Dr. Terry Rondberg: Up Close and Personal

Here’s an interesting new research finding: married men are healthier than men who were never married or whose marriages ended in divorce or widowhood. That’s the conclusion of a recent survey of American adults, reported in the July 2010 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

According to the Harvard online publication, numerous studies conducted over the past 150 years suggest that marriage (or, at least, a good marriage) is good for health (at least for men!). Now, scientists are beginning to understand how marriage affects heart disease, cancer, and other conditions in men.

The survey — part of the from the Framingham Offspring Study — found that married men had a 46% lower rate of death than unmarried men, even after taking into account major cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, the happiness of the marriage didn’t seem to influence the overall protective effect. In other studies, though, marital unhappiness and stress were linked with high blood pressure (hypertension), an important cardiac risk factor. Over time, marital stress is associated with thickening of the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber. On the flip side, a supportive marriage is associated with improved survival among men who develop heart failure.

Makes sense to me. Being in a loving partnership with someone (married or not) has to make a positive impact on your life. If nothing else, being able to share one’s joys and sorrows with another person reduces stress which, as we well know, is the key element in almost all health problems.

And, despite the fact that this survey focused on men, other studies have shown the same is true for women. A fascinating report published by the National Center for Health Statistics notes that research consistently documents associations between formal marital status and health and well-being. Compared with unmarried people, those who tie the knot generally have better mental and physical health outcomes, live longer, and have lower prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

Interestingly, the only real “negative” health outcome due to marriage is that husbands tend to pack on some extra pounds!

So, next time you get into a fight with your spouse, keep in mind that it’s worth it — for your health’s sake — to kiss and make up.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) just came out with a report warning about a growing and potentially life-threatening trend known as “Robo tripping,” the abuse of over-the-counter cough and cold medications by America’s youth.

The ASA is involved in the problem because anesthesiologists are often among the first medical people to deal with overdose cases at hospitals.

From what the ASA says, nearly 10% of all American teens have admitted to getting high on cough medication containing the synthetic drug dextromethorphan (DXM), which produces a hallucinogenic high when consumed in large amounts.

Kids as young as nine-years-old have admitted to Robo tripping, mainly because the drug is readily available without a prescription and inexpensive. The “Robo” refers to Robotussin, although many other cough medicines also contain DXM.

“Consuming large amounts of drugs containing DXM can have a variety of serious and very dangerous side effects on a child’s short- and long-term health, ranging from hallucinations to loss of motor control, and even death,” said Michael H. Entrup, MD, ASA director for the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists. “As summer swings into high gear and many kids are home from school, it’s especially important for parents to be aware of what their kids are doing during the break. As anesthesiologists, we want to help family members not only recognize the signs of Robo tripping but also to ensure that children are aware of the danger inherent in this type of drug abuse.”

The ASA is taking action to curb Robo tripping among teens and tweens by providing parents with the information to recognize and prevent it. DXM, the active ingredient in cough medications that is abused when children Robo trip — also referred to as Robo, Skittles, Dex and Tussin — is available in more than 125 medications, including well-known brands.

Parents should actively monitor for possible signs of Robo tripping, which can include:

• An unusual medicinal smell on the child.
• Empty or missing cough and cold medicine bottles.
• An unexplainable disappearance of money from the house.
• A sudden change in their child’s physical appearance, attitude, and sleeping and/or eating habits.
• Questionable or unexpected packages arriving in the mail addressed to the child.
• Visits by their child to pro-drug websites.

Parents can help protect their children from DXM abuse by:

• Educating them about the dangers of drug abuse.
• Controlling access to cough and cold medicines (which may include locking the medicine cabinet).
• Keeping their own medications out of the reach of their children.
• Familiarizing themselves with — and not stockpiling — medicines that contain DXM.
• Actively checking their credit card statements.
• Monitoring their child’s internet use.

I’m going to add my own advice: set an example for your kids. Look into your medicine cabinet and ask yourself whether you REALLY need all those medicines and pills. Are you taking them for every little ache and pain? Are you taking them more out of habit than need? Are you buying into the drug makers’ propaganda that chemical substances are good for you (as though you may have an aspirin deficiency!)?

If your kids see you reaching for an OTC drug every day, what kind of message are they getting from you? If they see you drinking alcohol every night, they’re likely to see this as an accepted behavior. Same thing for both prescription and OTC drugs. Your acceptance of these medications as good and healthy things can give your children a green light to try their own version of the OTC banquet. At the very least, it gives them the parental example they need to justify their actions.

Reduce the likelihood that your children will be lured into taking drugs of any kind by making sure you teach by example, and achieve wellness through wise lifestyle choices.

