Kentville medicine

No long-term studies yet on whether low-carb diets decrease risk of dying. Studies looking at cholesterol etc. where they compare low carb to low fat. Low carb tends to increase good cholesterol but also bad cholesterol. Both low-fat and low-carb diet improved sugars in diabetics compared to a normal diet with low carb being 30 percent better than low fat at 6 months, but only a 10 percent difference at 12 months. Increasing plant protein seems to slightly lower death but only a small amount. Will talk more about this when looking at vegan/vegetarian diets.

Not huge benefits or harms from caffeine. Slight lower risk of death from heart attacks. Coffee increases cholesterol but does not increase blood pressure while tea lowers both cholesterol and blood pressure. Coffee might have a small decrease of developing diabetes . Not much evidence it does much for hurting the liver, causing cancer or causing fractures. It does help concentration (got me through medical school) and depression. It causes withdrawal in 15 percent of people, occurs after one day and withdrawal lasts about 9 days.

As you probably have heard, there now is little evidence that alcohol has health benefits and the recommendations now is that there are no safe levels of alcohol but if you have to drink then less than 3 drinks a week .

Very low alcohol use , less than one drink a day, overall benefits equal risks when you look at everything.

Maybe lower risk of heart attacks and strokes with a small amount of alcohol and unsure why

Atrial fibrillation, irregular heart beat, and a risk for strokes is increased 2-3 drinks a day. Atrial fibrillation is less likely if those people with atrial fib stop drinking alcohol .

Certainly risks regarding injuries and death from accidents, liver failure, violence, cancers, and can cause a fatal withdrawal if stopped suddenly if you are dependent on alcohol.

Water– no evidence to drink 8 cups a day although you should drink enough that you are not dehydrated- how do you know -you are not thirsty and are peeing, so this is comparing being dehydrated to not being dehydrated

Slight decrease in strokes and heart attacks compared to being dehydrated

decreased kidney stones over 10 years (takes about 7 people increasing water for 5 years to reduce 1 kidney stone attack)

Less urine infections if you drink more water , if you have an overactive bladder drinking more water will make it worse

No evidence it helps with constipation, headaches, mood, ability to think and fatigue

Drinking water prior to eating has a slight effect, will lose a few pounds

I thought I would try to summarize some of the evidence regarding diet and health after seeing a couple of very misleading Netflix specials. I do not want to spark a debate- if you find a certain eating style works for you that is great. The evidence speaks to whether certain eating styles/ habits help the majority of people but does not capture if it works for a certain individual. This evidence is what we know in 2023/24 and if the evidence shows minimal changes then often the evidence flips from weakly healthy to not healthy very easily.

I am going to try to just look at health affects directly. When you start looking at things such as blood pressure, blood tests etc you are making a lot of assumptions (if we lower this chol. then this will happen) and most of the time it is not that simple. Therefore will talk about direct effects.

I have a new resident for the next 3 months and then another after that. I encourage you to book appointments with them. I look over all their notes and if there are any issues feel free to contact me .

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall. A few things.

We are getting a new nurse. Mila has decided to work full-time at Dr Nunn’s office. She worked at both of our offices previously. She will be missed and was excellent at caring for everyone.

Starting at the end of October, Haley will be working in the office. She has been working at the hospital so will need some time to get used to working in a family practice. She will be great for the practice and I’m looking forward to working with her.

Starting in November I will be having residents again and a few medical students. Learners always enjoy their time here and learn alot so as always I appreciate your patience with them .

Thanks

Mike

I hope everyone is able to enjoy their summer and stay healthy. The warm weather/sun is certainly a treat. Remember to wear sunscreen. I have a locum (temporary doctor) filling in July 11-15th if you need anything during that time.

For the rest of the summer I will be working in the office. It has been busy so please be patient and certainly if you feel you need to be seen sooner than the appointment I have available message me and I will see what I can do .

Have a great summer

Mike

Hopefully the flu shots will be here Oct 15th 2019. I will send out an email when I know for sure if I have your email and hopefully you will be able to book online. I will give them out during office hours but also will have some clinics.

I have on line booking now at https://portal.healthmyself.net/kentvillemedicine#/

If you have given us your email then you will get an invite to join.

Results are available at myhealthns.ca