Dr. Adrian’s Blog

I saw an interesting osteoporosis patient of mine this week. It is an example of epidural steroids causing isolated lumbar bone loss....dramatic loss.

In this article a study reveals stories of two patients that did not need a stent. By dint of an inquiring mind and a smartphone, one escaped with his life intact. The greater concern is: How can a procedure so contraindicated by research be so common?

Patients keeps coming into my office being told by unknowing physicians that all hormone replacement causes clots or venothrombotic disease.  This is simply not true.

Many patients who have avoided coronary procedures when recommended for angina are alive and angina free today years later. Learn more...

Dr. Michael Lisanti MD PhD is a cancer researcher to keep an eye on.     I had the pleasure to hear him speak in Hershey several years ago.   He presented his research on N-acetyl cysteine and Metformin in both preventing and treating cancer.   This study is of particular interest as it details the synergistic effects of IV Vitamin C and Doxycycline in treating cancer by targeting Cancer Stem Cells.   Given the frequency at which physicians inappropriately prescribe antibiotics for common viral respiratory infections/ 'common cold' (not bacterial), it stands to reason that it is worth trying Doxycycline in the battle against cancer when no better option exists and sound scientific argument supports its use.

In one paper, the recommendation is that in postmenopausal woman without vaginal bleeding, if the endometrium measures >11 mm a biopsy should be considered as the risk of cancer is 6.7%, whereas if the endometrium measures 11 mm or less a biopsy is not needed as the risk of cancer is extremely low.

The Daikon radish is the keystone of the Macrobiotic (Traditional Japanese) diet; a way of eating known for its many spontaneous cancer remissions. This powerful pungent root and leaf vegetable can change your life. I like to think of it as a 'stick of dynamite' as it will rock your socks and energize you and your liver.

This past week I had a otherwise healthy patient reach out to me a little too late for help with their first case of shingles and painful neuralgia.  Usually this patient is reluctant to use medicines such as prednisone but was convinced by a physician to take a course of prednisone to help with his dry cough and aches from his viral respiratory infection.  Within 3 days of starting prednisone, the patient developed constant pain along his right ribs which was then followed by the development of the typical shingles rash.  Of note is that the pain has been so severe as to prevent sleep and the burning covered the entire right side.

My approach to medicine is similar to my approach to my personal life; when a salesman or marketing campaign pushes its way into my life to convince me to use a product, then it must be expensive and have a high profit margin. My job then is to look for the other alternatives that are better, more cost effective, and too inexpensive to support the use of high cost marketing. Colorectal cancer screening is an example of this.

It appears that the public awareness of the danger of this class of antibiotics is escalating with the number of victims piling up.   I frequently have patients come to my office seeking help with many seemingly permanent neurologic and other side effects from Cipro and Levaquin.