My mom is in a care facility in Arizona right now, and I’m facing the painful but inevitable time when she’ll no longer be with us. Through the years, our relationship has been extremely good, which is rare in this age of dysfunctional and disjointed families. A decade ago, I moved to California but my mom has never been more than a phone call away.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m so healthy! According to a new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a simple phone conversation with a loved one actually causes the release of the powerful stress-quelling hormone oxytocin.

The study focused on young girls, but I’m living proof that it works just as well for adults. Talking with someone you love — your mom, dad, spouse, kids, sweetheart — can counteract the effects of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress.

In the study, the girls were given the assignment to present an impromptu speech and solve a series of math problems in front of a panel of strangers (talk about stress!).

“Facing a challenge like that, being evaluated, raises stress levels for a lot of people,” said Seth Pollak, psychology professor and director of UW-Madison’s Child Emotion Lab.

Once their hearts started racing, one-third of the girls were comforted in person by their mothers — specifically with hugs, an arm around the shoulders and the like. One-third watched an emotion-neutral 75-minute video. The rest were handed a telephone. It was mom on the line, and the effect was dramatic.

“The children who got to interact with their mothers had virtually the same hormonal response, whether they interacted in person or over the phone,” Seltzer says.

The girls’ levels of oxytocin, often called the “love hormone” and strongly associated with emotional bonding, rose significantly and the stress-marking cortisol washed away.

“It was understood that oxytocin release in the context of social bonding usually required physical contact,” Seltzer said. “But it’s clear from these results that a mother’s voice can have the same effect as a hug, even if they’re not standing there.”

And, according to the study, the effect is a lasting one. “It stays well beyond that stressful task,” Pollak noted. “By the time the children go home, they’re still enjoying the benefits of this relief and their cortisol levels are still low.”

The researchers, whose report was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, spent a lot of time trying to show that the effects were different for males than females. They explained that when confronted with a threat or stressful situation, males may be more likely to choose between fight and flight. A female creates or uses a social bond to deal with a stressor, either through touch or soothing vocal communication.

But any guy who has felt more relaxed after listening to the soothing voice of his parents, wife, sweetheart or even kids, knows this is not one of those “she’s from Venus, he’s from Mars” experiences. It’s a human thing.

Actually, that’s not altogether true. The effect isn’t restricted to humans alone!

“Lots of very social species vocalize,” Seltzer admitted. “We’re hoping researchers who study vocal communication will consider looking at oxytocin release in other animals and applying it to broader questions of social behavior and evolutionary biology.”

So, next time you’re feeling stressed out, pick up the phone and call a loved one. It may just be the best tranquilizer you can take.

When Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake in January, it was inspiring to see so many members of the chiropractic profession step forward to help. They sent money, volunteered their services, donated supplies and demonstrated their compassion in so many different ways.

I’m equally moved when I see doctors expressing that same love and compassion for their colleagues in small ways every day. They don’t need an earthquake to shake them up and motivate them to help. Whenever the call goes out, there are doctors willing to respond.

I’m making such a call today.

Some of you already know Dr. Randy Moze, who — although he’s only been a chiropractor since 1999 — has gained many friends and admirers for his fierce and outspoken dedication to chiropractic principles. Many of those people met him while he studied at Life University; others met him at the World Chiropractic Alliance Summit. But even if you have never met him, you know him. He’s the young idealist chiropractor who takes to heart all he’s heard and read about chiropractic art, science and philosophy. He’s the one who truly wants what’s best for his patients and who looks forward with eagerness to a future filled with opportunities to contribute to his profession. He’s you and me and every DC who wants only to bring health and wellness to the world.

There’s one big difference, though. Randy has just been diagnosed with two brain tumors, both meningiomas.

“The critical one is 4.8 cm and surrounds the optic chiasm,” he told me recently in an e-mail. “I have lost CN VI function to the Lateral Rectus muscle, which has resulted in loss of motion laterally on my right eye. I am going to Vanderbilt hospital Monday March 29th for a final evaluation.”

He’s been told that it’s impossible for surgeons to remove the entire tumor because of its critical location surrounding the carotid artery and the optic chiasm. He’s facing the future as courageously as he can, even though he knows that, even if the surgery is successful, he’s facing a lengthy recovery time with no income from his practice.

It’s the type of nightmare we all worried about when we were starting out in practice, the “what if” scenario that we never wanted to face. Randy has no choice but to face it but I don’t think he has to face it alone. I know there are compassionate, caring and generous doctors who donate money when big disasters like Haiti’s earthquake happen — AND when personal tragedy hits a colleague.

Randy needs our financial help. If you can give any donation (and any amount will help!) please send it, with a note of encouragement, to:

Dr. Randy C. Moze
Back to Health, P.C.
1009 Lark St.
Johnson City, TN 37604

I can guarantee you one thing. When he’s back on his feet, he’ll be there for you if you ever need help.