The perils of proton pump inhibitors – Part 1
Updated 15 January 2024 Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a class of medicines that include Nexium, Somac, Pariet, Prilosec, Maxor and Prevacid, and many generics. These drugs, which drastically reduce the secretion of hydrochloric acid by the stomach, are among the best-selling pharmaceuticals of all time. Australians are enthusiastic participants in the global acid-suppressing pill-popping…
Is ‘mental illness’ in the mind, or the body… or both?
8 January 2024 In last week’s post, Worried sick, I briefly mentioned a study which examined markers of both brain and body health in people diagnosed with any of four neuropsychiatric conditions, and found that they had greater deviations from healthy controls in markers of body health – most notably in their metabolic, hepatic, and…
Worried sick
New research shows that hypochondriacs die younger. 1 January 2024 The late, great Irish comedian Spike Milligan poked fun at the hypochondriac’s morbid obsession with illness and death, by quipping that he wanted the words “I told you I was ill” engraved on his headstone. (His request was finally honoured two years after his death,…
Beat the holiday season blues – with broccoli and berries!
18 December 2023 ‘Tis the season to be jolly, so the Christmas carol tells us, but not everyone is feeling particularly perky at this time of year. Between running the gauntlet of overcrowded shopping malls in search of perfect gifts for hard-to-buy-for loved ones; negotiating the obligatory family Christmas dinner (a painful experience for many…
A truly low salt diet lowers blood pressure as effectively as medicine – in one week
11 December 2023 As I’ve written in a previous article, 5 reasons to think twice before taking blood pressure drugs, high blood pressure is no trifling matter: “High blood pressure (hypertension) kills. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, it is the leading contributor to premature death and disability throughout the world. In fact,…
Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome: An underrecognised and rapidly escalating problem
4 December 2023 As I’ve discussed in previous articles, antidepressants are now the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in Australia, with ten per cent of adult Australians currently taking some form of antidepressant. Despite their lack of efficacy when compared to placebo and their laundry list of serious side effects (from sexual dysfunction to…
Muscle up to beat hot flushes
Hot off the presses: women who hang on to their muscle mass during the menopausal transition are protected against hot flushes and night sweats.
Debunking nutrition myths: A how-to guide
20 November 2023 In my monthly Ask Robyn sessions (a feature of my EmpowerEd membership program), members frequently send me articles on nutrition and health which they encounter online, and ask for my take on them. In the seven years since I launched EmpowerEd, I’ve assessed and critiqued articles on the supposed dangers of soy,…
Major study finds that cancer screening programs don’t extend life
13 November 2023 If you scroll through my previous posts on cancer-related topics, you’ll notice that many of those posts discuss the dismal outcomes of cancer screening programs. For example, in A quick update on skin cancer screening and melanoma incidence and Skin cancer checks: life-saver or scam?, I discussed the lack of evidence that…
The inflammation discombobulation
Do nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs turn acute pain into chronic pain? 6 November 2023 In last week’s article, Osteoarthritis: Curse of old age or plague of modernity?, I discussed the concerning finding that people with osteoarthritis who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and naproxen regularly, end up with worse joint inflammation and cartilage…