Hamburgers: The flame-broiled truth

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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The well-known chains whose very existence relies on the sales of this most famous of American delicacies, will be less than delighted with a recent report in the eminent journal, The New Scientist. They may soon be held partially to blame for the epidemic of obesity that has been sweeping through the USA in the past few decades. And as we know, in America where there is blame there is a lawsuit.

But surely you can't blame a fast food restaurant because you ate too many of their hamburgers? Well maybe you can is the message from the men in white coats in New York who fed rats a high fat diet. After a mere 72 hours the scientists found that the rats had lost their ability to react to a hormone called leptin. Leptin is an appetite-suppressing hormone. It regulates your hunger level according to what you eat. Apparently it still does its job after a few burgers but as the burger muncher puts on more and more weight, s/he becomes less and less responsive to this hormone. Well it's almost unbelievable that such nonsense might actually reach a courtroom, but we have seen stranger things in America. Can they really afford to punish the producers of one of their best-known imports in this way?

This is not the first expose of America's most popular dish. (Well some say it's apple pie, but that surely was a century or two ago) In a best-selling book, Fast Food Nation, the dark side of the all-American meal, the author, Eric Schlosser, deconstructs the most famous of America's hamburgers. Apparently a single hamburger of this very well-known brand, could contain the meat of up to 120 different cattle. Holy Cow!

As that old cartoon character, Wimpy, repeatedly said to Popeye: "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!" Hey, burger lovers, don't worry, the economy might not survive, but the hamburger sure will!

The Eye, the Cornea and the Laser

Well everyone has heard of laser treatment of some visual problems, notably the common problem of shortsightedness. Lasers have been used by opthalmologists to repair detached retinas for decades but in recent years a host of clinics have sprung up offering laser treatment to the cornea in order to obviate the need for glasses. The main point is that the laser can 'take away' but it cannot put back. So if you need a thicker cornea (outer transparent dome of the eye, just under the conjunctiva) it can do nothing. However it can thin the cornea, often dramatically correcting visual problems. The clinics have generally claimed that there are complications in less than 1% of cases.

A report by Health Which, recently out does not concur with this assessment. The study reported claims that the complication rate is about 3.2%. In addition, it claims that in up to 4% of cases, sight is made worse by the laser. And guess what that has resulted in? Yes, law suits!

So how do you decide whether or not to have a procedure that has left millions of people shouting 'Miracle!' Here's my advice. Ask the eye surgeon how many of his colleagues, who are eye surgeons are having the procedure these days. If the figure is going up, take it as a good sign. If it's gone down with this recent news, well, then there is good reason to wait a while.

Homeopathic Tip of the Week

Here's a homeopathic treatment for an ingrown toenail. Now first let me make it absolutely clear that all ingrown toenails should be seen by a doctor, because some of them need to be treated by surgery, which is very successful. However, many times doctors opt for 'conservative' (read 'non-surgical') treatment of various sorts including a sit-and-wait policy. In these cases it's well worth taking a homeopathic remedy and the remedy of choice in this situation is Magnetis polaris Australis. Take one pill in a 30c strength three times a day for three days. You may be surprised by the result. To prevent ingrown toenails, always cut your nails straight across and not in a curve.

Dr Kaplan's personal website is: www.drkaplan.co.uk and his practice website is www.140harleystreet.co.uk and he can be contacted on (020) 7487 3416