The Magic Pill may be here soon

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Return to the Fitness training News and Holistic Health Archive

A pill that may be able to add 12 years to the average person's life. A pill that may prevent 88% of heart attacks and 80% of strokes. A pill that may be available in less than two years time. A pill that is safe. A pill that will cost between 60p and £1 a day.

No this is not something that I read in the Daily Sport. The story about this pill was hailed by the editor of the British Medical Journal, one of the two most important medical journals in England, as 'the most important idea we have published in 50 years' This is indeed medical news. So how will it work?

Well in the last 20 years or so, there have been a number of medications that reduce cardiovascular disease (mainly strokes and heart attacks). Among these have been: the use aspirin to 'thin the blood' (slightly reduce its ability to coagulate thereby reducing clot formation); decreasing your cholesterol by drugs called 'statins'; reducing blood pressure; using appropriate vitamin supplementation. Now somebody has come up with the idea of putting all these medications into one 'superpill' that will incorporate the best of all these.

But don't celebrate yet. The pill remains a possibility more than anything else. The different components of this pill just happen to be patented so it's not so easy to get permission to make it! I'd like a car that looked like a Jaguar, handled like a Saab, had the suspension of a Citroen, was as safe as a Volvo and as reliable as a Mercedes Benz. Just combine the relevant parts and hey presto! Problem is that the different motor companies are unlikely to be co-operative. Let's hope the pharmaceutical companies realise what is at stake here and allow the pill to be made for the good of humanity.

Brushing your Teeth: The Two Minute Rule

Regular readers of this column will know that I see dentistry as a branch of medicine and one in which preventative medicine is particularly useful.

So should you be using an electric toothbrush or a manual one? The electronic ones do seem to be getting better and better but diligent handbrushing (with flossing of course) does seem to do the trick.

But how long should you brush your teeth? The Daily Mail reported the findings of the men in white coats of the University of Newcastle who linked 12 volunteers' electric toothbrushes to a computer and then looked at their teeth. Their findings showed that those who brushed with a steady pressure for 2 minutes got good results and removed most of the plaque. Those that brushed harder and longer did not clean their teeth any better but suffered from an increased level of bleeding gums and enamel damage. Bottom line: 2 minutes of brushing with moderate pressure is adequate. (but at least twice a day please ;-)

Homeopathic Tip

Sunburn: Do people still suffer from sunburn? Aren't they listening to what we doctors are telling them over and over again? That prevention is better than cure. Don't expose bare skin to too much sun. Use effective sun barrier creams. Well whenever I'm on the beach, I always seem to see some poor soul that looks like he's had his skin treated with sand paper. No, everyone is not listening to the doctors. People still get sunburned every day. So if you forget to take precautions and get a bit burned, you can try the homeopathic remedy Belladonna. Take Belladonna 30c one every hour for a few hours for sunburn or a headache from being in the sun too long.

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