News/Information

~Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine

Recent studies show that both taking in too little and too much salt can cause high blood pressure to increase your risk for heart attacks and strokes. Most North Americans can get all the salt they need without using a salt shaker because:
* The North American diet typically contains up to ten times the minimal daily salt requirement
* Food manufacturers add extra salt (and sugar) to most prepared foods just to make them taste better
* Meat, poultry and seafood are rich sources of salt
If you doubled or tripled your salt losses through sweating, you may still not be deficient because you probably take in far more salt than you need.

Spring is peak season for asthma and allergy sufferers, and that's why the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) declared May to be "National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month." There is no cure for asthma and allergies, and many deaths are preventable with proper treatment and care so come in for education about these diseases and we can provide further testing if appropriate.

Also, check out our "Get Ahead of Allergies & Asthma With Your Doctor's Help" article on Anchorage County NearSay!

http://bit.ly/2pTu1CD

~Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine

People who take one diet soda a day are nearly three times more likely than non-diet soda drinkers to suffer a stroke or to become demented, according to a study published this week (Stroke, April 20, 2017). Both sugar drinkers and artificial-sweetener drinkers were at increased risk for having smaller brains and advanced brain aging.

The study shows only an association between consuming diet sodas and increased rates of strokes and dementia. The authors caution that "Clinical trials are needed to establish whether the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages is causally related to [strokes or] dementia." Meanwhile, they recommend that "people drink water on a regular basis instead of sugary or artificially sweetened beverages.”

~Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine

Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) that cause cancers of the mouth and sexual organs are the most common sexually-transmitted diseases in the United States today, infecting 20 percent of people under age 60 (CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, April 6, 2017). The Communicable Disease Center estimates that these cancer-causing viruses infect 80 million Americans, with more than 14 million of the new infections occuring among teenagers. They found that almost 31,000 new cases of cancer each year from 2008 to 2012 were attributable to HPV and that most could be prevented with immunization.