of the postings above, I have tried a few times to quit taking the medications, particularly after reading Robert E. Kowalski’s book – The Blood Pressure Cure, 8 week to lower blood pressure without prescription drugs. However, I didn’t get a good results partly due to the following factors.

• I didn’t add the exercise into daily routine,
• I found that the Sustained Release L-arginine capsule suggested by Robert in his book always passed thru my digestive track very easily,
• I could not go to bed earlier than 10PM as Robert mentioned in one of his private emails, particularly because in the past, part of my job descriptions including work on a graveyard shift,
• I was too busy to give it another try.

Now with these new test results, particularly after seeing the result when I added the physical exercise into my daily routine and being allowed to not work the graveyard shift, I thought I would give Robert’s way a try then post my story here. I just wonder if any of my readers know, how an extended release pill works? Why I always saw the pils floating in the toilet bowl not long after I took it. I would like to hear from you too.

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Note: This post was set into private mode when I removed a bunch of postings in October last year. Tonight I went over the content and I didn’t see anything that put it into the banning category so I just updated and reposted it here.

There are many studies on health benefits of Blueberries and the like. A ‘blueberries’ search word in pubmed site returns 319 entries (as of Apr 21, 2009. Today the total number is 376). But this one is very personal. 

During lunch break today, I received a note from my daughter:

If you go to www.umich.edu and then click on the link next to the picture of the blueberries, that’s actually an article about my research lab. Also, that study is the one that i worked on in particular, so, thought that u’d be interested in looking at it.

Even before closing her email, I have already on that link and found the following press release from the University of Michigan:
Blueberries make their mark on cardiovascular and diabetes risks, U-M animal study finds .

By April 21, 2009, the story of their finding has been picked up by almost every major news outlet on the Internet.

To tell you the truth, I’m not really surprised with the reported findings. After all, I have always taken a cocktail consisting of OPC-3 mixed with other Isotonic products including the Isotonic Maximum High ORAC Formula. If you click on Key Ingredients Tab when you go to this ORAC page, you will find the following information:

Mixed Berry Extracts 653 mg

Each serving of Maximum ORAC contains 653 mg of berry extracts from high-ORAC value foods such as elderberry, blueberry and cranberry. These berry extracts contain an assortment of bioflavonoids, organic acids and other polyphenolic compounds that work synergistically to defend against free radical damage.

The thing that thrilled me most was the fact that my daughter is on the research team reported above. I have heard her telling stories on feeding or disecting rats in her lab, but I didn’t know that all these were related to a topic that is closer to my heart. As a junior member in the team, I don’t expect she would know a lot about the implications of their research, particularly at the time where she is too busy with her final semester. However, I feel vindicated that at least she knows now that her Dad is not taking some strange snake oil kind of supplements, but the one with real benefits to his health. I’m really grateful for the opportunity she got.

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PSA stands for Prostate-sepcific-antigen, and is one of the tests that I’m going to get during my annual physical check up next week. That’s why when I saw this headline the other day, saying that Cancer Society casts more doubt on prostate tests, the first thing that came to mind was the question above. Do I really need to get a PSA screening?

According to Wikipedia:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PSA test for annual screening of prostate cancer in men of age 50 and older. PSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter) are considered to be suspicious and should be followed by rectal ultrasound imaging and, if indicated, prostate biopsy.

However, in the yahoo headline news quoted above, we learned that:

• The cancer society has not recommended routine screening for most men since the mid-1990s, and that is not changing.
• But the organization is urging doctors to talk frankly with their patients about the risks and limitations of the PSA blood test when offering it.

In addition, the report cited that:

• Two big studies last year suggested prostate cancer screening doesn’t necessarily save lives, and any benefits can come at a high price.
• The widely used PSA test often spots cancers too slow-growing to be deadly.
• It can yield false-positive readings that result in unnecessary biopsies.
• It can lead to treatments that can cause impotence and incontinence.

Reading through the whole article I thought, hm, it would be better talking to my doctor after this test since I couldn’t digest all these info. That was the reason I was so glad when I saw Dr. Izzy this morning discussing, what’s the best possible screening for prostate cancer on his weekly Sunday Housecall program.

Thanks to Foxnews, here is Dr. Izzy’s video that I’d like to share with y’all:

In case you or your Dad is 50 or older, then please listen carefully to what doctor Izzy said. The bottom line is this:

• Talk to your doctor about prostate cancer screening
• Get a PSA test but realize the exceptions, the infections and the fact that the number is not always reliable.

In his own practice, Dr. Izzy said:

• He doesn’t test anyone with a PSA below 2.5 every year. He tests them every two years.
• If it’s 4 or higher he considers it a possibility for prostate cancer and he sends them to Urologist for possible biopsy.

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In the past my PSA level was very low, and with my current condition, I don’t expect to have an elevated PSA level. Now with all these info on hand, at least I got the idea on what to discuss with my doctor when I take the test result to see him next month.

Please remember, the key is: Talk to your doctor.

If you want to find more info, please check this CDC Guide on Prostate Cancer Screening, which I found from the links at the end of yahoo’s article, or you may search for more info yourself.

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Tags: over 50, prostate, prostate cancer, PSA

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