Dr. Chet’s Health Memos

If it’s in the health news today, I’ll be writing about it as soon as I read the research, both old and new. With my email Health Memos, you’ll know more about making lifestyle choices that will help you get and keep good health. These free, concise updates on health are emailed to subscribers twice a week. Subscribe today and get a free MP3, in English or Spanish, of Dr. Chet’s Top Ten Tips—Small Changes for a Healthier Life.

Lies

Statistics and Lies

The past year has been full of opinions about the COVID-19 virus, the treatments that people claim work, and even the number of deaths from the virus. I mean, people were full of it. And still are. The story I heard most often from a variety of people was that people died from other causes, […]

JAMAstatistics

2020 Mortality Statistics

The statistics on the causes of death in the U.S. always take a year or more to collect because every state and the District of Columbia forwards the death certificates with the cause of death to the National Center for Health Statistics Vital Statistics System for review and compilation. You can see why it would […]

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New Research on Vitamin D and COVID-19

The research confirming the benefit of adequate levels of higher vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) blood levels keeps growing. In this Memo, I’m going to cover two of the most recent studies, both observational studies; the researchers were able to obtain vitamin D levels from medical records after subjects were admitted with COVID-19 infections. Study One: […]

EAAs-Surgery

Should You Take Essential Amino Acids Before Surgery?

Tuesday’s study left us with a question: what could explain essential amino acids (EAAs) increasing, or at least preventing, muscle loss after total knee replacement surgery? Fortunately, another study examined those factors by obtaining muscle biopsies and blood before and after surgery. Researchers recruited 41 patients who were having total knee replacement. After randomly assigning […]

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Essential Amino Acids and Knee Replacement Surgery

As I continue my research into increasing muscle mass for Aging with a Vengeance, I came across some information that I think is important for anybody who’s undergoing knee replacement surgery, and perhaps, any type of joint surgery. I’m going to review two studies and explain why using essential amino acids (EAAs) before and after […]

WeightLoss

Obesity Game Changer?

Obesity is a serious issue in the U.S. and around the world; type 2 diabetes, hypertension, CVD, and other diseases associated with obesity have significant health costs. That’s why a real game changer would be important to help people lose weight and maintain their weight loss. The latest candidate is semaglutide, an anti-diabetic medication used […]

WeightLossGame

“Game-Changing” Treatment for Obesity!

If ever a health headline gets your attention, it’s one that proclaims there’s a better way to lose weight. “A game changer” said one of the principle authors of the study in a news release about the study. The results of any study that suggests “game-changing results” just has to be reviewed, and that’s what […]

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How the Quality of Your Diet Changes Your Mycobiome

In the experiment I told you about on Tuesday, the researchers established that environment—exposure to light, temperature, and other environmental factors—affects the microbiome, including the fungi or mycobiome. The researchers then tested the changes in the mycobiome (the fungus part of the microbiome) after feeding the mice a highly processed diet compared with mice eating […]

People-Fungi

The Fungus Among Us

The microbiome is made up of a variety of microbes. I tend to focus on the bacteria because that’s where the bulk of the research exists, but there are more microbes in and on us such as fungi, protozoa, and viruses. A recent paper provided some interesting insight into one category of microbes: the fungi, […]

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How Periodontal Disease Makes COVID-19 Worse

Aging with a Vengeance is more than gaining muscle mass and losing fat around your waist; it also means that your immune system is robust. I think we often over-emphasize supplementation; while I think it’s necessary, it really should serve as support for other actions that are equally or even more important. For example, taking […]