Entries by Chet Zelasko

Are Artificial Sweeteners Toxic to the Microbiome?

If you use artificial sweeteners and you saw the words “danger,” “artificial sweeteners,” and “serious health issues” all in the same headline, you’d probably be concerned. The headline recently appeared in my newsfeed, and because many of us use artificial sweeteners, I had to check it out. Here’s what researchers found in a study published […]

Want Fewer Medications? Change Your Lifestyle

The study that we examined on Tuesday showed that a regular exercise program can help reduce the number of medications related to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We’re not talking about youngsters; 51 subjects completed the study with an initial mean age of 54. There were some outcomes that were likely unexpected; for example, […]

Can You Reduce Your Medications?

One of the questions that I get asked frequently goes something like this: “Dr. Chet, how can I reduce the medications I’m taking?” Along with that question is, “I don’t want to have to take medications for blood pressure or cholesterol or diabetes. What can I do?” As we proceed with a focus on Aging […]

Four Tips for the 4th!

We are fast approaching the three-day holiday weekend to celebrate the 4th of July here in the U.S. It got me to thinking: just because it’s a holiday, it doesn’t mean we should completely abandon some of our health habits that might be strained a little bit, given the celebrations associated with Independence Day. This […]

Should People with CVD Take Omega-3s?

Last time, I talked about some research that hasn’t been done to definitively know whether DHA contributes to arrhythmias or not, but I implied that there may be one issue that may have contributed to this latest study. Let’s talk about research bias. Research Bias Some of the researchers who examined the data from the […]

Omega-3s and Heart Disease

In addition to the research papers on omega-3s I talked about last week, another paper was presented at the American College of Cardiology in May that suggests EPA seems to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD), while DHA seems to neutralize the benefits. Let’s take a look at this recent study to see what they found. I […]

Omega-3s May Kill Tumors

As exciting as Tuesday’s Memo might have been on omega-3s and superbugs, today’s Memo probably tops that. Before we get too excited, it’s important to remember that this was another test-tube study. That’s fine; that’s how research into any topic begins, but it still has to be proven in human trials. Researchers in Belgium exposed […]

Omega-3s: New Weapon Against Superbugs?

One of the biggest concerns with hospitalization is catching an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. It happened to my father-in-law about 15 years ago, and it was a serious infection requiring over a week in the hospital. He survived, but more superbugs are still around and have gotten worse. Researchers in Australia examined one such superbug to […]

High-Intensity Walking Is Better for Peripheral Artery Disease

As I said in Tuesday’s memo, high-intensity walking was better than low-intensity walking in terms of physical measurements after one year; subjects were able to cover more distance in a six-minute walk and they were able to walk for a longer period of time on a treadmill. Another important outcome was that there was no […]

Exercise for Peripheral Artery Disease

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a narrowing of the arteries in the arms or legs, usually caused by the build-up of plaque similar to what can happen in the arteries of the heart or the neck. The result is pain in the muscles of the legs, sometimes mild, other times severe. As you might expect, […]