Health #2: Hospitals Should Allow Cell Phone Use

Posted by Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D.
on Thu, Mar 15, 2007, 5:51 pm PDT
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthnews/2453/hospitals-should-allow-cell-phone-use

Hospitals are probably the last place on Earth where cell phones are still not allowed. But if the conclusions of a recent study from the Mayo Clinic hold any sway, the cell phone armies will soon invade there, too. And I'm going to explain why that's a good thing.

Many hospitals ban the use of cell phones because they fear that the phones' electromagnetic signals might interfere with some medical devices and so endanger patients. The Federal Communications Commission has even warned that electronic medical devices in hospitals may be shut down by electromagnetic waves from cell phones. However, these fears and warnings are not based on any proof that cell phones are dangerous in the hospital environment.

A careful study by investigators at the Mayo Clinic, published in the March issue of Mayo Clinics Proceedings, puts these concerns to rest. They conducted 300 tests over a 5½-month period on the effects of two different cell phones on a total of 192 medical devices.

Tests were carried out in multiple patient-care areas, including intensive care units, to determine the effects of initiating or answering a call, talking on the phone, and the ringing of the telephone. None of these cell phone functions interfered with electronic equipment at any of the hospital sites. The authors conclude that "when cellular telephones are used in a normal way, no noticeable interference or interactions occurred with the medical devices."

So, cell phones don't disturb hospitals, though cell phone users might. I have never understood the love affair being carried out (in public) between Americans (and, increasingly, people around the world) and their cell phones; my wife and I have somehow managed very nicely to survive without one (two, actually). We have all been annoyed by the seemingly endless nattering on cell phones by passengers on trains and by fellow diners in restaurants.

And yet, I believe that hospitals should permit visitors to use cell phones. Visits to patients often occur at times of high stress when visitors want to maintain contacts with family and friends and may need to send or receive urgent messages.

My major concern is that loud, constant, and unnecessary talking by discourteous cell phone users will annoy other patients or visitors. If cell phones should be restricted anywhere, however, I vote to ban their use while driving a car.

Health #1: Can Black Pepper Be Poisonous?

Posted by Andrew Weil, M.D.
on Mon, Mar 12, 2007, 4:05 pm PDT
Source: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/weilhealthyliving/328/can-black-pepper-be-poisonous


Black pepper is ubiquitous on the world's dining tables, but recently, I was asked if it can be poisonous। The answer is, maybe, but you would have to use an awful lot of pepper for a long time to run into trouble.

The concern about pepper arises from one of its components, safrole, also found in small amounts in star anise, nutmeg, witch hazel, and basil। In the 1960s, the FDA banned the use of safrole in food in the United States after it was found that injecting large amounts caused liver cancer in lab rats.

Perhaps the biggest effect of this ban has been to eliminate the use of sassafras root in the making of root beer। Volatile oils found in the bark of the root of the sassafras plant are 80 percent safrole. Nowadays, sassafras can be used as an ingredient in root beer only if the safrole is removed through a laboratory extraction process.

Black pepper is the most popular spice in the world, and black, green and white peppercorns all come from the black pepper plant (Piper nigrum), native to Asia। Black is the whole, partially ripened fruit; green is the unripe fruit; and white is the peeled seed.

I'm not that concerned about safrole। Eating moderate amount of it in plant products (such as sassafras tea) is not comparable to injecting large amounts of the pure chemical into the abdomens of rats. But black pepper can be an irritant of the GI tract, urinary tract, and prostate, and I don't think it should be consumed frequently in quantity.

I generally don't let waiters grind their pepper mills over my food at restaurants until I taste it first। For a hot spice, I prefer red pepper, which comes from a different plant (Capsicum spp.), doesn't have any natural carcinogenic activity, has a long history of medicinal use, and provides healthful carotenoids. It can help lower cholesterol and stimulate circulation, and can actually help heal the lining of the stomach.

While we're on the subject of pepper, you should know that pink peppercorns are not true pepper। They're the dried berries of the Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus terebinthfolius) and have become popular despite questions about their safety.

Pink peppercorns can cause symptoms resembling those of poison ivy/oak, as well as headaches, swollen eyelids, shortness of breath, chest pains, sore throat, hoarseness, upset stomach, diarrhea and hemorrhoids। I avoid them.

Finally, Sichuan peppercorns, used in East Asian cuisine, are the dried fruits of the prickly ash tree (Zanthoxylum piperitum). They have an interesting numbing effect on the tongue in addition to a peppery flavor, and their toxicity appears to be minimal.